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At least 98 Palestinians have died in custody since October 2023, Israeli data shows

Israeli data shows at least 98 Palestinians have died in custody since October 2023, and the real toll is likely substantially higher because hundreds of people detained in Gaza are missing, an Israel-based human rights group has said. Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (PHRI) tracked deaths from causes including physical violence, medical neglect and malnutrition for a new report, using freedom of information requests, forensic reports and interviews with lawyers, activists, relatives and witnesses. Israeli authorities only provided comprehensive data for the first eight months of the war. Over this period official figures show an unprecedented casualty rate among Palestinian detainees, on average one death every four days. The military last updated data on deaths in detention for May 2024, and the Israel Prison Service (IPS) in September 2024. PHRI researchers identified another 35 deaths in detention after these dates and confirmed them with Israeli authorities. Although the total number of deaths charted is significantly higher than other recent estimates, it likely fails to capture the full scale of Palestinian loss, said Naji Abbas, director of the prisoners and detainees department at PHRI. “Even though we are providing evidence for a higher number of deaths than [previously reported] this is not a full picture,” he said. “We are sure that there are still people who died in detention that we don’t know about.” Classified Israeli data indicates the majority of Palestinian prisoners from Gaza who died in jail were civilians, according to a parallel investigation by the Guardian, the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call. In May this year a military intelligence database tracking all Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters in Gaza, a list of more than 47,000 named individuals, listed only 21 deaths in custody. By that point 65 Palestinians from Gaza had died in jail. The figures for death in detention cover “security prisoners”, a category that includes civilians from Gaza held without charge or trial and prisoners of conscience from the occupied West Bank. Three of the dead were Palestinians with citizenship or residency in Israel. Physical violence, torture and other abuse of Palestinians has been normalised across Israel’s jail system over two years of war, with the far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, boasting about starvation rations and an underground jail holding Palestinians who never see daylight. Current and former detainees and whistleblowers from the Israeli military have all alleged systemic violations of international law. The institutionalised cruelty came with a disturbing rise in deaths recorded across at least 12 civilian and military facilities in Israel. In the decade before the war, there were on average two or three deaths a year. “This isn’t just an individual case here and there. It is systemic and it will continue,” Abbas said, in part because there is a culture of near total impunity for killing and mistreating Palestinians. Just one case of assaulting detainees has come to trial, with the soldier sentenced to seven months. An attempt to prosecute others over a vicious assault including sexual violence led to right-wing protests and the arrest of Israel’s top military lawyer, with the suspects now demanding charges against them are dropped. “Despite this mass number of deaths, over two years no one has been arrested,” Abbas said. “There have been no charges over any killing. “While these policies are being applied, every Palestinian in detention is in danger, even the healthy ones, even the young ones who have no [underlying] medical issues.” Some deaths in detention have been high profile, including Adnan al-Bursh, 50, who was the head of orthopaedics at al-Shifa hospital, and died in Ofer prison after four months in detention. A prisoner held with Bursh testified that he was brought to the yard by guards shortly before his death, visibly injured and naked from the waist down. His body has not been returned to Gaza. Others prisoners who died in Israeli custody remain anonymous. The Prison Service and military provided PHRI with the number of deaths in detention, and minimal other details including the site where they died, but not the prisoners’ names. In 21 cases, mostly individuals from Gaza, PHRI was not able to match the few details provided by authorities to a death recorded by rights organisations, either through testimony from released detainees or reporting in the media. The detainees’ families may not know about their loved ones’ deaths either, as Israel has made it difficult to track Palestinians it is holding. For seven months at the start of the war the Israeli military refused to provide basic information about the status of thousands of people detained in Gaza, in effect implementing a policy of forced disappearance, PHRI said. From May 2024 it has provided an email address for enquires about Palestinians from Gaza, but this has provided only a partial and limited improvement. PHRI noted “continued failures and lack of transparency”. Lawyers are repeatedly told there is no record of their client’s arrest, even when it has been well documented. Over six months last year, Israeli authorities gave this response to inquiries about the status of about 400 individuals, rights group HaMoked said. Among the most high-profile prisoners is Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan hospital, who was detained during a raid in December 2024. For a week the Israeli military denied holding him, despite video footage showing Israeli soldiers leading him into a vehicle. The intense media scrutiny that ultimately led to acknowledging his detention is rare, and Israel’s refusal to provide clear, timely information about the status of prisoners “provides substantial grounds to fear that many are no longer alive”, the PHRI report said. “These grave violations of international law have rendered any effort to determine the full scope of Israel’s policy of killing detained Palestinians, or to trace the fate of the many Palestinians taken into custody, extremely difficult, if not impossible.” The Alfaqawi family had to petition Israel’s high court to find out that Mounir Alfaqawi, 41, and his son Yassin, 18, had died in detention. Israeli forces arrived at their home in Khan Younis in March 2024, interrogated both men in front of their relatives then took them away. When HaMoked tried to trace them on behalf of the family, the military repeatedly claimed it had no record of detaining either man. A legal appeal in October won an admission that the men were “no longer alive”, and a claim military police were investigating their deaths. Another former detainee testified he was forced to serve as a human shield for Israeli soldiers with the father and son. There are likely to be other families who should be mourning but are still hoping their loved one will return from Israeli jails. Under the ceasefire agreed in mid-October, Israel released 250 Palestinian prisoners who had been convicted in Israeli courts, and 1,700 Palestinian detainees from Gaza who had been held indefinitely without charge or trial. However, the scale of detentions has been so vast that even after that mass release, at least 1,000 others are still held by Israel under the same conditions. The Israeli military said that it acts “in accordance with Israeli and international law”, and is aware of the deaths of detainees, including those with pre-existing medical conditions or injuries “as a result of the hostilities”. “As per standard protocol, an investigation is conducted for each death of a detainee by the military police,” the military said in a statement. The IPS said it operates in accordance with the law, “examines” every death in custody and refers cases to the “competent authorities as required”. “The claims described do not reflect the conduct or procedures of the Israel Prison Service, and we are not aware of the incidents as presented,” it said in a statement.

Monday briefing: How Trump and his allies flipped and flipped again on the Epstein files

Good morning. Leading Republicans were once full-throated in their calls for the release of every single scrap of information the US government might hold on the sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and his ties to the establishment. Years of Maga supporters entertaining the QAnon-fuelled frenzy of pizzagate conspiracies seemed to have pushed senior GOP figures in a direction where they believed publication of more information on the Epstein case would expose the Democratic party elite and the “wokerati” of Hollywood as vile sex fiends. That tone abruptly changed for some earlier this year, when Donald Trump found himself back in the White House. Trump and his allies began to dismiss the files as a Democratic smear campaign, and their handling of the issue has divided his typically loyal Republican party. But after months of obfuscation – and accusations he was attempting to block the files from becoming public – Trump appears to have reversed course, urging Republicans in Congress to vote for the release of the files. Today’s newsletter is all about how the change in rhetoric from four key figures has become one of the clearest examples of partisan whiplash in modern US politics. But first, your headlines. Five big stories Immigration | Refugees who have established lives with homes and families in the UK – including Ukrainians – will face having to return if their home countries become safe, Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, has said. BBC | The BBC should not pay any money to Donald Trump, the former BBC director general Tony Hall has said. The US president has said he plans to sue the BBC for up to $5bn (£3.8bn) despite receiving the apology he demanded over a misleading Panorama edit of his 6 January speech. Roman Abramovich | The former Chelsea owner is making a claim of “conspiracy” against the government of Jersey after the crown dependency launched a criminal investigation into allegations of corruption and money laundering in connection with the original source of the oligarch’s wealth. Cop30 | Brazil’s environment minister, Marina Silva, has urged all countries to have the courage to address the need for a fossil fuel phase-out, calling the drawing up of a roadmap for it an “ethical” response to the climate crisis. Labour | Allies of Angela Rayner say the former deputy prime minister would be likely to run in any future leadership contest and will seek to renew her public profile in the coming months. In depth: From ‘full transparency’ to shutdown “I don’t understand why the Jeffrey Epstein case would be of interest to anybody. It’s pretty boring stuff. It’s sordid, but it’s boring. I don’t understand why it keeps going,” Donald Trump said in July 2025, in one of the clearest signals that the US president was trying to shut down the story. But for something boring, Republicans have spent a lot of time talking about it over the years – and changed their tune in the process. That tune now looks set to change again. *** Vice-president JD Vance Then: “What possible interest would the US government have in keeping Epstein’s clients secret? Oh …” – JD Vance on Twitter in 2021. Now: “Forgive my language but this story is complete and utter bullshit” – JD Vance on reports that Trump had contributed to Epstein’s notorious 50th birthday book. JD Vance has been put under pressure on the issue after online users resurfaced a tweet from 2021, which, as they say online, has aged like milk. Back in 2021, as his career was building momentum before becoming a senator in 2023 and vice-president in 2025, Vance was scathing about the Joe Biden administration’s refusal to release documents. Fast forward to July 2025, when Republican lawmakers moved to block a Democratic effort to force the release of the Epstein files and, a month later, Vance was on the attack again … blaming the Democratic party for the failure to release information during the Biden administration. He told Fox News “I laugh at the Democrats who are now all of a sudden so interested in the Epstein files. For four years, Joe Biden and the Democrats did absolutely nothing about this story. Now President Trump has demanded full transparency on this, and yet somehow the Democrats are attacking him.” That “full transparency” has not, however, led to the release of all the documentation being held. *** Attorney general Pam Bondi Then: “It’s sitting on my desk right now to review” – when asked in a Fox News interview whether Epstein’s client list would be released in February 2025. Now: “This systematic review revealed no incriminating ‘client list’” – unsigned memo from Bondi’s DoJ, July 2025. Pam Bondi, Trump’s attorney general, has endured a torrid year dealing with Epstein-related queries. In February she brazenly claimed she had Epstein’s fabled “client list” on her desk for review, implying it would be made public. When she did authorise the release of a cache of Epstein files, they mostly consisted of material that was already in the public domain, dismaying rightwing influencers. Then in July came the DoJ memo that, after an exhaustive review, it would not be releasing further documents. Bondi was hauled before a Senate judiciary committee hearing in October, where she leaned into a familiar Republican playbook. If in doubt, blame the Biden administration. She specifically accused 80-year-old Illinois senator Dick Durbin of taking money from Epstein’s friends, and as he tried to probe what might be in the files that the DoJ and FBI have kept secret and whether they might mention the president, Bondi said “You sit here and make salacious remarks, once again, trying to slander President Trump left and right, when you’re the one who was taking money from one of Epstein’s closest confidantes.” *** President Donald Trump 2024: “Yeah, yeah, I would” – Trump, when asked on Fox News if he would declassify the Epstein files. July 2025: “[The Democrats] new SCAM is what we will forever call the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this ‘bullshit,’ hook, line, and sinker.” – Trump, on TruthSocial. Today: “House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide.” – Trump, on TruthSocial Perhaps the ultimate Damascene conversion has been that of Trump himself. In the 80s and 90s the pair were friends. They were caught on camera partying at Mar-a-Lago, Epstein attended Trump’s wedding, and flight logs released as evidence in Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial place Trump on Epstein’s private jet. As Virginia Giuffre painfully outlined in her memoir, Epstein met her at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, where she was working. She would go on to be trafficked by Epstein and Maxwell, and accused both Epstein and the then Prince Andrew of sexual assault. “Terrific guy,” Trump said in 2002. Epstein died in prison in August 2019, during Trump’s first presidency, while Andrew denies the allegations. Throughout his first term and again on the 2024 campaign trail, Trump leaned hard into the conspiratorial fervour around Epstein’s death – musing aloud that he might have been killed, amplifying theories implicating Bill Clinton, and repeatedly suggesting that “the truth” would emerge once he was back in the Oval Office. That swagger evaporated the moment the justice department informed him that his own name appeared in the government’s material. Promises of declassification gave way to furious attempts to shut the story down, culminating in Trump branding the entire saga a “Democratic hoax” and lashing out at supporters still pressing for answers. It was a spectacular pivot: from the man urging radical transparency to the president insisting everyone stop looking as there was nothing to see. And then on Sunday he flipped again, writing on his Truth Social platform: “House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide. And it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics.” *** Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene Then: “I want to see the Epstein list” – MTG in December 2024. Now: “If they want to give me a list, I will walk in the Capitol on the House floor, and I’ll say every damn name that abused these women” – MTG in September 2025. It is rare for prominent Maga voices to break with Trump. The exception that proves the rule is Marjorie Taylor Greene. One of Maga’s most outspoken figures, she has stuck to her guns. Alongside Lauren Boebert and Nancy Mace, she has joined with Democratic representatives in the house to try to force further document releases, and pledged to say the names of anyone the documents claim abused women under Epstein’s control. Trump and Greene exchanged barbs across social media over the weekend – a spat that looks even odder now that Trump has re-adopted her position. Whether it is Clinton, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, or the extremely litigious Trump, all the men linked to the Epstein case strongly deny any wrongdoing. What else we’ve been reading A three-year wait for a season of television – it better be worth it. The creators and stars of Stranger Things talk to Rebecca Nicholson and weigh in on the making of the final episodes of the blockbuster Netflix series. Toby, newsletters team I sometimes ponder what it would have been like being in my 20s in the 1990s if social media existed then, and shudder. In Dazed, Laura Pitcher writes about the horror of suddenly going viral in your 20s for looking “old”, and how it plays into longstanding brutal stereotypes about ageing in women. Martin Simon Tisdall lays out the case for considering the US a rogue state, pointing to the Trump administration’s extra-judicial killing of those it accuses of drug smuggling in the Caribbean. Toby There is no Doctor Who Christmas special this year – booooooo! – but there is a spin-off show featuring Russell Tovey coming in December. Tovey is the subject of Michael Cragg’s big interview, talking about pride, sexual power and politics. Martin Jenny Kleeman’s remarkable story about the female prison officers who get into sexual relationships with prisoners is both illuminating and depressing portrait of Britain’s rundown penal system. Toby Sport Football | Harry Kane, pictured above, scored two as England secured a 100% record in their qualification for next year’s World Cup with a 2-0 win over Albania. Elsewhere, Troy Parrott’s hat-trick, the last scored deep in injury time, gave Ireland a 3-2 win in Hungary to give them a place the play-offs. Tennis | Jannik Sinner closed out his immense season with a statement victory over Carlos Alcaraz, putting together a supreme performance to defeat the Spaniard 7-6 (4), 7-5 and successfully defend his title at the ATP Finals in Turin. Rugby union | George Ford has called on England to make sure their 33-19 victory against the All Blacks is not a false dawn after Steve Borthwick’s side extended their winning run to 10 matches. The front pages “Most sweeping reforms to asylum rules in a generation to be unveiled” says the Guardian. The Times leads with “First states face visa ban in migrant returns push” while the i paper has “Asylum seekers face 20-year wait to settle in UK – as new protests held at migrant site”. “Lawyers and Labour MPs to torpedo Mahmood’s asylum plan” – is the Mail’s take, and the Telegraph has “Take back migrants or face visa ban”. The Mirror splashes on “Get him off our islands”, detailing Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s PR slide in the Falklands. The FT has “Trump trade negotiator lashes out at Europe over delays in reducing tariffs” and the Sun runs with “Nowhere to hide” in reference to the German man Christian B and Madeleine McCann. Today in Focus Why Labour is going Danish on immigration The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, is expected to announce a radical overhaul of the UK’s asylum and immigration system, modelled in part on what Denmark has done over the past decade. Danish journalist Nilas Heinskou explains what these policies have entailed, why they have proved popular, and whether they could be replicated in the UK. Helen Pidd reports. Cartoon of the day | Ella Baron The Upside A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad As the climate crisis continues unabated, extreme weather is becoming an increasingly every day part of life. The death and destruction caused by Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica was one such example. But it could have been so much worse. When then Tropical Storm Melissa was churning south of Haiti, Philippe Papin, a National Hurricane Center (NHC) meteorologist, predicted that in just 24 hours the storm would become a category 4 hurricane and begin a turn towards the coast of Jamaica. He was able to make such a bold prediction thanks to Google’s DeepMind AI, and it likely gave people precious time to prepare and get safe. “I’m impressed,” said James Franklin, a retired NHC forecaster. “The sample is now large enough that it’s pretty clear [the success of AI forecasts] is not a case of beginner’s luck.” It could provide a vital tool to protect vulnerable populations. Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday Bored at work? And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. Quick crossword Cryptic crossword Wordiply

China and Japan are in a war of words over Taiwan – what happens next?

Tokyo and Beijing are embroiled in a deepening row over Taiwan after Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, suggested that her country could potentially become militarily involved in the event of an attempted Chinese invasion of the self-governing island. Why has Taiwan become a flashpoint between the north-east Asian neighbours and major trading partners, and is there a risk that the war of words could escalate? What is the row about? The quarrel kicked off after Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, suggested in her first parliamentary address since taking office in October that Japan could become militarily involved in a conflict between China and Taiwan. Japan’s postwar constitution forbids it from using force as a means of settling international disputes but a 2015 law – passed when Takaichi’s mentor, Shinzo Abe, was prime minister – permits it to exercise collective self-defence in certain situations, even if it is not directly under attack. China’s ruling Communist party claims Taiwan is a province and has vowed to annex it – by military force if it can’t convince or coerce Taiwan to accept what it calls “reunification”. But Taiwan is overwhelmingly opposed, and a Chinese invasion attempt could spiral into a regional or global conflict. “The so-called Taiwan contingency has become so serious that we have to anticipate a worst-case scenario,” Takaichi said. She said an attack on Taiwan by China could trigger the deployment of her country’s self-defence forces if the conflict posed an existential threat to Japan, which has territory as close as 110km from Taiwan’s main island. Beijing has reacted with fury, casting her words as a “military threat” against China. Why is Sanae Takaichi taking this stance? Takaichi, who became prime minister last month, hails from the right of the ruling Liberal Democratic party (LDP) and shares hawkish views on China once espoused by Shinzo Abe. During her short time in office, Takaichi has prioritised boosting Japan’s defences to counter an increasingly assertive China, with a focus on Japan’s outlying islands in the East China Sea, where the Senkaku Islands are located. In her speech she also vowed to boost defence spending – a policy pushed by Donald Trump, who wants the US’s north-east Asian allies to spend more on their own security – to 2% of GDP by the end of March 2026, two years earlier than planned. How has China responded? China’s response began with a now deleted post on X by the Chinese consul general in Osaka, Xue Jian, threatening to “cut a dirty neck without a moment of hesitation”, in what some have interpreted as a threat to Takaichi. Lin Jian, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, defended Xue’s post and urged Japan to “stop sending any wrong signals to Taiwan independence separatist forces”. The countries have since summoned each other’s ambassadors, and Beijing has issued formal warnings to travellers and students about visiting Japan. It claimed, without evidence, that public security had deteriorated in Japan, with Chinese nationals targeted by unspecified “criminal acts”. Chinese state media has devoted front-page news and extensive editorial coverage to the spat, calling Takaichi’s remarks “dangerously provocative”. China’s military warned Japan would “suffer a crushing defeat if it dared to militarily intervene” in a cross-Strait conflict, and on Sunday sent a coast guard ship through the Senkaku Islands, which are administered by Japan but also claimed by China as the Diaoyu Islands. It also flew military drones past Yonaguni, the westernmost island in the Japanese archipelago. On Monday China’s embassy in Japan posted on its social media a reminder that it had not renounced using force to take Taiwan, and warned that any intervention by Japan would be seen as an act of aggression to which China would “resolutely counterattack”. What is the history of China and Japan over Taiwan? Taiwan was under Japanese colonial rule for about 50 years until Tokyo was forced to renounce control to what was then the Republic of China (ROC) after it surrendered in the second world war. At the time, the ruling ROC government was engaged in civil war with Communist forces. The ROC was defeated on the mainland, and retreated to Taiwan as the ROC (Taiwan), while the Communists established the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on the mainland. Today, the PRC’s ruling Communist party claims Taiwan is a province, despite never having governed it. Should the PRC try to annex Taiwan, and the US comes to Taiwan’s defence, the resulting conflict would probably draw in regional neighbours like Japan, which hosts a huge US military presence. Japan also doesn’t want to see an unfriendly neighbour gain control of part of the so-called First Island Chain, which sits between China and the Pacific Ocean. Is there a risk that tensions will escalate? Yes. While a military confrontation is highly unlikely, analysts have long warned that increased activity in disputed areas like the Senkakus and Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (Adiz) raises the risk of accidents that could spiral into hostilities. In the immediate term, the row is more likely to have an impact on bilateral economic and people-to-people ties between the key trading partners. Beijing’s warnings for travellers and students to avoid Japan sent shares in Japanese retail and tourism plummeting on Monday’s open. As of May 2024 there were more than 120,000 Chinese students in Japan, and more than 6.7 million Chinese tourists visited the country in the first eight months of this year. Takahide Kiuchi, executive economist at the Nomura Research Institute, estimated that mainland China’s latest travel alert could cause economic damage of ¥2.2tr ($14bn) to Japan. Takaichi has not backed down, but Japanese media reported on Monday that a high-level envoy was en route to Beijing in an attempt to calm the situation. Additional research by Lillian Yang

China travel warning for Japan sends shares in tourism and retail companies plunging

Shares in Japanese tourism and retail firms fell sharply on Monday after China warned its citizens not to travel to Japan, while a senior Japanese diplomat was due to travel to Beijing amid an escalating row over comments made by prime minister Sanae Takaichi about Taiwan. Relations between the two countries have deteriorated dramatically in the past week after Takaichi, a conservative who has hawkish views on China, suggested that Japanese self-defence forces could intervene if a Chinese attempt to invade Taiwan represented a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan. The comments – a reflection of the views of politicians on the right of Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic party – triggered a furious response from Beijing, including calls for Chinese citizens to boycott Japan as a tourist destination, and a coast guard sail-by through the disputed Senkaku islands at the weekend. In an attempt to prevent tensions from escalating, Masaaki Kanai, the director general of the Japanese foreign ministry’s Asia and Oceania bureau, will meet his Chinese counterpart, Liu Jinsong, on Tuesday, Japanese media reported. Kanai is expected to reassure Liu that Takaichi’s comments do not signal a shift in Japanese security policy, and to urge China to refrain from actions that could damage bilateral ties. The call by Beijing for Chinese travellers to avoid Japan – which was followed by advice that students reconsider taking up places at Japanese universities – is already affecting businesses. In morning trade on Monday, shares in the Japanese cosmetics firm Shiseido fell 9%, in department store group Takashimaya by more than 5% and in Fast Retailing – the owner of the Uniqlo clothing brand – by more than 4%. China is the biggest source of tourism to Japan, with Chinese travellers known for spending large sums on cosmetics, clothes and consumer electronics. Takaichi told Japan’s parliament on 7 November that the use of force against self-ruled Taiwan, which is claimed by China, could warrant a military response from Tokyo. If a Taiwan emergency entails “battleships and the use of force, then that could constitute a situation threatening the survival [of Japan], any way you slice it,” she said. Japan’s self-imposed rules say that it can only act militarily under certain conditions, including an existential threat, and the government has since said its position on Taiwan – just 100km from the nearest Japanese island – is unchanged. Under a joint communique in 1972 that normalised bilateral relations, Japan “fully understands and respects” China’s stand that “Taiwan is an inalienable part of the territory of the People’s Republic of China”. Before taking office last month, Takaichi, an ally of the conservative former prime minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated in 2022, was a vocal critic of China and its military buildup in the Asia-Pacific. Her comments came just days after she met Chinese leader Xi Jinping for an apparently cordial first meeting on the sidelines of an Apec summit in South Korea. Taiwan’s presidential office has described Takaichi as a “staunch friend” of the island. She has visited Taiwan and called for closer cooperation, and also met Taipei’s representative at the Apec summit. China and Japan last week summoned each other’s ambassadors, with Beijing then advising its citizens to avoid travelling to Japan. On Sunday the Chinese coastguard said its ships made a “rights enforcement patrol” through the waters of the Senkaku islands, which are administered by Japan but also claimed by China as the Diaoyu islands. Beijing insists Taiwan, which Japan occupied for decades until 1945, is part of its territory and has not ruled out the use of force to seize control. China and Japan are key trading partners, but historical mistrust and friction over territorial rivalries and military spending often test those ties. With Agence France-Presse

Ukraine war briefing: Greece signs deal to supply gas to Kyiv over ‘difficult’ winter

Greece has signed a deal with Ukraine to supply US-origin liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the country amid the crippling of its energy infrastructure from Russian strikes. Sunday’s agreement came as Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Athens at the start of a European tour aimed at shoring up Ukraine’s defences and energy supply ahead of winter. The deal – to run from December until March 2026 – “marks an essential step in strengthening regional energy cooperation and European energy security”, said a joint statement from the Ukrainian president and the Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, after they met. The deal would make it possible to “support Ukraine in the midst of a difficult winter”, they said. The deal came as Ukrainian energy infrastructure was damaged by Russian drone strikes overnight into Sunday in the Odesa region, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said. A solar power plant was among the damaged sites. A Russian strike in the eastern Ukrainian city of Balakliia overnight killed three people, the city’s military administration chief said on Monday, citing preliminary information. Vitali Karabanov also said on Telegram that another 10 were wounded. Russia said on Sunday its forces had moved forward sharply in south-eastern Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, taking two settlements as part of a major push aimed at seizing the whole region. The Russian defence ministry said its forces had taken Rivnopillya, which puts the southern town of Huliaipole in danger of being the target of Russian pincer movements, and that Russian forces had also taken Mala Tokmachka, just 9km (6 miles) from Orikhiv. “It is difficult to overestimate the importance of this village for the defence of Orikhiv,” said Yuri Podolyaka, one of Russia’s top war bloggers, adding that Mala Tokmachka was essentially “the gateway to Orikhiv”. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine. Ukrainian forces struck a major oil refinery in Russia’s Samara region, along with a warehouse storing drones for the elite Rubicon drone unit in the partially Russian-occupied Donetsk region, Ukraine’s general staff said on Sunday. It said it had recorded explosions and a fire at the site of the strike on the Novokuibyshevsk refinery, but was still assessing the extent of damage. Russian officials did not immediately confirm the attacks. Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced a plan to clean up Ukraine’s energy sector after a $100m kickback scheme was alleged by anti-corruption investigators, in the worst scandal of his presidency. Jennifer Rankin and Luke Harding report that over the weekend the Ukrainian president announced an overhaul of key state energy companies including a complete change of management at Energoatom, the nuclear power operator at the centre of the alleged criminal scheme. Government officials, Zelenskyy said, were instructed “to maintain constant and meaningful communication with law enforcement and anti-corruption bodies. Any scheme uncovered in these companies must receive a swift and just response.” A ceasefire in Ukraine is unlikely before the spring, Finland’s president has said, and European allies need to keep up support despite the Ukrainian corruption scandal. Europe would require “sisu’’ – a Finnish term for resilience – to get through the winter as Russia continued its hybrid attacks in Europe, Alexander Stubb told the Associated Press. Greenpeace has said France is sending reprocessed uranium to Russia for treatment so it can be reused, despite Moscow’s war in Ukraine. The environment group said on Sunday that while it was legal, the trade was “immoral” as many nations seek to step up sanctions on Russia over its invasion. Greenpeace members on Saturday filmed the loading of about 10 containers with radioactive labels on to a cargo ship in the Channel port of Dunkirk, the NGO said. The consignment was the first of reprocessed uranium to be observed for three years, it said. France’s energy ministry and the French state-controlled energy company Electricite de France did not respond to questions from Agence France-Presse on the consignment or trade. Ukraine is working to resume prisoner exchanges with Russia that could bring home 1,200 Ukrainian prisoners, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday, a day after his national security chief announced progress in negotiations. “We are … counting on the resumption of PoW exchanges,” Zelenskyy wrote on X. “Many meetings, negotiations and calls are currently taking place to ensure this.”

Indifferent, nostalgic or plain pragmatic: Indonesia Gen Zs react to strongman Suharto’s national hero status

To some Indonesians he is the antithesis of a hero – a former dictator accused of human rights abuses who once held the disreputable title of one of the world’s most corrupt leaders. So when the world’s third-largest democracy announced this month that its late strongman leader Suharto would be named a national hero, activists and survivors were outraged. But on the streets the decision was also notable for the outrage that wasn’t. Protests were small and relatively muted. Many young Indonesians, born after Suharto’s authoritarian rule, responded with indifference or nostalgia for the old regime, as allegations of human rights abuses fade and Suharto’s era of economic growth looks rosier decades on. The award was bestowed on Suharto by Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto, Suharto’s ex-son-in-law and a controversial military general who was inaugurated last October after a commanding win supported by Gen Z backing. Suharto was a top military leader during the 1965-6 ‘communist purge’ when an estimated half a million suspected communists were massacred, and his regime was accused of subsequent human rights abuses and disappearances. He ruled Indonesia for 32 years before being forced from power in 1998. He died in 2008, aged 86. The Indonesian government has said he was granted the award as “a hero of the struggle for independence” and denies his involvement in mass killings and other atrocities. The government did not respond to the Guardian’s questions about the award. “[It’s] very controversial, but Suharto’s track record was proven brilliant in advancing Indonesia,” says Muhammad Abid Fiisabilillah, a 19-year-old university student in Surabaya. “I understand that Suharto has a bad track record related to human rights violations, but every president must have strengths and weaknesses – including heroes.” The decision fits a wider vein of nostalgia – or at least declining disapproval – for the old regime. Polling published in 2024 found that Gen Z respondents perceived Suharto more positively than negatively – although their optimism about the former leader was still lower than some older demographics. “People tend to romanticise the Suharto era because they hear stories about how stable and prosperous it was back then,” says Subhan Nur Sobah, a 32-year-old who works in education in Bandung, West Java. “It’s nostalgia for a time that seems simpler and more certain, especially compared to today’s economic challenges.” Indonesia is facing a cost of living crisis, with rising inflation and precarious employment and high costs for essentials. “I think this [lack of outrage] really shows where young people’s focus and priorities are today,” continues Nur Sobah. “It’s not that we don’t care about history or justice; we’re just trying to survive.” “Idealistically, Suharto should not even be considered as a national hero,” agrees Jakarta content creator, Alma al Farisi, who opposed the award. “But then once we go into the outside world: we’re living and we’re going to work or we’re going to class, and it’s like: we have to live. We have to be realistic.” Social scientist Dr. Yanuar Nugroho says that while there were young people at both poles on the Suharto decision - some who see it as “blatant whitewashing” and others who see him as “a symbol of order and stability” - the largest group lay in between: “those who view the controversy as yet another elite dispute, distant from the realities of their daily struggles.” That fits with what Kennedy Muslim, an analyst and researcher at polling firm Indikator Politik Indonesia, calls an “intriguing trend of complacency toward democracy by Indonesian Gen Zs”. Muslim points to research indicating higher levels of satisfaction with democracy among younger people, “despite the deteriorating quality of Indonesian democracy for the past decade”. Some analysts see regional parallels, such as in the Marcos family’s return to power in the Philippines, 20 years after martial law was overthrown. Fading memories Those most strongly against the decision often have relatives who were directly effected by Suharto’s authoritarian rule. Yansen, 22, a Chinese-Indonesian student from Jakarta, says his community still experiences discrimination as a legacy of Suharto’s crackdowns. Making him a hero “is not a good decision”, he says. “There’s all this trauma, and the government still just closes their eyes.” Yansen posts short, jokey videos about politics online, including some bemoaning the national hero designation, but says they prompted a wave of pro-Suharto and anti-Chinese comments. Young people “don’t know what kind of sins Suharto did,” he says. “They aren’t teaching us about the dark history.” Most Gen Zs, however – born after 1997 – weren’t alive when he was ousted. Yansen says he was never taught about the regime’s violence in school, and believes many young Indonesians simply don’t know. “The memory was never properly transferred, or at least institutionally transferred, to the younger generation,” says Nathanael Gratias Sumaktoyo, assistant professor of political science at the National University of Singapore. Only the most sanitised version is taught in schools, he says. He fears that historical amnesia could now be compounding – particularly given recently announced plans to rewrite the history curriculum to emphasise national pride in a “positive” tone. “Even before Suharto was officially designated a national hero, we never talked about the abuses and violence that happened under his watch. But now he’s a national hero, it’s going to be even more difficult,” he says. “The more difficult it is to talk about it, the weaker the memory of future generations will be.” Additional reporting by Hanaa Septiana

Schools close in New Zealand after play sand recalled over asbestos fears

Multiple schools have temporarily closed in New Zealand and hundreds of education facilities are seeking advice from officials after asbestos was detected in several brands of widely used coloured play sand. Last week, the ministry for business, innovation and employment confirmed a voluntary recall was under way for two brands of coloured sand sold in New Zealand, after testing in Australia found asbestos in similar products. The recall was expanded on Saturday, after the faculty of asbestos management of Australia and New Zealand identified tremolite asbestos in four additional sand products – the 14-piece sandcastle building set and the blue, green and pink Magic Sand sets – sold at major retailer, Kmart. “Testing of a range of similar products is under way, so at this point we cannot say for certain if these are the only products that are contaminated,” said Ian Caplin, the ministry’s product safety spokesperson said on Saturday. The Guardian contacted Kmart for comment. Tremolite asbestos is a naturally occurring form of asbestos. The Australian competition and consumer commission said respirable asbestos had not been detected in its samples, and the release of fibres was unlikely, unless the sand was crushed or pulverised. “The risk that any asbestos found is likely to be airborne or fine enough for inhalation is low,” it said. However, officials in both Australia and New Zealand advised education providers and individuals who had brought the products to immediately stop using the sand, and follow guidelines for how to safely dispose of it. New Zealand’s ministry for education said as of Sunday, 150 schools and 90 early childhood centres had sought advice from officials. The ministry could not yet confirm how many schools and preschools had closed on Monday, but multiple schools alerted their communities of closures on their websites and in posts to social media. Clearview primary in Rolleston, in the South Island, told parents the school would be closed for up to three days “out of an abundance of caution”. The classrooms would be professionally tested for asbestos, the school said. Tuia Burnside Primary School in Christchurch would also close on Monday. “While the risk to our staff and students is considered very low, WorkSafe has advised us to close tomorrow as a precaution so we can complete testing and ensure all learning spaces are safe,” it said in a post to Facebook. The education ministry’s spokesperson, Sean Teddy, said parents and caregivers would understandably feel worried about the presence of asbestos. “We recommend they contact Healthline with any health concerns they may have about their children who may have come into contact with these products,” Teddy said. More than seventy public schools and preschools in the Australian Capital Territory had closed, after the alert.

Far-right candidate José Antonio Kast favourite to become Chile’s next president after first round vote

The ultraconservative lawyer, José Antonio Kast, is in pole position to become Chile’s next leader after advancing to the second round of the South American country’s presidential election where he will face the Communist party candidate Jeannette Jara. With more than 70% of votes counted, Kast had secured about 24% of the vote in Sunday’s first round vote, having campaigned on hard-line promises to crack down on crime and immigration, while making a Donald Trump-style pledge to “put Chileans first”. Jara won slightly more support, with about 26% of votes going to the former labor minister for Chile’s outgoing centre-left president, Gabriel Boric. But other right-wing candidates took almost 30% of votes meaning Kast is now the clear favourite to win the run-off on 14 December. Shortly after the result became clear on Sunday night, the radical libertarian Johannes Kaiser, another right-wing candidate who took about 14% of votes, announced he would endorse his far-right rival, “because the alternative is Mrs Jara” and Chile’s “lefty impoverishers”. Evelyn Matthei, another conservative who won about 13% of votes, quickly followed suit, citing the “absolutely uncontrolled arrival” of migrants and claiming Chile needed a “sharp change of direction”. “Please support Kast … It’s super important that this government does not remain in power. We have too many problems,” Matthei told voters while on stage beside the frontrunner. Boric congratulated both candidates for making it to the second round after what Chile’s president called a “spectacular day of democracy”. Speaking in the capital, Santiago, Jara thanked supporters and urged them not to forget that Chile was a great country, despite her right-wing rivals’ attempts to claim it had gone to the dogs. Kast, 59, is making his third run for Chile’s presidency, having lost to Boric in 2021, and has built his campaign around two key promises: combating crime and immigration. One of Kast’s Trumpian plans – called Escudo Fronterizo (Border Shield) – foresees the construction of miles of ditches, barriers and walls along Chile’s northern border to keep migrants out. More than half a million Venezuelans have come to Chile in recent years as a result of their country’s economic collapse. “Chile has been invaded … but this is over,” Kast declared in one campaign ad. In October, Kast celebrated that 1.6 million migrants had “self-deported” from the US after 500,000 were deported under Trump. “That’s [a proportion of] three-to-one. Here, we think that it can be four-to-one, or five-to-one,” he said of his plans to create a hostile environment for immigrants in Chile. Another of Kast’s key pledges is a crackdown on foreign criminals, inspired by El Salvador’s authoritarian leader Nayib Bukele, who has imprisoned at least 2% of his country’s adult population since 2022. Public security has become one of the election’s central issues thanks to an increase in crimes such as assassinations, kidnapping and extortion, although Chile remains one of the region’s safest countries. Kast’s progress will be celebrated in Washington, where Trump officials such as secretary of state Marco Rubio have hailed a conservative wave they believe is sweeping South America. Last month, neighbouring Bolivia elected a centre-right president after 20 years of socialist rule. Rightwing candidates look well placed to win presidential elections in Colombia and Peru next year, while the leftwing veteran Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva faces a tough battle to hang on to the presidency in Brazil despite ex-president Jair Bolsonaro’s recent sentencing for masterminding a failed coup.