International Glance
Saif Abu Keshek, a Spanish-Swedish national of Palestinian origin, and Thiago Avila, a Brazilian national, were detained by Israeli authorities late on Wednesday and brought to Israel, while more than 100 other pro-Palestine activists aboard the Global Sumud flotilla were taken to the Greek island of Crete.
According to the Brazilian embassy, Avila said he had been subjected to torture, beatings and mistreatment in Israeli detention.
During a monitored visit inhttps://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-extends-detention-tortured-gaza-flotilla-activists which he was separated by glass and unable to communicate freely, embashttps://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-extends-detention-tortured-gaza-flotilla-activistssy officials observed visible marks on his face. He also reported significant pain, particularly in his shoulder.
Abu Keshek was "subjected to torture and severe abuse while detained aboard the military vessel prior to transfer", the Global Sumud flotilla said, citing eyewitness testimony.
Israel extends detention of 'tortured' Gaza flotilla activists
Putin Orders Three-Day Halt to Kyiv Strikes Amid US Envoy Visit
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian military to halt strikes on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv for a period of three days beginning at midnight on Saturday, Sept. 5, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced.
The order coincides with the arrival of US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in Moscow on Saturday for diplomatic discussions regarding the war in Ukraine.
The American delegation landed at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport aboard a business jet, where they were met by Russian special representative Kirill Dmitriev, according to Russian media reports.
Peskov’s statement follows earlier remarks by Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, who speculated that Moscow would likely refrain from targeting Kyiv during the American negotiators’ stay in the region.
Revealed: Microsoft signed $125m contract with Israel during first year of Gaza war
Microsoft signed a contract worth more than $100m with the Israeli government in 2024, according to documents published on the Israeli Ministry of Finance’s Hebrew-language website, Middle East Eye can reveal.
The multimillion-dollar deal appears in Israel's annual budget-execution report for 2024, which was published by the finance ministry's accountant general in March 2025.
However, details of the Microsoft agreement were obscured within a lengthy list of procurement commitments and only surfaced following close analysis of the budget report by MEE.
Buried in the report is a list of the defence ministry's largest procurement commitments. One entry records an agreement signed in 2024 with Microsoft "for the purchase of software licensing", worth approximately 464 million shekels (about $125.4m).
Blair asked PA to remove 'Palestine' from textbooks, former UK envoy says
Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair was recently sent by Donald Trump's Board of Peace to ask the Palestinian Authority (PA) to replace any mention of the word "Palestine" in schoolbooks with the Jewish designation of "Samaria", Middle East Eye has heard.
Jeremy Greenstock, who was Britain's ambassador to the UN between 1998 and 2003, told MEE that Blair attempted to exert pressure on the PA and said that if it was serious about being seen by the Board of Peace as capable of reaching an agreement with Israel to end the war on Gaza, then the word "Palestine" should be erased from textbooks.
In a wide-ranging interview on the David Hearst Podcast, Greenstock said the demand was rejected by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Greenstock also said that his former boss was experiencing "difficulties" in his new role overseeing the postwar management of Gaza for the board.
"He recently, I understand, was asked by the Board of Peace to go to Ramallah and ask to remove from the Palestinian curriculum any mention of the word Palestine if they were to be treated by the Board of Peace as capable of coming to an agreement with Israel to end the current conflict that had stemmed from 7 October onwards," Greenstock said, adding that he received this information from a ministerial level source.
Zelensky Warns International Airlines: ‘Safe Days in Russia’s Skies Are Over’
President Volodymyr Zelensky warned international airlines and insurers on Tuesday that Russian airspace is becoming “completely unsafe” as Ukraine expands drone and missile strikes against military targets and parts of Russia’s economy supporting the war.
“The war started by Russia is closing its skies,” Zelensky said in his Tuesday evening address. “Drone-infested skies are no place for civilian aviation.”
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry and other state institutions will provide international aviation organizations with information about the risks, while foreign ambassadors in Kyiv and Moscow have been urged to relay the warning to their governments.
Zelensky said the growing danger over Russia was a direct consequence of Moscow’s intensified attacks on Ukraine, which he said have sharply increased since August.
Israeli army shoots first and finds reasons to justify mass killings later, veterans group says
Israeli veterans' organisation Breaking the Silence has accused the country's military of killing Palestinians in Gaza and later seeking evidence to justify the killings.
Nadav Weiman, the group's executive director, made the allegations in an interview with France 24, where he described “retrospective incrimination” as a process in which Palestinians killed during Israeli military operations are subsequently identified as Hamas members to justify the attacks.
Asked to explain the process, Weiman said the Israeli military and its spokespersons seek to establish the identities and alleged affiliations of people killed in air strikes, including attacks that cause large numbers of civilian casualties.
“First, we shoot, we kill, and then we think, and then we try to find a reason why it happened,” Weiman said.
He cited the Israeli military's operations around Nasser Hospital, the killing of 15 paramedics in Rafah and air strikes in Gaza that he said killed large numbers of civilians.
European Ministers Boycott Russian Counterpart After Surprise US G20 Invitation
European financial leaders staged a diplomatic revolt on Monday after the Trump administration blindsided allies by inviting sanctioned Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov to attend a US-hosted G20 finance meeting in person.
The meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, marks the first time Russia’s top financial official has attended a G20 gathering in person since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.European financial leaders staged a diplomatic revolt on Monday after the Trump administration blindsided allies by inviting sanctioned Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov to attend a US-hosted G20 finance meeting in person.
The meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, marks the first time Russia’s top financial official has attended a G20 gathering in person since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The surprise invitation by the US, which currently holds the rotating G20 presidency, triggered immediate backlash from European delegates who have spent years trying to maintain Russia’s global economic isolation.
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