It's the trans rights row that has gripped Ireland for well over a year – putting an otherwise unremarkable history teacher at the heart of the country's culture wars for his refusal to use a trans pupil's pronouns. 

Enoch Burke – who taught History and German – refused to refer to a transitioning transgender student as 'they' rather than 'he' in May last year.

It sparked a chain of events that has led to him being jailed for repeatedly showing up at Wilson's Hospital School in County Westmeath after being sacked, and entering the staff room saying he was there to do his job. 

Now he remains in Dublin's Mountjoy Prison with no prospect of release because he refuses to comply with a court order to stay away from the school premises. 

Meanwhile, Burke's loyal family continue to protest at the school, maintaining he's being persecuted for his Christian beliefs – while supporters insist the whole 'country is behind him'. 

However, others less sympathetic to the cause view his stubborn refusal and his family's protests as attention seeking, with one newspaper columnist pointing out that the Burkes 'like to get their own way'.  

The row broke out more than a year ago, when during a meeting with the headteacher and his deputy, Burke said that his Evangelical Christian beliefs meant he 'opposed transgenderism'.

Following this, Burke publicly criticised the headteacher's 'demand' that staff use students' chosen pronouns, following a service at the Church of Ireland school to celebrate its 260th anniversary

Burke was accused of 'breaching the confidence' of the transitioning student, and as a result, the teacher was suspended with pay and later fired for gross misconduct in August last year.

However, Burke continued showing up at the school – prompting his former employer to obtain a court order to get him to stay away.

In September last year, Burke was jailed for 100 days for ignoring the court order.

During an appeal, the teacher argued that he was being imprisoned because of his Christian beliefs.

After being released, Burke was imprisoned for the second time in September this year for refusing to stay away from the school again – and has been told he will remain in prison indefinitely until he agrees to comply with the court order.

Here FEMAIL delves into the case that has gripped Ireland – as Burke's family campaigns for his release without having to 'endorse transgenderism'.

Beginning of trans row

Last Spring, headteacher Niamh McShane sent an email to her staff informing them of the student's new name and pronouns.

After receiving the email, Burke is said to have raised his issue with the change of pronouns during a staff meeting on May 10 last year. 

While giving evidence in a later trial, deputy headteacher John Galligan said that Burke 'erupted' during the meeting and 'changed colour completely'.

According to the former deputy head, Burke – whose 'forte' was said to have been extracurricular debating – spoke for a 'good five to eight minutes'.

After this, guidance counsellor Freda Malone told a court that she approached Burke to tell him she was sorry he was so upset and noted that he had tears in his eyes. 

In a follow-up meeting between the headteacher, her deputy and Burke, Mr Galligan claimed the jailed teacher repeated how he was 'opposed to transgenderism' as a result of his religion. 

Following this, Burke is said to have publicly interjected after a religious service celebrating the school's 260th anniversary to criticise Ms McShane's supposed 'demand' that staff refer to the student by their chosen pronouns.

Following the chapel service, Burke is alleged to have approached the headteacher at a meal where he asked her to withdraw her 'demand' again.

As a result of this, the headteacher believed Burke was guilty of gross misconduct – as other students may not have been aware the student was transitioning. 

Ms Freda Malone, who worked at the school as a guidance counsellor, claims Burke 'breached the confidence' of the student on two occasions during that occasion.

Speaking at a High Court hearing in March this year, Ms Malone said the headteacher was escorted home by other guests at the event and they later 'formed a ring' around her home out of concern for her safety.

Discussing the incidents in court, headteacher Ms McShane – who stepped down amid the controversy – said: 'The public statement of his refusal to accept transgenderism in the chapel… it was as [if] the school had demanded to accept transgenderism, which was not the case, so it was a misrepresentation of what happened. 

'What I asked is that we could support the student in their request, that is very different to ask the staff to accept transgenderism.'

Initial Suspension and Protest 

In August last year, Ms McShane submitted a stage-four report to the chair of the board John Rogers about Burke's outbursts – which prompted the representative to arrange a meeting with the teacher.

The purpose of the meeting was to decide if Burke should be suspended or face any kind of disciplinary action.

Burke's sister Ammi is said to have joined him for the meeting – which was adjourned for 15 minutes by Rodgers, who said it was 'going nowhere'.

When the representatives returned to the meeting room, the Burkes had left.

After this, the board made the unanimous decision to place Burke on paid leave while they dealt with the misconduct allegation. 

According to Galligan, there were growing concerns 'about what [Burke's] next protest might be and the form it would take' in the new school year.

Despite being put on leave, Burke is said to have attended a staff meeting at the start of the school year.

After repeatedly arriving on school grounds, Burke was allegedly asked to leave 'every hour' by the deputy head.

The ex-deputy head said: '[Burke] would be there for the day, standing in the room reading from a book. That’s where he remained.'

Galligan says Burke refused to leave the premises - insisting he was 'there to work and attend meetings'. 

In May 2023, the Irish High Court ruled that the school had acted lawfully in suspending Burke and said Enoch had been 'trespassing' on their grounds.

First prison sentence 

In an attempt to keep Burke away from the premises while they conducted the investigation, the school took out a temporary court order against the teacher – which still didn't deter him.

In August last year, Enoch was sued by the school for his failure to comply with the court order and later arrested for being in contempt of court.

At his initial hearing on September 6 that year, Burke told Judge Quinn: 'I am a teacher and I don't want to go to prison. I want to be in my classroom today, that's where I was this morning when I was arrested.'

'I love my school, with its motto Res Non Verba, actions not words, but I am here today because I said I would not call a boy a girl.'

When the case went to the High Court the following week, Burke, who was representing himself, maintained that he would not purge his contempt of court for violating the order, insisting that he was being persecuted for his faith. 

When asked by Judge Eileen Roberts if he would abide by the order, Burke said: ‘I cannot do that. I go back to jail as a law-abiding citizen of the state always. But God first.’ 

Addressing the court, Burke said: ‘The question is not will I purge my contempt but how this court order could have been granted?

‘The court is asking me to purge my contempt, but this court has robbed me of my constitutional right. It was wrong what the court did. How can I purge my contempt of that which is wrong?’

But Judge Roberts disagreed with his argument. The teacher was escorted out of the court to prison by three prison guards to loud applause from the public gallery with many hollering: ‘The country is with you Enoch.’

Dozens of people packed the public gallery shouting ‘disgrace’ and ‘shame’ following the judge’s decision.

The teacher served more than 100 days before being released on December 21 last year on an 'open-ended- basis.

Eventual Dismissal and €15,000 fine

On January 18, Burke and his family interrupted a school board meeting, which was being held at the Mullingar Park Hotel in Westmeath.

During the meeting, the board heard Ms McShane's report into Burke's misconduct. 

The family took issue to the fact that chairman John Rogers – who had held the initial meeting with Burke – was not present. In a High Court hearing, it was revealed that Rogers had not attended the meeting due to illness.

The Burkes could reportedly be heard chanting in the hallway: 'It's a sham. It's a cover-up.' 

Gardaí had to escort board members from a Mullingar hotel while they were being followed by members of Burke's family 

Two days later, it was announced that Burke had officially been dismissed from his position at the school for intimidating and harassing a colleague and breaching the confidence of the child who was in the process of transitioning.

At the time, a statement from the school read: 'He was informed in person at 3:30pm this afternoon in the presence of chairperson of the board of management Rogers and principal Frank Milling that he was dismissed.' 

One week later, the High Court ruled that Burke would be fined €700 a day if he continued ignoring the court order which requires him to stay away from the school. 

Burke appealed the board's decision to dismiss him – which resulted in the case going to the Irish High Court in March.

Justice Owens excluded the teacher on the first day after he continually interrupted proceedings and refused to comply with rules.

Scenes of pandemonium broke out at the Court of Appeal, as Burke, his parents and three of his siblings were physically dragged out of the courtroom by gardaí. 

Enoch's mother, Martina Burke, accused the judges of 'bowing to the altar of transgenderism' while waving a copy of the Constitution. 

His sister Ammi, a solicitor, also attempted to argue with the judges mid-ruling, saying her brother's constitutional rights were not being upheld.

Judge Birmingham asked her to sit down, and then requested that gardaí remove her from the courtroom.

During the hearing, Freda Malone said the school was concerned for the transgender student's safety and feared Burke would continue making public protests in front of other students.

Meanwhile, Galligan discussed Burke's initial outburst at the staff meeting and his repeated attempts to remove the teacher from the premises during his suspension.

Following the hearing, Justice Owens made an order restraining Burke from trespassing on the school premises – but noted that this did not prevent him from being outside the gates.

In July, Burke was ordered to pay €15,000 to Wilson's Hospital School to cover their legal fees and for damages.

Appearing before Justice Alexander Owens, Burke said that objecting to people being transgender was his right. 

Indefinite prison sentence 

In September, Burke was jailed for a second time after refusing to comply with the High Court order.

The school's new headteacher Frank Milling said that having to lock doors was creating a health and safety issue for faculty. 

On top of this, the headteacher said he was unable to carry out some of his everyday duties as he has to monitor Burke – who has been known to follow cars through the gates.

After gaining access by following a bus in January, Milling – who has expressed concern for how the situation is impacting current students – told Burke: 'Stop. Stop. Get off the property.'  

Despite being removed from the premises by two uniformed gardaí, Burke returned to the gates following his release later that same day. 

Speaking at the gates, Burke told local press that he had been 'wrongfully arrested' for trespassing and insisted he has 'broken no laws' and 'done nothing wrong', the Irish Independent reports.

Justice Mark Heslin said there was 'no dispute' that Burke has 'fragrantly breached' court orders to stay away from the school.

As a result, the judge ordered that Burke remain in prison 'indefinitely' until he agrees to follow the court order and not return to his old workplace.

After finding Burke to be in contempt of court, Heslin asked the teacher on three occasions if he understood the order against him. However, Burke remained silent. 

Burke was returned to Mountjoy Prison – where he spent his first prison sentence – and was told he could be released if he agreed to stay away from the school. The former teacher has been imprisoned at the facility since September 8 and has been participating in court hearings via video link.

In November, Burke's father Sean and brother Isaac were physically removed from the Court of Appeal for interrupting Justice John Edwards.

Last week, Burke's mother Martina and sister Ammi were removed from the Court of Appeal after they began shouting at barristers and the judge upon entry.

The pair demanded that Eoin Lawlor BL – who is acting as the counsel for the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission – leave the courtroom.

On top of this, they accused the court of 'making a fool' of Enoch and said it was 'corrupt' that the teacher had to contribute via video-link while Lawlor was present.

Last night, Burke's family protested outside the Wilson's Hospital School, which was hosting their annual carol concert.

His mother held a sign reading: 'Enoch Burke stood for school ethos and is in Mountjoy for Christmas.'

His brother's sign read: 'Enoch Burke jailed for his Christian belief.' 

'Christmas in Mountjoy for Christian teacher,' his father's sign read. 

Daily Mail

The genes that boost fertility mean you're more likely to die younger, according to a new study.

One of the puzzles of evolution is why we peter out into old age once we can no longer reproduce.

Now, scientists believe that aging may actually be a consequence of how we evolved to reproduce, and it's all a result of natural selection over millions of years.

A study analyzing the genes of 276,406 UK Biobank participants found that people carrying gene variances promoting reproduction are less likely to survive to old age.

"We confirm a hypothesis called the antagonistic pleiotropy hypothesis, which says that mutations promoting reproduction are more likely to reduce life span," said Jianzhi Zhang, of the University of Michigan in the US and senior author of the study in the journal Science.

According to the research, people carrying genetic variances promoting reproduction were more likely to die by the age of 76. The study also shows that genetic variances promoting reproduction increased over generations from 1940 to 1969, meaning humans are still evolving and strengthening the trait.

"This shows the evolutionary pattern of high reproduction and low survival [and vice versa] is still visible in modern humans. Our gene variants are the product of hundreds of thousands of years of evolution. What's surprising is that despite our far better health than ever before, this pattern is still visible," said Steven Austad, an expert in aging research at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, in the US, who wasn't involved in the study.

Why aren't humans more fertile in old age?

Scientists have been puzzling over the evolutionary origins of aging for some time. It's unclear why, from an evolutionary perspective, our reproductive performance declines with age. Surely being more fertile in old age would be evolutionary advantageous, giving us more time to pass on our genes?

Not so, according to the antagonistic pleiotropy hypothesis. The hypothesis states that the benefits of fertility in early life are responsible for the dreadful cost of aging. This new study now provides robust evidence from a huge sample of humans to back it up.

"This idea is that some traits [and genetic variants that cause them] are important when we are young, helping us grow strong and be fertile. But, when we get older, those same traits can start causing problems and make us fragile and unhealthy. It's like some mutations having two sides: a good side when we're young, and a not-so-good side when we're old," said Arcadi Navarro Cuartiellas, a geneticist at the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain who was not involved in the study.

One example is the effects of menopause and fertility loss in women. Eggs, sometimes called ova, deplete during a woman's lifetime. This makes a person more fertile in young adulthood, but results in loss of fertility later in life through menopause.

Biologists think the benefits of regular cycles for reproduction may outweigh the cost of infertility in older age. The downside is that menopause speeds up aging.

"Another example is, say, a gene variant enhances fertility so that a woman is more likely to have twins. Evolutionarily that might be advantageous, because she will potentially leave more copies of that variant than women who have single babies. But having twins leads to more wear and tear on her body so she ages more quickly. That would be an antagonistically pleiotropic process," said Austad.

The converse is true as well. A gene variant that reduces fertility early in life will likely cause a person to have fewer or no children, so that the person ages more slowly, Austad added.

But how does the environment affect aging?

The antagonistic pleiotropy hypothesis does have its criticisms, however. For one, it doesn't account for the huge effects of the environment and socioeconomic changes on aging, and nor does this study.

After all, humans are living longer than ever before in history, and it's mostly due to better health care rather than genetic evolution.

"These trends of phenotypic changes are primarily driven by environmental shifts including changes of lifestyles and technologies," said Zhang. "This contrast indicates that, compared with environmental factors, genetic factors play a minor role in the human phenotypic changes studied here."

Austad said a surprising outcome of the study was that reproductive genes had such a strong and observable effect on aging.

"Environmental factors are so important that I'm really surprised patterns [observed in this study] were still visible despite their importance. I think that is the advantage of having hundreds of thousands of individuals in a study," he said.

Research could have implications for aging

The antagonistic pleiotropy hypothesis had "mountains of evidence before this paper but not for humans," according to Austad. But the research in humans, and with such a huge sample size, means the study could be important for understanding aging-related diseases.

"Ultimately, some of these variants could now be examined to see if they link to certain later life health problems, so that those problems can be monitored closely and possibly prevented," Austad told DW.

Scientists think the hypothesis could help explain why many serious genetic disorders are prevalent in our long evolutionary history.

Sickle cell anemia is a good example of antagonistic pleiotropy – whereby an inherited blood disorder which causes anemia actually evolved as a protective mechanism against malaria.

Zhang told DW that antagonistic pleiotropy may also be at play in Huntington's disease.

"Mutations causing Huntington's disease, a neurodegenerative disorder, also increase fecundity [the possible number of offspring produced]," Zhang said.

Mutations in the gene which causes Huntington's disease have also been hypothesized to lower rates of cancer.

Zhang said the paper could also have implications for the rising science of anti-aging.

"In theory, one could tinker with those antagonistically pleiotropic mutations to prolong life, but the downside would be reducing or delaying reproduction," said Zhang.

DW

Nigeria's annual inflation rose in November for the 11th straight month to the highest level in 18 years, adding pressure on the central bank to tackle the rise amid a worsening cost-of-living crisis in Africa's largest economy.

Consumer inflation rose to 28.20% in November from 27.33% in October, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Friday.

The last time Nigerians experienced this level of inflation was in August 2005, official data shows.

On Dec. 13, the World Bank warned Nigeria to control inflation, and tasked the central bank to tighten monetary policy, build market confidence around free foreign exchange pricing and phase out so-called "ways and means" advances to the government.

Price rises for food and non-alcoholic beverages were the biggest driver of annual inflation in November, the statistics bureau said.

Food inflation, which accounts for the bulk of Nigeria's inflation basket, rose to 32.84% in November from 31.52% a month earlier.

New Central Bank Governor Olayemi Cardoso has vowed to phase out the bank's fiscal intervention programs in a bid to tame inflation.

Cardoso said the central bank plans to tighten policy over the next two quarters to manage inflation, after restarting its Open Market Operations (OMO) to help rein in money supply.

Despite President Bola Tinubu’s reforms, the country has struggled with foreign exchange shortages, low oil revenue and theft of crude oil, its main export and forex earner.

Analysts said naira depreciation, higher fuel and food prices, logistics costs and money supply growth, were some of the major drivers of Nigeria's inflation.

Inflation in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, has risen to double-digits since 2016, eroding incomes and savings, despite the central bank hiking interest rates to their highest level in nearly two decades at its last meeting.

The central bank, at its last monetary policy meeting in July, opted for a smaller-than-expected 25 basis point hike, saying it preferred a moderate increase to anchor inflation expectations while continuing to support investment.

Reuters

Federation account allocation committee (FAAC) says it shared N1,088.783 trillion with the three tiers of government in November 2023.

FAAC disclosed this in a communique issued at the end of its meeting in Abuja on Friday.

The amount disbursed in November represents an increase of N181.82 billion compared to October’s allocation of N906.955 billion.

According to the communique, a total revenue of N1.620 trillion was earned in November 2023. 

Out of the gross revenue, the deduction for the cost of collection was N60.960 billion; while total transfers, interventions and refunds were N470.592 billion.  

Meanwhile, from the N1.088 trillion distributable revenue, N376.306 billion was for statutory revenue, value-added tax (VAT) revenue was N335.656 billion, electronic money transfer levy (EMTL) revenue was N11.952 billion and exchange difference revenue was N364.869 billion.  

In the communique, the breakdown of the N1.088 allocation showed that the federal government received N402.867 billion, the states received N351.697 billion, local governments received N258.810 billion, while oil-producing states received N75.410 billion as 13 percent derivation.

FAAC said from the N376.306 billion distributable statutory revenue, the federal government received N174.908 billion, states received N88.716 billion and local government councils received N68.396 billion. 

The committee added that N44.286 billion was shared with the benefiting states as 13 percent derivation revenue.

FAAC also said from the distributable VAT of N335.656 billion, FG got N50.348 billion, states received N167.828 billion, while local governments received N117.480 billion.

N11.952 billion from the EMTL, according to FAAC, was distributed to the federal government (N1.793 billion), states (N5.976 billion), and local governments (N4.183 billion).

In addition, the committee said gross statutory revenue received for the month was N882.561 billion, with various taxes such as company income tax, excise duty, petroleum profit tax, and VAT significantly increased.

FAAC said the balance in the excess crude account remained at $473.754 million.

The Cable

Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) says there is a high level of corruption across various sectors in the three arms of government and private sector.

The Provost of the Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria, Tunde Babawale, a professor, said this at the validation meeting of the Nigeria Corruption Index (NCI) Survey in Abuja

Babawale said that the findings put corruption level within the legislative, judicial, and executive arms of government and private sector at 42 per cent between 2022 and 2023.

”All the sectors have been found culpable and found to be highly corrupt, the legislature, the judiciary and the executive, all of them have been found to be corrupt

”Although at the level of the state, the score differs from one state to the other, but the bottom line is that there is an overall score that we found is that over 42 per cent in our own scale is highly corrupt for the entire country.”

According to him, it is observed that corruption has become so pervasive that Nigerians need to embark on a change of attitude, change of mindset and change of behaviour.

“Meaning that people must begin to develop a high intolerance level for corruption as we are now, there is a high level of tolerance for corruption in the country.

“And, they don’t see it as a very scandalous and shocking development as it used to be in the past. We should begin to train the youth and even the old on how to develop this anti-corruption antigen,” he said.

He explained that the validation meeting was for a national survey that was carried out in 2022 which was called the Nigerian Corruption Index (NCI).

According to him, the NCI is to survey the extent of grand corruption in Nigeria, to look at the various sectors that are mostly affected by corruption as well as overall Nigerian thought in corruption.

He said the NCI focused on corruption in high places, especially the three arms of government as well as the private sector.

He noted that there had been other surveys on corruption by the National Bureau of Statistics and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime which were largely based on perception devoted to identifying the problem relating to petty corruption.

He said: “The difference in what we are doing is that we are surveying the impact of the effect of grand corruption and we are also looking at it from the perspective of different sectors of society, the legislature, the executive, the judiciary, as well as the sub-national government.

“So, the thinking that it is better for us to talk about grand corruption because of the greatest impact on living conditions of Nigerians when policemen collect bribes on the roadside – that has effects, but not as much as somebody stealing N109 billion.

”So, we want to weigh the impact of such on society, how it differs from one sector to the other, and the ultimate objective is also to ensure that we are able to advise the government on policies that should be put in place in order to develop anti-corruption initiatives and interventions.”

Roles of private sector

He expressed concerns on the findings of the NCI which discovered that people had trivialised corruption, and that the private sector fuelled corrupt practices in the public sector.

“One of the things we found out is that people have built the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility fraudulently. They have used it to disguise corruption and to also disguise the perpetration of corruption between the private and public sector.

“What I mean by that, private companies sometimes bring out the concept of corporate social responsibility as real corporate social responsibility, when what it is, is actually perpetuating corruption by giving officials bribes and even equipment.

“Some get cars bought for them and all of it we found out in the course of our survey. So, the government has to take a look at that. And purge it of all those impunity.”

Government action

He said there was the need for the government to look to legislative oversights sometimes used as a tool and channel for corruption.

“There is need for the government to purge the legislate oversight of a tendency by some people to also use it to take money from both the private and public sector.

“Some in the survey claimed that they sponsored trips for legislative oversights, which should not be, because the government made provision for that. That has to be addressed.

“And lastly, the overall thing that was observed is that corruption has become so pervasive that we need to embark on a change of attitude, change of mindset and change of behavior,” he said.

The NCI project

Elijah Okebukola, a profrssor and Lead researcher on the project Nigeria Corruption Index (NCI), noted that what the index did was that it measured corruption at different levels.

He said that their findings revealed that there was a high level of corruption at virtually every sphere of the sectors across Nigeria’s three arms of government.

“We have found that there is a high level of corruption at virtually every sphere of sectors in the country, in every level of government in all the spheres what index does is that it measures corruption at different levels,” he said.

Secretary of the commission, Clifford Oparaodu, represented by the Director of Legal, Henry Emorie, said that NCI was a tool aimed at helping the commission to better understand the fight against grand corruption in the country.

Oparaodu noted that everybody was experiencing the pervasive impact of corruption, which described corruption as a cankerworm that had insidiously woven its way into the fabric of the society, causing immeasurable damage to the nation.

While noting that the meeting would help to shed light on the area of concern as highlighted in the NCI data, he called for collective efforts to fight corruption in government and in the private sector.

NAN

The Supreme Court on Friday overturned a judgment by a lower court that dropped terrorism charges against separatist leader Nnamdi Kanu, ruling that trial on the charges should continue.

Kanu, a British citizen who leads the banned Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), disappeared from Nigeria after skipping bail in 2017. He was arrested in Kenya in 2021 and charged with terrorism.

Friday's ruling by Lawal Garba reinstating Kanu's seven-count terrorism trial at a lower federal court has effectively extended his detention, which began two years ago after his arrest.

"Even though illegalities were committed with the deployment of brutal force to invade his home after he was granted bail and the extraordinary rendition (from Kenya) into the country, there is no legislation yet that has ousted the jurisdiction of the court to try him," Garba said.

Kanu had denied the charges of terrorism and knowingly broadcasting falsehoods, which are linked to social media posts he issued between 2018 and last year.

Kanu's IPOB campaigns for the secession of a part of southeastern Nigeria where the majority belong to the Igbo ethnic group. Nigerian authorities have labeled IPOB a terrorist organisation.

An attempt by the southeastern region to secede as the Republic of Biafra in 1967 - the year that Kanu was born - triggered a three-year civil war that killed more than 1 million people.

Reuters

Israeli military says it mistakenly killed 3 Israeli hostages in battle-torn part of Gaza

Israeli troops mistakenly shot three hostages to death Friday in a battle-torn neighborhood of Gaza City, and an Israeli strike killed a Palestinian journalist in the south of the besieged territory, underscoring the ferocity of Israel’s ongoing onslaught.

The deaths were announced as a U.S. envoy tried to persuade the Israelis to scale back their campaign sooner rather than later.

The hostages were killed in the Gaza City area of Shijaiyah, where troops have been engaged in fierce fighting with Hamas militants in recent days. The soldiers mistakenly identified the three Israelis as a threat and opened fire on them, said the army’s chief spokesman, Daniel Hagari.

He said it was believed that the three had either fled their captors or been abandoned.

“Perhaps in the last few days, or over the past day, we still don’t know all the details, they reached this area,” Hagari said. He said the army expressed “deep sorrow” and was investigating.

Hamas and other militants abducted more than 240 people in the Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war, and the hostages’ plight has dominated public discourse in Israel ever since. Their families have led a powerful public campaign calling on the government to do more to bring them home.

Demonstrations in solidarity with the hostages and their families take place nearly every day. Late Friday, hundreds of protesters blocked Tel Aviv’s main highway in a spontaneous demonstration calling for the the hostages’ return.

Israeli political and military leaders often say freeing all the hostages is their top aim in the war alongside destroying Hamas.

Still, in seven weeks since ground troops pushed into northern Gaza, they have not rescued any hostages, though they freed one early in the conflict and have found the bodies of several others. Hamas released over 100 in swaps for Palestinian prisoners last month, and more than 130 are believed to still be in captivity.

The three hostages were identified as young men who had been abducted from Israeli communities near the Gaza border — Yotam Haim, 28, Samer Al-Talalka 25, and Alon Shamriz, 26.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called their deaths an “unbearable tragedy” and vowed to continue “with a supreme effort to return all the hostages home safely.”

In southern Gaza, the Al Jazeera television network said an Israeli strike Friday in the city of Khan Younis killed cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa and wounded its chief correspondent in Gaza, Wael Dahdouh. The two were reporting at a school that had been hit by an earlier airstrike when a drone launched a second strike, the network said.

Khan Younis has been the main target of Israel’s ground offensive in the south.

Speaking from a hospital bed, Dahdouh told the network that he managed to walk to an ambulance. But Abu Daqqa lay bleeding in the school and died hours later. An ambulance tried to reach the school to evacuate him but had to turn back because roads were blocked by the rubble of destroyed houses, it said.

Dahdouh, a veteran of covering Israel-Gaza wars whose wife and children were killed by an Israeli strike earlier in the war, was wounded by shrapnel in his right arm.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Abu Daqqa is the 64th journalist to be killed since the conflict erupted: 57 Palestinians, four Israelis and three Lebanese journalists.

Palestinian U.N. Ambassador Riyad Mansour told a General Assembly meeting on the war that Israel “targets those who could document (their) crimes and inform the world, the journalists.”

“We mourn one of those journalists, Samer Abu Daqqa, wounded in an Israeli drone strike and left to bleed to death for six hours while ambulances were prevented from reaching him,” Mansour said.

The Israeli army did not immediately respond to an Associated Press request for comment about Abu Daqqa’s death.

Israel’s offensive has flattened much of northern Gaza and driven 80% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million from their homes. Displaced people have squeezed into shelters mainly in the south in a spiraling humanitarian crisis.

The offensive has killed more than 18,700 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza. Thousands more are missing and feared dead beneath the rubble. The ministry does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths. Its latest count did not specify how many were women and minors, but they have consistently made up around two-thirds of the dead in previous tallies.

While battered by the Israeli onslaught, Hamas has continued its attacks. On Friday it fired rockets from Gaza toward central Israel, setting off sirens in Jerusalem for the first time in weeks but causing no injuries. The group’s resilience called into question whether Israel can defeat it without wiping out the entire territory.

Israelis remain strongly supportive of the war and see it as necessary to prevent a repeat of the Hamas attack, in which militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians. A total of 116 soldiers have been killed in the ground offensive, which began Oct. 27.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has expressed unease over Israel’s failure to reduce civilian casualties and its plans for the future of Gaza, but the White House continues to offer wholehearted support with weapons shipments and diplomatic backing.

Israeli airstrikes and tank shelling continued Friday, including in Khan Younis and in Rafah, which is one of the shrinking areas of tiny, densely populated Gaza to which Palestinian civilians have been told by Israel to evacuate. Details on many of the strikes could not be confirmed because communications services have been down across Gaza since late Thursday because of fighting.

In meetings with Israeli leaders on Thursday and Friday, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan discussed a timetable for winding down the intense combat phase of the war.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told Sullivan that it would take months to destroy Hamas, but he did not say whether his estimate referred to the current phase of heavy airstrikes and ground battles.

“There is no contradiction between saying the fight is going to take months and also saying that different phases will take place at different times over those months, including the transition from the high-intensity operations to more targeted operations,” Sullivan said Friday.

Sullivan also met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss Gaza’s postwar future. A senior U.S. official said one idea being floated is to bring back Palestinian security forces driven from their jobs in Gaza by Hamas in its 2007 takeover.

Any role for Palestinian security forces in Gaza is bound to elicit strong opposition from Israel, which seeks to maintain an open-ended security presence there. Netanyahu has said he will not allow a postwar foothold for the Abbas-led Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The U.S. has said it eventually wants to see the West Bank and Gaza under a “ revitalized Palestinian Authority “ as a precursor to a Palestinian state — an idea soundly rejected by Netanyahu, who leads a right-wing government that is opposed to Palestinian statehood.

Palestinian officials have said they will consider a postwar role in Gaza only in the context of concrete U.S.-backed steps toward statehood.

In the meeting, Abbas called for an immediate cease-fire and ramped-up aid to Gaza, and emphasized that Gaza is an integral part of the Palestinian state, according to a statement from his office. It made no mention of conversations about postwar scenarios.

The 88-year-old Abbas is deeply unpopular, with a poll published Wednesday indicating close to 90% of Palestinians want him to resign. Meanwhile, Palestinian support for Hamas has tripled in the West Bank, with a small uptick in Gaza, according to the poll. Still, a majority of Palestinians do not back Hamas, according to the survey.

AP

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Explosions resound in Kyiv, air defence units engage Russian drones

A series of explosions resounded throughout the Ukrainian capital early on Saturday as air defence units engaged Russian drones, Reuters witnesses said.

Explosions were reported on both banks of the Dnipro River that runs through the city.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or serious damage.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko said anti-aircraft units went into action as groups of drones flew near the city. He said Russian forces were targeting areas near the city centre.

Anti-aircraft activity was heavy, he said, in Darnytskyi district on the east bank of the Dnipro and explosions also struck historic Podil on the opposite bank.

The Reuters witnesses reported loud blasts just after midnight. A new series of explosions over the next 45 minutes hit areas near Kyiv's central districts.

The witnesses said air raid sirens went off on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River, but on the western bank police warned residents of the air raid through loudspeakers.

Authorities warned of possible missile attacks in areas of Kyiv region surrounding the capital, where explosions were also reported.

Air raid alerts remained in effect in a swathe of territory stretching through the country's central regions.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

More Ukrainians willing to trade land for peace – poll

The share of Ukrainians willing to make territorial concessions to Russia in exchange for a peace deal has almost doubled since early summer, according to a new survey. However, a significant majority still believe that Ukraine can beat Russia on the battlefield with more Western weapons.

The poll, carried out by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology and released on Thursday, found that 19% of respondents would favor such a deal, up from 10% in May; 74% insisted that “under no circumstances should Ukraine give up any of its territories,” while 7% were unsure.

Of those who would back a peace deal, 71% said that Ukraine would be able to win a military victory if it received enough weapons from the West. Among those who oppose a deal, belief in the supremacy of Western arms was even stronger, with 93% agreeing that “with proper support from the West, Ukraine can achieve success.”

The pollsters surveyed 1,031 adults in Ukraine and in parts of four formerly Ukrainian regions claimed by Kiev.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has maintained since the start of the conflict that his military will retake all of Ukraine’s former territories, including Crimea. However, his long-promised summer counteroffensive failed to land Ukraine more than a handful of frontline villages and resulted in the loss of over 125,000 troops and 16,000 pieces of heavy equipment, according to the latest figures from the Russian Defense Ministry.

With the offensive halted, Zelensky is heading into 2024 with US Republicans blocking President Joe Biden’s promised $60 billion military aid package until at least mid-January. Existing US military aid is dwindling, and Zelensky has reportedly been instructed by the Pentagon to conserve what equipment remains.

Any future peace deal between Moscow and Kiev will be worse for Ukraine than the agreement proposed by the Kremlin before the conflict. In early 2022, Russia called on NATO to provide legally binding guarantees that Ukraine would not become a member of the bloc, and demanded that Ukraine abide by the 2015 Minsk agreements, which guaranteed autonomy to the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk.

Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, and Zaporozhye have all now seceded from Ukraine and joined the Russian Federation, and the Kremlin maintains that any potential settlement must take these new “territorial realities” into account. Russian President Valdimir Putin said on Thursday that Moscow seeks the “de-Nazification and demilitarization of Ukraine” as well as “neutral status” for the country, and will not stop its military operation until these goals are achieved.

Reuters/RT

Russian hydrologist Alexander Tsvetkov was detained in February 2023, after an AI system determined that his face was a 55% match to the sketch of a murderer drawn 20 years ago by a witness.

Alexander Tsvetkov, a scientist at the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Inland Water Biology, has been living a nightmare for the past 10 months. He was removed from an airplane in February, following a work trip to Krasnoyarsk, and informed that he had been identified as the author of a series of murders over 20 years ago. Investigators claimed that he and his alleged accomplice killed at least two people in Moscow and the Moscow region in August 2002, ignoring the testimonies of multiple scientists that Tsvetkov had been with them at the time of the murders. The state’s smoking gun? An AI-powered system that found a 55% match between Tsvetkov and a sketch drawn by a witness over two decades ago.

The murders that Alexander Tsvetkov stands accused of occurred on August 2nd, 2002. First, a man with whom the suspects had allegedly drunk was killed after a quarrel. That same night, they robbed a 64-year-old woman, before finally attacking and killing another woman and her 90-year-old mother under the pretext of wanting to rent an apartment.

Tsvetkov’s alleged accomplice, who came forward and admitted to the murders, identified the scientist, but there were some issues with his testimony. He claimed that Alexander had been homeless with him in Moscow, drank alcohol, and “smoked half a pack of cigarettes a day”. Only Tsvetkov had never been homeless, didn’t drink, and hadn’t smoked a cigarette in his life because of lung problems. The accomplice also recalled that Tsvetkov had ring tattoos on his fingers and a Celtic pattern on his left hand. But the scientist’s relatives say that he never had any tattoos.

Many of Alexander’s scientist colleagues testified that he had been with them hundreds of kilometers away from the place where the murders had occurred, but authorities didn’t even consider them. The hydrologist was allegedly forced to write a confession that he later retracted, and he spent the last 10 months behind bars, while his family desperately tried to get him out.

According to several news sources, despite the mountain of evidence exonerating Tsvetkov in this murder case, Russian authorities chose to trust software powered by artificial intelligence. It had found that the hydrologist’s appearance matched that of the wanted killer about 55%, which was apparently enough to warrant his imprisonment.

Alexander Tsvetkov’s case has been making news headlines in Russia for months, and following a campaign asking for his release, as well as the rumored intervention of Vladimir Putin himself, the scientist was released earlier this month. However, the charges against him have not been dropped yet, so he is not out of the woods just yet.

Putin allegedly commented that “artificial intelligence is a complex topic, and if there are any failures in this area, they need to be analyzed and appropriate conclusions are drawn”.

Oddity Central

There are many environments where it would benefit you to check any people-pleasing tendencies at the door: work, romantic relationships, even friendships.

Holidays at your in-laws’ house is not one of them, says Sara Jane Ho, a Harvard-trained etiquette expert. Ho is the founder of the finishing school Institute Sarita, host of the Netflix show “Mind Your Manners,” and author of an upcoming book, also called “Mind Your Manners.”

If an in-law lobs a passive aggressive comment or a more direct insult your way, “just agree and play along,” she says. “Be very smiley.”

Let your partner take care of their parents

No matter how rude your spouse’s parents are, it’s not your job to reprimand them, Ho says. It’s your partner’s job.

“If you want to piss off your in-laws, let your spouse do it, not you,” she says.

In the moment you should only be agreeable. And you can let your spouse do the “dirty work” of explaining to their parents why certain comments are inappropriate, Ho says.

The same rule applies when your parents say something that makes your partner uncomfortable.

“You need to take care of your parents and they need to take care of their parents,” Ho says.

If you want to piss of your in-laws, let your spouse do it, not you.

Sara Jane Ho

etiquette expert

If it doesn’t make sense to smile and agree, Ho suggests just being silent.

“Oftentimes, I feel like when people are being rude the best thing is to just not say anything,” she told CNBC Make It earlier this year. “Let everyone wallow, and let them wallow in their misbehavior.” 

Don’t let the comments or questions sour your mood during the holiday.

“The greatest power is showing that the other person doesn’t have power over you,” Ho says.

CNBC