TV News LIES

Japan's governing party on Saturday elected former Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi, a hard-line ultra-conservative and China hawk, as its new leader, making her likely to become the country's first female prime minister.

In a country that ranks poorly internationally for gender equality, the 64-year-old Takaichi makes history as the first female leader of Japan's long-governing conservative Liberal Democratic Party. She is one of the most conservative members of the male-dominated party.

An admirer of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Takaichi is a protege of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe 's ultra-conservative vision and a regular at the Yasukuni Shrine, seen as a symbol of Japan's wartime militarism, which could complicate Tokyo's relations with its Asian neighbors.

Takaichi beat Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, the son of popular former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, in a runoff in a vote by the LDP on Saturday.

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French photojournalist Antoni Lallican has been killed in a Russian drone strike in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian military has said.

Grigoriy Ivanchenko, a Ukrainian photojournalist working alongside Mr Lallican, was injured in the same attack on the outskirts of Komyshuvakha, a village in the Donetsk region.

The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ and IFJ) said this was the first instance of a journalist being killed by a drone in Ukraine.

Mr Lallican, a Paris-based photojournalist, had been documenting the war since March 2022 - a month after Russia launched its full-scale invasion - earning him the prestigious Victor Hugo Prize for photography in 2024.

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Hamas says that it accepts several parts of US President Donald Trump’s plan for a ceasefire in Israel’s nearly two-year war on Gaza, but that some elements of the proposal require further negotiations.

The armed group handed over its response to Trump’s 20-point plan to halt the war on Friday, an informed source told Al Jazeera, hours after Trump gave the group until Sunday to respond to the proposal.

Trump’s 20-point plan included demands for an immediate ceasefire, an exchange of all remaining 48 Israeli captives – 20 are believed to be alive – for Palestinian prisoners, the introduction of a transitional government led by an international body, and the disarmament of Hamas.

The group’s response, which did not address the issue of disarmament, stated that it had agreed “to release all occupation captives – both living and the remains – according to the exchange formula outlined in President Trump’s proposal, with the provision of field conditions necessary for the exchange”.

It added that it was ready to “immediately enter negotiations through mediators to discuss the details” of the exchange.

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US Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), a veteran voice in Republican foreign policy, has seized on the government shutdown crisis – now in its fourth day – to demand that Congress pass a serious, full-year defense appropriations bill, arguing that failure to unlock a sweeping “Trump buildup” of the military would undermine deterrence against global adversaries and jeopardize sustained support for Ukraine.

Speaking from the Senate floor on Friday, McConnell, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, delivered a sharp critique of the ongoing funding deadlock – which he squarely blamed on Democrats – warning that repeated stopgap funding measures were “devastating to US military readiness”.

Prioritizing the war in Ukraine, McConnell stressed that continued security cooperation was being monitored closely by US rivals. He directly challenged officials within the administration he suggested were seeking to curtail assistance to Kyiv.

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At least 53 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since dawn across Gaza as Israel threatened tens of thousands remaining in Gaza City with a forced order to leave, saying it was their “last opportunity” to flee or face the “full force” of Israel’s assault.

Defence Minister Israel Katz wrote on X on Wednesday that anyone who stayed would be considered “terrorists and terror supporters”.

The continuous bombardment of Gaza City has razed the territory’s largest urban centre, killing dozens of people daily, destroying numerous residential buildings and schools, and forcing tens of thousands of Palestinians to flee to an unknown fate to the south, often targeted on the way.

Reporting from the al-Rashid Street on Thursday, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said the Israeli military was ordering people to leave, then chasing them on the coastal route south with military choppers, drones and tanks, creating “mayhem and panic”.

“A big part of the reason that people are not now leaving Gaza City is because of the fear and the intimidation created by the Israeli military,” he said.

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Mediators have made contact with the head of Hamas's military wing in Gaza, who has indicated he does not agree to the new US ceasefire plan, the BBC understands.

Izz al-Din al-Haddad is thought to believe the plan was designed to finish Hamas, whether the group accepts it or not, and so is determined to fight on.

US President Donald Trump's 20-point framework to end the war - which has already been accepted by Israel - stipulates that Hamas disarm and have no future role in governing Gaza.

It is thought that some of Hamas's political leadership in Qatar are open to accepting it with adjustments - but have found their influence limited as they do not have control of the hostages held by the group.

There are believed to be 48 hostages still being held in the Palestinian territory by the armed group, only 20 of whom are thought to be alive.

Another stumbling block for some in Hamas is that the plan requires them to hand over all of the hostages over the first 72 hours of the ceasefire - giving away their only bargaining chip.

Even with Trump's guarantee that Israel would abide by the terms, there is a lack of trust within the group that Israel would not resume its military operations once it had received the hostages - particularly after it attempted to assassinate the Hamas leadership in Doha in an air strike last month, in defiance of the US.

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