13/10/2025

MONDAY | OCT 13, 2025

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Gymnastics group appeals bar

JAKARTA: The Israel Gymnastics Federation said it was appealing Indonesia’s decision to block the country’s gymnasts from competing in a world championship, calling the move “outrageous”. Indonesia said on Friday it had denied visas to Israeli gymnasts amid an outcry over Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, costing Israeli athletes a spot in this month’s World Artistic Gymnastics Championship in Jakarta. In an emailed statement late on Saturday, the Israeli federation called Indonesia’s decision “both outrageous and deeply troubling for the integrity of international sport”. It said it had submitted an urgent appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, seeking an injunction to allow Israeli athletes, including Olympic gold medallist Artem Dolgopyat, to take part in the competition. “We intend to challenge this decision with every means available,” the group said. Indonesia, which has no formal diplomatic ties with Israel, cited objections from groups such as a council of Islamic scholars and the local government in Jakarta, where the championship will be held from yesterday, for its decision to bar the athletes. The two-year-old war has drawn strong criticism in Indonesia. – Reuters THREE QATARI DIPLOMATS KILLED, TWO HURT IN CRASH CAIRO: Three Qatari diplomats were killed and two injured in a car crash yesterday near the Egyptian town of Sharm el-Sheikh, according to the Gulf state’s embassy. Diplomats and official delegations had descended on the Red Sea town to negotiate a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal. Al-Qahera News said five Qataris and an Egyptian driver were in the vehicle when it crashed. The embassy in Cairo expressed “deep sorrow and grief” over the three diplomats’ deaths. “The deceased and injured will be transferred to Doha on a Qatari plane today,” it said. “The two injured are at Sharm El Sheikh International Hospital.” – AFP CUBA DENIES SENDING TROOPS TO UKRAINE HAVANA: Cuba on Saturday denied US assertions that it is involved in the military conflict in Ukraine or had sent soldiers there. Cuba “rejects the false accusations that the US government is spreading about Cuba’s alleged involvement in the military conflict,” a statement from its Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. It said 26 Cubans had been sentenced to prison terms ranging from five to 14 years for mercenary activity since September 2023, when reports circulated of Cubans being sent to Ukraine. Cuban authorities “do not have precise information about Cuban nationals” taking part “on their own” or “in the military forces of both sides” in the war, the ministry said. – AFP

Hostages to be freed before peace summit Aid trucks arriving at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip yesterday. – REUTERSPIC

BR I E F S

o ‘Many difficulties remain’

plan “contains many complexities and difficulties” while one Hamas official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said disarming was “out of the question”. Under the Trump plan, as Israel conducts a phased withdrawal from Gaza’s cities, it will be replaced by a multinational force from Egypt, Qatar, Turkiye and the United Arab Emirates, coordinated by a US-led command centre in Israel. On Saturday, US Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper, Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner visited Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were again on the move, returning to their devastated homes. Witkoff, Kushner and Trump’s daughter Ivanka then went on to Tel Aviv to attend a gathering with the families of the remaining Israeli hostages held in Gaza, where crowds shouted “Thank you Trump”. – AFP

The meeting will aim “to end the war in the Gaza Strip, enhance efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East, and usher in a new era of regional security and stability”, it said. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said he will attend, as has Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer, his counterparts from Italy and Spain, Giorgia Miloni and Pedro Sanchez, and French President Emmanuel Macron. Hamas said it would not take part as it had “acted principally through ... Qatari and Egyptian mediators” during talks, Hamas political bureau member Hossam Badran said. Despite the apparent breakthrough, mediators still have the tricky task of securing a longer-term political solution that will see Hamas hand in weapons and step aside from governing Gaza. Badran said the second phase of Trump’s

GAZA CITY: Hamas will begin releasing Israeli hostages held in Gaza today, said a top official from the group, before President Donald Trump chairs an international summit in Egypt on his peace plan for the region. As part of the deal’s first phase, Hamas will free the captives, 20 of whom Israel believes are still alive, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. “According to the signed agreement, the prisoner exchange is set to begin as agreed,” said Hamas official Osama Hamdan. Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will then chair a summit of more than 20 countries in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh this afternoon, the Egyptian presidency announced.

Sydney rally draws tens of thousands SYDNEY: Tens of thousands joined a pro-Palestinian rally in Sydney yesterday, organisers said, one of dozens of demonstrations across Australia, with some protesters expressing scepticism a ceasefire in Israel’s two-year-old assault in Gaza would hold. thousands and left much of the narrow enclave in ruins. “Even if the ceasefire holds, Israel is still conducting a military occupation of Gaza and the West Bank,” said Amal Naser, an organiser of the Sydney rally, in a statement.

at the rally because “this so-called ceasefire will not hold”. “Israel always breaks every ceasefire they’ve ever done. For 78 years, they’ve been conducting an illegal occupation in Palestinian territories, and we demand the Australian government sanction Israel,” Jordan said. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry, an umbrella group for more than 200 Jewish organisations, condemned the protest organisers. “They want the deal to fail, which would mean the war would continue,” co-Chief Executive Peter Wertheim said in a statement. – Reuters

“The occupation as well as systemic discrimination against Palestinians living in Israel constitute an apartheid system.” Police said no arrests were made. The rally was held in the business district after a court last week blocked a move to hold it at the Sydney Opera House. Protester Abbi Jordan said she was

The organiser, the Palestine Action Group, estimated a crowd of 30,000 in Sydney, the nation’s most populous city, one of about 27 nationwide. The Gaza ceasefire appeared to be holding early yesterday and Israeli troops had pulled back under the first phase of a US-brokered agreement to end the war, which has killed tens of

Some of the signs displayed during the march in Sydney. – REUTERSPIC