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Netanyahu Posts Video in Response to Iran Rumors That He Is Dead

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a press conference in Jerusalem (archive – Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a press conference in Jerusalem (archive – Reuters)
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Netanyahu Posts Video in Response to Iran Rumors That He Is Dead

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a press conference in Jerusalem (archive – Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a press conference in Jerusalem (archive – Reuters)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin ‌Netanyahu posted a video of himself getting a cup of coffee and chatting with his aide on Sunday, after rumors that he was dead or injured were aired by Iranian state media and spread online in Iran. 

In the video, taken at a cafe in Jerusalem's outskirts and posted on Netanyahu's Telegram account, his aide asks him about the rumors. 

Netanyahu responds with a pun on the ‌word dead -- ‌which in Hebrew slang can be ‌used ⁠to describe "being crazy ⁠about" someone or something -- as he reaches for a cup of coffee. 

"I'm crazy about coffee. You know what? I’m crazy about my people," Netanyahu tells the aide. 

Reuters verified the video's location from file imagery of the cafe, which matched the ⁠interiors seen in the video. The date ‌was verified from multiple ‌videos and photos of Netanyahu's visit posted by the ‌cafe on Sunday. 

Iran's Revolutionary Guards vowed on Sunday to target Netanyahu as the war with Israel and the United States continues.  

"If this child-killing criminal is alive, we will continue to pursue and kill him with full force," said the Guards on their website Sepah News. 

Since the US and Israel ‌launched attacks on Iran on February 28, Netanyahu has visited at least two towns hit by Iranian missiles, a hospital, port and military bases, but there was little ‌to no media access, and videos were distributed by his office. 

Netanyahu, who rarely ⁠gives interviews ⁠to Israeli press or holds news conferences, convened his first press conference since the start of the war via a video link on Thursday, a similar format to the one he used in June during Israel's 12-day war with Iran. 

Emergency safety restrictions in Israel since the start of the war ban public gatherings and have kept most people at home or close to shelters and safe rooms, with schools shut across most of the country. 

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World

Stampede at Popular Hindu Festival in Eastern India Kills 19

Stampede at Popular Hindu Festival in Eastern India Kills 19
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Stampede at Popular Hindu Festival in Eastern India Kills 19

Stampede at Popular Hindu Festival in Eastern India Kills 19

A stampede during a major Hindu festival in eastern India’s West Bengal state has left at least 19 people dead, officials said Sunday.

The stampede in the state capital of Kolkata happened Saturday night when a crowd near a pavilion ran for cover as it began raining during Durga Puja, an annual Hindu festival celebrating the goddess Durga. According to police, some worshippers fell on the road, triggering the stampede.

Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who visited Kolkata Medical College and Hospital where victims were taken, said 19 people had died and 25 were receiving treatment. He announced an investigation by a Special Investigation Team to be headed by a judge of the state’s High Court, The Associated Press reported.

Police detained some pavilion organizers, private security personnel and on-duty staff, and launched a probe into any crowd-control and safety lapses.

Around 3,500 Durga Puja pavilions, known locally as pandals, have been set up across Kolkata for the festival. Following the stampede, authorities advised several of Kolkata’s most heavily attended venues to temporarily close to visitors.

Crowd crushes are relatively common in India during religious festivals, as large crowds, sometimes in the millions, gather in confined areas with few safety or crowd control measures.

In January of 2025, at least 30 people were killed as tens of thousands of Hindus rushed to bathe in a sacred river during the Maha Kumbh festival, the world’s largest religious gathering.

In 2013, pilgrims attending a Hindu festival at a temple in the central state of Madhya Pradesh panicked amid fears that a bridge would collapse. At least 115 people were crushed to death or drowned in the river below.

World

Hormuz Under Fire as a New Wave of Attacks Targets Ships

Oil tankers sail near the Strait of Hormuz (Reuters)
Oil tankers sail near the Strait of Hormuz (Reuters)
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Hormuz Under Fire as a New Wave of Attacks Targets Ships

Oil tankers sail near the Strait of Hormuz (Reuters)
Oil tankers sail near the Strait of Hormuz (Reuters)

The risks facing maritime navigation in the Gulf are escalating, with an unprecedented rise in attacks on ships and oil tankers since the outbreak of the war.

The latest developments are heightening concerns over the security of global energy supplies and pushing oil prices higher.

As the United States and Iran trade military pressure around the Strait of Hormuz, the cost and risks of passage through the strategic waterway are increasing, amid uncertainty over the fate of negotiations aimed at ending the war.

According to data compiled by the Financial Times from UKMTO reports and European security sources, 24 ships were hit in the two weeks to October 11. The next most intense period of attacks was during the first two weeks of March, when 13 ships were hit.

An unknown projectile struck a tanker 68 nautical miles northeast of Jubail on Friday, UKMTO said in a report ⁠on Saturday.

All crew members ⁠were safe and had been evacuated, it said, adding that no environmental impact had been reported.

UKMTO later ⁠issued a second report on Saturday that a tanker was attacked by a rocket-propelled grenade from a small boat 78 nautical miles northeast of Jubail on Friday, damaging its aft port quarter. All crew members ⁠were ⁠safe, it said, while the full extent of the damage and the environmental impact was not yet known.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards on Saturday said two oil tankers were on fire in the Strait of Hormuz after hitting mines in the waterway.

"A supertanker in violation of regulations, carrying more than two million barrels of crude oil and attempting to pass illegally through the Strait of Hormuz, struck a mine, triggering an explosion and a fierce fire," the Revolutionary Guards said.

Later Saturday, Guards said "a second offending supertanker was engulfed in a massive blaze after hitting a naval mine," adding it also carried "more than two million barrels of crude oil" and was attempting to pass the Strait.

The repercussions of the escalation are not limited to the safety of ships and their crews, but extend directly to oil flows from the Gulf to global markets.

Oil flows out of the Gulf reached an average of 15.5mn barrels per day in September, their highest level since the war began, according to commodities platform Kpler. But since then exports have plummeted as new Iranian strikes sharply reduced the number of ships transiting the strait.

Only 2.9mn barrels of oil were carried through the waterway on October 11, according to figures published by Kpler on Tuesday, the lowest level this month.

That effected oil prices. Brent touched $110 a barrel for the first time since May on Friday on worries that escalating tensions in the Middle East could further tighten supplies.

These developments are raising concerns that continued disruptions to shipping could place further pressure on energy markets, particularly if restrictions on tanker traffic persist or attacks expand to target more vessels and facilities linked to oil exports.

The risks are not limited to higher crude oil prices. Supply disruptions could also drive up transportation, insurance, and fuel costs, adding to inflationary pressures on energy-importing economies.

World

North Korea Says Tested AI-assisted Torpedo System

North Korea has tested a "new-type" precision-guided torpedo system that uses artificial intelligence for target detection and guidance, state media reports. ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP/File
North Korea has tested a "new-type" precision-guided torpedo system that uses artificial intelligence for target detection and guidance, state media reports. ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP/File
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North Korea Says Tested AI-assisted Torpedo System

North Korea has tested a "new-type" precision-guided torpedo system that uses artificial intelligence for target detection and guidance, state media reports. ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP/File
North Korea has tested a "new-type" precision-guided torpedo system that uses artificial intelligence for target detection and guidance, state media reports. ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP/File

North Korea said Saturday it had successfully tested a new torpedo system that uses artificial intelligence for target detection and guidance.

The Korean Central News Agency said the weapon tested Thursday was a “super-speed, precisely guided” torpedo system named Zam-2.0. It didn't explain what was meant by artificial intelligence.

The report added that test verified the weapon’s propulsion systems, which were developed through more than 180 tests over the past five years.

South Korea’s military, which often accuses the North of exaggerating its military technologies, did not immediately comment on KCNA’s report.

North Korea has been ramping up weapons demonstrations in recent weeks, including conducting its first underwater-launched missile tests in nearly three years, as leader Kim Jong Un shifts his focus to naval capabilities after years of ballistic missile development. Experts say the missile tests, carried out Wednesday, likely involved a yet-to-be-deployed submarine that Pyongyang has said is designed to launch nuclear weapons.

North Korea also tested hypersonic missile systems of various ranges on Sept. 20 and Oct. 3 as it seeks to expand its arsenal of weapons designed to overwhelm missile defenses in South Korea and Japan. Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, claimed that the missiles tested on Oct. 3 also used artificial intelligence technology.

But some experts say that while North Korea is likely improving its guidance software, it's doubtful that the country's weapons really have advanced digital capabilities such as autonomous target designation,

Kim Jong Un in recent years has halted all diplomacy and cooperation with South Korea and described it as a permanent enemy, as a yearslong stalemate in nuclear negotiations with Washington drags on.