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Netanyahu Says Iran 'Tried to Kill' One of his Sons

Benjamin Netanyahu alongside his son Yair (AP file photo)
Benjamin Netanyahu alongside his son Yair (AP file photo)
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Netanyahu Says Iran 'Tried to Kill' One of his Sons

Benjamin Netanyahu alongside his son Yair (AP file photo)
Benjamin Netanyahu alongside his son Yair (AP file photo)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Iran had attempted to assassinate one of his two sons, without offering further details.

"Something incredible happened: Iran targeted one of my sons. Iran tried to kill one of my sons," Netanyahu said during a phone interview with Israel's Channel 14.

The claim came during a discussion about reports that the Shin Bet domestic security agency had declined to provide a security detail for Gadi Eisenkot, the former army chief who is running neck and neck with Netanyahu ahead of elections on October 27.

Netanyahu voiced support for around-the-clock protection for Eisenkot, saying it was "not a luxury".

"Without that, (the Iranians) will succeed," AFP quoted him as saying.

Netanyahu has two sons and a daughter. It remains unclear which of his sons was allegedly targeted.

His elder son, Yair, 35, has spent extended periods in Miami since early 2024, reportedly under Shin Bet protection.

His stay in the United States has attracted controversy in Israel over the cost to taxpayers of providing security, while some residents in south Florida have expressed concern that his presence could make the area a target for attacks by Israel's enemies.

Shortly after Netanyahu's remarks became public on Monday, prominent Israeli journalist Amit Segal wrote on his Telegram channel that the alleged assassination attempt had been known for "months" but was subject to a gag order.

Israel killed Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei in the opening salvo of US-Israeli strikes on February 28, along with some of his family members.

His son Mojtaba, one of Khamenei's six children, was named the new supreme leader a week later.

In a message read out on his behalf on state TV, Mojtaba Khamenei said that in addition to his father, he had lost his wife, his sister, her child and his brother-in-law.

Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen in public since his appointment, and was reportedly wounded in the same strikes that killed his father.

In another message attributed to him and published on the occasion of funeral ceremonies for his father, the new leader pledged to "avenge the blood" of Ali Khamenei.

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World

Australian Far-Right Leader Sparks Outrage with ‘Primitive’ Indigenous Comments

An Australian and an Aboriginal flag are seen in Canberra, Australia Wednesday, August 30, 2023. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch via Reuters)
An Australian and an Aboriginal flag are seen in Canberra, Australia Wednesday, August 30, 2023. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch via Reuters)
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Australian Far-Right Leader Sparks Outrage with ‘Primitive’ Indigenous Comments

An Australian and an Aboriginal flag are seen in Canberra, Australia Wednesday, August 30, 2023. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch via Reuters)
An Australian and an Aboriginal flag are seen in Canberra, Australia Wednesday, August 30, 2023. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch via Reuters)

Australian far-right leader Pauline Hanson drew outrage on Monday for comments in which she described the country's Indigenous people as the "most primitive race on Earth".

For years a political outsider, Hanson's One Nation has surged this year to become one of the country's most popular parties, according to opinion polls.

In a podcast appearance last year that resurfaced in the media on Monday, the senator for the state of Queensland was asked about the teaching of Indigenous Australian history in school.

"What the hell have they done in this country for, you know, supposedly 60,000 years?" she said.

"They never invented the wheel. There was nothing there. What are we actually holding up?

"A few, you know, rock paintings. Sorry, they're the most primitive race on Earth.

"They've achieved nothing."

Hanson's remarks swiftly drew condemnation, with the country's Indigenous affairs minister Malarndirri McCarthy describing them as "completely racist" and "outrageous".

And fellow Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price -- who is also of Indigenous heritage -- said she was "disappointed".

"All decent Australians, I'm sure, would condemn such comments and would rightfully be shocked that they came from the leader of a political party," she said on Facebook.

"Some of the issues raised by Pauline Hanson are serious debates, many of which I have been very vocal about, but yet again, Senator Hanson has dragged the conversation into appalling territory."

Indigenous peoples, whose ancestors have lived on the continent for more than 60,000 years, have average life expectancies about eight years shorter than the rest of the population.

Several factors contribute to the disparity, with chronic health issues, higher poverty rates, more limited access to healthcare in some communities and complex socio-economic causes often blamed.

Indigenous people are also far more likely to be incarcerated or die in custody than other Australians.

Hanson's history of inflammatory and racist comments have done little to dent her party's popularity.

An opinion poll conducted by Resolve Strategic on behalf of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers released Sunday showed 27 percent of Australians would vote for her party -- just one percentage point away from the ruling Labor Party.

World

Indonesia Searches for 129 People Missing After Ferry Capsizes in the Java Sea

Rescue personnel stretcher out a body bag containing a deceased victim of the Virgo Transport 8 passenger ferry, which capsized September 13 while en route from Banjarmasin to Surabaya, at the port in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, on September 14, 2026. (AFP)
Rescue personnel stretcher out a body bag containing a deceased victim of the Virgo Transport 8 passenger ferry, which capsized September 13 while en route from Banjarmasin to Surabaya, at the port in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, on September 14, 2026. (AFP)
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Indonesia Searches for 129 People Missing After Ferry Capsizes in the Java Sea

Rescue personnel stretcher out a body bag containing a deceased victim of the Virgo Transport 8 passenger ferry, which capsized September 13 while en route from Banjarmasin to Surabaya, at the port in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, on September 14, 2026. (AFP)
Rescue personnel stretcher out a body bag containing a deceased victim of the Virgo Transport 8 passenger ferry, which capsized September 13 while en route from Banjarmasin to Surabaya, at the port in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, on September 14, 2026. (AFP)

Indonesian authorities intensified a search Monday for 129 people who were missing after a ferry overturned in bad weather in the Java Sea on Sunday, killing at least six passengers.

The Virgo Transport 8 was carrying more than 240 people when its captain issued a distress call, saying the ship was listing in rough seas with waves of up to 3 meters (10 feet) while traveling from Surabaya in East Java province to Banjarmasin in South Kalimantan province, on Borneo Island.

Contact was lost with the ferry at about 2 a.m. Sunday and about two hours later authorities received information that the vessel had overturned in the Java Sea’s Masalembo waters, about 148 kilometers (92 miles) from Banjarmasin.

Videos released by the National Search and Rescue Agency on Sunday showed an overturned ferry floating in choppy waters during a helicopter search operation.

On Monday, 17 ships and aircraft were deployed for the search carrying about 655 personnel deployed from the military, police and other agencies, said Mohammad Syafii, the National Search and Rescue Agency chief.

Authorities were also deploying specialized underwater teams and navy-operated underwater thermal drones to strengthen search efforts and speed up the evacuation of victims, he said.

“We remain hopeful of finding more survivors,” Syafii told a video briefing.

Search teams, assisted by nearby tugboats and other passing vessels, rescued 108 people and recovered six bodies on Sunday.

The manifest said the ship carried 243 people including 213 passengers and 30 crew members, although it is common in Indonesia for the number of passengers to differ from the manifest. The 119-meter (390-foot) ferry, which was built in Japan in 1987, also was transporting 89 vehicles.

Authorities have not determined the cause of the accident.

A survivor, Ahmad Saudi, said the ferry appeared overcrowded, with many passengers forced to sleep in hallways and common areas because the cabins were full.

Saudi, a bus driver traveling with a vehicle he was transporting, recalled how the ferry suddenly listed without warning, triggering panic among passengers as rough seas battered the vessel in the Java Sea.

Passengers initially tried to hold on before scrambling to the higher side of the ship as it tilted further, he said, speculating the ferry’s balance may have been affected by trucks loaded on one side.

“The women staying in the economy-class cabins likely didn’t survive because the ferry listed so quickly,” Saudi said. “There were no alarms or announcements warning passengers about what was happening, many people in the cabins may not have had enough time to get out.”

Faisal, another survivor who goes by one name, said he and 14 other passengers clung to a section of the overturned ferry that remained above water after it capsized.

“After the ship listed, people panicked and rushed to the upper deck, but eventually the ferry rolled over completely,” he said. “Fourteen of us were left stranded there.”

The group repeatedly recited the Islamic call to prayer, or adhan, while battling exhaustion and rough seas as awaiting rescue. A wave later swept Faisal toward a lifeboat, helping him survive, he said.

Indonesia is an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands. Ferries are a common method of travel and accidents occur regularly, in part due to weak enforcement of safety standards.

World

US Hosts G20 'Energy Abundance' Talks amid Iran War Shock

The G20 meeting comes as oil and gas prices surge over the Middle East war, with Europe struggling to fill its gas storage facilities ahead of winter. Matthew Hatcher / AFP/File
The G20 meeting comes as oil and gas prices surge over the Middle East war, with Europe struggling to fill its gas storage facilities ahead of winter. Matthew Hatcher / AFP/File
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US Hosts G20 'Energy Abundance' Talks amid Iran War Shock

The G20 meeting comes as oil and gas prices surge over the Middle East war, with Europe struggling to fill its gas storage facilities ahead of winter. Matthew Hatcher / AFP/File
The G20 meeting comes as oil and gas prices surge over the Middle East war, with Europe struggling to fill its gas storage facilities ahead of winter. Matthew Hatcher / AFP/File

The United States on Monday kicks off a set of G20 meetings touting "energy abundance," even as President Donald Trump's war against Iran continues to disrupt global fuel markets.

The discussions are slated to run through Wednesday in Houston, in the oil-rich US state of Texas.

The meetings gather delegations from the world's largest economies -- including China, India, Japan and Germany -- with major oil producers set to attend, such as Canada and Saudi Arabia.

Russian diplomats indicated Saturday that Moscow would also send some officials.

The unexpected presence of Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov caused a stir at a previous G20 meeting two weeks ago.

Ukraine's European allies expressed disappointment in the US decision to invite Russia, which ran against efforts to exclude Moscow over the war on its neighbor.

The Houston meetings come as oil and gas prices surge over the Middle East war, with Europe struggling to fill its gas storage facilities ahead of winter.

One of Washington's stated priorities as G20 host is to expand access to affordable, reliable and secure energy, but supply has been dramatically impacted since the US and Israel attacked Iran in February.

Prices at the pump have skyrocketed in the United States, where the price of a gallon (3.78 liters) of diesel has hit a record high, and now runs an average $6.20, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).

Regular gasoline is also 44 percent more expensive than it was before the war.

The unpopular war and its consequences have Trump's Republican Party fearing a defeat in the November midterm elections.

The US president has accused Iran of extending the conflict to hurt him politically, claiming recently that the war would end "immediately" after the election.

Trump also accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of causing a diesel shortage with strikes on Russian refineries.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, a key player in Washington's energy dealings with Venezuela, and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum are expected to attend the meetings in Houston.