The Israel Defense Forces said Saturday it will mobilize thousands of reservists in the coming days, in what appears to be an expansion of its offensive in Gaza.

The move, which comes amid a deadlock in ceasefire talks, follows reports that the IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir on Friday presented a plan for intensifying pressure on Palestinian militant group Hamas to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz.

Israel’s public broadcaster, Kan 11, reported that Zamir’s plan included evacuating Palestinian civilians from northern and central Gaza ahead of expanded operations in those areas, mirroring tactics used earlier this year in southern Gaza’s Rafah.

Citing unnamed officials, Kan 11 said Netanyahu’s Security Cabinet was expected to approve the plan Sunday.

The news has prompted concern among families of the 59 hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.

In what it described as “an urgent and heartfelt” appeal, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters warned Saturday that “any escalation in the fighting will put the hostages — both the living and the deceased — in immediate danger.”

“The vast majority of the Israeli public views the return of the hostages as the nation’s highest moral priority,” it added.

Negotiations to secure the release of the remaining hostages have been stalled for weeks.

Talks mediated by Egypt and Qatar have repeatedly collapsed. Hamas is demanding a permanent ceasefire and full Israeli withdrawal, while Israel has accused Hamas of rejecting “reasonable offers.”

On Thursday, Netanyahu said explicitly for the first time that defeating Israel’s enemies was more important than securing the release of the remaining hostages, in remarks that drew a backlash from representatives of their families. Previously, he had described defeating Hamas and securing the release of the hostages as the primary goals of Israel’s war in Gaza.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister’s Office announced Saturday it was rescheduling Netanyahu’s May 7-11 visit to Azerbaijan “to a later date.”

Citing an “intense diplomatic and security schedule,” it said the change came following “developments in Gaza and Syria.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

A sea of people filled Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana beach on Saturday as pop superstar Lady Gaga played a colossal free concert in the Brazilian city, with more than two million fans said to have attended.

Guests started queuing from early Saturday morning to secure a good spot for the show, which is paid for by local authorities. Organizers said about 2.1 million revelers were estimated to have been in the crowd.

“I feel the city is more crowded this time, but I’m very excited”, said the film maker.

Many fans – which the star refers to as her “Little Monsters” – had dressed up in Gaga-themed costumes, referencing major hits like “Poker Face,” “Born This Way” and “Bad Romance.”

Lady Gaga’s trip to Brazil is part of a global tour to promote “Mayhem,” her new album. The genre-hopping singer and actor, 39, was in Mexico City last week, where she played two concerts.

The night before the Rio concert, the pop star surprised beachgoers on Copacabana by taking the stage for a rehearsal.

“I’ve missed you so much”, she said between applause, during her first performance in Brazil since 2012. “I know that this is not the first show here, I know this is just a rehearsal, it feels like it’s the real show,” she added before breaking into “Alejandro.”

“The truth is that the energy here in Copacabana is incredible,” Abril said. “Rio is incredible and it always lends itself to parties and magical moments.”

Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) carried out a drone attack on a military air base and other facilities in the vicinity of Port Sudan Airport, a Sudanese army spokesperson said on Sunday, in the first RSF attack to reach the eastern port city.

No casualties were reported from the attacks, the spokesperson said.

The RSF has not commented on the incident.

The RSF has targeted power stations in army-controlled locations in central and northern Sudan for the past several months but the strikes had not inflicted heavy casualties.

The drone attack on Port Sudan indicates a major shift in the two-year conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF. The eastern regions, which shelter a large number of displaced people, had so far avoided bombardment.

The army has responded by beefing up its deployment around vital facilities in Port Sudan and has closed roads leading to the presidential palace and army command.

Port Sudan, home to the country’s primary airport, army headquarters and a seaport, has been perceived as the safest place in the war-ravaged nation.

In March, the army ousted the RSF from its last footholds in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, but the paramilitary RSF holds some areas in Omdurman, directly across the Nile River, and has consolidated its position in west Sudan, splitting the nation into rival zones.

The conflict between the army and the RSF has unleashed waves of ethnic violence and created what the United Nations calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with several areas plunged into famine.

The war erupted in April 2023 amid a power struggle between the army and RSF ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule. It ruined much of Khartoum, uprooted more than 12 million Sudanese from their homes and left about half of the 50 million population suffering from acute hunger.

Overall deaths are hard to estimate but a study published last year said the toll may have reached 61,000 in Khartoum state alone in the first 14 months of the conflict.

Singapore’s People’s Action Party won its 14th successive election on Saturday to extend its unbroken six-decade rule, delivering a strong mandate to its new premier as the city-state braces for economic turbulence from a global trade war.

The PAP, which has ruled since before Singapore’s 1965 independence, won 87 of the 97 parliamentary seats up for grabs, with victories by huge margins in many of the 33 constituencies as the opposition failed to extend gains in previous contests.

The election was a bellwether of the popularity of the PAP amid some signs of disenchantment with its tight grip on power in the Asian financial hub, whose six million people have known no other kind of government.

Though the PAP has consistently won about 90% of seats, its share of the popular vote is closely watched as a measure of the strength of its mandate, with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong eager to leave a mark on his first election in charge after one of the PAP’s worst performances on record last time.

The PAP had yet to be formally declared winner but took 65.57% of the vote, according to local media, surpassing the 61.2% achieved in the 2020 contest.

The outcome will be seen as a ringing public endorsement of US-educated Wong, 52, who became Singapore’s fourth prime minister last year, promising continuity as well as new blood and a new style of leadership.

He took over at the end of the two-decade premiership of Lee Hsien Loong, the son of former leader Lee Kuan Yew, founder of modern Singapore.

Recession risk

Wong must address high living costs and a shortage of housing: persistent problems in one of the world’s most expensive cities, which faces a risk of recession and job losses if its trade-dependent economy takes a hit from the trade war triggered by steep US tariffs.

Wong thanked his constituents, saying: “We are grateful once again for your strong mandate, and we will honor it.”

Though the PAP win maintains the status quo, the margin of victory in most races was significant, with the opposition decimated and PAP candidates winning more than two-thirds of the vote in 18 of 33 constituencies.

“The voters have spoken and they have voted for stability, for continuity, for certainty – and they voted to give Prime Minister Lawrence Wong a strong mandate,” said Mustafa Izzuddin, adjunct senior lecturer at the National University of Singapore.

Although a PAP defeat was always extremely unlikely, some analysts had said the election could have altered the future political dynamic if the opposition had made more gains, with some younger voters keen for fresh voices, greater scrutiny and more robust debate.

But that could take time. Like previous elections, Saturday’s was a lopsided affair, with 46% of all candidates representing the PAP.

The ruling party ran in all seats, compared to just 26 for the Workers’ Party, which won the 10 seats PAP did not win.

The PAP has a big membership to draw from, influence in state institutions and far greater resources than its untested opponents.

Joshua Kurlantzick, senior fellow for Southeast Asia and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the PAP’s decisive win came down to Singaporeans backing a known quantity at a time of uncertainty.

“It’s a flight to safety – not wanting to change to a new party amidst the greatest global trade tensions in decades,” he said.

“Just because they are a rock in times of trouble – the same issues are there (that) they need to address.”

Flights resumed at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv after a failed interception of a missile from Yemen on Sunday forced it to halt operations temporarily.

Israel’s military said the missile landed in the airport’s vicinity after “several attempts” at intercepting it failed, adding that “the results of the interception are under review.”

The Iran-backed Houthi rebel group in Yemen has repeatedly launched ballistic missiles at Israel, but this appears to be the first time one has landed near the country’s main international airport, a major breach of security at a tightly protected site.

“We will attack whoever attacks us sevenfold,” Israel Katz, the defense minister, said in a statement.

The attack prompted the airport to briefly suspend flights. Trains to and from the airport were also halted and police asked the public to refrain from arriving in the area.

The incident underscores the Houthis’ continued ability to strike distant targets despite a sustained US military campaign and may raise questions about Israel’s capacity to intercept such attacks.

Pictures from the scene showed debris from the impact of the missile on the grounds of the airport, littering the road toward the main terminal. A video shared on social media appeared to show the impact of the missile at the airport and a cloud of black smoke rising from the strike.

Sunday’s strike marks the third consecutive day of missile launches from Yemen toward Israel, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

The Houthis have not claimed responsibility for the latest missile, but a spokesman for the militant group has said previous launches targeted military facilities in Israel. Yahya Saree said over the weekend that the rebels fired “Palestine 2” ballistic missiles “in support of our brothers and sister in Gaza.”

Israel has carried out several strikes against the Houthis in Yemen, including the targeting of a power plant and maritime ports in January.

The US military has carried out far more extensive strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen in recent weeks, aiming to the group, whose attacks on Red Sea shipping have significantly disrupted global trade.

The campaign is also aimed at stopping launches targeting Israel, as well as commercial and US Navy vessels operating in the Middle East. Early last month, the cost of US the effort had approached $1 billion in just three weeks, including the deployment of B-2 stealth bombers and the use of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of high-end munitions.

But it has largely failed to disrupt the Houthis’ ability to launch ballistic missiles against Israel. The country’s vaunted missile defense system routinely intercepts the launches, but some have gotten through.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

President Donald Trump posted an artificial intelligence-generated image of himself dressed as pope as the mourning of Pope Francis continues and just days before the conclave to elect his successor is set to begin. Trump’s action drew rebukes from a group representing Catholic bishops in New York and among Italians.

The image, shared Friday night on Trump’s Truth Social site and later reposted by the White House on its official X account, raised eyebrows on social media and at the Vatican, which is still in the period of nine days of official mourning following Francis’ death on April 21. Catholic cardinals have been celebrating daily Masses in his memory and are due to open the conclave to elect his successor on Wednesday.

The death of a pope and election of another is a matter of utmost solemnity for Catholics, for whom the pope is Christ’s vicar on Earth. That is all the more true in Italy, where the papacy is held in high esteem even by nonreligious Italians.

The image featuring Trump in a white cassock and pointed miter, or bishop’s hat, was the topic of several questions during the Vatican’s daily conclave briefing Saturday. Italian and Spanish news reports lamented its poor taste and said it was offensive, given that the period of official mourning is still underway.

Left-leaning former Premier Matteo Renzi said the image was shameful. “This is an image that offends believers, insults institutions and shows that the leader of the right-wing world enjoys clowning around,” Renzi wrote on X. “Meanwhile, the US economy risks recession and the dollar loses value. The sovereignists are doing damage, everywhere.”

The Vatican spokesman, Matteo Bruni, declined to comment.

In the United States, the New York State Catholic Conference, which represents the bishops of the state in working with government, accused Trump of mockery.

“There is nothing clever or funny about this image, Mr. President,” they wrote. “We just buried our beloved Pope Francis and the cardinals are about to enter a solemn conclave to elect a new successor of St. Peter. Do not mock us.”

Italy’s left-leaning La Repubblica also featured the image on its homepage Saturday with a commentary accusing Trump of “pathological megalomania.”

Asked to respond to the criticism, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that, “President Trump flew to Italy to pay his respects for Pope Francis and attend his funeral, and he has been a staunch champion for Catholics and religious liberty.”

Jack Posobiec, a prominent far-right influencer and Trump ally who recently participated in a Catholic prayer event in March at Trump’s Florida resort, also defended the president.

“I’m Catholic. We’ve all been making jokes about the upcoming Pope selection all week. It’s called a sense of humor,” he wrote on X.

The episode comes after Trump joked last week about his interest in the vacancy. “I’d like to be pope. That would be my number one choice,” the thrice married president, who is not Catholic, told reporters.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally, piled on.

“I was excited to hear that President Trump is open to the idea of being the next Pope. This would truly be a dark horse candidate, but I would ask the papal conclave and Catholic faithful to keep an open mind about this possibility!” Graham, R-S.C., wrote on X. “The first Pope-US President combination has many upsides. Watching for white smoke…. Trump MMXXVIII!”

Vice President JD Vance, who is Catholic and was one of the last foreign officials to meet with Francis before the pope died, also joked about Secretary of State Marco Rubio becoming pope, suggesting Rubio could add it to the long list of titles he holds, including national security adviser and acting archivist.

Beyond floating himself for the job, Trump also has put in a plug for Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York.

“I have no preference. I must say, we have a cardinal that happens to be out a place called New York who’s very good. So we’ll see what happens,” he said.

Dolan, 75, is one of 10 US cardinals who will be voting in the conclave, but Trump’s pitch might have cost Dolan support.

The reason conclaves are held in secrecy, with cardinals sequestered for the duration, is to prevent outside secular powers from influencing their choice, as occurred in centuries past.

There is an old saying about campaigning for the job of pope or of being promoted excessively, especially by outsiders: If you “enter a conclave as pope, you leave as a cardinal.”

While Trump attended Francis’ funeral, he and Vance have clashed with US bishops in general and Francis in particular over the administration’s hard line stance on immigration and its efforts to deport migrants en masse. Right before he was hospitalized in February for pneumonia, Francis issued a strong rebuke of the administration’s mass deportation plans and Vance’s theological justification of it.

Over 12 years as pope, Francis tried to remake the U.S. Catholic hierarchy more in his image, elevating pastors who prioritized social justice and migration issues over culture warriors who were more favored by his more doctrinaire predecessors St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI. A new pope who is more conservative could reverse that effort.

Trump has nominated as his ambassador to the Holy See Brian Burch, whose Catholicvote.org has been aggressively covering the pre-conclave days at the Vatican. It was one of the main disseminators in English-speaking media of a report, flatly and officially denied by the Vatican, that Cardinal Pietro Parolin had had a health scare this past week that required medical attention.

Parolin was the secretary of state under Francis and is seen as a leading contender to be pope. He is also the main architect of the Vatican’s China policy and its controversial 2018 deal with Beijing over bishop nominations – a deal that the was sharply criticized by the first Trump administration.

A four-year-old girl and a man have been killed after a driver crashed an SUV into the entrance of Manila International Airport on Sunday, the Philippine Red Cross said.

The driver crashed the car through the outer railing and onto a walkway where people were standing outside the departure area at Ninoy Aquino International Airport’s Terminal 1 just before 9 a.m., the Philippine Red Cross said in a statement.

“The incident tragically resulted in the casualties of two individuals – a male adult and a 4-year-old girl,” it said.

The driver is in police custody and individuals are being treated for injuries, the airport’s operator said in a statement, though it did not specify how many people were hurt.

There is currently no indication from police that the crash was deliberate.

The Philippine Red Cross said it deployed 18 volunteers and five ambulances to respond to the crash, including a rescue vehicle for “potential extrication operations,” according to the statement.

Videos shared on social media by the news agency of the Philippine government showed chaos at the airport, and a black SUV crashed into the entryway of the terminal. People could be heard screaming and crying in the video, which appeared to show several people injured on the ground and baggage strewn about, as first responders attended to the scene.

“At this time, we are awaiting official confirmation on the cause of the incident and reports of injuries,” the statement from the airport’s operator said.

“We understand the concern this incident has caused, especially as images have circulated on social media,” said the statement.

“We urge the public not to speculate and to wait for verified updates, which will be issued as soon as they become available.”

Australians delivered a surprise election result on Saturday; not because of who won but by the scale of the victory.

It marks a strong recovery for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his center-left Labor party, which had been slumping in the polls earlier this year, and follows a similar swing away from conservatives in Canada in the early months of the second US presidency of Donald Trump.

As the final seats are allocated and the center-right Liberal Party surveys the damage – including the loss of its leader, Peter Dutton, from parliament – here are five takeaways.

‘Trump effect’ boosts another left-leaning government

Albanese’s defeat of Dutton mirrors the outcome of Canada’s federal election last week, where the once-struggling left-leaning Liberal Party soared to victory thanks to a Trump-inspired popularity boost.

In a remarkable political rebound, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals bested Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives after Trump’s tariffs and threats to annex its neighbor changed the fortunes of the governing party, which had been trailing in the polls for years.

While Australia has not faced the same affront to its sovereignty as Canada, the similar election results show Trump’s influence in the domestic politics of longtime US allies.

Dutton was dubbed a ‘Temu Trump’ by his critics – a reference to the budget Chinese online marketplace – in a characterization that may have contributed to his downfall in Australia, where trust in the US has been eroded, according to recent surveys.

Despite claiming that he was his “own person,” Dutton was accused of stoking culture wars and took aim at migrants and the news media in rhetoric that resembled Trump’s.

Dutton spent weeks trying to distance himself from the tariff-tossing US leader, but it wasn’t enough to convince Australian voters that he was the right person to lead the country through this moment of global turmoil.

Result could signal new era of political stability in Australia

Saturday’s result made Albanese the first Australian prime minister to win re-election for 20 years, and could herald an end to the revolving door of leaders that has defined the nation’s politics since the turn of the millennium.

Albanese will start his second term with at least 85 seats in the 150-seat lower house – a significant majority in Australia – while the Liberal coalition currently holds just 37, according to the latest count by public broadcaster the ABC.

The country has had six different prime ministers in the last 18 years, most of whom lasted about three years in office, in line with the frequency of Australian elections. But a commanding win and healthy majority set Albanese up for another three years or even more. That potentially gives him the opportunity to shape the country’s politics in his and his party’s image in a way no leader has since the Liberals’ John Howard in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

During a time of trade turmoil, he was able to demonstrate a steady hand, striking an authoritative tone in response to Trump’s decision to impose 10% tariffs on Australia, which were later paused.

Local disaster for Dutton compounds national defeat

Dutton not only lost the national contest, but was also ousted from his own seat in the northeastern state of Queensland, in a shock defeat to Labor’s Ali France.

It was another echo of events in Canada, where Poilievre lost his longtime seat in rural Ottawa.

Dutton had held the Dickson seat for more than two decades, and had twice before seen off a challenge from France, a former journalist, world champion para-athlete and disability advocate who lost her leg in a 2011 accident.

After her victory, France paid tribute to her son Henry, who died from leukemia last year.

“My son, Henry, he wanted me to do this. He was convinced that I would win this,” France told Sky News after her win. “I thought I wouldn’t be running, because I would be caring for him. And he would say to me, ‘No, Mum, you have to do this. I know you’re going to win this this time.’ And I feel he’s been with me on this journey,” she said.

Dutton congratulated France in his concession speech Saturday, in which he also mentioned his political rival’s recent bereavement.

“I said to Ali, her son, Henry, would be incredibly proud of her tonight, and she’ll do a good job as a local member for Dickson,” Dutton said.

Cost of living and climate concerns outweighed culture wars

Australian voters put their faith in Albanese’s plans for tackling the high cost of living and climate change over Dutton’s Trump-style ideological approach, which at times did not appear to be backed by policy proposals.

Dutton called Indigenous “welcome to country” ceremonies “overdone” and said they shouldn’t be performed at sports games or military events. In 2023, Dutton successfully campaigned against the government’s referendum on the Voice proposal, which included constitutional recognition for Indigenous Australians.

He also claimed Australia takes in too many migrants, and branded the public broadcaster “hate media.”

Dutton vowed to crack down on “woke” culture and promised to end “indoctrination” in schools, before later clarifying his party didn’t have any plans to change the curriculum.

Australian voters, meanwhile, seemed more moved by cost-of-living concerns and climate change – two areas in which Dutton was seen as not having a strong enough strategy.

While Albanese was criticized for not doing enough to tame rising living costs during his first term, in the years ahead he’s promised a tax cut, cheaper medicines, lower deposits for first-time buyers and 1.2 million houses to ease the housing crisis.

Similarly, despite criticism over his approval of new coal and gas projects in his first term, Albanese reiterated his commitment to climate action, in contrast to the rolling assault inflicted by the new US administration on environment agencies and research.

All Australians know “renewable energy is an opportunity we must work together to seize for the future of our economy,” Albanese said to cheers.

“Kinder” politics prevails

As the son of a single mother who often talks about growing up on a housing estate, Albanese has long cast himself as champion for social mobility and a “kinder” form of politics.

“My mum had a hard life, and we struggled financially, but she taught me to always be positive and see the best in people when it comes to Australia’s future,” he said.

During the campaign, he frequently tried to distance himself and Dutton. Asked whether Trump had helped his campaign, by darkening the brand of strongman leaders, Albanese told the ABC on Monday that Dutton had done that by himself.

During his victory speech, Albanese shut down boos in the crowd when he mentioned he’d spoken to Dutton. “No, no,” he said to an enthusiastic crowd of Labor supporters in Sydney. “What we do in Australia is we treat people with respect,” he said to cheers.

Albanese didn’t mention Trump but alluded to his presence in campaign discussion. “We do not need to beg or borrow or copy from anywhere else. We do not seek out as inspiration overseas. We find it right here, in our values and in our people,” he said.