Azerbaijan's Hijab Ban: The Israel Connection On October 12, Muslim schoolgirls in Azerbaijan were locked out of school for wearing the hijab. Two days later, Israeli President Isaac Herzog met President Ilham Aliyev in Baku. The timing may be a coincidence, but it points to a much bigger story. Azerbaijan is overwhelmingly Muslim, with a predominantly Shia population, and it sits right on Iran’s doorstep. For years, its secular government has worked to limit Iranian religious influence. So while Islamic identity is squeezed at home, the embrace of Israel only grows tighter. Nearly half of Israel’s imported oil comes from Azerbaijan, even during the genocide in Gaza. In return, Israel has supplied billions of dollars in drones, missiles and advanced weapons that helped Azerbaijan win its wars with Armenia in 2016, 2020 and 2023. The ban has also strained ties with Türkiye, Azerbaijan’s closest ally. Turkish officials called it unacceptable, and some in Erdogan’s party say it serves Israeli interests. Aliyev’s response was blunt: do not interfere with our lifestyle. Baku’s priorities appear clear. Keep Iran out, keep Türkiye at arm’s length, and deepen partnerships with Israel and the United States. Israeli analysts deny any link to the ban. But the question remains. Is this really about secularism, or is a Muslim nation placing its alliances above the faith of its own daughters?

Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine, 63, was brutally beaten by masked Israeli settlers on Friday while documenting attacks on Palestinian olive harvesters in the occupied West Bank village of Abu Falah, near Ramallah. Dozens of settlers descended on Palestinian farmers gathering their annual olive harvest, throwing stones, setting olive groves on fire and attacking journalists. Levine was wearing a clearly marked “PRESS” vest when she was knocked to the ground, repeatedly kicked and beaten with sticks for more than 10 minutes. The settlers also stole her camera, passport and phone. She received a broken rib, four fractured vertebrae and a serious hand injury requiring surgery. Palestinian villagers and fellow journalists intervened to rescue her. Witnesses accused Israeli soldiers of failing to stop the assault, saying troops fired tear gas at Palestinians while settlers continued their attacks. The Israeli military said an initial review found soldiers had not witnessed Levine's assault and that the incident was under investigation. US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee condemned the attack as a “despicable act of terror”, calling for a full investigation, arrests and prosecutions. Israeli President Isaac Herzog personally called Levine in hospital, describing the violence as “outrageous and shocking” and saying it weighed on his conscience. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to the assault as “alleged”, saying the circumstances remained unclear, remarks Levine said left her shocked and insulted. The violence comes amid a surge in settler attacks. Israeli human rights group Yesh Din has documented at least 170 incidents since late September. The organisation also reports that approximately 94% of investigations into settler violence against Palestinians between 2005 and 2025 ended without an indictment. Despite her injuries, Levine says she intends to return to reporting. “They cracked my bones, they haven’t cracked my spirit.”

Young Girl Watches Mother Burn to Death After Israeli Airstrike Hits Their Apartment A young Palestinian girl was rescued from a burning apartment in Gaza City's Rimal neighbourhood on Wednesday, October 14, after an Israeli airstrike reportedly killed her mother and set their home ablaze. The victim was identified in local reports as 33-year-old Reem Asaad Awad. Distressing footage circulating online appears to show the child trapped inside the smoke-filled apartment, surrounded by flames, before being brought to safety. The girl reportedly survived the attack and was taken to hospital. According to Al Jazeera, journalist Ali al-Jaafarawi entered the burning apartment and carried the child to safety despite the intense smoke and flames. Hospital officials confirmed that two other people were injured in the strike, including a young girl. The attack comes amid continued Israeli strikes across Gaza despite a ceasefire agreement, raising renewed concerns over the safety of Palestinian civilians, particularly children.

The world’s largest sovereign wealth fund has now divested $661 million from Israeli banks. Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, valued at $2.2 trillion, conducted an ethical review of its holdings in the Israeli sector and announced last Monday that it would exclude the Israeli entities “due to unacceptable risks that the companies contribute to serious violations of individuals’ rights in situations of war or conflict.” This decision affects the First International Bank of Israel, FIBI Holdings, Bank Leumi, Mizrahi Tefahot Bank, and Bank Hapoalim. Norway’s Sovereign Wealth Fund Global is managed by the Norwegian Central Bank through Norges Bank Investment Management. In August 2025, it decided to divest from US-based Caterpillar Inc. and five other Israeli banks for “ethical reasons.” It said then that it excluded the entities “due to the unacceptable risk that the companies contribute to serious violations of individuals’ rights in situations of war or conflict.” Israeli authorities have long used Caterpillar-manufactured bulldozers to demolish Palestinian properties in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. The fund noted that these violations are occurring in both Gaza and the West Bank, adding that “the company has also failed to implement any measures to prevent such use.” It also said it sold its investments in 11 Israeli companies in August 2025, after reports that it had invested in an Israeli jet engine maker even during the ongoing genocide in Palestine.

Azerbaijani Girls Forced to Choose Between Hijab and Education Azerbaijan has tightened its school dress code, barring the hijab from classrooms for both students and teachers from September 21. In a country that is around 96 per cent Muslim, and whose flag bears a crescent on a green band, schoolgirls have been turned away at the gates, some in tears. Teachers who refused to remove their headscarves have lost their jobs. Among those affected is the daughter of a war veteran who lost his arm defending the country, and who has publicly asked whether he sacrificed it for a hijab ban. The move has triggered a backlash. Students have taken to the streets chanting “Hijab”, while women across the country have shared images online of themselves wearing the headscarf in solidarity. Critics point to Azerbaijan’s own constitution, where Article 42 guarantees the right to education, and Article 48 protects freedom of religion. For now, a law intended to push the hijab out of public life appears to have made it more visible than ever.

At least 18 people have been killed in a series of Houthi attacks on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport in Saudi Arabia, with more than 300 injured. Among those killed was 35-year-old Bangladeshi Mufti Mohammad Nasrullah Badarpuri, who was travelling with 45 pilgrims to perform Umrah in Makkah. Yemen’s Houthi movement claimed responsibility for the strikes, which come amid renewed fighting between the Iran-aligned group and Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces. Saudi Arabia, which intervened militarily in Yemen in 2015, has intensified its airstrikes against Houthi positions in recent weeks. The conflict has devastated Yemen. The United Nations estimated that 377,000 people had died by the end of 2021, including 154,000 from direct violence and 223,000 from indirect causes such as hunger, disease and inadequate healthcare. The toll has continued to grow, with a comparable updated estimate is unavailable. The latest escalation has raised fears of further civilian casualties on both sides of the border.

Pauline Hanson's One Nation has released what may be one of the most openly racist political advertisements in Australian history, an AI-generated spot that reduces the country's minorities to criminals, terrorists and outsiders. The ad, titled a portrait of "One Nation's multicultural Australia," opens with a progressive vegan family revealing they are secretly conservative, before the mother removes a blue wig to reveal herself as a devoted Hanson supporter. The ad then shifts tone, depicting a Black teenager as a hooded figure lurking outside a home, a Muslim man wearing a bomb vest, a Sikh man calling for an end to migration, and an Aboriginal elder seated in red dirt advocating cuts to Indigenous funding. While the white characters confess their love for Australia, the minority characters are shown confessing to criminality, terrorism, or that they do not belong, with each ultimately concluding that Hanson was right. None of the people featured in the advertisement are real. The characters were generated using artificial intelligence, raising questions about whether the party was unable to find real Australians willing to deliver the scripted lines. Critics have described the ad as among the most racially charged political material produced in Australia, arguing it reflects a calculated bet by the party that appeals to racial division can still deliver votes.

“Not enough.” That was Israeli woman Caryn Oberman’s response to the destruction in Gaza, as she stood at a lookout in Sderot overlooking the ruins of northern Gaza. Speaking to ABC News, Oberman said the devastation was insufficient given the October 7 attacks and the treatment of Israeli hostages. The lookout, which attracts tourists, school groups and local residents, offers a direct view into Gaza, where entire neighbourhoods have been reduced to rubble. Oberman also rejected accusations of genocide against Israel, despite findings by a United Nations independent commission that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza.

Civil Defence Volunteer Mohammad Tammous was Killed by an Israeli Airstrike While Rescuing the Wounded Palestinian Civil Defence volunteer Mohammad Tammous has died from injuries sustained in a reported Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza. According to local reports, Tammous was heading to evacuate wounded Palestinians near the northern entrance of the destroyed Kamal Adwan Hospital when he was struck on Wednesday morning. He was transferred to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, where he succumbed to his injuries on the night of October 7. Tammous had spent nearly three years responding to Israeli attacks across northern Gaza, rescuing survivors and recovering bodies from beneath collapsed buildings. Despite the constant danger, he continued his humanitarian work and reportedly spoke openly about his willingness to die while saving others. His death comes one year after the ceasefire agreement, highlighting the continuing dangers faced by emergency responders and civilians in Gaza.

A young Palestinian girl who lost both arms and one leg has attended her first day of preschool in Jordan, marking a major milestone after a long journey of medical treatment and rehabilitation. Habiba Al-Askari was evacuated from Gaza in February 2025 after her rare medical condition deteriorated while her medical evacuation was repeatedly delayed by Israeli authorities. By the time she reached Jordan, doctors were forced to amputate three of her limbs to save her life. Habiba now lives with her mother and older brother at an SOS Children’s Village in Amman, where she has been receiving rehabilitation, physiotherapy and prosthetic care. Now able to walk with a prosthetic leg, Habiba has begun preschool, starting a new chapter after months of treatment and recovery.