Sydney (AP): David Warner’s lifetime captaincy and leadership ban has been lifted by Cricket Australia, a move which could see the retired test player captain the Sydney Thunder in the Twenty20 Big Bash league this season.

Warner received the penalty for his role in the 2018 sandpaper scandal in South Africa, on top of a one-year ban from cricket, which was also imposed on Steve Smith with a lesser playing suspension given to Cameron Bancroft, who was caught on film rubbing and scuffing the ball with yellow sandpaper at a test match in Cape Town.

But the leadership sanction was lifted Friday by an independent three-member review panel who deemed the opener had met the necessary criteria.

Warner appeared before the independent panel content earlier this month. It ruled that he met the criteria to be considered for future leadership roles.

“The respectful and contrite tone of his (Warner’s) responses, as well as the content impressed the Review Panel and led it to the unanimous view that he was sincere and genuine in acknowledging responsibility for the conduct and in his statement that he had extreme remorse for his conduct,” the panel said in a statement Friday.

“Mr. Warner’s conduct and behavior since the imposition of the sanction has been excellent and he appears to have made a substantial change, one example of which is that he no longer sledges or tries to provoke the opposing team.”

Warner played his final test match in January against Pakistan, an Australian win. He has also said he will no longer play one-day internationals, only the T20 format of the game.

The move could also be considered an early birthday present from Cricket Australia — Warner turns 38 on Sunday.

An Israeli strike on a school where displaced people were sheltering in the central Gaza Strip killed at least 17 people on Thursday, nearly all women and children, Palestinian medical officials said.

The strike came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Israel had accomplished its objective of “effectively dismantling” Hamas, and that negotiations over a cease-fire and the release of dozens of Israeli hostages would resume in the coming days.

Another 42 people were wounded in the strike in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp, according to the Awda Hospital, which received the casualties. Among the dead were 13 children under the age of 18 and three women, according to the hospital’s records.

The Israeli military said it targeted Hamas group inside the school, without providing evidence. Israel has carried out several strikes on schools-turned-shelters in recent months, saying it precisely targets Hamas members hiding out among civilians. The strikes often kill women and children.

Blinken, speaking to reporters in Qatar, which has served as a key mediator between Israel and Hamas, said negotiators would reconvene “in the coming days”.

“What we really have to determine is whether Hamas is prepared to engage,” he said on his 11th visit to the region since the start of the war.

The United States hopes to renew the negotiations after Israeli forces killed top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza last week, but neither side has shown any sign of moderating its demands from months of negotiations that sputtered to a halt over the summer.

Blinken also announced an additional USD 135 million in US aid to the Palestinians, while again urging Israel to allow more assistance to enter the territory.

Health workers in besieged northern Gaza meanwhile warned of a catastrophic situation there, where Israel has been waging an air and ground offensive for more than two weeks.

 Fethullah Gulen, a reclusive US-based Islamic cleric who inspired a global social movement while facing accusations he masterminded a failed 2016 coup in his native Turkiye, has passed away.

Abdullah Bozkurt, the former editor of the Gulen-linked Today’s Zaman newspaper, who is now in exile in Sweden, said on Monday that he spoke to Gulen’s nephew, Kemal Gulen, who confirmed the death. Fethullah Gülen was in his eighties and had long been in ill health.

The state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan as saying the death has been confirmed by Turkish intelligence sources.

Gulen spent the last decades of his life in self-exile, living on a gated compound in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains from where he continued to wield influence among his millions of followers in Turkiye and throughout the world.

He espoused a philosophy that blended Sufism — a mystical form of Islam — with staunch advocacy of democracy, education, science and interfaith dialogue.

Gülen began as an ally of Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, but became a foe. He called Erdogan an authoritarian bent on accumulating power and crushing dissent. Erdogan cast Gülen as a terrorist, accusing him of orchestrating the attempted military coup on the night of July 15, 2016, when factions within the military used tanks, warplanes and helicopters to try to overthrow Erdogan’s government.

Heeding a call from the president, thousands took to the streets to oppose the takeover attempt. The coup-plotters fired at crowds and bombed parliament and other government buildings. A total of 251 people were killed and around 2,200 others were wounded. Around 35 alleged coup plotters were also killed.

Gülen adamantly denied involvement, and his supporters dismissed the charges as ridiculous and politically motivated. Turkiye put Gulen on its most-wanted list and demanded his extradition, but the United States showed little inclination to send him back, saying it needed more evidence. Gulen was never charged with a crime in the US, and he consistently denounced terrorism as well as the coup plotters.

In Turkiye, Gulen’s movement — sometimes known as Hizmet, Turkish for “service” — was subjected to a broad crackdown. The government arrested tens of thousands of people for their alleged link to the coup plot, sacked more than 130,000 suspected supporters from civil service jobs and more than 23,000 from the military, and shuttered hundreds of businesses, schools and media organisations tied to Gulen.

Gulen called the crackdown a witch hunt and denounced Turkiye’s leaders as “tyrants”.

“The last year has taken a toll on me as hundreds of thousands of innocent Turkish citizens are being punished simply because the government decides they are somehow connected’ to me or the Hizmet movement and treats that alleged connection as a crime,” he said on the one-year anniversary of the failed coup.

Turkish Foreign Minister Fidan said on Monday that Gulen’s death “will not make us complacent. Our nation and state will continue to fight against this organisation, as they do against all terrorist organisations”.

Fethullah Gulen was born in Erzurum, in eastern Turkiye. His official birth date was April 27, 1941, but that has long been in dispute. Y. Alp Aslandogan, who leads a New York-based group that promotes Gulen’s ideas and work, said Gülen was actually born sometime in 1938.

Trained as an imam, or prayer leader, Gulen gained notice in Turkiye some 50 years ago. He preached tolerance and dialogue between faiths, and he believed religion and science could go hand in hand. His belief in merging Islam with Western values and Turkish nationalism struck a chord with Turks, earning him millions of followers.

Gülen’s acolytes built a loosely affiliated global network of charitable foundations, professional associations, businesses and schools in more than 100 countries, including 150 taxpayer-funded charter schools throughout the United States.

In Turkiye, supporters ran universities, hospitals, charities, a bank and a large media empire with newspapers and radio and TV stations.

But Gulen was viewed with suspicion by some in his homeland, a deeply polarised country split between those loyal to its fiercely secular traditions and supporters of the Islamic-based party associated with Erdogan that came to power in 2002.

Gulen had long refrained from openly supporting any political party, but his movement forged a de facto alliance with Erdogan against the country’s old guard of staunch, military-backed secularists, and Gulen’s media empire threw its weight behind Erdogan’s Islamic-oriented government.

Gulenists helped the governing party win multiple elections. But the Erdogan-Gulen alliance began to crumble after the movement criticized government policy and exposed alleged corruption among Erdogan’s inner circle. Erdogan, who denied the allegations, grew weary of the growing influence of Gulen’s movement.

The Turkish leader accused Gulen’s followers of infiltrating the country’s police and judiciary and setting up a parallel state, and began agitating for Gulen’s extradition to Turkiye even before the failed 2016 coup.

The cleric had lived in the United States since 1999, when he came to seek medical treatment.

In 2000, with Gulen still in the US, Turkish authorities charged him with leading an Islamist plot to overthrow the country’s secular form of government and establish a religious state.

Some of the accusations against him were based on a tape recording on which Gulen was alleged to have told supporters of an Islamic state to bide their time: “If they come out too early, the world will quash their heads.” Gulen said his comments were taken out of context.

The cleric was tried in absentia and acquitted, but he never returned to his homeland. He won a lengthy legal battle against the administration of then-President George W. Bush to obtain permanent residency in the US.

Rarely seen in public, Gulen lived quietly on the grounds of an Islamic retreat centre in the Poconos. He occupied a small apartment on the sprawling compound and left mostly only to see doctors for ailments that included heart disease and diabetes, spending much of his time in prayer and meditation and receiving visitors from around the world.

Gulen never married and did not have children. It is not known who, if anyone, will lead the movement.

Washington: Voters remain largely divided over whether they prefer Republican Donald Trump or Democrat Kamala Harris to handle key economic issues, although Harris earns slightly better marks on elements such as taxes for the middle class, according to a new poll.

A majority of registered voters in the survey by The Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research describe the economy as poor. About 7 in 10 say the nation is going in the wrong direction.

But the findings reaffirm that Trump has lost what had been an advantage on the economy, which many voters say is the most important issue this election season above abortion, immigration, crime and foreign affairs.

“Do I trust Trump on the economy? No. I trust that he’ll give tax cuts to his buddies like Elon Musk,” said poll respondent Janice Tosto, a 59-year-old Philadelphia woman and self-described independent.

An AP-NORC poll conducted in September found neither Harris nor Trump had a clear advantage on handling “the economy and jobs”. But this poll asked more specific questions about whether voters trusted Trump or Harris to do a better job handling the cost of housing, jobs and unemployment, taxes on the middle class, the cost of groceries and gas, and tariffs.

The poll found that 46 per cent of voters prefer Harris on middle-class taxes, compared to 35 per cent for Trump. Harris also has a slight advantage on the cost of housing. Voters are about evenly divided on whether Trump or Harris is better on prices for everyday essentials like groceries and gas, and neither candidate has an edge on jobs and unemployment.

Voters, meanwhile, are slightly more likely to prefer Trump on the issue of tariffs, which were defined in the poll as taxes on imported goods.

Poll respondent Amber Moody, 36, from Halifax, Virginia, said she trusts Trump — and Republicans in general — much more on economic matters.

“It seems to me that in my lifetime, every time a Democrat holds office, the economy suffers,” she said. “Prices go up, taxes go up and the national debt goes up. While I don’t approve of everything Donald Trump says and does, I do believe he is the better choice.”

Voters see Harris more favourably than Trump

Voters’ impressions of Harris and Trump have remained steady over the last month.

About half of voters have a very or somewhat favourable opinion of Harris, while 46 per cent see her unfavourably.

Meanwhile, about 4 in 10 voters have a positive view of Trump and about 6 in 10 have an unfavourable view. Trump’s favourability ratings have been remarkably consistent over the last few months, even after two assassination attempts and a felony conviction.

Compared to last month, views of the candidates are stable among Black and Hispanic voters, as well as among men and women. Black voters’ views of Harris are overwhelmingly positive — about three-quarters have a favourable view of the Democratic candidate — and their views of Trump are negative, with about 2 in 10 holding a favourable view.

Hispanic voters also view Harris more favourably than Trump, although the gap is narrower: About 6 in 10 Hispanic voters have a favourable view of Harris and about 4 in 10 have an favourable view of Trump.

The poll also shows a gender gap in views of the candidates heading into the final days of the election.

About half of women voters have a favourable impression of Harris, while only around one-third see Trump favourably. Among men, about half have a favourable view of Harris and a similar share have a positive opinion of Trump.

Voters are pessimistic about the economy and the country

Overall, voters remain pessimistic about the state of the economy and the general direction of the country.

About half of voters describe the nation’s economy as very or somewhat poor. Republicans and independents are more likely than Democrats to express that view. There are modest signs of improvement, however, compared to an AP-NORC poll from October 2023, when about 7 in 10 US adults thought the US economy was in bad shape. The number was even worse in October 2022, when close to 8 in 10 Americans described the economy as poor.

About two-thirds of voters also say the country is headed in the wrong direction, while roughly one-third say things are moving in the right direction. Pessimism on that question has been fairly consistent over the last three years, although closer to 8 in 10 Americans thought the US was heading in the wrong direction a year ago.

US adults were similarly gloomy just before the last presidential election, according to an AP-NORC poll from October 2020 when roughly 7 in 10 Americans felt the country was headed in the wrong direction.

Jeffrey Trimble, a 62-year-old Democrat from Hermitage, Pennsylvania, said he’s increasingly optimistic about the direction of the nation after “four years of hell” during Trump’s first term.

“We have some really good people at the top of our government who have a vision, they’re kind, they’re trying to get us back on track,” Trimble said.

Overall, the new poll highlights signs of trouble for both candidates as they work to assemble winning coalitions.

Younger voters are considerably more pessimistic about the health of the economy than older voters, and that’s not good news for Harris, whose party has long relied on strong support from voters of colour and young people.

Voters under the age of 45 are also slightly less likely than voters over 45 to trust Harris to handle the cost of housing or the cost of groceries and gas, although that doesn’t mean they prefer Trump. Sizable shares of younger voters — about one-quarter on both issues — trust neither candidate or both equally.

Trump’s strongest issue remains immigration

On other issues, meanwhile, Trump’s most consistent advantage continues to be immigration.

Forty-five percent of voters say he’s the better candidate to handle immigration issues, compared to about 4 in 10 who prefer Harris. About half of white voters trust Trump more on the issue of immigration, while about one-third say this about Harris. Hispanic voters are split on which candidate they prefer to handle immigration.

Harris’ strongest issues are abortion policy, with about half of voters saying she’d be better on that issue compared to about 3 in 10 for Trump; climate change, where about half prefer her leadership and about 2 in 10 prefer Trump’s; and election integrity, where about half prefer Harris and about 3 in 10 prefer Trump.

The candidates are about even on the issue of crime. Foreign policy is also a key issue this fall, although neither candidate has a clear advantage on the situation in the Middle East. There are some signs of weakness on the issue for Harris within her own party, however. Only about two-thirds of Democratic voters say Harris would be the better candidate to handle the situation in the Middle East. Among Republicans, about 8 in 10 say Trump would be better.

Diana Campbell Williams, a 72-year-old Democrat who lives in Auburn, Michigan, cites foreign affairs as her top issue.

She says she’s concerned about Russia, Iran and North Korea. She doesn’t like Trump’s questioning of NATO and his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“I trust Harris more,” Williams said. “I feel she knows more about what’s going on, and I prefer the type of people she’d be surrounded by after the election.”

Deir al-Balah (Gaza Strip): Israel’s foreign minister has confirmed that Israeli troops in Gaza have killed Hamas’ top leader Yahya Sinwar, a chief architect of last year’s attack on Israel that sparked the war.

Sinwar has topped Israel’s most wanted list since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war just over a year ago, and his killing strikes a powerful blow to the Hamas group. There was no immediate confirmation from Hamas of his death.

Foreign Minister Katz called Sinwar’s killing a “military and moral achievement for the Israeli army”.

“The assassination of Sinwar will create the possibility to immediately release the hostages and to bring a change that will lead to a new reality in Gaza – without Hamas and without Iranian control,” he said in a statement.