First Thing: Shiri Bibas not among bodies returned from Gaza, Israel says

Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu accuses Hamas of a ‘serious violation’ and vowed it would pay. Plus, Germans share their concerns about the far right’s rise before this weekend’s election

Good morning.

Shiri Bibas is not among the four bodies returned by Hamas to Israel during Thursday’s hostage handover, Israel’s military has said, calling it a “violation of utmost severity” of the already fragile ceasefire agreement.

The Israeli military said in the early hours of Friday that two of the bodies belonged to Bibas’s children, Ariel and Kfir, but that one of the bodies did not match any of the hostages taken by Hamas on 7 October 2023. “During the identification process, it was determined that the additional body received is not that of Shiri Bibas, and no match was found for any other hostage,” it said. The body of the fourth hostage was confirmed as that of 85-year-old Oded Lifshitz, his family said.

Hamas responded by saying that Bibas’s remains appeared to have been mixed with other human remains in rubble after an Israeli airstrike. Hamas had previously said the two young children and their mother had been killed in an Israeli bombing.

What impact could this have? It risks upending the precarious truce. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would “ensure Hamas pays the full price” for the ceasefire violation.

Have the bodies of hostages been released before? No, Thursday’s release was the first time Hamas has returned the remains of dead hostages.

Trump administration can continue mass firings of federal workers, judge rules

The mass firings of federal employees could leave the White House with a “monumental” bill, a leading employment lawyer has said after a federal judge ruled on Thursday that the White House could continue to slash the size of the workforce.

Suzanne Summerlin told the White House that it was breaking the law by firing government workers on bogus grounds. Officials have cited “poor performance” in their firing of thousands of federal workers, but employees involved state this is untrue and some are seeking legal action.

Summerlin said the White House’s purge would “result in hundreds of thousands of former federal employees being owed back pay, plus interest, plus benefits, plus attorneys’ fees. When the bill comes, it will be monumental.”

The ruling by the US district judge Christopher Cooper in Washington DC federal court is temporary, but represents a win for the Trump administration. Cooper said the unions that brought the suit must instead file complaints with a federal labor board.

What did the unions state in their lawsuit? That White House efforts to purge the federal workforce violated separation-of-powers principles by undermining Congress’s authority to fund federal agencies.

China lauds Trump’s Russia peace talks

China’s foreign minister has praised Moscow and Washington for reaching a “consensus” on the fate of Ukraine, despite Kyiv being excluded, appearing to reverse his previous position that Ukraine must be involved in peace talks.

Speaking at the G20 meeting in Johannesburg, Wang Yi said: “China supports all efforts conducive to peace [in Ukraine], including the recent consensus reached between the United States and Russia. China is willing to continue playing a constructive role in the political resolution of the crisis.”

He did not repeat the point he made last week at a summit in Munich, calling for Ukraine to be included in further ceasefire talks.

What action is Europe taking? The French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, will meet Trump in the US in an attempt to change his perspective on Ukraine and European security.

In other news …

A Danish astronaut has described Elon Musk’s claim that president Joe Biden intentionally abandoned two American astronauts as a “lie”. There is no evidence for Musk’s accusation.

Hong Kong’s oldest pro-democracy party has announced its intention to disband. The party’s chair would not say whether Beijing had put pressure on it to do so.

London doctors have cured blindness in children born with a rare genetic condition using gene therapy, in a significant milestone.

Stat of the day: Even before USAid freeze, malaria cases in Ethiopia had surged from 900,000 in 2019 to 7.3 million in 2024

The USAid freeze could not come at a worse time for Ethiopia’s health system, which is struggling with a rising disease burden. Malaria cases in the country have ballooned from 900,000 in 2019 to 7.3 million in 2024, with conflict, climate breakdown and funding gaps all contributing to the rise. Measles rose from just 1,941 cases in 2021 to 28,129 last year.

Don’t miss this: ‘Our neighbours are daring to choose fascism again,’ Germans say before election

“They are our neighbours, they are parents. And they are daring to again choose fascism.” These are the stark words of one 28-year-old who arrived in Germany from Syria in 2015, as she wondered how many people she knew were preparing to vote for Germany far-right AfD party on Sunday. Ashifa Kassam reports from Berlin on the stakes of the election.

Climate check: Australian activist told he can’t rely on evidence from climate experts in his defense

An environmental activist who protested outside a Melbourne fuel depot will not be allowed to rely on evidence from climate experts in his defense, a magistrate has ruled. The decision follows cases in England in recent years where defendants on trial for peaceful protests were forbidden from mentioning the phrase “climate change”.

Last Thing: Cat-astrophe! Nearly 500 feline figurines stolen from Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant

Gordon Ramsay appears to have suffered his very own kitchen nightmare after almost 500 cat figurines were stolen from his new London restaurant in just one week. His new venture features Japanese cat models, called maneki-neko, which are said to bring good luck – perhaps not to the chef, though.

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