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Pedro Sanchez has been re-elected prime minister of Spain.

The vote came after nearly two days of debate among party leaders that centred almost entirely on a highly controversial amnesty deal for Catalonia’s separatists.

Mr Sanchez agreed to the bill in return for vital support of six smaller parties to get elected prime minister again.

The Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) leader, who has governed Spain since 2018, was backed by 179 politicians in the 350-seat lower house of parliament.

Only right-wing opposition parties voted against him.

It means the PSOE will form another minority coalition government with the left-wing Sumar (Joining Forces) party.

As the vote was completed inside, outside parliament, around 400 angry protesters shouted and shook police barricades.

The protests on Thursday were a continuation of nightly demonstrations that have taken place outside PSOE headquarters in Madrid and first started two weeks ago.

Many citizens are angered by the amnesty bill, which would mean any politicians and activists who were convicted for taking part in an attempt to separate Catalonia from Spain would be pardoned.

Those who helped facilitate Catalonia’s two independence votes in 2014 or 2017 will receive amnesty, and those who tried to prevent the ballots – such as police officers accused of using excessive force – are also protected by the proposed law.

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The law would particularly benefit former Catalan regional president Carles Puigdemont, who is a fugitive from Spanish law and considered public enemy number one by many in Spain.

A debate will now take place next week on whether the amnesty threatens judicial independence in Spain.

Alberto Nunez Feijoo, leader of the conservative People’s Party (PP), accused Mr Sanchez of “pathological ambition” and trading an amnesty for personal gain after the bill was submitted to the lower house on Monday.

“He hasn’t secured the support of anyone, he has bought it signing cheques that we will all pay for,” Mr Feijoo said, telling Mr Sanchez: “History won’t amnesty you, I can assure you.”

The leader of the PP won the most seats but failed to secure enough support from other parties in his own bid to
lead the country.

He has called for a mass protest to take place in Spain on 18 November.

Meanwhile, Mr Sanchez was congratulated by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

“It is good that we can continue to work side by side,” Mr Scholz said.

“We see many challenges in the world from a very similar perspective.”

Israel is approaching the end of the first phase of its operation in Gaza and with it comes a dilemma.

“You break it, you own it,” US secretary of state Colin Powell warned President Bush ahead of the invasion of Iraq in 2003, quoting signs in US department stores meant for customers.

The same principle applies to Israel with northern Gaza. Sporadic fighting goes on but it effectively controls the top third of the territory and has comprehensively broken the area as a place to live.

Israel has its reasons for flattening it. It says it has used artillery and air strikes “professionally” to protect its soldiers and that ultimate blame lies with Hamas.

But either way, it has pulverised most of the zone it now occupies to rubble and is well on the way to erasing Gaza City from the map.

So what does it do with the smouldering ruins?

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Israel doesn’t look like it wants to own what it has broken. It has not followed its military campaign with any largescale humanitarian operation, though it has a duty to do so.

Israeli spokesman Mark Regev has told Sky News this is not the time for that, with fighting still going on. But that seems disingenuous.

It is clear that any fighting in northern Gaza is increasingly limited and largely confined to night-time. More importantly there are no signs of Israel preparing such a humanitarian mission.

Mr Regev estimates a million people have now moved south on the Israeli military’s urging.

Inside Gaza our correspondent Mark Stone and his cameraman Richie Mockler have documented what that looks like.

They’ve witnessed utterly miserable scenes belonging to another century as Palestinians line up to file away from their completely devastated neighbourhoods.

By Mr Regev’s figures, that leaves an estimated 200,000 people behind.

Israel is now the occupying force in northern Gaza. Under the rules of law it has obligations to the civilian population whose homes it has utterly broken. So far, it says it has brought in 300 litres of fuel, boxes of medical aid and a few incubators.

That is the here and now. Israel faces an even bigger dilemma over what it does next.

It could call it quits and give up what it’s broken. There’s talk of pulling out, leaving Arab neighbours and the West to put Gaza back together. But that could leave the field clear for Hamas to return, as it has every time in the past. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised this time to destroy it for good.

His political survival depends on it.

It could double down. Hamas forces still prevail in two thirds of the Gaza Strip. If Israel is serious about eradicating its threat it will need to go after them. But really? In an area already one of the most densely populated on Earth that’s now been swelled by another million? It seems inconceivable, even if the mission remains Israel’s stated war aim.

Or there’s a halfway house. Staying in, but only in the north and not pressing south.

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Mr Netanyahu insists Israel will keep control of security in Gaza which implies a lasting presence on the ground of some sort.

That will suit his far-right partners in government just fine because it destroys even further the chances of a viable Palestinian state, something they vehemently oppose.

But in Washington the Biden administration is warning against anything approaching reoccupation because it jeopardises the only hope for peace in the region, however remote, that ever elusive two-state solution.

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Potential donor countries whose support could rebuild Gaza want the same. They will demand signs of progress towards peace before pouring in the billions needed to rebuild broken Gaza.

A divided, destroyed Gaza, still under Israeli occupation, may satisfy Mr Netanyahu’s far-right partners in government for their own ideological reasons. But the Biden administration won’t tolerate that outcome for long.

Israel relies on America for military aid and diplomatic support and cannot afford to alienate its patrons indefinitely.

Mr Netanyahu relies on his far-right partners to stay in power.

Patrons and partners. Israel’s leader cannot please both and will need to choose between them sometime soon.

Roger Kastel, the artist behind the iconic film posters for Jaws and Empire Strikes Back, has died at the age of 92.

He died on Wednesday in Worcester County, Massachussetts, according to a statement shared on his official website.

Kastel illustrated paperback book covers and film covers for around 40 years, after getting his first paid art job at the age of 15.

The Gone With the Wind-inspired poster for the first Star Wars sequel and the iconic shark painting for Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, first created for the novel by Peter Benchley, were just two of more than 1,000 images he made throughout his career.

Kastel created the artwork for the paperback edition of Benchley’s book following Paul Bacon’s hardback illustration, which was black and white, and was inspired after visiting the American Museum of Natural History in New York to photograph the fish there.

Universal Studios purchased the rights to use the image for the movie, which was released in 1975. Instantly recognisable, Jaws still regularly tops polls of the greatest film posters of all time.

“While Jaws and The Empire Strikes Back may be the most widely recognised of his work, Roger received multiple awards for various other illustrations and fine art over the years,” the tribute on his website read.

Kastel’s works also included the posters for films including Doctor Faustus, starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, and The Great Train Robbery, starring Sean Connery and Donald Sutherland, as well as covers for novels such as Jackie Collins’ Hollywood Wives.

Dean Newman, head of content for fan site The Daily Jaws, was among those paying tribute, writing: “Kastel’s ability to distill the essence of a movie into a single image was unparalleled.

“The Jaws poster captured the primal fear associated with the unknown lurking beneath the ocean’s surface, setting a new standard for movie marketing. The image not only contributed to the film’s success but also solidified Kastel’s reputation as a master of visual storytelling.”

The artist is survived by Grace, his wife of 66 years, their children Beth and Matthew, and four grandchildren and a great-grandson.

“Roger truly loved the art world; paintings, artists, art museums, and galleries,” his tribute read. “Early in their relationship, Roger informed Grace, ‘Art is my life’, and it was!”

Kastel was a member of the Society of Illustrators, the Artists’ Fellowship, the Kent Art Association and the Portrait Society.

His family is raising money for the fellowship, a charity that assists professional artists in times of emergency, disability, or bereavement, in his memory.

Smiley greetings, garden walks and even a light-hearted look at the Chinese presidential car would have seemed impossible just a few months ago.

And while it doesn’t indicate any fundamental breakthrough, it is designed to show the world they are now, at least, making a concerted effort.

The fact is, both know a highly unstable relationship doesn’t serve them either economically or politically.

Xi in particular, who has had a tricky year domestically with a chaotic end to his zero COVID policy and a faltering economy, has an interest in showing his people he can manage this all-important relationship.

He also badly needs foreign investment to return to his country.

Indeed, Chinese state media has notably refrained from its usual full throated critiques this week and in a speech to business leaders Xi repeatedly referenced the friendship, sympathies and similarities the countries share, only briefly lingering on the usual warnings that the US should stay out of China’s affairs.

But while the agreements that were reached, on military to military talks and on the supply of fentanyl chemicals are significant, they were certainly the “easier” issues; the low-hanging fruit if you like.

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The bigger questions of Taiwan, the Ukraine War, the Middle East and economic sanctions remain intractable and there is still an enormous degree of distrust between them.

That distrust was perhaps perfectly encapsulated in the dying moments of Biden’s news conference when he was asked by a reporter if he still considered Xi to be a “dictator”.

“Look, he is… in the sense that he’s a guy who runs a country that is a communist country,” came the response.

It’s a term he used at a private event in June, much to the fury of Beijing, and it’s hard to see how the comment will not cast a cloud over progress that has been made.

The Chinese response has thus far refrained from a direct criticism of Biden, more signs perhaps at just how much they wanted and needed that stabilisation.

But it’s as good an example as any that things remain precarious and could quite easily be again blown off course.

Chinese president Xi Jinping has signalled that China will be sending new pandas to the United States.

Mr Xi made the offer on a visit to California where he was taking part in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperative (APEC) conference.

Although he did not share much detail about the pandas, it was suggested that the next pair would likely be lent to San Diego, California.

It came after Mr Xi spent four hours with US President Joe Biden at a northern California country estate, holding meetings, lunching and walking together through a garden – something that, because of a strain in the two countries’ relations, was inconceivable not long ago.

After the meeting, Mr Biden announced that direct lines of communication between American and Chinese military forces will be reopened for the first time in more than a year.

During a dinner speech with business leaders, Mr Xi dubbed pandas “envoys of friendship between the Chinese and American peoples”.

He said: “We are ready to continue our cooperation with the United States on panda conservation, and do our best to meet the wishes of the Californians so as to deepen the friendly ties between our two peoples.”

The indication comes after some of the last giant pandas in the US were sent back to China.

China has loaned out pandas as gestures of goodwill many times in the past in what has come to be known as “panda diplomacy”.

Modern China gave its first pair of giant pandas to Britain in 1974 and pandas were first offered to the US by Beijing in 1972, to the National Zoo in Washington, ahead of the normalisation of bilateral relations.

In October, the National Zoo announced that its most recent three pandas – Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and their male cub, Xiao Qi Ji, aged 3 – would return to China by 15 November.

Pandas have also been loaned from Beijing to other US zoos with proceeds going back to panda conservation programmes.

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The UK’s current only pair of pandas are set to return to China from Edinburgh Zoo by the end of this year.

Similarly, Australia and China are negotiating the extension of a loan agreement for two pandas at Adelaide Zoo that expires next year.