Matthew Perry, the actor best known for playing the role of Chandler Bing in the sitcom ‘Friends’ died at the age of 54 in Los Angeles on October 28. He was found unconscious in a hot tub and the first responders were unable to revive him. Fans and supporters have been pouring in love and tributes for their favourite characters. Mr Perry’s ex-fiance Molly Hurwitz, a literary manager, broke her silence on the actor’s tragic death and said that she feels relieved knowing that he is at peace. 

The couple got engaged in November 2020 and were dating since 2018. They parted ways in June 2021. In a statement about their break up, Mr Perry said, Sometimes things just don’t work out and this is one of them.”

Now, in an Instagram post honouring the actor, Ms Hurwitz said, “He would love that the world is talking about how talented he was. And he really was very talented.” She added, “As the Friends reunion was approaching, we rewatched the show together. “F***, I was so good!!!…See what I did there???” We rewound and studied scenes. Our respect and appreciation of humor is something that connected us. Being with him as he rediscovered his brilliance was magical.”

She added that her love for him was deeper than anything else and he had a very strong impact on her life. However, he was a “complicated” man. “But, I obviously knew that man in a very different way, too. While I loved him deeper than I could comprehend, he was complicated, and he caused pain like I’d never known. No one in my adult life has had a more profound impact on me than Matthew Langford Perry. I have tremendous gratitude for that, for everything I learned from our relationship,” Ms Hurwitz wrote. 

“Matty, I feel relief that you are at peace. Sincerely, Moll-o-Rama(…fication),” she concluded.

Meanwhile, the cast of the sitcom ‘Friends’ also released a joint statement and said that they are “utterly devastated” by the loss of one of their own, as per a report in People Magazine.

“We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We are a family,” they said in the statement. “There is so much to say, but right now we’re going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss.”

It continued, “In time we will say more, as and when we are able. For now, our thoughts and our love are with Matty’s family, his friends, and everyone who loved him around the world.” The statement has been signed by Jennifer Aniston who played the character of Rachel Green, Courtney Cox who played Monica Geller, Lisa Kudrow who played Phoebe, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer, who played the characters of Joey and Ross respectively in the show. 

Israel is running a hard-hitting online campaign targeting mostly Europeans with shocking images and testimonies from the attacks carried out by Hamas on October 7. Dozens of clips of burnt bodies, bereaved families, fast-cuts of screams and sirens, rescue workers and pathologists are featured on the Israeli foreign ministry’s official social media channels and in paid advertising campaigns.

The idea is to keep fresh in the minds of the foreign public how Hamas fighters crossed from Gaza into Israel and, according to Israeli officials, killed some 1,400 people, mostly civilians, while also seizing more than 230 hostages.

The online campaign also aims to justify Israel’s relentless bombing of Gaza since then, which has killed more than 8,300 people, including over 3,000 children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

As we continue to expand our ground operations in northern Gaza:

?IAF aircraft, guided by IDF troops, struck Hamas structures.
?Anti-tank missile launch posts & observation posts were struck.
?Multiple terrorists were eliminated. pic.twitter.com/XMwKPKGZ1R

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 29, 2023

Some of the videos are graphic: in one clip, a pathologist describes photos of a child’s burnt body.

Others are unashamedly emotive. Cartoon unicorns frolic among rainbows before giant capital letters pop up on the screen: “Just as you would do everything for your child, we will do everything to protect ours.”

“This is how we communicate in 2023,” Emmanuel Nahshon of the Israeli foreign ministry told AFP.

But experts say the campaign risks alienating some audiences.

There has already been some pushback, with Google limiting access to one graphic clip and a gaming firm demanding the ads be removed.

Nahshon said he wanted the message to get out to the world that Hamas’s atrocities are comparable to those of the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS, who were notorious for publicising their massacres and hostage-taking.

“Hamas=ISIS“

The Israeli videos come with made-for-sharing slogans such as “BringThemHome”, “Stand with Israel, Stand with Humanity” or “Hamas=ISIS” even though many scholars reject the comparison between Hamas and Islamic State group jihadists.

Hamas-ISIS is sick.

They turn hospitals into headquarters for their terror.

We just released intelligence proving it.

Here it is: pic.twitter.com/F82OxaIPN6

— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) October 27, 2023

Nahshon said the videos had racked up more than one billion views, a claim backed by data from US digital marketing company Semrush, which showed the campaign at that stage had clocked up 1.1 billion views in some 30 countries.

Nahshon said the government had invested “a few hundred thousand dollars” — though Semrush figures suggested the cost was $8.5 million.

The principal target of the ad campaign is France, home to the largest Jewish and Arab-Muslim communities in Europe, where $4.6 million has been spent.

Germany came next at $2.4 million followed by the United Kingdom, with $1.2 million spent, according to Semrush.

Stephanie Lamy, a specialist in wartime communication strategies, argued that Israel’s campaign was pursuing the single goal of legitimising its bombing in Gaza.

“The aim is to justify violence and even to try to secure impunity in the event of a contravention of international law,” she said.

Hamas also waging online campaign

Hamas is also waging an online information campaign to strengthen its own case, highlighting Israel’s aggression and its toll on innocent Palestinians in Gaza.

But Hamas is designated a terrorist group by the United States and European Union, meaning it is banned from the main social media platforms.

The group had been using official channels on the Telegram app to push its message, including graphic videos of Israel’s bombing of Gaza and clips of the October 7 attacks shot by some of its fighters.

These channels have been disabled in recent days on Google’s Android platform. 

Israel’s campaign, too, has suffered setbacks.

Google told AFP last week that the clip featuring the burnt body of a child had been made inaccessible to young people and that they had added an explicit content warning.

FACT: “The IDF is focused right now on one thing—victory and dismantling Hamas.”

This is how the Chief of the General Staff, LTG Herzi Halevi, fortifies the soldiers of the IDF Artillery Corps. pic.twitter.com/qGokguNue3

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) October 29, 2023

The maker of the “Angry Birds” game, Finnish firm Rovio, said it had asked its advertising partners to block an Israeli ad after complaints from users on social media.

That still leaves Israel way ahead in the information war in terms of viewing figures.

But experts say any achievements could come at a price.

“Subjecting people to images that are literally unbearable is a risky strategy” for Israel, said communications expert Arnaud Mercier.

“It could be counterproductive with an audience who didn’t ask to be exposed to it.”

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday remembered his grandmother and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on her 39th death anniversary saying that she was the source of his strength.

“My strength, my grandmother! I will always protect the India for which you sacrificed everything. Your memories are always with me, in my heart,” Rahul Gandhi posted on X (Formerly Twitter).

Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge paid floral tribute to Former Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi on her 39th death anniversary at Shakti Sthal in the national capital.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament Varun Gandhi remembered his grandmother saying that she was truly the ‘Mother of the Nation’.

“Salute to my grandmother, late Indira Gandhi ji on her death anniversary, who was a symbol of unmatched courage and struggle and the pioneer of democratic socialism,” Varun Gandhi posted on X.

“Along with the determination to make tough decisions, you also had a very simple and gentle tenderness of motherhood. You are truly the ‘Mother of the Nation'”, he added.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot also paid tribute to the former Prime Minister of India.

In his tribute message, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said that Indira Gandhi played an important role in building a strong and progressive India.

“A humble tribute to Indira Gandhi, India’s first woman Prime Minister and our icon on her death anniversary, who played an important role in building a strong and progressive India with her strong will, efficient leadership, unique working style and foresight,” Mr Kharge posted on X (Formerly Twitter).

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor remembered his first meeting with the former Prime Minister of India on her death anniversary.

“Remembering Smt Indira Gandhi on her martyrdom day. I first met her as a student leader in 1975 when the PM convened a discussion at her home with a dozen of us from Delhi University. Two months later I was able to interview her for a Swiss youth magazine (pic). Paying tribute to her memory in Thiruvananthapuram,” he said in a post on X.

IYC (Indian Youth Congress) President Srinivas BV and other youth workers also paid homage to Indira Gandhi at Shakti Sthal Rajghat.

Born on November 19, 1917, to India’s first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, and Kamala Nehru, Indira Gandhi served as the first and only woman Prime Minister of the country from January 1966 to March 1977 and again from January 1980 until her assassination on 31 October 1984.