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Deutsche Welle;Germany: AfD leaders pick Weidel for chancellor candidate;https://www.dw.com/en/germany-afd-leaders-pick-weidel-for-chancellor-candidate/a-70349935?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | Germany's next federal election is set for September 2025. Alice Weidel was already seen as the overwhelmingly likely candidate. But the final decision won't come until the party conference next year. |
Deutsche Welle;Germany slows arms exports to Israel — without admitting it;https://www.dw.com/en/germany-slows-arms-exports-to-israel-without-admitting-it/a-70347570?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | Berlin appears to have stopped approving war weapons exports to Israel, even while insisting that there is no ban in place. Observers believe the government has been spooked by legal threats. |
Deutsche Welle;Former Germany keeper Lehmann fined over chainsaw incident;https://www.dw.com/en/former-germany-keeper-lehmann-fined-over-chainsaw-incident/a-70349612?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | Jens Lehmann has been given a reduced fine over an incident in which the former Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper took a chainsaw to a neighbor's garage. |
Deutsche Welle;Germany: Far-right AfD stages day of chaos in parliament;https://www.dw.com/en/germany-far-right-afd-stages-day-of-chaos-in-parliament/a-70344985?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | Classified as "extremist" by the domestic intelligence agency, the anti-immigrant populist Alternative for Germany party in Thuringia is now staging a political scandal that bodes ill for German democracy. |
Deutsche Welle;Israel-Hezbollah conflict deepens Lebanon's economic crisis;https://www.dw.com/en/israel-hezbollah-conflict-deepens-lebanon-s-economic-crisis/a-70341661?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | The escalating conflict between Hezbollah and Israel is contributing to Lebanon's economic instability. People in the crisis-ridden country are struggling to survive. |
Deutsche Welle;Is Berlin in a 'club death' spiral?;https://www.dw.com/en/is-berlin-in-a-club-death-spiral/a-70341859?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | Two iconic Berlin techno clubs recently announced they will close. Rising rents and falling profits are partly to blame, but is the city also losing its nightlife luster? |
Deutsche Welle;How Turkey is competing with China for influence in Africa;https://www.dw.com/en/how-turkey-is-competing-with-china-for-influence-in-africa/a-70301293?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | Turkey is increasing its engagement in several African countries in an effort to boost its influence and trade. But with China and Russia being the dominant players there, Ankara is struggling to find its role. |
Deutsche Welle;Ukraine: Biden calls Germany meeting of Kyiv allies;https://www.dw.com/en/ukraine-biden-calls-germany-meeting-of-kyiv-allies/a-70331606?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | US President Joe Biden has said he will convene a high-level meeting of 50 Ukrainian allies in Germany next month. He also announced nearly $8 billion in military aid to Ukraine. |
Deutsche Welle;Will Formula 1 return to South Africa?;https://www.dw.com/en/will-formula-1-return-to-south-africa/a-70269906?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | The last F1 race in Africa was in 1993. A return could be in the cards, but what would it mean for the country and the continent? |
Deutsche Welle;'After Hitler': Changing views of Nazism in postwar Germany;https://www.dw.com/en/after-hitler-changing-views-of-nazism-in-postwar-germany/a-70323500?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | From secret adoration to loud dismay, Germans have come to terms with the Nazi past over 80 years in very different ways, as a new exhibition shows. |
Deutsche Welle;Torn patellar tendon: A rare but serious knee injury;https://www.dw.com/en/torn-patellar-tendon-a-rare-but-serious-knee-injury/a-70323136?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | Germany goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen sustained a torn patellar tendon on the weekend. DW fills you in on how serious an injury it is, how it is treated, and how long it could take for him to return to the pitch. |
Deutsche Welle;New LUNA facility will prepare astronauts for moon landings;https://www.dw.com/en/new-luna-facility-will-prepare-astronauts-for-moon-landings/a-70313230?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | The moon may be 384,400 kilometers away, but an accurate replica of its surface has opened in Germany. Astronauts from around the world will use it to train for missions to the moon. |
Deutsche Welle;Europe's AI bosses sound warning on soaring compliance costs;https://www.dw.com/en/europe-s-ai-bosses-sound-warning-on-soaring-compliance-costs/a-70243489?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | Recent decisions by US tech giants to withhold their latest artificial intelligence (AI) models from the European market have raised concerns over the level of regulation now impacting tech firms in the bloc. |
Deutsche Welle;UEFA 's reassessment of Spain's handball doesn't help Germany;https://www.dw.com/en/uefa-s-reassessment-of-spain-s-handball-doesn-t-help-germany/a-70320827?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | In one of the most memorable incidents at the Euros, Spain's Marc Cucurella blocked a German shot with his hand, but no penalty was called. Now UEFA has admitted that the referee got it wrong — but it changes nothing. |
Deutsche Welle;Why are sea levels rising?;https://www.dw.com/en/why-are-sea-levels-rising/a-70281203?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | Rising oceans are posing a global threat, particularly to low lying islands and coastal cities. What is driving this, and how can we respond? Here's what you need to know. |
Deutsche Welle;CERN at 70: Smashing elementary particles for humanity;https://www.dw.com/en/cern-at-70-smashing-elementary-particles-for-humanity/a-70298947?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | CERN has been an epicenter of scientific breakthroughs since 1954, including the discovery of the Higgs boson. Scientists there hope a new, larger particle smasher will lead them to more discoveries for years to come. |
Deutsche Welle;75 years of Frankfurt Book Fair: World stage for protests;https://www.dw.com/en/75-years-of-frankfurt-book-fair-world-stage-for-protests/a-70283991?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | The Cold War, neo-Nazis, as well as Iran's fatwa on Salman Rushdie all had an impact on the Frankfurt Book Fair, which turns 75 this year. |
Deutsche Welle;North Korea and women's youth football: A perfect match;https://www.dw.com/en/north-korea-and-women-s-youth-football-a-perfect-match/a-70313505?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | North Korea's young women have won their third U20 World Cup, so why is the isolated state so good at this level of the game? |
Deutsche Welle;Germany decries UniCredit bid for Commerzbank 'unfriendly';https://www.dw.com/en/germany-decries-unicredit-bid-for-commerzbank-unfriendly/a-70206639?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | Italy's UniCredit stunned markets by clandestinely raising its stake in Germany's second-largest lender to 21%. As Commerzbank's management now tries to fend off a possible takeover, the government stands by its side. |
Deutsche Welle;EU divided over higher tariffs for Chinese EV imports;https://www.dw.com/en/eu-divided-over-higher-tariffs-for-chinese-ev-imports/a-70250391?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | Despite "constructive talks" between the EU and China recently, the impasse over planned EU tariffs on China-made electric vehicles hasn't been resolved. The spat could escalate. |
Deutsche Welle;How false memories make us who we are;https://www.dw.com/en/how-false-memories-make-us-who-we-are/a-70300263?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | We think of memory as a reliable recording of our lives. But we also have false memories, often pieced together from communal experience. Those false memories shape our identity the same as the real ones do. |
Deutsche Welle;Goalie ter Stegen's injury leaves Germany coach in a bind;https://www.dw.com/en/goalie-ter-stegen-s-injury-leaves-germany-coach-in-a-bind/a-70302777?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | Just weeks after being confirmed as Germany's new first-choice goalkeeper, Marc-André ter Stegen has gone down with a potentially season-ending injury. Could Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann recall Manuel Neuer? |
Deutsche Welle;Volkswagen's crisis: How can Europe's car industry survive?;https://www.dw.com/en/volkswagen-s-crisis-how-can-europe-s-car-industry-survive/a-70231806?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | While Volkswagen and other European automakers are considering closing factories, Chinese rivals are searching for production sites on the continent. What's going wrong in Europe? |
Deutsche Welle;Far-right gains in east Germany could deal blow to economy;https://www.dw.com/en/far-right-gains-in-east-germany-could-deal-blow-to-economy/a-70295769?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | After elections in Thuringia and Saxony, the far-right AfD party has again massively gained in a poll in eastern Germany. Now the second-strongest force in Brandenburg, their success causes concerns among businesses. |
Deutsche Welle;Hamilton's near heatstroke puts F1 driver safety in focus;https://www.dw.com/en/hamilton-s-near-heatstroke-puts-f1-driver-safety-in-focus/a-69704130?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | Both Mercedes drivers suffered from 'borderline heatstroke' at the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix. Not for the first time this year, questions are being raised about their safety. |
Deutsche Welle;Sudan crisis: Threat to culture 'unprecedented,' UNESCO says;https://www.dw.com/en/sudan-crisis-threat-to-culture-unprecedented-unesco-says/a-70284737?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | Sudan is sinking into war and chaos. Many cultural and world heritage sites have been destroyed or looted as millions of people are displaced. |
Deutsche Welle;Gaza's disabled cyclists deliver aid, inspiration and hope;https://www.dw.com/en/gaza-s-disabled-cyclists-deliver-aid-inspiration-and-hope/a-70269177?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | When the bombs started to fall in Gaza last October, the Gaza Sunbirds, a group of 25 Palestinian cyclists whose legs were amputated, started using their bikes to deliver food and shelters to their neighbors. |
Deutsche Welle;Heat pumps: Why Germany's heating revolution is stalling;https://www.dw.com/en/heat-pumps-why-germany-s-heating-revolution-is-stalling/a-70192621?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | It's a signature project of Germany's environmentalist Greens: Instead of heating homes with fossil fuels, Germans should use heat pumps based on air or groundwater. But demand for these devices has plummeted. |
Deutsche Welle;Starlink satellites are blinding astronomers' view of space;https://www.dw.com/en/starlink-satellites-are-blinding-astronomers-view-of-space/a-70273835?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | Starlink and other satellite networks are vital for providing high speed internet to remote communities, but unintended radiation leakages are making life difficult for astronomers who need clear skies. |
Deutsche Welle;How Tupperware parties empowered homebound suburban women;https://www.dw.com/en/how-tupperware-parties-empowered-homebound-suburban-women/a-70273741?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | As Tupperware files for bankruptcy, here's a look back at how the iconic US plastic kitchenware company and its "Tupperware party" business model became a cultural phenomenon. |
Deutsche Welle;Czech Republic struggling to mitigate risks as Russian firms flourish;https://www.dw.com/en/czech-republic-struggling-to-mitigate-risks-as-russian-firms-flourish/a-70181088?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | Czechia hosts by far the highest number of Russian-owned companies of any EU state. Experts warn this cohort of over 12,500 firms pose economic and security risks that the government must eventually start to mitigate. |
Deutsche Welle;Oktoberfest: Beer and pretzels in a sustainable package;https://www.dw.com/en/oktoberfest-beer-and-pretzels-in-a-sustainable-package/a-70235282?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | More than Bavarians in lederhosen balancing frothing beer mugs and fried sausages, the world's largest folk festival is becoming more inclusive and eco-friendly. |
Deutsche Welle;COVID FLiRT variants KP.3 and XEC: What you need to know;https://www.dw.com/en/covid-flirt-variants-kp-3-and-xec-what-you-need-to-know/a-70266402?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | KP.3 was the 'predominant' SARS-CoV-2 variant in the US. It was also spreading in Europe. It's now joined with another variant and become XEC. |
Deutsche Welle;Two European firms in focus of Hezbollah pager explosions;https://www.dw.com/en/two-european-firms-in-focus-of-hezbollah-pager-explosions/a-70248830?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | The Taiwanese company whose name appeared on the pagers that detonated across Lebanon has denied manufacturing the devices. That has put relatively unknown Hungarian and Bulgarian firms in the spotlight. |
Deutsche Welle;Cities start fighting rental crisis triggered by overtourism;https://www.dw.com/en/cities-start-fighting-rental-crisis-triggered-by-overtourism/a-70228085?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | In many of Europe's hottest tourist destinations like Barcelona and Paris, locals struggle to access affordable housing. How much are vacation rentals to blame? |
Deutsche Welle;Exploding Hezbollah pagers: How did it happen?;https://www.dw.com/en/exploding-hezbollah-pagers-how-did-it-happen/a-70250960?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | Although the devices have lithium-ion batteries that can catch fire or explode, it is more likely the pagers were sabotaged. |
Deutsche Welle;Pregnancy completely rewires mothers' brains — study;https://www.dw.com/en/pregnancy-completely-rewires-mothers-brains-study/a-70246399?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | Neuroscientists scanned the brain of a pregnant woman and captured a 'widespread reorganization' of her brain before, during and after pregnancy. |
Deutsche Welle;Use, and misuse, of music in US presidential campaigns;https://www.dw.com/en/use-and-misuse-of-music-in-us-presidential-campaigns/a-70186808?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | As Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell become the latest celebs to endorse Kamala Harris, here's a look at the history of music in political campaigns. |
Deutsche Welle;Google wins legal battle against EU over €1.5 billion fine;https://www.dw.com/en/google-wins-legal-battle-against-eu-over-€1-5-billion-fine/a-70246709?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | After years of back and forth, an EU court annulled a hefty fine it was ordered to pay over how it sold advertisements. The fine was one of three major penalties the EU has leveled against the tech giant in recent years. |
Deutsche Welle;Can Namibia's strategy to cull animals save them?;https://www.dw.com/en/can-namibia-s-strategy-to-cull-animals-save-them/a-70213343?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | Does Namibia's plan to kill animals to save them, and help the human population from ongoing drought, stack up? |
Deutsche Welle;Tupperware files for bankruptcy as demand shrinks;https://www.dw.com/en/tupperware-files-for-bankruptcy-as-demand-shrinks/a-70245540?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | Once popular for its colorful food storage containers, US firm Tupperware has filed for bankruptcy. The company succumbed to a plummeting demand for its products. |
Deutsche Welle;US Intel's factory delay adds to Germany's economic woes;https://www.dw.com/en/us-intel-s-factory-delay-adds-to-germany-s-economic-woes/a-70241739?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | US chipmaker Intel has announced it is postponing a $30 billion investment in Germany due to financial problems at the firm. But is the German government still committed to the investments? |
Deutsche Welle;How the arts are a thorn in the side of Germany's AfD;https://www.dw.com/en/how-the-arts-are-a-thorn-in-the-side-of-germany-s-afd/a-70239911?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | As the far-right populist party AfD gains popularity in eastern Germany, a cultural war looms. Are theaters, museums and youth clubs under threat? |
Deutsche Welle;How new technologies can mitigate the risks of flooding;https://www.dw.com/en/how-new-technologies-can-mitigate-the-risks-of-flooding/a-70239314?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | With extreme weather, floods are getting as common in Europe as they are in Asia and Africa. From mobile barriers to specialized dams, people are finding solutions to life-threatening floods across the globe. |
Deutsche Welle;Rapa Nui's early inhabitants survived despite the odds;https://www.dw.com/en/rapa-nui-s-early-inhabitants-survived-despite-the-odds/a-70232317?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | Rapa Nui has long stood as a symbol of ecocide — an act of deliberate, environmental destruction by humans. But new studies suggests the theory is wrong. |
Deutsche Welle;Nipah virus: A recurring, deadly threat in India;https://www.dw.com/en/nipah-virus-a-recurring-deadly-threat-in-india/a-66814386?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | Health authorities in India face outbreaks of Nipah virus almost every other year. Transmitted by fruit bats, it's often fatal among humans. |
Deutsche Welle;Emmys: Japanese-language show 'Shogun' breaks record;https://www.dw.com/en/emmys-japanese-language-show-shogun-breaks-record/a-70224747?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | Japanese-language historical drama "Shogun" has smashed Emmy records by winning 18 trophies at the latest edition of TV's most coveted awards. The 76th Emmys also saw "Hacks," "The Bear," and "Baby Reindeer" shine. |
Deutsche Welle;How is climate change impacting flooding around the world?;https://www.dw.com/en/how-is-climate-change-impacting-flooding-around-the-world/a-69289787?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | As Europe battles severe flooding, we ask what role is climate change playing in extreme rainfall? Will floods get worse as global temperatures rise? These five visualizations will help you understand the connections. |
Deutsche Welle;How important is the ozone layer?;https://www.dw.com/en/how-important-is-the-ozone-layer/a-69665982?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | It may just be a thin layer of gas, but it protects life on Earth. The global attempt to repair it is one of the greatest environmental success stories. |
Deutsche Welle;Dyslexia: German researchers find cause in the brain;https://www.dw.com/en/dyslexia-german-researchers-find-cause-in-the-brain/a-70199780?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | Einstein had dyslexia. Hemmingway had it, too. It can affect people their whole lives. New findings may lead to a fresh approach to the learning difficulty. |
Deutsche Welle;A brief history of diamond desirability;https://www.dw.com/en/a-brief-history-of-diamond-desirability/a-70130225?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | They're the epitome of romance, glamour and status — but also have a dark side. A look at the many meanings of diamonds. |
Deutsche Welle;The pacesetter of a century: Arnold Schönberg;https://www.dw.com/en/the-pacesetter-of-a-century-arnold-schönberg/a-70198415?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | Composer, painter, inventor of the 12-tone technique: musical pioneer Arnold Schönberg, was born 150 years ago. The music world celebrates one of its greats. |
Deutsche Welle;When Germany targets Jewish artists as antisemitic;https://www.dw.com/en/when-germany-targets-jewish-artists-as-antisemitic/a-70180570?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | An open letter signed by more than 150 Jewish personalities has expressed concern that Germany's draft resolution to protect Jewish life is focusing on the wrong people. |
Deutsche Welle;'Coolcation': Is climate change transforming travel?;https://www.dw.com/en/coolcation-is-climate-change-transforming-travel/a-70187090?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | As heatwaves scorch southern Europe, some tourists are heading to colder destinations. Could vacation spots with cooler temperatures be the trend of the future? |
Deutsche Welle;Hydrogen vs battery: The race for the truck of the future;https://www.dw.com/en/hydrogen-vs-battery-the-race-for-the-truck-of-the-future/a-69456987?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | Truck manufacturers are under immense pressure to cut emissions. But should they bet on batteries, hydrogen fuel cells or both? Multinationals are reaching different conclusions. And the wrong choice could be expensive. |
Deutsche Welle;Can European cities lead the way for climate action?;https://www.dw.com/en/can-european-cities-lead-the-way-for-climate-action/a-69642554?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | Over 100 cities have committed to ambitious climate targets by 2030. From free public transport for youth in Porto to green construction in Warsaw and closing Helsinki's coal plants, here's how they plan to do it. |
Deutsche Welle;Beethovenfest: Making classical music accessible to all;https://www.dw.com/en/beethovenfest-making-classical-music-accessible-to-all/a-70171262?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-10-09 08:52:57 | Under the motto "Together," the Beethovenfest in Bonn is aiming to create a democratic and inclusive experience that calls for the public's participation — going far beyond the music. |
The Guardian;Middle East crisis live: Israeli defence minister reportedly says Iran strike will be ‘lethal, precise and surprising’;https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/oct/09/middle-east-crisis-live-israeli-airstrikes-kill-36-in-lebanon-family-of-nine-reportedly-killed-in-northern-gaza;2024-10-09T20:42:48Z | Five members of Lebanon’s civil defence were killed in an Israeli airstrike on their base in the town of Dardghaya, south Lebanon, on Wednesday night. Pictures of the strike show burnt cars with civil defence written on the side of it, crumpled from the force of the blast. Efforts to locate survivors and bodies are still ongoing. In a statement, the director general of Lebanon’s Civil Defence, Brig. Gen. Raymond Khattar said that the body would continue working, “no matter how great the sacrifices.” More than 100 paramedics, firefighters and doctors have been killed by Israeli strikes since fighting started in October - the majority of which were killed in the last two weeks. On Sunday, ten firefighters were killed by an airstrike in the border town of Bint Jbeil. The Union of Municipalities of Bint Jbeil said on Wednesday that rescue crews were still unable to get to the site of the strike due to Israeli strikes in the area and that they were unsure if there were survivors under the rubble. Last week, head of World Health Organization Tedros Ghebreyseus called for the protection of healthcare workers in Lebanon amid the spike in killings in Lebanon. The International Federation of the Red Crescent in the Middle East and North Africa has released the following aid figures from Lebanon this month as Israel continues its strikes across the country: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris had a “productive” conversation with Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House said. In a statement reported by Agence France-Presse, the White House said: “This morning, President Biden spoke with prime minister Netanyahu of Israel. Vice president Harris also joined the call.” The call lasted about 30 minutes and was “direct”, “honest” and “productive”, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, adding: “The US and the Israeli government have had discussions since last week since after the Iran attack. Those discussions continued with the president and the prime minister.” “We’re going to continue to have those discussions with Israel on how they’re going to respond,” she continued. In a press briefing on Wednesday, the US state department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that Israel must avoid conducting military operations in Lebanon like it has in Gaza. In response to question about a video address released by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday in which Netanyahu said: “You have an opportunity to save Lebanon before it falls into the abyss of a long war that will lead to destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza,” Miller said: I’m making very clear that there should be no kind of military action in Lebanon that looks anything like Gaza and leaves a result anything like Gaza. Israel’s war on Gaza, which has largely been funded by US military aid, has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians in the past year while leaving 2 million survivors forcibly displaced amid severe food, water and aid shortages due to Israeli aid restrictions. There are numerous reports that an Al Jazeera cameraperson, Fadi al-Wahidi, has been shot and grievously wounded while covering the Israeli army attacks on the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, where displaced Palestinians have been taking shelter. There is footage on social media of him running amid the gunfire saying (in translation): “The situation is very difficult, Israeli forces have raided the shelters and forced the displaced people out.” He appears to have escaped the loudest bangs and then the next shots show him lying on the ground, reportedly having been shot in the neck by a sniper. The Guardian has not independently verified the details of this incident. Canada will provide C$15m ($11m) in humanitarian assistance to Lebanese civilians who have been affected by Israel’s ongoing strikes across the country. In a statement reported by Reuters on Wednesday, Canada’s foreign minister Mélanie Joly said: Canada is deeply alarmed by the rapid escalation of the crisis in Lebanon. We are mobilizing to ensure that Canada is there to bring much-needed assistance to the Lebanese people. According to Reuters, the new funding brings Canada’s assistance pledge for Lebanese civilians to C$25m. Speaking to the BBC about Gaza’s devastation caused by Israel’s attacks in the past year, Philippe Lazzarini, chief of the main UN aid relief organization in Gaza, said: “We are becoming wordless.” Lazzarini added: We soon have exhausted all our vocabulary to try to describe what has become a wasteland … an unlivable area. The war has been the war of all the superlatives, look at the number of civilians and people who have been killed, the number of humanitarian workers, Unrwa workers … [killed], the level of destruction, the number of times people have been moved around … There is a kind of post-apocalyptic atmosphere prevailing in Gaza right now. Here are some images coming through the newswires from Gaza where Unrwa said at least 400,000 Palestinians are trapped by Israel’s latest attacks on Jabaliya refugee camp: It is 8pm in Beirut, Tel Aviv and Gaza, 8.30pm in Tehran, and 1pm in Washington. Here are the headlines … US president Joe Biden and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a 50 minute phone call, in which they were joined by US vice-president Kamala Harris. It was anticipated that they would discuss Israeli plans to retaliate against Iran for a wave of missiles fired by Tehran on 1 October. That attack had been a response, the Iranians said, to the assassination by Israel of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah Israel’s defense minister Yoav Gallant has said the Israeli strike will be “lethal, precise and surprising” and that “they won’t understand what happened and how”. Iran has already vowed it will respond to any Israeli attack The UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA) has published a flash update about the latest situation in Lebanon which says one quarter of Lebanese territory is now under Israeli military displacement orders. It said “Lebanon’s humanitarian crisis is deteriorating at an alarming rate” as “Israeli airstrikes have not only intensified but also expanded” and are “increasingly targeted critical civilian infrastructure” The governor of Akkar, in the far north of Lebanon, has said there are obstacles to delivering aid to the people who have sought refuge there after being internally displaced by Israeli strikes Hezbollah has said its fighters have fired rockets and artillery shells “as Israeli troops tried to advance in the Mays al-Jabal area from several directions” it said, adding that “clashes are ongoing” Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has condemned Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, saying that the international community should not “remain indifferent” to it Two Israelis were killed in Kiryat Shmona in the north-east of Israel after it was reported to have been hit by a rocket barrage from Hezbollah. Israel’s military says it has destroyed the launcher used for the attack Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks inside the Gaza Strip on Wednesday risen to 60, including in an incident which it reported as “15 civilians were killed today when the Israeli occupation forces bombed the tents of displaced people in Jabalia. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict The IDF has ordered the closure once again of several hospitals in northern Gaza, including the Kamal Adwan, Indonesia and al-Awda hospitals. The Al Mezan Center for Human Rights described the situation as “deja vu” on social media, adding: “We all know the horrors that follow such orders” The International Rescue Committee warned that after a year of conflict, as many as 51,000 children in Gaza could be unaccompanied or separated from their parents or caregivers A number of Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Nablus. Israeli security forces claim they eliminated “five wanted terrorists”, while the Palestinian health authorities said four people had been killed. At least 25 Palestinians have been detained by Israeli soldiers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank over the past day Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has been highly critical of Israel, saying Benjamin Netanyahu’s government had a desire “expand the geography of armed escalation in the region” Israel’s defense minister is being quoted by media in Israel as saying that the next strike against Iran will be “lethal, precise and surprising”. Kann News reports that Yoav Gallant added “they won’t understand what happened and how.” Iran has already vowed to respond to any further strike by Israel against it. The number of people killed in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Nablus remains unclear. Israel’s security forces claim to have killed five people, while Al Jazeera reports that medical sources have confirmed to it that four Palestinians were killed and a fifth wounded. The Times of Israel reports that “Israel Police says no Israeli forces were hurt and that the operation was carried out in coordination with the IDF, Shin Bet and border police. The five armed men presented an immediate threat to Israeli forces during an attempt to arrest them, the police statement says.” Barak Ravid at Axios has this to say about the Biden-Netanyahu-Harris call. He writes: The call was the first between Biden and Netanyahu since Aug. 21, and comes as Israel considers a major attack against Iran that could significantly escalate its regional war. Netanyahu hunkered down for hours on Tuesday night with senior ministers and the heads of Israel’s military and intelligence services to discuss the scope and timing of Israel’s attacks, according to two Israeli officials. Israeli officials say the retaliation is expected to be significant, and will likely include a combination of airstrikes on military targets in Iran and clandestine attacks like the one the killed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. On Thursday, Netanyahu will convene the security cabinet. Tehran said its [1 October missile attack] response would end there unless Israel attacked Iran. Israel, for its part, has vowed retaliation. Both US and Israeli officials believe the tit-for-tat will continue. Earlier we reported that the Palestinian health authority said that four Palestinians had been killed by Israeli security forces in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Nablus. In the last few moments a joint statement from the IDF, Israel Police and the Shin Bet has claimed that in an operation Nablus it killed “five wanted terrorists”, including the head of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade in the Balata refugee camp. “The wanted individuals were involved in terrorist activities against Israeli civilians and forces and posed a threat to the forces,” the statement said. More details soon … The White House has also now confirmed that the US president, Joe Biden, spoke with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone today. The Times of Israel reports, citing Netanyahu’s office, that the call has ended and lasted 50 minutes, and that US vice-president Kamala Harris participated. The Palestinian health ministry said on Wednesday that four Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in the Israeli-occupied West Bank town of Nablus. Images from the city taken today appear to show a bullet-riddled car. Reuters reports that Israeli officials have confirmed that Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken by phone with the US president, Joe Biden, in what is thought to be the leaders’ first chat since August. The White House did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. US vice-president Kamala Harris is expected to join president Joe Biden for his call with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters, with Netanyahu’s office reporting the call has started. The talks are expected to include discussion of Israeli plans for a retaliatory strike on Iran, after Iran launched a wave of missiles against Israel on 1 October in response to Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Netanyahu has also said that Israel believes it killed Nasrallah’s most likely successor. Harris, who is standing for election against former US president Donald Trump in November, is generally considered to be more lukewarm an ally to Netanyahu than Biden has been, although there is no sign that a Harris administration would not continue to provide financial and military assistance to Israel. Biden has been anxious that any Israeli action against Iran is limited and avoids widening the crisis in the Middle East and starting a full blown regional war. Iran, for its part, has already promised that it will respond to any Israeli attack, and media reports in the Islamic Republic have said Tehran’s military has already prepared at least ten possible response scenarios. The UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA) has published a flash update about the latest situation in Lebanon. Among its key points are that it finds: 2,083 people killed and 9,869 injured 608,509 persons internally displaced 180,700 people seeking refuge 350,000 children have been displaced by the ongoing conflict It says “Lebanon’s humanitarian crisis is deteriorating at an alarming rate” as “Israeli airstrikes have not only intensified but also expanded” and are “increasingly targeted critical civilian infrastructure.” The report continues: Now issued on a daily basis by the Israeli army, displacement orders for more than 100 villages and urban neighbourhoods across southern Lebanon continue to force people to flee. One quarter of Lebanese territory is now under Israeli military displacement orders. Lebanon’s health sector is under immense pressure of relentless attacks on healthcare facilities and personnel. The education sector in Lebanon similarly faces enormous challenges, with the majority of public schools currently repurposed as collective shelters. Israel’s military, in a statement on its official Telegram channel, says that it has destroyed a launcher which was used to fire rockets at the northern city of Kiryat Shmona. Two Israelis were reported dead there earlier from an attack [See 13.14 GMT] In addition, in the statement the military says approximately 90 projectile launches were identified crossing from Lebanon into Israel and Israeli-controlled territory in the Upper Galilee, western Galilee, and southern Golan Heights. It said “Israeli fire and rescue services are currently operating to extinguish fires” without specifying a location. Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks inside the Gaza Strip has risen to 60, including in an incident which it reported as “15 civilians were killed today when the Israeli occupation forces bombed the tents of displaced people in Jabalia, north of the Gaza Strip.” Other were injured, it said, in the attack on the courtyard of the Al Yemen Assaeed hospital. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict. Israeli media reports that a home in Safed, to the north of the Sea of Galilee, has suffered a direct hit from a projectile fired into Israel from Lebanon. There were no immediate reports of any casualties. Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, will discuss bilateral issues and efforts to secure a ceasefire in Lebanon and Gaza on his visit to Saudi Arabia today, a senior Iranian official has said. Araqchi arrived in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, earlier and is set to visit Qatar later in the day. A source told Reuters: Regional unity and cooperation to secure peace in the Middle East, ceasefire in Lebanon and Gaza as well as bilateral issues will be discussed during the Iranian foreign minister’s visit to Saudi Arabia. The meeting comes as Israel considers options for a strike on Iran that could potentially escalate the war on yet another front. Iran, which backs Hezbollah and Hamas, launched a wave of some 180 ballistic missiles at Israel last week in retaliation for the killing of senior leaders from both groups. Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has condemned Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, saying that the international community should not “remain indifferent” to it. The Socialist leader was quoted by Al Jazeera as telling the Spanish parliament: It is clear that there has been an invasion by a third country of a sovereign state such as Lebanon, and therefore, the international community cannot remain indifferent. We denounced (this situation) in Ukraine, we also denounce it in Gaza and now we are also denouncing the invasion of Lebanon. Since February 2022, Spain has commanded the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) and deployed 650 troops along the southern Lebanese border with Israel. Sánchez has been one of the most persistent European critics of Israel’s war on Gaza, calling the number of Palestinians killed in the conflict “truly unbearable” and has said he has had “genuine doubts” about whether Israel is complying with international humanitarian law in its assault on the territory. Spain – which has halted arms sales to Israel – is working to rally other European capitals behind the idea of recognising a Palestinian state. Israel’s intense bombing campaign and ground invasion of Lebanon is estimated to have killed over 1,400 people in less than three weeks and displaced well over 1 million more. We have some more information on the reports that a man and a woman were killed in Kiryat Shmona, a border town in the north-east of Israel, after it was reported to have been hit by a rocket barrage from Hezbollah (see post at 13.34). Israel’s emergency service provider, Magen David Adom, said in a statement: We found a man and a woman aged around 40 years old, unconscious and injured by shrapnel. We carried out medical examinations, but their injuries were serious and we had to declare them dead on the spot. Hezbollah claimed the strike on Kiryat Shmona, saying it targeted “a gathering of enemy forces” with a rocket salvo. Ofir Yehezkeli, the town’s acting mayor, said the two people killed were a couple who were walking their dogs when a rocket fell near them. Kiryat Shmona, Israel’s northernmost town, has been declared a closed military zone because of its proximity to the Lebanese border, and is a frequent target of Hezbollah rocket attacks. The Israeli military said about 20 projectile launches were identified crossing from Lebanon after air raid sirens were activated in Kiryat Shmona. The governor of Akkar, in the far north of Lebanon, has said there are obstacles to delivering aid to the people who have sought refuge there after being internally displaced by Israeli strikes on Beirut and the south and the east of the country. Lebanon’s National News Agency quotes Imad Labaki announcing that 54,102 people and 12,319 families were distributed between homes and shelters in the region, which has an estimated population of about 330,000. He said “The aid is still late” and that an accumulation of waste around shelters was presenting a health hazard. “The municipalities of Akkar do not have the ability to confront this crisis,” he said. Another wave of warning sirens has gone off across northern Israel. Israeli media report that two people have been killed in Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel after a barrage of rockets was fired from Lebanon. Reports have described them as a man and a woman in their 40s. More details soon … Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has been highly critical of Israel today, saying Benjamin Netanyahu’s government had a desire “expand the geography of armed escalation in the region.” Raising Israel’s repeated airstrikes in the region, Zakharova said “Once again, Israel has grossly violated the sovereignty of Syria by launching a missile attack on a multi-storey apartment building in a densely populated area of Damascus. It is outrageous that such actions have literally turned into a routine practice applied to Syria, Lebanon, and the Gaza Strip.” Zakharova also claimed, Reuters reports, that according to Russian assessments “Hezbollah, including the military wing, has not lost its chain of command and is demonstrating organisation.” At least 25 Palestinians have been detained by Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank over the past day, including a reporter and former prisoners, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society and the Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs said. Wafa, the Palestinian news agency, reports that the detentions took place in Hebron, Qalqilya, Jenin, Ramallah, Nablus, Tulkarem, Tubas and Bethlehem. Over 11,200 people from the occupied West Bank are reported to have been arrested by Israeli soldiers since last October. Human rights groups and international organisations have alleged widespread abuse of inmates detained by Israel in raids in the occupied West Bank. They have described alleged abusive and humiliating treatment, including holding blindfolded and handcuffed detainees in cramped cages as well as beatings, intimidation and harassment. Hezbollah has said its fighters have fired rockets and artillery shells “as Israeli troops tried to advance in the Mays al-Jabal area from several directions” it said, adding that “clashes are ongoing”. Hezbollah said earlier today that its fighters had repelled two Israeli army attempts to infiltrate Lebanese territory near other frontier villages. Peter Beaumont is a senior Guardian foreign correspondent Along with evacuation orders, the IDF has ordered the closure once again of several hospitals in northern Gaza, including the Kamal Adwan, Indonesia and al-Awda hospitals. The Al Mezan Center for Human Rights described the situation as “deja vu” on social media, adding: “We all know the horrors that follow such orders.” Among those raising the alarm has been the international medical group Médecins Sans Frontières, whose staff described the situation in northern Gaza. “All of a sudden, I was told that we had to move from the north,” said Mahmoud, an MSF guard, who left Jabaliya at night to find refuge at the MSF guest house in Gaza City. “We left our home in despair, under bombs, missiles and artillery. It was very, very difficult. I would prefer to die than to be displaced to the south; my home is here, and I do not want to leave.” Sarah Vuylsteke, an MSF project coordinator in Gaza, said: The latest move to forcefully and violently push thousands of people from northern Gaza to the south is turning the north into a lifeless desert while aggravating the situation in the south. Access to water, healthcare and safety is already almost nonexistent, and the thought of more people fitting into this space is impossible to imagine. People have been subjected to endless displacement and relentless bombing for the past 12 months. Enough is enough. This must stop now. The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and dozens of humanitarian facilities had been affected by the Israeli military’s latest forced evacuations across north, central and southern Gaza. Between Saturday and Monday, evacuations orders were in place for several areas in the north of the Palestinian territory as well as areas in central Deir al-Balah and southern Khan Younis. “There are growing risks that humanitarian access will be further constrained, particularly between southern and northern Gaza,” OCHA warned. You can read the full story here: Here are some of the latest images from Gaza that have been sent to us over the newswires: 400,000 civilians in northern Gaza remain trapped by the latest Israeli offensive centred on Jabaliya refugee camp, the commissioner general of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), Philippe Lazzarini, said, as there is nowhere safe for them to flee to. At least 42,010 Palestinian people have been killed and 97,720 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry said. Of those, 45 Palestinians were killed and 130 were injured in the latest 24-hour reporting period, officials said. Palestinian medics have described deadly Israeli military strikes on Gaza overnight. Two strikes hit tents for displaced people in the urban Nuseirat and Bureij refugee camps in central Gaza. The Gaza health ministry said the army had ordered three hospitals in northern Gaza to evacuate. Hundreds of patients and medics were trapped inside those facilities, it said. The US president, Joe Biden, is expected to hold a telephone call later today with his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, that will reportedly include discussion of any plans to strike Iran. Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, is visiting Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states for talks later today. The International Rescue Committee warned that as much as 51,000 children in Gaza could be unaccompanied or separated from their parents or caregivers. At least six people were injured in a stabbing attack in the Israeli city of Hadera on Wednesday, Israeli authorities said. Israeli police said at least six people have been injured in a stabbing in four locations in the northern city of Hadera, describing it as a “terrorist attack”. We will bring you more details on this breaking news as we get it. A police statement read: The attack took place on four different sites where six people were stabbed... a short time ago, the police located the suspect and neutralised him by shooting. In a statement, Israel’s Magen David Adom ambulance service said: We treated several injured individuals in varying conditions, some of whom were in serious condition,” said emergency service provider Magen David Adom. We provided life-saving medical treatment and began transporting them to Hillel Yaffe medical centre. The attack comes more than a week after seven people were killed in a shooting and stabbing – which Hamas claimed responsibility for - in Tel Aviv, Israel’s commercial capital. Airwars, an investigative war monitor, has analysed hundreds of clips of Israeli strikes on Gaza released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) over the past year. The footage was geolocated and linked to incidents in which Palestinians had publicly reported that civilians were injured or killed. The investigation, which was conducted in collaboration with Sky News’ data and forensics unit, identified 17 incidents from the first month of the war – which broke out last October – in which the footage released by the IDF corresponded with the location of where Airwars had documented civilians being harmed. Just from these 17 clips, over 400 Palestinian civilians, including more than 200 children, were reported to have been killed, Airwars said. You can view the interactive map with strike footage here and watch a short film based on Airwar’s reviewing of the devastating impact from three specific strikes here. Airwars says the footage in the short film shows how the IDF’s bombing campaign has caused “unprecedented rates of civilian harm”. Commenting on the investigation, Emily Tripp, Airwars’ director, said: The Israeli military has shared hundreds of videos of their own strikes on social media in Gaza - grainy black and white clips with few details but captions declaring they were striking Hamas targets. The message they wanted the world to see was one of a precise campaign, a controlled narrative of careful and calculated warfare. But by locating these clips and matching them to civilian harm allegations we uncovered a different story. Even in the strikes the Israeli military itself published footage of - the ones it chose to show the world - we found hundreds of civilians killed. This is yet more evidence that the practices of the Israeli military are leading to unprecedented levels of civilian harm. An Oxfam analysis, published last week, found that more women and children have been killed in Gaza by the Israeli military over the past year than the equivalent period of any other conflict over the past two decades. The charity cited “conservative figures” that estimated over 6,000 women and 11,000 children in Gaza had been killed by the Israeli military since last year. Gaza’s health ministry said earlier today that at least 42,010 Palestinian people have been killed and 97,720 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October 2023. Israel has denied targeting civilians in its war on Gaza. The Palestinian civil emergency service said it had received unconfirmed reports that dozens of Palestinian people may have been killed in Jabalia and other areas of northern Gaza, but is unable reach them because of Israeli bombardments. The Israeli army has surrounded Jabalia since Sunday, as well as other nearby neighbourhoods, ordering residents to flee southward, even though there is nowhere area completely safe for them to go. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has shared a new report detailing the devastating impact Israel’s war on Gaza has had on the children in the territory. Here are some of the main findings from the report: About 17,000 children are estimated to be unaccompanied or separated from parents and caregivers. The IRC thinks this figure could be three times as high (51,000). Frequent Israeli evacuation orders, detentions and attacks have contributed to more families being separated in Gaza over the past few months. Some children have been found living alone in hospitals. Unaccompanied and separated children face high risks of child labour, exploitation, neglect, starvation, and long-term mental health impacts. Every child, parent and caregiver in Gaza is experiencing trauma. IRC teams in Gaza are seeing increased rates of severe and acute malnutrition in children under five. Children in Gaza have now missed one year of education because of the collapse of the education destruction of school buildings caused by Israeli bombardment. Bart Witteveen, the IRC’s country director for the occupied Palestinian territory, said: Children are bearing the brunt of this war, and it’s clear that without an immediate and lasting ceasefire in sight, the long-term impacts will only become greater. Prolonged toxic stress from violence and displacement can lead to long-term health challenges for children. Without support through psychosocial activities or safe spaces for children, there is a significant risk of long-term developmental impacts, including on brain development. The international community must act immediately to safeguard children, not just in the immediate term, but also taking into account their long-term health needs, whether related to mental health, healthcare or education. Children in Gaza cannot wait any longer, prolonged restrictions on humanitarian aid and continued fighting means that a generation of children will now experience life-long health and developmental issues. At least 42,010 Palestinian people have been killed and 97,720 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. Of those, 45 Palestinians were killed and 130 injured in the latest 24-hour reporting period, according to the ministry, which has said in the past that thousands of other dead people are most likely lost in the rubble of the enclave. One Syrian security personnel member was killed and another injured in an Israeli airstrike east of the southern city of Quneitra, Syria’s state news agency has reported. Israel has been carrying out airstrikes against Iran-linked targets in Syria for years but has intensified attacks since last October. Leaders from Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement will hold unity talks in Cairo today, a Hamas official has told Reuters. “The meeting will discuss the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, and the challenges facing the Palestinian cause,” Taher Al-Nono, the media adviser of the Hamas political chief, said. The meeting will be the first in months since the two groups held talks in Beijing in July, when they agreed on steps to form a national unity government at an unspecified point in the future. Similar rounds in the past have so far failed to make progress. You can read more on the Beijing declaration from my colleague, Amy Hawkins, in this story. Hamas and Fatah have been long time rivals. The split came in 2007 when Hamas became the sole ruler in Gaza after violently routing out Fatah from the territory. This was a year after Hamas won legislative elections. Since then, the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority (PA), led by Abbas, runs parts of the West Bank not under full Israeli control. Western states support the idea of post-war Gaza being run by a reformed PA, which receives security assistance from the US and the EU. Hamas, which is proscribed as a terrorist group by Israel, the UK and other countries, recognises it cannot be part of any internationally recognised new government of the Palestinian territories when Israel’s war on Gaza finally ends, a source has told Reuters. But it reportedly wants Fatah to agree to a new technocratic administration for the West Bank and Gaza as part of a wider political deal. Israel vowed it would not accept any role for Hamas in post-war Gaza. It says it doesn’t trust the Abbas-led Palestinian Authority to do it either. The spokesperson of the Iranian foreign ministry has confirmed reports that Tehran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, will arrive in Saudi Arabia later today. In a post on X, Esmaeil Baghaei said: Following the diplomatic consultations of the Islamic Republic of Iran and coordination with the countries of the region to stop the genocide and aggression of the Israeli regime and reduce the suffering of our brothers and sisters in Gaza and Lebanon, Dr. Araghchi, the minister of foreign affairs, is leaving for Saudi Arabia today. Genocide and rape must stop. Iran is determined to further strengthen relations with its neighbours, to ensure stability and security, as well as to develop economic cooperation in order to benefit all the nations of the region. Tehran is still bracing for Israeli retaliation for Iran’s missile attack on the country last week. The strikes, which Iran said were aimed at military bases, were largely thwarted by Israel’s aerial defences with support from its western allies. Iran said the attack was launched in retaliation for Israel’s assassination of senior Hamas and Hezbollah leaders and Israel’s war on Gaza and assault on Lebanon. Gulf Arab states have sought to reassure Iran of their neutrality in the escalating conflict between Tehran and Israel, according to reports. Gulf states include Saudi Arabia, which has expressed interest in normalising relations with Israel after the war in Gaza, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar. A senior Iranian official has told Reuters that Tehran has told Gulf Arab states it would be “unacceptable” if they allowed use of their airspace or military bases against Iran and warned that any such move would draw a response. The senior official, who wished to remain anonymous, told Reuters: Iran made it clear that any action by a Persian Gulf country against Tehran, whether through the use of airspace or military bases, will be regarded by Tehran as an action taken by the entire group, and Tehran will respond accordingly. The message emphasised the need for regional unity against Israel and the importance of securing stability. “It also made clear that any assistance to Israel, such as allowing the use of a regional country’s airspace for actions against Iran, is unacceptable,” the official added. It is not clear yet how Israel will respond to Tehran’s ballistic missile attack. The US president, Joe Biden, has cautioned against striking Iranian oil facilities (after he had suggested Washington was “discussing” such action). Some of the other targets Israel could try to strike are Iran’s cluster of missile and drone bases, its economic infrastructure or its oil terminals. As we mentioned in an earlier post, Biden is expected to hold a telephone call later today with his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, that will reportedly include discussion of any plans to strike Iran. Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, is heading to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states for talks later today. Israeli forces launched a “raid” on the city of Sidon (or Saida), in southern Lebanon, killing one person and injuring several others, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported earlier today. We will give you more details on this as they come in. We have more reports coming in of deadly Israeli attacks on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza (see post at 07.54) and Bureij refugee camp, which is located nearby. Two Israeli airstrikes hit tents for displaced people in the camps earlier, the Associated Press reports. The bodies of nine people, including three children, were brought to the al-Aqsa martyrs hospital in the nearby town of Deir al-Balah. Al Jazeera is reporting that at least 20 Palestinian people were killed during the night and early hours of this morning in Israeli airstrikes. We have not been able to verify this figure yet. The commissioner general of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), Philippe Lazzarini, has warned that at least 400,000 people are essentially “trapped” in northern Gaza, where there is “no end to hell” because there is nowhere safe in the territory to flee to. He said many people in Northern Gaza, particularly in the Jabalia refugee camp, the largest of the Gaza Strip’s eight historic urban refugee camps, are now refusing to comply with Israeli evacuation orders telling them to go southward. The Israeli army has surrounded Jabalia since Sunday, as well as other nearby neighbourhoods, ordering residents to flee towards the so-called “humanitarian zone” of al-Mawasi, even though it has been targeted in deadly Israeli airstrikes and is severely overcrowded. The Israeli military claims its forces are in Jabalia to fight Hamas militants, dismantle military infrastructure and prevent Hamas from regrouping. In a post on X, Lazzarini added: Unrwa shelters + services are being forced to shut. Some for the first time since the war began. With almost no basic supplies available, hunger is spreading & deepening again. This recent military operation also threatens the implementation of the second phase of the polio vaccination campaign for children. Children are as ever, the first & most to suffer. They deserve so much better, they deserve a ceasefire now, they deserve a future. Wafa, the Palestinian news agency, has reports from the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, which has been the frequent target of Israeli attacks. The outlet has been told by medical sources that three Palestinians were killed and others injured earlier today when the Israeli military bombed a tent housing displaced people in the northwest of the camp. In a statement issued after midnight, Hezbollah said its fighters detonated an explosive device targeting Israeli forces and engaged in combat with them as they “attempted to infiltrate the border town of Blida” in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah also said its fighters targeted Israeli soldiers with artillery “and rocket-propelled weapons” as they tried to advance towards the border area of Labouneh at 4:55am. These claims have not been independently verified by the Guardian yet. The Lebanese militant group claims to have prevented a number of such infiltration attempts since the Israeli military launched its ground invasion of Lebanon on 30 September, which has sparked a humanitarian and refugee crisis. The Syrian defence ministry said seven people, including women and children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in the capital Damascus on Tuesday. At least 11 others were also wounded in the attack, the ministry said, adding that they were only preliminary figures as rescuers are still searching for survivors under the rubble. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said nine people were killed in the airstrike, including five civilians. The strike obliterated the first three floors of a building in the Mezzeh neighbourhood, east of Damascus, according to an AP journalist at the scene. The AP report says: The debris covered the surrounding area, crushing several cars. Ambulances and excavators arrived at the scene to rescue survivors and clear the wreckage. Electrician Adel Habib, 61, who lives in the building which was hit, told AFP the strike was like “Judgment Day”. I was on my way home when the explosion happened and communications and electricity were cut off so I could no longer contact my family. These were the longest five minutes of my life until I heard the voices of my wife, children and grandchildren. The Syrian foreign ministry condemned “in the strongest terms this brutal crime against defenceless civilians” calling for “immediate measures” to stop Israel from dragging the region “into a confrontation that will have disastrous consequences”. Israel has not commented on the strike. Joe Biden is expected to hold a phone call on Wednesday with Benjamin Netanyahu about any plans to strike Iran, Axios reported late on Tuesday, citing three unnamed US officials. The call would be the first between Biden and Netanyahu since August, and comes as Israel considers major attacks that could significantly escalate its regional war. “We want to use the call to try and shape the limitations of the Israeli retaliation,” a US official was quoted as saying by Axios. The official said the US wants to make sure Israel attacks targets in Iran that are significant, without being disproportionate. Reuters also has separate confirmation that the call will take place, citing an unnamed source, and reports the two leaders are also expected to discuss the conflicts with Hamas in Gaza and with Hezbollah in Lebanon. The White House did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Biden said late last month that he would speak to Netanyahu in an effort to ward off all-out war in the Middle East. That conversation, however, did not immediately transpire, and when asked about it last week Biden said it was “because there’s no action going on right now”. The Pentagon announced on Tuesday that Israel’s defence minister Yoav Gallant would not go ahead with a visit to Washington and a meeting with his US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, planned for Wednesday. Biden also pulled out of scheduled talks between the leaders of the US, UK, France and Germany on the Middle East and Ukraine on Saturday. Biden will no longer be travelling to Berlin in order to focus on the response to Hurricane Milton, the White House said. The Israeli military says it has intercepted two projectiles fired from Lebanon on Wednesday shortly after air raid sirens sounded in and around the coastal town of Caesarea, south of Haifa. Hezbollah has launched barrages of rockets towards the Israeli port of Haifa over the last two days. Haifa is Israel’s biggest port and contains petrochemical plants and oil refineries, making it a target for Hezbollah to try to strike. Nine members of the same family have been killed in an Israeli strike on a residential building in the Shejaia neighbourhood of Gaza City, Palestinian news agency Wafa is reporting, according to Reuters, as Israel steps up its attacks on the area. The victims were from the Farhat family and their bodies were transferred to the Baptist hospital. Meanwhile, three others were killed at Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, including a child, and several were wounded in an Israeli attack, Wafa reported. Israel ordered the evacuation of all of northern Gaza on Sunday and has stepped up attacks in the area. Al Jazeera reported early Wednesday that dozens of bodies lay in the streets of Jabalia refugee camp and that rescue workers could not reach the area because of the continuous bombardment. The Palestinian Civil Defence warned earlier of a worsening humanitarian situation in northern Gaza, saying that Israeli forces were “preventing the entry of water, food and medical supplies” to the area and “committing massacres, killing dozens and injuring hundreds”. Medécins sans Frontières (MSF) said the evacuation and bombings had turned northern Gaza into an “unliveable wasteland” and that no humanitarian supplies had entered the area for more than a week. Israel also ordered the evacuation of the three main hospitals on Tuesday: the Indonesian, Kamal Adwan and al-Awda hospitals. Hossam Shabbat, one of the few remaining journalists in northern Gaza, said that the head of Kamal Adwan had been given 24 hours on Tuesday to evacuate the hospital, but that hundreds of injured people were unable to be moved. The Israeli order amounted to a “death sentence for all the sick and injured”, he wrote on X. Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif reported that Israeli forces had also burned the only bakery in northern Gaza, as well as the area’s largest flour warehouse. It was not possible to independently verify either report as Israel does not allow foreign reporters into Gaza. The Lebanese health ministry said late on Tuesday 36 people have been killed in Israeli attacks over the past 24 hours. Another 150 people have been injured in Lebanon, it said. The latest figure brings the total number of people killed in Lebanon since October 2023 to 2,119, most of them in the past two weeks, the ministry said. Beirut’s southern suburbs have been the target of intense Israeli strikes for several consecutive days. Lebanese state media reported massive destruction from Tuesday’s strikes, including the collapse of four adjacent residential buildings in the Burj al-Barajneh area in Dahiyeh, the southern suburb of Beirut where Hezbollah’s longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed a week and a half ago. “Beirut’s southern suburbs are still being subjected to a series of strikes, the latest of which hit the main road at Al-Kafaat, and caused massive destruction” in several south Beirut neighbourhoods, Lebanon’s National News Agency said. Lebanon’s transport minister, Ali Hamieh, said his country has received “assurances” that Israel will not target its international airport but that those assurances fell short of guarantees. Beirut “seeks to keep its public airport, seaports and land crossings – chief among them the Rafik Hariri International Airport – functional,” he told AFP on Tuesday. “Ongoing international calls have given us a sort of assurance” the airport will be spared Israeli strikes, Hamieh added, however “there is a big difference between assurances and guarantees”. On Monday, the US warned Israel not to attack the Beirut airport or the roads leading to it, after repeated Israeli strikes near the facility. Hamieh denied Israeli accusations that Hezbollah was using the airport and border crossings to smuggle weapons. The airport “is subject to Lebanese laws and to the scrutiny of various relevant departments and security agencies”, he said. Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the Middle East crisis. Nine members of the same family have been killed in an Israeli strike on a residential building in the Shejaia neighbourhood of Gaza City, Palestinian news agency Wafa is reporting, according to Reuters. Israel ordered the evacuation of all of northern Gaza on Sunday and has stepped up attacks in the area. Al Jazeera reported early Wednesday that dozens of bodies lay in the streets of Jabalia refugee camp and that rescue workers could not reach the area because of the continuous bombardment. The Lebanese health ministry said late on Tuesday that 36 people had been killed in Israeli attacks over the past 24 hours, as Israel launched new strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs. After repeated Israeli strikes near Beirut’s international airport, Lebanon’s transport minister Ali Hamieh said his country has received “assurances” that Israel will not target the Beirut airport but that those assurances fell short of guarantees. Lebanese state media reported massive destruction, including the collapse of four adjacent residential buildings in the Burj al-Barajneh area in Dahiyeh, the southern suburb of Beirut where Hezbollah’s longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed a week and a half ago. It comes as the Israeli military said it was expanding its ground operation with the deployment of a fourth division. At least seven people, including women and children, were meanwhile killed in an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in Damascus on Tuesday, the Syrian defence ministry said. The strike obliterated the first three floors of a building in the Mezzeh neighbourhood, east of Damascus, according to AP. Israel did not immediately comment on the attack. More on that in a moment – first here’s a summary of the day’s other main events. Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Lebanese people that they could face “destruction and suffering” like the Palestinians in Gaza if they don’t “free” the country from Hezbollah. “You have an opportunity to save Lebanon before it falls into the abyss of a long war that will lead to destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza,” the Israeli prime minister said in a video address directed to the people of Lebanon. Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, has cancelled plans for a visit to Washington scheduled for this week, according to a Pentagon spokesperson. The Israeli minister was expected to visit Washington and meet with his US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, on Wednesday. The announcement came after reports that Benjamin Netanyahu had ordered Gallant not to travel to the Pentagon for talks on Iran until the Israeli prime minister receives a phone call with Joe Biden and until the Israeli security cabinet approves the response to Iran’s missile attack. Israel said it is expanding its ground operation in Lebanon with the deployment of a fourth division. The number of Israeli troops on the ground is now likely to number 15,000. The rapid deployment of four divisions operating across south Lebanon, alongside evacuation orders for Lebanese villages on the coast upwards of 20 miles from the blue line and the intensive bombing of the country’s south and east and the capital, suggests Israel is preparing for a wider push north against the Lebanese militia. Fighting also continues to rage in Gaza. Israeli airstrikes killed 17 people in a refugee camp in the centre of the Palestinian territory on Tuesday, medics said. At least 15 people, including two women and four children, were killed on Tuesday in ground fighting in the Jabaliya neighbourhood of Gaza City, the nearby Kamal Adwan hospital said, after new Israeli evacuation orders for the city were issued on Monday. The Israeli military also ordered the full evacuation of all three main hospitals in northern Gaza – Al-Awda, Indonesian, and Kamal Adwan hospitals, the territory’s health ministry said. Israeli forces shot at the administration office at the Kamal Adwan hospital, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which said that the complex was being besieged. Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces have taken out the would-be successors of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, without naming them. The Israeli prime minister also warned the people of Lebanon they could face “destruction and suffering” like the Palestinians in Gaza. Hezbollah’s deputy secretary general, Naim Qassem, said that the question of who will succeed Nasrallah remains undecided. In a defiant speech on Tuesday, Qassem said the group’s military capabilities were still functional despite two weeks of heavy Israeli airstrikes. Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, warned Israel that any attack on Iran’s infrastructure will be met with retaliation, a week after Tehran fired a barrage of missiles at Israel. On Monday evening Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported that Tehran’s military had prepared at least ten scenarios preparing for an expected Israeli attack. Hezbollah fired another barrage of rockets into Israel on Tuesday and warned that it would intensify attacks on Israel, including the northern port city of Haifa, if it continues to strike Lebanon. The IDF said Hezbollah launched more than 170 rockets across the border. Israel’s home front command tightened restrictions on civilians in the port city of Haifa on Tuesday in the wake of a barrage of rockets launched by Hezbollah in Lebanon. Hezbollah said it had fired rockets towards the Haifa and Krayot area in northern Israel, having launched “a large salvo of missiles”. About seven people were injured in the attack, according to reports. Hezbollah said it killed and injured Israeli soldiers crossing the Lebanese border near a UN position near the al-Labouneh forest, in the western section of the border area. Hezbollah said that the attack forced Israeli soldiers to withdraw behind the border. Ireland’s prime minister, Simon Harris, said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) withdrawal from a firing position next to Irish peacekeepers on the Lebanese border was “extremely welcome”. Harris said he had spoken to UN secretary general, António Guterres, about his deep concerns about their safety after the IDF requested them to vacate their positions to make way for their war on Hezbollah. António Guterres, the UN secretary general, warned that Lebanon is on the verge of “an all-out war” and Gaza is “in a death spiral.” Guterres, speaking to reporters on Tuesday, said that the Middle East “is a powder keg with many parties holding the match” and that the conflict is “getting worse by the hour”. He said he has written to Netanyahu warning him that draft Israeli legislation to prevent the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) from working in the occupied Palestinian territory would be a “catastrophe”. The World Food Programme country director in Lebanon voiced concern about the country’s food supply, saying thousands of hectares of farmland across the country’s south has burned or been abandoned. “Agriculture-wise, food production-wise, (there is) extraordinary concern for Lebanon’s ability to continue to feed itself,” Matthew Hollingworth told reporters on Tuesday. British foreign secretary David Lammy is to meet leaders in Bahrain and Jordan as part of efforts to prevent the conflict in the Middle East from escalating further, Reuters reports. Prosecutors in the Netherlands are considering a request to open a criminal case against senior Israeli intelligence officials for allegedly interfering with an investigation by the international criminal court (ICC). |
The Guardian;Biden and Netanyahu speak as Gallant warns of ‘deadly’ surprise attack on Iran;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/09/biden-and-netanyahu-to-speak-as-israel-attack-on-iran-expected;2024-10-09T17:56:22Z | Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu spoke for the first time in weeks on Wednesday amid expectations of an imminent Israeli strike on Iran, which Yoav Gallant warned would be “deadly, precise and surprising”. Netanyahu’s defence minister issued the warning in a video message on Israeli media on Wednesday night, broadcast after he postponed a scheduled trip to Washington. Gallant said that the Iranian missile attack on Israel on 1 October had been a failure but would be avenged. “Whoever attacks us will be hurt and will pay a price. Our attack will be deadly, precise and above all surprising, they will not understand what happened and how it happened, they will see the results,” the Israeli defence minister said. Gallant’s video message was broadcast a few hours after the conversation between Netanyahu and Biden, their first in seven weeks, which was joined by the vice-president, Kamala Harris, whose presidential campaign could be upset by the widening hostilities in the Middle East and any consequent spike in oil prices. It also emerged on Wednesday that Netanyahu last week spoke with Harris’s opponent, Donald Trump. The timing and scope of the Israeli retaliation is still unclear, and a miscalculation could propel Iran and Israel into a full-scale war, which neither side says it wants. The US, Israel’s staunch ally, is wary of being drawn into the fighting, and of oil price shocks. The Biden administration is keen to weigh in on Israel’s plans and avoid surprises like the Israeli killing of the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, although the Wall Street Journal reported that Israel had so far refused to share details. Biden said last week that he would not support strikes on Iranian oil or nuclear sites. Netanyahu’s relationship with Biden has deteriorated significantly since the spring over Israel’s war in Gaza. Biden allegedly shouted and swore at Netanyahu in July over Israel’s failure to give Washington advance warning of another strike on a senior Hezbollah leader, according to a new book by the journalist Bob Woodward. In War, a book out next week, Woodward reports that Biden regularly accused Netanyahu of having no strategy, and shouted: “Bibi, what the fuck?” at him in July, after Israeli strikes near Beirut and in Iran. Netanyahu’s office also confirmed that the prime minister had recently spoken with the former president Trump. The Republican, who is in a close White House race against Harris, called Netanyahu last week and “congratulated him on the intense and determined operations that Israel carried out against Hezbollah”, according to Netanyahu’s office. “World leaders want to speak and meet with President Trump because they know he will soon be returning to the White House and will restore peace around the globe,” a Trump campaign spokesperson said in a statement about that call, which a Trump ally, Senator Lindsey Graham, also joined. There still appear to be disagreements within Israel’s security cabinet over an appropriate response to Iran’s firing of 180 ballistic missiles, an attack that was mostly intercepted by air defence systems but killed one person in the occupied West Bank and hit some Israeli military sites. Netanyahu promised that Iran would pay for the attack, while Tehran has repeatedly warned that an Israeli attack on its soil would be met with further escalation. Israel is fearful of a costly war of attrition with Iran while it is fighting in Gaza and Lebanon. After Tehran fired its first ever direct salvo at Israel in April in retaliation for the killing of a senior Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander in Syria, Israel heeded western calls for restraint, striking an air defence battery at an Iranian airbase. Israel’s response this time is expected to be more severe, but its timing remains unclear. Axios reported that the Israeli defence minister, Yoav Gallant, postponed a scheduled visit to Washington on Wednesday at Netanyahu’s insistence. The prime minister wanted the cabinet to vote on the attack plans first and to speak to Biden himself before Gallant held discussions with Pentagon officials, the report said. In Lebanon on Wednesday, eight days into Israel’s ground invasion, clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces appeared to be spreading across the mountainous border area. The militant group said it had pushed back Israeli troops near Labbouneh, close to the Mediterranean coast, and attacked units with rocket fire in the villages of Maroun el-Ras, Mays al-Jabal and Mouhaybib. Four people were killed and 10 wounded by an Israeli airstrike in Wardanieh, near the coastal town of Sidon. Heavy fire from Lebanon triggered rocket sirens and air defence interceptions across northern Israel on Wednesday, killing two people in the border town of Kiryat Shmona and wounding six in the major city of Haifa. A quarter of Lebanon is now under Israeli evacuation orders, which have driven 1.2 million people from their homes. At least 1,400 have been killed in the last three weeks. Many Lebanese people fear that Israel’s intense bombings and use of widespread evacuation orders mean the country faces a similar fate to Gaza, where 42,000 people have been killed in a year of fighting. The war was triggered by Hamas’s 7 October rampage in southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage. |
The Guardian;Former foreign policy adviser to three UK PMs appointed as UN aid chief;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/09/tom-fletcher-former-foreign-policy-adviser-to-three-uk-pms-appointed-as-un-aid-chief;2024-10-09T17:36:46Z | A former foreign policy adviser to three prime ministers including Gordon Brown has been appointed to the key post of UN coordinator for humanitarian affairs. Tom Fletcher is the latest in a line of six UN humanitarian chiefs from the UK. The most recent was Martin Griffiths, who stepped down in the summer. Fletcher’s appointment is controversial because there has been a push from the Middle East and elsewhere for the post no longer to be monopolised by a British candidate, and that all such senior UN postings should be subject to open competition. More than 60 eminent diplomats and humanitarians wrote a letter to the UN secretary general, António Guterres, in April saying that at a time of unprecedented humanitarian crises it would be “quite wrong arbitrarily to restrict the search of a humanitarian coordinator to nationals of any one member state”. Saudi Arabia and Qatar, two countries that supply large amounts of humanitarian aid, had put forward rival applications. Griffiths had also said the job is too crucial to be left to favouritism, and numerous UN resolutions have been passed calling for the appointments process to be made more transparent and more open to the global south. It is understood Guterres slowed the appointments process to prevent the Conservative government nominee, Tariq Ahmad, a former Middle East minister, being given the role. With Labour expected to win the election, he wanted to wait to give Keir Starmer a chance to make a nomination. Fletcher is seen as a gifted communicator with the diplomatic skills needed to intervene in conflicts that have triggered humanitarian crises from Gaza and Yemen to Myanmar, Sudan and Ukraine. The role is not only to raise humanitarian funds, but also to resolve the political conflicts that led to displacement and hunger. Brown sprung to Fletcher’s defence, saying support for humanitarian aid needed to be radically extended to meet the emergencies engulfing more than 50 countries and affecting more than 100 million people. “Tom has huge diplomatic and leadership experience. He will bring creativity and resilience to this role,” he said. Fletcher’s appointment is particularly striking given that the UK’s status as a development superpower with a large aid chequebook has been damaged by successive budget cuts that the Labour government is not expected to quickly overturn. Speaking after his appointment was confirmed by the UN in New York, Fletcher said: “The humanitarian community is underfunded, overstretched and under attack. We must reset the relationship between the world and those in direct need. We can be better neighbours and ancestors. “I am grateful for the UN secretary general Guterres for giving me this opportunity to support that effort. I pay tribute to Martin Griffiths and to my future comrades in the humanitarian movement who are leading such vital work. I will defend humanitarians, humanitarian values and most importantly the people we are here to serve.” His appointment is the first of a series that Starmer needs to make, including cabinet secretary, national security adviser and British ambassador to Washington. The ambassador posting is likely to be political with four candidates in the running: Tony Blair’s former communications chief Peter Mandelson, the former foreign secretary David Miliband, the former international development secretary Valerie Amos, and the former EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton. Mandelson is also standing to be chancellor of Oxford University and has been told no prohibition exists on holding both jobs. The current UK ambassador to the UN, Barbara Woodward, is seen as a possible national security adviser along with the senior civil servant Olly Robbins and the former permanent secretary at the Home Office, Matthew Rycroft. |
The Guardian;Questions of identity and safety for Muslims and Jews | Letters;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/09/questions-of-identity-and-safety-for-muslims-and-jews;2024-10-09T17:01:39Z | I recognise and empathise with the anguish expressed by Zara Mohammed (British Muslims deserve safety and belonging. War in Gaza has made us fear we’ll lose both, 7 October). Her sense that she and other Muslims are being policed metaphorically and literally for identifying with family and friends abroad feels utterly real to me. Growing up as a Jew in London, my response to my own sense of never quite belonging enough, in the eyes of some of my peers, was to emigrate to Israel in the late 1990s. I am proud to be an Israeli to the exact extent that I oppose the current government, support our army of conscripts and reservists, and pray for a speedy and peaceful resolution for all. Zionism, the belief in the rights of Jews to self-determination, only makes sense to me if I am equally supportive of the rights of Palestinians to self-determination. Zionism is incompatible with Benjamin Netanyahu’s intransigence on recognition of a Palestinian state. Anti-Zionism is incompatible with anti-racism. I want to express solidarity with all British Muslims facing Islamophobia. There are genocidal terrorist organisations operating in Israel and Palestine, and in Lebanon and beyond, that put everyone’s lives in danger, but they are not the responsibility of British Muslims any more than the messianic fascists in Netanyahu’s coalition are the responsibility of British Jews. Daniel Sevitt Ra’anana, Israel • In Dave Rich’s opinion piece (A year marked by trauma and grief – and questions about what it means to be Jewish in Britain, 7 October) he writes: “Most Jews care deeply about Israel. This shouldn’t be a surprise … It’s an identity thing, like it or not.” I found this deeply offensive. I am an American Jew living in London, with no ties and little empathy for Israel, and Dave Rich does not speak for me. There are many Jews who are furious that Israel, on a global stage, claims to represent a core piece of the Jewish identity, and want nothing more than the freedom to be Jewish in all its wise and lovely traditions and rituals in a way that has nothing to do with Israel the political governing body. This nuance is denied us by antisemites who equate all Jews around the world with Israelis, and at the very least should not be denied to us by a Jewish writer in the Guardian. Dr Susannah Cramer-Greenbaum London • Arwa Mahdawi is right to say that Middle East history “did not start on 7 October 2023” (Opinion, 6 October). But when did it begin? Jews have had a continuous presence in and a deep cultural and spiritual connection to the land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River for thousands of years. When Israel declared its independence, based on the UN partition resolution, Arab countries declared war on it. Egyptian bombs fell on Tel Aviv. Between 1949 and 1967, Israel’s policy was to achieve peace and normalisation with the Arab world based on the 1949 borders. But then came the Arab League’s Khartoum “triple no” – no peace with Israel, no negotiations with Israel, no recognition of Israel. The Israeli humiliation of Palestinians, to this day, is unfathomable, but so is the unshakable determination of Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah and others to destroy Israel. In short, the whole miserable history caused the current stalemate. A way forward requires both sides to accept the rights of the other, which seems a long way off. Narratives that highlight the suffering of only one side are a recipe for continued endless violence. Dr Franz Baumann Vienna, Austria |
The Guardian;Pedro Sánchez unveils plans to help migrants settle in Spain;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/09/pedro-sanchez-unveils-plans-to-make-it-easier-for-migrants-to-settle-in-spain;2024-10-09T16:36:36Z | Spain plans to make it easier for newcomers to settle, the prime minister said, promoting migration as an effective way to protect prosperity in sharp contrast with the attitude of much of Europe. “Spain needs to choose between being an open and prosperous country or a closed-off, poor country,” Pedro Sánchez told parliament on Wednesday. “It’s as simple as that.” He said migration was not just a question of humanity, but the only realistic means of growing the economy and sustaining the welfare state in a country where the birthrate was among the lowest in the EU. “Throughout history, migration has been one of the great drivers of the development of nations while hatred and xenophobia have been – and continue to be – the greatest destroyer of nations,” he said. “The key is in managing it well.” His remarks come as governments across Europe responded to the surge of the far right by cracking down on migration. Last month Germany reintroduced checks at its land borders, saying it was necessary to “protect against the acute dangers posed by Islamist terrorism and serious crime”, while France’s prime minister, Michel Barnier, said recently that immigration levels were “often insufferable”. Sweden and Finland have all announced plans to bring in new anti-immigration measures, while Italy has been accused of turning a blind eye to human rights as it hashes out deals with leaders in Libya and Tunisia to curtail arrivals. The hardening sentiment has at times pitted governments against busnesses eager to grow: in March the largest company in the Netherlands voiced concerns that the country’s anti-immigration stance would impede its ability to attract skilled labour. Similar concerns have been voiced in Germany. On Wednesday, Sánchez said Spain would set out on a different path, instead setting aside resources to better integrate migrants into the labour market and to reduce red tape for residency applications. “Almost half of our municipalities are at risk of depopulation,” he said. “We have elderly people who need a caregiver and can’t find one. Companies that are looking for programmers, technicians, bricklayers and cannot find them. Rural schools that need children so that they don’t have to close their doors.” In May, the OECD cited Spain, the fastest growing economy in the EU, as an example of how high rates of migration were helping to bolster economic growth by plugging gaps in the labour market. Even so, the far right and, increasingly, the conservative People’s party, have sought to stoke fears around migration by linking immigrants to crime. Two recent polls suggest their efforts are having an impact, as respondents hinted at hardening attitudes towards migrants. Sánchez, speaking to parliament, thanked the people of the Canary Islands for providing a “daily example of humanity” as the number of arrivals along one of the world’s deadliest migration routes increased to more than 30,000. The number of asylum seekers, many of them fleeing conflict and political instability, was reminiscent of the 120,000 Spaniards who made their own desperate journeys in rickety boats decades earlier, Sánchez said. “More than two million Spaniards emigrated during the Franco era, half of them irregularly,” he said. “We have to remember the odysseys of our mothers and fathers, our grandfathers and grandmothers in Latin America, in the Caribbean and Europe. And understand that our duty now, especially now, is to be that welcoming, tolerant, supportive society that they would have liked to find.” It was a “moral debt” that the country owed to its older people, and one that now needed to be paid to provide prosperity for future generations. “We Spaniards are children of emigration,” he said. “We are not going to be the parents of xenophobia.” Sánchez urged Spaniards to reject stereotypes and hoaxes about migration. In the past decade, 94% of migrants who had arrived in Spain had done so legally, he said. About 40% of them were Latin Americans, 30% hailed from other parts of Europe and 20% were from Africa. “We’re talking about a diverse migration flow that looks nothing like the image [perpetuated by] the far right.” Migrants were more likely to be working than people born in Spain, and less likely to access social services, he said. When age and income levels are taken into account, the rates of delinquency were about the same for both groups, he added. “I want citizens to understand that this is not a battle between Spaniards and foreigners, or Christians and Muslims or saints and criminals,” he said. “It is a battle between truth and lies, between tales and data, between what is in the interests of our society and the interests of a few who see fear and hatred of foreigners as their only path to power.” In recent years, Sánchez’s government been criticised for externalising migration control to Morocco, which NGOs say contributed to the deaths of at least 37 people who were attempting to cross the border fence at Spain’s north African enclave of Melilla in 2022. At the time, Sánchez blamed the deaths on “mafias that traffic in human beings”. He returned to the theme in August, arguing that to combat these mafias, it was “necessary to return those who had arrived in Spain irregularly”. His stance appears to have shifted since then, although he said on Wednesday he would ask the European Commission to advance the implementation of its recently approved pact on migration – widely criticised by rights groups who say it will increase suffering – in order to better share the distribution of migrants and asylum seekers. |
The Guardian;King Charles honours ‘extraordinary’ Holocaust survivor after death aged 100;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/09/king-charles-honours-extraordinary-holocaust-survivor-lily-ebert-after-death-aged-100;2024-10-09T16:11:45Z | King Charles has paid tribute to the “extraordinary resilience and courage” of the Holocaust survivor Lily Ebert, who has died at the age of 100. Ebert was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1944, where her mother and two younger siblings were sent immediately to the gas chambers. Ebert and two other sisters survived the Nazi death camp in German-occupied Poland. On Wednesday, Ebert’s great-grandson said she had died peacefully at home surrounded by members of her family. In a statement, King Charles said he had heard of Ebert’s death with the “greatest sadness”, adding that he was “proud that she later found a home in Britain where she continued to tell the world of the horrendous atrocities she had witnessed”. The king said Ebert’s stories were a “permanent reminder for our generation – and, indeed, for future generations – of the depths of depravity and evil to which humankind can fall, when reason, compassion and truth are abandoned. “Alongside other Holocaust survivors she became an integral part of the fabric of our nation; her extraordinary resilience and courage an example to us all, which will never be forgotten,” he said. In a post on X, her great-grandson, Dov Forman, said the family’s “beloved matriarch”, known as Safta, would be hugely missed. He wrote: “Over the years, Safta’s story touched hundreds of millions worldwide, reminding us of the resilience of the human spirit and the dangers of unchecked hatred. She taught us the power of tolerance and faith, the importance of speaking out, and the need to stand against prejudice. “Safta was the queen of our large, loving family. With a surviving daughter and son – remembering a daughter who pre-deceased her – 10 grandchildren, 38 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild, her legacy lives on in each of us. “She rebuilt her life with faith and love, never asking: ‘Why me?’ Instead, she focused on what could be rebuilt from the ashes, and her positivity continues to guide us through these difficult times.” Forman and Ebert co-authored a bestselling book, Lily’s Promise, describing the life she built for herself after the Holocaust. The king contributed a foreword. The pair also educated young people on the horrors of the Holocaust through TikTok videos that gained billions of views. Ebert was freed from Auschwitz at the age of 20, lived in Switzerland and Israel, and moved to the UK in 1967 with her husband. In January 2023, she was recognised with an MBE for her services to Holocaust education. Michael Newman, the chief executive of the Association of Jewish Refugees, said she was “a trailblazing advocate for Holocaust education” who had “helped to bridge the generation gap and reach millions of people through social media”. “As we approach the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz this Holocaust Memorial Day, Lily’s zest for life will burn brightly in our thoughts.” Karen Pollock, the chief executive of Holocaust Educational Trust, described Ebert as “the epitome of strength and determination” who will be remembered for her “incredible story, her unparalleled tenacity and her zest for life”. Ebert’s family said she will be buried in Israel alongside her husband, after a ceremony in London on Wednesday. |
The Guardian;At least 400,000 people trapped by Israel’s latest Gaza offensive, says Unrwa;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/09/at-least-400000-people-trapped-by-israels-latest-gaza-offensive-says-unrwa;2024-10-09T16:01:40Z | Hundreds of thousands of civilians in Gaza remain trapped by the latest Israeli offensive centred on Jabaliya refugee camp, according to UN agencies and human rights groups. “At least 400,000 people are trapped in the area,” Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN Palestinian refugee agency, Unrwa, posted on X on Wednesday, amid witness accounts of bodies lying uncollected in the streets because of the renewed fighting. “Recent evacuation orders from the Israeli authorities are forcing people to flee again & again, especially from Jabaliya camp,” added Lazzarini. “Many are refusing because they know too well that no place anywhere in Gaza is safe.” The Israeli military says the large-scale raid, now in its fifth day, is intended to stop Hamas fighters staging further attacks from Jabaliya and to prevent them regrouping, as at least 60 people were killed in Israeli military strikes on Gaza on Wednesday. Lazzarini said some Unrwa shelters and services were being forced to shut down for the first time since the war began and that with almost no basic supplies available, hunger was spreading again in northern Gaza. “This recent military operation also threatens the implementation of the second phase of the #polio vaccination campaign for children,” he said. Israel did not immediately comment on Lazzarini’s remarks. Israeli authorities have previously said they facilitate food deliveries to Gaza despite challenging conditions. Despite a year of relentless Israeli attacks on Gaza, and intermittent declarations by the IDF and other officials claiming to have defeated Hamas, Israeli tanks and infantry attacked northern Gaza for a third time in force earlier this week, claiming the action was necessary to prevent Hamas “regrouping”. Among the casualties on Wednesday was the Al Jazeera camera operator Fadi al-Wahidi. “Israeli forces shot at the Al Jazeera crew, and the network’s photographer, our beloved colleague Fadi al-Wahidi, was injured by a sniper’s bullet in the neck during our coverage,” Al Jazeera Arabic’s Anas al-Sharif said in a post on X. Along with evacuation orders, the IDF has ordered the closure once again of several hospitals in northern Gaza, including the Kamal Adwan, Indonesia and al-Awda hospitals. The Al Mezan Center for Human Rights described the situation as “deja vu” on social media, adding: “We all know the horrors that follow such orders.” Among those raising the alarm has been the international medical group Médecins Sans Frontières, whose staff described the situation in northern Gaza. “All of a sudden, I was told that we had to move from the north,” said Mahmoud, an MSF guard, who left Jabaliya at night to find refuge at the MSF guest house in Gaza City. “We left our home in despair, under bombs, missiles and artillery. It was very, very difficult. I would prefer to die than to be displaced to the south; my home is here, and I do not want to leave.” Sarah Vuylsteke, an MSF project coordinator in Gaza, said: “The latest move to forcefully and violently push thousands of people from northern Gaza to the south is turning the north into a lifeless desert while aggravating the situation in the south. “Access to water, healthcare and safety is already almost nonexistent, and the thought of more people fitting into this space is impossible to imagine,” she said. “People have been subjected to endless displacement and relentless bombing for the past 12 months. Enough is enough. This must stop now.” The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and dozens of humanitarian facilities had been affected by the Israeli military’s latest forced evacuations across north, central and southern Gaza. Between Saturday and Monday, evacuations orders were in place for several areas in the north of the Palestinian territory as well as areas in central Deir al-Balah and southern Khan Younis. “There are growing risks that humanitarian access will be further constrained, particularly between southern and northern Gaza,” OCHA warned. At least 18 people were killed in the latest Israeli military strikes on Gaza overnight, Palestinian medics said on Wednesday, including five children and two women. Two strikes hit tents for displaced people in the urban Nuseirat and Bureij refugee camps in central Gaza. The bodies of nine people, including three children, were brought to the al-Aqsa hospital in nearby Deir al-Balah. An Associated Press journalist saw the bodies at the morgue. In northern Gaza, an Israeli strike hit a family home in the Jabaliya refugee camp, killing at least nine people, according to the Civil Defence, a rescue agency operating under the Hamas-run government. The dead were taken to the al-Ahli hospital, which said two women and two children were among those killed. Footage shared by the Civil Defence showed first responders recovering dead bodies and body parts from under the rubble. The latest deaths brought the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza by Israeli operations since October 2023 to 42,010 with a further 97,720 injured, according to Gaza’s ministry of health. |
The Guardian;European summit to discuss Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s ‘victory plan’ is postponed;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/09/european-summit-to-discuss-volodymyr-zelenskyy-victory-plan-is-postponed;2024-10-09T15:58:19Z | An international summit on Ukraine where Volodymyr Zelenskyy was going to present a “victory plan” to western leaders has been formally postponed – though the Ukrainian president will try to organise a tour of European capitals instead. Organisers said that the Saturday meeting of about 20 world leaders at the US Ramstein airbase in Germany would be rescheduled, a day after Biden had said he had to stay at home to respond to Hurricane Milton’s landfall in Florida. Ukrainian sources said that Zelenskyy would travel to meet the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, in Berlin on Friday – and potentially go on to visit other leaders as part of what sources described as a “European tour”. German officials also promised that another leaders’ meeting to discuss Ukraine would be held soon, though it is not clear if it will happen before the US presidential election in November, which pits military aid sceptic Donald Trump against a more supportive Kamala Harris. Steffen Hebestreit, a spokesperson for the German government, said: “It is true that the national security advisers are in close contact with each other and are also coordinating closely on the issue of Ukraine … there should be a face-to-face meeting soon and an exchange of views.” The Ramstein summit was to be a centrepiece of a four-day trip by Biden to Germany, where Zelenskyy was to lobby to use long-range missiles inside Russia and to be given more air defence systems, in a fresh attempt to fend off Moscow’s aggression. But it was also an opportunity for Ukraine to present proposals to bring a halt to the fighting – though it is unclear how that can be achieved. Russia is continuing to gain ground gradually in eastern Ukraine, and the Kremlin is hoping that if Trump wins, billions of military support will be stopped. There had also been speculation that the meeting would discuss concrete steps on how Ukraine could eventually become a member of Nato, but any extra commitments were not expected to amount to immediate membership and direct military support. Those due to attend the summit included Keir Starmer, the UK prime minister, and Emmanuel Macron, the French president, but once Biden said he could not go, their presence was in doubt. Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda, pulled out earlier on Wednesday before the postponement was announced. |
The Guardian;El Salvador faces scrutiny for ‘political’ trial of five environmental activists;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/09/el-salvador-trial-environmental-activists-mining;2024-10-09T15:43:48Z | Five environmental activists who helped secure a historic mining ban in El Salvador are facing life imprisonment for an alleged civil war-era crime, in a case that has been condemned by UN and legal experts as baseless and politically motivated. The trial against Miguel Ángel Gámez, Alejandro Laínez García, Pedro Antonio Rivas Laínez, Antonio Pacheco and Saúl Agustín Rivas Ortega, who were arrested in January 2023 for the alleged killing of an army informant in 1989, opened on Tuesday in Sensuntepeque, in the department of Cabañas in northern El Salvador. The case has proceeded in almost total secrecy amid widespread allegations of legal violations – and repeated calls for the charges to be dismissed from UN experts, and hundreds of international lawyers, academics and rights groups. The defendants, who were at the forefront of a 13-year grassroots-led campaign to ban metal mining to protect the country’s dwindling water and farmland from further contamination, were arrested amid warnings that President Nayib Bukele was planning to overturn the 2017 historic law. The five anti-mining activists had denounced suspicious land sales and mining interests operating in the area when arrested, accused of murder and illicit association over an alleged crime during the 1979-1992 civil war. “This case has no legal basis, but we fear that the lack of judicial independence and the Bukele government’s desire to overturn the metal mining ban risks the five environmental leaders being subjected to a terrible miscarriage of justice,” said Pedro Cabezas, coordinator of the Central American Alliance Against Mining. “The five are respected community leaders, and sentencing them to inhumane prison conditions would be a death sentence.” The five activists are among more than 70,000 people detained since Bukele declared a state of emergency and suspended basic rights after a surge in gang violence in March 2022. Since sweeping to power in 2019, Bukele and his allies have taken steps to “effectively co-opt democratic institutions”, replacing independent judges, prosecutors and officials with political allies, according to Human Rights Watch. In a letter to the government in March 2023, a group of UN special rapporteurs and the vice-president of the UN working group on arbitrary detention, said: “We fear that the case is an attempt to intimidate those who seek to defend the environment in the country, and especially those who defend human rights from the negative impacts of mining.” Bukele’s interest in mining is part of a broader effort to secure international investment for industries that include bitcoin, tourism and fossil fuel exploration – which environmental experts say risk generating forced displacement, social conflict and water shortages. Bukele has implemented a series of institutional changes including the creation of a new agency to oversee extractive industries, the Energy, Hydrocarbons and Mines Directorate, which this year was given a budget hike while most other departments faced cuts. Experts say the case against the five activists should never have gotten this far. According to pre-trial hearings, the state’s case appears to rely on the testimony of one person, who first claimed to have witnessed a killing but then later said he had heard about the incident from someone present. No body or weapon has been found. In what was perceived as a show of support for the activists, Canada, Germany, France, the UK and the EU sent representatives to pre-trial hearings. The Biden administration has remained silent despite 17 members of Congress condemning the arrests and urging the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, to join calls for the charges to be dismissed. International legal experts have argued that the arrests violate El Salvador’s national reconciliation law, passed after the 1992 peace accords that ended the 13-year civil war that claimed 75,000 lives – mostly civilians killed by the US-backed dictatorship and rightwing death squads. The activists were all leftwing FMLN combatants when the crimes are alleged to have taken place. The military has never faced justice for the human rights violations and crimes against humanity in Santa Marta, the community in Cabañas where the five detained defenders live and work. “If there is any justice left in El Salvador, these five will be freed and the charges dropped. Or the public will see that Bukele has no respect for either human rights or the environment in El Salvador,” said John Cavanagh, director of the Institute for Policy studies, a Washington-based research and advocacy group. The five leaders, who are over 60 and suffer from a range of chronic medical issues, spent nine months in overcrowded cells without access to lawyers, family, or adequate food and medical care, before being transferred to house arrest. They have since been confined to their homes, unable to farm or work, causing them further psychological distress, according to friends. “For over a year and a half these human rights defenders have had this case hanging over their heads. It’s astounding that it has progressed this far despite any evidence of the defenders’ guilt,” said Mary Lawlor, UN special rapporteur for human rights defenders. “I’ll be following what happens in the trial closely. It should be an opportunity for the judge to put an end to the ordeal and let the defenders move on with their work and lives.” The president’s office did not respond to requests for comment. The trial is scheduled to last three days. |
NPR;On the frontline of Israel's invasion of Lebanon;https://www.npr.org/2024/10/09/1210938348/on-the-frontline-of-israels-invasion-of-lebanon;Wed, 09 Oct 2024 16:35:26 -0400 | Just over a week ago, the Israeli military sent ground troops into Lebanon to push the militant group Hezbollah back from the border. Our correspondent got as close a look at this invasion as possible, from a town ten miles from the border. He tells us what he saw. |
NPR;Brown says no to pro-Palestinian students' demands for divestment;https://www.npr.org/2024/10/09/g-s1-27286/brown-university-pro-palestinian-students-divestment-demands-israel-protests;Wed, 09 Oct 2024 15:17:20 -0400 | Supporters of divestment ended their encampment last spring in exchange for a promise that their proposal for divestment would get a vote from the board this fall. |
NPR;Why Tampa Bay is at such high risk for hurricane damage;https://www.npr.org/2024/10/09/nx-s1-5145659/tampa-bay-hurricane-risk;Wed, 09 Oct 2024 15:10:53 -0400 | The area has not taken a direct hit from a hurricane in over 100 years. But its topography and dense population make it especially susceptible to severe damage from storm surges. |
NPR;Keep calm and hunker down: Floridians brace for Hurricane Milton's impact;https://www.npr.org/2024/10/09/nx-s1-5147404/florida-hurricane-milton-residents-wait-prepare;Wed, 09 Oct 2024 15:03:12 -0400 | In spite of the very real threat to their homes, belongings and livelihoods, many Floridians in Milton's potential path remained in good spirits hours before its expected landfall. |
NPR;Lynx, tiger and tadpoles, oh my: See the Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners;https://www.npr.org/2024/10/09/nx-s1-5147175/wildlife-photographer-award-winners-2024;Wed, 09 Oct 2024 14:12:41 -0400 | A lynx stretching in the sun, tadpoles swimming beneath lily pads and an investigator dusting a tusk for prints are among the winning images from the newest Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards. |
NPR;Implosion brings down Tropicana casino in Vegas to make way for baseball stadium;https://www.npr.org/2024/10/09/nx-s1-5147436/las-vegas-tropicana-casino-implosion;Wed, 09 Oct 2024 13:57:02 -0400 | The Tropicana, the third-oldest casino on the Las Vegas Strip, closed in April after welcoming guests for 67 years. An elaborate implosion reduced it to rubble on Wednesday. |
NPR;Honda recalls nearly 1.7M vehicles for steering problem that could lead to crashes;https://www.npr.org/2024/10/09/nx-s1-5147420/honda-recall-steering-problem-civic;Wed, 09 Oct 2024 13:18:23 -0400 | The vehicles covered in the recall were from model years 2022 to 2025 and include certain Acura Integras, Honda Civics, Honda CR-Vs and Honda HR-Vs. |
NPR;A bidding war is brewing for Alex Jones’ media empire;https://www.npr.org/2024/10/09/g-s1-27222/alex-jones-infowars-sandy-hook-bankruptcy-auction-free-speech-systems;Wed, 09 Oct 2024 13:09:48 -0400 | Infowars is on the auction block, and would-be-buyers have opposite agendas. |
NPR;How FEMA tries to combat rumors and conspiracy theories about Milton and Helene;https://www.npr.org/2024/10/09/nx-s1-5146475/milton-helene-fema-rumors-conspiracy-theories;Wed, 09 Oct 2024 12:29:31 -0400 | The emergency management agency has long tried to respond to rumors that might delay recovery efforts. But a former FEMA official says the current information environment has never been so bad. |
NPR;The swing-state counties hit by Hurricane Helene mostly voted for Trump in 2020;https://www.npr.org/2024/10/09/g-s1-27169/hurricane-helene-georgia-north-carolina-trump-2020;Wed, 09 Oct 2024 12:04:44 -0400 | The key presidential states of Georgia and North Carolina were hit particularly hard by Hurricane Helene. NPR compared which counties qualify for FEMA aid with 2020 election results. The area is largely Republican. |
Al Jazeera;Could the Middle East be heading for a new era?;https://www.aljazeera.com/program/inside-story/2024/10/9/could-the-middle-east-be-heading-for-a-new-era?traffic_source=rss;Wed, 09 Oct 2024 20:31:51 +0000 | More than one year on, Israel's war on Gaza shows no sign of abating. |
Al Jazeera;Lebanese displaced by Israeli bombardment sleeping on streets and beaches;https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2024/10/9/lebanese-displaced-by-israeli-bombardment-sleeping-on-streets-beaches?traffic_source=rss;Wed, 09 Oct 2024 19:38:50 +0000 | Many Beirut residents forced from their homes by Israeli bombardment are ending up on the streets. |
Al Jazeera;Biden and Netanyahu hold ‘productive’ call amid Middle East violence;https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/9/biden-and-netanyahu-hold-productive-call-amid-middle-east-violence?traffic_source=rss;Wed, 09 Oct 2024 19:34:24 +0000 | White House says the two leaders discussed confrontation with Iran in 30-minute conversation. |
Al Jazeera;US plan to break up Google’s search dominance will hit profits;https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2024/10/9/us-plan-to-break-up-googles-search-dominance-will-hit-profits?traffic_source=rss;Wed, 09 Oct 2024 19:04:14 +0000 | DOJ said it may ask a judge to force Google to divest parts of its business such as Chrome browser and Android OS. |
Al Jazeera;At least four Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in West Bank’s Nablus;https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/9/at-least-four-palestinians-killed-by-israeli-forces-in-west-banks-nablus?traffic_source=rss;Wed, 09 Oct 2024 18:30:01 +0000 | Israeli forces open fire at a vehicle in Nablus City as raids across occupied West Bank continue. |
Al Jazeera;Bolivia joins South Africa’s ICJ genocide case against Israel;https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/9/bolivia-joins-south-africas-icj-genocide-case-against?traffic_source=rss;Wed, 09 Oct 2024 17:43:51 +0000 | South American state 'has a responsibility to condemn the crime of genocide', it says in its filing. |
Al Jazeera;‘An epic catastrophe’: Millions flee Florida as Hurricane Milton nears;https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/9/officials-warned-hat-those-who-stayed-would-die-and-that-single-story-homes-would-turn-into-coffins?traffic_source=rss;Wed, 09 Oct 2024 16:56:18 +0000 | 'Storm of the century' set to hit Tampa on Florida's west coast, home to more than three million people. |
Al Jazeera;Gisele Pelicot is a hero;https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/10/9/gisele-pelicot-is-a-hero?traffic_source=rss;Wed, 09 Oct 2024 16:47:21 +0000 | Everyone, but especially men, should learn from her courage and bravery. |
Al Jazeera;Al Jazeera cameraman injured by Israeli gunfire;https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2024/10/9/al-jazeera-cameraman-injured-by-israeli-gunfire?traffic_source=rss;Wed, 09 Oct 2024 16:44:32 +0000 | Al Jazeera cameraman Fadi al-Wahidi has been injured by Israeli gunfire in northern Gaza. |
Al Jazeera;Boeing, union at strike impasse as company halts talks, withdraws pay offer;https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2024/10/9/boeing-union-at-strike-impasse-as-company-halts-talks-withdraws-pay-offer?traffic_source=rss;Wed, 09 Oct 2024 16:43:35 +0000 | The breakdown in negotiations compounds financial and production problems at Boeing. |
Al Jazeera;Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick left in race to be UK Conservative leader;https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/9/kemi-badenoch-and-robert-jenrick-left-in-race-to-be-uk-conservative-leader?traffic_source=rss;Wed, 09 Oct 2024 15:58:13 +0000 | Party members will now choose between former Trade Minister Badenoch and former Immigration Minister Jenrick. |
Al Jazeera;Middle East tension is ratcheting up; could oil prices rise?;https://www.aljazeera.com/program/counting-the-cost/2024/10/9/middle-east-tension-is-ratcheting-up-could-oil-prices-rise?traffic_source=rss;Wed, 09 Oct 2024 15:21:26 +0000 | Fears of a widening war in the Middle East have pushed up oil prices. |
BBC News;When and where will Hurricane Milton hit in Florida?;https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c981q381p58o;Wed, 09 Oct 2024 17:21:55 GMT | It is forecast to make landfall in Florida late on Wednesday or early Thursday morning. |
BBC News;Badenoch and Jenrick reach final two in Tory leadership race as Cleverly knocked out;https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cje343q1zy8o;Wed, 09 Oct 2024 16:38:14 GMT | Conservative Party members will vote on the final two candidates, with a result due on 2 November. |
BBC News;Teen who killed Holly Newton named for first time as ex-boyfriend;https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly610zyly1o;Wed, 09 Oct 2024 16:01:53 GMT | Holly Newton's murderer is named for the first time as her "jealous" ex-boyfriend Logan MacPhail. |
BBC News;Indian tycoon Ratan Tata dies aged 86;https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjd5835mp4ko;Wed, 09 Oct 2024 19:32:01 GMT | His death was announced by the Tata Group, the multi-billion-dollar conglomerate he led for more than two decades. |
BBC News;Reeves' Budget plan to spend billions more won’t stop tax rises;https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c30lrpyr676o;Wed, 09 Oct 2024 15:59:18 GMT | Reeves is planning to change borrowing rules to free up billions more in spending for big projects in the upcoming Budget. |
BBC News;Human trafficking charges against Stagecoach tycoon are dropped;https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdd4qy34m2yo;Wed, 09 Oct 2024 20:19:32 GMT | Dame Ann Gloag said the "malicious allegations" have been a devastating threat to her legacy. |
BBC News;Puberty-blocker focus disproportionate, Cass says;https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czj9wyzgxk0o;Wed, 09 Oct 2024 18:04:47 GMT | The author of a landmark report into child gender services says the treatment has been oversold. |
BBC News;How does this hurricane compare to Helene and other hurricanes?;https://www.bbc.com/weather/articles/cq64vnj51p1o;Wed, 09 Oct 2024 11:34:33 GMT | Following the devastation brought by Storm Helene, Florida is now threatened by Milton. But will the damage be the same? |
BBC News;No, Hurricane Milton was not 'engineered';https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2lyzw7xwxo;Wed, 09 Oct 2024 17:07:37 GMT | Social media is awash with bogus claims that Hurricane Milton has been “engineered”. What are the facts? |
BBC News;Waiting out is a 'gamble we weren't willing to make';https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdje73p8rmxo;Wed, 09 Oct 2024 16:45:53 GMT | Florida residents caught in the storm's path must choose between peril and uncertainty. |
BBC News;Record storm surge forecast in Florida;https://www.bbc.com/weather/articles/c33v83448d4o;Wed, 09 Oct 2024 10:12:39 GMT | Parts of Florida are bracing for a huge storm surge. But why do such surges happen and why are they so deadly? |
BBC News;'I instantly knew my daughter's ex had killed her';https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy0l90lvl0qo;Wed, 09 Oct 2024 16:00:23 GMT | Holly Newton's mum believes her murder by an ex-boyfriend should have been classed as domestic violence. |
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