- Starmer says Putin ‘does not hold all the cards’ in Ukraine despite Trump claim POLITICO Europe
- UK announces sweeping package of sanctions against Russia Reuters
- UK announces largest sanctions package against Russia since 2022 GOV.UK
- Starmer announces UK's largest package of Russia sanctions, confirms readiness to deploy peacekeepers in Ukraine Kyiv Independent
- Ukraine-Russia war: US and North Korea reject UN motion condemning Putin’s invasion The Independent
Israel deploys tanks as assault on occupied West Bank intensifies
Tanks are advancing in Jenin, and Palestinian infrastructure and livelihoods are being destroyed in the West Bank.
Pope Francis health: A timeline and what we know so far
The pope is currently fighting pneumonia in his lungs and is also experiencing some signs of kidney failure.
Israel to refuse entry of Pro-Hamas EU lawmaker – Israel Hayom
- Israel to refuse entry of Pro-Hamas EU lawmaker Israel Hayom
- EU delegation nixes trip to Jerusalem, West Bank after Israel banned 4 participants The Times of Israel
- Israel refuses entry to EU lawmaker accused of promoting boycotts of the country ABC News
- 2 MEPs denied entry to Israel POLITICO Europe
- SF MEP Boylan refused entry to Israel during EU visit RTÉ News
Pope critical but ‘in good humour’ in hospital
The pontiff is in good humour and eating normally though he remains "critical", Vatican sources say.
M23 militia’s advance in eastern DRC has killed 7,000 since January, UN told
DRC prime minister tells human rights council fighting has left about 450,000 without shelter after camps destroyed
About 7,000 people have died in fighting in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo since Rwanda-backed M23 rebels started renewed advances in January, the DRC’s prime minister has said.
At a high-level meeting of the UN’s human rights council in Geneva on Monday, Judith Suminwa Tuluka also said the war had left about 450,000 people without shelter after the destruction of 90 displacement camps.
Continue reading...As Russia’s war reaches milestone, Ukrainians count their personal losses
Ukrainian survivors remember their many tragedies three years after Russia's invasion began.
EU eases sanctions on Syria – POLITICO Europe
- EU eases sanctions on Syria POLITICO Europe
- Syria Has Its Biggest Trading Partner Back—but Not the U.S. The Wall Street Journal
- EU suspends sanctions against Syria including on energy, banking Reuters
- EU lifts Assad-era sanctions on Syria’s banking, transport and energy sectors The Times of Israel
- EU eases sanctions on Syria's major economic sectors FRANCE 24 English
German election: Who won, who lost and what’s next?
Christian Democrats came first. But the far right and the left were the biggest gainers.
Far-right surges in German election but set to be frozen out of coalition
Germany’s conservative Christian Democrats will enter coalition talks to form a government after winning the most votes.
Thousands of children in England accused of witchcraft in past decade
Figures emerge as Kindoki Witch Boy film tells true story of Mardoche Yembi who underwent an exorcism as a child
Thousands of children in England have been accused of witchcraft over the past decade, according to new figures that come alongside a film released on Monday.
Faith-based abuse is a worldwide phenomenon but experts found 14,000 social work assessments linked to witchcraft accusations since 2015. In the year running to March 2024 alone, there were 2,180 assessments linked to witchcraft.
Children accused of witchcraft can call Childline on 0800 1111 or NSPCC on 0808 800 500.
Continue reading...Trump names podcaster Dan Bongino as deputy FBI director
The former New York City police officer will supervise daily operations and serve under new FBI director Kash Patel.
Forest fires push up greenhouse gas emissions from war in Ukraine
Emissions estimated at 55m tonnes in 2024 and nearly 230m tonnes in three years of war
The burning of Ukraine’s forests at unprecedented rates over the past year has helped push the total greenhouse emissions from the war since Russia’s full-scale invasion to almost 230m tonnes, analysis shows.
The study, published on the third anniversary of the invasion, found the fighting and its consequences had led to 55m tonnes of emissions in the past 12 months.
Continue reading...Antioxidants in fruits and flowers seem to counteract harmful effects of microplastics, study shows
Anthocyanins in nuts, fruits and vegetables seem to lesson harmful effects of microplastics on reproductive systems
Antioxidants that give fruits and flowers their vibrant colors seem to counteract some of the most dangerous reproductive system effects of exposure to microplastics, such as decreased fertility, and could ultimately be used in developing treatments, new peer-reviewed research shows.
The paper focused on microplastics’ reproductive toxicity and plant compounds called anthocyanins, which are widely found in nuts, fruits and vegetables. The new review of scientific literature on anthocyanins found that the compounds are probably protective against a range of plastic-induced impacts on hormones, reductions in testosterone and estrogen, decreased sperm counts, lower sperm quality, erectile dysfunction and ovarian damage.
Continue reading...UN ‘gravely concerned by rising violence’ in West Bank; Gaza ceasefire in doubt as first phase nears end – Middle East crisis live
Israeli tanks in West Bank for first time in more than two decades amid tensions over ceasefire agreement with Hamas
Hamas official Basem Naim has been talking to Al Jazeera about the precocious Gaza ceasefire deal which looks increasingly like it will collapse. As a reminder, Benjamin Netanyahu has delayed the handover of 620 Palestinians indefinitely as he is demanding Hamas stop what he called its “cynical use of hostages for propaganda”.
Naim – a member of Hamas’s political bureau - said the Israeli prime minister is “intentionally sabotaging” the truce agreement. He told Al Jazeera:
Before going to the next step, we have to be sure that the past step, which was releasing 620 prisoners, are already released.
Because Netanyahu is clearly sending strong messages that he is intentionally sabotaging the deal; he is preparing the atmosphere for returning back to the war.
Continue reading...Confusion at US agencies over whether to comply with Elon Musk email demanding workers justify their jobs – US politics live
Government agencies give conflicting advice after email from Elon Musk demanding employees list accomplishments from past week
Elon Musk said on Monday that starting this week, government workers would be put on administrative leave if they fail to return to the office.
Musk, who is leading a downsizing effort at the US government wrote on X:
Those who ignored President Trump’s executive order to return to work have now received over a month’s warning.
Starting this week, those who still fail to return to office will be placed on administrative leave.
French President Emmanuel Macron will meet with Donald Trump in Washington on Monday, saying he will present “proposals for action” to counter the “Russian threat” in Europe and ensure peace in Ukraine.
Conservative podcaster Dan Bongino has been appointed as FBI deputy director. Bongino, a former Secret Service agent and NYPD officer turned conservative radio host, puts a second Trump ally at the top of the agency. Trump announced the appointment on Sunday night in a post on his Truth Social platform, praising Bongino as “a man of incredible love and passion for our country”.
The Trump administration on Sunday said it was placing all but a handful of USAid personnel around the world on paid administrative leave and eliminating about 2,000 of those positions in the US, according to a notice sent to agency workers and posted online.
More than 150,000 people from Canada have signed a parliamentary petition calling for their country to strip Elon Musk’s Canadian citizenship because of the tech billionaire’s alliance with Donald Trump, who has spent his second US presidency repeatedly threatening to conquer its independent neighbor to the north and turn it into its 51st state.
Continue reading...A flawed peace deal would not end the war in Ukraine
Western policymakers should consider what happened with the Minsk agreements when talking peace in Ukraine.
Kenyan police officer killed confronting gang members in Haiti
The officer is the first casualty suffered by the Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support mission.
Starmer announces ‘UK’s largest packet of sanctions’ against Russia since early days of war with Ukraine – UK politics live
PM says Trump has ‘changed global conversation on Ukraine’ as he pledges more military aid and sanctions
Keir Starmer called for support for Ukraine to be boosed in three ways in his virtual speech to the conference in Kyiv.
First, military support should increase, he said.
The UK is doing that, providing £4.5bn pounds in military aid this year, more than ever before. We’re doing more than ever to train Ukrainian troops helping Ukraine to mobilise even further. And we are proud to have taken on the leadership of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.
So today, we’re announcing the UK’s largest packet of sanctions since the early days of the war, going after Russia’s shadow fleet and going after companies in China and elsewhere who are sending military component.
Later day, I will be discussing further steps with the G7. But I am clear that the G7 should be ready to take on more risk, including the oil price cap, sanctioning Russia’s oil giants and going off the banks that are enabling the evasion of sanctions.
President Trump has changed the global conversation over the last few weeks, and it has created an opportunity.
Now we must get the fundamentals right if we want peace to endure. Ukraine must have a seat at the table, and any settlement must be based on a sovereign Ukraine backed up with strong security guarantees.
Continue reading...