- Happening now: The smooth, malevolent unraveling of Israel’s vulnerable democracy The Times of Israel
- Israel considers massive new ground offensive in Gaza as it ramps up pressure on Hamas CNN
- Gaza’s Return to War The New York Times
- Finish line in sight: Israel is about to achieve total victory against Hamas - opinion The Jerusalem Post
- Israel’s latest war plans: To occupy Gaza and rule Palestinians NPR
JD Vance will join wife in Greenland but trip scaled back
Greenland's leaders have criticised planned visits by US officials after Trump's threats to annex the island.
At secret test-flight facility, Ukraine’s drone makers fear energy ceasefire won’t hold
Ukraine long-range drone makers are worried Russia will use the ceasefire to gather strength and attack again.
Russian cargo plane crash lands in Siberia
A Russian cargo plane crash landed at an airstrip in Novy Urengoy, Siberia on Wednesday due to a landing gear failure.
At least 24 dead in South Korea’s ‘worst ever fires’
The wildfires are threatening cultural sites and "rewriting the record books", according to authorities.
EU says ‘unconditional withdrawal’ of Russia from Ukraine is a precondition to amend sanctions – Reuters
250,000 more people will face relative poverty after Rachel Reeves’ benefits cuts, DWP says – spring statement live
Department for Work and Pensions says thousands, including children, will be hit by chancellor’s announcement, as OBR forecasts UK growth to halve in 2025
Rachel Reeves will not be raising taxes in the spring statement today, even though there are many people on the left who would prefer taxes to rise as an alternative to public spending being cut. Reeves came into office promising only one budget-type event a year, and that is one reason why she is not hiking taxes today. But mainly it’s because she thinks Britons are relatively highly taxed already, because Labour was elected on a manifesto ruling out most of the obvious possible tax rises and because she’s not convinced a sweeping wealth tax would work.
But that has not stopped campaigners calling for a wealth tax, and yesterday about 300 people attended a ‘Tax the Super-Rich’ rally outside the Treasury. It was organised by charities and social justice campaign groups, but one of the speakers was Carla Denyer, co-leader of the Green party, which is in favour of a wealth tax.
Across the country, inequality is soaring and people are being left behind, struggling to make ends meet and dealing with broken public services, all while the very richest get richer. Choosing to make cut after cut to the poorest and most marginalised, while leaving the vast resource of the extreme wealth of the super rich untouched, is immoral, harmful, and will not deliver for our communities or the economy.
Continue reading...UN official backs call for FIFA action on gender oppression in Afghanistan
The UN special rapporteur on Afghanistan urges 'strong stand' from FIFA for nation's women to make international return.
‘It was revenge for our movie’: Oscar winner says soldiers helped settlers attack him in West Bank
Hamdan Ballal says Israeli soldiers beat him with their rifle butts and threatened to kill him
The Oscar-winning Palestinian film director Hamdan Ballal has said that Israeli settlers who attacked him were aided by two Israeli soldiers, who beat him with the butt of their rifles outside his home and threatened to kill him.
In an interview with the Guardian, Ballal, one of the four directors of the film No Other Land, which documents the destruction of villages in the West Bank and won best documentary at this year’s Academy Awards, recounted how on Monday two Israeli soldiers first encircled him while a settler was assaulting him, before violently striking him on the head and threatening to shoot him.
Continue reading...‘It was revenge for our movie’: Oscar winner says soldiers helped settlers attack him in West Bank – The Guardian
- ‘It was revenge for our movie’: Oscar winner says soldiers helped settlers attack him in West Bank The Guardian
- How ‘No Other Land’ Became an Unlikely Box Office Success The New York Times
- Palestinian Oscar winner feared for his life during Israeli settler attack Al Jazeera English
- Oscar-winning Palestinian director says Israeli soldiers beat him after attack by settlers The Associated Press
- Oscar-winning Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal released by Israeli forces NBC News
Intelligence chiefs deny they discussed war plans on Signal in House hearing
National intelligence head Tulsi Gabbard and CIA director John Ratcliffe argue ‘no classified information’ was leaked
US intelligence chiefs on Wednesday denied breaking the law or revealing classified information in a group chat where they discussed details of air strikes on Yemen in the presence of a journalist, despite allegations from Democrats that the leak was reckless and possibly illegal.
The director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, and CIA director, John Ratcliffe, were giving their second day of congressional testimony on global threats facing the United States, which Democratic lawmakers seized on to condemn their use of the Signal app to discuss arrangements to bomb the Houthis in a group that included Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of the Atlantic.
Continue reading...Aboriginal women are scared to seek help for fear their children will be taken, report finds
Human Rights Watch spoke to 33 Aboriginal parents who between them have had 114 children removed and placed in out-of-home care
Warning: this story contains distressing descriptions of violence
- Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast
Briana* was just starting to get a handle on the unpredictability of feeding, bottles and all that comes with a newborn when she received an email informing her she had lost custody of her three-month-old son.
Days later, child protection authorities took her child. With him, they took many of the milestones the 36-year-old first-time mother was looking forward to. “I’m going to miss those first words, the first rollover, everything,” she says.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email
Continue reading...Groceries are getting more expensive at Woolworths but cheaper at Coles, report finds
Choice price tracker finds cost of shopping at Aldi barely changed between March and December 2024 in quarterly assessment of 14 common items
- Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast
The cost of groceries at Woolworths has gone up even when factoring in specials, while prices at Coles decreased and Aldi’s remained relatively stable, according to Choice’s latest supermarket price tracker.
The consumer advocacy group has released its fourth quarterly report, funded by the federal government, into supermarket prices, which it assesses by purchasing a basket of 14 common grocery items from different stores.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email
Continue reading...Brisbane Olympics infrastructure body urges LNP to fast-track controversial venues with special laws
Save Victoria Park says it has briefed barristers and could launch a legal challenge to protect the site
- Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast
The infrastructure authority for the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games is pushing the Queensland government to suspend normal procurement rules and consider special planning laws to fast-track the approval and construction of controversial new venues.
The Queensland government announced its venues plan for the Olympics on Tuesday, including plans to build a new stadium in the heritage-listed Victoria Park, Brisbane’s largest inner-city parkland.
Continue reading...Service Members Admit: Yep, We Swiped Paddington – Newser
- Service Members Admit: Yep, We Swiped Paddington Newser
- Vandals of Paddington Statue Were ‘Antithesis’ of Beloved Bear, Judge Says The New York Times
- Paddington Bear statue: RAF engineers admit damage BBC.com
- Judge accuses RAF pair of ‘wanton vandalism’ for destroying Paddington Bear statue | Children The Guardian
- How Paddington took over the justice system The Spectator
More than 3m Britons to lose out from benefits cuts
Families forecast to lose an average of £1,720 a year, according to official government analysis
More than 3 million people will lose out as a result of the government’s sweeping cuts to welfare, according to the official government analysis, with families losing an average of £1,720 a year.
The official assessment of the impact of the benefits cuts – including a sharper-than-expected cut to universal credit payments – shows those eligible for disability payments will be hit the hardest.
Continue reading...Sweden to increase defence spending sharply to 3.5% of GDP – Financial Times
- Sweden to increase defence spending sharply to 3.5% of GDP Financial Times
- Sweden plans largest military buildup since the Cold War amid Russia threat and uncertain US-EU ties The Associated Press
- Sweden targets $30B increase in defense spending, to hit 3.5% of GDP by 2030 Breaking Defense
- Sweden Raises Defense Spending Target to 3.5% of GDP by 2030 Bloomberg
- Sweden to boost defence spending $30 bn over a decade Herald Palladium
Russian strikes show Moscow does not want ‘real peace’, says Zelenskyy
Ukraine’s president says drone attacks just hours after ceasefire talks were ‘a clear signal to the whole world’
Ukraine’s president has accused Russia of being insincere about making peace as he reported an attack by 117 drones, before he headed to Paris for a discussion with EU and Nato leaders about establishing a post-conflict security force.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that launching nationwide strikes after negotiations over maritime and energy ceasefires was proof of Russia’s true intentions, though the Kremlin insisted the US-brokered talks were proceeding constructively.
Continue reading...People doing intense exercise experience time warp, study finds
Research suggests those who push themselves when working out perceive time to move more slowly
If your sessions at the gym seem to drag on for hours, you are in good company. People who push themselves when working out report a form of time warp, making it feel as if they have been exercising for longer than they have, researchers say.
Adults who took part in 4km cycling trials on exercise bikes perceived time to have slowed down, scientists said, with the cyclists underestimating how long they had been pedalling for by about 10%.
Continue reading...Trump officials pause some green card applications in immigration crackdown
Approved refugees reportedly affected by freeze on processing after Trump demands more aggressive vetting
The Trump administration has paused the processing of certain green card applications as the US government continues to implement a hardline immigration agenda.
CBS News reported that approved refugees are part of the processing freeze, as the White House enacts an effort to more aggressively vet immigrants to the US.
Continue reading...