Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
Joe Biden hails ‘genuine opportunity to make progress’ as Palestinians in Gaza celebrate in the streets
World leaders have hailed a ceasefire that took hold in the early hours of Friday morning, and vowed to help rebuild Gaza after an Israeli bombing campaign that killed more than 230 people and Palestinian rocket attacks that killed 12 in Israel.
The United Nations secretary general urged Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers to observe the ceasefire and called on global leaders to develop a reconstruction package “that supports the Palestinian people and strengthens their institutions”.
In his remarks before signing the anti-Asian American hate crimes bill, Joe Biden denounced racism as an “ugly poison” that has tarnished the country.
“I believe with every fiber of my being that there are simple core values and beliefs that should bring us together as Americans,” the president said of the bill.
President Biden: "I believe with every fiber of my being that there are simple core values and beliefs that should bring us together as Americans. One of them is standing together against hate, against racism — the ugly poison that has long haunted and plagued our nation." pic.twitter.com/DB1gsTNoen
Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell applauded Joe Biden for signing the anti-Asian American hate crimes bill into law moments ago.
“Recent increases in anti-Asian hate crimes are alarming,” the Republican leader said on Twitter. “I’m proud the Senate took bipartisan action — and, as the proud husband of a remarkable Asian-American woman, I am especially glad this effort is now law.”
I applaud @POTUS for signing the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act into law. Recent increases in anti-Asian hate crimes are alarming. I’m proud the Senate took bipartisan action — and, as the proud husband of a remarkable Asian-American woman, I am especially glad this effort is now law.
US White House says it believes Israel is in a position to wind down operations
Israel’s security cabinet has met amid reports that the government was considering halting its bombardment of Gaza, as international pressure to end the bloodshed gathered momentum.
The country’s public broadcaster, Kan, reported that the cabinet, headed by the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, would vote on a proposed “unilateral ceasefire” to go into effect within 24 hours. Israeli officials did not immediately confirm the report.
Analysis: flare-up regarded by some as example of domestic politics driving violent escalation
As a ceasefire begins between Israel and Palestinian fighters in Gaza, the longtime foes are poised to turn their attention away from military action and on to constructing competing narratives of victory.
Already, the groundwork is being laid. Unnamed Israeli defence officials are being quoted in local media as saying they are satisfied with the damage inflicted. And a militant source in Gaza said: “For us, the battle achieved its goals.”
Luna Reyes targeted by far-right supporters after footage of gesture goes viral
The image captured the raw humanity of the moment: a Red Cross volunteer tenderly consoling a Senegalese man moments after he stepped foot in Spain’s north African enclave of Ceuta.
Hours after the footage went viral, however, Luna Reyes set her social media accounts to private after she was targeted by a torrent of abuse from supporters of Spain’s far-right Vox party and others incensed by the unprecedented arrival of 8,000 migrants in Ceuta.
A boy using plastic bottles tied to himself and his clothes to keep afloat has arrived at Spain's north African territory of Ceuta after swimming across the Spain-Morocco border. The child was spotted in the water by soldiers on El Tarajal beach before he attempted to climb the wall into the city. The migration attempt comes as an estimated 8,000 people - including 2,000 minors - made it to the Spanish territory in recent days before the majority were sent back. Spain has accused Morocco of disrespect for the European Union and willingness to risk the lives of children and babies in a diplomatic row between the countries
Refugee organisation says 30m new displacements last year were due to floods, storms or wildfires
Intense storms and flooding triggered three times more displacements than violent conflicts did last year, as the number of people internally displaced worldwide hit the highest level on record.
Joe Biden takes tougher line in phone call with Benjamin Netanyahu, but Israel and Hamas deny truce is imminent
Joe Biden has told Benjamin Netanyahu that he expects “a significant de-escalation today on the path to a ceasefire” between Israel and militants in Gaza, in a notable toughening of the US president’s language on the conflict.
The White House said that in a phone call on Wednesday, “the two leaders had a detailed discussion on the state of events in Gaza, Israel’s progress in degrading the capabilities of Hamas and other terrorist elements, and ongoing diplomatic efforts by regional governments and the United States.”
Madrid says lives of children are being deliberately put at risk in diplomatic dispute
The humanitarian crisis unleashed by the unprecedented influx of 8,000 migrants into Spain’s north African enclave of Ceuta has laid bare Morocco’s disrespect for the European Union and willingness to risk the lives of children and babies in the diplomatic row, Spanish authorities have said.
After thousands of people, including an estimated 2,000 minors, crossed into Spain in 36 hours earlier this week, arrivals into Ceuta had all but halted on Wednesday as Morocco tightened control of the border. The diplomatic tensions between Madrid and Rabat, however, continued unabated.
Children in their early teens have lived through four wars, with the fear, loss and trauma that brings
Her hair is matted with rubble dust. Bare feet poke out from pink tracksuit bottoms. Blood from a head wound streaks over her eye and down her face.
But Suzy Eshkuntana is alive, pulled out of the rubble of her family’s home seven hours after it was hit in an Israeli airstrike in the middle of the night. Her four siblings and her mother were killed.
The Guardian’s Jerusalem correspondent Oliver Holmes examines the series of combustible events that coincided to trigger the worst violence in Israel and Gaza since 2014
Tunisia has ended its one-week lockdown, despite having the highest reported deaths per capita of any country in Africa.
Covid-19 cases in Tunisia were initially low last year, with a sweeping six-week lockdown involving the closure of borders and shutting down all but essential commercial activity appearing to halt the spread of the virus. However, since easing that original lockdown cases have increased, with daily reported infections and deaths now the highest in Africa, according to Our World in Data.
Palestinian man killed and more than 70 wounded as hundreds hurl stones at Israeli checkpoint
Serious clashes erupted in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank on Tuesday as Palestinians took part in a day of protests and strikes over Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.
A Palestinian man was killed and more than 70 wounded, including 16 by live fire, in clashes with Israeli troops on the outskirts of Ramallah, according to the Palestinian Authority health ministry. Two Israeli soldiers were injured.
Serious clashes erupted in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank on Tuesday as Palestinians took part in a day of protests and strikes over Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. In Jerusalem, police deployed water cannon in the neighbourhood Sheikh Jarrah, where Palestinian families are facing eviction from homes they have lived in since the 1950s.
Record arrivals deepen diplomatic standoff with Morocco, which recalls ambassador for consultation
Spain’s prime minister arrived in the north African enclave of Ceuta vowing to “restore order” after an unprecedented 8,000 migrants crossed into the territory over 36 hours, deepening the tense diplomatic standoff between Madrid and Rabat.
After a day of veiled recriminations, Morocco on Tuesday recalled its ambassador from Spain for consultation. Relations with Spain need a moment of “contemplation”, a diplomatic source told Reuters.
Areas that have escaped worst of bombing in previous conflicts are bearing brunt this time around
For the residents of the central neighbourhoods of Gaza City the last nine days have been unusually brutal.
The affluent heart of Gaza’s Palestinian society, in past conflicts areas like Tal al-Hawa and al-Rimal have been less heavily hit by the periodic wars between Israel and Hamas that have shaken the coastal strip since 2008.
Israel carries out fresh wave of pre-dawn airstrikes US president stops short of demanding halt to hostilities
Joe Biden has issued a statement for the first time expressing support for a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza’s militant rulers, Hamas, after a phone conversation with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
However, the US president stopped short of calling for an immediate halt to the eight days of Israeli airstrikes and Hamas rocket barrages that have killed more than 200 people, the vast majority of them Palestinian.
The Israeli military has launched another heavy wave of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, saying it destroyed militants' tunnels and the homes of nine Hamas commanders. Early on Tuesday morning, three massive blasts shook Gaza City. Confirmation is being sought as to what caused the explosions. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, signalled Israel’s bombardment would continue despite mounting global pressure to stop the bloodshed. After a phone conversation with Netanyahu on Monday afternoon, the US president, Joe Biden, issued a statement expressing support for a ceasefire, but did not say it should be immediate. In the last week, at least 200 Palestinians, including 59 children, have been killed in the attacks by Israel
Analysis: internal tensions and differences with the US have left the bloc unable to take a clear position on Israel-Palestine
If the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, wanted to symbolise the Joe Biden administration’s determination not to become embroiled in the Israel-Palestine issue, he could not have timed better his current trip to Copenhagen, Reykjavik and Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. Important discussions on the Arctic and the climate crisis may be on the agenda, but the chilly north is a distance from the tunnels, rocket fire and screams of those suffering in the latest war in the Middle East.
It may well be that in his numerous calls to key regional actors on the plane to Denmark Blinken made more progress in inching Israel, and Hamas, towards a ceasefire the US had been reluctant to demand in public.
Benjamin Netanyahu signals Israel’s bombardment will continue as Joe Biden issues statement supporting ceasefire
Two hundred Palestinians, including 59 children, have been killed during a week of attacks in Gaza, health officials in the territory have said, as Benjamin Netanyahu signalled Israel’s bombardment would rage on despite mounting global pressure to stop the bloodshed.
After a phone conversation with Netanyahu on Monday afternoon, US president Joe Biden issued a statement, supporting – but not demanding – a ceasefire and did not say it should be immediate.