‘Multiple casualties’ reported after attack on UN aid convoy in Darfur

Trucks carrying food for 2m people in famine-threatened El Fasher targeted in RSF-controlled Al Koma, western Sudan

A UN aid convoy carrying critical food supplies to a famine-threatened city in western Sudan has been targeted in an attack that killed five people and injured several others.

Trucks belonging to the UN’s food and children’s agencies were struck as they headed towards El Fasher, capital of North Darfur, which has been besieged by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for more than a year.

Continue reading...

Laila Soueif, on 247th day of hunger strike for jailed British-Egyptian son, defiant in face of death

Soueif is willing to do ‘what it takes’ to free Alaa Abd el-Fattah, after a lifetime of speaking up against injustice

Laila Soueif, lying shrunken on a hospital bed at St Thomas’ hospital in London on the 247th day of her hunger strike in pursuit of freedom for her son, imprisoned British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, is locked in what may prove to be her last of many trials of strength with Egypt’s authoritarian regime.

A remarkable, witty and courageous woman, she has the self-awareness to admit: “I may have made a mistake, God knows,” but she will not back down, and anyone looking back at her rich life has little evidence to doubt her perseverance.

Continue reading...

High-rise, high expectations: is Casablanca’s finance hub a model for African development?

Morocco’s commercial centre has brought investment to the continent – but critics say it masks domestic inequality

For centuries, Casablanca was a significant trading hub for merchants from across the breadth of the Atlantic coast, given its geographical position between Africa, the Middle East and Europe.

These days, Morocco’s economic capital is merging those historical roots with a strong modern commercial identity. One such manifestation is the Casablanca Finance City (CFC) district, whose high-rise buildings stand as a symbol of the city’s dream of being a main gateway for international investment into Africa.

Continue reading...

Iran on brink of rejecting US proposal on nuclear programme

Offer gives no ground on Tehran’s demand to continue to enrich uranium inside country, sources say

Iran is on the brink of rejecting US proposals on the future of its nuclear programme after the US draft insisted that Tehran would have to suspend the enrichment of uranium inside Iran and set out no clear route map for lifting US economic sanctions.

The US proposals were the first in written form since five rounds of indirect talks started, but Iranian diplomatic sources said the US proposals gave no ground on Iran’s demand to continue to enrich uranium inside the country.

Continue reading...

Three killed as Israeli forces open fire near Gaza food distribution site, officials say

Incident took place where more than 30 people were killed on Sunday near Gaza Humanitarian Foundation hub

Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip opened fire as people headed towards a food distribution site at about sunrise on Monday, killing at least three people and injuring dozens, health officials and a witness said. The military said it fired warning shots at “suspects” who approached its forces.

The shooting occurred at the same location where witnesses say Israeli forces fired a day earlier on crowds of people heading towards the food distribution hub in southern Gaza run by the Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

Continue reading...

Weather tracker: Nigeria hit by deadly flooding described as ‘worst in 60 years’

At least 150 people killed, thousands displaced and buildings destroyed after heavy rains in north of country

Significant flooding affected Nigeria last week, with more than 150 deaths reported so far. Heavy rain struck the north of the country on Wednesday night and continued into Thursday, leading to flooding along the Niger River, displacing thousands and destroying hundreds of homes. The district head said it was the region’s worst flood in 60 years.

Heavy rain is not unusual at this time of year in Nigeria. The country has a tropical climate and is influenced by the west African monsoon, with the wet season running from April until October. This type of seasonality is linked to land-sea temperature differences, alongside the shifting intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), a band of low pressure roughly around the equator that shifts north and south with the angle of the sun.

Continue reading...

Greta Thunberg joins aid ship sailing to Gaza aimed at breaking Israel’s blockade

Game of Thrones actor Liam Cunningham also on Freedom Flotilla voyage to deliver aid to devastated territory

The climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and 11 other activists have set sail for Gaza on a ship aimed at “breaking Israel’s siege” of the devastated territory, organisers have said.

The sailing boat Madleen – operated by the activist group Freedom Flotilla Coalition – departed from the port of Catania in Sicily, southern Italy, on Sunday.

Continue reading...

Dozens of Palestinians killed after Israeli forces open fire near aid delivery point, says Gaza civil defence agency – as it happened

Israeli forces opened fire on people heading towards aid distribution site run by Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, say witnesses

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a newly created private logistics group backed by the US and endorsed by Israel, has given a response to reports that dozens of Palestinian people were killed when Israeli tanks opened fire near one of its aid distribution sites in Gaza earlier today.

“It is false and fabricated. All aid was distributed today without incident,” the GHF said, telling BBC News that there have been no injuries or fatalities.

Continue reading...

Hamas suggests changes in response to Gaza ceasefire proposal

Israel and US envoy reject group’s proposal to free 10 living hostages and 18 bodies in exchange for release of Palestinian prisoners

Hamas said on Saturday that it had submitted its response containing some amendments to a proposal presented by Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, to mediators, the most concrete sign of progress towards a ceasefire since March.

The Palestinian group said in a statement that under the deal, it will release 10 living hostages and 18 bodies in return for Israel’s release of Palestinian prisoners – a change to the US’s latest proposal that will make it more difficult for Israel to resume fighting if talks on a permanent ceasefire are not completed by the end of the truce.

Continue reading...

Israel’s ‘violations’ in Gaza make world more dangerous, Norway warns

Low respect for international law and human rights set worrying precedent, international development minister says

Israel is setting a dangerous precedent for international human rights law violations in Gaza that is making the whole world more dangerous, Norway’s international development minister has warned.

Norway has played a historical role in the region, including by facilitating the Oslo peace accords between Israel and the Palestinians that led to a celebrated breakthrough deal in 1993. Last year it recognised the Palestinian state, one of a minority of European countries to do so.

Continue reading...

Gaza is ‘hungriest place on Earth’ with all its people at risk of famine, says UN

Mission to deliver help is ‘one of most obstructed aid operations in recent history’, humanitarian agency says

Gaza is “the hungriest place on Earth”, according to the UN, which has warned that the Palestinian territory’s entire population is at risk of famine.

Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said the territory was “the only defined area – a country or defined territory within a country – where you have the entire population at risk of famine. One hundred per cent of the population at risk of famine,” he said on Friday.

Continue reading...

Mother of jailed British-Egyptian activist hospitalised after 242 days on hunger strike

Laila Soueif continues protest against detention of Alaa Abd el-Fattah in Cairo

The mother of the imprisoned British-Egyptian human rights activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah has been admitted to hospital after spending more than 240 days on hunger strike.

Laila Soueif’s family said she had been admitted to St Thomas’ hospital in London on Thursday night with dangerously low blood sugar levels, but continues to refuse medical intervention that would provide her with calories.

Continue reading...

Carbon footprint of Israel’s war on Gaza exceeds that of many entire countries

Exclusive: Climate cost of war is more than than the combined 2023 emissions of Costa Rica and Estonia, study finds

The carbon footprint of the first 15 months of Israel’s war on Gaza will be greater than the annual planet-warming emissions of a hundred individual countries, exacerbating the global climate emergency on top of the huge civilian death toll, new research reveals.

A study shared exclusively with the Guardian found the long-term climate cost of destroying, clearing and rebuilding Gaza could top 31m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e). This is more than the combined 2023 annual greenhouse gases emitted by Costa Rica and Estonia, yet there is no obligation for states to report military emissions to the UN climate body.

Over 99% of the almost 1.89m tCO2e estimated to have been generated between the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack and the temporary ceasefire in January 2025 is attributed to Israel’s aerial bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza.

Almost 30% of greenhouse gases generated in that period came from the US sending 50,000 tonnes of weapons and other military supplies to Israel, mostly on cargo planes and ships from stockpiles in Europe. Another 20% is attributed to Israeli aircraft reconnaissance and bombing missions, tanks and fuel from other military vehicles, as well as CO2 generated by manufacturing and exploding the bombs and artillery.

Solar had generated as much as a quarter of Gaza’s electricity, representing one of the world’s highest shares, but most panels, and the territory’s only power plant, have been damaged or destroyed. Gaza’s limited access to electricity now mostly relies on diesel-guzzling generators that emitted just over 130,000 tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, or 7% of the total conflict emissions.

More than 40% of the total emissions were generated by the estimated 70,000 aid trucks Israel allowed into the Gaza Strip – which the UN has condemned as grossly insufficient to meet the basic humanitarian needs of 2.2m displaced and starving Palestinians.

Continue reading...

Former ambassador calls on UK to advise citizens against travel to Egypt

John Casson says Cairo ‘fobbing us off’ by refusing to release British-Egyptian national Alaa Abd el-Fattah

The former British ambassador to Egypt, John Casson, has urged the UK to advise its citizens against travelling to Egypt, in response to Cairo’s refusal to release dual British Egyptian national Alaa Abd el-Fattah.

A UN panel found on Wednesday that Fattah had been held arbitrarily in jail since 2019, but Egypt was refusing to give the UK consular access – let alone release him. His mother has been refusing food in protest at his detention.

Continue reading...

Israel confirms plans to create 22 new settlements in occupied West Bank

Defence minister says move ‘prevents establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger Israel’

Israel has said it will establish 22 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, including the legalisation of outposts already built without government authorisation, after a security cabinet vote held in secret last week.

Israel occupied the West Bank, capturing it from Jordan, in the six-day war of 1967. Since then, successive governments have tried to permanently cement Israeli control over the land, in part by declaring swathes as “state lands”, which prevents private Palestinian ownership.

Continue reading...

Thursday briefing: What chaos at new Gaza food distribution point means for Palestinians facing famine

In today’s newsletter: The GHF supply system faltered as civilians were forced to flee gunfire at its first distribution site, deepening the hunger crisis

Good morning. If the new system for distributing supplies in Gaza is supposed to be an adequate replacement for the major aid organisations that were previously in place, it has got off to an inauspicious start.

On Tuesday, after the first food point run by the new Gaza Humanitarian Foundation – a non-government organisation (NGO) with Israeli support that uses US-based contractors – opened in Rafah, Israeli forces stationed at the perimeter opened fire. Panicked civilians fled the scene, most without the food they came for; dozens of people were injured, and at least one died.

UK news | The housing ombudsman has warned that “simmering anger at poor housing conditions risks becoming social disquiet”, as his office records a 474% increase in complaints. Richard Blakeway said it was “neither fanciful nor alarmist” to suggest anger at housing conditions would cause an “irreparable” fracturing of trust, saying the “shock of Grenfell Tower and Awaab Ishak’s death resonate still”.

Trump tariffs | A US federal trade court has blocked Donald Trump from imposing sweeping tariffs on imports under an emergency-powers law. The ruling, which the White House is said to be appealing, would blow a hole in Trump’s strategy to use steep tariffs to wring concessions from trading partners.

Ukraine | Ukraine and Germany have agreed to future military cooperation in which Berlin will help finance long-range weapons production on Ukrainian soil. The deal came as Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russia had amassed 50,000 troops in the Sumy region bordering Russia.

UK news | Prosecutors have confirmed they have authorised 21 charges against influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate, including rape, actual bodily harm and human trafficking. The Crown Prosecution Service said that the two men would not be tried in the UK until an investigation into charges they face in Romania is concluded.

School meals | Guidance urging schools in England to serve children meat at least three times a week should be overhauled to increase the eating of vegetables, a leading charity has said. The Food Foundation found that 80% of the most commonly eaten meat dishes in schools are either processed or red meat.

Continue reading...

US distances itself from Gaza food delivery group amid questions over its leadership, funding

Gaza Humanitarian Foundation had faced criticism from aid groups even before this week’s chaotic rollout

After a rollout trumpeted by US officials, the US- and Israeli-backed effort that claimed it would return large-scale food deliveries to Gaza was born an orphan, with questions growing over its leadership, sources of funding and ties to Israeli officials and private US security contractors.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation had said it would securely provide food supplies to the Gaza Strip, ending an Israeli blockade that UN officials say have led to the brink of a famine.

Continue reading...

Trump says he warned Israel against attack on Iran as nuclear deal ‘very close’

US president claims he told Tel Aviv he thought agreement on Tehran’s nuclear programme could come within weeks

Donald Trump has claimed he warned Israel against attacking Iran because he believed he was very close to a deal on Tehran’s nuclear programme in which US inspectors will be given unparalleled access to sites to ensure the country is not planning to build a nuclear bomb.

At a White House press conference on Wednesday, the US president confirmed he held talks last week with Israel and told them it was “not appropriate” to attack Tehran because he believed he could reach a deal within weeks.

Continue reading...

Families of hostages stage protests on 600th day of Israel-Gaza war

Relatives of Israeli hostages accuse Netanyahu of ‘sentencing them to death’ amid calls for resignation

Marking the 600th day of the Israel-Gaza war, thousands of family members of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza have held protests across the country, blocking traffic and calling for a deal securing the release of their loved ones from captivity and an end to the conflict.

“600 days we are without our loved ones, 600 days that Hamas is holding them captive, and the bloody Israeli government is abandoning them to maintain the integrity of their coalition,” the families said in a statement read by Keith Siegel, a former hostage, at a rally in Tel Aviv on Wednesday.

Continue reading...

Zadie Smith and Ian McEwan among 380 writers and groups to call Gaza war ‘genocide’

Letter also signed by Hanif Kureishi and Russell T Davies urges ceasefire and unrestricted distribution of aid

Three hundred and eighty writers and organisations including Zadie Smith, Ian McEwan, Russell T Davies, Hanif Kureishi, Frank Cottrell-Boyce and George Monbiot have signed a letter stating that the Israeli government’s war in Gaza is genocidal and calling for an immediate ceasefire.

“The use of the words ‘genocide’ or ‘acts of genocide’ to describe what is happening in Gaza is no longer debated by international legal experts or human rights organizations,” reads the letter, which was also signed by William Dalrymple, Jeanette Winterson, Brian Eno, Kate Mosse, Irvine Welsh and Elif Shafak.

Continue reading...