Category Archives: World News

Israel-Gaza violence: Rashida Tlaib tearful as she addresses US Congress – video

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Members of the US Congress have responded as the deadly hostilities in Israel and Gaza entered a fifth day with no sign of abating. 

Rashida Tlaib, a Palestinian-American congresswoman who has been critical of Israeli policy towards the Palestinians, questioned the US government's 'unconditional support' of Israel and, often tearing up as she spoke, accused Israel of being an 'apartheid state'.

Earlier in the day Joe Biden said there had 'not been a significant overreaction' by Israel to the Hamas rocket attacks and Ted Deutch and Debbie Wasserman Schultz spoke in the House in support of Israel’s 'right to defend her citizens'. Meanwhile Ilhan Omar said: 'Instead of condemning blatant crimes against humanity and human rights abuses, many members of Congress have instead fallen back on a blanket statement defending Israel's airstrikes against civilians under the guise of self-defence.'

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Ransomware attack disrupts Irish health services

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IT systems shut down and some medical appointments cancelled after attempt to access data

Ireland’s state health services provider has shut all its IT systems and cancelled some medical appointments after what it described as a “significant ransomware attack” overnight caused widespread disruption.

Paul Reid, the Health Service Executive chief executive, told RTÉ there had been a “human-operated” attempt to access data stored on central servers for a presumed ransom. “There has been no ransom demand at this stage. The key thing is to contain the issue. We are in the containment phase.”

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Hospitals overwhelmed as Covid cases surge in Osaka

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Beds almost at capacity and an estimated 17,000 people with symptoms waiting for treatment

A surge in coronavirus cases in Japan is forcing exhausted medical workers to make “heartbreaking” decisions about treatment as healthcare services are close to being overwhelmed, medics have said.

In Osaka, at the centre of the country’s fourth wave of infections, hospital beds are almost at capacity and reports say an estimated 17,000 people with virus symptoms are being treated at home or waiting to be admitted to a medical facility. In recent weeks more than a dozen have died before they could be hospitalised.

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‘Beavers are just being beavers’: friction grows between Canadians and animals

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Beavers cause internet outages, steal posts and even put 30 sq km of a town underwater – but experts say the animals have a profound effect on ecosystems

At first, the theft of wooden fence posts seemed like a crime of opportunity – amid soaring lumber costs, stacks of wood have gone missing from construction sites across North America.

But officers in the Canadian prairie community of Porcupine Plain, Saskatchewan, soon identified the culprit: local beavers had stolen the posts to build their dam.

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‘A game-changing moment’: Chile constitution could set new gender equality standard

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Chileans to elect 155-strong assembly made up of equivalent men and women to set out new framework and enshrine equal rights

Women’s rights activists in Chile say that the country’s new constitution will catalyze progress for women in the country – and could set a new global standard for gender equality in politics.

In a two-day vote this weekend, Chileans will elect a 155-strong citizens’ assembly to write a new constitution for the country – the first anywhere in the world to be written by an equal number of men and women.

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‘Bodies are being eaten by hyenas; girls of eight raped’: inside the Tigray conflict

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A nun working in war-torn Tigray has shared her harrowing testimony of the atrocities taking place

The Ethiopian nun, who has to remain anonymous for her own security, is working in Mekelle, Tigray’s capital, and surrounding areas, helping some of the tens of thousands of people displaced by the fighting who have been streaming into camps in the hope of finding shelter and food. Both are in short supply. Humanitarian aid is being largely blocked and a wholesale crackdown is seeing civilians being picked off in the countryside, either shot or rounded up and taken to overcrowded prisons. She spoke to Tracy McVeigh this week.

“After the last few months I’m happy to be alive. I have to be OK. Mostly we are going out to the IDP [internally displaced people] camps and the community centres where people are. They are in a bad way.

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‘Hosnia had dreams’: grief in Kabul as girls’ school targeted

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Hazara community in mourning but defiant after more than 60 people killed in school bomb blasts


Latifa and Hosnia had been sharing a wooden bench in their classroom at Kabul’s Sayed Al-Shuhada school for the past three years.

When Latifa transferred to Sayed Al-Shuhada, the two girls were immediately drawn to each other and became best friends, always together in their free time, studying side by side, walking home together after school. They found comfort in each other’s presence; support in a place that has never been easy for girls and women.

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Rape is being used as weapon of war in Ethiopia, say witnesses

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Ethiopian nun speaks of widespread horror she and colleagues are seeing on a daily basis inside the heavily isolated region of Tigray

Thousands of women and girls are being targeted by the deliberate tactic of using rape as a weapon in the civil war that has erupted in Ethiopia, according to eyewitnesses.

In a rare account from inside the heavily isolated region of Tigray, where communications with the outside world are being deliberately cut off, an Ethiopian nun has spoken of the widespread horror she and her colleagues are seeing on a daily basis since a savage war erupted six months ago.

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Israel’s military says air and ground forces are attacking Gaza – updates

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Latest news as IDF says ground forces have joined the attacks on Gaza Strip but have not entered the enclave

We are pausing this live coverage for a while, but will bring you any key developments and breaking news when it happens.

The Israeli Defense Forces have sent the Guardian their “clarification” stating that there are “currently no IDF ground troops” in Gaza. It is brief, and does not explain the earlier statement to the contrary given to journalists and published in Twitter:

The IDF statement "clarifying" what happened tonight in Gaza: pic.twitter.com/jrxphiwUm0

Clarification: there are currently no IDF ground troops inside the Gaza strip. IDF air and ground forces are carrying out strikes on targets in the Gaza strip.

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Samoa is experiencing a bloodless coup. The Pacific’s most stable democracy is in trouble | Fiona Ey

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The government’s actions after last month’s elections call democracy into question and set a dangerous precedent for developing nations

Samoa has long been touted as a beacon of democracy and political stability in the Pacific, a region troubled by military coups and civil strife. The prime minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, is the world’s second longest serving prime minister, having held the office for more than 22 years.

But the latest election in the country, held last month, saw the most serious challenge to Malielegaoi’s ruling Human Rights Protection party (HRPP), and has left the country without a clear result. In the weeks since, the government has used every method available to it – and some that arguably are not – to hold on to power. What the government is doing is effectively a bloodless coup.

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Israeli air and ground forces hit targets in Gaza Strip as death toll climbs

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Military says no troops currently operating inside territory as number of casualties continues to grow

Israeli ground and air forces have attacked targets in Gaza, forcing residents to flee their homes, in a significant escalation in the worst bout of fighting for seven years.

Heavy artillery fire was aimed at what the Israeli military said was a large network of militant tunnels. The intense overnight bombardment came amid speculation that Israeli troops were preparing to enter Gaza on the ground.

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‘A great day’: Biden hails relaxed CDC guidance for fully vaccinated Americans

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Rochelle Walensky announces relaxation of guidelines: ‘We have longed for this moment … [to] get back some sense of normalcy’

As coronavirus cases and deaths decline across the US amid vaccination efforts, the director of the CDC said Thursday that fully vaccinated Americans could participate in most indoor activities without wearing a mask.

An unmasked president Joe Biden heralded the announcement during an outdoor press conference several hours later, saying: “Today is a great day for America in our long battle with coronavirus.”

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Eid al-Fitr celebrations around the world – in pictures

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Around the world, Eid al-Fitr celebrations have been taking place in another unprecedented year. With the uneven distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, Muslims in countries like the US and UK have been able to gather en masse for the first time in over a year and celebrate the end of Ramadan. Meanwhile, across Asia, some ceremonies have been more muted and somber, as families continue to lose members to the virus.

Adding to the complex emotions amid this year’s celebration, Muslim communities have been demonstrating solidarity with those affected by the crisis in Gaza, where Israeli strikes have killed dozens of people, including many children. As millions share traditional feasts after a month of fasting, Eid will continue through the evening, and often through the week

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Suspected Russia-led cyber campaign targets Germany’s Green party leader

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Annalena Baerbock faces social media onslaught after voicing opposition to Nord Stream 2 project

Fears are growing in Berlin of a Russian-led cyber campaign against the leader of Germany’s Green party after she pledged to block a gas pipeline project between Russia and Europe.

Annalena Baerbock, who is running to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor in September’s election, has been targeted in recent days by an increasingly vicious campaign across social media.

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Contractors accused of rescuing white workers first after Mozambique attack

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Amnesty International says private military firm in Cabo Delgado abandoned others to their fate

Survivors of a recent attack by Islamist insurgents in Mozambique have told Amnesty International that private military contractors prioritised white workers for evacuation as the extremists closed in during days of confused fighting.

An estimated 220 civilians sought refuge in the Amarula hotel in Palma, in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, during the attack in late March.

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News Corp exclusive on Chinese ‘bioweapons’ based on discredited 2015 book of conspiracy theories

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Report in the Australian newspaper promoting Sharri Markson’s book on origins of Covid criticised as misleading and alarmist by China analysts

The Australian’s exclusive about a “chilling” document produced by Chinese military scientists is based on a discredited 2015 book containing conspiracy theories about biological warfare which is freely available on the internet.

Written by the paper’s investigations writer, Sharri Markson, the report last Saturday said Chinese military scientists “discussed the weaponisation of Sars coronaviruses five years before the Covid-19 pandemic” and predicted a third world war would be fought with biological weapons.

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Campaigners lose court case to stop Ugandan forest clearance

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Court ruling gives go-ahead for sugar plantation in Bugoma forest, home to endangered chimpanzees

Conservationists in Uganda have condemned as “shallow and absurd” a court ruling that authorised the government to allow swathes of a tropical forest to be cleared for a sugar-cane plantation.

Three environmental groups had taken the government to court over a decision to allow Hoima Sugar Ltd to build on 5,500 hectares (13,500 acres) in the Bugoma Forest Reserve.

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EU citizens arriving in UK being locked up and expelled

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Europeans with job interviews tell of detentions and expulsions despite rules allowing non-visa holders to attend interviews

EU citizens are being sent to immigration removal centres and held in airport detention rooms as the UK government’s “hostile environment” policy falls on them after Brexit, according to campaigners and travellers interviewed by the Guardian.

Europeans with job interviews are among those being denied entry and locked up. They have spoken of being subjected to the traumatic and humiliating experience of expulsion, despite Home Office rules that explicitly allow non-visa holders to attend interviews.

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Violence and mayhem offer Benjamin Netanyahu refuge | Harriet Sherwood

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Analysis: The Israeli PM seemed to be on the way out, until the eruption of conflict with the Palestinians

The escalating conflict between Israel and Gaza has put efforts to form a coalition government that excludes Israel’s longest-serving prime minister on the back burner.

Until violence erupted this week, Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to be on the verge of losing his position at the helm of Israeli politics after 12 years as prime minister.

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Violence against women ‘a pandemic’, warns UN envoy

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A decade after Istanbul convention was drawn up to end gender-based violence, activists report decline in women’s rights and safety

A decade after the launch of the Istanbul convention, the landmark human rights treaty to stop gender-based violence, women are facing a global assault on their rights and safety, according to campaigners.

This week marked 10 years since the first 13 countries signed up to the convention, seen as a turning point in efforts to address violence against women.

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