The 50th edition of the Canadian film festival will also feature world premieres starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Sydney Sweeney and Matthew McConaughey
World premieres starring Angelina Jolie, Saoirse Ronan and Keanu Reeves lead this year’s lineup for the Toronto film festival.
The 50th edition of the festival will again feature a string of films hoping to gain awards traction, taking place after the Venice film festival.
Continue reading...1.2tn yuan project has broken ground in Tibet, premier says, despite fears of downstream nations India and Bangladesh
Construction of the world’s biggest hydropower megadam has begun, China’s premier has said, calling it the “project of the century”.
The huge structure is being built on the Yarlung Tsangpo river, in Tibetan territory.
Continue reading...Paid ads hosted on Facebook, Instagram and Threads seem to violate Meta’s stated policies yet remain active
Meta is hosting ads on Facebook, Instagram and Threads from pro-Israel entities that are raising money for military equipment including drones and tactical gear for Israeli Defense Force battalions, seemingly a violation of the company’s stated advertising policies, new research shows.
“We are the sniper team of Unit Shaked, stationed in Gaza, and we urgently need shooting tripods to complete our mission in Jabalia,” one ad on Facebook read, first published on 11 June and still active on 17 July.
Continue reading...Top US university returns to court to fight against funding freeze that halted major research efforts
Ever since Donald Trump began his second presidency, he has used an “invented” national energy emergency to help justify expanding oil, gas and coal while slashing green energy – despite years of scientific evidence that burning fossil fuels has contributed significantly to climate change, say scholars and watchdogs.
It’s an agenda that in only its first six months, has put back environmental progress by decades, they say.
Continue reading...Democrats are livid over the governor’s plan to redraw districts at a time when Texas officials are supposed to be focused on recovery from the floods
A plan for Texas to redraw its congressional districts and gain five additional Republican seats barrels through flimsy legal arguments and political norms like a rough-stock rodeo bronco through a broken chute.
But the fiddly process of drawing the maps to Republicans’ advantage for 2026 may require more finesse than cowboy politics can produce.
Continue reading...Military targets key humanitarian hub that was relatively unscathed by war after ordering Palestinians to leave
Israel has launched substantial air raids and a ground operation in Gaza, targeting Deir al-Balah, the main hub for humanitarian efforts in the devastated Palestinian territory, amid urgent warnings of widening starvation in the coastal strip.
The latest assault comes a day after the highest death toll in 21 months inflicted by the Israeli military on desperate Palestinians seeking food aid, with at least 85 killed on Sunday in what has become an almost daily slaughter.
Continue reading...About 3,000 workers have left the agency through firings and buyouts in a move Democrats and staff call ‘unlawful’
Workers at the US state department say firings, resignation buyouts, a proposed budget cut of 48%, and reorganization under the Trump administration has left staff with low morale and will likely have long-term impacts.
Foreign programs and services aimed towards LGBTQ+ communities, maternal and reproductive health, and minority groups have been removed or cut in place of far-right ideological policies being pursued by a 26-year-old senior adviser and Trump appointee at the agency.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Barbara de Dozsa had argued ownership because work by Italian artist Solario had been bought in good faith
A 16th-century Madonna and Child painting that ended up with a woman in Norfolk after it was stolen from a museum in Italy half a century ago is to be returned to its rightful owner.
After years of soul-searching, and persuading by an art lawyer who was acting pro bono, Barbara de Dozsa decided to hand it over to the Civic Museum of Belluno, which last saw the painting in 1973.
Continue reading...Emily Thornberry says recognition is vital step towards peace and without long-term solution war in Gaza will continue
A senior Labour MP has said it is time for the UK to recognise a Palestinian state as some western countries are due to press ahead with their own recognition plans at an international conference this month.
Emily Thornberry, who heads the influential House of Commons foreign affairs select committee, said that without a ceasefire and a long-term political solution Israel’s war on Gaza – which has killed more than 58,000 Palestinians since 7 October 2023 – will continue.
Continue reading...Germany vows to expedite delivery of Patriot systems as drone strikes Kyiv metro station sheltering civilians
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of “an assault on humanity” after a barrage of drones and missiles hit Ukraine, as Germany promised to supply five Patriot air-defence systems to help an under-pressure Kyiv.
Ukraine’s president said Moscow had launched more than 420 drones and more than 20 missiles in its latest overnight attack, killing at least two people and targeting a metro station in the capital where people were sheltering.
Continue reading...Arrests made in Balochistan after video showing man and woman being fatally shot went viral
Thirteen suspects have been arrested in Pakistan’s south-western Balochistan province after a video emerged of a woman and a man being shot dead for marrying against the wishes of their families in an “honour” killing.
The footage caused uproar in the country, with activists demanding swift justice and a stop to the crime, which targets women who do not follow local traditions and culture or decide to marry someone of their choosing.
Continue reading...Ballot heaps pressure on Shigeru Ishiba’s minority government just as it attempts to negotiate deal to avert Trump tariffs
Japanese prime minister Shigeru Ishiba’s future was unclear on Monday after his coalition lost its upper house majority in elections that saw strong gains by a rightwing populist party.
While the ballot does not directly determine whether Ishiba’s minority government falls, it heaps pressure on the embattled leader, who also lost control of the more powerful lower house in October and who has never been popular within his own party.
Continue reading...Barbie Reynolds, 76, and husband Peter, 80, have been held for five-and-a-half months without charge
The children of an elderly couple imprisoned by the Taliban in Afghanistan have urged the group to release the pair before they “die in custody”.
They said the UN would be making a statement on Monday calling for the immediate release of Barbie Reynolds, 76, and her husband Peter, 80, who were arrested as they travelled to their home in Bamyan province, central Afghanistan, in February.
Continue reading...More than 1,000 people estimated to have been killed after clashes between Bedouin and Druze groups
An uneasy calm returned to southern Syria’s Sweida province on Sunday, after fighters withdrew following a week of violence estimated to have killed more than 1,000 people.
Local people told news agencies the area was calm after Syria’s Islamist-led government said Bedouin fighters had left the predominantly Druze city.
Continue reading...Mwangi accused of ‘facilitation of terrorist acts’ during last month’s protests against government of William Ruto
The Kenyan rights activist Boniface Mwangi is accused of “facilitation of terrorist acts” during protests that rocked the country last month, investigators said on Sunday, a day after he was arrested.
At least 19 people were killed during the 25 June demonstration against President William Ruto’s government, which was itself called to pay tribute to victims of police violence at another protest on the same date last year.
Continue reading...More than 150 people also wounded, some critically, as some witnesses say Israeli military shot at crowd. This live blog is closed
Israel wants the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to replace a system coordinated by the UN and international aid groups. Along with the US, it accuses Hamas of stealing aid, without offering evidence.
Critics have argued that the GHF is a tool for the Israeli and US governments to politicise humanitarian aid and to distribute it in ways that will depopulate sectors of Gaza in apparent violation of international law.
Continue reading...Authorities axe flights and school classes as typhoon closes in, with China’s Hainan and Guangdong provinces also on high alert
Hong Kong issued its highest tropical cyclone warning as Typhoon Wipha battered the city, with authorities cancelling school classes and grounding hundreds of flights.
Wipha was located around 60km south-east of Hong Kong as of 10am on Sunday, according to the city’s weather observatory. Huge waves were spotted off the eastern coast of Hong Kong Island.
Continue reading...Rescue workers save 12 people with seven still missing after vessel overturns during sudden thunderstorm
A tourist boat capsized during a sudden thunderstorm in Vietnam on Saturday afternoon, killing 38 people and leaving seven others missing.
The Wonder Sea boat was carrying 48 passengers and five crew members on a sightseeing the tour of Ha Long Bay, a popular destination for visitors, state media reported.
Continue reading...The Palestinian Authority’s ability to use the Gaza Marine field could leave them less dependent on aid
Recognition of Palestine as a state would put beyond doubt that the Palestinian Authority (PA) is entitled to develop the natural gas resources of the Gaza Marine field, according to one of the experts that worked on the stalled project.
Michael Barron, the author of a new book on Palestine’s untapped gas reserves, has suggested the field could generate $4bn (£3bn) in revenue at current prices and it is reasonable that the PA could receive $100m a year over 15 years.
Continue reading...Eleven people still unaccounted for after record downpours sweep north across country, triggering landslides
Heavy rain in South Korea has killed at least 17 people with 11 others unaccounted for in the intense downpours.
Close to 170mm (6.7in) of rain hit the resort town of Gapyeong county in Gyeonggi province, 40 miles east of Seoul, early on Sunday. A landslide engulfed houses and flooding swept away vehicles.
Continue reading...