One in five households in Gaza go whole days without food, draft UN report says

Latest snapshot also finds half of households have had to sell or swap clothes for food, despite pressure on Israel to improve aid deliveries

More than half of households in Gaza have had to sell or swap their clothes to be able to buy food, the UN is to report, as a high risk of famine remains across the whole of the territory after a new round of violence in recent weeks.

The latest “Special Snapshot” of Gaza from the UN’s hunger monitoring system, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), that will be published on Tuesday also says that one in five of the population – more than 495,000 people – are now “facing catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity” involving “an extreme lack of food, starvation, and exhaustion”.

Continue reading...

Israeli far-right minister speaks of effort to annex West Bank

Bezalel Smotrich says he aims to establish sovereignty over occupied territory and thwart a Palestinian state

Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has described in explicit terms his active effort to annex the West Bank to Israel, days after the Guardian revealed how the pro-settlement politician and his allies had quietly gained significant new legal powers to that end.

Speaking at a meeting of his Religious Zionism party, Smotrich told colleagues that he was “establish[ing] facts on the ground in order to make Judea and Samaria [an Israeli term for the occupied West Bank] an integral part of the state of Israel”.

Continue reading...

Russia-Ukraine war live: Volodymyr Zelenskiy orders purge of Ukraine state guard after alleged assassination plots

State security service said last month it had caught two guard service colonels accused of cooperating with Russia to plot Zelenskiy’s assassination

Ukraine’s state security service (SBU) said it had detained a “mole” spying for Russia who passed on information about Ukrainian troop positions on the border with Belarus.

The SBU wrote on Telegram:

At the instruction of the occupiers (Russian military), the ‘mole’ established the locations of fortified areas and the approximate number of Ukrainian troops defending the border with Belarus.

He also tried to transmit the coordinates of warehouses with weapons and ammunition of the armed forces of Ukraine in the region.

For the first time, the EU has adopted a measure targeting specific vessels contributing to Russia’s warfare against Ukraine, which are subject to a port access ban and ban on provision of services.

These vessels can be designated for various reasons such as the transport of military equipment for Russia, the transport of stolen Ukrainian grain, and support in the development of Russia’s energy sector, for instance through the transport of LNG components or transshipments of LNG.

Continue reading...

JK Rowling agrees to meeting with Labour about gender transition policy

Author responds after shadow chancellor says party would be ‘really happy’ to ‘give her assurances’

JK Rowling has agreed to a meeting with Labour after Rachel Reeves said the party would be “really happy” to “give her assurances” over its plans to change the process through which people can legally change gender.

Speaking in Scotland, Reeves said protection for women-only spaces would “absolutely stay”, adding: “We’re not going to be changing anything around biological sex … We’re really happy to talk to JK Rowling to give her assurances about that.”

Continue reading...

Florida rapper Foolio, 26, killed in car park shooting

Rapper who amassed tens of millions of streams for his emotional trap music was reportedly ambushed outside a Tampa hotel

US rapper Foolio has died at the age of 26 after being shot in a hotel car park in Tampa, Florida.

The rapper, real name Charles Jones, had amassed tens of millions of streams for a discography that stretches back to 2017.

Continue reading...

Pirates of the Caribbean actor Tamayo Perry dies in shark attack

The actor, who also appeared in Blue Crush and Hawaii Five-0, was a lifeguard and professional surfer, described as a ‘legendary waterman’

Pirates of the Caribbean actor Tamayo Perry has died following a shark attack in Hawaii.

Perry, who also appeared in Blue Crush and Hawaii Five-0, was surfing at Malaekahana beach on the Hawaiian island of Oahu when he died on Sunday afternoon.

Continue reading...

Gunmen who attacked religious buildings in Russia’s Dagestan region ‘eliminated’

Three days of mourning declared after 15 people reportedly killed during multiple assaults in restive province

Five people responsible for multiple gun attacks targeting churches and synagogues in Russia’s Dagestan region have been “eliminated”, said the authorities as the region began three days of mourning.

A criminal investigation has been launched under anti-terrorism laws after gunmen killed 19 people in co-ordinated attacks in two cities in the restive region in the North Caucasus.

Continue reading...

Weather tracker: southern China hit by floods as north suffers from drought

Heavy rainfall in Guangdong causes flooding, landslides and mudslides, while northern China gripped by heatwave

Guangdong province in southern China has once more experienced severe flooding, two months after the late April floods and landslides led to more than 50 deaths.

On Sunday 16 June, heavy rainfall affected the area, with an average of 199mm falling in Pingyuan county. The town of Sishui experienced the highest rainfall totals of 367mm, with three others in the area recording more than 300mm.

Continue reading...

Intense phase of Israel’s war with Hamas nearing end, says Netanyahu

Israeli PM says he hopes for diplomatic solution to conflict but will solve it in ‘a different way’ if necessary

Israel’s prime minister has said the most intense phase of the assault against Hamas in Gaza is coming to an end, freeing up forces to move to the Lebanese border, where escalating exchanges of fire with the militant group Hezbollah have increased fears of a wider war.

In his first public interview with a Hebrew-language network outlet in more than eight months of conflict, broadcast on Sunday, Benjamin Netanyahu also walked back on his commitment to a US-backed ceasefire proposal with Hamas, instead suggesting a more limited offer.

Continue reading...

Geologists raise concerns over possible censorship and bias in Chinese chatbot

GeoGPT developed as part of Chinese-funded earth sciences programme aimed at researchers in global south

Geologists have raised concerns about potential Chinese censorship and bias in a chatbot being developed with the backing of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS), one of the world’s largest scientific organisations and a Unesco partner.

The GeoGPT chatbot is aimed at geoscientists and researchers, particularly in the global south, to help them develop their understanding of earth sciences by drawing on swaths of data and research on billions of years of the planet’s history.

Continue reading...

Interpol candidate accused of role in kidnap of Indian businessmen

Zambia’s Mubita Nawa, who is on shortlist for top job, is accused of involvement in an attempted extortion in 2022

A candidate to be the next head of Interpol has been accused of involvement in the kidnap, detention, assault and attempted extortion of two Indian businessmen.

Lawyers for Vinod and Uddit Sadhu have written to Interpol saying the allegations against Mubita Nawa, a deputy commissioner of police in Zambia, suggest he is “plainly unsuitable” to be its next secretary general.

Continue reading...

UK ‘tried to suppress criticism’ of alleged UAE role in arming Sudan’s RSF militia

Exclusive UK accused of trying to head off condemnation of Gulf ally over alleged aid to forces accused of genocide in Darfur

UK government officials attempted to suppress criticism of the United Arab Emirates and its alleged role in supplying arms to a notorious militia waging a campaign of ethnic cleansing in Sudan, sources have told the Guardian.

Claims that Foreign Office officials put pressure on African diplomats to avoid criticising the UAE over its alleged military support for Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) will intensify scrutiny of the UK’s relationship with the Gulf state.

Continue reading...

Fresh unrest in New Caledonia after independence activists flown to France for detention

Transfer of seven detainees to custody 17,000 kilometres away on charges tied to deadly unrest criticised as ‘political deportation’

Buildings, including a police station and a town hall, were set on fire in New Caledonia overnight, authorities said, as the French Pacific territory was hit by a new surge of unrest.

It comes after seven independence activists linked to a group accused of orchestrating deadly riots last month in the French Pacific territory were sent to mainland France for pre-trial detention, a local prosecutor said.

Continue reading...

At least 1,300 hajj pilgrims died during extreme heat, Saudi Arabia says

Riyadh says more than four-fifths did not have permit to make pilgrimage to Mecca, where temperatures hit 51.8C

At least 1,300 people have died during the hajj pilgrimage, which took place during intense heat, Saudi Arabia has said, adding that most of the deceased did not have official permits.

“Regrettably, the number of mortalities reached 1,301, with 83% being unauthorised to perform hajj and having walked long distances under direct sunlight, without adequate shelter or comfort,” the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

Continue reading...

Jay Slater search: Tenerife police focus on outbuildings near last phone signal

Officers search around two structures at bottom of ravine in rugged Rural de Teno park

Outbuildings close to where the missing teenager Jay Slater’s phone last picked up signal are the current focus of a police search in Tenerife.

As the hunt for the 19-year-old continued for a seventh day on the Canary island, his mother thanked those who had together donated more than £30,000 to a GoFundMe page, exceeding its target.

Continue reading...

Olaf Scholz welcomes Argentina’s president Javier Milei to Germany

German chancellor holds unusually short meeting in Berlin with the controversial populist leader

The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has welcomed Argentina’s populist president, Javier Milei, for a controversial and unusually short meeting in Berlin after the divisive leader accepted an award from a German foundation with links to the far right.

Protesters, some holding placards reading “No trade with despots”, jeered from beyond the gates of Scholz’s chancellery as the self-described anarcho-capitalist emerged from his limousine on his first visit to Germany as president.

Continue reading...

Wolf attack at French zoo leaves woman fighting for life

Woman ‘ended up in safari zone’ while staying at lodge within Thoiry zoo about 25 miles west of Paris

Three wolves in a zoo outside Paris attacked a 37-year-old woman leaving her fighting for her life, a source familiar with the case and local prosecutors said.

The woman was bitten “on the neck, the calf and the back” at the Thoiry zoo about 25 miles (40km) west of the French capital, the source told Agence France-Presse.

Continue reading...

IDF investigates soldiers who tied Palestinian man to vehicle’s bonnet

Military says conduct seen in video from occupied West Bank city of Jenin ‘does not conform’ to its values

The Israel Defense Forces have said they are investigating an incident in which soldiers strapped a wounded Palestinian man to the bonnet of a military vehicle during a raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Saturday.

A video circulating on social media showed a man, variously identified as Mujahid Azmi or Fayyad, from the Jabriyat neighbourhood between the towns of Burqin and Jenin, tied to the front of an off-road vehicle that is seen passing two ambulances.

Continue reading...

Open letter in India calls for withdrawal of go-ahead to prosecute Arundhati Roy

Over 200 signatories urge government to reverse decision enabling action against writer under anti-terrorism law

More than 200 Indian academics, activists and journalists have published an open letter urging the Indian government to withdraw last week’s decision sanctioning the prosecution of the Booker prize-winning author Arundhati Roy under the country’s stringent anti-terrorism law.

“We … deplore this action and appeal to the government and the democratic forces in the country to ensure that no infringement of the fundamental right to freely and fearlessly express views on any subject takes place in our nation,” the group said in the letter.

Continue reading...

US ambassador accuses Hungary’s PM of using anti-LGBTQ ‘machinery of fear’

David Pressman describes personal experience in speech condemning Viktor Orbán’s legal and rhetorical attacks

The US ambassador in Budapest has accused the government of Hungary’s far-right prime minister, Viktor Orbán, of using a “machinery of fear” to launch legal and rhetorical attacks on the LGBTQ community.

“Fear is something those who seek to undermine democracy trade on, and their currency is too often you and your families,” David Pressman said at a family Pride event at the ambassador’s residence.

Continue reading...