Mudslide in Gofa zone on Monday traps people rescuing victims from a slide the previous day
The death toll from landslides that hit south-western Ethiopia on Sunday and Monday has risen to 257 and could reach 500, the UN’s office for humanitarian affairs (OCHA) says.
Heavy rains in the mountainous Gofa zone caused a landslide on Sunday night, followed by a second on Monday morning that trapped people who were rescuing victims of the first.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Discovery of Emirati passports in wreckage suggest covert boots on the ground, despite Gulf state’s denials
Passports recovered from battlefields in Sudan suggest the United Arab Emirates is covertly putting boots on the ground in the country’s devastating civil war, according to leaked documents.
A 41-page document, sent to the UN security council and seen by the Guardian, contains images of Emirati passports allegedly found in Sudan and linked to soldiers of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the African nation’s notorious paramilitary.
Continue reading...This blog has now closed. You can read our full report on Kamala Harris’ meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu here
The Harris for President campaign has launched its first official video, less than a week after US President Joe Biden announced he was dropping out of the race.
The ad caps a week during which Harris also broke funding records and quickly clinched enough delegate support to become the presumptive nominee in an election that is now just over 100 days away.
Continue reading...Brazil court freezes assets of Dirceu Kruger to pay climate compensation for illegal deforestation
A Brazilian cattle rancher has been ordered to pay more than $50m (£39m) for destroying part of the Amazon rainforest and ordered to restore the precious carbon sink.
Last week, a federal court in Brazil froze the assets of Dirceu Kruger to pay compensation for the damage he had caused to the climate through illegal deforestation. The case was brought by Brazil’s attorney general’s office, representing the Brazilian institute of environment and renewable natural resources (Ibama). It is the largest civil case brought for climate crimes in Brazil to date and the start of a legal push to repair and deter damage to the rainforest.
Continue reading...People living next to Santiago Bernabéu venue say gigs – including those by Taylor Swift – are ruining their lives and are taking action
When Delphine de Pontevès opens the window of her first-floor flat in Madrid a little before 10pm on a Tuesday night, more spills into the living room than the unforgivingly hot night air.
The voices and shouts of the crowds below give way to cheers, then to bass-heavy beats and music that will last until midnight and further stretch the patience of those who, like De Pontevès, live next door to the Santiago Bernabéu stadium.
Continue reading...Service at Germany’s busiest airport gradually resuming as ‘oil kills’ protests spread from Europe to North America
Climate activists have disrupted flights at Frankfurt and Oslo airports on the second day of coordinated “oil kills” protests across Europe and North America.
Demanding an end to fossil fuels by 2030, supporters of Letzte Generation (Last Generation) briefly suspended flights at Frankfurt airport on Thursday morning. The activists said they had cut a wire fence, entered on bicycles and skateboards and glued themselves to the tarmac.
Continue reading...Coastguard reports 4km oil slick as strong winds hamper cleanup efforts after 25 die in the Philippines and Taiwan
The Philippines coastguard said it was “racing against time” to contain a massive oil spill that was at risk of becoming the biggest in the country’s history.
The MT Terra Nova, a Philippine-flagged tanker carrying 1.4m litres of oil, capsized in Manila Bay in the early hours of Thursday, as Typhoon Gaemi charged through the busy shipping route, whipping up aggressive winds and leaving 25 people dead in Taiwan and the Philippines.
Continue reading...Bill passes 416-0 in favor of bipartisan group to look at security failings surrounding Pennsylvania rally shooting
The House voted on Wednesday to form a taskforce to investigate the security failures surrounding the assassination attempt against Donald Trump earlier this month.
The vote underscores the bipartisan outrage over the shooting at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump came within inches of losing his life. One rally-goer was killed and two others severely injured. Lawmakers have responded quickly with hearings and widespread calls for accountability.
Continue reading...Watchdog raises concerns about Home Office decision in annual report about incident last summer
An Albanian man who was being held in a secure psychiatric unit was taken directly from his hospital bed to a Home Office deportation flight, a report has revealed.
The Independent Monitoring Boards (IMB), a watchdog for prisons and immigration removal centres, has raised concerns about the incident last summer in its annual report published on Thursday.
Continue reading...We factcheck the Israeli prime minister’s statements about letting aid trucks into Gaza, safeguarding civilians and negotiations with Hamas
Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress was filled with combative remarks, as well as claims about the war in Gaza, now almost in its tenth month.
Israel’s assault on the territory was triggered by the 7 October Hamas attacks on southern Israel, and has so far killed more than 39,000 people, with thousands more believed to be buried underneath the rubble.
Continue reading...Sole Palestinian American in Congress protests as other progressives call for Israel arms embargo and Gaza ceasefire
Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit and address to a joint session of the US Congress on Wednesday was met with a personal protest in the chamber by the sole Palestinian American member of Congress, while some lawmakers gave the Israeli prime minister a standing ovation, others stayed away, and demonstrations by thousands of protesters took place outside.
The Michigan representative Rashida Tlaib, a leading progressive Democrat and fiercely outspoken opponent of Israel’s war in Gaza, held up a sign that said “war criminal” as Netanyahu was speaking. She also wore a Palestinian flag pin and a keffiyeh, the black and white scarf that has been linked with the Palestinian struggle for over half a century.
Continue reading...Police say gang of more than 30 youths also raped women and girls before massacres in remote villages
At least 26 people were killed, including 16 children, during attacks by a gang of young men on three Papua New Guinea villages last week, police have said, adding that their houses were torched and other villagers were still missing.
Angoram police station commander Inspector Peter Mandi told reporters on Thursday an unconfirmed number of women and girls were also raped before being killed in the Sepik River villages of Tamara, Tambari, and Angrumara in East Sepik’s Angoram district.
Continue reading...Boat full of people hoping to get to Europe overturns and at least 15 known to have died, UN migration agency says
At least 15 people have died and more than 150 are missing after a boat full of people hoping to make it to Europe capsized off the coast of Mauritania, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
About 300 people had boarded the long, wooden, fishing vessel in The Gambia, roughly 850 miles (1,350km) to the south, spending seven days at sea before the boat overturned on Monday, the agency said in a statement.
Continue reading...Cargo of vessel capsized near Sweden in 19th century also includes mineral water, say Polish divers
Divers have discovered a 19th-century shipwreck off the Swedish coast “loaded to the brim” with champagne.
The group, from Poland, were diving in the Baltic 20 nautical miles (37km) south of the island of Öland when they found the boat, believed to be a merchant vessel, by chance last week.
Continue reading...People were probably on their way to US, Panama’s border force says, highlighting perils of jungle
Ten people have drowned in a swollen river while trying to cross a lawless stretch of jungle connecting Colombia with Panama, highlighting the continuing perils of the Darién Gap despite efforts to stop irregular migration through the region.
The 10 people, whose nationality has not yet been identified, were probably on their way to the US when they were swept away by strong currents, Panama’s border force said in a statement. Their bodies were found in a river close to the Indigenous community of Carreto on the Caribbean coast.
Continue reading...EU officials ask Giorgia Meloni to guarantee independence and funding of public broadcaster amid growing worries
The European Commission has raised the alarm about the independence of Italy’s public service media and Rome’s failure to reform the country’s strict defamation law, which is widely seen as silencing government critics.
In a report issued on Wednesday EU officials identified “persisting challenges related to the effectiveness of [the] governance and funding” of Italy’s public service media, urging Giorgia Meloni’s government to guarantee both its independence and its funding.
Continue reading...Police mount major security operation to seal off US Capitol from protesters before Israeli prime minister to speak
Capitol Hill is on high alert for a day of protest from thousands of demonstrators representing a broad coalition of groups voicing opposition to Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, when he addresses a joint session of the US Congress.
With tensions over Israel’s 10-and-half-month war in Gaza running high, police mounted a major security operation to seal off the US Capitol from protesters long before Netanyahu is due to speak at 2pm ET.
Continue reading...The country has long been the world’s biggest market – but the government’s interest is more geopolitical than environmental
When Kenzi, an advertising worker in Shanghai, bought an electric vehicle in November she wasn’t even thinking about the environmental benefits. She had read Elon Musk’s biography and thought the Tesla 3 looked good. She also knew that if she bought an EV she could bypass the long wait and cost of getting licence plates, which are rationed by the government.
“It’s not easy to get a licence plate in Shanghai, but you get a licence for free when you buy an EV,” she said.
Continue reading...Annual report says climate crisis, conflict and economic shocks leave the global food system ‘disastrously vulnerable’
Africa will overtake Asia as the continent with the highest number of people experiencing hunger in the world by 2030, the UN has predicted.
In its annual state of food security and nutrition report, five UN agencies said there was a “clear trend” of rising prevalence of undernourishment in Africa.
Continue reading...Strong results follow drop in European airline stocks this week after Ryanair reported profit plunge
The budget airline easyJet is predicting a record-breaking summer of travel after profits jumped 16% in its most recent quarter of trading.
The bumper figures come only two days after the rival no-frills carrier Ryanair reported a plunge in earnings and a poor outlook for the holiday getaway season, pushing down many European airline stocks.
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