Category Archives: World News

US to begin aid airdrops into Gaza but critics dismiss effort as inadequate

Posted on by

Decision to airdrop supplies suggests Biden has given up on being able to persuade Israel to coordinate ground-based relief

The US will start airdrops of food and emergency supplies into Gaza in the next few days, Joe Biden has announced, amid UN warnings of famine and after Israeli troops opened fire on Gazans seeking food aid.

The use of airdrops is a spectacular but inefficient way of delivering aid, and Friday’s announcement suggests that Biden had given up on being able to persuade Israel in the near future to coordinate a large-scale ground-based relief effort under the threat of mass starvation across Gaza.

Continue reading...

Politicians from 12 countries unite to press for arms ban on Israel

Posted on by

Letter aims to bring public anger over 30,000 deaths of Palestinians in Gaza into heart of parliaments

More than 200 MPs from 12 countries have committed themselves to trying to persuade their governments to impose a ban on arms sales to Israel, arguing they will not be complicit in “Israel’s grave violation of international law” in its assault on Gaza.

The letter, organised by Progressive International, a network of socialist MPs and activists focused on international justice, is seen as the best practical measure possible to bring public anger over the 30,000 deaths of Palestinians in Gaza into the heart of parliaments, where calls for an immediate unconditional ceasefire have so far fallen on deaf ears or been rejected by national governments.

Continue reading...

Iranian singer given three years in jail for song about Mahsa Amini protests

Posted on by

Shervin Hajipour sentenced for ‘inciting and provoking people to riot to disturb national security’

An Iranian pop singer whose song became an anthem during mass protests more than a year ago has been sentenced to at least three years in prison.

Shervin Hajipour, 26, wrote and published Baraye during nationwide demonstrations triggered by Mahsa Amini’s death in custody in September 2022.

Continue reading...

UK and US accused of obstructing inquiry into 1961 death of UN chief

Posted on by

Governments said to be ‘dragging their feet’ in handing over evidence relating to death of Dag Hammarskjöld

The US and UK have been accused by university researchers of obstructing a United Nations inquiry into the 1961 plane crash that killed the UN secretary general Dag Hammarskjöld.

A conference in London heard an update from the UN assistant secretary general for legal affairs, Stephen Mathias, on progress in the inquiry, which is seeking archive documentation from member states.

Continue reading...

Israel yet to provide evidence to back UNRWA 7 October attack claims – UN

Posted on by

Allegations against 12 employees led major donors to suspend funding to UN Palestinian agency despite hunger crisis in Gaza

A month after Israeli allegations that a dozen United Nations staff were involved in the 7 October Hamas attack, UN investigators have yet to receive any evidence from Israel to support the claims, though they expect some material to be forthcoming “shortly”.

The allegations against the 12 employees of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA) led 16 major donors to suspend contributions totalling $450m at a time when more than 2 million Gazans are facing famine. UNRWA says it is approaching “breaking point” and only has sufficient funds to continue functioning for the next month at most.

Continue reading...

Alexei Navalny funeral draws thousands to heavily policed Moscow church

Posted on by

Western diplomats attend as chanting crowd pays tribute to opposition leader who died in Arctic penal colony

• Alexei Navalny funeral – latest updates

• Funeral of Alexei Navalny – in pictures

Defying the Kremlin’s warning of arrests, thousands of mourners have gathered in Moscow to bid farewell to the opposition leader Alexei Navalny, two weeks after Vladimir Putin’s most prominent critic died in an Arctic prison.

Crowds of people chanted “Putin is a murderer” and “No to war” as they marched, under heavy police presence, to the Borisovsky cemetery where Navalny, 47, was lowered into the ground on Friday to the strains of Frank Sinatra’s My Way.

Continue reading...

Palestinian factions making progress on political unity, Russian minister says

Posted on by

Sergei Lavrov says joint communique issued by groups including Hamas and Fatah after Moscow talks represents step forwards

Palestinian factions including Hamas and Fatah have made progress in establishing political unity after talks in Moscow, the Russian foreign minister has said.

Addressing a diplomatic conference in Turkey, Sergei Lavrov said Hamas had agreed in writing for the first time to respect the platform of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), though he said it remained to be seen whether this would turn into more than words on a piece of paper.

Continue reading...

Archaeologists find Pompeii fresco depicting Greek mythological siblings

Posted on by

Phrixus and Helle are depicted in vibrant colours with exquisite artistry in remarkable discovery

In a remarkable discovery at the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, archaeologists have unearthed a fresco depicting the Greek mythological siblings Phrixus and Helle.

Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the director of Pompeii Archaeological Park, described the find as a poignant reflection of history unfolding once more.

Continue reading...

Kenya signs deal in attempt to rescue plan for deployment of 1,000 police officers to Haiti

Posted on by

It’s not clear if the new agreement can circumvent the Kenyan high court’s earlier ruling that such a deployment is unconstitutional

Kenya and Haiti have a security deal to try to salvage a plan for Nairobi to deploy 1,000 police officers to the troubled Caribbean nation to help combat gang violence that has surged to unprecedented levels.

Kenya agreed in October to lead a UN-authorized international police force to Haiti, but the Kenyan high court in January ruled the plan unconstitutional, in part because of a lack of reciprocal agreements between the two countries.

Continue reading...

Danish firm’s ‘climate-controlled pork’ claim misleading, court rules

Posted on by

Campaigners say decision against Danish Crown, Europe’s largest pork producer, sends resounding message

Europe’s largest pork producer misled customers with its “climate-controlled pork” campaign, Denmark’s high court has ruled in the country’s first climate lawsuit.

Campaigners argued that Danish Crown greenwashed its meat with round, pink stickers on its packaging that said pigs were “climate-controlled”, along with a marketing campaign that claimed its pork was “more climate-friendly than you think”.

Continue reading...

French media personality Gérard Miller investigated over rape claims

Posted on by

Prosecutors have received six complaints against Miller, 75, dating from between 1995 and 2005

The French psychoanalyst and media personality Gérard Miller is being investigated by French prosecutors over allegations of rape and sexual assault, including of minors, as more women made claims in a documentary that he had sought to meet teenagers in the studio audiences of TV shows and invite them to his home.

Prosecutors launched an investigation after receiving six complaints against the 75-year-old of rape or assault between 1995 and 2005.

Continue reading...

Paolo Taviani, acclaimed director of classic Italian films, dies aged 92

Posted on by

The film-maker, who won the Palme d’Or for 1977’s Padre Padrone, was a towering presence for more than three decades, creating politically engaged works with his brother Vittorio

The Italian film-maker Paolo Taviani, whose gritty biopic Padre Padrone won top prize at the Cannes film festival, has died aged 92, Rome’s mayor, Roberto Gualtieri, said on Thursday.

For more than three decades Taviani and his brother Vittorio formed one of cinema’s greatest directorial duos. “Paolo Taviani, a great maestro of Italian cinema, leaves us,” Gualtieri said on X. The brothers “directed unforgettable, profound, committed films which entered into the collective imagination and the history of cinema”, Gualtieri added.

Continue reading...

Disney’s Shōgun breaks mould with careful respect for Japanese culture

Posted on by

High-budget series with largely Japanese cast avoids well-worn western orientalist fantasies and wins plaudits in Japan

Japanese audiences could have been forgiven for bracing themselves when Disney announced Shōgun, a 10-part adaptation of James Clavell’s classic 1975 novel.

With few exceptions, Hollywood depictions of Japan and the Japanese have relied on one-dimensional characters whose purpose is to confirm cultural stereotypes, set against the backdrop of an inscrutable archipelago whose people have much to learn from the western hero.

Continue reading...

Japanese mayor facing 99 harassment claims resigns

Posted on by

Report accused Hideo Kojima of inappropriate touching and patting female workers on their heads

A Japanese mayor facing 99 allegations of sexual harassment has resigned after he denied some cases and wept at a press conference.

An official investigation accused Hideo Kojima, the mayor of a town in the central Gifu region, of several incidents of harassment, including touching a colleague’s breasts and buttocks.

Continue reading...

Middle East crisis live: US calls Gaza aid convoy deaths ‘tremendously alarming’ as France says Israeli fire ‘unjustifiable’

Posted on by

White House says US ‘urgently seeking’ information after more than 100 Palestinians killed when Israeli soldiers open fire near aid trucks

The families of people being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza are on the third day of their march from the site of the Nova music festival, which was attacked on 7 October, to Jerusalem. On this day they are expected to be joined by war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, and the marchers will be carrying. 134 stretchers, intended to symbolise the 134 hostages that Israel believes are still in captivity.

China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning has said the country is “shocked” by the deaths in Gaza yesterday, and called again for an end to the fighting. They said:

China is shocked by this incident and strongly condemns it. We express our grief for the victims and our sympathies for the injured. China urges the relevant parties, especially Israel, to cease fire and end the fighting immediately, earnestly protect civilians’ safety, ensure that humanitarian aid can enter, and avoid an even more serious humanitarian disaster.

Continue reading...

UK a ‘tax haven’ for polluting SUVs, says green thinktank

Posted on by

First-year vehicle excise duty is a fraction of that in countries such as France and the Netherlands

Low taxation on petrol SUVs in the UK compared with much of Europe is inviting a glut of large, polluting luxury cars, according to an analysis by a green thinktank.

The tax paid when buying a new petrol or diesel SUV in the UK is only a fraction of the levies in neighbouring countries, including France and the Netherlands, and lower than many others in Europe, making it a “tax haven” for the bigger, less environmentally friendly vehicles, the report from Transport & Environment (T&E) found.

Continue reading...

112 dead in chaotic scenes as Israeli troops open fire near aid trucks, say Gaza officials

Posted on by

Israeli military denies shooting into large crowds of hungry people and says most were killed in crush or run over trying to escape

More than a hundred Palestinians were killed in the early hours of Thursday morning, Gaza health officials said, when desperate crowds gathered around aid trucks and Israeli troops opened fire, in an incident that the US president, Joe Biden, warned was likely to complicate ceasefire talks.

There were starkly different accounts of how the victims died in the chaos that took place near Gaza City in the north of the strip.

Continue reading...

Museums Without Men: audio guides to celebrate dozens of female artists

Posted on by

Project to run during Women’s History Month at institutions including Tate Britain and Met in New York

Five big museums, including Tate Britain and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, are launching audio guides dedicated to underserved female artists in their collection during Women’s History Month.

Museums Without Men, devised by the Guardian art critic Katy Hessel, will showcase dozens of female and gender non-conforming artists who at present are often in the shadow of their male contemporaries.

Continue reading...

Iranians expected to shun first election since death of Mahsa Amini

Posted on by

Turnout of 38.5% or less predicted despite moves to make voting easier and allow more candidates

A majority of Iran’s angry and disillusioned electorate are predicted to stay away from parliamentary elections on Friday, viewing the process as a masquerade of democracy intended to give legitimacy to a regime that has failed to deliver on living standards, the environment and personal freedom.

In repeated speeches, the ageing supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, has urged those planning to boycott the vote that it is their patriotic and Islamic duty to elect a new four-year term parliament – the 12th since the 1979 revolution – and an 88-seat “assembly of experts” that will choose his successor in the event of him dying during its eight-year term of office.

Continue reading...

‘Two worlds colliding’: Berlin transport workers and climate activists unite over rights

Posted on by

Two groups are striking for better working conditions and investment in Germany’s underfunded public transport

At first sight, the gathering in an office complex in east Berlin resembles a self-help group. But the public transport workers and climate protesters sitting in a semi-circle introducing themselves have been thrown together, they say, to fight for a common cause.

“Hello, my name is Erdogan. I’m a bus driver in the northern zone of Berlin and have been in the job for 32 years. I’m glad someone is finally taking our profession seriously,” says one.

Continue reading...