Monday briefing: The ‘unprecedented’ pressure to suspend arms exports to Israel

In today’s newsletter: The killing of aid workers in Gaza last week has western leaders under even greater scrutiny – and raises questions about the fragility of the Israeli coalition government

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Six months since the 7 October massacre by Hamas and the Israeli military’s ensuing ground offensive in Gaza, Israel is more isolated than ever before, and at odds with its closest allies.

Welfare | Tens of thousands of unpaid carers looking after disabled, frail or ill relatives are being forced to repay huge sums to the government and threatened with criminal prosecution after the Department of Work and Pensions erroneously overpaid them.

NHS | A study of more than 12,200 NHS workers across the UK has found that one in 10 reported unwanted incidents including being touched or kissed, demands for sex in return for favours, or derogatory comments.

Health | Guardian analysis of NHS figures for 2022-23 found that black women are up to six times more likely to experience some of the most serious birth complications during hospital delivery across England than their white counterparts, with the figures being described as “stark” and disheartening”.

Housing | The Resolution Foundation said average rents could increase by 13% over the next three years as current high growth in the private rental market works its way through existing tenancies.

Africa | After more than 9,940 miles (16,000km) over 352 days across 16 countries, Briton Russ Cook, aka the “Hardest Geezer”, has completed the mammoth challenge of running the length of Africa.

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New Zealand tightens visa rules after migration hits ‘unsustainable’ levels

Net migration to New Zealand hit a near record high in 2023 after a new temporary work visa was introduced after the pandemic

New Zealand will tighten its visa rules for some migrants as the coalition government moves to overhaul the immigration system it says has led to “unsustainable” levels of migration.

Last year, annual net migration to New Zealand hit a near record high of more than 173,000 non-New Zealand citizens in the year to December, Stats NZ reported.

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The disappeared of Gaza: tens of thousands missing in territory since start of war

Families left unsure if loved ones are alive or dead as they search through rubble for signs of survivors

Late one night in March, Ahmed Abu Jalala rose quietly, trying hard not to wake his family, sleeping around him on the floor of a UN-run school in northern Gaza.

The 54-year-old father knew his six children needed food, but after months of war there was none. Little aid reached Jabaliya, where they had been staying since fleeing their small home in the early weeks of the conflict, and his children had been reduced to eating wild plants. So Abu Jalala went out into the darkness to search for flour being brought by a humanitarian convoy.

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Excitement builds ahead of total solar eclipse in US, Mexico and Canada

Rare celestial event on Monday will see the moon block out the sun for a few minutes and day turn to night, with fans hoping the clouds don’t spoil the view

Across the US, Mexico and Canada, people have rushed to stake out spots to witness a rare total solar eclipse, while forecasts for cloudy skies worry some hopeful spectators.

The phenomenon happens when the moon lines up perfectly between the Earth and the sun, blocking out the sunlight. The eclipse will be visible in the three countries on 8 April.

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Russia floods: waters rising in two cities and thousands evacuated after dam bursts

Federal emergency declared in Orenburg region and at least 6,000 homes inundated after Ural River overflows

Flood waters were rising in two cities in Russia’s Ural mountains on Sunday after Europe’s third-longest river burst through a dam, flooding at least 6,000 homes and forcing thousands of people to flee.

The Ural River, which rises in the Ural Mountains and flows into the Caspian Sea, swelled several metres in just hours on Friday and burst through a dam embankment in Orsk – one of the hardest-hit cities – 1,800km (1,100 miles) east of Moscow.

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Investigation launched after Boeing engine cover falls off during takeoff

Southwest flight returns to Denver airport after latest accident to afflict airline’s Boeing fleet

US airline regulators have launched an investigation after an engine cowling on a Boeing plane fell off during takeoff and struck the wing flap.

The Southwest Airlines flight 3695 rose to about 10,300ft (3,140 metres) before returning safely 25 minutes after takeoff to Denver international airport at about 8.15am local time on Sunday. It was towed to the gate after landing. The Boeing aircraft with 135 passengers and six crew members aboard had been headed to Houston. No one was injured.

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UN nuclear watchdog head condemns drone strike on Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant

Rafael Grossi says three direct hits against the main reactor containment structures ‘significantly increase the risk of a major nuclear accident’

The head of the UN’s atomic watchdog agency has condemned a drone strike on one of six nuclear reactors at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) in Ukraine, saying such attacks “significantly increase the risk of a major nuclear accident”.

In a statement on X, Rafael Grossi confirmed at least three direct hits against the ZNPP main reactor containment structures. “This cannot happen,” the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said.

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Chef José Andrés says Israel engaging in ‘war against humanity itself’ in Gaza

In response, White House pushes back and rules out putting US monitors on ground after seven aid workers killed in Gaza

The White House has pushed back on comments by World Central Kitchen founder José Andrés that Israel is engaged in “war against humanity itself” following the Israeli drone strike attack that killed seven of his aid workers on 1 April, but ruled out putting US monitors on the ground in Gaza.

“There’s going to have to be some changes to the way Israeli defense forces are prosecuting these operations in Gaza to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” White House national security communications adviser John Kirby told ABC’s This Week said on Sunday.

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Israel withdraws troops from southern Gaza for ‘tactical reasons’

Drawdown after four months of fighting in Khan Younis coincides with new ceasefire talks

Israel has pulled all of its ground troops out of southern Gaza for “tactical reasons”, the country’s army has said, raising questions about the future direction of the war as Hamas and Israeli delegations travel to Egypt for a new round of ceasefire talks.

Two brigades will stay in the northern half of the Gaza Strip and the new corridor that now bifurcates the Palestinian territory at Wadi Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces said on Sunday, in order to “preserve the IDF’s freedom of action and its ability to conduct precise intelligence based-operations”.

Guardian Newsroom: Crisis in the Middle East
On Tuesday 30 April, 7-8.15pm GMT, join Devika Bhat, Peter Beaumont, Emma Graham-Harrison and Ghaith Abdul-Ahad as they discuss the fast-developing crisis in the Middle East. Book tickets here or at theguardian.live

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‘I’m a little bit tired’: Briton becomes first person to run the length of Africa

Russ Cook from Worthing reaches Ras Angela, Tunisia, after covering more than 9,900 miles in 352 days

After more than 9,940 miles (16,000km) over 352 days across 16 countries, Russ Cook, aka the “Hardest Geezer”, has completed the mammoth challenge of running the length of Africa.

The 27-year-old endurance athlete from Worthing, West Sussex, crossed the finish line in Tunisia on Sunday afternoon, and planned to celebrate with a party – as well as a strawberry daiquiri – having raised more than £600,000 for charity.

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The French aristocrat who understood evolution 100 years before Darwin – and even worried about climate change

Georges-Louis Leclerc proposed species change and extinction back in the 1740s, a new book reveals

Shortly after Charles Darwin published his magnum opus, The Origin of Species, in 1859 he started reading a little-known 100-year-old work by a wealthy French aristocrat.

Its contents were quite a surprise. “Whole pages [of his book] are laughably like mine,” Darwin wrote to a friend. “It is surprising how candid it makes one to see one’s view in another man’s words.”

In later editions of The Origin of Species, Darwin acknowledged Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, as one of the “few” people who had understood that species change and evolve, before Darwin himself.

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Hungary’s political challenger says his ‘vision’ can defeat Orbán

Péter Magyar building centrist movement that has visibly shaken ruling party he dramatically broke with

A political newcomer who is causing headaches for Hungary’s government has said his experience as a regime insider can help him succeed where other opposition figures have failed, citing his “crazy” rise in the polls and “vision” as signs that change is possible.

Fourteen years after the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, returned to power and put the country on an illiberal path, some Hungarians had lost hope that his hold on power could be eroded.

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Former Uffizi director under fire for joining race to be Florence mayor

If elected, Eike Schmidt would form a coalition with Brothers of Italy in what could be a major blow for the left

The German-born former director of Florence’s world-famous Uffizi gallery has come under fire for his decision to run for mayor of the city with the far-right coalition that governs Italy, in what could be a major blow for the left.

If elected, Eike Schmidt – who has been credited for modernising the Uffizi – pledged to tackle problems such as security and over-tourism in the Tuscan capital, which for more than three decades has been a leftwing stronghold.

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David Lammy says he has ‘serious concerns’ about Israel’s actions in Gaza

Shadow foreign secretary says ‘far too many people have died’ but refuses to back call for immediate ban on arms sales

The shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, has said he has “serious concerns about a breach in international humanitarian law” over Israel’s actions in Gaza as “far too many people have died”.

At least 33,037 Palestinians have been killed and 75,668 others have been injured in the Israeli military offensive, according to the Palestinian health ministry, six months on from the 7 October Hamas attack in southern Israel, during which about 1,140 people were killed and 240 others were taken as hostages.

Guardian Newsroom: Crisis in the Middle East
On Tuesday 30 April, 7-8.15pm GMT, join Devika Bhat, Peter Beaumont, Emma Graham-Harrison and Ghaith Abdul-Ahad as they discuss the fast-developing crisis in the Middle East. Book tickets here or at theguardian
.live

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World Bank’s funding of ‘hog hotel’ factory farms under fire over climate effect

Environmental and animal welfare groups call on lender to phase out support for ‘industrial’ livestock operations

The private sector arm of the World Bank is facing claims that it contributes to global heating and the undermining of animal welfare by providing financial support for factory farming, including the building of pig farming tower blocks in China.

A coalition of environmental and animal welfare groups is calling on the World Bank to phase out financial support for large-scale “industrial” livestock operations. More than $1.6bn was provided for industrial farming projects between 2017 and 2023, according to an analysis by campaigners.

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Dysfunction and division darken the WTO’s 30-year dream of free trade

As the organisation’s anniversary nears, borders around the world are closing again

When trade ministers gathered in the Moroccan city of Marrakech 30 years ago this month to sign the agreement creating the World Trade Organization (WTO), the mood was celebratory. The Berlin Wall had come down only recently, communism had collapsed, and there was optimistic talk of how the body would prise open new markets and act as the arbiter when disputes broke out between countries.

The atmosphere today is much darker than it was in April 1994. Any enthusiasm for groundbreaking trade liberalisation deals disappeared decades ago and has been replaced by covert – and often overt – protectionism.

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Russia-Ukraine war: Nuclear watchdog urges restraint after Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant attack – as it happened

International Atomic Energy Agency warns about safety after Russia says Ukrainian drone detonated at nuclear power plant

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was informed on Sunday by authorities at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant that a drone detonated on site today.

“IAEA experts have been informed by ZNPP that a drone detonated on site today. Such detonation is consistent with IAEA observations,” the nuclear watchdog said in a post on a social media.

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Isolated at home and abroad, but Netanyahu isn’t about to go quietly

Israel PM’s woes continue to mount, but the country’s policy on Gaza is unlikely to change

For Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the last week has perhaps been the worst since the Hamas attack on 7 October, six months ago, that triggered the current war in Gaza.

Protests against the longtime Israeli leader by hostage families and the opposition returned with a vengeance across the country as he spent two nights in hospital for hernia surgery. Then his major political rival, Benny Gantz, undermined the unity of the wartime government by calling for early elections; Netanyahu’s ultra-Orthodox coalition allies are already angry with him over a row regarding military conscription.

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UN chief joins condemnation of Ecuadorian raid on Mexican embassy

António Guterres voices ‘alarm’ as Latin American governments sharply criticise Quito’s move to arrest former vice-president

The UN secretary general, António Guterres, has added his voice to a torrent of criticism of Ecuador’s decision to storm the Mexican embassy in Quito in order to arrest the former vice-president Jorge Glas.

“The secretary general is alarmed at the forced entry of Ecuadorian security forces into the premises of the Mexican embassy,” Guterres said through his spokesperson on Sunday, adding that violations of the sanctity of diplomatic and consular property “jeopardise the pursuit of normal international relations”.

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Russia accused of using chemical gas attacks against Ukrainian soldiers

Ukraine soldiers describe ‘almost daily’ illegal gas attacks as invaders seek to dislodge them from embedded positions

Russia has been accused of systematically using illegal chemical gas attacks against Ukrainian soldiers.

Ukrainian troops told the Daily Telegraph that they have been subjected to regular attacks from small drones dropping teargas and other chemicals.

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