European Broadcasting Union’s decision follows calls for country to be excluded over Gaza war
Israel can compete in this year’s Eurovision song contest, organisers have said, despite calls for it to be excluded over the Gaza war as Russia was after invading Ukraine.
Petitions have been circulating calling for Israel to be kicked out of the event, which is being held in Malmö, Sweden, in May.
Continue reading...Lebanese sources say 10 civilians including four children killed in fiercest exchanges since Hamas’s 7 October attack
The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate for Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon that killed three of its fighters and 10 other people, including four children.
A strike on the city of Nabatiyeh late on Wednesday killed seven civilians, including two children, and three members of Hezbollah, sources in Lebanon said. It followed an earlier attack that killed a woman and her two children in the village of Souaneh at the boundary between the two countries.
Continue reading...Adil Meléndez Márquez received call from bodyguards 20 minutes after Sir Henry Brooke award from Alliance for Lawyers at Risk
“I’m very afraid,” says Colombian lawyer Adil Meléndez Márquez, the day after being presented with an award in London honouring human rights defenders.
Meléndez is no stranger to death threats, because of his work on cases related to Colombia’s decades-long civil war, environmental justice and corruption, but things have just got a lot scarier. With bitter irony, 20 minutes after receiving the Sir Henry Brooke award from the Alliance for Lawyers at Risk, his bodyguards called him to say that they had been stood down from, leaving him without protection.
Continue reading...Nato secretary general says ‘supporting Ukraine is not charity’ but ‘an investment in our own security’
France and Ukraine will sign a bilateral agreement on security commitments tomorrow, the Elysee has announced, Reuters reported.
The agreement was expected to be finalised in Ukraine, but the French president, Emmanuel Macron, had postponed his trip.
Continue reading...Médecins Sans Frontières says staff forced to evacuate, ‘leaving patients behind’ after special forces entered the hospital
Israeli forces have stormed Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, according to Al Jazeera journalist Hani Mahmoud who is reporting from Rafah in southern Gaza.
In a breaking news update to the publication, Mahmoud said Israeli forces had given those in Nasser hospital until 7am (Gaza time) to evacuate and as of Thursday morning there is “a presence of Israeli soldiers inside the facility”. “At the same time, there is heavy tank and machine gun fire,” he added.
Dozens have been wounded in attacks, some victims injured more than once. This is the largest health facility in southern Gaza. It is completely out of service now. The entire medical staff was rounded up, their hands tied behind their backs.
Military checkpoints were set up and Palestinians were told to come in groups of five – doctors, nurses, those with injuries. A large number of young people were detained.”
Continue reading...West should address ‘colonisation of the present’ and not focus on past, argues David Van Reybrouck
Cities in the global north that curb their carbon emissions are doing more to address colonial injustices than those who focus their efforts on taking down statues and changing street names, one of Europe’s leading historians has said.
David Van Reybrouck, the Belgian author of a bestselling history of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a new book on Indonesia’s independence from Dutch rule, has become one of the key drivers of a nascent and often fraught debate about Europe’s colonial legacies. Those who have lauded his work include the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the former UN secretary general Kofi Annan.
Continue reading...Judge in Manhattan to rule on several issues including Trump’s motion to throw out case involving payment to adult film star
Donald Trump is expected to appear in Manhattan state court on Thursday morning for a hearing in his hush-money criminal case involving the adult film star Stormy Daniels and the playboy model Karen McDougal.
The judge, Juan Merchan, is expected to announce his decision on several issues, including the former US president’s motion to throw out the case.
Continue reading...Russian president says Biden is ‘more predictable’, in remarks likely to be attempt to make mischief in US election
Vladimir Putin has said he would prefer a Joe Biden presidency to a Donald Trump one and mocked the former Fox News presenter Tucker Carlson for a “lack of sharp questions” during their interview at the Kremlin last week.
Asked by a Russian state journalist on Wednesday to choose between Biden and Trump, Putin said without hesitation that the current US president was “more experienced, predictable, an old-school politician”, but added: “We will work with any US president who the American people have confidence in.”
Continue reading...Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C lander sets off on SpaceX rocket from Cape Canaveral on weeklong journey
A moon lander built by the Houston-based aerospace company Intuitive Machines was launched from Florida early on Thursday on a mission to conduct the first US lunar touchdown in more than a half century and the first by a privately owned spacecraft.
The Nova-C lander, nicknamed Odysseus, lifted off shortly after 1am EST atop a Falcon 9 rocket flown by Elon Musk’s SpaceX from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.
Continue reading...Cross-border rocket fire raises fears of a broader conflict between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group
Eleven civilians, including six children, have been killed by Israeli strikes on villages across southern Lebanon, a hospital director and local security sources said, while the Israeli army said it lost a soldier in cross-border rocket fire.
While the rocket attack was not immediately claimed, the exchanges of fire – and the worst single-day civilian death toll in Lebanon since cross-border hostilities began in October – raised fears of a broader conflict between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah.
Continue reading...In today’s newsletter: As attacks intensify on what once the safest place for civilians in Gaza, what does it mean for the hundreds of thousands of civilians in the area?
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Good morning. Yesterday, the UN’s humanitarian chief, Martin Griffiths, issued a dire warning about the consequences of an Israeli ground assault on Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city. “The scenario we have long dreaded is unravelling at alarming speed,” he said. Palestinian civilians trapped there, he added, are “staring death in the face”.
For more than a week, Israel has intensified its aerial attack on Rafah, saying that it is the last refuge of Hamas militants who have been driven out of the rest of Gaza. But hundreds of thousands of refugees have also fled to the area – and Israel is yet to set out a plan to keep them safe if it proceeds with a ground operation.
US news | At least one person was killed and 22 others injured, including eight children, in a shooting during a Super Bowl victory parade for the Kansas City Chiefs on Wednesday. Hundreds of people who gathered to celebrate the Chiefs’ victory on Sunday over the San Francisco 49ers ran for shelter from the gunfire.
Antisemitism | The scale of the surge in antisemitism in the UK since Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October has been revealed, in data showing a 589% increase in the number of incidents compared with the same period in 2022.
Labour | Keir Starmer is facing a fresh test of his authority as MPs prepare to vote on a second parliamentary motion calling for an “immediate” ceasefire in Gaza next week. The party’s abstention on a similar vote in November triggered a huge split in the party and 10 frontbench resignations.
Security | The head of the US House intelligence committee, Mike Turner, has called for the Biden administration to declassify information on what he called a “serious national security threat”, later reported to involve Russian plans to deploy nuclear weapons in space. The New York Times said US allies had been briefed on the intelligence, which was not deemed to represent an urgent threat.
Food | Bowls of pink-tinged rice are about to feature on sustainable food menus, according to researchers who created rice grains with beef and cow fat cells grown in them. It is hoped the rice, created using stem cells, will be a more affordable source of protein than traditional beef, with a smaller carbon footprint.
Continue reading...Former son-in-law of late dictator Suharto was discharged from military over alleged abuses dating back to 1980s
The presumed election victory of Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto – a former army general with a history of alleged involvement in torture and disappearances – marks a dark chapter in the country’s history, activists have warned, while vowing not to give up their fight for justice.
Prabowo, 72, a former special commander under the Suharto dictatorship, is the apparent winner of Indonesia’s presidential election after unofficial counts gave him a strong lead. On Wednesday night he told supporters that his win would be a “victory for all Indonesians”.
Continue reading...At least one person was killed and 21 injured, including multiple children, in a shooting at the Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory parade
A mass shooting occurred at Wednesday’s Super Bowl victory parade for the Kansas City Chiefs football team, with gunshots erupting and multiple people struck.
Authorities have confirmed at least one person was killed and at least 21 were injured by gunfire. At least eight children were among those shot and eight people had immediately life-threatening injuries.
The shooting occurred at the end of the parade, which was expected to be attended by more than a million people, and sent terrified fans fleeing as police raced to find the perpetrators.
Police have detained three people in connection with the shooting, and recovered firearms from the scene.
Authorities said there is not yet a clear motive and said that much remains unknown. They have asked anyone with information or video of what occurred to contact police.
The Kansas City Star identified a victim who died. Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a local DJ and mother of two, died in surgery after being shot, friends told the newspaper.
The Kansas City Chiefs issued a statement, describing the incident as a “senseless act of violence” and said “our hearts go out to the victims, their families and all of Kansas City”. None of their players or staff were harmed.
Other players responded, including quarterback Patrick Mahomes and teammate Travis Kelce, who said he was “heartbroken”.
The Missouri governor, Mike Parson, and his wife were at the Chiefs rally when the shooting occurred and were unharmed.
The US president, Joe Biden, has released a statement on the shooting, calling for tougher gun control measures and saying that he and first lady Jill will “pray for those killed and injured”.
Witnesses have spoken of their horror and desperation after gunshots rang out, sparking panic among the tens of thousands who had turned out to celebrate.
The Kansas City police chief, Stacey Graves, said she was aware of reports that some fans may have helped apprehend of at least one of the suspects, but did not confirm that that occurred. Investigators were reviewing video footage, she said.
Graves used a press conference to praise the bravery of law enforcement officers and denounce the violence. “This is not Kansas City. I’m angry [about] what has happened … All the law enforcement that were there did the best they could, and I’m so proud of them, that they ran into danger.”
Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas connected the tragedy back to the epidemic of mass shootings in the US and called for more action to stop them. “Today was tragic for everyone who was part of it,” Lucas said, adding that his wife put it into perspective when he called her after the shooting. “We became part of a statistic of too many Americans – those who have experienced or been part of or connected to a mass shooting,” he quoted her saying.
Continue reading...Parliament is expected to pass bill on Thursday but the rancour it has caused shows country’s entrenched social conservatism
Viktoria Kalfaki can still vividly remember the moment she and her wife, Christina Leimoni, realised they would have to fight for their family’s right to exist. The couple, both senior tech company executives who had returned to Greece after years in London, were in hospital with their daughter.
“Niovi was two and sick with bronchitis,” said Kalfaki, who heads the public sector division of Google Cloud in Athens. “Naturally we both wanted to be with her but when the doctors asked ‘Who is the mother?’ and they heard ‘We both are’, their response was ‘That’s legally not possible’ and they refused to let Christina in. There was a terrible scene as she argued and implored but they were adamant. Only I, as Niovi’s birth mother, could be with her.”
Continue reading...Comments draw Britain into debate about European security without US providing bulk of Nato’s nuclear deterrent
The UK could contribute to a new European nuclear shield if Donald Trump becomes US president again, a senior German minister has suggested, drawing British politicians into the debate about how Europe’s security could be bolstered in the event of the Republican frontrunner winning in November.
Questions over a European nuclear deterrence have intensified after Trump’s remarks on Saturday that he would not defend any Nato member that failed to spend 2% of its gross domestic product on defence – and would even encourage Russia to continue attacking.
Continue reading...Three suspects have been arrested in connection to the shooting as the Super Bowl victory celebrations were wrapping up
At least one person was killed and 21 others injured, including multiple children, in Wednesday afternoon’s shooting that turned a Super Bowl victory parade for the Kansas City Chiefs into a scene of tragedy and chaos.
Authorities in Kansas City, Missouri, have said that three people were arrested in connection with the shooting near Union station, which took place as the celebration was wrapping up.
Continue reading...The vessel capsized while being chased by Taiwan’s coastguard near the Kinmen islands, in what China called a ‘malignant incident’
Beijing has condemned Taiwanese authorities after two Chinesefishers drowned while being chased by Taiwan’s coastguard off the coast of the Kinmen archipelago.
The Kinmen islands lie within a few miles of China’s Fujian coast and are controlled by Taiwan.
Continue reading...Researchers used samples from populations deemed by experts and campaigners to be vulnerable to exploitation, including Uyghurs and Tibetans
A genetics journal from a leading scientific publisher has retracted 18 papers from China, in what is thought to be the biggest mass retraction of academic research due to concerns about human rights.
The articles were published in Molecular Genetics & Genomic Medicine (MGGM), a genetics journal published by the US academic publishing company Wiley. The papers were retracted this week after an agreement between the journal’s editor in chief, Suzanne Hart, and the publishing company. In a review process that took over two years, investigators found “inconsistencies” between the research and the consent documentation provided by researchers.
Continue reading...Jens Stoltenberg accuses Trump of undermining alliance and says 18 members are expected to invest at least 2% of GDP this year
Jens Stoltenberg, Nato’s secretary general, has accused Donald Trump of undermining the basis of the transatlantic alliance as he announced that 18 Nato members were expected to beat the target of spending more than 2% of GDP on defence.
It was the second rebuke by the Nato chief to the Republican frontrunner in less than a week, reinforced by a declaration that Germany was among the countries planning to spend over the threshold for the first time in a generation.
Continue reading...Community groups say ShotSpotter system sends police to Black and Latino neighborhoods for unnecessary and hostile encounters
Chicago will not renew its ShotSpotter contract and plans to stop using the controversial gunshot detection system later this year, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office announced on Tuesday.
The system, which relies on an artificial intelligence algorithm and network of microphones to identify gunshots, has been criticized for inaccuracy, racial bias and law enforcement misuse. An Associated Press investigation of the technology detailed how police and prosecutors used ShotSpotter data as evidence in charging a Chicago grandfather with murder before a judge dismissed the case due to insufficient evidence.
Continue reading...