Category Archives: World News

Israeli troops mass on Gaza border as death toll from Hamas attack passes 1,000

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Hundreds of thousands of reservists head for units amid mounting expectation of large-scale ground invasion

A massive Israeli military buildup was continuing along Gaza’s border on Tuesday, as the country’s military confirmed the death toll from Saturday’s Hamas attack – the deadliest militant assault in its history – had passed 1,000 and wave after wave of airstrikes hit the militant-controlled territory.

Amid mounting expectations that Israel would launch a ground invasion of Gaza within days, Israeli soldiers were still collecting bodies of the dead four days after Hamas rampaged through southern Israeli towns in the deadliest terrorist attack in the country’s history.

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Canada: police open criminal inquiry into billion-dollar green belt scandal

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Ontario premier Doug Ford’s office to ‘fully cooperate’ with investigation into scandal that has forced number of resignations

Canada’s federal police have opened a criminal investigation into a controversial plan to allow construction on greenbelt lands in Ontario, escalating a political scandal that has gripped the province and already forced a number of high-profile government resignations.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced on Tuesday that its sensitive and international investigations unit would investigate the C$8.3bn ($6.10bn) deal.

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Humza Yousaf calls for UK to push for Gaza humanitarian corridor

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Scottish first minister says he has made contact with his wife’s parents who are trapped in besieged enclave after Hamas attack

Scotland’s first minister, Humza Yousaf, has called on the UK foreign secretary to push for the establishment of a humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians from Gaza.

Yousaf revealed on Monday that his wife Nadia’s parents, who live in Dundee, are trapped in Gaza and struggling to find safe passage.

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Indigenous Amazonians urge Brazil to declare emergency over severe drought

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Drought and heatwave has killed fish in rivers as Indigenous group Apiam says villagers have no water, food or medicine

Indigenous people in the Amazon are calling on the Brazilian government to declare a climate emergency as their villages have no drinking water, food or medicine due to a severe drought that is drying up rivers vital for travel in the rainforest.

The drought and heatwave has killed masses of fish in the rivers that Indigenous people live off and the water in the muddy streams and tributaries of the Amazon river has become undrinkable, the umbrella organization Apiam that represents 63 tribes in the Amazon said on Tuesday.

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EU aid to Palestinians will ‘not be cancelled’ as decision reversed

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EU foreign ministers back continued support after European commissioner declared suspension of payments

EU foreign ministers have reversed the decision by the European Commission to suspend payments to the Palestinian Authority, after an emergency meeting in Oman.

Josep Borrell, the EU’s chief diplomat, said the “overwhelming majority” of EU states were in favour of continued support, adding the funds would “not be cancelled”.

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‘Emphasis is on damage, not accuracy’: ground offensive into Gaza seems imminent

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Surrounded by evidence of heavy fighting and with air raid sirens still sounding, Road 232 is the new frontline between Israel and the enclave

Road 232, an Israeli highway, runs parallel to the blockaded Gaza Strip. It is surrounded by flat agricultural land in every direction, and from it the higher floors of the overcrowded enclave’s high rise buildings are clearly visible, about 3 miles (5km) away.

Now, the route appears to have become the new de facto boundary between territory controlled by Israel and Hamas, the Islamist movement that launched a devastating surprise sea, land and air offensive on 20 neighbouring kibbutzim and Israeli towns last weekend. They slaughtered more than 1,000 people, and abducted dozens more to be used as bargaining chips. More than 830 people in Gaza have been killed in retaliatory Israeli airstrikes.

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Four British men freed by Taliban after being held in Afghanistan

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The men were all detained over allegedly breaking the country’s laws earlier this year

Four British nationals who were held in Taliban custody in Afghanistan have been released and are to return to the UK on Tuesday.

The Presidium Network, a British not-for-profit organisation that works in conflict zones and has assisted the men, named three of them as Kevin Cornwell, a charity medic; Miles Routledge and Ian Purchase. The other cannot be named for legal reasons.

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Undersea pipeline damage appears to be deliberate, says Finland

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Media cites intelligence sources saying Russian sabotage suspected after unusual drop in pressure

Extensive damage to an undersea gas pipeline and communications cable connecting Finland and Estonia “could not have occurred by accident” and appears to be the result of a “deliberate … external act”, Finnish authorities have said.

“It is likely that the damage to both the gas pipeline and the communication cable is the result of external activity,” the Finnish president, Sauli Niinistö, said on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday, adding that the cause of the damage was not yet clear.

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Russia-Ukraine war: Moscow’s bid to return to UN’s top human rights body fails after vote – as it happened

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Albania and Bulgaria receive more votes at general assembly, after Russia was suspended from body last year

The National Police of Ukraine has documented nearly 100,000 war crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine, according to the head of the body.

Speaking to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Ivan Vyhovsky said the evidence being gathered would form the basis of future attempts to prosecute the perpetrators.

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Author Arundhati Roy may face prosecution in India over 2010 speech

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Top official sanctions case against Booker prize-winning novelist for comments about Kashmir

The Booker prize-winning Indian novelist Arundhati Roy could be prosecuted for a 2010 speech about Kashmir after a top official signed off on the move, according to reports in India.

Roy, 61, is one of India’s most famous living authors but her writing and activism, including her criticism of the prime minister Narendra Modi’s government, have made her a polarising figure in the country.

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‘Here he had nobody’: strangers bury young Briton in quiet, jittery Jerusalem

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As Nathanel Young, 20, was buried, the streets of the divided city remained uneasily empty with both sides fearing reprisals

On a hillside in Jerusalem, hundreds of people stood in near silence at the funeral of a lone soldier. Speaking only in whispers or exchanging glances they crammed on to the stone walls that overlooked the line of white gravestones in Israel’s national cemetery on Mount Herzl.

A fearful quiet had descended on the city, with the line of cars snaking up the hillside and the crowds of people finding their way to the cemetery marking the only crowds in a place normally teeming with life.

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Human emissions made deadly South American heat 100 times more likely

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Research shows climate crisis by far main cause of recent unseasonable temperatures in southern winter and early spring

The deadly heat in central South America over the past two months was made 100 times more likely by human emissions that disrupted the climate, scientists have shown.

Temperatures have exceeded 40C in late winter and early spring in the southern hemisphere, affecting millions and leading to heat-related deaths.

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Climate crisis will make Europe’s beer cost more and taste worse, say scientists

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Experts say hop yields and quality will continue to drop by 2050 if farmers don’t adapt to higher temperatures

Climate breakdown is already changing the taste and quality of beer, scientists have warned.

The quantity and quality of hops, a key ingredient in most beers, is being affected by global heating, according to a study. As a result, beer may become more expensive and manufacturers will have to adapt their brewing methods.

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Myanmar: at least 29 people killed in attack on camp for displaced people

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Victims of attack in Kachin state include children, according to media and local activists

At least 29 people, including young children, have been killed in an attack on a camp for displaced people in Myanmar’s Kachin state, according to media reports and two local activists.

Dozens more people were injured in the attack, which happened at about 11.30pm on Monday night in Kachin, Myanmar’s northernmost state, it was reported. Unverified images on social media, showed men carrying victims, including a small child, from the rubble in the darkness.

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China’s Country Garden warns it could default on debt

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Property developer has about $200bn in liabilities and says its sales are ‘under remarkable pressure’

China’s largest private developer has warned it could default on its international debts, dealing another blow to the country’s embattled property industry.

Country Garden has about $200bn (£163bn) in liabilities and nearly $11bn in dollar-denominated offshore bonds. It has not defaulted so far, but has missed coupon payments on some dollar bonds since last month and faces the end of 30-day grace periods for making payments from next week.

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Tuesday briefing: The global impact of UK supreme court’s ruling on Rwanda deportation plan

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In today’s newsletter: A complicated legal battle over whether the UK government plan to send thousands of migrants to Rwanda could cause a fundamental shift in how asylum seekers are treated

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Good morning. Five supreme court judges are this week deciding whether the UK government plan to deport tens of thousands of asylum seekers to Rwanda should go ahead.

The decision of the UK’s highest court will be life-changing for more than 24,000 asylum seekers issued with letters warning them that they are being considered for forcible removal. It will also either make home secretary Suella Braverman’s “dream” come true or poleaxe a key part of Rishi Sunak’s pledge to “stop the boats”.

Israel | The leaders of the UK, US, France, Germany and Italy have released a joint statement expressing “steadfast and united support” for the state of Israel and “unequivocal condemnation” of Hamas. Earlier, Israel declared a “complete siege” of Gaza, cutting off water, food and power supplies.

Environment | The damage caused by the climate crisis through extreme weather has cost $16m (£13m) an hour for the past 20 years, according to a new estimate.

Transport | A list of transport projects to be funded using HS2 money, which included schemes that had already been built or were swiftly deleted, was intended only to be “illustrative”, the prime minister has said.

Labour | A new Labour government would give all towns and cities in England new powers and funding to boost local economies, Keir Starmer will announce, in the biggest expansion of devolution since Labour was last in power.

Scotland | A hoard of coins linked to a Highland chief – which may have been stashed away as he tried in vain to escape the Glen Coe massacre – has been discovered underneath a fireplace.

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China to hold nationwide survey on population changes as birthrate plummets

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Poll comes as Beijing is urgently trying an array of measures to lift the country’s birth rate including financial incentives

China’s National Bureau of Statistics will conduct a nationwide sample survey in November to help better plan population policies, as authorities struggle to boost the country’s flagging birthrate.

Concerned about China’s first population drop in six decades and its rapid ageing, Beijing is urgently trying an array of measures to lift the country’s birthrate including financial incentives and boosting childcare facilities.

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Rwanda accused of broad campaign of repression against dissidents

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Human Rights Watch report detailing alleged abuses at home and abroad raises questions over UK government’s asylum plan

Rwandan authorities are coordinating a systematic campaign of repression at home and abroad against political activists, suspected dissidents and their family members, according to a Human Rights Watch report, raising questions about plans by the UK government to send asylum seekers there.

The US-based rights group details an alleged campaign of extraterritorial killings, kidnappings and intimidation, as well as arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances on Rwandan soil.

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Climate crisis is ‘not gender neutral’: UN calls for more policy focus on women

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Only a third of countries with climate crisis plans include access to sexual, maternal and newborn health services, UNFPA report finds

Only a third of countries include sexual and reproductive health in their national plans to tackle the climate crisis, the UN has warned.

Of the 119 countries that have published plans, only 38 include access to contraception, maternal and newborn health services and just 15 make any reference to violence against women, according to a report published by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and Queen Mary University of London on Tuesday.

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Louisiana principal apologizes for punishing student’s off-campus dancing

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Public school principal reinstates 17-year-old’s leadership role and scholarship endorsement and requests leave for rest of school year

A Louisiana public school principal has apologized and requested leave for punishing a student and questioning her religious beliefs after he saw a video of her dancing at an off-campus party.

The 17-year-old student government president and scholarship candidate was videotaped dancing at an off-campus party following Walker High School’s 30 September homecoming festivities. A hired DJ took the video and posted it on social media. Three days later, Jason St Pierre, principal of the public high school near the state capital of Baton Rouge, told the student she would be removed from her position with the student government association and that he would no longer recommend her for college scholarships.

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