Protests were held in 20 cities across Israel, with demonstrators also decrying proposed settlement expansion in the West Bank
Thousands of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv for the fifth consecutive week to demonstrate against controversial legal reforms touted by Benjamin Netanyahu’s rightwing government.
Crowds carrying blue and white Israeli flags filled the city’s central Kaplan Street on Saturday, with signs labelling the new government a “threat to world peace”.
Continue reading...Was Beijing trying to sabotage talks with the US, monitor the speed of its military response, or just test Joe Biden’s mettle?
Now the Chinese balloon has been brought down in a puff of smoke and debris by a US air-launched missile, after perplexing Washington with its three-day odyssey over the continental United States, the question is: what was it all for?
Once the balloon was spotted, Beijing claimed it was a weather observation airship that had been blown off course, drawing a snort of derision from the Pentagon, which said the balloon was able to manoeuvre and had made some deliberate turns, bringing it at one point over Montana, home of some of the US arsenal of silo-based nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
Continue reading...Hazardous materials being carried on freight train leads to evacuation order and state of emergency
Freight train cars continued to burn on Saturday, sending up heavy smoke, following a derailment that prompted an evacuation order and a declaration of a state of emergency in an Ohio village near the Pennsylvania state line in the US.
About 50 cars derailed in East Palestine at about 9pm EST on Friday as a train was carrying products from Madison, Illinois, to Conway, Pennsylvania, rail operator Norfolk Southern said on Saturday. There was no immediate information about what caused the derailment. No injuries or damage to structures were reported.
Continue reading...Chinese foreign ministry accuses US of ‘overreacting’ and ‘violating international practice’ after balloon was downed
A US warplane has shot down a Chinese high-altitude balloon over the Atlantic Ocean after it had crossed the entire US and caused a diplomatic rift between the two countries.
The balloon, which China said is for meteorological purposes but the US insists has been spying, could be seen on television collapsing and falling from the sky.
Continue reading...Announcement from Ukrainian president’s office follows Russian statement on 63 of its own soldiers
The head of Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office, Andriy Yermak, has said that Ukraine has got 116 soldiers back as part of a prisoner of war swap.
Earlier on Saturday, Russia said it had got 63 PoWs back in an exchange.
Continue reading...Juliette Lamour, a student from Ontario, makes history with £30m prize after taking part ‘for fun’
An 18-year-old Canadian has made history by winning C$48m (£30m) after buying a lottery ticket for the first time.
Juliette Lamour, from Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, was announced as the winner on Friday by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLGC), making her the youngest person to win tens of millions of Canadian dollars.
Continue reading...Leading European politicians have warned that the prime minister’s plan to ditch EU legislation will trigger retaliatory countermeasures, including imposing tariffs on goods
Rishi Sunak’s plan to scrap thousands of EU laws by the end of this year risks triggering a full-scale trade war between the UK and Brussels, senior figures in the European Union have warned.
Letters from leading EU politicians, seen by the Observer, reveal deep concern that the UK is about to lower standards in areas such as environmental protection and workers’ rights – breaching “level playing field” provisions that were at the heart of the post-Brexit trade and cooperation agreement (TCA).
Continue reading...Australian police say 16-year-old jumped from her jetski to swim after possible dolphin sighting nearby
A teenage girl has been killed in a suspected shark attack in Western Australia after she jumped from her jetski into a river, police said.
The 16-year-old was pulled from the Swan River in Perth with critical injuries. Emergency personnel provided medical assistance at the scene but she died, said Insp Paul Robinson, of Western Australia police.
Continue reading...Fumio Kishida says official’s comments ‘outrageous and completely incompatible with policies’
The Japanese prime minister, Fumio Kishida, has sacked an aide who said he would not want to live next to LGBTQ+ couples and that people would flee Japan if same-sex marriage was permitted.
In remarks reported by local media, Masayoshi Arai, an economy and trade official who joined Kishida’s staff as a secretary in October, said he did not even want to look at same-sex couples.
Continue reading...Beijing says it will ‘not accept any groundless conjecture’ after balloons spotted over US and Latin America
China has called for calm amid a growing diplomatic row with the US over suspected spy balloons.
It comes after the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, indefinitely postponed a planned visit to Beijing after a large balloon was spotted in US airspace.
Continue reading...The Trevelyans were shocked to see their name in a slavery database and a journey to Grenada confirmed the continuing impact of their grim history
An aristocratic British family is to make history by travelling to the Caribbean and publicly apologising for its ownership of more than 1,000 enslaved Africans. The Trevelyan family, which has many notable ancestors, is also paying reparations to the people of Grenada, where it owned six sugar plantations.
Last weekend, the family met online and agreed to sign a letter of apology for its enslavement of captive Africans. Forty-two members of the family have so far signed and more signatures are expected.
Continue reading...Chris Parry and Andrew Bagshaw died in Soledar area while helping to evacuate people from frontline
The bodies of two British volunteers killed in Ukraine while carrying out a humanitarian evacuation have been recovered, a Ukrainian official has said.
Chris Parry, 28, and his colleague Andrew Bagshaw, 47, who held dual UK and New Zealand citizenship, had been trying to evacuate an elderly woman from Soledar when their car was hit by an artillery shell.
Continue reading...Pontiff says on peace mission that religious leaders ‘cannot remain neutral’ amid abuses of power
Pope Francis has said churches in South Sudan “cannot remain neutral” but must raise their voices against injustice and abuse of power, as he and two other Christian leaders conducted a peace mission to the world’s newest country.
On his first full day in South Sudan, Francis addressed Catholic bishops, priests and nuns in St Theresa Cathedral in the capital, Juba, as the archbishop of Canterbury and the head of the Church of Scotland held services elsewhere.
Continue reading...Exclusive: He Jiankui stops short of apologising for procedure that shocked the world of science in 2018
The scientist at the heart of the scandal involving the world’s first gene-edited babies has said he moved “too quickly” by pressing ahead with the procedure.
He Jiankui sent shock waves across the world of science when he announced in 2018 that he had edited the genes of twin girls, Lulu and Nana, before birth. He was subsequently sacked by his university in Shenzhen, received a three-year prison sentence, and was broadly condemned for having gone ahead with the risky, ethically contentious and medically unjustified procedure with inadequate consent from the families involved.
Continue reading...Thirty-year-old Bobi snatched title from US pup in upset; longevity credited to human food and ‘calm, peaceful environment’
It’s a dog’s life for one small US pup this weekend after a European rival essentially stole his bone.
Two weeks ago, Spike, an Ohio-based chihuahua mix rescue dog, was crowned the world’s oldest dog. But two days ago Bobi, a dog that guards livestock in Portugal, grabbed the title faster than a string of sausages, CNN reported.
Continue reading...Millions flock to see return of actor Shah Rukh Khan, despite rightwing calls for a boycott
For Ganesh Lokhande, an usher at the Regal Cinema in Mumbai’s southern tip of Colaba, it’s been a quiet few years in the job. That was, until last week.
Pathaan, a new Bollywood action thriller starring Shah Rukh Khan – an actor whose superstardom has elevated him to be known in India as “the king” – has been released in cinemas, triggering excitement across the country. Long queues formed outside theatres as millions flocked to catch a glimpse of Khan’s return to the screen after four years away, now aged 57 but still playing the ravishing muscular hero.
Continue reading...New $2.2bn US military aid package for Ukraine includes bomb that will double strike range; Zelenskiy vows to hold Bakhmut as long as possible
Continue reading...Mark Pomerantz, who was on New York team investigating tax affairs, reportedly compares ex-president to John Gotti
New York prosecutors building a case against Donald Trump for allegedly lying about his wealth for tax purposes had to show the former president was “not legally insane”, one of those prosecutors reportedly writes in an eagerly awaited new book.
The lawyer, Mark Pomerantz, also reportedly compares Trump, the only confirmed candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, to famous figures in the world of organised crime including John Gotti, the “Teflon Don” who died in prison in 2002.
Continue reading...Politicians and human rights groups demand justice for Tiba al-Ali after father’s confession
The death of a young YouTube star at the hands of her father has sparked outrage in Iraq, as so-called “honour” killings continue in the conservative country.
Tiba al-Ali, 22, was killed by her father on 31 January in the southern province of Diwaniya, interior ministry spokesperson Saad Maan said on Twitter on Friday.
Continue reading...The 34-year-old veteran was in the country working as a medic when his vehicle was hit in the east of the country
An American medic has been killed while working on the frontlines in Ukraine, just weeks after arriving in the country.
Pete Reed, 34, was killed on Thursday while he was helping evacuate civilians when his vehicle was reportedly hit by a missile in Bakhmut, the eastern city which has become a focus of fierce fighting.
Continue reading...