Israel pushes on with strategy to keep neighbours weak in Lebanon and Syria
Israel has repeatedly bombed both Syria and Lebanon, experts say it is no mood for peace.
Rescuers search rubble after Dominican Republic club roof collapse
“I know she's fine, I have faith.” Families waited for rescuers to find their loved ones amongst the rubble.
Sexual violence and harassment ‘endemic’ in French entertainment industry, report finds
Attitudes in France ‘barely evolving’ amid ‘collective denial’ years after the #MeToo movement began, according to parliamentary commission
Sexual violence and sexual harassment are “endemic” in France’s entertainment industry, a damning report by French politicians has found, concluding that women and children are still being routinely preyed on, despite the country’s #MeToo movement.
The Green MP Sandrine Rousseau and the centrist Erwan Balanant found that sexual violence, harassment and bullying were “systemic, endemic and persistent” in all sectors of the French culture and entertainment industry, from TV and cinema to theatre, radio, comedy, advertising, rock and classical music.
Continue reading...EU to impose retaliatory 25% tariffs on US goods from almonds to yachts
Bloc says it ‘considers US tariffs unjustified and damaging, causing economic harm to both sides’
The EU has agreed to impose retaliatory tariffs on €21bn (£18bn) of US goods, targeting farm produce and products from Republican states, in Europe’s first act of retaliation against Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The EU plans to introduce 25% tariffs on scores of goods from almonds to yachts, with the first duties being collected from 15 April, while the bulk apply from 15 May and the remainder from 1 December.
Continue reading...Pete Hegseth senior adviser is pushing for Pentagon to cut ties with Scouting America – Yahoo
IDF reportedly kills Hamas leader as it attacks 45 terror targets in 24 hours in Gaza – The Jerusalem Post
- IDF reportedly kills Hamas leader as it attacks 45 terror targets in 24 hours in Gaza The Jerusalem Post
- Israeli Airstrike in Gaza City Leaves Many Dead, Health Officials There Say The New York Times
- At least 35 killed in Israeli attack on Gaza residential block Al Jazeera
- Israeli strike kills 29 people in Gaza City house, medics say Reuters
- Gaza City strike kills at least 23 as Israel reportedly plans to seize Rafah The Guardian
Dozens reported dead in Gaza after Israeli strike on residential block – as it happened
This blog is now closed, you can read more of our Middle East coverage here
The Gaza health ministry said on Wednesday that at least 1,482 Palestinians have been killed since Israel resumed intense strikes on the Gaza Strip on 18 March, taking the overall death toll since the start of the war to 50,846.
Hamas’s October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) tally based on Israeli official figures.
Continue reading...Starmer rejects claim there are ‘strong arguments’ for suspending fiscal rules amid US tariffs – UK politics live
The PM doubled down on his insistence the government won’t change its fiscal rules, describing them as ‘ironclad’ and ‘non-negotiable’
One person probably more enthusiastic than most about the prospect of Universal opening a theme park in the UK is the Lib Dem leader Ed Davey. He is a great fan of outdoor activity-related photocalls, and he’s been at it again today, and the Gloucester Ski and Snowboarding Centre in Matson, Gloucestershire.
Almost 40 MPs and peers have signed a letter organised by Jeremy Corbyn calling for an independent inquiry into the government’s role in the war in Gaza.
Many people believe the government has taken decisions that have implicated officials in the gravest breaches of international law.
These charges will not go away until there is a comprehensive, public, independent inquiry with the legal power to establish the truth.
Last month, I wrote to the Prime Minister calling for an independent inquiry into the UK’s involvement in Israel’s assault on Gaza.
Today, more than 30 MPs have supported that call.
Continue reading...Former world snooker champion Graeme Dott faces sexual abuse charges
- The 47-year-old is charged with abuse of a boy and a girl
- He defeated Peter Ebdon to win 2006 world title
The former world snooker champion Graeme Dott has been accused of sexually abusing children. The 47-year-old is facing charges of sexual abuse against a boy and a girl.
Court papers allege he abused the girl in Glasgow between 1993 and 1996.
Continue reading...Women should avoid all alcohol to reduce risk of breast cancer, charity says
World Cancer Research Fund goes further than UK and WHO advice on alcohol after review of evidence
Women should avoid alcohol altogether to reduce their risk of breast cancer, a charity has warned.
The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) has published a review of evidence on how diet and lifestyle factors can play a role in the development of the disease.
Continue reading...Seven officers injured after police car pileup during chase near Newcastle
A1 closed and man and woman arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving and abetting dangerous driving
Seven police officers have been treated in hospital and five police vehicles badly damaged after an early morning car chase on one of the busiest roads in the north-east of England.
Police were pursuing a dark grey BMW M Sport when the collision happened just before 2.30am on Wednesday on the northbound carriageway of the A1, near junction 75, and the Denton Burn roundabout, near Newcastle.
Continue reading...Swindon apprentice loses unfair dismissal case after ‘lunch-tampering’ row
Brooklyn Forrester-Hayes threatened co-worker after reporting ‘finger-sized holes’ in his sandwiches
A garage apprentice who threatened a colleague he thought had pranked him by poking “finger-sized holes through his sandwiches” has lost an unfair dismissal claim.
Brooklyn Forrester-Hayes accused a fellow apprentice of “tampering with his lunch” as well as “smashing his crisps”, an employment tribunal was told.
Continue reading...Druze militias are suspicious of Syria’s new leaders — and are ready to go to battle – NPR
- Druze militias are suspicious of Syria's new leaders — and are ready to go to battle NPR
- These Militias Refuse to Join Syria’s New Army The New York Times
- Focus - Kurdish fighters hesitate to join Syria's vision of a unified army France 24
- Darayya’s Sacrifice New Lines Magazine
- Opinion | Syria Is Trying to Get Up With a Boot on Its Neck The New York Times
UK to co-host global conference with aim of resolving Sudan’s civil war
Foreign ministers will gather in London and seek to exert diplomatic pressure demanding a ceasefire
The British government is bringing together foreign ministers from nearly 20 countries and organisations in an attempt to establish a group that can drive the warring factions in Sudan closer towards peace.
The conference at Lancaster House in London on 15 April comes on the second anniversary of the start of a civil war that has led to the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis, but has been persistently left at the bottom of the global list of diplomatic priorities. Half of Sudan’s population are judged to be desperately short of food, with 11 million people internally displaced.
Continue reading...Trump brags world leaders are ‘kissing my ass’ as tariff chaos rocks markets
President boasts at National Republican Congressional Committee dinner: ‘I know what I’m doing’
Donald Trump has insisted “I know what the hell I’m doing” by imposing sweeping tariffs and bragged that world leaders are “kissing my ass” as they try to negotiate trade deals.
The US president was speaking to political donors at the National Republican Congressional Committee’s annual fundraising dinner in Washington on Tuesday night.
Continue reading...Pet dogs have ‘extensive and multifarious’ impact on environment, new research finds
Scale of environmental damage attributed to huge number of dogs globally as well as ‘lax or uninformed behaviour of dog owners’
Dogs have “extensive and multifarious” environmental impacts, disturbing wildlife, polluting waterways and contributing to carbon emissions, new research has found.
An Australian review of existing studies has argued that “the environmental impact of owned dogs is far greater, more insidious, and more concerning than is generally recognised”.
Continue reading...Gaza City strike kills at least 23 as Israel reportedly plans to seize Rafah
Search for survivors continues at residential building, amid reports Israeli military preparing to seize entire city in south
At least 23 people have been killed in an Israeli airstrike that hit a residential building in northern Gaza, as reports emerged that the Israeli military is preparing to seize the entire city of Rafah as part of a newly announced security corridor.
Medics at al-Ahli hospital said that the bombing on Wednesday of a four-storey building in the Gaza City suburb of Shijaiyah had killed at least eight women and children, as rescue workers continued to search for survivors into the evening. The Israeli military said the strike targeted a senior Hamas militant.
Continue reading...US air force reverses ban on pronouns in email signatures and websites
Department will follow rest of Trump’s anti-DEI order while adhering to 2024 defense bill barring any pronoun policy
The US air force has reversed its ban on the use of preferred pronouns in email signatures and other professional communications.
In a memo dated last Wednesday, the Department of the Air Force announced that it has “rescinded” the directive it issued earlier this year prohibiting “the use of ‘preferred pronouns’ to identify one’s gender identity in professional communications”, including email signatures, memoranda, letters, papers, social media and official websites.
Continue reading...Trump’s tariff war: What’s at stake for China’s economy?
As other countries scramble to renegotiate new tariffs with Washington, China is unlikely to back down.