Climate protesters in kayaks disrupt operations at Australia port
Dozens have been arrested during climate protests at one of the world's biggest coal export ports.
Benjamin Netanyahu asks Israel’s president for pardon in corruption case
Request is submitted weeks after Donald Trump called on Isaac Herzog to pardon Israeli prime minister
Benjamin Netanyahu has asked Israel’s president for a pardon for bribery and fraud charges and an end to a five-year corruption trial, arguing that it would be in the “public interest”.
Isaac Herzog’s office acknowledged receipt of the 111-page submission from the prime minister’s lawyer, and said it had been passed on to the pardons department in the ministry of justice. The president’s legal adviser would also formulate an opinion before Herzog made a decision, it added.
Continue reading...“Lack of resources” in Gaza leaves mothers struggling
“[In Gaza] a lot of mothers grieve while giving birth … they grieve for their lost children."
Fears for UK security as Foreign Office moves to scrap unit on conflict and refugee crises
MPs warn axing FCDO’s migration and conflict directorate amid staff cuts risks undermining peace work and expertise
The Foreign Office has been warned that a plan to axe its dedicated unit on emerging conflicts and refugee crises is a “real error” that “undermines UK security” as the department grapples with swingeing cuts.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s (FCDO) migration and conflict directorate, which employs about 100 civil servants, is being abolished at the end of this year and its work subsumed by the rest of the department.
Continue reading...EPA urged to ban spraying of antibiotics on US food crops amid resistance fears
Use of 8m pounds of antibiotics and antifungals a year leads to superbugs and damages human health, lawsuit claims
A new legal petition filed by a dozen public health and farm worker groups demands the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stop allowing farms to spray antibiotics on food crops in the US because they are probably causing superbugs to flourish and sickening farm workers.
The agricultural industry sprays about 8m pounds of antibiotic and antifungal pesticides on US food crops annually, many of which are banned in other countries.
Continue reading...Four killed in shooting at family gathering in California
Police say 10 others are injured in what they believe is a "targeted" shooting, with children among the victims.
Nanny streamed dramatic escape from Hong Kong apartment fire to warn other
As fire alarms failed, this woman livestreamed her escape from the Hong Kong apartment inferno to warn other residents.
Kazakh pair accused of using spycam and earpieces to win A$1.2m in casino
The husband and wife are alleged to have used a range of devices to cheat card games over a number of weeks.
Hong Kong fire death toll rises to 146 as thousands pay respects
Authorities say they have completed searches of four of the seven towers as part of a criminal investigation.
Hong Kong fire death toll rises to 146 as thousands pay respects
Authorities say they have completed searches of four of the seven towers as part of a criminal investigation.
Sri Lanka declares emergency as floods wreak havoc across Colombo
More than 25,000 homes destroyed, 147,000 displaced, in Sri Lanka's deadliest flood since 2017, affecting Colombo.
Is gen Z’s love of fried chicken pushing Britain to ‘peak pizza’?
Competition intensifies as former chief of Domino’s says days of ‘massive growth’ are over
Pizza has become ubiquitous on British dinner plates, with chains such as Pizza Express, Franco Manca, Domino’s and Goodfella’s dominating the market – but is its popularity starting to cool?
Domino’s Pizza Group announced this week that its chief executive of two years had stepped down with immediate effect, less than two weeks after he appeared to suggest the UK may be approaching “peak pizza”.
Continue reading...Ukrainian and US officials to meet in Florida to discuss proposals to end Russia’s war
Marco Rubio, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner expected to meet Kyiv delegation, after another weekend of deadly Russian attacks in Ukraine
Ukrainian negotiators are preparing to meet US officials in Florida to thrash out details of Washington’s proposed framework to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, as Kyiv faces pressure on military and political fronts.
The secretary of state, Marco Rubio, the special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, are expected to sit down with a Ukrainian delegation on Sunday before planned US talks this week in Moscow with Vladimir Putin.
Continue reading...Benjamin Netanyahu seeks pardon from Israel’s president
He denies any wrongdoing in three ongoing trials over allegations of bribery, fraud and breach of trust.
Benjamin Netanyahu seeks pardon from Israel’s president
"An immediate end to the trial would greatly help lower the flames and promote broad reconciliation," Israel's PM says.
Massive fire erupts at waste facility in western Sydney
A huge fireball exploded at a waste facility in an Australian suburb in western Sydney.
Qatar opens museum dedicated to exiled Indian artist MF Husain
Qatar has opened the world’s first museum dedicated to exiled Indian artist Maqbool Fida Husain.
Death toll in Hong Kong apartment complex fire hits 146
More than 100 people remain unaccounted for after seven high-rise buildings caught fire and burned for two days.
Gutting of key US watchdog could pave way for grave immigration abuses, experts warn
Former oversight officials alarmed by dismantling of DHS system that oversees complaints about civil rights harms
The federal watchdog system at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that oversees complaints about civil rights violations, including in immigration detention, has been gutted so thoroughly that it could be laying the groundwork for the Trump administration to “abuse people with impunity”, experts warn.
Former federal oversight officials have sounded the alarm at the rapid dismantling of guardrails against human rights failures – at the same time as the government pushes aggressive immigration enforcement operations.
Border Patrol agents in Arizona forcibly removed a detained man from a cell, handcuffed him and then injected him with ketamine to sedate him in 2023, according to a CRCL document confirming the watchdog’s investigation into the allegation. A Guardian reporter had saved that document just weeks before it was scrubbed from the DHS’s website.
Guards at a privately owned Louisiana detention center systematically mistreated detained immigrants, according to a CRCL document. This included an investigation into a 2024 incident during which correctional staff pepper sprayed around 200 detained immigrants who were staging a hunger strike in protest of detention conditions. Guards then allegedly locked the men in the unit and cut the power and water for hours. A majority of the men were allegedly denied medical care, the original complaint, submitted to the CRCL by RFK Human Rights, said.
In a Florida jail, a 33-year-old immigrant woman with mental health problems was forcibly stripped naked, strapped to a restraint chair and mocked by male guards, according to a CRCL complaint submitted by the ACLU of Florida and RFK Human Rights. The woman was allegedly left with “contusions and marks on her body” after hours in the restraint chair. The whistleblower declaration said the CRCL had launched an investigation into the case.
Agents violated due process during the arrest and detention of Palestinian student and Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil, according to the whistleblower complaint.
Continue reading...Hong Kong mourns as apartment fire death toll rises to 146
Rescue teams find more bodies in burnt-out buildings of Wang Fuk Court complex after Wednesday’s fire
The death toll in Hong Kong’s apartment complex fire has risen to 146 after investigators discovered more bodies in the burnt-out buildings. A steady stream of people placed bouquets of flowers at an ever-growing makeshift memorial at the scene of the disaster, among the worst in the city’s history.
The Hong Kong police’s disaster victim identification unit has been going through the buildings of the Wang Fuk Court complex meticulously and has found bodies both in apartment units and on the roofs, the officer in charge, Cheng Ka-chun, said on Sunday.
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