by Helen Sullivan (now); Léonie Chao-Fong, Lili Baye on (#6FDK1)
This blog is now closed. The latest Israel-Hamas war news is here.The US special antisemitism envoy, Deborah Lipstadt, among the most renowned Holocaust scholars in the world, called the Hamas attacks the most lethal assault against Jews since the Holocaust".
Human Rights Watch report detailing alleged abuses at home and abroad raises questions over UK government's asylum planRwandan 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. Continue reading...
US army says congressional approval needed for funding to supply both Ukraine and Israel munitions; families bury those killed in Russian rocket attack on GrozaThe US army said Congress needed to approve additional funding quickly to ensure the Pentagon's munitions production and acquisition plans can meet the needs of both Israel and Ukraine simultaneously. Army secretary Christine Wormuth made the comments as the US House of Representatives is effectively paralysed as Republicans work to select a new speaker.At the White House, John Kirby, spokesperson for the national security council, emphasised that the US government had existing funding to support Israel for the time being. If we need - and it's an if', but - if we need to go back to Capitol Hill for additional funding support for Israel, we will absolutely do that," Kirby said. We are a large enough, big enough, economically viable and vibrant enough country to be able to support both [Israel and Ukraine]."Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said it was in Russia's interests to stoke war in the Middle East to create a new source of pain and suffering that would weaken global unity, create divisions and help Russia in undermining freedom in Europe," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address, adding that Russian propagandists were gloating" at developments.Grieving families have begun burying their loved ones in the eastern Ukraine village of Hroza, which was targeted by Russian missiles in an attack that killed more than 50 people last week. About 30 graves have already been dug for burial at the cemetery in the small village which now numbers about 330 inhabitants, down from 500 when the conflict began.Top UN trade official Rebeca Grynspan met with Russian officials in Moscow on Monday for talks aimed at enabling the unimpeded access" to global markets for grain and fertiliser from Russia and Ukraine, a UN spokesperson said.Zelenskiy will visit neighbouring Romania on Tuesday, his first trip to the Nato member country since Russia invaded Ukraine last February, the Romanian presidency has said.Russian lawmakers have been given 10 days to study the possibility of revoking Moscow's ratification of a treaty banning nuclear tests, the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, said in a statement. The chamber's international affairs committee will need to conclude its work by 18 October, the statement said.Zelenskiy has replaced the commander of Ukraine's Territorial Defence Forces, which have played an important role in helping defend the country since Russia's invasion. A presidential order published on Monday announced the appointment of Maj Gen Anatoliy Barhylevych as the new commander.The UN rights office warned that there is no system to return Ukrainian children taken to Russia since Moscow's invasion of the country last year, and that some of those who did come back had reported mistreatment. Ukrainian authorities say they have identified and verified almost 20,000 children who have been taken to Russia during the war.Zelenskiy has appealed at the Nato parliamentary assembly for the international rule of law to unite and deal with terrorism, comparing the attack by what he called a terrorist organisation" on Israel with the similar tactics used by Russia, which he said was a terrorist state".Ukraine's parliament registered a draft law on Monday that would allow a ban on activities of the Moscow-linked Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC).
More people attending accident and emergency in England with sore throats, nosebleeds and insomniaThe NHS in England is facing mounting pressure amid a surge in patients attending A&E departments with minor ailments, health bosses have said.Emergency departments, which are designed for serious injuries and life-threatening emergencies only, are seeing an increase in people attending with sore throats, insomnia, coughs and earache. Continue reading...
Peer warns party against over-zealous labour market reforms while dismissing former leaders as weak, weak, weak'Peter Mandelson has warned Labour not to go too far in bringing in labour market reforms to benefit workers and hit out at Unite's Sharon Graham, while describing the past decade of party leaders as weak, weak, weak".The Labour peer, a former business secretary and architect of the 1997 election victory, gave a combative speech to a City of London Corporation dinner at the party conference, where he warned against making labour market reforms that swung towards the other extreme". Continue reading...
Malaysian foreign ministry says 43 of its citizens were freed in Lima after being forced to take part in Macau scam'More than 40 people from Malaysia have been rescued by police in Peru after they fell victim to a human trafficking syndicate operating a telecommunication fraud.The Malaysians were forced to participate in the so-called Macau scam", making calls to companies in Malaysia and Taiwan to demand money while posing as banks, police or justice officials. Continue reading...
Pro-Palestinian groups gather near Israeli embassy while pro-Israelis attend vigil in WestminsterThousands of people have attended vigils and protests in London over the conflict between Israel and Hamas.Pro-Palestinian protesters rallied outside the boarded-up Israeli embassy in Kensington on Monday night, chanting Israel is a terrorist state" and free Palestine" while letting off flares and fireworks. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Labour leader to pledge biggest expansion of devolution since party was last in powerA new Labour government would give all towns and cities in England new powers and funding to boost local economies, deliver thousands of new homes and create high-quality jobs, Keir Starmer will announce.In the biggest expansion of devolution since Labour was last in power, he will pledge that councils and combined authorities would get more control over housing and planning, skills, energy and transport of the kind currently held by London, the West Midlands and Greater Manchester. Continue reading...
by Dan Sabbagh Defence and security editor on (#6FE4X)
Counsel to London inquiry into 80 civilian deaths focuses on British operations in Helmand province between 2010 and 2013Britain's SAS faced allegations that it shot dead nine Afghans while they were sleeping and engaged in a policy of executing Afghan males of fighting age" between 2010 and 2013, on the first day of a public inquiry into the killing of 80 civilians in Afghanistan.Oliver Glasgow KC, the counsel to the inquiry, focused on seven deadly operations in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, including one in February 2011 where only three AK47 assault rifles were recovered after the nine had been killed.A night raid on 7 February 2011, when nine Afghan males, including a 14-year-old boy, were killed and 3 AK47 assault rifles recovered. We anticipate the evidence from the families will be that they were shot in bed, most likely when asleep," Glasgow said, and he told the inquiry that the photographs of the bodies suggested Afghans may have been shot at close range. Internal documents and emails obtained by the inquiry show that the SAS said that at the time its soldiers were engaged by small arms fire. The elite unit's headquarters concluded that no military police investigation was required because reasonable force in accordance with the law of self-defence" was used.A night raid on 9 February 2011 where eight Afghans were killed, including four by friendly fire from their own side, the SAS said. Four AK-47s were found in a search of the site after the raid had concluded, while another man was killed when he was sent back into building, only to reappeared with a weapon. An email sent the following morning from a chief of staff at the SAS headquarters to a legal colleague, and read out by Glasgow, expressed scepticism as they reviewed the initial reports. It's another one of more bodies than weapons. Please review,' they wrote. However, two days later same chief of staff accepted the high body count" was justified by the fact that four Afghans were killed as a result of fratricide". Several years later, the episode was investigated by the military police, but when the SAS and Afghan armed forces members involved were questioned all bar one of them was unable to recall" the gunfight, Glasgow said.A night raid on 16 February 2011 in which four members of one family were killed, including Saddam Hussein. British intelligence said was a Taliban military commander - but Glasgow told the inquiry that his family had said was a student in Lashkar Gah and so could not have been an insurgent," while the other victims were civilians. Two of those were shot dead after allegedly producing a weapon when they asked to assist with the search of the property, prompting one member of the SAS, from another unit, to say the official description of the episodes was not credible, in an email read out by Glasgow to the court. For what must be the 10th time in the last two weeks," when an Afghan was sent back to open the curtains (??) he re-appeared with an AK" they wrote to a colleague. You couldn't MAKE IT UP," they added. Continue reading...
PCS union says more than 250 Palace of Westminster guards took part in ballot in favour of industrial actionHundreds of House of Commons security guards have voted for strike action in a move that could cause queues for MPs, staff and visitors and disruption for parliament.The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), a trade union for civil servants and public sector contractors, said more than 250 guards who provide security at the Palace of Westminster took part in the ballot, with 95% in favour on a 79% turnout. Continue reading...
Order comes after UN approved mission to send Kenya-led police officers to help Haiti combat rampant gang violenceA Kenyan court temporarily blocked the government from deploying hundreds of police personnel in Haiti in a UN-approved mission aimed at helping the Caribbean nation tackle rampant gang violence.The court order issued on Monday is valid until 24 October and followed a petition jointly filed by one of the opposition political parties and two Kenyans who say the decision to deploy the police officers outside the east African country is illegal. Continue reading...
Alternative fur Deutschland comes second in Hesse and third in Bavaria as spreads from east of countryThe far-right, anti-immigration Alternative fur Deutschland has declared itself a major all-German party" after winning its biggest ever vote share in a western German state.The AfD, once seen as a party most relevant to post-communist eastern states, won 18.4% of the vote on Sunday in the powerhouse state of Hesse, around Frankfurt, and came second only to the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). In Bavaria it came third, behind the rightwing populist Freie Wahler (Free Voters) party. Continue reading...
by Peter Walker Deputy political editor on (#6FDX0)
Some schemes listed as being in line for funds from scrapped northern leg of HS2 were swiftly deleted while others are already completeA 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.Speaking to the BBC, Rishi Sunak repeatedly dodged or refused to answer questions about the list, which was published alongside his announcement that the northern leg of the HS2 rail link would be scrapped. Continue reading...
Jason Moore was convicted of killing Robert Darby in 2005 - but the victim's relatives are among those who believe he is innocentJason Moore has spent nearly a decade in prison for murder - and his insistence on his innocence means he may never be released.Whenever I meet with probation, I refuse to do the courses. I just tell them I'm innocent," he told the Guardian from HMP Oakwood.Moore, 53, is convicted of stabbing to death Robert Darby in an east London pub car park in August 2005. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2013 and would soon be eligible for release if he told officials he had committed the crime. Continue reading...
French fashion house welcomes successor to Gabriela Hearst, who had her final show at Paris fashion weekThe French fashion house Chloe has appointed Chemena Kamali as its new creative director after Gabriela Hearst said farewell during her final show at Paris fashion week.Kamali, a 41-year-old from Dusseldorf, most recently worked at Saint Laurent but her appointment is something of a full-circle moment. Chloe is where Kamali began her career, first working as part of Phoebe Philo's team and later as design director under Clare Waight Keller. Continue reading...
Jana Shostak was dropped by Donald Tusk's opposition alliance over support for wider abortion rightsA feminist activist and electoral candidate who was dropped by Donald Tusk's opposition alliance in Poland after she expressed support for abortion access after 12 weeks of pregnancy has said her trust in the veteran liberal conservative to fight for women's rights is limited".Jana Shostak, a 30-year-old performance artist, has a strong record of advocacy on behalf of Belarusian democracy, refugees and women's rights. When she announced she was running for parliament in next month's election - joining the coalition of the leading opposition party, Civic Platform (PO) - Poland's progressives were excited. Continue reading...
Shadow health secretary says government is asleep at wheel' as more children become addictedLabour will come down like a ton of bricks" on the vaping industry if Rishi Sunak does not pull his finger out" and introduce regulations, Wes Streeting has said.The shadow health secretary attacked the prime minister, saying he had been leading a government that had been asleep at the wheel" as a generation of children become addicted to nicotine. Continue reading...
UCL professor Clive Nwonka says genre should stand with traditions such as the French new wave in terms of academic studyThe black British urban genre should be as valuable to British film culture and academia as the French new wave and British social realism, a leading academic has said.Clive Nwonka, an associate professor of film, culture and society at UCL, began his academic research in 2010, during a critically important era of black representation in British film and TV. Continue reading...
Supermarket said to be considering third-party deal after share of UK market fallsWaitrose is reportedly in talks with Amazon to sell groceries via the internet marketplace, in an attempt to lure in more shoppers and claw back market share.The Sunday Telegraph reported that the upmarket supermarket, part of the John Lewis Partnership, and Amazon were discussing a third-party deal, after the world's biggest online retailer struck a similar agreement with the supermarket Iceland recently. Continue reading...
After former Labour general secretary Margaret McDonagh died, her sister decided to fight for better treatment and researchIn the final months in the life of former Labour general secretary Margaret McDonagh, she embraced the solace and pleasures found in family, friends and travel, enjoying the peace of the shores of Lough Corrib in western Ireland, winter sunshine in Malaga and a cruise to France and Spain.In June, her sister Siobhain McDonagh, a Labour MP, was planning a party for her sister's 62nd birthday, with a barbecue and marquee in the garden in the home they shared together in south-west London. Continue reading...
Documents detailing projects to be funded with savings from scrapping HS2 deleted from government websiteGovernment documents that were abruptly deleted after appearing online with announcements of new transport projects were just giving examples" of what savings from the scrapping of HS2's northern leg could be spent on, a minister has claimed.The documents detailed an extra 100m of funding for a mass transit underground" project in Bristol. Mention of plans to invest 36bn in projects around the north and Midlands, including re-opening Transport North East's Leamside line, were also removed from the government's website. Continue reading...
by Sally Weale Education correspondent on (#6FD4N)
Partnership between Glasgow University and University of the West Indies was established as part of a reparative justice programmeThe world's first master's degree in reparatory justice has been launched by Glasgow University, in partnership with the University of the West Indies (UWI), as the global campaign for financial reparations for transatlantic slavery gathers momentum.Glasgow is one of a number of universities to have researched the extent to which they were funded by or supported slavery. Continue reading...
With the outcome of next week's poll too close to call, critics fear the effect of a barrage of media support for populist ruling partyPoland is under attack from both east and west. Foes in Berlin and Moscow, using their proxy Donald Tusk, plan to destabilise the country, overrun it with uncontrolled migration and subjugate Polish politics to external influence.That, at least, would be the view of someone who received all their news from Poland's public television channel, TVP, where correspondents and anchors on the nightly news programme parrot government talking points and warn of the dangerous goals of the political opposition. Continue reading...
A new exhibition chronicles the shifting lenses through which Spain's Catholics saw the country's Jewish populationThe jet, horn, silver and coral amulets placed around the neck of a three-year-old boy in Tarrega almost seven centuries ago offered no protection against the crowds who massacred him and hundreds of other Jews in the Catalan town in 1348.Some of the other pieces in a new exhibition at Madrid's Prado museum that looks at how images were used to shape and define relationships between Jews and Christians in medieval Spain may have been more effective in warding off the escalating antisemitic hatred. Continue reading...
Minister shares video posted by Rachel Riley of people waving Palestinian flags in west LondonThe Metropolitan police have said they have increased patrols in London after receiving reports of people celebrating the attack on Israel by Hamas.Hamas sent fighters across the border and fired thousands of rockets in what it said was a new operation on Saturday morning. Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said the group would pay a price that it hasn't known until now" as he called up reservists. Continue reading...
Marina Wheeler KC to be tasked with strengthening rights to safeguard women who report workplace harassmentA leading barrister and ex-wife of Boris Johnson is set to be appointed as Labour's new whistleblowing tsar", offering advice on proposed protections for women against workplace harassment.Marina Wheeler KC will help the party with its plans to strengthen employment rights to safeguard women from abusive colleagues, the Independent reported. Continue reading...
Inhabitants of Gaza now face the prospect of an Israeli ground offensiveFifty years ago this week Israel faced a threat to its very existence after the surprise joint attack by Egypt and Syria that marked the start of the Yom Kippur war. In the early hours of Saturday - the final day of the Jewish high holidays - history appeared to repeat itself. Israelis were awoken by rockets and air raid sirens as the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched the biggest military challenge Israel has faced since that fateful day in 1973.For the first time in the 75 years since Israel's creation, Palestinian forces managed to seize control of areas inside the Green Line, on the other side of the would-be borders of an independent Palestinian state. More than 150 Israelis have died, with the death toll likely to rise significantly, along with at least 198 Palestinians. Dozens of Israeli civilians are believed to be held hostages in their homes, or have been taken into the Gaza Strip. Continue reading...
by Vanessa Thorpe, Arts and Media Correspondent on (#6FCSN)
The revered director and lyrical chronicler of working-class life in Distant Voices, Still Lives, died peacefully at home after a short illness Peter Bradshaw appreciation A life in picturesTerence Davies, the film-maker regularly hailed by critics as among Britain's greatest, has died aged 77.The Liverpool-born director, perhaps best known for his semi-autobiographical study of working-class family life Distant Voices, Still Lives, starring Pete Postlethwaite, was working on a new project at the time of his illness and only two years ago released Benediction, starring Jack Lowden in the role of the war poet Siegfried Sassoon. Continue reading...
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