3 h. ago US indie film beats out Gaza war docudrama for Venice top prize

A gentle study of dysfunctional families by veteran American director Jim Jarmusch clinched the top prize at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday, while a harrowing docudrama about the Gaza war took second. Jarmusch’s Father Mother Sister Brother starring Cate Blanchett, Adam Driver and Tom Waits, drew mostly positive reviews for its humorous portrayal of awkwardness and guilt. The Broken Flowers director, who wrote the script for three family get-togethers in upstate New York, Dublin and Paris,...

Events

10 h. ago Dozens arrested at latest UK protest for banned group Palestine Action

British police arrested dozens more people on Saturday under anti-terrorism laws for demonstrating in support of Palestine Action, a pro-Palestinian group banned by the government as a terrorist organisation. Britain banned Palestine Action under anti-terrorism legislation in July after some of its members broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged military planes. The group accuses Britain’s government of complicity in what it says are Israeli war crimes in Gaza. Police have arrested...

Events

16 h. ago Israel’s annexation plans fuel fears of Palestinians’ annihilation

Nearly two years after Hamas militants stormed southern Israel, the war in Gaza has entered a darker, deadlier phase. The territory now faces a reckoning its residents describe as annihilation. Israel’s latest military campaign in Gaza and its West Bank annexation plans have left observers warning that the age-old Palestinian presence across both could soon be erased. On Wednesday, Israel’s government unveiled plans to annex 82 per cent of the occupied West Bank. The escalation comes despite...

Politics

4 d. ago Thousands of reservists report for duty as Israel begins new Gaza offensive

Tens of thousands of reservists started to report for duty on Tuesday ahead of a new Israeli offensive in Gaza City, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to speed up, despite warnings from senior ranks. Israeli Army Radio said that some 40,000 would report for duty on Tuesday for the Gaza City offensive, as the military prepares logistically for their intake. Israel’s security cabinet, chaired by Netanyahu, approved a plan last month to expand the campaign in Gaza with the aim of taking...

Politics

4 d. ago Belgium to recognise Palestinian state, adding to global pressure on Israel

Belgium will recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly, Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said on Tuesday, adding to international pressure on Israel after similar moves by Australia, Britain, Canada and France. Under mounting global criticism for its war in Gaza, Israel has been angered by the pledges to formally recognise a Palestinian state at a summit during this month’s UN event. Belgium will join the signatories of the New York Declaration, paving the way for a two-state...

Politics

5 d. ago Gaza aid flotilla departs Barcelona again after storms delayed departure

A Gaza-bound flotilla carrying humanitarian aid and pro-Palestinian activists including environmental campaigner Greta Thunberg departed Barcelona again on Monday, several hours after winds forced it to return to the Spanish port, according to Agence France-Presse journalists at the scene. Around 20 vessels left the Spanish city on Sunday aiming to “open a humanitarian corridor and end the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people” amid the Israel-Gaza war, said the Global Sumud Flotilla –...

Events

5 d. ago Yemen’s Houthis say they targeted tanker in Red Sea with missile

Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Monday said they had fired a missile at a tanker in the Red Sea, days after their prime minister was killed in an Israeli attack. The Iran-backed rebels, who sank two tankers in July, said they targeted the Liberian-flagged Scarlet Ray, claiming a direct hit. The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Sunday that the attack missed its target. The ship is Israeli-owned, according to maritime security company Ambrey. UKMTO, which monitors the region, said the ship’s...

Events

7 d. ago Yemen’s Houthi PM, other ministers killed in ‘treacherous’ Israeli strike

Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Saturday said their prime minister had been killed in an Israeli air strike, the most senior official known to have died in a series of attacks during the Gaza war. Ahmed Ghaleb Nasser Al-Rahawi, who was appointed last year, was killed along with other officials in the Israeli attack on Thursday, the Iran-backed Houthis said. Israel has been striking Houthi targets for months in response to missile attacks by the rebels, who claim solidarity with the Palestinians and...

Politics

8 d. ago Gaza war: Turkey bars Israeli ships from its ports, restricts airspace

Turkey has decided to bar Israeli vessels from using its ports, forbid Turkish ships from using Israeli ports and impose restrictions on some planes entering Turkish airspace, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Friday. He provided few details in comments to parliament that appeared to summarise steps that Turkey has already taken against Israel over the war in Gaza or has started to implement. Turkey has fiercely criticised Israel’s offensive in Gaza and accuses it of committing genocide in...

Politics

8 d. ago UN food agency chief says women and children are starving in war

The head of the UN food agency said on Thursday that it was “very evident” during her visit to Gaza this week that there was not enough food in the Palestinian territory and that she spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the urgent need for more aid. The world’s leading authority on food crises said last week the Gaza Strip’s largest city was gripped by famine, and that it was likely to spread across the territory without a ceasefire and an end to restrictions on...

Society

1 week ago Trump holds meeting on Gaza with Tony Blair and Jared Kushner

US President Donald Trump presided over a policy meeting on Israel’s war in Gaza and post-war plans for the Palestinian territory on Wednesday with input from former British prime minister Tony Blair and former Trump Middle East envoy Jared Kushner, a senior White House official said. Trump, top White House officials, Blair and Kushner discussed the hostage crisis, plans to escalate food aid deliveries, post-war plans and more, the official told Reuters. The official described the session as...

Politics

1 week ago ‘Unacceptable’: Australia to expel Iranian envoy over antisemitic attacks

Australia said on Tuesday it would expel Iran’s ambassador to Canberra, as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese accused Tehran of executing two antisemitic attacks in the key cities of Sydney and Melbourne. Since the Israel-Gaza war began in October 2023, Australian homes, schools, synagogues and vehicles have been targeted in antisemitic vandalism and arson. Australia’s security agency had gathered credible intelligence that the Iranian government had directed at least two attacks, Albanese told a...

Events

1 week ago UK rap group Kneecap defy critics with ‘Free Palestine’ chant in Paris

Northern Irish rap group Kneecap, one of whose members faces a British terror charge for allegedly supporting Hezbollah, repeated their criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza during a performance outside Paris on Sunday, despite objections from French Jewish groups and government officials. The concert, which began just before 6.30pm local time in front of several thousand people in the Paris suburb of Saint-Cloud, went ahead in the face of complaints from the Belfast trio’s critics. “Free, free...

Politics

1 week ago 4 Palestinians killed while seeking aid near Gaza City, witnesses say

Israeli forces shot dead four Palestinian aid-seekers travelling on Sunday through a military zone south of Gaza City that is regularly used to reach a food distribution point, a hospital and witnesses said. Gaza City is in famine after 22 months of war, while Israel’s military moves ahead with a planned offensive to seize the city, perhaps within days. Israel’s defence minister has warned that the city of hundreds of thousands of people could be destroyed. Al-Awda Hospital and two witnesses...

Events

1 week ago Israeli strikes on Yemeni capital Sanaa kill 4, wound dozens

Israeli strikes hit the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Sunday in retaliation for Houthi missiles fired towards Israel, with Houthi health officials saying the attack killed four people and wounded 67. The strikes are the latest in more than a year of direct attacks and counterstrikes between Israel and Houthi militants in Yemen, part of a spillover from the war in Gaza. The Israeli military said the targets included a military compound housing the presidential palace, two power plants and a fuel...

Events

1 week ago Israeli strikes on Yemeni capital Sanaa kill 6, wound dozens

Israeli strikes hit the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Sunday in retaliation for Houthi missiles fired towards Israel, with Houthi health officials saying the attack killed sex people and wounded 86. The strikes are the latest in more than a year of direct attacks and counterstrikes between Israel and Houthi militants in Yemen, part of a spillover from the war in Gaza. The Israeli military said the targets included a military compound housing the presidential palace, two power plants and a fuel storage...

Events

2 w. ago Israel vows to destroy Gaza City if Hamas doesn’t disarm and release hostages

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz vowed on Friday to destroy Gaza City if Hamas did not agree to disarm, release all remaining hostages in the territory and end the war on Israel’s terms. “Soon, the gates of hell will open upon the heads of Hamas’s murderers and rapists in Gaza – until they agree to Israel’s conditions for ending the war, primarily the release of all hostages and their disarmament,” the minister posted on social media. “If they do not agree, Gaza, the capital of Hamas, will...

Politics

2 w. ago Israel mobilises 60,000 reservists to seize Gaza City, piling pressure on Hamas

Israel’s defence minister has approved a plan for the conquest of Gaza City and authorised the call-up of around 60,000 reservists to carry it out, his ministry confirmed on Wednesday. Defence Minister Israel Katz’s move piled pressure on Hamas as mediators pushing for a ceasefire in the nearly two-year war in Gaza awaited an official Israeli response on their latest proposal. While mediator Qatar had expressed guarded optimism over the latest proposal, a senior Israeli official said the...

Politics

2 w. ago Israel demands full hostage release after Hamas backs new Gaza truce

A senior Israeli official on Tuesday said the government stood firm on its call for the release of all hostages in any future Gaza deal, after Hamas accepted a new truce proposal. Mediators are awaiting an official Israeli response to the plan, a day after Hamas signalled its readiness for a fresh round of talks aimed at ending nearly two years of war. Mediator Qatar expressed guarded optimism for the new proposal, noting that it was “almost identical” to an earlier version agreed to by...

Politics

2 w. ago Israel demands full hostage release after Hamas backs new Gaza truce: source

A senior Israeli official on Tuesday said the government stood firm on its call for the release of all hostages in any future Gaza deal, after Hamas accepted a new truce proposal. Mediators are awaiting an official Israeli response to the plan, a day after Hamas signalled its readiness for a fresh round of talks aimed at ending nearly two years of war. Mediator Qatar expressed guarded optimism for the new proposal, noting that it was “almost identical” to an earlier version agreed to by...

Politics