11 h. ago ‘There were stoats in kitchen cupboards’: AI deployed to help save Orkney’s birds

Stoats have been an existential threat to Orkney’s rare birds but technology is helping to eradicate themAt first, the stoat looks like a faint smudge in the distance. But, as it jumps closer, its sleek body is identified by a heat-detecting camera and, with it, an alert goes out to Orkney’s stoat hunters.Aided by an artificial intelligence programme trained to detect a stoat’s sinuous shape and movement, trapping teams are dispatched with the explicit aim of finding and killing it. It is the most sophisticated technology deployed in one of the world’s largest mammal eradication projects, which has the aim of detecting the few stoats left on Orkney. Continue reading...

Politics

52 h. ago Judge orders federal immigration officers in Chicago area to wear body cameras

Agents also appear to have violated order banning them from using riot-control, such as tear gas, without warningFederal immigration officers in the Chicago area have been ordered by a court to wear body cameras after they repeatedly deployed pepper balls, smoke grenades and tear gas against protesters and local police, seemingly in violation of a federal judge’s ruling from last week.Sara Ellis, a US district judge, who had previously required immigration agents to wear badges and banned them from using riot-control techniques such as tear gas without warning, railed on Thursday against the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) continued aggressive tactics, many of which have been caught on camera, and which appear to violate her order. Continue reading...

Events

52 h. ago Gaza latest: Trump says ‘we will have no choice but to go in and kill Hamas’ if violence continues

Hamas has accused Israel of breaching the ceasefire by killing Palestinians while Israel says it wants the bodies of all hostages returned

Events

56 h. ago Fears for Gaza ceasefire grow after Israel and Hamas accuse each other of breaching Trump’s peace

Hamas has claimed Israel has killed 24 Palestinians since the ceasefire began, while Israeli hostage families call on the truce to be terminated if the remaining bodies in Gaza are not returned

Politics

56 h. ago Gaza latest: Hamas accuses Israel of killing 24 people since Friday in breach of Trump’s ceasefire

Hamas has accused Israel of breaching the ceasefire by killing Palestinians while Israel says it wants the bodies of all hostages returned

Events

3 d. ago Palestinian bodies returned by Israel show signs of torture and execution, say doctors

Almost all had been blindfolded and had gunshot wounds between the eyes, says doctor at Nasser hospital in GazaGaza ceasefire – latest updatesMany of the 90 bodies of Palestinians returned to Gaza by Israeli authorities under the ceasefire deal showed signs of torture and execution, including blindfolds, cuffed hands and bullet wounds in the head, according to doctors’ accounts.As part of the US-brokered truce, Hamas has handed over the bodies of some of the hostages who died in the course of the war, and Israel has transferred two groups of 45 Palestinians killed during the fighting. The exchange was carried out through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago Hamas says it will return bodies of four Israeli hostages tonight after Israel says it will keep Rafah crossing closed – Gaza ceasefire live

Hamas tells mediators it plans to transfer bodies of four deceased hostages at 10pm local timeDespite the ceasefire agreement, a medical source told Palestinian news agency Wafa today that four people were killed when Israeli drones fired at residents inspecting their homes in Gaza’s eastern Shejaiya neighbourhood. We have not yet been able to independently verify this information.Israel’s military said it opened fire on people who it says approached Israeli forces operating in the northern Gaza Strip. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago Red Cross teams search Gaza ruins for the remains of Israeli hostages after Hamas were warned they had until tonight to return the remaining bodies

The International Committee of the charity said it may take considerable time to hand over the remains of hostages and detainees killed in the Israel-Hamas war

Events

4 d. ago Rafah crossing to stay closed, Israel says, affecting aid after Hamas failed to hand over bodies of hostages – Gaza ceasefire live

Israeli defence minister says delay in returning bodies is violation of ceasefireDespite the ceasefire agreement, a medical source told Palestinian news agency Wafa today that four people were killed when Israeli drones fired at residents inspecting their homes in Gaza’s eastern Shejaiya neighbourhood. We have not yet been able to independently verify this information.Israel’s military said it opened fire on people who it says approached Israeli forces operating in the northern Gaza Strip. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago Gaza ceasefire live: Israel identifies dead hostages and says troops have fired at suspects as key truce issues remain

Defence minister says delay in returning more bodies would be a violation of ceasefire as forces open fire on people approaching troops in northern GazaIsraelis and Palestinians celebrate as truce brings hope of ‘era of peace’Despite the ceasefire agreement, a medical source told Palestinian news agency Wafa today that four people were killed when Israeli drones fired at residents inspecting their homes in Gaza’s eastern Shejaiya neighbourhood. We have not yet been able to independently verify this information.Israel’s military said it opened fire on Tuesday to remove a threat posed by several suspects who approached Israeli forces operating in the northern Gaza Strip. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago Independent Arabia photographer Maryam Abu Daqqa posthumously awarded Press Freedom Hero Award

The International Press Institute honours late photojournalist who was killed in an Israeli strike in August while covering the Gaza war

Events

6 d. ago Driver's unbelievable excuse after being caught going faster than 100mph

The man, who has been named as 57-year-old Michael Stanek, was seen on body camera trying to explain away his excessive speed to police officers, who clocked him going 107mph

Events

6 d. ago For some Israelis, saving hostages held in Gaza means freeing militants who killed their loved ones

Survivors and family members of Palestinian attacks in Israel have faced a wrenching dilemma throughout the war

Events

7 d. ago One killed and several injured in Israeli airstrikes on south Lebanon

A number of vehicles were destroyed in pre-dawn airstrikes

Events

1 week ago The Hamas veteran who Israel failed to kill – and is now leading Gaza peace talks

The senior official has led Hamas' delegations in mediated talks with Israel to try to secure a Gaza ceasefire deal

Events

1 week ago Two years of unprecedented bloodshed in Gaza: ‘Our greatest hope is that this nightmare will end’

Two years on from the brutal Hamas killings of October 7 and Israel’s retaliatory bombings, life in Gaza has been a hellscape of death and famine, report Nedal Hamdouna in Gaza and chief international correspondent Bel Trew

Events

1 week ago Hamas terrorists held family at gunpoint before murdering daughter, 18, and forcing them to live stream October 7 atrocities

Hamas terrorists held Tsachi Idan, 49, at gunpoint at Kibbutz Nahal Oz, southern Israel, before killing his daughter Maayan, on October 7, 2023.

Events

1 week ago Israelis honor victims 2 years after Hamas attack as talks resume, in photos

Israelis gathered Tuesday to honor those killed as the country marks two years since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that started the war in Gaza, while indirect peace discussions with Hamas unfold in Egypt.

Events

1 week ago Israelis gather to mark two years since 7 October Hamas attack that killed 1,200

Commemorations held in kibbutzim whose members were killed or kidnapped and Tel Aviv rally will call for hostages’ releaseIsraelis will gather across the country on Tuesday to mark the second anniversary of the 7 October attack, in which Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages during an assault on southern Israel.Unofficial commemorations will be held in the small kibbutzim of southern Israel whose members were killed or kidnapped, and a large rally will be held in Tel Aviv to call for the release of the remaining hostages from Hamas captivity in Gaza. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago The Guardian view on Trump’s Gaza plan: the bloodshed must end, but this proposal betrays Palestinians | Editorial

An end to the annihilation, and the release of Israeli hostages, is urgently needed. But lasting peace cannot be built on the denial of basic rightsTwo years after the Hamas atrocities of 7 October 2023, in which militants killed about 1,200 Israelis, and amid the genocide in Gaza, in which Israel has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians, the need for peace has never been more urgent. Palestinians are desperate for an end to starvation and airstrikes. Israelis want the war to end for the sake of remaining hostages and soldiers. Violence has reverberated across the region. Momentum has been growing around Donald Trump’s proposal, with both Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas grudgingly indicating acceptance under US threat.With indirect talks between Israel and Hamas beginning in Egypt on Monday afternoon, there are frail hopes of progress at last. Yet both parties have made it clear that they reject major parts of the 20-point US plan, which begins with an immediat...

Politics