4 h. ago Israel expands Gaza City offensive as UK decries West Bank settlement approval

Construction would be ‘flagrant breach of international law’ and undermine two-state solution, foreign secretary saysIsrael has announced it is expanding its military operations in Gaza City, as the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, condemned its approval of a huge new illegal settlement in the West Bank as a “flagrant breach of international law.”Briefing journalists, the Israel Defense Forces spokesperson, Effie Defrin said the IDF had begun the second phase of Operation Gideon’s Chariots in Gaza, which it launched in May. Continue reading...

Politics

5 h. ago The Guardian view on Gaza’s future: Israel should end the killing. Its allies must not remain complicit | Editorial

The suffering and death of Palestinians is multiplying. Seizing and occupying Gaza City would only deepen the horrorIsrael faces a stark choice. So do its allies. International condemnation pushed Israel into allowing a trickle of aid into Gaza. But it remains utterly insufficient, and Palestinians are still starving to death. Israel has killed more than 62,000 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry.Israel’s former intelligence chief Aharon Haliva, in charge when the Hamas atrocities of 2023 took place, was recently recorded saying that “For every person on October 7, 50 Palestinians must die. It doesn’t matter now if they are children.” That isn’t merely vengeful and obscene, it explicitly describes a war crime. Continue reading...

Events

9 h. ago Israel’s Gaza City plan is killing prospect of peace in Middle East, says Jordan

Criticism adds to international outrage over Israel’s plans for new Gaza offensive and West Bank settlementsMiddle East crisis liveIsrael is “killing all prospects” for peace in the Middle East, Jordan’s foreign minister has said amid escalating international outrage over Israel’s plans for a new large-scale offensive in Gaza City and its intention to massively expand Jewish settlements in the West Bank.Ayman Safadi made his remarks during a visit to Moscow on the same day that the Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, approved a plan to conquer Gaza City, an urban area that is home to hundreds of thousands of people in the north of the Palestinian territory. Continue reading...

Events

21 h. ago Australian minister says ‘strength not measured by how many people you can blow up’ as row with Netanyahu escalates

Australian home affairs minister’s criticism comes after Israeli prime minister calls Anthony Albanese a ‘weak politician who betrayed Israel’Netanyahu lashes out at AlbaneseFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralia’s government has rejected Benjamin Netanyahu’s incendiary criticism and accused some Israeli politicians of “bigoted” views about Palestinians as the extraordinary political fight between the two nations turns uglier.The home affairs minister, Tony Burke – whose refusal of a travel visa for the far-right Knesset member Simcha Rothman stoked criticism from Jerusalem – backed in his decision and criticised the Israeli prime minister over the war in Gaza, where tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians have been killed in Israel’s military and bombing campaign. Continue reading...

Politics

30 h. ago The Guardian view on Trump and Zelenskyy: Ukraine deserves better than 'better than we feared' | Editorial

In Washington, European leaders helped steer the US president away from his embrace of Vladimir Putin’s talking points. But for how long?The verdict on Donald Trump’s meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders on Monday depends entirely upon the metric used. The great fear was that this might prove a disaster along the lines of the US president’s dressing down of the Ukrainian leader in February – a scenario so plausible that Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron, Friedrich Merz and other key European leaders dropped everything to dash to the White House themselves in support.Following his red carpet welcome for Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, Mr Trump reportedly backed the idea that Ukraine should hand over the Donbas to achieve a peace deal. Even if one were naive enough to think that the Kremlin would see that as an end to conflict, rather than a staging post for a later offensive, it would not be a “land swap” but a land grab that Ukraine – for go...

Politics

53 h. ago The Guardian view on Britain’s AI strategy: the risk is that it is dependency dressed up in digital hype | Editorial

The UK’s plans seem to outsource sovereignty for phantom efficiency. Public services provide the data and power while US tech giants reap the rewardsThere was a time when Britain aspired to be a leader in technology. These days, it seems content to be a willing supplicant – handing over its data, infrastructure and public services to US tech giants in exchange for the promise of a few percentage points of efficiency gains. Worryingly, the artificial intelligence strategy of Sir Keir Starmer’s government appears long on rhetoric, short on sovereignty and built on techno-utopian assumptions. Last week Peter Kyle, the technology secretary, was promoting the use of AI-generated discharge letters in the NHS. The tech, he said, will process complex conversations between doctors and patients, slashing paperwork and streamlining services. Ministers say that by applying AI across the public sector, the government can save £45bn.But step back and a more familiar pattern emerges. As Cecil...

Events

53 h. ago The Guardian view on food and farming: climate chaos hits crops hard – and that should worry everyone | Editorial

Last year’s floods have been followed by heatwaves. Ministers must throw their weight behind resilient, adaptable agricultureBritish farmers are, of course, not the only people who are suffering from the effects of this summer’s heatwaves. Across Europe and the Middle East, record-breaking temperatures are threatening lives as well as livelihoods. France has experienced its largest wildfire since 1949, while across Europe an estimated 500,000 hectares of land have burned.But farmers are particularly vulnerable to extreme weather, which has a direct impact on crop yields. So reports of a second consecutive year in which food growers in parts of the UK are seeing dramatic falls in production should concern the British public. Access to food is frequently taken for granted in the world’s wealthiest nations. But increased food insecurity is among the dangerous effects of the climate crisis, as well as being worsened by Trump’s tariffs, and geopolitical instability including the war in U...

Events

61 h. ago At least 57 Palestinians killed as Israel escalates attack on last major population centre in Gaza City

At least 38 aid seekers among Palestinians killed on Sunday

Events

65 h. ago Gaza’s journalists are talented, professional and dignified. That’s why Israel targets them | Nesrine Malik

Recent killings have dazed the world and provoked condemnation. But little is said about the calibre of Palestinian journalismThe first time I met Al Jazeera’s Gaza team lead, Tamer Almisshal, was in July last year. His team had already buried two journalists, Hamza al-Dahdouh and Samer Abu Daqqa. The rest, he told me, were hungry. They were also dealing with trying to get hold of protective gear, threats from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the killing of family members. Ismail al-Ghoul hadn’t seen his wife and child in months and was missing them intensely. Hossam Shabat, Mohammed Qraiqea and Anas al-Sharif were asking for time to secure food in the morning before they could start reporting. Today, they are all dead.I spoke with various members of the Gaza team while writing a profile of Gaza’s veteran reporter Wael al-Dahdouh, who lost his wife, three of his children and grandson. All spoke of their work as a duty that needed to be carried out despite the risks. Three members...

Politics

66 h. ago At least 17 aid seekers killed as Israel escalates attack on last major population centre in Gaza City

Israeli airstrike on Al-Ahli Arab Hospital kills at least seven Palestinians

Events

3 d. ago The Guardian view on the Alaska summit: there must be no more gifts to Vladimir Putin | Editorial

As Volodymyr Zelenskyy heads to Washington amid talk of land swaps, European leaders must have his backHours after Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin departed from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska on Friday, Moscow officials reported that two more villages in Ukraine’s east had been seized by Russian forces. It was a grimly apt postscript to a “peace summit” that allowed a pariah leader to posture on the world stage, but signally failed to achieve the outcome that its host claimed to desire.Mr Trump had suggested that he would be “unhappy” if a ceasefire were not agreed during discussions with Mr Putin. There would, he warned, be “severe consequences” if his guest proved unwilling to end the war. Predictably, no ceasefire announcement was forthcoming, and the sanctions Mr Trump has repeatedly threatened, but never imposed, have been kicked into the long grass. Instead, the US president offered a crucial concession to Mr Putin, concurring that a cessation of hostilities sh...

Politics

3 d. ago The Guardian view on regulating cosmetic procedures: rogue operators must be tackled, but aren’t the only problem | Editorial

Tighter rules over treatments including fillers and Botox will send a message, but resources will be needed to enforce themThe enormous popularity of beauty treatments, including dermatological fillers and Botox injections, is not solely an issue for health regulators. Changing norms and aspirations about appearances, and the way that these are marketed mainly to women and girls, are a cultural and economic phenomenon that requires wider consideration. While attitudes to these procedures and aesthetics vary, many people – including some cosmetic surgeons – are concerned that younger women account for a growing share of a highly lucrative and growing market.The death last year of 33-year-old Alice Webb in Gloucestershire, after a non-surgical Brazilian butt lift, as well as multiple reports of injuries, and the deaths of at least 28 women who have travelled to Turkey for cosmetic treatments, have increased the pressure on ministers to tighten the law. Wes Streeting’s a...

Politics

3 d. ago Scores of Palestinians killed and thousands flee after Israel launches fresh airstrikes and announces plans to capture Gaza's largest city

The Hamas-run municipality of Gaza City's southern Zeitoun district described the situation as 'catastrophic', with residents enduring almost constant explosions from Israeli air strikes.

Events

4 d. ago Western journalists are failing to stand up for their colleagues in Gaza | Mohamad Bazzi

This hypocrisy of western media has been laid bare by Israel’s targeting of journalists since the 7 October 2023 Hamas attackFor nearly two years, Israel has been systemically targeting and killing Palestinian journalists in Gaza. On Sunday night, the Israeli military brazenly killed another six journalists, who had been sheltering in a tent housing media workers in Gaza City. Among them was the 28-year-old Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif and the rest of the network’s team reporting from the besieged territory.Israel is able to kill Palestinian journalists with impunity not just because of the unconditional military and political support it receives from the US and other western powers, but also the failure of many western media organizations and journalists to stand up for their Palestinian colleagues. Western outlets are often willing to publicly criticize governments and campaign for journalists who are harassed or imprisoned by US adversaries like Russia, China or Iran. ...

Events

5 d. ago Israeli unit tasked with smearing Gaza journalists as Hamas fighters – report

Israeli-Palestinian magazine says IDF ‘legitimisation cell’ set up to blunt global outrage over killing of media staffA special unit in Israel’s military was tasked with identifying reporters it could smear as undercover Hamas fighters, to target them and to blunt international outrage over the killing of media workers, the Israeli-Palestinian outlet +972 Magazine reports.The “legitimisation cell” was set up after the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack to gather information that could bolster Israel’s image and shore up diplomatic and military support from key allies, the report said, citing three intelligence sources. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago As Netanyahu starves Gaza, there is a whole new battle to be fought in Israel – against complacency | Aluf Benn

Here in Tel Aviv, beaches and restaurants are packed. Amid that distraction, the PM is playing his power games and purging his generalsAluf Benn is editor-in-chief of HaaretzThe extreme heatwave that has hit our region this week does not distinguish between Israelis and Palestinians. But while we Israelis hide in our air-conditioned houses, offices and cars, the besieged residents of Gaza can only add the unbearable hot and humid atmosphere to their struggle to eat, drink and sleep, in constant fear of death. The starvation crisis that has exploded in Gaza this summer, following Israeli-imposed restrictions on the flow of humanitarian aid, continues to worsen despite mounting international pressure to allow in more food, medicine and critical supplies. And the killing has never stopped, while Israel is preparing for the next stage of the war to “annihilate Hamas”.Most Israelis are self-immunised to the horrors being endured by Palestinians in Gaza. Told by our government and mainstr...

Politics

5 d. ago The Guardian view on the collapse of environmental talks: petrostates blocked a global plastics deal, but we must not despair | Editorial

The failure of UN talks in Geneva should anger us all. The increasing threat to our health, our environments and wildlife must be addressed. By ensuring the collapse of UN talks seeking the first legally binding agreement on tackling plastic pollution, blockers in Geneva have failed the next generation. Most states are willing, even determined, to act. But the US joined petrostates obstructing action. Their children too will live to regret that.To say that plastics are part of our lives from cradle to grave is an understatement: microplastics have been found in placentas, as well as blood and breast milk. While we can’t yet be certain of the full impact of the substances, we know that many have been linked to health effects and that foetuses, infants and young children are highly vulnerable. Microplastics have been shown to damage human cells in laboratory experiments, and a review published this month documented how exposure is associated with increased risks of miscarriage, stillb...

Economics

5 d. ago The Guardian view on France’s wine crisis: the answer to claret could be clairet | Editorial

Consumers are drinking less red wine than ever. Producers need to revive the fresher and lighter vintages that their medieval ancestors once harvestedThese are always anxious weeks in the Bordeaux vineyards, where 15% of France’s wine is grown, including in celebrated places like Chateau Latour and Chateau Mouton-Rothschild. In earlier years, this ritual anxiety among the region’s winegrowers had a pleasingly folkloric quality. In the middle of August, the grapes would ripen and their colour start to turn. About 45 days from now, tradition dictates, it will be time to start picking the 2025 vintage. As the wine writer Edmund Penning-Rowsell put it: “To pick or not to pick is the most momentous decision in the winemaking year in Bordeaux.”This once timeless rhythm is now collapsing. Part of the problem is the climate crisis. Bordeaux still benefits from its moderate Atlantic climate. But south-west France is getting much hotter and drier. Even in the Gironde region, maximum temperatu...

Events

6 d. ago London vigil condemns Israel’s killing of Palestinian journalists

London vigil condemns Israel’s killing of Palestinian journalists  PressTV

Events

7 d. ago Al Jazeera’s managing editor on Israel’s killing of journalists in Gaza – podcast

Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif was on air until Sunday, when the 28-year-old correspondent was killed along with five other journalists in a targeted strike carried out by Israel.Al Jazeera’s managing editor Mohamed Moawad tells Nour Haydar why al-Sharif refused to leave Gaza, even though ‘he knew this day would come’Read more: Continue reading...

Events