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Deutsche Welle;Legend Alexandra Popp plays her final match for Germany;https://www.dw.com/en/legend-alexandra-popp-plays-her-final-match-for-germany/a-70623582?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | 14 years after making her international debut in Duisburg, Alexandra Popp returned to the same stadium to bid farewell. The 33-year-old is the face of the women's game in Germany. Her departure marks the end of an era. |
Deutsche Welle;E-waste from AI computers could 'escalate beyond control';https://www.dw.com/en/e-waste-from-ai-computers-could-escalate-beyond-control/a-70619724?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Researchers predicting a thousand-fold increase in e-waste from AI computer servers by 2030 called for recycling strategies to reduce the environmental impact. |
Deutsche Welle;World Cup 2034: Saudi Arabia human rights report 'flawed';https://www.dw.com/en/world-cup-2034-saudi-arabia-human-rights-report-flawed/a-70621328?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | A number of human rights organizations have criticized a report published by FIFA on Saudi Arabia’s human rights record. The independent assessment from a law firm may rubber stamp the hosting of World Cup 2034. |
Deutsche Welle;VW intends to shut 3 German factories, works council says;https://www.dw.com/en/vw-intends-to-shut-3-german-factories-works-council-says/a-70618400?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | The move is expected to slash thousands of jobs in Volkswagen, according to workers' representatives. Germany is experiencing a sluggish economy and automakers deal with high production costs. |
Deutsche Welle;Biodiversity: The bizarre world of ants;https://www.dw.com/en/biodiversity-the-bizarre-world-of-ants/a-70207379?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Ants are complex creatures that have been around since the dinosaurs. These tiny critters can wage wars and tend their own gardens, but that's just the start. |
Deutsche Welle;'Tetris': What happens when you reach the final level?;https://www.dw.com/en/tetris-what-happens-when-you-reach-the-final-level/a-70599180?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | 'Tetris' was considered unbeatable for decades, then a 16-year-old managed to beat its final level. Some video games are truly infinite — or hide the ending unless you put in extra work. |
Deutsche Welle;India sees remarkable winter sports transformation;https://www.dw.com/en/india-sees-remarkable-winter-sports-transformation/a-70588536?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | India's winter sports athletes are preparing for a historic year in a country with a huge potential for sports like snowboarding, alpine skiing and Nordic skiing. |
Deutsche Welle;German business eyes India to reduce Chinese dependence;https://www.dw.com/en/german-business-eyes-india-to-reduce-chinese-dependence/a-70570272?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | German firms have long focused on the Chinese market but India is now becoming increasingly important amid rising geopolitical tensions between Beijing and the West. |
Deutsche Welle;Scholz backs increasing defense cooperation with India;https://www.dw.com/en/scholz-backs-increasing-defense-cooperation-with-india/a-70608664?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | The German chancellor wrapped up a three-day visit to the South Asian country, promising more arms cooperation. Scholz signed 27 new agreements in areas such as renewable energy, research and critical technologies. |
Deutsche Welle;What can stop the rise of populism in Germany and elsewhere?;https://www.dw.com/en/what-can-stop-the-rise-of-populism-in-germany-and-elsewhere/a-70585362?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Populist parties are on the rise in Germany as they are all over the world. What can open societies do to protect democracy? |
Deutsche Welle;ISS astronauts hospitalized after SpaceX splashdown;https://www.dw.com/en/iss-astronauts-hospitalized-after-spacex-splashdown/a-70602698?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | A crew of US and Russian astronauts were treated after landing off the coast of Florida on Friday. The four were onboard the ISS for over seven months, with Hurricane Milton delaying their return. |
Deutsche Welle;Should Germany return Nefertiti bust to Egypt?;https://www.dw.com/en/should-germany-return-nefertiti-bust-to-egypt/a-70601354?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | An Egyptian archaeologist has demanded the repatriation of the iconic bust of Queen Nefertiti that was shipped to Berlin over a century ago. German officials insist the sculpture will stay put. |
Deutsche Welle;Germany promises India more visas for skilled workers;https://www.dw.com/en/germany-promises-india-more-visas-for-skilled-workers/a-70601884?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Berlin will increase travel documents for skilled Indian workers. This follows a migration agreement signed two years ago between India and Germany to enhance mobility for professionals and students. |
Deutsche Welle;Can eating invasive species stop them spreading?;https://www.dw.com/en/can-eating-invasive-species-stop-them-spreading/a-69217731?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Introduced to ecosystems where they don’t naturally belong, non-native species of plants and animals are often able to sprawl unchecked. Does consuming them help? |
Deutsche Welle;Tell us your favorite Love Matters topic to win a DW prize package!;https://www.dw.com/en/tell-us-your-favorite-love-matters-topic-to-win-a-dw-prize-package/a-70500940?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | As we enter into a new season, we want to know which subjects are the most interesting to our audience. Which past episode of our podcast did you like best? Let us know for your chance to win some fabulous DW prizes. |
Deutsche Welle;Alexandra Popp set for Germany swan song;https://www.dw.com/en/alexandra-popp-set-for-germany-swan-song/a-70362423?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | The Olympic gold medalist is set to play her last match for Germany where her international football career began 14 years ago. |
Deutsche Welle;'Quantum leap' in climate ambition needed, says UN report;https://www.dw.com/en/quantum-leap-in-climate-ambition-needed-says-un-report/a-70578486?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | The latest UN emissions report shows current policies put the world on track for over 3C warming, with catastrophic climate consequences. The good news? We already have the technical solutions to prevent this. |
Deutsche Welle;Two lost medieval Silk Road cities mapped in Central Asia;https://www.dw.com/en/two-lost-medieval-silk-road-cities-mapped-in-central-asia/a-70589851?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Tugunbulak and Tashbulak, in the mountains of Uzbekistan, were bustling medieval centers of Silk Road trade between China, Arabia and Europe. Researchers have now mapped the cities using drone-borne LiDAR. |
Deutsche Welle;Hezbollah finances: Israel attacks funding network of the terrorist militia;https://www.dw.com/en/hezbollah-finances-israel-attacks-funding-network-of-the-terrorist-militia/a-70579683?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | This week, Israel began a series of bombing raids on sites associated with Hezbollah's financial system. Its primary focus has been a de facto bank, but experts say the militia has multiple revenue streams. |
Deutsche Welle;Menopause: German lawmakers push to break a taboo;https://www.dw.com/en/menopause-german-lawmakers-push-to-break-a-taboo/a-70577659?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Nine million women in Germany live with menopause, a severe health condition little understood and discussed even less. Lawmakers take up the issue one year before the general election, hoping to attract female voters. |
Deutsche Welle;Germany's Scholz and India's Modi to discuss economic ties;https://www.dw.com/en/germany-s-scholz-and-india-s-modi-to-discuss-economic-ties/a-70584052?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | German Chancellor Scholz is heading to India with several high-ranking ministers in tow for talks with PM Modi and his government. The goals include deepening economic cooperation and allowing for skilled immigration. |
Deutsche Welle;How watching movies can change political views;https://www.dw.com/en/how-watching-movies-can-change-political-views/a-70566016?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Watching a biopic about a wrongly convicted man boosted empathy towards incarcerated people and increased support for reforms to the US criminal justice system, according to a new scientific study. |
Deutsche Welle;German car giants alarmed by Donald Trump's trade threats;https://www.dw.com/en/german-car-giants-alarmed-by-donald-trump-s-trade-threats/a-70530326?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | German carmakers are growing nervous about the US election after Donald Trump called for more production in the United States. How can BMW, Audi, Volkswagen and Mercedes respond? |
Deutsche Welle;Germany's AI strategy: Closing the gap with the US and China;https://www.dw.com/en/germany-s-ai-strategy-closing-the-gap-with-the-us-and-china/a-70573169?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | As the global AI race heats up, Germany has a strategy to compete with global leaders like the US and China. But will the plan succeed? |
Deutsche Welle;Take our podcast poll for the chance to win DW swag!;https://www.dw.com/en/take-our-podcast-poll-for-the-chance-to-win-dw-swag/a-70484979?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Do you listen to DW's podcast Don't Drink the Milk – The curious history of things? If so, take part in this poll based on their latest episode about the history of the lawn! |
Deutsche Welle;Female footballers speak out against FIFA-Saudi deal;https://www.dw.com/en/female-footballers-speak-out-against-fifa-saudi-deal/a-70568958?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | In an open letter to FIFA, more than 100 players have criticized the cooperation agreement between football's world governing body and the Saudi oil company Aramco. |
Deutsche Welle;New COVID XEC variant: What you need to know;https://www.dw.com/en/new-covid-xec-variant-what-you-need-to-know/a-70266402?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | KP.3 was the "predominant" SARS-CoV-2 variant in the US, and was also spreading in Europe. It has now joined with another variant and has become XEC. |
Deutsche Welle;Ancient Peru: New discoveries highlight women's rule;https://www.dw.com/en/ancient-peru-new-discoveries-highlight-women-s-rule/a-70559915?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Archaeologists have uncovered a throne room and detailed wall paintings indicating that a woman likely ruled Moche society in Peru over 1,300 years ago. |
Deutsche Welle;Sports stars weigh in on US election;https://www.dw.com/en/sports-stars-weigh-in-on-us-election/a-70545215?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Sports and politics continue to collide ahead of the 2024 US presidential election. But do endorsements from Steph Curry and fellow athletes make a difference? And how do the candidates use them to their advantage? |
Deutsche Welle;Polio: All you need to know about the viral disease;https://www.dw.com/en/polio-all-you-need-to-know-about-the-viral-disease/a-63542779?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Health ministries in Pakistan have confirmed 39 cases of polio after a million children missed polio vaccinations. |
Deutsche Welle;What is biodiversity and why does it matter?;https://www.dw.com/en/what-is-biodiversity-and-why-does-it-matter/a-69145973?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | A diverse array of interconnected living organisms is the foundation of healthy and resilient ecosystems that provide food, shelter and clean air. The loss of a single species can upset the balance. |
Deutsche Welle;Obama, Trump, Biden: Presidential impact on the US economy;https://www.dw.com/en/obama-trump-biden-presidential-impact-on-the-us-economy/a-70512276?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Over the past 15 years, the US economy has fared well compared with those of other countries, no matter who was in the White House. |
Deutsche Welle;Germany inaugurates new naval HQ on the Baltic Sea;https://www.dw.com/en/germany-inaugurates-new-naval-hq-on-the-baltic-sea/a-70553331?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | The Command Task Force (CTF), headquartered in the Baltic Sea port city of Rostock, is intended to boost NATO's defense readiness in the region. |
Deutsche Welle;How to fix Germany's ailing health care system;https://www.dw.com/en/how-to-fix-germany-s-ailing-health-care-system/a-69236520?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | The German parliament has passed a law aiming to reorganize the health sector, slashing the number of hospitals, boosting clinics and digitalizing bureaucracy. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach called it a "revolution." |
Deutsche Welle;UN biodiversity talks: Is the world at a tipping point?;https://www.dw.com/en/un-biodiversity-talks-is-the-world-at-a-tipping-point/a-70525683?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Two years on from a historic deal to halt nature's decline, there's concern about the lack of progress. Species are vanishing at an alarming rate, threatening human food supply, health and security. |
Deutsche Welle;Male contraception — a growing business with game changers?;https://www.dw.com/en/male-contraception-a-growing-business-with-game-changers/a-70453644?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | There is fresh hope for men to control their fertility. Some promising new products are out there, but in many cases there is insufficient funding. |
Deutsche Welle;Charlie Chaplin: Keeping a comedy genius in business;https://www.dw.com/en/charlie-chaplin-keeping-a-comedy-genius-in-business/a-70485037?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Film legend Charlie Chaplin has an office in Paris. And the man in charge of the business is on a mission to keep "The Tramp's" legacy alive one contract at a time. |
Deutsche Welle;Germany: Will city of Wolfsburg survive Volkswagen's crisis?;https://www.dw.com/en/germany-will-city-of-wolfsburg-survive-volkswagen-s-crisis/a-70497428?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Almost everybody in Wolfsburg in northern Germany works for VW or their business depends on the company. Now, as the car giant considers cuts, an entire city is afraid of its downfall. |
Deutsche Welle;'Aura' is German youth word of the year 2024;https://www.dw.com/en/aura-is-german-youth-word-of-the-year-2024/a-70534660?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Selected by Germany's youth as their trendiest slang of the year, the word "aura" has been given new meaning by quantifying cool. |
Deutsche Welle;India's IPO record shattered with $5.5 billion launch;https://www.dw.com/en/india-s-ipo-record-shattered-with-5-5-billion-launch/a-70499104?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | India is the world's third-largest auto market, set for further huge growth before the end of the decade. South Korean carmaker Hyundai is banking on a Bombay listing to solidify its market position. |
Deutsche Welle;Africa's debt crisis: The need for multilateral solutions;https://www.dw.com/en/africa-s-debt-crisis-the-need-for-multilateral-solutions/a-70531996?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Many African countries are struggling to service their debts. Observers are urging global action and greater involvement of African stakeholders in developing solutions. |
Deutsche Welle;Sports scientist: Top footballers will be forced to retire early because of packed schedule;https://www.dw.com/en/sports-scientist-top-footballers-will-be-forced-to-retire-early-because-of-packed-schedule/a-70535464?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | More matches and bigger tournaments – demands on players continue to grow. They're threatening to go on strike, but their concerns have fallen on deaf ears at FIFA and UEFA, despite fears some will quit in their 20s. |
Deutsche Welle;SpaceX catches rocket, search for life near Jupiter sets off, Sun reaches max magnetism;https://www.dw.com/en/spacex-catches-rocket-search-for-life-near-jupiter-sets-off-sun-reaches-max-magnetism/a-70526237?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Space agencies have been busy with three major launch milestones occurring in the space of a week. Meanwhile, the sun is at peak solar activity during its current cycle. DW takes a look at this week's space news. |
Deutsche Welle;Why we should care about airplane contrails and their impact on the climate;https://www.dw.com/en/why-we-should-care-about-airplane-contrails-and-their-impact-on-the-climate/a-70473327?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Condensation trails or contrails — the white, feathery lines behind airplanes — could have as big an impact on the climate as the aviation sector's CO2 emissions. Here's why, and what we can do mitigate the effects. |
Deutsche Welle;German Peace Prize winner Anne Applebaum: A voice against autocrats;https://www.dw.com/en/german-peace-prize-winner-anne-applebaum-a-voice-against-autocrats/a-70524941?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | The US-Polish historian focuses on researching autocratic regimes. She has warned the world of Vladimir Putin's expansionist policy long before the full-scale war in Ukraine. |
Deutsche Welle;One Direction singer Liam Payne dies aged 31;https://www.dw.com/en/one-direction-singer-liam-payne-dies-aged-31/a-70518579?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Former One Direction singer Liam Payne has been found dead after he fell from a hotel balcony in Argentina. Payne had been vocal about his struggles with alcohol. |
Deutsche Welle;Mount Everest: The 100-year-old mystery of Mallory and Irvine;https://www.dw.com/en/mount-everest-the-100-year-old-mystery-of-mallory-and-irvine/a-70524517?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | US mountaineers recently discovered the boot, sock and foot of Andrew Irvine on Mount Everest. But does this mean he might have made history before anyone else? DW examines the evidence. |
Deutsche Welle;Columbus stays Italian until Spanish scientists publish data;https://www.dw.com/en/columbus-stays-italian-until-spanish-scientists-publish-data/a-70513162?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | A Spanish TV documentary has broadcast claims that Christopher Columbus was a Sephardic Jew from Western Europe and not from Genoa, Italy. But scientists want to see the data before the history books get rewritten. |
Deutsche Welle;Will Google finally cave in under US regulatory pressure?;https://www.dw.com/en/will-google-finally-cave-in-under-us-regulatory-pressure/a-70505887?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Google has long been successfully fighting a multitude of legal battles seeking to curb its market power. Now as US antitrust regulators have taken on the internet behemoth, the air is getting thinner. |
Deutsche Welle;European Central Bank cuts key interest rate to 3.25%;https://www.dw.com/en/european-central-bank-cuts-key-interest-rate-to-3-25/a-70521077?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | The decision came after new figures showed inflation across the bloc had fallen to its lowest level in more than three years. |
Deutsche Welle;What are the La Nina and El Nino climate phenomena?;https://www.dw.com/en/what-are-the-la-nina-and-el-nino-climate-phenomena/a-68772863?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Meteorologists are predicting a possible return of La Nina, linked to cooler temperatures and heavy rain. Here's how the Pacific weather phases of El Nino and La Nina can influence extreme weather across the globe. |
Deutsche Welle;Depression remaps people's 'attention brain networks';https://www.dw.com/en/depression-remaps-people-s-attention-brain-networks/a-70522302?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | A brain network involved in motivation and attention is larger in people with depression. The difference is also visible in people before they develop depression symptoms. |
Deutsche Welle;Kurov documentary traces Russian crackdown on free speech;https://www.dw.com/en/kurov-documentary-traces-russian-crackdown-on-free-speech/a-70516970?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Filmmaker Askold Kurov's documentary "Of Caravan and the Dogs" shows how Russia shut down independent media outlets after invading Ukraine. |
Deutsche Welle;Europe-wide train links marred by steep costs, construction;https://www.dw.com/en/europe-wide-train-links-marred-by-steep-costs-construction/a-70506418?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Delays, steep costs and construction work are undermining the dream of a Europe-wide high-speed rail network, with night trains especially susceptible to disruptions. |
Deutsche Welle;75 years of Frankfurt Book Fair: World stage for protests;https://www.dw.com/en/75-years-of-frankfurt-book-fair-world-stage-for-protests/a-70283991?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | The Cold War, neo-Nazis, as well as Iran's fatwa on Salman Rushdie all had an impact on the Frankfurt Book Fair, which opens with another controversy from Italy. |
Deutsche Welle;Italy's spotlight at Frankfurt Book Fair sparks controversy;https://www.dw.com/en/italy-s-spotlight-at-frankfurt-book-fair-sparks-controversy/a-70515205?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | As the guest of honor at the world's biggest book fair in Frankfurt, Italy has prompted fury by not inviting anti-Mafia author Roberto Saviano, with dozens of his fellow writers decrying it as censorship. |
Deutsche Welle;War in Ukraine: Landmines to hurt food exports for years;https://www.dw.com/en/war-in-ukraine-landmines-to-hurt-food-exports-for-years/a-70448256?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Mines and explosives have become one of the biggest challenges for Ukrainian farmers. With huge swathes of fertile land being heavily contaminated, what does this mean for the world's dinner plates? |
Deutsche Welle;Tuchel new England men's football team coach — a smart move?;https://www.dw.com/en/tuchel-new-england-men-s-football-team-coach-a-smart-move/a-70513412?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | German tactician Thomas Tuchel will manage England's men's football squad. What led to his appointment, and how has it been received? |
Deutsche Welle;Chilean author Antonio Skarmeta dies at 83;https://www.dw.com/en/chilean-author-antonio-skarmeta-dies-at-83/a-70509672?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Skarmeta wrote his most famous novel, "Burning Patience" — adapted into the Oscar-winning "The Postman" — while in exile in Berlin, having fled the Pinochet regime. |
Deutsche Welle;Plant-based milk — a greener, healthier dairy alternative?;https://www.dw.com/en/plant-based-milk-a-greener-healthier-dairy-alternative/a-70199688?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Stores sell scores of different plant-based milks. But are these dairy alternatives — variously made from soy, almond, rice, peas or cashews — really better for the environment and our health? |
Deutsche Welle;What is a supermoon?;https://www.dw.com/en/what-is-a-supermoon/a-62130848?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Supermoons are a rare chance to get close to the moon and see it bigger and brighter with your own eyes. The next opportunity will be on October 17. |
Deutsche Welle;Surrealism movement turns 100;https://www.dw.com/en/surrealism-movement-turns-100/a-70491553?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | "The Surrealist Manifesto" was published a century ago. Artists such as Andre Breton and Salvador Dali aimed to create a better future. How has their legacy changed the way we see the world? |
Deutsche Welle;Football: Tuchel reportedly to become England head coach;https://www.dw.com/en/football-tuchel-reportedly-to-become-england-head-coach/a-70507268?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Thomas Tuchel is reportedly set to become only the third foreign head coach of the England men's national team — and the first German. The 51-year-old left Bayern Munich in the summer. |
Deutsche Welle;Kylian Mbappé rejects Swedish rape claim;https://www.dw.com/en/kylian-mbappé-rejects-swedish-rape-claim/a-70506313?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | The Real Madrid star has furiously denied reports in Sweden that he is the unnamed person in a rape investigation. He also appeared to link the reports to his ongoing wage dispute with former club Paris Saint-Germain. |
Deutsche Welle;Libya blames Nigeria for AFCON qualifier cancellation;https://www.dw.com/en/libya-blames-nigeria-for-afcon-qualifier-cancellation/a-70505269?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Libya's footballing body says Nigeria is to blame for the postponement of a scheduled Africa Cup of Nations qualifier. The Super Eagles had refused to play the match citing mistreatment upon their arrival to Libya. |
Deutsche Welle;Germany's new era starts with Freigang as the big hope;https://www.dw.com/en/germany-s-new-era-starts-with-freigang-as-the-big-hope/a-70500494?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | New coach Christian Wück has had to make tweaks in his first squad given the impending exits of top stars including Alexandra Popp. It's up to in-form Laura Freigang to seize the initiative against England and Australia. |
Deutsche Welle;Germany's Fiebich and Sabally win WNBA championship for New York;https://www.dw.com/en/germany-s-fiebich-and-sabally-win-wnba-championship-for-new-york/a-70502811?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | The New York Liberty won their first WNBA title after a dramatic overtime win in game five. German stars Leonie Fiebich and Nyara Sabally made big contributions. |
Deutsche Welle;Martina Hefter wins coveted 2024 German Book Prize;https://www.dw.com/en/martina-hefter-wins-coveted-2024-german-book-prize/a-70500570?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Martina Hefter has won Germany's top literary award for her story of a woman who cares for her ill husband while chatting online at night with a Nigerian love scammer. |
Deutsche Welle;How hospitals are dealing with climate change challenges;https://www.dw.com/en/how-hospitals-are-dealing-with-climate-change-challenges/a-70490852?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | From offering telemedicine to producing their own food or energy, hospitals around the world are getting creative to cope with threats like flooding, heat waves or power cuts in the wake of rising temperatures. |
Deutsche Welle;Leweling stars as Germany reach Nations League quarterfinals;https://www.dw.com/en/leweling-stars-as-germany-reach-nations-league-quarterfinals/a-70493715?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Julian Nagelsmann's side has made the Nations League final phases, a first in four tries for Germany. A Stuttgart attacker was the star of the show in the 1-0 win over the Netherlands. |
Deutsche Welle;Nigeria's Super Eagles boycott Libya match over 'mind games';https://www.dw.com/en/nigeria-s-super-eagles-boycott-libya-match-over-mind-games/a-70493378?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | The Nigerian men's soccer team has pulled out of its Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Libya in protest at being abandoned at an airport after their plane was diverted. |
Deutsche Welle;AI research uncovers 160,000 new RNA viruses;https://www.dw.com/en/ai-research-uncovers-160-000-new-rna-viruses/a-70465441?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | AI algorthim helps scientists identify a treasure trove of viruses from environmental samples across the planet. None are likely to be harmful. |
Deutsche Welle;Dresden: Robo-conductor takes the baton;https://www.dw.com/en/dresden-robo-conductor-takes-the-baton/a-70490890?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | The Dresden Symphony Orchestra revisits the relationship between man and machine — and the results are surprising. Is this the future of classical music? |
Deutsche Welle;Nobel Prize: Trio win 2024 award for economics;https://www.dw.com/en/nobel-prize-trio-win-2024-award-for-economics/a-70484442?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson were picked for their studies on how institutions shape the economic success of nations. The $1 million prize was announced at a news conference in Stockholm. |
Deutsche Welle;A Haydn project feted at Opus Klassik awards;https://www.dw.com/en/a-haydn-project-feted-at-opus-klassik-awards/a-70466340?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Germany's top classical music prize, the Opus Klassik, goes to a recording of Joseph Haydn's music by the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. The making of the album is featured in a new DW documentary. |
Deutsche Welle;Ruth Chepngetich breaks marathon world record for women;https://www.dw.com/en/ruth-chepngetich-breaks-marathon-world-record-for-women/a-70482013?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Kenyan runner Ruth Chepngetich smashed the women's marathon world record in the Chicago Marathon. She dedicated the surprise run to a late compatriot who set the men's record last year. |
Deutsche Welle;Germany national team: Goalkeeper Baumann's wait is over;https://www.dw.com/en/germany-national-team-goalkeeper-baumann-s-wait-is-over/a-70481640?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Oliver Baumann will become the third oldest man to make his debut for Germany at 34. The Hoffenheim goalkeeper may have had to wait for his chance, but his coach thinks he is ready to grab it. |
Deutsche Welle;Bosnia's Barbarez falls to second homeland in home debut;https://www.dw.com/en/bosnia-s-barbarez-falls-to-second-homeland-in-home-debut/a-70475585?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Bosnia and Herzegovina's head coach, Sergej Barbarez, failed to pull off a miracle against his country of residence. Deniz Undav made sure of that. |
Deutsche Welle;Why South Korean culture is a global hit;https://www.dw.com/en/why-south-korean-culture-is-a-global-hit/a-60105618?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Already popular through K-pop, the TV series "Squid Game" and the Oscar success "Parasite," South Korean culture is once again in the spotlight with Han Kang's Nobel Prize win. But how did the K-wave start? |
Deutsche Welle;Why Germany's dying forests could be good news;https://www.dw.com/en/why-germany-s-dying-forests-could-be-good-news/a-70461269?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Germany is losing its forests — and fast. In the central Harz region, over 90% of spruce trees are dead or dying because of climate change and pests. But there may be a silver lining to these withering landscapes. |
Deutsche Welle;Hurricane Milton: What's fueling stronger storms?;https://www.dw.com/en/hurricane-milton-what-s-fueling-stronger-storms/a-67233959?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Why have devastating hurricanes like Milton become so common? Ocean warming may be a key factor driving the increase in frequency and severity of storms worldwide. |
Deutsche Welle;Hundreds of viruses live on showerheads and toothbrushes;https://www.dw.com/en/hundreds-of-viruses-live-on-showerheads-and-toothbrushes/a-70447438?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | No one showerhead or toothbrush bristle is the same, with US researchers finding a rich, diverse world of viruses living in biofilms coating surfaces in bathrooms across the US and Europe. |
Deutsche Welle;Nobel Prize: Baker, Hassabis, Jumper win award for chemistry;https://www.dw.com/en/nobel-prize-baker-hassabis-jumper-win-award-for-chemistry/a-70374543?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John M. Jumper have been awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry for their research into designing proteins and predicting their structures. |
Deutsche Welle;John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton win Nobel physics award;https://www.dw.com/en/john-hopfield-and-geoffrey-hinton-win-nobel-physics-award/a-70374538?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Physicists John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton have been awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics. They were honored for their research on machine learning with artificial neural networks. |
Deutsche Welle;Is the US really experiencing a boom in green energy jobs?;https://www.dw.com/en/is-the-us-really-experiencing-a-boom-in-green-energy-jobs/a-70333893?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act has revved up the US green energy economy and created thousands of jobs. Can the landmark climate bill continue to deliver the goods? |
Deutsche Welle;Can hydropower hold its own against weather extremes?;https://www.dw.com/en/can-hydropower-hold-its-own-against-weather-extremes/a-68929058?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Recent droughts in Colombia and Ecuador have severely hampered energy supplied by hydropower. How viable is the low-carbon renewable in an increasingly hot and dry world? |
Deutsche Welle;Nobel Prize in medicine goes to Victor Ambros, Gary Ruvkun;https://www.dw.com/en/nobel-prize-in-medicine-goes-to-victor-ambros-gary-ruvkun/a-70374530?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | US scientists Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun have been awarded the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for their research into microRNA. |
Deutsche Welle;Is the Nobel Prize still relevant today?;https://www.dw.com/en/is-the-nobel-prize-still-relevant-today/a-70346756?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | The Nobel Prize is considered the "Mount Everest of science." But it faces criticism over how winners are chosen, and may give a warped idea of scientific progress. |
Deutsche Welle;How Europe's creating the moon on Earth;https://www.dw.com/en/how-europe-s-creating-the-moon-on-earth/a-70343435?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf;2024-11-03 01:00:15 | Getting to the moon takes a lot of small steps, like Europe's new LUNA training facility. But it's not there yet. Next step: a moon gravity simulator. |
The Guardian;Middle East crisis: Israeli attacks kill at least 31 people in Gaza, medics say – as it happened;https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/nov/03/middle-east-crisis-live-unicef-northern-gaza-imminent-death-warning;2024-11-03T15:55:58Z | We are now closing this blog but you can read our report on today’s developments in Gaza here. Turkey’s foreign ministry has submitted a letter to the UN, signed by 52 countries and two organisations, calling for a halt in arms deliveries to Israel. Turkey’s foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, told a press conference in Djibouti, where he was attending a Turkey-Africa partnership summit: We have written a joint letter calling on all countries to stop the sale of arms and ammunition to Israel. We delivered this letter, which has 54 signatories, to the UN on 1 November. We must repeat at every opportunity that selling arms to Israel means participating in its genocide. Fidan said the letter is “an initiative launched by Turkey”. Among the signatories was Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Algeria, China, Iran and Russia, with the two organisations being the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports. Last month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called on the UN to impose an arms embargo on Israel, which he said would be an “effective solution” to end the war. Erdoğan has been a vocal opponent of Israel’s war in Gaza. He has accused Israel of genocide, called for it to be punished in international courts and criticised western nations for backing the country’s military assault. Palestinian medics said at least 31 people were killed by Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip on Sunday. Nearly half of those killed by the Israeli military were reported to have been in northern Gaza, including in Beit Lahiya and Jabalia. Other deadly Israeli airstrikes were reported in Gaza City and the southern city of Khan Younis. At least 43,341 Palestinian people have been killed and 102,105 injured in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry said. Lebanon’s health ministry said an Israeli strike killed three people near the southern city of Sidon. “The Israeli enemy’s raid on Haret Saida resulted in an initial death toll of three people killed and nine others injured,” Lebanon’s health ministry said. The Israeli military called for the evacuation of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon, warning that it was poised to strike Hezbollah targets there and in nearby Douris. A polio vaccination centre and the car of UN aid official involved in this weekend’s vaccination campaign came under fire despite a promised “humanitarian pause” in Israeli bombardment, the UN said. Rachael Cummings, the team lead and health specialist from Save the Children International, has warned that apocalyptic scenes are unfolding in northern Gaza. She was quoted by Al Jazeera as having said: We are seeing the apocalypse now unfolding in the north of Gaza. People are being constantly bombarded with aerial attacks and of course, we know that the food and the water is not sufficient. The convoys of food and water are being denied into the north … It is absolutely catastrophic. A renewed Israeli assault was launched on the northern part of the Strip last month, with the Israeli military saying it was to stop Hamas fighters regrouping there. The blockage of aid and food deliveries and the targeting of civilian infrastructure, however, have led to accusations that Israel is committing the war crime of seeking to forcibly displace the remaining population. The entirety of northern Gaza is under Israeli evacuation orders but many people have stayed as there is nowhere safe to flee the relentless bombardments. The Israeli army has previously ordered residents to flee towards the so-called “humanitarian zone” of al-Mawasi, even though it has been targeted in deadly airstrikes and is severely overcrowded. An Israeli court is considering whether to lift a gag order on a case surrounding suspected leaks of classified information from an associate of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Associated Press has the following report: Israeli media reports say the case concerns the leak of classified information to two European media outlets by an adviser who may not have been formally employed and did not have security clearance, without naming the individual. Netanyahu said the person in question “never participated in security discussions, was not exposed to or received classified information, and did not take part in secret visits.” The leaked documents are said to have formed the basis of a widely discredited article in the London-based Jewish Chronicle — which was later withdrawn — suggesting Hamas planned to spirit hostages out of Gaza through Egypt, and an article in Germany’s Bild newspaper that said Hamas was drawing out the talks as a form of psychological warfare on Israel. Israeli media and other observers expressed skepticism about the articles, which appeared to support Netanyahu’s demands in the talks and absolve him of blame for their failure… A court document confirmed that an investigation by police, the military and the Shin Bet internal security agency is underway and that a number of suspects have been arrested for questioning. It said the affair poses “a risk to sensitive information and sources” and “harms the achievement of the goals of the war in the Gaza Strip.” The court will decide on Sunday whether to lift a gag order on other details of the case. The special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, has said that Palestinian children living in areas that Israel unlawfully occupies are being targeted by Israeli forces in “many depraved ways”. She shared a video on X showing schoolchildren in the Jaber neighborhood of Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, unable to reach Haj Ziad Jaber school because of barbed wire blocking their access. Albanese wrote: Look at the totality of Israel’s conduct, in the totality of the land it unlawfully occupies, against the totality of the Palestinian people living there. And when you see how children, in particular, are targeted in so many depraved ways - through killing, maiming, starving, torture, terror, depriving them of schools, dreams, future, hope - you see the destructive mind and intent at work, in the realisation of a plan that comes from afar. Last week, Albanese said the UN should consider suspending Israel as a member state due to its continuing “genocide” against the Palestinians. You can read more on her comments in this piece. Palestinian medics have said at least 31 people were killed by Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip on Sunday, increasing an earlier death toll of 23 (see earlier post at 10.05). Nearly half of those killed by the Israeli military were reported to have been in northern Gaza, where the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has been conducting an intense month long assault. A polio vaccination centre and the car of UN aid official involved in this weekend’s vaccination campaign came under fire despite a promised “humanitarian pause” in Israeli bombardment, the UN has said. Catherine Russell, the executive director of the UN child support and protection agency Unicef, said: “At least three children were reportedly injured by another attack in the proximity of a vaccination clinic in Sheikh Radwan, while a polio vaccination campaign was under way.” She added that the personal car of a Unicef employee working on the polio vaccine campaign “came under fire by what we believe to be a quadcopter”. “The car was damaged. Fortunately, the staff member was not injured. But she has been left deeply shaken,” Russell wrote. Read the full report here Lebanon’s health ministry said three people were killed and nine others wounded in an Israeli strike Sunday on Haret Saida, a densely populated area near the southern city of Sidon. “The Israeli enemy’s raid on Haret Saida resulted in an initial death toll of three people killed and nine others injured,” the ministry said. Agence France-Presse reports that the strike was not preceded by an Israeli evacuation warning. At least seven Palestinians, including children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis on Sunday, health officials told Reuters. There are mounting concerns over whether the Israeli government’s ultimate war aims in Gaza include territorial expansion, as the IDF’s siege on the northern part of the territory – under sweeping evacuation orders - intensifies. Here is an extract from a report by my colleagues Malak A Tantesh and Julian Borger, who explore these concerns further: The IDF says it is hunting Hamas militants but suspicions are growing that Israel is putting into practice a blueprint it had officially distanced itself from, known as the “generals’ plan”. The plan, named after the retired senior officers promoting it, was intended to depopulate northern Gaza by giving the Palestinians trapped there an opportunity to evacuate and then treating those that stayed as combatants, laying total siege. The government insisted the plan had not been adopted, but some IDF soldiers in Gaza, as well as Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups, say it is being implemented on a daily basis, but with a major difference: the Palestinians in northern Gaza were not given a realistic chance to evacuate. They are trapped. You can read the full story here: At least 43,341 Palestinian people have been killed and 102,105 injured in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Sunday. Of those, 27 Palestinians were killed and 86 injured in the latest 24-hour reporting period, the ministry said. Gaza’s health ministry has said in the past that thousands of other dead people are most likely lost in the rubble of the territory. Here are some of the latest images coming out of Gaza from the newswires: Israeli forces have detained at least 16 Palestinians across the occupied West Bank since last night, the Palestinian Authority’s Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees and the Prisoners’ Society said. According to Wafa, the Palestinian news agency, the detentions were carried out in Hebron, Nablus, Ramallah, Salfit and Tubas. It is estimated that at least 11,500 Palestinians have been arrested in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since last October. Human rights groups and international organisations have alleged widespread abuse of inmates detained by Israel in raids in the West Bank. They have described alleged abusive and humiliating treatment, including holding blindfolded and handcuffed detainees in cramped cages as well as beatings, intimidation and harassment. The commissioner general of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), which provides shelter, education, medical services, food and water to Palestinian refugees, has said that banning the agency from operating within Israel and occupied East Jerusalem will deprive Palestinian children of learning in the “foreseeable future”. Philippe Lazzarini, in a statement posted to X, said this deprivation of education will increase the likelihood of children becoming radicalised and exploited into joining armed groups, as well as increasing poverty levels. “Without Unrwa, the fate of millions of people will hang by the thread. Instead of focusing on banning Unrwa or finding alternatives, the focus should be on reaching an agreement to end this conflict,” Lazzarini wrote. “This is the only way to prioritize the return to school for hundreds of thousands of children, currently living in the rubble. It’s time to prioritise children and their future.” Israel’s war on Gaza has left nearly all of the territory’s population in poverty, with quality of life indicators such as health and education knocked back 70 years, the United Nations development agency said in a report last month. Since the war began last October, schools have been bombed in Israeli attacks or turned into shelters for displaced people, leaving Gaza’s estimated 625,000 school-age children unable to attend classes. Lazzarini said that until last October Unrwa provided learning to over 300,000 children, but now they are losing a second year of education. The Palestinian education ministry said it has begun to launch virtual schools and open schools in the occupied West Bank to students in Gaza, saying it is determined to provide as much education as possible, even if it is from inside “dilapidated tents”. Last week, 92 Israeli MPs voted for a measure to ban Unrwa’s activities in Israel while only 10 voted to oppose the measure. A second bill severed diplomatic relations with the agency. You can read more about the passing of the bill and its effects here. The Israeli military called for the evacuation of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon, warning that it was poised to strike Hezbollah targets there and in nearby Douris. “For your safety and the safety of your family members, you must evacuate these buildings and those adjacent to them immediately and stay away from them for a distance of no less than 500 meters within the next four hours,” the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a post on X. Israel has broadened its deadly airstrikes in recent weeks to bigger urban hubs in Lebanon, like the town of Baalbek, home to about 80,000 people, after initially targeting smaller border villages in the south, where the IDF says Hezbollah conducts operations. More than 2,100 people in Lebanon have been killed in Israel’s war on the country over the past five weeks, and 1.2 million others displaced by Israeli attacks, according to Lebanese officials. The UN has said many people forced to flee Lebanon (many of whom have gone to Syria) have slept overnight in their vehicles, facing harsh conditions as they search for safety. Al Jazeera has been told by medical sources that Israeli attacks have killed 23 people in Gaza, including 13 in the northern part of the territory, since dawn. The Guardian is yet to independently verify these figures. Medics said at least 13 Palestinians were killed in separate attacks on houses in Beit Lahiya and Jabalia, the largest of the enclave’s eight historic refugee camps and the focus of the Israeli army’s renewed assault on northern Gaza. The rest of the Palestinian people were killed in separate Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City and the southern areas, according to Reuters. Palestinian officials have said an Israeli drone strike on a clinic in northern Gaza where children were being vaccinated for polio injured six people, including four children, on Saturday. The Israeli military has denied responsibility. Dr Munir al-Boursh, director general of the Gaza health ministry, told the Associated Press that a quadcopter struck the Sheikh Radwan clinic in Gaza City early on Saturday afternoon, just a few minutes after a UN delegation left the health facility. The World Health Organization (WHO) and Unicef expressed alarm over reports that the clinic was hit during the vaccination drive. Rosalia Bollen, a spokesperson for Unicef, said: The reports of this attack are even more disturbing as the Sheikh Radwan Clinic is one of the health points where parents can get their children vaccinated. Today’s attack occurred while the humanitarian pause was still in effect, despite assurances given that the pause would be respected from 6am to 4pm. The polio campaign began on 1 September after the WHO confirmed in August that a baby was partially paralysed by the type 2 polio virus, the first such case in the territory in 25 years. The first round of the vaccine campaign in early September successfully reached 559,000 children under 10 years old. The vaccines were able to be administered due to local “humanitarian pauses” to fighting in Gaza agreed by Israel and Palestinian groups (while these temporary pauses were generally stuck to in certain areas in Gaza, there were reports of Israeli airstrikes killing Palestinian people in others). The second phase of the drive began yesterday having been postponed last month due to relentless Israeli airstrikes in northern Gaza, mass displacement of Palestinians and a lack of access in the region (you can read this story to find out more). A Bangladeshi worker, Mohammad Nizam, 31, was killed in an airstrike in Lebanon on Saturday afternoon, Dhaka’s foreign ministry has said. Nizam was killed in the airstrike as he stopped at a coffee shop on the way to work in Beirut, Bangladesh’s ambassador to Lebanon, Javed Tanveer Khan, said. Mohmmad Jalaluddin said his younger brother Nizam had lived in Beirut for more than a decade, and had not been among the estimated 1,800 Bangladeshis who had registered for an evacuation flight home. “We want to bury him in our ancestral home, and are now waiting for the government’s response,” Jalaluddin told Agence France-Presse (AFP). But senior Bangladeshi foreign ministry official Shah Mohammad Tanvir Monsur said it was challenging to arrange a flight into Beirut. Monsur said: With the ongoing war, there are hardly any flights from Lebanon to Bangladesh. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to repatriate our citizens who have registered to return home. The foreign ministry estimates that between 70,000 and 100,000 of its nationals are working in Lebanon, many as labourers or domestic workers. Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of Israel’s ongoing wars on Gaza and Lebanon. The entire Palestinian population in northern Gaza is at “imminent risk” of dying from disease, famine or “ongoing bombardments” by the Israeli military, the head of the United Nations children’s agency (Unicef), Catherine Russell, has warned. In a statement issued yesterday, Russell said that in the past 48 hours alone, over 50 children had reportedly been killed in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza’s eight historical refugee camps, where deadly Israeli airstrikes destroyed two residential buildings sheltering hundreds of people. Israel severely restricted aid to Gaza in October, allowing in only about a third of the humanitarian assistance that entered the previous month. Russell said: Civilians and civilian structures, including residential buildings, as well as humanitarian workers and their vehicles, must always be protected in accordance with international humanitarian law. Displacement or evacuation orders do not permit any party to the conflict to regard all individuals or objects in an area as military targets; nor do they exempt them from their obligations to distinguish between military and civilian objectives, be proportional and take all feasible precautions in attacks. Yet these principles are being flaunted over and over again, leaving tens of thousands of children killed, injured, and deprived of essential services needed for survival. Attacks on civilians, including humanitarian workers, and what remains of Gaza’s civilian facilities and infrastructure must stop. Her comments come as Wafa, the Palestinian news agency, reported this morning that at least nine Palestinian people were killed in Israeli airstrikes targeting two homes in Jabalia and Beit Lahiya, also in northern Gaza, as well as the southern city of Rafah. The Israeli military launched an intense assault in northern Gaza on 6 October, claiming it was trying to stop Hamas fighters from regrouping. But many civilians have been killed in the attacks, with residents saying Israeli forces besieged hospitals and shelters for displaced people and targeted residential areas. Residents in the north, under sweeping evacuation orders, say they feel trapped as there is nowhere safe for them to flee to due to the relentless Israeli attacks there. Here are some of the other key developments: American B-52 bombers have arrived in the Middle East, the US military has confirmed. “B-52 Stratofortress strategic bombers from Minot Air Force Base’s 5th Bomb Wing arrived in the US Central Command area of responsibility,” the military command for the Middle East and surrounding countries said in a post on social media. The US – Israel’s biggest arms supplier and diplomatic ally - announced on Friday evening that it was sending the bombers, fighter and tanker aircraft and ballistic missile defense destroyers to the Middle East. “Should Iran, its partners, or its proxies use this moment to target American personnel or interests in the region, the United States will take every measure necessary to defend our people,” Pentagon spokesperson Maj Gen Pat Ryder said. The Israeli military said about 10 rockets were fired from Lebanon at northern Israel after air raid sirens were sounded in the Haifa Bay and Galilee areas. Some of the rockets were intercepted while others struck open ground. There were no immediate reports of injuries. The Israeli military launched a series of airstrikes on southern Lebanon overnight, including the town of Zawtar al-Sharqiya in the Nabatieh district, according to reports. Israeli naval forces captured a senior Hezbollah operative in north Lebanon, an Israeli military official said on Saturday. The operative appears to be a Lebanese sea captain. Earlier, Lebanese authorities said it was investigating whether Israel was behind the capture of a sea captain who was taken away by a group of armed men who had landed on the coast near the northern town of Batroun on Friday. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, has released the following statement on the US’s military support to Israel amid its deadly wars in Gaza and Lebanon: “Ongoing events in Lebanon & Gaza have resulted in the martyrdom of 50,000 ppl in the last year, mostly women & children… The US that claims to be an advocate of human rights, supports & is complicit in those crimes. Plans & weapons used are from the US.” |
The Guardian;Mud and insults thrown as Spanish king and PM visit flood-hit town;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/03/residents-throw-mud-and-insults-at-spanish-king-on-visit-to-flood-hit-town;2024-11-03T15:33:46Z | Hundreds of people have heckled Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia, as well as the prime minister and the regional leader of Valencia – throwing mud and shouting “murderers” – as the group attempted an official visit to one of the municipalities hardest hit by the deadly floods. The scenes playing out in Paiporta on Sunday laid bare the mounting sense of abandonment among the devastated areas and the lingering anger over why an alert urging residents not to leave home on Tuesday was sent after the flood waters began surging. Much of the fury appeared to be directed at the elected officials, as calls rang out for the resignation of Pedro Sánchez, the country’s prime minister, and Carlos Mazón, Valencia’s regional leader. Sánchez was swiftly evacuated as bodyguards used umbrellas to protect the group from the barrage of mud. “What were they expecting?” one furious local asked the newspaper El País. “People are very angry. Pedro Sánchez should have been here on day one with a shovel.” The king insisted on continuing the visit, at one point meeting a man who wept on his shoulder. He was also confronted by a young man who told him that “you’ve abandoned us”, asking why residents had been left on their own to grapple with the aftermath of the deadly floods. “You’re four days too late,” he told the king. The man also challenged the king on why the civil protection service, which is overseen by the regional government, had sent the alert hours after the state-run weather agency had warned of deteriorating conditions. “They knew it, they knew it, and yet they did nothing,” he shouted at the monarch. “It’s a disgrace.” Spain’s royal palace later said that the king’s plans to visit a second hard-hit town in the region had been postponed. The public rage came as the death toll from the floods climbed to 217. As the meteorological agency on Sunday again issued a red alert, forecasting further heavy rain in the area, mayors from the affected municipalities pleaded with officials to send help. “We’re very angry and we’re devastated,” said Guillermo Luján, the mayor of Aldaia. “We have a town in ruins. We need to start over and I’m begging for help. Please help us.” The town’s 33,000 residents were among many in the region grappling with the aftermath of the ferocious floods that rank as the deadliest in Spain’s modern history. The number of people missing remains unknown. Luján said his town was in desperate need of heavy machinery to clear out the vehicles and debris piled up along the streets. The municipality had yet to confirm the extent of the devastation, leaving Luján bracing for the worst. Aldaia has one of the region’s most visited shopping centres, with a vast underground car park that on Tuesday filled with water in a matter of minutes. “Right now, the upper part of the centre is devastated and the lower level is a terrifying unknown,” Luján told broadcaster RTVE. “We don’t know what we’re going to find. We want to be cautious, but we’ll see. It might be heartbreaking.” In Paiporta, the mayor, Maribel Albalat, described the situation as desperate. Days after the town’s ravine overflowed, unleashing a deluge of water that wreaked havoc on the 29,000 inhabitants, parts of the town remain inaccessible, she said. “It’s impossible because there are bodies, there are vehicles with bodies and these have to be removed,” she told the news agency Europa Press. “Everything is very difficult.” Albalat said the number of deaths had climbed to 70 in the small town and was expected to climb in the coming days, as access was secured to underground garages. On Tuesday, in the absence of any sign that this storm would be different from any other, many residents had gone down to their garages to move their cars to higher ground. In flooded towns such as Alfafar and Sedaví, mayors described feeling abandoned by officials as residents scrambled to shovel mud from their homes and clear streets. In some areas, residents were still trying to secure electricity supply or stable phone service. On Friday, the catastrophic images emanating from these municipalities coalesced into a show of solidarity, as thousands of volunteers from lesser-affected areas trekked to the hardest-hit areas carrying shovels, brooms and food supplies. On Saturday, thousands more turned up at Valencia’s City of Arts and Sciences, which had been hastily converted into the nerve centre of the clean-up operation. The mayor of Chiva, where on Tuesday nearly a year’s worth of rain fell in eight hours, said the situation was a “rollercoaster” for the 17,000 residents. “You see sadness, which is logical given that we’ve lost our town,” Amparo Fort told reporters. “But on the other hand, it’s heartening to see the response that we’ve had from everyone … there is a real, human wave of volunteers, particularly young people.” Sánchez said 10,000 troops and police would be deployed to help with what he described as “the worst flood our continent has seen so far this century”. He acknowledged that help had been slow in reaching where it was most needed. “I’m aware that the response we’re mounting isn’t enough. I know that,” he said. “And I know there are severe problems and shortages and that there are still collapsed services and towns buried by the mud where people are desperately looking for their relatives, and people who can’t get into their homes, and houses that have been buried or destroyed by mud. I know we have to do better and give it our all.” Scientists say the human-driven climate crisis is increasing the length, frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. The warming of the Mediterranean, which increases water evaporation, plays a key role in making torrential rains more severe, experts have also said. |
The Guardian;Vaccination centre and aid official’s car bombarded in Gaza, says UN;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/03/polio-vaccination-centre-and-aid-officials-car-bombarded-in-gaza-says-un;2024-11-03T13:25:22Z | A polio vaccination centre and the car of UN aid official involved in this weekend’s vaccination campaign came under fire despite a promised “humanitarian pause” in Israeli bombardment, the UN has said. Catherine Russell, the executive director of the UN child support and protection agency Unicef, said: “At least three children were reportedly injured by another attack in the proximity of a vaccination clinic in Sheikh Radwan, while a polio vaccination campaign was under way.” She added that the personal car of a Unicef employee working on the polio vaccine campaign “came under fire by what we believe to be a quadcopter”. “The car was damaged. Fortunately, the staff member was not injured. But she has been left deeply shaken,” Russell wrote. She added that in the previous 48-hour period, more than 50 children had reportedly been killed in the Jabaliya refugee camp, a focus of Israeli military operations over the past month. “The attacks on Jabaliya, the vaccination clinic and the Unicef staff member are yet further examples of the grave consequences of the indiscriminate strikes on civilians in the Gaza Strip,” Russell said. “Taken alongside the horrific level of child deaths in north Gaza from other attacks, these most recent events combine to write yet another dark chapter in one of the darkest periods of this terrible war.” The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) denied responsibility for the reported attack on Sheikh Radwan, which is in northern Gaza to the west of the Jabaliya camp. The weekend’s inoculation campaign was intended to give more than 100,000 Palestinian children under the age of 10 a second dose of polio vaccine, made necessary by an outbreak of the virus reported in July. It had been postponed in late October because of Israeli bombardment. This weekend, the IDF agreed to suspend its strikes to allow the vaccinations to go ahead in northern Gaza except in the besieged areas in the northern governorate, Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahiya and Jabaliya. Approximately 15,000 children under-10 are estimated to be in the excluded area and therefore will not receive the inoculation, threatening the effectiveness of the vaccination campaign, which requires at least 90% of all children in every district to be vaccinated to be sure of stopping the spread of the polio virus. The head of the Gaza health ministry, Munir al-Boursh, told the Associated Press that the Sheikh Radwan clinic in Gaza City had been hit by a quadcopter drone early on Saturday afternoon, minutes after a UN delegation had left the building. On Israel’s northern front, the army said Hezbollah had fired about 60 rockets across the Lebanese border on Sunday, some aimed at the occupied Golan Heights, others at the western Galilee area. The IDF said most of the projectiles were intercepted and those that got through Israeli defences fell in open areas, causing no casualties on this occasion. The IDF, meanwhile, issued evacuation warnings to Lebanese residents in some areas of the ancient city of Baalbek and said that buildings being used by Hezbollah militants would be targeted imminently. |
The Guardian;Runes prove Elfdalian is distinct ancient Nordic language, say researchers;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/03/runes-prove-elfdalian-is-distinct-ancient-nordic-language-say-researchers;2024-11-03T12:11:11Z | It is a distinct language that has survived against the odds for centuries in a tiny pocket of central Sweden, where just 2,500 people speak it today. And yet, despite bearing little resemblance to Swedish, Elfdalian is considered to be only a dialect of the country’s dominant language. Now researchers say they have uncovered groundbreaking information about the roots of Elfdalian that they hope could bolster its standing and help it acquire official recognition as a minority language. Elfdalian is traditionally spoken in a small part of the region of Dalarna, known as Älvdalen in Swedish and Övdaln in Elfdalian. But using linguistic and archeological data, including runes, Elfdalian experts have tracked the language back to the last phase of ancient Nordic – spoken across Scandinavia between the sixth and eighth centuries. They believe it was imported to hunter-gatherers in the Swedish region of Dalarna from farmers based in the region of Uppland, which became an international base for trade, who started adopting the language. At the time, the hunter-gatherers of Dalarna spoke a language referred to by linguists as “paleo north Scandinavian”. Yair Sapir, the co-author of a new book on Elfdalian grammar, the first to be published in English, said: “There is research that compares the distance between Elfdalian vocabulary and it shows the distance is as large [between Swedish and Elfdalian] as between Swedish and Icelandic. So there is higher mutual intelligibility between speakers of Swedish, Norwegian and Danish than between Swedish and Elfdalian.” Until around 1400, as a trade and transit area, the region was influenced linguistically and culturally from Norway and other parts of Sweden. But when the Kalmar Union was established and trade patterns dramatically changed, innovations in the language suddenly stopped. It was not until about 1900, with the arrival of schools, industrialisation and urbanisation, bringing with it a strong Swedish influence, that the language started to change again. This, in effect, said Sapir, made it “a medieval language that survived up to modern times”. Before then there were multiple highly specific dialects that varied between villages and sometimes even within villages. “People did not move so much, there was not so much mobility and the units were quite self-reliant. They didn’t need to have so much contact with the outside world.” While runes had became obsolete in most of Sweden as early as the 14th century, there is evidence of runes being used in Älvdalen as late as 1909, making it the last place in the world where they were used. The legacy of Sweden’s empire, which during the 17th and 18th centuries ruled over much of the Baltics, is visible in attitudes to Swedish minority languages and dialects today, he said, citing the principles of nationalism and Göticism, which connected the idea of being a strong nation state with a strong uniform language. Bible translations show, he added, that in the 17th-century Swedish empire there was more tolerance towards non-Nordic languages than towards Nordic languages within the empire. While the Bible was translated to Finnish and Estonian, copies in Danish in their former Danish territories were confiscated. Translating the Bible into Elfdalian and other dialects would have been out of the question. As a result of such attitudes, there has historically been shame around speaking the language, but in recent years there has been a sense of pride. Efforts by speakers to preserve and revitalise the language have resulted in more people learning the language, standardisation, more teaching in schools, research and Elfdalian children’s literature. About half of the former parish of Älvdalen’s approximately 5,000 residents speak the language and many others have knowledge of it, meaning it is often heard in the local supermarket, he added. “The linguistic landscape has also changed in the last 20 years or so, you see many more signs in Elfdalian in Älvdalen. You can also see that the feelings of shame have been replaced with feelings of pride.” But as the influence of Swedish on the language grows even stronger, weakening the structure of the language and replacing Elfdalian words, greater protection is needed. “Sometimes it’s difficult to know if a word is Swedish or Elfdalian because they are related to each other.” Bringing back some of the linguistic features of the pre-1900 version, known as Late Classical Elfdalian, is helping native speakers to reclaim the language and allow new speakers in, argue Sapir and his co-author Olof Lundgren in their book A Grammar of Elfdalian. But it would benefit even more from official recognition as a language, they write. “If Elfdalian is recognised as a minority or regional language in Sweden, the number of speakers is likely to increase, and likewise the general level of Elfdalian language skills.” |
The Guardian;French pupil’s father on trial for spreading lies that led to teacher’s Islamist beheading;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/03/french-pupil-father-samuel-paty-teacher-islamist-beheading-murder-paris;2024-11-03T12:00:43Z | It was a killing that started with a lie. In October 2020, an Islamist terrorist tracked down and decapitated professor Samuel Paty as he left school on the last day before half-term holidays. In the days preceding his murder, Paty, 47, who taught geography and history, had been the subject of an intense campaign of online harassment sparked when a 13-year-old student claimed he had discriminated against his Muslim pupils during a class on moral and civic education. The girl told her father Paty had instructed Muslim students to leave the classroom at the Bois-d’Aulne secondary school at Conflans-Sainte-Honorine in the Paris suburbs while he showed students caricatures of the prophet Muhammad from the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. In truth, the girl was not in Paty’s class that day and had made up the story to cover the fact she had been suspended from school for bad behaviour. Paty had used the images as part of an ethics class to discuss free speech laws in France and the question of “dilemmas”. He posed the question “to be or not to be Charlie?”, referring to the #JeSuisCharlie hashtag used to express support for the paper after a terrorist attack on its offices in January 2015 that killed 12 people. But Paty had not ordered any children to leave the room – instead he had told them they could turn away if they thought they would be offended by the images. The teenager could not have known that the story she told her father would spark a chain of events that would lead an 18-year-old Chechen, Abdoullakh Anzorov, to travel 100km (62 miles) from his home in Normandy to kill the teacher after her furious father posted the lie on social media. On Monday, the father, Brahim Chnina, will be one of eight adults – seven men and a woman – on trial in connection with the murder. Chnina is accused of association with a terrorist organisation after allegedly launching a social media campaign against Paty, including publishing videos online attacking Paty and designating him as a target by giving precise information about his identity and place of work. Prosecutors say Chnina was in contact with Anzorov nine times before the killing. He has denied the charge. Abdelhakim Sefrioui, founder of the pro-Hamas Sheikh Yassine collective in France, which was dissolved by the government after the murder, is accused of participating in the preparation of a video presenting “false and distorted information intended to arouse hatred” towards Paty. In the video, Sefrioui described Paty as a “thug”. During questioning, he told police he would never have posted the video had he imagined there was “one billionth of a chance” of provoking the teacher’s killing. Instead, he said he and Chnina were calling for disciplinary sanctions against Paty. His lawyers describe the charge against him as an “intellectual and judicial aberration”, arguing there is no proof of contact between him and Anzorov. Six others are charged with association with a criminal terrorist group and risk up to 30 years in jail if convicted. Two of Anzorov’s friends have been charged with complicity in Paty’s murder, the most serious charge carrying a 30-year prison sentence. Chnina’s daughter, whose story sparked the tragedy, and five other former students aged between 13 and 15 at the time of the killing, were tried last year. Chnina’s daughter received an 18-month suspended sentence for making “slanderous and false accusations”. The five other teenagers were found guilty of criminal conspiracy with intent to cause violence. The girl, who had been suspended from school because of repeatedly failing to attend lessons, was reported to have told police she lied because she wanted to avoid disappointing her father. “She would not have dared to confess to her father the real reasons for her exclusion shortly before the tragedy, which was in fact linked to her bad behaviour,” Le Parisien reported. Chnina subsequently shared a video on Facebook in which he denounced Paty and called for him to be sacked from the secondary school. A second video posted on social media accused Paty of “discrimination”. Chnina complained to the school and the police, claiming Paty was guilty of “diffusing a pornographic image” and was “Islamophobic”. The issue snowballed on social media; 10 days later, Paty was dead. One of the convicted teenagers, had given Anzorov a description of Paty, pointed out the route he took on leaving the school and recruited other students to keep an eye out for the teacher. Anzorov, 18, a radicalised Islamist who had arrived in France aged six with his Chechen parents and had been granted asylum, was shot dead by police after the incident. The town of Conflans-Saint-Honore is a civil party in the case. Laurent Brosse, the local mayor, said: “ For the vast majority of us, across all generations, the murder resonates as an attack on freedom, an attack on each and every one of us, on our society as a whole, on the values of our Republic, on our fundamental rights.” Brosse said: “Samuel Paty embodied the values of our Republic. Through his teaching, he sought to awaken the critical spirit of his pupils. He showed them the importance of debating ideas, mutual respect and tolerance.” The school will be named the Samuel Paty School from next year. |
The Guardian;Moldova votes for president in runoff election as Russia hovers;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/03/moldova-votes-president-unoff-election-as-russia-hovers;2024-11-03T11:23:41Z | Moldovans are going to the polls for a second-round vote to choose between the incumbent pro-EU president, Maia Sandu, and a Russia-friendly challenger. Despite securing 42% of the vote in the first round, Sandu faces a tough challenge in Sunday’s runoff against an opposition bloc led by Alexandr Stoianoglo of the Socialist party, which aligns with Moscow. The election in this small nation of under 3 million people in south-eastern Europe follows a referendum in which a slim majority voted in favour of pursuing membership of the EU. Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, Moldova has gravitated between pro-western and pro-Russian courses. But under Sandu, a former World Bank adviser, the impoverished country has accelerated its push to escape Moscow’s orbit amid its war in neighbouring Ukraine. The results of the referendum and first round of the election were marred by allegations of a Moscow-backed vote-buying scheme. Sandu and her allies have accused Russia and its proxies of leading a large-scale campaign involving vote-buying and misinformation to sway the election. They accuse the fugitive Moldovan businessman Ilan Shor, a vocal opponent of EU membership, of running a destabilising campaign from Moscow. “Moldova has faced an unprecedented assault on our country’s freedom and democracy, both today and in recent months,” Sandu told supporters in the capital of Chișinău after the election results were announced. Before the vote, her team said it had “mobilised every available resource” to counter what they describe as “a sprawling Kremlin-backed vote-buying scheme”. “Moldova has had a monumental task before it – just two weeks to stop a sprawling Kremlin-backed vote-buying scheme that proved effective in the twin vote on 20 October,” Olga Roşca, a foreign policy adviser to Sandu, told the Observer. “Protecting the integrity of tomorrow’s runoff has required urgent, decisive action. Authorities, working around the clock, have been executing a twofold strategy: dismantling the network and deterring would-be participants,” Roşca added. “Every available resource has been mobilized—from law enforcement to public service announcements in trolleybuses and supermarkets,” the advisor said. The tight results of the EU referendum have weakened Sandu’s standing, placing her in direct opposition to former prosecutor general Stoianoglo, who exceeded expectations with 26% of the vote on the Party of Socialists’ ticket. In the presidential debate, Sandu accused Stoianoglo of being a “Trojan horse” candidate for outside interests bent on seizing control of Moldova. Stoianoglo has denied working on behalf of Russia. In an earlier interview with the Observer, he claimed that he was in favour of joining the EU, but boycotted the vote, calling it a “parody.” He has also declined to criticise the Kremlin for its invasion of Ukraine and called for improved relations with Moscow. “The level of Russian interference in Moldova is highly exaggerated,” he said, adding that he would seek a “reset of relations” with Moscow. While Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has shocked many in Chișinău, just a few hours’ drive from Ukraine’s Black Sea port city of Odesa, the Kremlin’s shadow still looms large. Moscow has 1,500 troops stationed in Transnistria, a region run by pro-Russian separatists who broke away from Moldova’s government in a brief war in the 1990s. The vote comes after Saturday’s parliamentary election in Georgia, another ex-Soviet country trying to join the EU, where a ruling party viewed by most countries as increasingly Moscow-friendly and anti-liberal won an vote that was marred by reports of voting violations and fraud. |
The Guardian;The ultranationalist TV channel fast becoming Israel’s most-watched news source;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/03/ultranationalist-tv-channel-14-most-watched-news-source-israel;2024-11-03T10:30:21Z | An ultranationalist Israeli television channel backed by the government is fast emerging as one of the country’s most-watched news sources, despite allegations from liberal groups that it is inciting war crimes, and claims from the army that it is riling up hatred of its generals for not being far enough to the right. Last month Channel 14, also known as Now 14, beat Israel’s principal mainstream news outlet, Channel 12, in viewer ratings when 343,000 Israelis watched Channel 14’s “Patriots” talkshow, known for its virulent rhetoric on Gaza. Media analysts say Channel 14’s rise is both a sign and a driver of the shift of Israeli public opinion to the extreme right that has rapidly accelerated since the start of the Gaza war a year ago. Ayala Panievsky, a presidential fellow in the journalism department of City St George’s, University of London, said: “It is pretty wild, because Israelis consume a lot of news through the big TV channels, 12 and 13, and to a lesser extent the public broadcaster, but Channel 14 was not even in the game until very recently. The war seemed to have helped this channel ride the ‘rally around the flag’ effect and the rising time of nationalism to gain more support.” Channel 14 has even questioned the loyalty of the Israeli army because of its perceived lack of ideological zeal. Last week, the spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), R Adm Daniel Hagari, wrote a formal complaint to the broadcasting authority and the ministry of defence accusing Channel 14 of incitement against its leadership. The broadcast that prompted the letter showed doctored pictures of the IDF’s chief of staff, Herzi Halevi, his face distorted to make him look deranged and shrieking at the sight of messianic religious insignia on a soldier’s uniform. Hagari said the IDF could accept criticism but the channel had “crossed a red line”. He wrote: “It is deliberate incitement and humiliation of the IDF and its commanders during a war. Unfortunately, this is not the first time Channel 14 has taken such action towards the IDF.” Channel 14 denied the claim that the broadcast was inflammatory and sardonically advised Hagari not to become a television critic. Netanyahu’s communications minister, Shlomo Karhi, backed the channel over the army. Just over a month earlier, three Israeli civil society groups formally demanded that the country’s attorney general launch a criminal investigation into the channel, accusing it of broadcasting material that incited war crimes and crimes against humanity, including genocide. In their complaint on 23 September, the organisations – Zulat – Equality and Human Rights; the Democratic Bloc; and the Association for Fair Regulation – supplied a list of 265 quotes from talkshow hosts and guests on Channel 14. The remarks included guests or presenters using phrases such as “total annihilation” and “exterminate” in reference to people in Gaza. The legal complaint alleged at least 50 of the quotes on the list “call for or support the commission of genocide”. In a response to the Guardian via its US-based lawyers, Channel 14 denied the claims that its coverage incited genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity. It referred to the complaint as “baseless and highly defamatory” and added that the complaint was made by an extreme group in Israel, and that it had been dismissed by the high Court in August. The complaint argues that the attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, is legally obliged to launch an investigation on the grounds that Israel is a signatory to the genocide convention, and because the international court of justice (ICJ) issued an interim order in January instructing the Israeli government to prevent and punish incitement to genocide. “The explicit calls for committing horrifying crimes against millions of civilians find a home and are legitimised within the Israeli public, partly due to the statements made on the channel,” the groups alleged in their legal complaint. Channel 14 responded to say the complainants filed an identical or substantially similar “complaint against Channel 14 in the Israeli high court of justice” which was dismissed. “Because the previous complaint was deemed entirely baseless, the high court recommended that plaintiffs withdraw the pleading so that it could be deleted,” the channel’s lawyers said. Zehava Galon, the president of Zulat and the former leader of the Meretz party, said the high court case was on a different subject, “primarily concerning fake news and a smear campaign against the judicial system”. “Most of these complaints were from the months preceding October 7. None of the complaints in the appeal pertained to crimes against humanity,” Galon said, adding that the recommendation to withdraw “was based on a conservative policy that discourages the court from substituting the judgment of the regulator”. The three organisations sent a similar letter to Israel’s media regulator. The letters do not make a judgment on whether Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, an allegation being considered by the ICJ following a legal proceeding instigated by South Africa in December which discusses incitement at length. Among the examples presented in the legal complaint is a Channel 14 anchor threatening the “annihilation” of Palestinians, killing “numbers not seen before in Arab history”. Another presenter, Shimon Riklin, said on 7 October of Palestinians in Gaza: “We should supply them with neither water nor electricity. Let them drop dead in there!” and tweeted: “Gaza should be wiped off the face of the earth.” Danny Neuman, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party and a regular Channel 14 panellist, said: “We should have killed 100,000 Gazans in the first two days.” In a broadcast on 6 May, Neuman said: “A tiny few of them can be deemed human there. Ninety per cent are terrorists and ‘involved’! ” Channel 14’s lawyers said many remarks referred to in the complaint were “made by guests and reporters on Channel 14 in the wake of the horrific 7 October terrorist attacks”. The lawyers also say that the remarks “were repeated on multiple news stations in Israel”. There has been a rise in hate speech in Israeli public discourse generally since the 7 October Hamas attack, and it has featured on other news outlets. Neuman was also quoted as calling for the “extermination” of Palestinians in Gaza on Channel 13 for example. Channel 12 broadcast a report from Lebanon on the weekend, in which Danny Kushmaro, the lead reporter, was allowed by the army to press a button blowing up a building in a south Lebanese village. The groups behind the complaint to the attorney general claim that such rhetoric is far more concentrated on Channel 14. Panievsky argued: “There is no equivalent at all between what’s happening on Channels 12 or 13, the mainstream media in Israel, and what you see on Channel 14. This is a totally different universe.” Channel 14’s lawyers disagreed, saying the complainants “are small NGOs closely affiliated with the Israeli far-left who are anxious to defame and disparage Channel 14 and its reporting.” They said questions should be raised about the motivations of the groups, who were “abusing the Israeli legal system in the hopes of garnering negative media for Channel 14”. Israel’s state attorney, Amit Aisman, said in August that his office examined calls to investigate public figures such as Eyal Golan, a singer, for incitement but decided not to proceed. Aisman did not say why that decision had been taken. Netanyahu has long been an enthusiastic backer of Channel 14, claiming to have “fought like a lion” for it, and granted it the only interview he has given to local broadcast media in recent years. The channel is owned by a 40-year-old Russian-born oligarch, Yitzchak Mirilashvili, who co-founded the Russian social networking platform, VKontakte. Mirilashvili’s television venture started out as Channel 20, a niche station covering “heritage” issues, but with Netanyahu’s backing, the Knesset passed an amendment in February 2018 allowing the outlet to broadcast as Channel 14 and to identify itself as a news broadcaster. It was subsequently granted millions of shekels in state benefits but was officially defined as a “microchannel”, which excused it from many of the rules and restrictions applied to its mainstream competition, Channels 12 and 13. “They get a lot of regulatory benefits without having any regulation,” Zehava Galon, of Zulat, said. “The channel has high ratings in the army. Many officers, many soldiers, are exposed to [its rhetoric] .” Proving incitement to genocide in international courts had to pass a high bar, said Anna Vyshnyakova, a Ukrainian consultant on international humanitarian law who is involved in developing a genocide incitement case at the international criminal court against Russian propaganda channels. “You need to justify that there is incitement to destroy Palestinians as such, and as such means not because of territorial claims, but because they are Palestinians,” Vyshnyakova said. “Without that, it could be persecution, it could be propaganda for war, but it is not incitement to genocide.” Channel 14’s lawyers also said the channel, as well as all other Israeli news organisations, was overseen by the Second Television and Radio Authority of Israel which, the company explains, “monitors all daily broadcasts and takes action when any reporting potentially violates Israeli law. If the authority identifies a potential violation of the law, it requests a response from the channel and, if necessary, takes appropriate action. None of the statements contained in the complaint have been questioned by the authority.” Panievsky said the authority had ceased to be an effective regulator since it had been “packed with people that are comfortable with the government”. |
The Guardian;‘Inside we are screaming’: Kupiansk trembles as Russian forces close in again;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/03/kupiansk-russian-forces-ukraine;2024-11-03T10:01:49Z | Nina Marchenko was in her kitchen when a bomb fell on her cottage. It blew off the roof, demolished the concrete summer house in the garden, and killed her dog, Tulik. Bits of fence were tossed into the air. “There was smoke and that was it,” she said. “A woman died in another strike nearby. I can only curse Vladimir Putin. He’s driven us from our house.” Last week, Marchenko and her disabled husband, Misha, fled their home in Kupiansk, in the north-east of Ukraine. The Russian army seized the city in the early days of Putin’s 2022 invasion. Ukrainian soldiers took it back eight months later. For most of the last two years the frontline – across the Oskil River and a series of rustic hamlets – barely changed. In recent weeks, however, the Russians have been advancing. Across the frontline, Ukrainian defences are crumbling at the fastest rate since 2022. In October, Russia swallowed nearly 310 miles (500km) of Ukrainian territory including more than 15 sq miles around Kupiansk. Two-thirds of these losses of territory have been in the neighbouring Donetsk region. Ukraine’s southern sector there is close to collapse. Russian combat units are now less than two miles from Kupiansk. A little to the south, troops have already reached the Oskil River, turning Ukrainian-controlled territory on the left bank into two separate and shrinking bulges. Bridges across the river are relentlessly bombed. Moscow’s apparent plan is to flatten Kupiansk and then reoccupy it. Speaking from an office bunker, Kupiansk’s military-civilian mayor, Andriy Besedin, described the situation on the eastern side of the Oskil as “critical”. He said 1,400 people were refusing to evacuate from their homes, despite having no electricity, water or gas. Most were elderly people. They were not pro-Russian, Besedin suggested, but simply unwilling to move out or listen to anxious relatives. “We are going flat to flat and driving around with loudspeakers. We say: ‘Please leave. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow,’” he said. “The pensioners think the Russians won’t hurt them. We tell them the situation is different from 2022 and that they will get killed.” “I hope when the weather changes and it’s cold they will finally exit,” Besedin added. Since the beginning of October the situation in Kupiansk became dramatically worse, the mayor said. Russian kamikaze drones were flying above the city, targeting people waiting at bus stops. “We can’t deliver humanitarian aid. They see a pick-up and hit it with a drone. You can’t outrun them,” Besedin said. About 2,200 residents remained, as missiles crashed around them. Recently a Russian warplane dropped a 1,500kg guided bomb on the civic building next to Besedin’s office, killing three people. The decorative brick structure was a sprawling mess. Was the Kremlin trying to target the mayor personally? “Yes,” Besedin said. “They’ve tried several times.” Other missiles have struck Kupiansk’s museum, football ground, meat factory, market and palace of culture. Ukraine was battling against terrorism and dictatorship, Besedin said, and a malevolent axis of countries that included Russia, North Korea and Iran. “Our guys are fighting for every centimetre. Unfortunately the civilised world isn’t giving us enough weapons. What about democratic values? Stopping Russia is our collective responsibility. If we fail, Putin will attack the Baltic states and Poland,” he said. Soldiers said conditions on the frontline were tough. “We don’t have enough to shoot with. They fire 10 shells for our one,” said Oleksandr Isaiev, a 59-year-old sapper. The Russians had more personnel and armoured vehicles, he said, and dropped between eight and 12 KAB glided bombs a day on his position. “If one lands on you, you’re dead. They make a hole 5 metres deep and 10 metres’ across,” he said. Isaiev expressed frustration at the west’s so-called “red lines” and the Biden administration’s persistent refusal to allow Kyiv to hit targets deep inside Russia with US-supplied munitions. The UK and France have not lifted restrictions either. “We have the rockets. But we can’t use them to wallop Russian airfields,” Isaiev said. “Until the US gets over its nervousness, we will lose territory.” With too few conventional weapons, Ukraine is trying to hold the line using drones. Oleksandr Ivantsov, a drone operator with the 3rd Assault Brigade, said the situation on the left bank was tense. The Russians were constantly trying to storm Ukrainian positions, he said, adding: “There are battles everywhere. Sometimes they succeed. Sometimes they don’t. There are no easy places. They have huge resources.” This week, streets in Kupiansk were largely deserted. A handful of elderly residents could be seen carrying shopping bags and pushing trolleys. Police on patrol wore body armour. Besedin said he would provide municipal services for as long as possible. “We are fighting on every front: military, administrative and social,” he said. “Everybody is doing what they can. Kupiansk isn’t lost yet.” Some residents, however, acknowledged it was only a matter of time before the Russians came back. Ksenia Lukyanova said her home city was strategically important and a railway hub. From Kupiansk, a road went south to the town of Izium – occupied and liberated in 2022 – and the garrison city of Sloviansk. Another led to Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city. To the north was the Russian province of Belgorod. “During the second world war, Kupiansk was seized and liberated four times. It switched between Soviets and Nazis,” Lukyanova said. Last year a bomb wrecked her home. In September, shrapnel shattered the window of her new apartment in the village of Hrushivka, just outside Kupiansk. “We carry on, keep smiling and try and help each other. Inside we are crying and screaming,” she said. “Our souls hurt.” Her friend Natalya Surko said most residents in the suburb of Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi were packing up to leave. “At night it’s terrible. You hear a siren and three seconds later an explosion. There’s no time to get dressed. After the first bang, you think: ‘Do I get up or not?’ You don’t.” Surko said she lost her job as Kupiansk’s railway station duty manager when the full-scale war arrived. “I’m paid £40 a month,” she said. Evacuees from the Kupiansk region are taken to a processing centre in Kharkiv, where they are registered and given medical checkups. Some arrive in their own vehicles; others are brought by minibus or ambulance. So far this month 1,800 people have turned up. Local charities, the UNHCR and the Red Cross dole out emergency parcels. Many of the displaced stay with relatives. Others are allocated dormitories. The regional administration had issued compulsory evacuation notices to families with children. Lilya Shevchenko, 16, and Nadia Shynkarenko, 14, said they had come from Barove, a left-bank village south of Kupiansk. Every other house was smashed, they said. “The Russians were 30kms away. Now it’s 15 to 20kms. There are a few old ladies left. At night people drive to Izyum and sleep there, because it’s safer,” Lilya said. She described bombardment as scary but said Russia’s eight-month occupation in 2022 was far worse. “For the first few weeks we had no internet connection. We didn’t know what was happening in Kharkiv. The Russians stole everything. They were drunk. We were afraid to go out on the street.” She last attended school on the day before the invasion, and was studying online, she said. Queuing up to register, Marchenko said she had left all her belongings behind. “We had a garden with fruit trees and vegetables. But this year it was only weeds because it was impossible to plant anything. As soon as you stepped foot outside they start to shell,” the 72-year-old said. Would she ever go back? “I don’t know. If my house still stands, maybe I will.” |
The Guardian;Notes on chocolate: Ukraine’s hero chocolatiers;https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/03/notes-on-chocolate-ukraines-hero-chocolatiers;2024-11-03T09:00:39Z | A few weeks ago Felicity Spector, senior producer of Channel 4 News, contacted me. She’d just returned from another trip to Ukraine, could she send me some amazing chocolate she’d found there? This made me quite emotional for many reasons. My answer was: of course. And a few days later a package arrived with some bean-to-bar Meetty chocolate that had come, via the C4 news desk in London, to me in Suffolk from Ukraine. What I was sent was the gift box, £25 plus shipping, that has won an Academy of Chocolate silver award. In this beautifully simple box there are 12 mini-bars of chocolate, each colourfully illustrated with examples of Ukrainian art and each weighing 24g, which is a perfect one-person portion and don’t let anyone tell you different. The flavours were all wonderful and a mixture of the traditional: dark, milk, almond and orange, and fresh mixes, such as coffee and cinnamon, rose and grape, and cheese. I contacted co-founder Oleksiy, in awe of someone (he’s not alone, remember I wrote about Stranger chocolate a year ago) producing chocolate in a war zone. How was he doing? ‘Well, we keep going and running our family business despite the challenges: missiles, drones, blackouts, war logistics, lack of personnel, rising bean prices and taxes. But, in many ways, we feel incredibly lucky to still have the opportunity to work, to produce chocolate that brings some relief to our friends (all our customers are friends and partners), to provide employment to others, and to welcome guests to our workshop. We were especially happy that Felicity was able to visit us.’ Do please support them if you possibly can. The chocolate is delicious: 65g bars of individual flavours are £4 plus shipping and you can order by sending a message to instagram.com/meetty_chocolate. Follow Annalisa on X @AnnalisaB |
NPR;A simple truth is at the root of many false election claims: Voter rolls are imperfect;https://www.npr.org/2024/11/02/nx-s1-5117812/voter-list-data-election-claims;Sun, 03 Nov 2024 08:00:00 -0500 | At the heart of many election conspiracy theories is a simple truth: America’s voter rolls are imperfect. The U.S. doesn’t have a central voting list. It has a bunch of different lists. |
NPR;Meet the religious leaders shaping the next generation of social justice activism;https://www.npr.org/2024/11/01/nx-s1-5114960/meet-the-religious-leaders-shaping-the-next-generation-of-civil-rights-activism;Sun, 03 Nov 2024 08:00:00 -0500 | The Yale Center for Public Theology and Public Policy is raising up the next generation of Christian leaders focused on social justice. It's led by Rev. William Barber, after retirement from his longtime congregation. |