Saturday, May 25, 2024

Six In The Morning Saturday 25 May 2024

 

Israel continues to bomb Gaza, including Rafah, despite ICJ ruling

Dozens of Palestinians killed across the besieged territory as Israeli forces hit multiple targets from north to south.

Israel has continued its relentless attacks on Rafah despite the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordering it to put an end to the military operation there, and multiple deaths were reported from central and northern Gaza, which have been subjected to renewed attacks.

The Shaboura camp and areas close to the Kuwaiti Hospital in Rafah on Saturday were targeted, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Deir el-Balah, said. Several people who have been injured in the bombardment have been transferred to the hospital, he said.

The hospital renewed its appeal for fuel deliveries “to ensure its continued operation”, saying it was the only one in Rafah governorate still receiving patients.


‘A catastrophe’: Greenpeace blocks planting of lifesaving golden rice

Thousands of children could die after court backs campaign group over GM crop in Philippines, scientists warn

Scientists have warned that a court decision to block the growing of the genetically modified (GM) crop golden rice in the Philippines could have catastrophic consequences. Tens of thousands of children could die in the wake of the ruling, they argue.

The Philippines had become the first country – in 2021 – to approve the commercial cultivation of golden rice, which was developed to combat vitamin-A deficiency, a major cause of disability and death among children in many parts of the world.

But campaigns by Greenpeace and local farmers last month persuaded the country’s court of appeal to overturn that approval and to revoke this. The groups had argued that golden rice had not been shown to be safe and the claim was backed by the court, a decision that was hailed as “a monumental win” by Greenpeace.


India elections: Millions vote in scorching heat

Opposition leaders Sonia Gandhi, her son Rahul Gandhi, and President Droupadi Murmu were among those who voted in New Delhi.

Voters in New Delhi, India's capital, braved the searing summer heat as they headed to the polls on Saturday for the second-to-last round of the country's mammoth elections.

Around 111 million people in 58 constituencies across eight states and union territories were eligible to vote. After Saturday’s vote, polling for 89.5% of the 543 seats in the lower house of parliament, known as the Lok Sabha, would be complete.

Voting for the remaining 57 seats will happen in the seventh and last round of voting on June 1. All the votes will be counted on June 4.


‘Steel Roses’: Paris targets Belleville’s Chinese sex workers in pre-Olympics sweep

Rarely have the sex workers in Paris's Belleville neighbourhood, particularly those of Chinese origin, been so worried. As the countdown to the 2024 Paris Olympics continues, so does a police crackdown on the undocumented and vulnerable prostitutes who say they are being targeted in a brutal campaign to polish up the City of Light in time for the Games.


Every month, Aying* sends a part of her earnings to her family in China. Back home, everyone thinks this “60+” grandmother-of-one works in the checkout at a local supermarket.

The reality could not be further from the truth.

For the past decade, she has belonged to a small group of Chinese women who, for various reasons, have ended up selling their bodies on the streets of Belleville, a working-class neighbourhood located in the northeastern part of Paris.

Aying did not mean for things to turn out this way. When she first arrived in Paris in 2013, she had hoped to land a job in one of the city’s many restaurants or bars, perhaps in a boutique.


Ukraine hopes to sign security pact with Japan before July NATO summit

Ukraine hopes to sign a security cooperation agreement with Japan sometime before a NATO summit meeting in July, a senior diplomat of the eastern European country said recently.

Aiming to bolster ties with countries in the Indo-Pacific region more than two years after the start of Russia's invasion, Ukraine and Japan are in the "final stage" of talks on a bilateral security pact, First Deputy Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said.

"We hope to hold one more round of negotiations so that we sign the agreement in the short term" before the three-day NATO summit begins in Washington on July 9, Sybiha said in an interview with Kyodo News.

Published May 25, 2024

Charlie was 15 when his life inexplicably shrank to fit within the frame of his lower bunk bed in his family's cramped Hong Kong apartment.
“I felt very depressed, confused, like I didn’t know what I wanted,” said Charlie, who’s now 19 and still learning how to navigate the world outside.

Charlie is among millions of hikikomori, a Japanese term for people who cut themselves off from society, sometimes for months or years – often Gen Z and Millennials in the prime of their youth.



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