Wednesday, June 5, 2024

Six In The Morning Wednesday 5 June 2024

 

Mass graves and body bags: al-Shifa hospital after Israel withdrew its forces

Yolande Knell,Rushdi Abu Alouf

After Israeli forces pulled out of Gaza City’s vast al-Shifa hospital complex on 1 April, following their second raid there, stunned Palestinians who pored over the burnt-out ruins said it reeked of death.

During the past eight months of war, hospitals have come under repeated attack, with Israel claiming they are used as bases by Hamas; something the group denies.

But events at al-Shifa – once the biggest and best equipped medical facility in the Gaza Strip – have arguably been the most dramatic.


‘Godfathers of climate chaos’: UN chief urges global fossil-fuel advertising ban

António Guterres warns of ‘climate crunch time’ and announces dire new scientific warnings of global heating

Fossil-fuel companies are the “godfathers of climate chaos” and should be banned in every country from advertising akin to restrictions on big tobacco, the secretary general of the United Nations has said while delivering dire new scientific warnings of global heating.

In a major speech in New York on Wednesday, António Guterres called on news and tech media to stop enabling “planetary destruction” by taking fossil-fuel advertising money while warning the world faces “climate crunch time” in its faltering attempts to stem the crisis.

“Many governments restrict or prohibit advertising for products that harm human health, like tobacco,” he said. “I urge every country to ban advertising from fossil-fuel companies. And I urge news media and tech companies to stop taking fossil-fuel advertising.”


Record number of dollar millionaires worldwide, study says


The world has never had so many rich people, according to the World Wealth Report. And they are richer than ever, thanks to their investments in the stock market boom.


Last year's bullish stock markets boosted the fortunes of the world's richest, adding more members to the club of dollar millionaires, the World Wealth Report says.

The number of people worldwide with investable assets of at least $1 million ("high net worth individuals," or HNWI) rose by 5.1% last year to an estimated 22.8 million, according to a study by consulting firm Capgemini.

This is the highest level since the first annual study was conducted in 1997. The total wealth of the richest rose 4.7% to a record $86.8 trillion (€79.64 trillion).

Defence, migration and the Green Deal: Key issues at stake in the EU elections

EU voters head to the polls on June 6-9 to elect the next European Parliament with the 27-member bloc facing a daunting set of challenges, including deep divisions over migration management, a backlash against climate change policies, and an overhaul of Europe’s defence industries spurred by the ongoing war in Ukraine. 

Some 373 million voters across 27 countries are eligible to elect representatives in the European Parliament starting on Thursday, in the world’s second largest exercise in democracy after the recent election in India.

Long regarded as the weakest of the EU’s three main institutions, the 720-member parliament has seen its powers increase in recent years, not least in shaping the all-important EU budget. Among its first tasks will be to confirm the 27 members of the European Commission, including its presidency, a position currently held by Ursula von der Leyen, who is running for a second term. 

The jockeying for positions will provide an early indicator of the balance of power and shifting alliances between political groups in the assembly – and how these may shape EU policy over the coming five years. Here's a look at three topics that dominated discussions over the past legislature and are set to remain high on the agenda in the years ahead.  

Hong Kong police take away Japanese man chanting sutra

By SOTARO HATA/ Correspondent

June 5, 2024 at 18:44 JST


On the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, a Japanese man was removed by local police from Victoria Park here while chanting a Buddhist sutra.

The police took the man away from the site and released him later on June 4, a police officer said. 

According to video footage, which Hong Kong media showed on a broadcast, and other sources, the Japanese man, who is apparently Yukio Iimura, chanted a Buddhist sutra while beating a fan-shaped flat drum.

Police said that they removed the Japanese man on “suspicion of disturbing the social calm.”


Why is Jerusalem bracing for violence during Israel’s Flag March?

Nationalist Israelis are expected to march through Jerusalem’s Muslim Quarter today, despite the carnage in Gaza.


Today is the Israeli holiday of Jerusalem Day.

It marks the conclusion of the 1967 war and the start of the illegal Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which Israelis claim as the “reunification” of Jerusalem.

Official ceremonies and memorials are being staged across Israel to mark the day.

Chief among these is the controversial Dance of the Flags, or the Flag March, to use its more modern term.




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