Thursday, July 4, 2024
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Six In The Morning Thursday 4 July 2024
Gaza ceasefire talks show signs of life as Israeli security cabinet meets
Hamas has presented mediators Egypt and Qatar with new ‘ideas’ on how to end fighting, which Israeli officials are evaluating.
A renewed push is under way to end the bloodshed in Gaza as both Israel and Hamas speak to mediators about a long-stalled ceasefire plan.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will convene a meeting of his security cabinet on Thursday to discuss the latest proposal from Hamas, an unnamed source in his office told Reuters news agency.
Israel has approved ‘largest West Bank land grab in 30 years’, watchdog says
Peace Now says approval of more than 12 sq km is biggest since peace process began in 1993
Israel has approved the largest seizure of land in the occupied West Bank in more than three decades, according to a report released by an Israeli anti-settlement watchdog, a move that will exacerbate the escalating tensions surrounding the conflict in Gaza.
Peace Now said authorities recently approved the appropriation of 12.7 sq km (nearly 5 sq miles) of land in the Jordan valley, indicating it was “the largest single appropriation approved since the 1993 Oslo accords”, referring to the start of the peace process.
Why are Southeast Asian countries looking to join BRICS?
Malaysia and Thailand are the latest nations in Southeast Asia to express interest in joining the expanded BRICS group of emerging economies.
BRICS is attracting Southeast Asian countries, with Thailand and Malaysia being the latest to express their interest in joining the bloc.
Last month, Thailand submitted a membership request, while Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said in an interview with Chinese news portal Guancha that his country would soon begin formal procedures.
"Being a member of BRICS would open up trade and investment opportunities, so the question is 'why not?'" Piti Srisangam, the executive director of the ASEAN Foundation, told DW.
'Black sheep' embarrass the National Rally ahead of decisive parliamentary vote
Marine Le Pen's National Rally (RN) has worked hard to shed its far-right extremist roots, but the party's more respectable image has been tarnished by a series of controversies involving candidates who qualified for the final round of the legislative elections on July 7.
The qualification of hundreds of National Rally candidates for the second round of France’s legislative elections has brought to light a number of "black sheep" within the party's ranks, suggesting that the party’s racist and antisemitic roots are still present, despite its recent makeover.Ludivine Daoudi, an RN candidate in Normandy in western France, was forced to withdraw after a left-wing rival in her Calvados constituency posted a screengrab of Daoudi’s old Facebook account showing her wearing a Nazi cap emblazoned with a swastika.
"She doesn't deny it, she took this photo," said Philippe Chapron, a local RN official,in a radio interview on July 2. "Indeed it was in bad taste. In any case, her candidacy will be withdrawn as of today," he said
Tamaki outraged for being kept in the dark on U.S. military crimes
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
July 4, 2024 at 19:03 JST
Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki lodged a strong protest at the Foreign Ministry on July 3 in Tokyo amid a series of suspected sexual assault cases involving U.S. service members in the prefecture.
These incidents have sparked outrage and concern over the handling and disclosure of information related to such incidents.
“These are despicable crimes, serious and malicious acts that trample on women's human rights and dignity,” Tamaki told Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa. “They are absolutely unforgivable.”
The UK’s political parties are on track to spend more than a million pounds on online adverts on Thursday, circumventing a media blackout rule that forces television and radio stations to stop their election coverage when polls open.
British parties have traditionally ceased top-level campaign activity when voting began as they had no way to get out their message out. This is because of a longstanding broadcasting rule, enforced by the media regulator Ofcom, that states: “Discussion and analysis of election and referendum issues must finish when the poll opens.”
The switch to online campaigning over the past two decades has increasingly made a mockery of this rule, with early indications suggesting political parties are viewing Thursday as an incredibly important campaign day for pushing their core messages to wavering voters.
Sam Jeffers of WhoTargetsMe, which has monitored election advertising in the UK for the last decade, said substantial funds had been released for Thursday. “The parties are on track to spend a million pounds today on Meta and probably another £250,000 on Google,” he said.
If these figures are correct, it could mean that more money is spent by political parties buying online political advertising on polling day than was spent online during the entire 2015 general election campaign.
Wednesday, July 3, 2024
UK election crash course: a quick guide to the major players vying for Downing Street
Six In The Morning Wednesday 3 July 2024
Gaza policy makes US a ‘target’: Former officials
The 12 officials say the cover provided to Israel has ‘ensured’ the US’s ‘complicity’ in the war on Gaza.
A group of former United States government officials have claimed that Washington’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza puts national security at risk.
The 12 officials, who resigned over the last nine months protesting against the US policy, said in a letter released late on Tuesday that President Joe Biden’s support for Israel means that Washington has “undeniable complicity” in the killing and starvation of Palestinians in Gaza. They labelled the White House policy on the war in the enclave “a failure and a threat to US national security”.
Video appears to show gang-rape of Afghan woman in a Taliban jail
Exclusive: Activist claims she was threatened with release of the footage in order to silence her, amid multiple reports of sexual violence inflicted upon imprisoned Afghan women
The Guardian has seen video evidence of a female Afghan human rights activist being gang-raped and tortured in a Taliban jail by armed men.
There have been mounting reports that sexual violence is being inflicted on women and girls being held in detention in Afghanistan, but this video is believed to be the first direct evidence of these crimes occurring.
According to the activist, the mobile phone footage was later sent to her as a threat that it would be shared more widely if she continued to speak out against the Taliban regime.
Can India's farmers keep up their fight against PM Modi?
In northern India, defiant farmers continue their steadfast protest amidst challenges posed by the sowing season. Despite facing political obstacles and personal sacrifices, their determination is growing.
For nearly five months, around 40 farmers have been living in reinforced tents on a highway in northern India, 212 kilometers (132 miles) from Delhi. These farmers have been protesting against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, despite their numbers dwindling since earlier this year.
In February, tens of thousands of farmers gathered at the Shambhu border, a key interstate checkpoint, expressing anger towards the government for not fulfilling its promise to guarantee a minimum support price (MSP) for crops.
The proposed MSP, which would be at least 50% higher than the cost of production, was seen as a crucial safety net to protect the farming community from volatile price fluctuations.
How France’s far-right National Rally plans to secure its absolute majority in parliament
Buoyed by its resounding success in the first round of the snap legislative elections, France’s far-right National Rally party (RN) is hoping to secure an absolute majority in the second round on July 7. Before it can achieve this however, NR’s President Jordan Bardella will have to fend off both the leftist New Popular Front and President Emmanuel Macron’s Ensemble coalition.
The question on everyone’s lips ahead of the second round of the snap legislative elections on July 7 is: will France’s far-right National Rally (RN) party win an absolute majority in the National Assembly?
The RN – backed by some members of the right wing Republicans party – won the first round of the legislative elections with 33.1% of the vote, followed by the New Popular Front (28%) and President Emmanuel Macron’s Ensemble coalition (20%). A clear favourite to win the second round, the NR could nevertheless lose if the leftist coalition and Macron’s party work together and withdraw their respective third-placed candidates in order to block the far-right. The New Popular Front has withdrawn more than 130 of its candidates and the presidential camp more than 80 in constituencies where the RN has a good chance of winning.
Top court rules old eugenic law unconstitutional, orders redress
By TAKASHI ENDO/ Staff Writer
July 3, 2024 at 17:20 JST
In a landmark victory for aging plaintiffs, the Supreme Court on July 3 again ruled that the former Eugenic Protection Law was “unconstitutional” and ordered the central government to compensate those forcibly sterilized under the law.
The plaintiffs were forced to undergo sterilization surgery more than half a century ago.
In anticipation of the ruling, much attention was focused on how the highest court would interpret the “statute of limitations,” during which the right to seek compensation expires after 20 years.
German interior minister condemns Turkish defender for using Euro 2024 as ‘platform for racism’ as UEFA opens investigation
The German interior minister has condemned the celebrations of Turkish defender Merih Demiral following Turkey’s win against Austria at the European Championship on Tuesday.
Demiral scored twice in Turkey’s 2-1 round of 16 victory and celebrated by making a gesture known as the “wolf salute,” which is associated with the Turkish right-wing extremist group “Grey Wolves.”
“The symbols of Turkish right-wing extremists have no place in our stadiums,” said German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday, adding that the group is under surveillance in Germany.