Six In The Morning Monday 18 November 2024

 

Israeli strikes kill 20 Palestinians in Gaza, some in attacks on tents, medics say

By Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Hussam Al-Masri

November 18, 20246:36 AM PST

Israeli military strikes across the Gaza Strip killed 20 Palestinians on Monday, including six people in attacks on tents housing displaced families, medics said.

Four people, two of them children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a tent encampment in the coastal area of Al-Mawasi, which is designated as a humanitarian zone, while two died in temporary shelters in the southern city of Rafah and another in drone fire, Gaza health officials said.

In the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya, medics said an Israeli missile struck a house, killing at least two people and wounding several others. On Sunday, medics and residents said dozens of people were killed or wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a multi-floor residential building in the town.

World’s 1.5C climate target ‘deader than a doornail’, experts say

Scientists say goal to keep world’s temperature rise below 1.5C is not going to happen despite talks at Cop29 in Baku

Oliver Milman

Mon 18 Nov 2024 11.00 GMT

The internationally agreed goal to keep the world’s temperature rise below 1.5C is now “deader than a doornail”, with 2024 almost certain to be the first individual year above this threshold, climate scientists have gloomily concluded – even as world leaders gather for climate talks on how to remain within this boundary.

Three of the five leading research groups monitoring global temperatures consider 2024 on track to be at least 1.5C (2.7F) hotter than pre-industrial times, underlining it as the warmest year on record, beating a mark set just last year. The past 10 consecutive years have already been the hottest 10 years ever recorded.

North Korea's Kim urges military to prepare for war

In a speech to military commanders, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un described the Korean Peninsula as "the world's biggest hot spot."

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called on his country's military for a "limitless" expansion of its nuclear program to counter US-led threats, in comments reported on Monday.

The remarks come amid a rise in tensions between Pyongyang and Seoul, as well as Washington, after it redefined its southern neighbor as a "hostile" state and began sending soldiers to fight for Russia in Ukraine.

Schools shut in India's New Delhi as toxic smog exceeds 60 times WHO limit

Schools in New Delhi were closed Monday as toxic smog enveloped the Indian capital and exceeded the daily limit set out by the World Health Organization by 60 times. The polluted air is thought to be the cause of thousands of premature deaths each year, and is particularly harmful for children and the elderly.

India’s capital New Delhi switched schools to online classes Monday until further notice as worsening toxic smog surged past 60 times the World Health Organization’s recommended daily maximum.

Various piecemeal government initiatives have failed to measurably address the problem, with the smog blamed for thousands of premature deaths each year and particularly impacting the health of children and the elderly.

Levels of PM2.5 pollutants—dangerous cancer-causing microparticles that enter the bloodstream through the lungs—peaked at 921 micrograms per cubic metre at midday on Monday, according to IQAir pollution monitors, with a reading above 15 in a 24-hour period considered unhealthy by the WHO.

In Poland, where criticising Israel remains taboo, Gaza solidarity rises

A Polish artist is among those raising awareness about alleged atrocities committed by Israeli soldiers in Gaza.

By Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska

Published On 18 Nov 202418 Nov 2024

In an attempt to raise awareness about the abuse and humiliation suffered by Palestinians who have been arrested and tortured by Israeli troops, Igor Dobrowolski, a Polish painter and performance artist, dressed up in a purple overall in March and placed a yellow sack over his head.

In a video of the performance posted to Instagram, he is seen kneeling on a concrete floor, his hands zip-tied behind his back. A person beside him in khaki green playing the role of an Israeli soldier holds up a stick with laughing emojis – a nod to the evidence that many are livestreaming potential war crimes on social media.

Fury in Russia at 'serious escalation' of missile move

Steve Rosenberg

Russia editor, BBC News•@BBCSteveR

President Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to strike inside Russia with long-range missiles supplied by the US has sparked a furious response in Russia.

"Departing US president Joe Biden… has taken one of the most provocative, uncalculated decisions of his administration, which risks catastrophic consequences," declared the website of the Russian government newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta on Monday morning.

Russian MP Leonid Slutsky, head of the pro-Kremlin Liberal-Democratic Party, predicted that the decision would "inevitably lead to a serious escalation, threatening serious consequences".