Monday, March 24, 2025

Six In The Morning Monday 24 March 2025

Israel considers massive new ground offensive in Gaza as it ramps up pressure on Hamas


Israel is making plans for a potential major ground offensive in Gaza that would involve sending tens of thousands of troops into combat to clear and occupy large swaths of the enclave, an Israeli official and a second source familiar with the matter said.

The potential large-scale offensive is one of several possible scenarios the Israeli government is contemplating as it escalates its attacks on Gaza and seeks to pressure Hamas to release more hostages without negotiating an end to the war.




Journalists among more than 1,100 arrested in Turkey crackdown


Authorities ask X to block accounts as tens of thousands take to streets in largest anti-government protests in years

 in Istanbul
Mon 24 Mar 2025 13.17 GMT

Turkish authorities have arrested more than 1,100 people including journalists, while bombarding the social media platform X with requests to block hundreds of accounts after tens of thousands took to the streets in the largest anti-government protests in years.

One journalist was detained while covering demonstrations that took place outside Istanbul city hall, while nine others were detained in dawn raids.

The sweeping arrests came the morning after the Istanbul mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, was arrested on corruption charges and sent to a high-security prison on the outskirts of the city, on the same day he was named the opposition’s candidate for president.

UN warns millions more will die from AIDS after US cuts

Alex Berry with AFP, Reuters


The UNAIDS program head has said millions more will die as a result of the sudden cuts to funding by the Trump administration. She also warned that the AIDS pandemic could return to 1990s levels.

The head of the United Nations program on the HIV/AIDS pandemic, UNAIDS, said on Monday that over 6 million additional deaths from the disease are expected after the US slashed its funding.

UNAIDS executive director Winnie Byanyima said the sudden cuts from the US, which had been the biggest donor to the program, had been "devastating."

"You're talking of losing the gains that we have made over the last 25 years. It is very serious," she told reporters in Geneva.

Wildfires spread in Okayama, Ehime; homes, buildings burned

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

March 24, 2025 at 14:44 JST



Wildfires in Okayama and Ehime prefectures continued to rage on March 24 after evacuation orders were issued for nearly 3,000 people.

One firefighter in his 70s reportedly fell and suffered minor injuries in Ehime Prefecture.

There was no prospect of bringing the fires under control, and both prefectures have requested help from the Self-Defense Forces.

The fires started on the afternoon of March 23.


Buddhism’s holiest site erupts in protests over Hindu ‘control’ of shrine

Buddhists across the country have joined protests after monks at the Mahabodhi Temple were forcibly removed by police.


As he stood in a queue outside a makeshift tent kitchen for breakfast, 30-year-old Abhishek Bauddh could not help but reflect on the throngs of people around him in Bodh Gaya, Buddhism’s holiest site.

Bauddh has been visiting the town in eastern India’s Bihar state, where the Buddha gained enlightenment, since he was 15. “But I have never seen such an atmosphere. Buddhists from all over the country are gathering here,” he said.

Russian missile hits hospital and homes, says Ukraine, as talks on possible truce continue


Summary


Away from Saudi peace talks, fighting continues in Ukraine war

As we've just reported, at least 28 people have been injured in a missile strike on Sumy, northern Ukraine, and elsewhere the fighting continues.

Ukraine's Armed Forces says on Telegram that there were 140 clashes over the past day, including 74 air strikes on Ukrainian units and settlements.

It highlights attacks in the northern Sumy and Kharkiv regions as well as the eastern Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions







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