Thursday, July 31, 2025
Six In The Morning Thursday 31 July 2025
Trump's envoy in Israel as Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says 91 killed seeking aid in past day
Summary
The US special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, is meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel, with reports he may also visit aid sites in Gaza
Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says 91 people have been killed while seeking aid in the past day and two people have died of malnutrition
The Israeli government does not allow international news organisations, including the BBC, into Gaza to report freely on the situation there
It comes as US President Donald Trump says Canada's move to recognise a Palestinian state threatens a US-Canada trade deal
Canada's announcement follows similar plans by the UK and France - the BBC's diplomatic correspondent explains what it means
Palestinians have described recent moves to recognise a Palestinian state as a symbolic but important step, but many are sceptical about the feasibility of the two-state solution, our Gaza correspondent writes
Israel welcomes US sanctions on Palestinian officials
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar has welcomed Washington's decision to sanction the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organisation.
In a post on X, Sa'ar thanked US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the State Department as a whole, for having what he calls "moral clarity" for taking steps to sanction Palestinian officials belonging to both groups.
The move will include denying visas to Palestinian officials, preventing their travel to the US.
Hong Kong democracy campaigner accuses UK police of asking her to ‘self-censor’
Exclusive: Thames Valley police requested Carmen Lau ‘avoid public gatherings’ after neighbours received bounty letters
Thu 31 Jul 2025 13.11 BST
Hong Kong democracy campaigner accuses UK police of asking her to ‘self-censor’
Exclusive: Thames Valley police requested Carmen Lau ‘avoid public gatherings’ after neighbours received bounty letters
A former Hong Kong politician and prominent democracy campaigner has accused British police of asking her to “self-censor” and “retreat from public life” after officers asked her to agree to avoid public gatherings.
The request, outlined in a signed “memorandum of understanding” seen by the Guardian, has alarmed exiled dissidents who fear it may embolden attempts to silence criticism of Chinese and Hong Kong officials worldwide.
China: Telegram group sparks outrage over voyeur videos
Chi-Hui Lin with Reuters, Southern Daily
Men shared videos of women, including family members and children, without their knowledge or consent in a group of over 100,000 men. China regularly removes pornographic content from its tightly controlled internet.
A shady Telegram group has sparked outrage in China after sexually exploitative images of Chinese women were shared in a group chat with hundreds of thousands of users.
A Chinese-language Telegram chat group named "MaskPark tree hole forum" shared images of women secretly taken or filmed in different locations.
The Chinese state-run newspaper Southern Daily first reported on the group in mid-September, with the story being picked up outside of China in recent days.
How Brazil's innovative 'Pix' payment system is angering Trump and Zuckerberg
The Pix instant payment system is used by nearly everyone in Brazil, from street vendors to major retailers. In a recent op-ed, economist Paul Krugman even touted it as the “future of money”. Its success has sparked global interest and some political tension after US President Donald Trump launched an investigation into the system.
In the streets of Rio de Janeiro one can find street vendors selling anything from popcorn to cigarettes to electronics, like charging cables and earphones.
If you ask to pay with cash or a credit card, the response will most likely be, “Do you have Pix?”
Brazil’s instant payment system works much like US payment apps like Zelle, but instead of being ruled by a consortium of banks it is controlled by the Brazilian Central Bank.
900 spend night on ferries unable to dock after tsunami alerts
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
July 31, 2025 at 18:16 JST
Mirroring those along the Pacific coast who stayed at evacuation centers overnight following tsunami warnings, 900 people spent the night stranded at sea, swaying with the waves.
Due to a major 8.7-magnitude earthquake near Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on July 30, four ferries connecting Tomakomai in Hokkaido and Oarai in Ibaraki Prefecture were unable to dock until the morning of July 31.
Tsunami warnings and evacuation orders were issued at both ports after the quake that were followed by additional advisories.
Tehran Could Run Dry Over Water Crisis
Iran’s capital Tehran could be weeks away from “day zero,” experts say — the day when taps run dry for large parts of the city — as the country suffers a severe water crisis. Key reservoirs are shrinking, authorities are scrambling to reduce water consumption and residents are desperately trying to conserve it to stave off catastrophe.
“If we do not make urgent decisions today, we will face a situation in the future that cannot be solved,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said at a cabinet meeting Monday.
Water is inherently short in supply in this arid nation. The difference is this crisis is hitting the capital, said Kaveh Madani, director of the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health.
Wednesday, July 30, 2025
Six In The Morning Wednesday 30 July 2025
Central and South American authorities order evacuations; volcano in Russia starts erupting after earthquake off Russian coast
Klyuchevskoy volcano starts erupting after 8.8-magnitude earthquake off coast of Russia; Japan and Hawaii downgrade tsunami warnings
Wed 30 Jul 2025 15.58 BST
An expedition group from the Russian Geographical Society was on the Kuril island of Shumshu when the tsunami swept away their tent camp, AFP reports.
“When the wave hit, all we could do was run to higher ground. It’s very difficult to do that in boots on slippery grass and in fog,” group member Vera Kostamo told Russian tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda.
German Olympic star Dahlmeier confirmed dead in Pakistan
Matt Ford | Stefan Nestler AFP, AP, dpa, SID
German Olympic star Laura Dahlmeier has been confirmed dead following a mountaineering accident in Pakistan. Adverse weather conditions had hampered attempts to rescue the former Olympic champion.
Former German Olympic biathlon champion Laura Dahlmeier was confirmed dead on Wednesday, two days after being caught in a rockslide high in the mountains of northern Pakistan.
The 31-year-old was swept away by falling rocks on Monday at an altitude of around 5,700 meters (18,700 feet) while ascending the 6,069-meter-high Laila Peak.
Exclusive: GHF ‘complicit in war crimes’ in Gaza, says former aid contractor
Anthony Aguilar, a retired US army soldier, worked as a security subcontractor for the Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) tasked with delivering aid to the besieged Palestinian enclave. In this exclusive testimony, Aguilar reveals untold and harrowing details about the GHF aid operation in Gaza.
Retired US Army Special Forces officer Anthony Aguilar worked as a subcontractor for UG Solutions in the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid delivery operation.
He was at a distribution site in Gaza in May, he said, when a stun grenade was thrown into the crowd right next to a Palestinian woman who was putting items from the aid box she had just collected into a bag so she could leave.
'Dramatic setback'
Will Peru's new amnesty law put justice out of reach?
First came the rattle of a loud explosion. Then, the patter of gunfire reached 14-year-old Francisco Ochoa's ears.
Ochoa and his father had been up since the crack of dawn on August 14, 1985, preparing to sow seeds in the corn fields outside Accomarca, a small village nestled in the rugged Andean mountains of south-central Peru.
But the unexpected sounds coming from their hometown forced them to rush back.
Seven more malnutrition deaths reported in Gaza, as Hamas-run health ministry says 104 killed in 24 hours
More malnutrition deaths reported in Gaza as world responds to UK's announcement
Last night, Keir Starmer announced that the UK will recognise a Palestinian state unless Israel meets certain conditions. Since then, reaction from across the globe and the political spectrum has been pouring in.
Meanwhile, in Gaza, seven more people have died as a result of malnutrition, the Hamas-run health ministry says.
Nigel Farage under investigation by parliamentary standards commissioner
The Reform UK leader is being investigated over a possible break of rule five, which relates to registration of an interest.
Nigel Farage is under investigation by the parliamentary standards watchdog over a potential breach of the MP’s code of conduct.
The Reform UK leader is being investigated over a possible break of rule five, which relates to registration of an interest.
The parliamentary commissioner for standards, Daniel Greenberg, opened an investigation on Monday, according to the Parliament website.
Tuesday, July 29, 2025
Footage shows tsunami hit coastal Russian town of after Kamchatka quake
Six In The Morning Tuesday 29 July 2025
Starmer holds emergency meeting as UN-backed experts warn famine playing out in Gaza
Summary
UK PM Keir Starmer is holding an emergency cabinet meeting on Gaza, as pressure mounts on him to immediately recognise Palestinian statehood
It comes as Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says more than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in the enclave since Israel's offensive began, including 112 in the past 24 hours
A UN-backed food security body says "the worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out" in Gaza, with "mounting evidence" of widespread starvation - here's the detail
Aid agencies warn Israel's measures to increase aid supplies to Gaza aren't enough - Israel insists there are no restrictions on aid deliveries and that there is "no starvation"
Some people in Gaza say they have not eaten in two days, accusing armed gangs of looting incoming aid trucks and selling the contents on the black market, Gaza correspondent Rushdi Abualouf writes
'Now or never moment': Labour MP calls on government to recognise Palestinian state
Harry Farley
Political correspondent, at Downing Street
In London, Sarah Champion, the Labour MP who organised the letter signed by more than half of the party's backbenchers calling for the government to recognise a Palestinian state, tells me she thinks this is a "now or never moment":
Here's what she says in full:
"I really hope the cabinet realises there will never be a perfect moment to recognise the state of Palestine.
Arturo Suárez and others deported in Trump’s anti-immigrant crackdown describe dire conditions at Cecot
Tue 29 Jul 2025 09.11 BST
‘Cemetery of the living dead’: Venezuelans recall 125 days in notorious El Salvador prison
Arturo Suárez and others deported in Trump’s anti-immigrant crackdown describe dire conditions at Cecot
Arturo Suárez struggles to pinpoint the worst moment of his incarceration inside a prison the warden boasted was “a cemetery of the living dead”.
Was it the day inmates became so exasperated at being beaten by guards that they threatened to hang themselves with their sheets? “The only weapon we had was our own lives,” recalled the Venezuelan former detainee.
Was it when prisoners staged a “blood strike”, cutting their arms with broken pipes and smearing their bedclothes with crimson messages of despair? “SOS!” they wrote.
Angola: Mass arrests as Luanda fuel protests turn deadly
Looting and vandalism have occurred in Angola as demonstrators are angered by the government's decision to increase fuel prices. Angola is one of the top African oil producers but faces severe economic challenges.
Angolan police said Tuesday that over 500 arrests were made and four people died amid disorder in the African country's capital, Luanda. No details were available from the police on the circumstances of the fatalities.
Demonstrations on Monday against the Angolan government's decision to remove fuel subsidies and hike the price of diesel turned violent, with Angolan authorities reporting looting and vandalism in the capital.
'Enough was enough': Why France is now taking a stand on Palestinian statehood
After pledging to recognise a Palestinian state in September, France is co-chairing a UN conference in New York this week in a push to rally other countries behind its lead. A far cry from the “unconditional” support for Israel declared in the wake of the October 7 attacks, French diplomacy seems to be shifting gears.
France and Saudi Arabia are co-chairing a high-level summit at the United Nations this week in a bid to generate momentum for international recognition of a Palestinian state. More than 100 countries are attending the three-day meeting in New York, from July 28-30.
Israel, which opposes the two-state solution, is boycotting the summit, which has also been described by the United States as "counterproductive".
World Court climate opinion turns up the legal heat on governments
Moscow responds to Trump’s new ceasefire deadline after deadly strikes
US president says he is ‘disappointed’ with lack of progress towards ending war
Moscow has “noted” US president Donald Trump’s decision to cut his deadline on a Ukraine ceasefire from 50 days to “10 to 12”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would continue to pursue what it calls its special military operation despite Mr Trump’s new deadline.
It comes after at least 22 people were killed in a Russian strike on a Ukrainian prison camp and hospital in parts of Ukraine overnight.