World News

Steve Witkoff said the Russian leader had an artist paint a portrait of Trump and gave it to the American president as a gift. Witkoff called Putin “super smart” and not “a bad guy.”

In November, the UN Human Rights Office said its analysis showed close to 70% of verified victims over a six-month period were women and children .

Summary

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will call an early general election for April 28 and run for office in Ottawa’s Nepean riding.

Carney, who succeeded Justin Trudeau in March, seeks a clear mandate amid rising tensions with the U.S. sparked by Donald Trump’s trade war threats and calls for Canada to become the 51st state.

The opposition Conservatives, led by Pierre Poilievre, had expected an easy victory until Trump’s attacks fueled a surge in nationalism, boosting Liberal support.

The election will decide 343 House of Commons seats.

Summary

Tens of thousands protested across France on against racism and the rise of the far right, with 91,000 participants nationwide and 21,500 in Paris.

Demonstrators condemned the influence of reactionary politics in France and the U.S., including the growing popularity of Marine Le Pen's far-right party.

Some protesters criticized government ministers for embracing far-right ideas.

The protests coincided with the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination amid increasing racist and anti-Semitic acts.

Summary

Russian special services recruited two Ukrainian teenagers, aged 15 and 17, to carry out suicide bomb attacks in Ivano-Frankivsk, promising $1,700.

The teens unknowingly transported homemade explosives disguised as thermoses, which Russian handlers detonated remotely, killing one and seriously injuring the other. The blast also injured two passersby.

A second explosion occurred at the teens’ rented apartment.

Ukrainian authorities charged the surviving teen with terrorism-related crimes and warned of a new Russian tactic of exploiting and eliminating operatives to cover tracks.

Summary

Hungary passed a law banning Pride events and allowing facial recognition to identify attendees.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban endorsed the ban, sparking protests and resistance from activists who vowed to continue celebrating Pride.

Critics, including human rights groups and European Parliament members, condemned the law as illegal and discriminatory.

Activists fear heightened surveillance and repression but remain determined to fight for LGBTQ+ rights.

The ban aligns with Orban's broader anti-LGBTQ+ agenda, which has previously restricted adoption and LGBTQ+ content for minors.

Sir Keir Starmer's plan for an international force to support a ceasefire in Ukraine has been dismissed as "a posture and a pose" by Donald Trump's special envoy.

Steve Witkoff said the idea was based on a "simplistic" notion of the UK prime minister and other European leaders thinking "we have all got to be like Winston Churchill".

**In an interview with pro-Trump journalist Tucker Carlson, Witkoff praised Vladimir Putin, saying he "liked" the Russian president.

"I don't regard Putin as a bad guy," he said. "He's super smart."**

WARNING: This story contains references to suicide, sexual abuse, violence, graphic material and language that may be upsetting to some readers.

Explosions echoed throughout the north, central and southern Gaza Strip early Sunday

Rural regions account for 43 percent of the world's population – estimated to be just over 8 billion, at the last count – and if the calculations in this new study are correct then the number of unaccounted-for people could potentially stretch into the billions.(...)

"We were surprised to find that the actual population living in rural areas is much higher than the global population data indicates – depending on the dataset, rural populations have been underestimated by between 53 percent to 84 percent over the period studied."(..)

ad: "Not everyone is convinced. Scientists who weren't involved in the study told Chris Stokel-Walker at New Scientist that improvements in satellite imagery and the quality of data collecting in some countries would make these discrepancies smaller."(..)

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.bascul.in/post/437606

TLDR: Imamoglu's detainment turned into an arrest request

Erdogan's presidency rival, The Union of Turkish Municipalities and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu were referred to the courthouse with a request for arrest.

When demonstrators gathered ­at Istanbul’s city hall last week in outrage at the arrest of mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, 26-year-old Azra said she was initially too scared to defy a ban on gatherings. As protests grew on university campuses and in cities and towns across Turkey, she could no longer resist joining.

“I saw the spark in people’s eyes and the excitement on their faces, and I decided I had to come down here,” she said with a grin, standing among tens of thousands that defied a ban on assembly to fill the streets around city hall on Friday night. Despite the crowds, Azra feared reprisals and declined to give her full name. Many demonstrators were masked in a bid to defy facial recognition ­technology and fearing the teargas or pepper spray sometimes deployed by the police. Others smiled and took ­selfies to celebrate as fireworks illuminated the night sky.

The arrest of the mayor of Turkey’s largest city in a dawn raid last week was a watershed moment in the country’s prolonged shift away from democracy. Opponents of president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan fear it is a move to ­sideline the sole challenger capable of defeating him in upcoming elections, expected before 2028.

MBFC
Archive

Drug shortages in the UK have risen to their worst level for four years, official figures show, with Brexit considered a key reason so many medications are scarce.

Drug companies notified the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) about disruptions to supply 1,938 times during last year – the highest number since the 1,967 seen in 2021.

Medications to treat epilepsy and cystic fibrosis are among those that pharmacists are finding it hard or impossible to get hold of, creating risks for patients’ health.

The figures have emerged in a new report by the Nuffield Trust health thinktank, which obtained them under freedom of information laws from the DHSC, which oversees the availability of drugs UK-wide.

In Gaza this weekend, the mood is darker than it has been at perhaps any time in this long, appalling war. Last Tuesday Israeli warplanes, tanks, artillery, drones and ships launched a wave of strikes, shattering the increasingly fragile pause in hostilities that had brought respite to the devastated territory for nearly two months. The ceasefire had also brought hope which, Palestinians in Gaza said, made the return to violence that much more unbearable.

In a video statement last Wednesday, Israel Katz, Israel’s defence minister, called on 2.3 million people in Gaza to “banish Hamas”, saying “the alternative is complete destruction and ruin”.

Two days later, as air strikes continued and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) seized a key strategic corridor that divides Gaza, Katz issued a new ultimatum, this time telling Hamas to give up the 59 hostages it is still holding or “lose more and more land that will be added to Israel”. He said that the IDF would use “all military and civilian pressure, including … implementing US President Trump’s voluntary migration plan for Gaza residents”.

MBFC
Archive

Australia’s two world heritage-listed reefs – Ningaloo on the west coast and the Great Barrier Reef on the east – have been hit simultaneously by coral bleaching that reef experts have called “heartbreaking” and “a profoundly distressing moment”.

Teams of scientists on both coasts have been monitoring and tracking the heat stress and bleaching extending across thousands of kilometres of marine habitat, which is likely to have been driven by global heating.

Paul Gamblin, the chief executive of the Australian Marine Conservation Society, said history would “record this profoundly distressing moment” when two world famous reefs both suffered widespread damage at the same time.

When Rachel Reeves takes to her feet in the Commons to deliver her spring statement next week, she will try to pull off what her inner circle describe as a “re-education” exercise over how Labour has used its early days in power.

“We want it to be a re-education on all the good things we’ve already done in office,” said one, listing achievements including increasing the minimum wage, cutting NHS waiting lists and improving workers’ rights. “We want everybody to hear it.”

Few Labour MPs believe there is much reason for cheer, as there is little sign of the economy improving anytime soon, with growth forecasts expected to be downgraded again next week and Reeves announcing the biggest spending cuts since austerity.

The despair came to a head this week after Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, announced £5bn of cuts to disability benefits. Despite No 10 arguing that it had a “moral case” for welfare reform as well as an economic one, many Labour MPs responded with dismay.

Iceland’s minister for children and education has resigned after admitting she had a child with a teenager more than three and a half decades ago, according to Icelandic media.

An Israeli air raid has struck the coastal city of Tyre in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese government and several local media outlets have reported.

At least one person has been killed in Tyre from the strikes, the second wave of Israeli attacks Saturday, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. Another Israeli attack in Qlaileh, southeast of Tyre, also wounded four people, according to the ministry.

Earlier in the day, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said his country was at risk of being drawn into a “new war” as dozens of other Israeli air strikes killed at least five people. Salam warned Israel’s “renewed military operations on the southern border” would bring “woes to Lebanon and the Lebanese people”.