Hamas-run ministry says 436 killed in 24 hours as Israel says hundreds of targets hit
Israel says it has successfully ‘thwarted’ two Hamas drones
We’ve an update on those two drones, which Hamas said earlier it had fired at southern Israel.
The Israeli military says two drones were “identified crossing from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory” at Nir Oz and Ein HaBesor – areas near the border with Gaza – and both were “thwarted”.
It did not clarify how the drones had been intercepted, or whether they were shot down.
In a separate update, the Israel Defense Forces said its air defence also intercepted a drone that had “infiltrated from Lebanon into Israel”. Again there was little detail given.
- Israel says it’s targeting Hamas infrastructure, including tunnels, with 320 targets hit in a day
- Israel has also launched limited ground raids into Gaza to find information about hostages being held
- The UN agency for Palestinian refugees says the situation in southern Gaza is so bad that some civilians are returning north after being told to flee south by Israel
- More than 1,400 Israelis were killed when Hamas attacked communities near Gaza, shooting civilians dead in their homes, in the streets and at a music festival
- Gaza’s health ministry says more than 5,000 people have been killed since Israel began bombing the territory in response, flattening entire neighbourhoods
Venezuela: Machado takes big early lead in presidential primary vote
Challenger to crisis-ridden presidency of Nicolás Maduro claims victory after Venezuelans queue for hours in rainstorm to vote
Early returns in the Venezuelan opposition’s presidential primary have given a big lead to former legislator María Corina Machado, who quickly claimed victory as the candidate to end the decade-long, crisis-ridden presidency of Nicolás Maduro.
The independent National Primary Commission, which organised the vote, said about 93% of the first 601,110 ballots counted went to Machado, who entered the contest as a strong frontrunner. The rest of the votes were scattered among the other nine candidates. There was no indication of how many people had voted, and organisers were expected to release additional results throughout Monday.
Germany: ZDF broadcaster building evacuated amid bomb threat
German police evacuated several buildings in the western city of Mainz on Monday, after receiving a bomb threat against German public broadcaster ZDF, which is headquartered there.
Police said it received the threat at around 08:20 a.m. (0620 GMT) against the ZDF studio in Mainz.
“In order to ensure the safety of the staff and other people on the premises, several buildings were evacuated,” the police said in a statement.
It added that police officers were inspecting the scene, aided by service dogs trained to detect explosives.
Iran sentences journalists who covered Amini death to jail on propaganda charges
Two female Iranian journalists arrested for reporting on the death of Mahsa Amini, which sparked nationwide protests last year, have been sentenced for up to seven years in prison, the judiciary said Sunday.
Amini’s death in custody on September 16, 2022 after her arrest by the morality police in Tehran for an alleged breach of Iran’s strict dress rules for women led to mass protests across the country.
The journalists Elaheh Mohammadi and Niloufar Hamedi were both found guilty of collaboration with the United States, conspiring against state security and propaganda against the Islamic republic, the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said.
Mohammadi, 36, was given six years in prison for collaboration with the United States and Hamedi, 31, was handed a seven-year term for the same offence, said Mizan.
Indigenous Australians end week of silence; denounce ‘shameful’ referendum result
By Sharon MARRIS
Aboriginal Australian leaders ended their vow of silence on Monday to denounce millions of their compatriots for rejecting a landmark push for Indigenous rights, saying that the referendum result would be “etched into Australia’s history forever”.
Simmering racial divisions were exposed earlier this month when just over 60 percent of Australians voted against a referendum to acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders within the 1901 constitution.
In the wake of the result, many Indigenous leaders embarked on a “week of silence”, asking for time to grieve what they saw as a crushing rejection at the hands of Australia’s white majority.
House GOP circus embarrasses senior party leaders as the country and the world wait for Republicans to pick a speaker
House Republicans on Monday open the next act of their Washington farce, desperately searching for a speaker after ousting the incumbent and rejecting two would-be replacements while still clueless about how to dig out of the crisis.
Congress has seen impeachments, fiscal cliffs, government shutdowns and even an insurrection, but the modern Republican Party is surpassing itself with a debacle that is embarrassing senior party leaders and threatens to damage the House GOP’s hopes of saving and expanding upon its tiny majority in 2024. Far from tackling critical bills needed to fund the government, the leaderless House can’t do the basics, like pass a resolution condemning the Hamas attacks in Israel.
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