Israel rejects claims it is trying to force Palestinians out of Gaza
WHO chief says ‘Gaza’s health system is on its knees and collapsing’ amid intensifying ground offensive
Israel has rejected suggestions it is trying to force Palestinians out of Gaza as Arab leaders and aid officials warn its intensifying ground offensive could leave civilians with few other options.
Some of the heaviest close-quarters fighting in more than two months of conflict took place over the weekend, as the Israel Defense Forces tried to consolidate control of urban centres in northern Gaza and pursued Hamas leaders in the heart of the biggest city in the south, Khan Younis.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, claimed dozens of Hamas fighters had surrendered, calling it the beginning of the end for the militant group that has controlled Gaza since 2007. Hamas called the claim “false and baseless”.
‘They violated our rights’: Chile’s draft constitution fails women, say activists
Last year, a liberal constitution to replace the Pinochet-era one was rejected. Now a referendum will be held on a new draft that curbs abortion rights and enshrines Catholic morality. Here, five women reflect on 2019’s protests and the struggle for equality
Chile will vote this week on whether to finally replace the country’s dictatorship-era constitution. But for campaigners seeking equal rights for women and Indigenous peoples, the new draft constitution is a big disappointment.
The referendum, which will be held on 17 December, is the latest stage in a four-year political saga. An agreement to vote on a replacement for the dictatorship-era constitution during Gen Augusto Pinochet’s rule was first reached in 2019 after the country’s worst unrest in decades led to at least 30 people being killed, scores blinded by shotgun pellets, teargas canisters and non-lethal ammunition fired by police, and thousands more injured.
Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny declared missing days after Putin announces presidential bid
Alexei Navany has not been seen since last Tuesday, three days before Vladimir Putin announced he would run for a fifth presidential term in Russia
Jailed Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny has been declared missing by his lawyers and allies just days after Vladimir Putin announced he would run for a fifth presidential term next year.
Mr Navalny, 47, who is serving a 19-year-term on charges of extremism, was due to appear in court on Monday via videolink but did not show up, his spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh said.
His lawyers said they have not been able to contact him since last Tuesday and that his whereabouts are now unknown.
COP28 draft deal fails to include fossil fuel ‘phaseout’
The UAE has presented a watered-down draft deal that merely called for reducing fossil fuel consumption. A coalition of over 100 countries had wanted a complete phaseout.
The hosts of the COP28 summit in Dubai presented a draft deal on Monday that stopped short of calling for the complete “phaseout” of carbon-emitting fossil fuels — the main drivers of climate change — that many countries have been demanding.
The draft deal proposed options that would reduce the production and consumption of coal, oil and natural gas.
At the same time, the writers of the draft put forward by the United Arab Emirates, which holds the COP28 presidency, had removed any mention of a “phaseout” that had been included in a previous draft.
Top court in India upholds government move to revoke Kashmir’s autonomy
India’s top court on Monday upheld a move by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to revoke the limited autonomy of Muslim-majority Kashmir, where an insurgency has raged for decades, and ordered elections within a year.
The 2019 declaration was “a culmination of the process of integration and as such is a valid exercise of power”, the Supreme Court said in its verdict.
The move was accompanied by the imposition of direct rule from New Delhi, mass arrests, a total lockdown and communication blackout that ran for months as India bolstered its armed forces in the region to contain protests.
Modi’s muscular policy has been deeply controversial in Kashmir, but was widely celebrated across India, with the insurgency that claimed tens of thousands of lives over decades largely quietened.
Javier Milei: New president tells Argentina ‘shock treatment’ looms
By Sean Seddon in London & Katy Watson in São PauloBBC News
Argentina’s new far-right president has vowed to deliver economic “shock treatment” in his first speech after formally taking office.
Javier Milei warned Argentines “there is no money” and recommitted to a programme of harsh austerity measures.
The populist outsider won a surprise election victory in November with radical pledges to overhaul the South American nation’s ailing economy.
Mr Milei’s inauguration was held in Buenos Aires on Sunday.
In a day of pomp and ceremony, the 53-year-old capped his extraordinary rise to power with a speech which left Argentines in no doubt he intends to embark on an economic path unlike any previous president.
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