Gaza death toll passes 28,000
- Gaza’s health ministry says 117 Palestinians have been killed and 152 wound during the past 24 hours.
- As Israel intensifies its attacks on Rafah, people are now escaping to the central part of the Gaza Strip about 20km (eight miles) away.
- Hind Rajab, a six-year-old Palestinian girl who went missing after the family’s car came under Israeli fire, was found dead along with the two medics dispatched to look for her.
- UN chief Antonio Guterres says half of Gaza’s 2.3 million population “is now crammed into Rafah with nowhere to go”, warning the displaced “have no homes” and “no hope”.
- At least 28,064 people have been killed and 67,611 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The death toll in Israel from the October 7 Hamas attacks stands at 1,139.
Pakistan army chief calls for unity as election fails to produce clear winner
Country faces uncertainty after strong performance by independent candidates loyal to former PM Imran Khan
Pakistan’s army chief has told feuding politicians to show “maturity and unity” after an election failed to produce a clear winner, leaving the military’s favoured party having to cobble together a coalition in order to rule.
The country faces days of political horse-trading after a strong performance by independent candidates loyal to the jailed former prime minister, Imran Khan, scuppered the chances of the army-backed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) from winning a ruling majority.
El Salvador: Bukele confirmed as president after final count
Nayib Bukele’s controversial decision to jail 77,000 criminal gang members is widely credited with helping him secure a second term. The election result was delayed for days after a recount was demanded.
El Salvador‘s Nayib Bukele was formally reelected as president on Saturday after the Central American country’s election body completed a final tally of the poll results.
The Supreme Electoral Tribunal had demanded a recount due to technical issues during last Sunday’s vote.
On Saturday, the Tribunal announced that Bukele had won 82.66% of support — receiving some 2.7 million votes out of the 3.2 million cast.
His support rose by more than a million votes compared to the last election in 2019.
Manuel Flores of the far-left Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) came a distant second with 6.25%, while Joel Sanchez, of the right-wing Arena party, obtained 5.44%.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg joins protest against new French motorway
Climate activist Greta Thunberg on Saturday joined a banned anti-motorway protest in southern France where police fired tear gas and made arrests a day earlier.
A global figure in the fight against climate change, Thunberg has been fined by one Swedish court for her direct action protests there. But she saw another case against her thrown out by an English court last week.
Wearing a Palestinian scarf and an anorak, Thunberg joined other protesters under heavy rain at the site in Saix where a new motorway — the A69 linking the southwestern city of Toulouse to the town of Castres — is planned, AFP journalists saw.
They held up banners saying “Stop A69”. Critics of the project say it is harmful for the environment and does not take into account the current climate crisis.
The protest organisers had gone ahead with the rally despite authorities banning the gathering because of “risks of serious harm to public order”.
Data rigging scandals threaten to undermine Toyota’s growth
By Yuki Yamaguchi
Behind Toyota Motor Corp’s record earnings announced last Tuesday are its relentless efforts to make its vehicles reliable and operations leaner. A series of data fraud scandals at the auto group have put part of its success formula at risk of collapse.
Data rigging in vehicle certification tests within the Toyota group reflects a shift in the group’s strategy and a lack of close communication between the parent and group companies, analysts say.
Toyota reported an all-time high net profit of 3.95 trillion yen for the April-December period and expects the bottom line to reach a record high for the full year, while it is forecast to become the first Japanese company to post annual sales of more than 40 trillion yen.
Critical Atlantic Ocean current system is showing early signs of collapse, prompting warning from scientists
A crucial system of ocean currents may already be on course to collapse, according to a new report, with alarming implications for sea level rise and global weather — leading temperatures to plunge dramatically in some regions and rise in others.
Using exceptionally complex and expensive computing systems, scientists found a new way to detect an early warning signal for the collapse of these currents, according to the study published Friday in the journal Science Advances. And as the planet warms, there are already indications it is heading in this direction.
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (the AMOC) — of which the Gulf Stream is part — works like a giant global conveyor belt, taking warm water from the tropics toward the far North Atlantic, where the water cools, becomes saltier and sinks deep into the ocean, before spreading southward.
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