Reuters
CAIRO/JERUSALEM/LONDON, March 18 (Reuters) - Extreme food shortages in parts of the Gaza Strip have already exceeded famine levels, and mass death is now imminent without an immediate ceasefire and surge of food to areas cut off by fighting, the global hunger monitor said on Monday.
The Integrated Food-Security Phase Classification (IPC), whose assessments are relied on by U.N. agencies, said 70% of people in parts of northern Gaza were suffering the most severe level of
food shortage, more than triple the 20% threshold to be considered famine.
The IPC said it did not have enough data on death rates, but estimated residents would be dying at famine scale imminently, defined as two people out of every 10,000 dying daily from starvation or from malnutrition and disease.
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BBC
Their "Noon against Putin" initiative meant that long queues of voters formed at midday in Russian cities including Moscow and St Petersburg and in even greater numbers outside many embassies abroad, but it was never going to have any impact on the result.
Monitoring group OVD-Info said at least 80 Russians were arrested. There was no repeat of the sporadic attacks on some polling stations that happened on Friday.
Western countries lined up to condemn the vote as neither free nor fair.
Germany called it a "pseudo-election" under an authoritarian ruler reliant on censorship, repression and violence.
BBC (3/16/2024) ed note: I wanted to share this because I’m an Idris Elba fan
Hollywood actor Idris Elba has a "big dream" for Sierra Leone, the West African nation where his father was born - to regenerate a beautiful island off its coast and turn it into an eco-friendly "smart city".
"Originally we went there thinking how could we bring tourism to the most incredible 19 miles of beachfront," the British star told the BBC about Sherbro Island.
But as the idea was explored, a more innovative plan came into play - to bring in partners and seriously develop the area in a sustainable, eco way. The project now also intends to bring wind-powered renewable electricity for the first time to Sierra Leone.
"It's a dream, you know, but I work in the make-believe business," says Elba, best known for his roles in Luther, the Wire and for playing Nelson Mandela. The 51-year-old actor wants to make people believe this can happen - and change perspectives.
"It's about being self-reliant, it's about bringing an economy that feeds itself and has growth potential. I'm very keen to reframe the way Africa is viewed… as an aid model.
Al Jazeera
India’s Supreme Court has ordered the State Bank of India (SBI) to submit all the details of electoral bonds, including the unique codes linking donors to political parties, just a month before the country’s general election.
The seven-year-old election funding system, called “electoral bonds”, allowed individuals and companies in India to donate money to political parties anonymously and without any limits.
In February, the top court scrapped the opaque system, calling it “unconstitutional”.
In its order on Monday, the Supreme Court gave the SBI until Thursday to provide the Election Commission of India with the unique identification numbers of the bonds, so as to allow donors to be matched with recipients.
“You have to disclose all details … we must have finality to it,” Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said.
Al Jazeera
Israeli forces have arrested and severely beaten Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul in Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital.
Al-Ghoul was there early on Monday with his crew and other reporters to cover the Israeli army’s fourth raid into the hospital, where thousands of civilians are trapped, including medical staff, patients and displaced families.
Witnesses said the Al Jazeera reporter was dragged away by Israeli forces, who also destroyed the broadcasting vehicles of news crews at the medical facility. The hospital, the largest in the Gaza Strip, has served as a base for journalists to report on Israel’s more than five-month war on the Palestinian enclave.
Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Rafah, said al-Ghoul has been “tortured, beaten and detained by the Israeli military along with his crew member on the ground”.
Duetsche Welle
The rights watchdog accused Russia of working to "alter the ethnic makeup" of Crimea, which marks 10 years of Russian annexation on Monday. Meanwhile, Putin warned of direct conflict with NATO. DW has more.
Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has backed Chancellor Olaf Scholz's rejection of the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine and his fundamental opposition to the deployment of ground troops there.
"I think Olaf Scholz is doing what I would expect from a German chancellor at the moment," the former leader of the Social Democrats (SPD), which is also Scholz's party, said.
Schröder, who was chancellor from 1998 to 2005, also called for a Franco-German initiative to negotiate a solution to the conflict in Ukraine.
Deutsche Welle
Protestors are disrupting traffic with Germany as they express anger at EU agricultural regulations. Although Brussels has taken steps to loosen its rules, European farmers have not let up with their demos.
A Polish police spokeperson said farmers in Poland blocked two crossings on the German border in protest Monday.
The farmers parked their tractors on the A2 highway, blocking traffic in both directions at the Swiecko and Gubinek crossings, both western towns in Poland. The demo first began on Sunday.
Marcin Maludy, a spokesperson for the police in Gorzow Wielkopolski said: "Traffic in Swiecko and Gubinek is blocked, you cannot travel in either direction," and the protest "will continue until Wednesday evening."
CNN
CNN —
The foundation that selected SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, conservative media mogul Rupert Murdoch and other honorees as recipients of an award named after Ruth Bader Ginsburg announced Monday it is canceling its award ceremony after receiving pushback from the late justice’s family.
Julie Opperman, chair of the Opperman Foundation, said in a statement “that the last thing we intended was to offend the family and friends of RBG.”
“Our purpose was only to remember her and to honor her leadership. And, while we believe each of the honorees is worthy of our respect for their leadership and their notable contributions, the Foundation has decided that the planned ceremony in April 2024 will be canceled,” Opperman said.
The Guardian UK
Ruishi Sunak’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda took a step forward on Monday night after MPs voted overwhelmingly to throw out a series of amendments made to the Rwanda bill by the House of Lords.
MPs voted down all 10 amendments made by peers over the past few weeks to return the bill to the form in which it was initially passed by the Commons in January, giving a much-needed boost to the beleaguered prime minister.
The safety of Rwanda (asylum and immigration) bill, which is designed to overcome the supreme court’s objections to the plan, will return to the Lords later this week. Peers will then have to decide whether to reinsert their amendments and slow down the bill’s passage once more.
Speaking before the votes on Monday, Sunak said: “I am still committed to the timeline that I set out previously, which is we aim to get a flight off in the spring.”
The Guardian, UK
The news broke in the Russian media on Monday afternoon. King Charles III was dead. He was not, but no one really had time to check the details. The saga of the royal family finally had its latest twist: a viral Russian disinformation angle.
The rumour went into overdrive when it was shared on a Telegram channel used by Vedomosti, once Russia’s most respected business newspaper. There was a photo of Charles in ceremonial military uniform and the curt caption: “British King Charles III has died.” It made it through Russian internet channels, including Readovka, a pro-Kremlin Telegram channel with more than 2.35 million subscribers.
There was no BBC announcement or public statement from Buckingham Palace. But Readovka did have a document, provenance unknown, that it posted next to a photograph of the king. “The following announcement is made by royal communications,” it said. “The king passed away unexpectedly yesterday afternoon.” It was dated 18 March 2024. That was all.
KERA News for North Texas via NPR
A Texas law that allows local and state police officers to arrest people suspected of being in the country illegally has been kept on hold by the United States Supreme Court “pending further order from the court.”
The latest development came a few minutes after a previous pause in the law’s implementation expired Monday afternoon.
Senate Bill 4 was passed in late 2023 as part of a priority package of immigration and border security bills championed by Gov. Greg Abbott and other far-right leaders. The legislation also permits local judges to order a migrant to return to Mexico regardless of their nationality.
The bill was originally scheduled to take effect March 5, but it’s implementation was temporarily blocked by U.S. District Judge David Ezra. On Feb. 29, Ezra ruled the law is likely unconstitutional because the federal government has jurisdiction over immigration matters.
NPR
Ed. Note: Check out the photo at the link. It’s quite remarkable.
The street artist Banksy has confirmed the authenticity of a new mural that was painted on a north London street. The piece re-foliates a severely pruned tree in the Islington North area, a densely populated neighborhood.
In a "before" photo posted on Banksy's account Monday, the denuded tree, with most of its branches sawed off, stands before a rather sad building wall, its pale paint peeling away. Now, bright green paint has been sprayed on that same wall just behind the cut-back tree and its bare, stumpy limbs.
The green, dripped paint suggests tree foliage, while at the lower left side a stencil of a person holding a paint sprayer gazes upwards, seemingly toward the tree.
Reuters
BANJUL, March 18 (Reuters) - Gambian lawmakers on Monday debated whether to repeal a ban on female genital mutilation, which has been on the rise in recent years despite activist campaigns to end the practice.
The small West African nation imposed steep fines and jail sentences in 2015 for those who carry out female circumcision, known by the acronym FGM.
The World Health Organization says the practice has no health benefits and can lead to excessive bleeding, shock, psychological problems and even death.
USA Today
U.S. Rep. Cory Mills says he has helped 23 Americans exit Port-au-Prince, Haiti, which has fallen into chaos as criminal gangs have overpowered government forces.
"Our team has now successfully rescued and evacuated more Americans than (President Joe) Biden and his entire administration," the Florida Republican claimed in a tweet on X. "Americans deserve support from their government. Not the pattern of abandonment this administration has shown."
Mills did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He told the Washington Examiner he first got involved last week after a request for assistance by U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain, a Michigan Republican, on behalf of the Have Faith orphanage, started by author Mitch Albom.
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