Tag Archives: Politics

4 In 5 People Facing Famine Around The World Are In Gaza

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South Africa’s lawyers have told the International Court of Justice that 80% of global famine is in Gaza right now amid the Israel–Hamas war.

As part of South Africa’s legal argument accusing Israel of genocide against Gaza – which Israel has completely denied – lawyer Blinne Ni Ghralaigh, said: “It’s becoming ever clearer that huge swathes of Gaza, entire towns, villages, refugee camps, are being wiped from the map.

“As you have heard but it bears repeating, four out of five people in the world in famine, or a catastrophic type of hunger, are in Gaza right now.

“Indeed, experts warn that deaths from starvation and disease risk significantly outstripping deaths from bombings.”

This statistic comes from a December report released by the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, which found 577,000 people are facing famine in the Palestinian territory.

The report also found that the proportion of households in Gaza currently in a hunger crisis, or experiencing acute food insecurity, is the largest ever recorded globally.

It claimed the entire 2.3 million population are facing a growing risk of famine, and that 1.9 million people – 85% of the population – are displaced within the territory.

“There is a risk of famine and it is increasing each day that the current situation of intense hostilities and restricted humanitarian access persists or worsens,” the report said.

Trucks carrying aid have been arriving in from Egypt, but the UN says it’s offering just 10% of what the territory needs.

After the Palestinian militants Hamas killed 1,200 people on Israeli soil and took 240 others hostage (on October 7), Israel declared war, put Gaza under siege and began to bombard it.

According to the Hamas-run health ministry, more than 23,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began.

In its case against Israel, Pretoria claimed the country failed to provide food, water, medicine and essential assistance to Gaza.

Israel has argued that it is in a war against Palestinian militants not the civilians.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu also said this week: “I want to make a few points absolutely clear: Israel has no intention of permanently occupying Gaza or displacing its civilian population.”

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Rishi Sunak Warms Of ‘Square One’ With Keir Starmer – And That Doesn’t Sound So Bad To Many

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Rishi Sunak has ditched a central plank of his general election strategy – opting for attacks on the “risks” posed by the Labour Party that has echoes a much-derided tweet from 2015.

The Tory leader has as recently as his party conference in October positioned himself as the “change” candidate, an attempt to draw a line under the last 14 years of Conservative rule. In his keynote address to conference, Sunak said the word “change” 30 times.

But since the weekend, the prime minister has changed his pitch – urging voters to “stick with the plan” and not choose Keir Starmer taking the country back to “square one”.

On Monday, Sunak told a PM Connect event in Lancashire: “The alternative is Keir Starmer, who would just take us back to square one.

“He has been leader of the opposition for four years now and in that time, he hasn’t said what he would do differently. That’s because he doesn’t have a plan. He just snipes from the sidelines instead.”

A Conservative source confirmed to Bloomberg that there has been an “evolution” in Sunak’s thinking.

It reported his new plan – to be a continuity candidate – follows the playbook used by Australian election strategist, Lynton Crosby, who masterminded the unlikely, narrow Tory election victory of 2015.

While the plan worked at the time, one aspect of highlighting the potential dangers of the opposition has become an online punchline. In May 2015, then prime minister David Cameron tweeted ahead of the vote: “Britain faces a simple and inescapable choice – stability and strong government with me, or chaos with Ed Miliband.” The joke is “or chaos with Ed Miliband” – real or imagined – was perhaps a better choice than the tumult brought about by Brexit, two more general elections and three prime ministers since.

And the “square one” strategy has already had some on social media suggesting it’s a good place to be.

Labour shadow cabinet minister Wes Streeting said: “Stick with 14 years of Conservative failure or vote for change with Labour. That’s the choice. Bring it on.”

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Exclusive: Rishi Sunak Accused Of ‘Stuffing’ Public Meeting With Tory Members

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Senior Tories were among the audience at an event billed as a public Q&A with Rishi Sunak, HuffPost UK has learned.

Councillors and party candidates had prime seats at this morning’s ‘PM Connect’ at Accrington Stanley Football Club’s ground in Lancashire.

Some of them could clearly be seen on the front row of the audience as the PM took questions from those present.

A Labour source said: “Our unelected prime minister first refuses to name the date he’ll hold an election. Now he’s stuffing voter events with his supporters. Rishi Sunak is running scared.

“The Tory record is a crashed economy, which left working people saddled with rocketing mortgages and bills. It’s no wonder he won’t face the electorate.

“No amount of stage management can cover up the public desire for change. It’s the power of the vote that Rishi fears.”

But a Conservative spokesperson said: “Around 200 people attended PM connect in Accrington this morning.

“It is hardly surprising that a small number of elected councillors were in attendance along with local candidates who wanted to see the PM.”

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Tories Choose Partner Of Disgraced Ex-MP Peter Bone To Replace Him In Parliament

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The Conservative Party has chosen the partner of former Tory MP Peter Bone to replace him in Wellingborough.

Bone was sacked by his constituents after a Westminster sleaze probe found him guilty of bullying and sexually harassing a member of his staff.

A by-election is now due to be held in the seat to replace him as the constituency’s MP.

Tory chairman Richard Holden announced on Sunday that the party had picked Helen Harrison, a Conservative councillor, as its candidate.

Bone, who was first elected in 2005, retained his seat in 2019 as the Tory MP with a majority of 18,540.

But the veteran backbencher was stripped of the Tory whip by the party following the report into his behaviour which saw him suspended from the Commons for six weeks in October.

That led a recall petition in his constituency which saw more than 13.2% of registered voters choose to dump him – higher than the 10% threshold needed to trigger a crunch by-election.

The by-election is another major headache for Rishi Sunak as Labour will be hopeful of pulling off a shock victory.

Westminster’s behaviour watchdog, the Independent Expert Panel, found that Bone had committed “many varied acts of bullying” and “sexual misconduct” against the staff member in 2012 and 2013.

“The bullying involved violence, shouting and swearing, mocking, belittling and humiliating behaviour, and ostracism,” the IEP said.

“This wilful pattern of bullying also included an unwanted incident of sexual misconduct, when the complainant was trapped in a room with the respondent in a hotel in Madrid.

“This was a deliberate and conscious abuse of power using a sexual mechanism: indecent exposure.”

Bone appealed the IEP’s initial decision, but it was dismissed.

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MSNBC Host Gets Emotional Thanking Former D.C. Police Officer On Jan. 6 Anniversary

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MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart cried as he began his interview with former D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone on Saturday, three years after the violent Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The host introduced Fanone, who sustained a heart attack as well as a traumatic brain injury after he was beaten and electroshocked by Trump supporters during the insurrection.

Fanone, in an interview with CNN just days after the attack, recalled rioters shouting “kill him with his own gun.”

Capehart said Fanone lived through a “harrowing assault” and has lived with “the consequences of that trauma” before pointing to the ex-officer’s recent interview with HuffPost where he described American voters as the “last line of defense when it comes to preserving democracy” and ensuring the peaceful transfer of power.

The host went on to introduce Fanone before his voice began to shake.

“Officer Fanone, I’m gonna try to get through this,” said Capehart as he fought back tears.

“Thank you for what you did three years ago today.”

Capehart later took to social media where he responded to a Mediaite story about the emotional on-air moment.

“And I’d do it again! ✊🏾,” Capehart wrote.

You can watch more of Capehart’s interview with Fanone in the video below.

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