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Rome (AFP) – Italian, French and Bulgarian fighter jets scrambled Thursday as about 20 flights were hit by a third day of hoax bomb alerts across Europe, authorities and airlines said.

The hoaxes involved flights from Greece to Britain, but particularly targeted low-cost carriers and flights to or from Bulgaria, Czech Republic and Italy.

Three flights were diverted but all the jets landed safely with no explosives found.

No claim of responsibility was made for all the flights, but a threat against two flights sent to airports in Rome and published by an Italian newspaper contained misogynistic messages.

At least five flights received an air force escort after receiving bomb threats.

Bulgaria’s air force escorted three Ryanair planes headed for Sofia from Madrid, Copenhagen, and London Stansted. All three planes were inspected and no explosives found, an interior ministry spokesperson told AFP.

French fighters accompanied an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin that was headed to Rome, diverting it to the Evreux military base 100 kilometers (60 miles) west of Paris.

Other jets were also diverted.

The Ryanair flight from London-Stansted to Sofia was diverted to Plovdiv Airport, east of the capital, while a Wizz Air flight from Milan to Warsaw was re-routed to Vienna, the airlines said.

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New hoax bomb threats hit European flights

https://sh.itjust.works/post/69461256

Corruption is costing Kenya billions of dollars each year in lost revenue, inflated business costs, and lost earnings for workers, while taking a huge toll on investment and economic growth, the World Bank said in a report published Wednesday.

Kenya suffers corruption at every level of society – from endless petty bribes paid to traffic police, to vast procurement scandals that go to the top of government, and it has contributed to massive protests over the past two years.

The World Bank report said the east African country is among the most corrupt of its peers among lower middle-income countries, and estimates that the governance weaknesses are adding around 370 billion shillings (€2.4 billion) every year to Kenya’s fiscal deficit, equivalent to two percent of GDP.

This figure, which its authors describe as “conservative”, comes from lost taxes, inefficient public spending, higher borrowing costs, and other issues caused by corruption.

Ordinary Kenyans are furious over the levels of graft – the issue was a major part of the massive protests in mid-2024 when the government tried to raise taxes – and the World Bank notes that its people would be far more willing to contribute if they trusted their leaders.

The report’s authors hope Kenya’s politicians will wake up to the advantages of tackling the issue.

Its modelling shows Kenya’s economy could be more than 20 times larger by 2035 if it introduced the sort of anti-corruption reforms seen in countries like Ghana and Senegal, and add 7.7 million more and better jobs.

“Kenya has a lot of the ingredients that it would take to be a really leading country in the region. And it should make good on that promise, both for its own citizens and for the neighbouring region. And it’s feasible,” Verena Fritz, lead governance expert for World Bank Kenya, told reporters.

The World Bank finally approved its latest lending package to Kenya in June after it was stalled throughout 2025 because the government was dragging its feet on anti-corruption measures.

It has insisted on new rules against politicians’ conflicts of interest, a new electronic procurement system, and the passing of a Whistleblower Protection Bill that has been stalled for years.

For now, though, the report showed that corruption is taking a massive toll on many aspects of Kenya’s development.

Kenya’s electricity is far more expensive than some of its peers, it says, largely because only 24 percent of 42 power purchase agreements examined in a 2021 study were known to have gone through a competitive process.

Contracts for big infrastructure projects are often far pricier than they should be: the bank notes that the Nairobi-Mombasa railway line cost around a third more per kilometre than a similar line in neighbouring Tanzania.

Cleaning up just 10 percent of procurement losses could save Kenya 120 billion shillings (€830 million) a year, it added.

The issue is only getting worse: a World Bank survey found that 39 percent of Kenyan firms considered corruption a major or severe constraint to doing business in 2025 – up from 25 percent in 2013 – and 36 percent said they had been asked for a bribe at least once in the last year.

(with AFP)

Corruption in Kenya taking massive toll on economic growth, warns World Bank

https://sh.itjust.works/post/69448115

Khartoum (AFP) – Nearly three and a half years into Sudan’s unrelenting war, soaring costs and a nosediving currency have left people like Sawsan Mahmoud struggling to afford even the most basic staple – bread.

Most bakeries in the capital Khartoum have shut their doors because of surging wheat prices and fuel shortages.

Mahmoud, 44, says she and her husband now spend their combined salaries on bread alone.

“The situation has become unbearable,” the mother of three said. “We’ve reduced the amount of bread we eat and now only have it with one meal a day.”

“We have to set aside 900,000 pounds ($88) a month to buy it. That’s almost my salary and my husband’s combined.”

The price of a loaf in Khartoum has doubled from 250 to 500 Sudanese pounds over the past week.

International organisations have been sounding the alarm over the possible spread of famine, already declared in parts of the country, while around 20 million people suffer from severe food insecurity.

In one of the few bakeries still operating in the capital, Abir Mohammed complained that “we used to eat bread with all our daily meals; now we can’t do that”.

Sudan imports most of its wheat, making prices vulnerable to the deterioration of the local currency.

Over the past month, the Sudanese pound has lost about 25 percent of its value against the dollar, hitting a record low of more than 10,500 pounds to the dollar before recovering slightly to around 10,200 on Wednesday.

The dollar was worth 500 Sudanese pounds in 2023, when the war broke out between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the army.

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Bread shortage threatens to plunge more Sudanese into hunger

https://sh.itjust.works/post/69448012

A self-proclaimed preacher from Kenya was sentenced to 200 years in prison on Friday for murdering 191 people, mostly children, by forcing them to starve to death. Hundreds of bodies have been discovered since 2023 at the cult’s base near the beach resort of Malindi, in what became known as the Shakahola forest massacre.

Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Mackenzie was accused of inciting his followers to starve themselves to death to “meet Jesus”.

Last month, he was found guilty of murdering 190 children and one adult between January 2021 and September 2023, alongside 28 co-accused.

The former taxi driver appeared indifferent as he arrived at Mombasa High Court on Friday.

Justice Diana Mochache said Mackenzie bore the “primary criminal culpability” for ordering his followers to fast to death.

“The sentence is appropriate and just, to send an unmistakable message that such atrocities warrant the maximum penalties allowed by law,” she said.

The court sentenced him to 100 years for homicide charges and 100 years for offences related to starvation. Twenty-eight accomplices were also sentenced to a range of prison terms, the longest 160 years.

Mackenzie’s lawyer said he would appeal.

The cult leader has also denied charges of manslaughter and terrorism in separate cases.

Francis Wanje, a 62-year-old teacher who lost two grandchildren, told French news agency AFP he had hoped Mackenzie would be sentenced to death to prevent further tragedies.

“Nothing can ease the pain,” said Wanje, who blamed authorities for failing to act swiftly. “I really have great [anger] towards the authorities. If they had taken action, we would not be here today.”

Prosecutors had called for the death penalty, citing the scale of the loss of life and the danger posed by Mackenzie’s actions.

Although Kenya’s law provides for the death penalty, the country has not carried out an execution since 1987.

Prosecutors also asked the court to sentence Mackenzie’s co-accused to life imprisonment, arguing they had “been deeply indoctrinated by Mackenzie and were at risk of reoffending”. They included guards who enforced his orders to fast and people who dug graves to conceal the bodies of those who died.

Around 120 prosecution witnesses testified during the trial.

Mackenzie established his church, Good News International Ministries, in 2003, setting up branches in Nairobi and along Kenya’s coast that attracted thousands of devotees.

According to witnesses, the doomsday movement denounced formal education as “satanic”, viewed modern medicine and hospitals as instruments of the devil and required followers to cut themselves off from the outside world.

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Kenyan cult leader sentenced to 200 years for Shakahola forest deaths

https://sh.itjust.works/post/69528766

Dar es Salaam (AFP) – Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu was sentenced to four years in prison on Friday for inciting unrest, potentially barring him from the next election, in a case that has drawn international condemnation.

Tanzania was considered one of the more stable democracies in Africa but has seen its reputation plummet as the long-ruling government has cracked down brutally on the opposition and protests.

Lissu, head of the main opposition party, Chadema, was arrested ahead of last year’s presidential election on treason charges and has spent 19 months in jail.

The court said he was not guilty of treason, but instead convicted him of incitement – even though it was not among the charges in the case – and sentenced him to four years in prison.

That could mean he remains in prison until just after the next scheduled election in October 2030.

“We are satisfied that through his statements, the accused intended to disrupt elections and instigate violence,” the judge told a courtroom packed with his supporters.

Lissu responded that the trial was “political persecution”, accusing the judges of following the government of President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s orders.

“Excuses were created to imprison me,” he told the court.

“I was not charged with incitement but you judges are convicting me with it just to impress the person who gives you the titles. I believe these were directives,” he said.

Hassan’s government carried out a wave of arrests and abductions targeting opponents and critics ahead of the October 2025 ballot, sparking huge protests during the election, which she ultimately won with 98 percent of the vote.

The authorities’ response resulted in security forces killing thousands, according to the opposition and rights groups. The government puts the death toll at 518.

Security was heightened across the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, and around the courthouse ahead of the verdict, with police warning against “those who want to stage a coup”.

Analysts had warned that a treason conviction could trigger further unrest in the east African nation.

“It’s a travesty of justice,” John Kitoka, Chadema’s head of foreign affairs, told AFP.

“The main purpose of the judgement was to keep him in prison during the next election,” Kitoka said, though he added that Chadema would not take part in polls until they were “fair, independent or credible”.

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Tanzania opposition leader sentenced to four years in treason trial

https://sh.itjust.works/post/69515414

Washington (United States) (AFP) – A US federal judge blocked President Donald Trump’s massive triumphal arch project on Thursday, casting doubt over the future of the project hours after it was green-lit by a public commission.

District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing the case, ruled that the Trump administration cannot start construction on the arch for two weeks while the court considers challenges to its legality.

The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) had voted 8-4 to approve the project earlier Thursday, despite hearing hours of testimony from dozens of furious opponents who questioned its legality and purpose.

Chief among the complaints was the location of the 250-foot (76-meter) tall structure: adjacent to the hallowed Arlington National Cemetery, the final resting place for hundreds of thousands of American service members.

The giant arch would be much taller than the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, its inspiration. It would also tower over the Lincoln Memorial, directly across the Potomac River.

The four dissenting commissioners had called for the decision to be delayed, noting there were legal concerns, a lack of congressional appropriation to fund the project and questions about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s claims of the arch’s military use.

But the majority on the panel, which is controlled by Trump allies, voted against a delay and the Trump administration said it aimed to start work right away.

Chutkan’s ruling sided with several veterans and the attorneys general of Washington and Virginia, who had sued seeking to halt construction of the arch.

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US federal judge blocks Trump's massive arch project

https://sh.itjust.works/post/69503092

Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – California Governor Gavin Newsom said Thursday he was commuting all death sentences across the state to life imprisonment, in a move that will affect over 500 prisoners.

Newsom, who is widely expected to make a run for the White House in 2028, said capital punishment was “incompatible” with the values of the most populous state in the US.

“Today I am acting on my long and deeply held conviction that individually and collectively we are stronger as a society when we reject state-sanctioned killing,” he wrote in a letter addressed “to all Californians.”

With 548 people awaiting execution in California, the state has one of the largest death row populations in the world.

However, it has not carried out a death sentence for two decades, even as courts continue to impose the penalty on those convicted of murder and other serious crimes.

“Many Californians feel that those who commit brutal crimes deserve to die. But as governor, I have concluded the state cannot morally kill them,” he said, calling the decision “among the most difficult of my career.”

“I do, however, pray that this action will finally separate the memories of the victims of these crimes from the fate of those who harmed them. We can now let these offenders die in obscurity while we forever remember and honor their victims.”

The announcement comes with a renewed spotlight on the death penalty in the United States, one of the few wealthy countries to retain capital punishment.

Three other US states – Alabama, Florida and Indiana – each carried out executions on the same day as Newsom’s announcement.

In September, the state of Tennessee failed twice to kill convicted murderer Christa Pike with a lethal injection before rushing her to hospital. The drama made headlines around the world.

Last month Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the firing squad execution of a man who went on a shooting rampage at a US Army base would be livestreamed.

Days later and after an outcry from both sides of the political aisle, as well as from the Catholic Church and the United Nations, President Donald Trump cancelled the plan, saying Nidal Hasan would still die, but that the sentence would not be broadcast.

California governor says commuting all death sentences in state

https://sh.itjust.works/post/69501983

Asuncion (Paraguay) (AFP) – Paraguayan President Santiago Pena resigned on Thursday after the takeover of a bank linked to the US-allied leader blocked almost half the population from accessing their money.

The Central Bank takeover of Ueno Bank two days earlier froze the deposits of some three million people, including pensioners, and sparked angry protests across the country.

Demonstrations in Asuncion have drawn hundreds of people, some waving placards calling for the right-wing president’s impeachment and others clashing with police, who used tear gas and water cannons on the crowd.

“I don’t even want to talk anymore, it’s not worth it because I’ve run out of money,” street vendor Reinaldo Gomez, 48, told AFP.

Opposition lawmakers on Wednesday submitted a request to impeach Pena over the crisis, alleging misconduct and a conflict of interest in dealings with the bank to which he is tied.

“I want to apologize to the people if at any point I failed. It was never my intention to betray the trust you placed in me,” the right-wing president said in a video announcing his resignation on X.

Pena’s priority, he added, is “the peace of mind of Paraguayans who entrusted their savings to our financial system.”

Minutes after the announcement, lawmakers including those from Pena’s ruling party unanimously approved the launch of impeachment proceedings against him while rejecting the same measure against Vice President Pedro Alliana.

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Paraguay president steps down as banking crisis sows chaos

https://sh.itjust.works/post/69479401

Egypt's last surviving free press being 'silenced': leading journalist facing jail Cairo (AFP) – Egypt’s latest prosecution of journalists attempts to “silence” the last surviving vestiges of the free press, Lina Attalah, head of preeminent outlet Mada Masr, told AFP days before she faces jail time in court. In recent weeks, Egypt has detained the entire staff of fact-checking platform Matsadaash, ordered the closure of Mada Masr and informed its chief of a one-year prison sentence handed down in absentia. “It’s hard to separate between those two incidents,” she told AFP. “It seems to be a new chapter in trying to limit the already-limited space that there is for independent media.” As Egypt grapples with economic and political struggles amid regional upheaval, Attalah said there seemed to be a belief that “silencing the media is the solution to Egypt’s problems”. Cairo has long been criticised for its rights record, and has for over a decade shuttered nearly all space for dissent. Attalah is one of Egypt’s most prominent journalists, 26 of whom are currently behind bars. Her prosecution drew swift international outcry, including from the European Union and members of the US Congress. The current crackdown has been described as “unprecedented” by 135 media organisations and rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. With Egypt’s last surviving outlets under threat, “there are very few organisations left with expertise of rigorous reporting,” she said. “So we are left with silence.” Last month, a misdemeanours court fined Attalah three million Egyptian pounds (currently around $55,000) for operating the website without a licence. “Ever since the law was passed in 2018, we have tried to apply,” she told AFP, explaining that they went years without a response. “We’re not against regulation; we have a problem when the licensing becomes a tool of control, a tool of exclusion.” Attalah’s eight-lawyer defence team described a rushed trial run by a judge who appointed her a defence lawyer himself, before “proceeding to write the defence statement” on that lawyer’s behalf. The small-framed Attalah was then lifted off the ground and detained by security personnel. “It felt like I was being kidnapped from the courtroom,” she said. “I did not hear the verdict as I was being pulled by the cops.” “I was panicked, I was scared,” she said of her more than seven hours in detention, having turned up in court expecting to face a maximum penalty of a fine. It was only upon her release that night, hours after the fine was crowdsourced from supporters and paid in full, that she learned the court had ordered Mada’s shutdown. An appeal is scheduled for November 25. She was also informed that, in 2024, she had been handed a one-year prison sentence in absentia for operating without a licence and “publishing false news” – a charge commonly levelled against journalists. On Wednesday, Attalah will face a retrial for the 2024 case. “I’m hoping for this to be dropped, because journalists should not be in jail. I should not go to jail. The Matsadaash journalists should not be in jail. The rest of the 26 journalists should not be in jail.” … Page · sh.itjust.works

Cairo (AFP) – Egypt’s latest prosecution of journalists attempts to “silence” the last surviving vestiges of the free press, Lina Attalah, head of preeminent outlet Mada Masr, told AFP days before she faces jail time in court.

In recent weeks, Egypt has detained the entire staff of fact-checking platform Matsadaash, ordered the closure of Mada Masr and informed its chief of a one-year prison sentence handed down in absentia.

“It’s hard to separate between those two incidents,” she told AFP.

“It seems to be a new chapter in trying to limit the already-limited space that there is for independent media.”

As Egypt grapples with economic and political struggles amid regional upheaval, Attalah said there seemed to be a belief that “silencing the media is the solution to Egypt’s problems”.

Cairo has long been criticised for its rights record, and has for over a decade shuttered nearly all space for dissent.

Attalah is one of Egypt’s most prominent journalists, 26 of whom are currently behind bars.

Her prosecution drew swift international outcry, including from the European Union and members of the US Congress.

The current crackdown has been described as “unprecedented” by 135 media organisations and rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

With Egypt’s last surviving outlets under threat, “there are very few organisations left with expertise of rigorous reporting,” she said.

“So we are left with silence.”

Last month, a misdemeanours court fined Attalah three million Egyptian pounds (currently around $55,000) for operating the website without a licence.

“Ever since the law was passed in 2018, we have tried to apply,” she told AFP, explaining that they went years without a response.

“We’re not against regulation; we have a problem when the licensing becomes a tool of control, a tool of exclusion.”

Attalah’s eight-lawyer defence team described a rushed trial run by a judge who appointed her a defence lawyer himself, before “proceeding to write the defence statement” on that lawyer’s behalf.

The small-framed Attalah was then lifted off the ground and detained by security personnel.

“It felt like I was being kidnapped from the courtroom,” she said. “I did not hear the verdict as I was being pulled by the cops.”

“I was panicked, I was scared,” she said of her more than seven hours in detention, having turned up in court expecting to face a maximum penalty of a fine.

It was only upon her release that night, hours after the fine was crowdsourced from supporters and paid in full, that she learned the court had ordered Mada’s shutdown. An appeal is scheduled for November 25.

She was also informed that, in 2024, she had been handed a one-year prison sentence in absentia for operating without a licence and “publishing false news” – a charge commonly levelled against journalists.

On Wednesday, Attalah will face a retrial for the 2024 case.

“I’m hoping for this to be dropped, because journalists should not be in jail. I should not go to jail. The Matsadaash journalists should not be in jail. The rest of the 26 journalists should not be in jail.”

…

Egypt's last surviving free press being 'silenced': leading journalist facing jail

https://sh.itjust.works/post/69631384

Dutch take to the streets to support Palestinians Amsterdam (Netherlands) (AFP) – Tens of thousands of people dressed in red thronged the streets of Amsterdam on Sunday to denounce ongoing violence against Palestinians in Gaza, carrying signs reading “Stop the Genocide”. Organisers said some 200,000 people attended the “red line” protest, demanding that the Dutch government take action against Israel. “Stop sending weapons to Israel,” one of the protesters, Steven Eisinger, a 33-year-old robotics engineer originally from the United States, told AFP, wearing a red scarf around his neck. “I’m Jewish myself, I have family that’s actually in Israel, living, and I wanted to really say, look I support Palestine and I’m anti-genocide.” […] But an acute humanitarian crisis persists in the Gaza Strip, alongside regular Israeli strikes, while settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank has intensified. Unlike other European countries such as France and Belgium, the Netherlands has not recognised the state of Palestine. Prime Minister Rob Jetten attended a similar protest when he was a parliamentary candidate in 2025. On Friday, he told reporters that it would now be “inappropriate” for him to take part. At the end of September, the Dutch government brought in a ban on products from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, which are deemed illegal under international law. Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar revoked the accreditation of Dutch diplomats in response. The Netherlands has withdrawn from the 2027 Eurovision Song Contest, with public broadcaster NPO citing the “sensitive” issue of Israel’s participation. Page · sh.itjust.works

Amsterdam (Netherlands) (AFP) – Tens of thousands of people dressed in red thronged the streets of Amsterdam on Sunday to denounce ongoing violence against Palestinians in Gaza, carrying signs reading “Stop the Genocide”.

Organisers said some 200,000 people attended the “red line” protest, demanding that the Dutch government take action against Israel.

“Stop sending weapons to Israel,” one of the protesters, Steven Eisinger, a 33-year-old robotics engineer originally from the United States, told AFP, wearing a red scarf around his neck.

“I’m Jewish myself, I have family that’s actually in Israel, living, and I wanted to really say, look I support Palestine and I’m anti-genocide.”

[…]

But an acute humanitarian crisis persists in the Gaza Strip, alongside regular Israeli strikes, while settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank has intensified.

Unlike other European countries such as France and Belgium, the Netherlands has not recognised the state of Palestine.

Prime Minister Rob Jetten attended a similar protest when he was a parliamentary candidate in 2025. On Friday, he told reporters that it would now be “inappropriate” for him to take part.

At the end of September, the Dutch government brought in a ban on products from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, which are deemed illegal under international law.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar revoked the accreditation of Dutch diplomats in response.

The Netherlands has withdrawn from the 2027 Eurovision Song Contest, with public broadcaster NPO citing the “sensitive” issue of Israel’s participation.

Dutch take to the streets to support Palestinians

https://sh.itjust.works/post/69631073

Eisenkot warns of Israel crisis as he starts to form government to replace Netanyahu Jerusalem (AFP) – Israel’s former military chief Gadi Eisenkot started the tough task Sunday of forming a government, reaching out to Benjamin Netanyahu’s allies as he warned the veteran prime minister had brought the country to a historic crisis. Eisenkot, 66, a political novice who has vowed to bridge Israel’s deep polarisation under Netanyahu, formally received a mandate from President Isaac Herzog, giving him 28 days to form a government despite his bloc lacking a clear majority. “We are in a state of emergency, approaching a point of no return for the State of Israel,” Eisenkot, who had traded his usual all black for a suit and tie, said at a ceremony at the presidential office. “We must form a national emergency government. This will require creative and unconventional political steps.” Eisenkot, born to a family of working-class Moroccan immigrants, would be the first Sephardic prime minister – a community mostly descended from Middle Eastern or North African Jews – in a country long dominated by an Ashkenazi elite with ties to Europe. Netanyahu is Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, having led the country on and off for nearly two decades. He has taken the country in a sharply rightward direction and led wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran since the […] attacks by Hamas. Both Eisenkot and Herzog acknowledged Israel’s growing isolation under Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court. In the United States, the most vital ally of Israel, Democrats on Tuesday swept elections with calls to rein in Israel after the devastation in Gaza and the unpopular Iran war which Netanyahu launched with President Donald Trump. “We are in the midst of a devastating diplomatic crisis. Even our closest friends and strategic allies are saying their relationship with Israel must be reassessed,” Eisenkot said. Eisenkot appealed to Netanyahu’s Likud Party as well as the far-right party of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to join – but only with himself as prime minister. “My door is open and my hand is extended, wholeheartedly and willingly, to anyone who understands the gravity of this moment,” he said. … Page · sh.itjust.works

Jerusalem (AFP) – Israel’s former military chief Gadi Eisenkot started the tough task Sunday of forming a government, reaching out to Benjamin Netanyahu’s allies as he warned the veteran prime minister had brought the country to a historic crisis.

Eisenkot, 66, a political novice who has vowed to bridge Israel’s deep polarisation under Netanyahu, formally received a mandate from President Isaac Herzog, giving him 28 days to form a government despite his bloc lacking a clear majority.

“We are in a state of emergency, approaching a point of no return for the State of Israel,” Eisenkot, who had traded his usual all black for a suit and tie, said at a ceremony at the presidential office.

“We must form a national emergency government. This will require creative and unconventional political steps.”

Eisenkot, born to a family of working-class Moroccan immigrants, would be the first Sephardic prime minister – a community mostly descended from Middle Eastern or North African Jews – in a country long dominated by an Ashkenazi elite with ties to Europe.

Netanyahu is Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, having led the country on and off for nearly two decades. He has taken the country in a sharply rightward direction and led wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran since the […] attacks by Hamas.

Both Eisenkot and Herzog acknowledged Israel’s growing isolation under Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court.

In the United States, the most vital ally of Israel, Democrats on Tuesday swept elections with calls to rein in Israel after the devastation in Gaza and the unpopular Iran war which Netanyahu launched with President Donald Trump.

“We are in the midst of a devastating diplomatic crisis. Even our closest friends and strategic allies are saying their relationship with Israel must be reassessed,” Eisenkot said.

Eisenkot appealed to Netanyahu’s Likud Party as well as the far-right party of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to join – but only with himself as prime minister.

“My door is open and my hand is extended, wholeheartedly and willingly, to anyone who understands the gravity of this moment,” he said.

…

Eisenkot warns of Israel crisis as he starts to form government to replace Netanyahu

https://sh.itjust.works/post/69630898

Indian capital chokes with pollution after Diwali fireworks New Delhi (India) (AFP) – Toxic air in parts of India’s capital New Delhi soared to more than 58 times the World Health Organization’s recommended daily limit Monday, after fireworks for the Hindu festival of Diwali, air monitor data showed. Millions celebrate the annual festival of lights with fireworks in one of the world’s most polluted capitals, worsening winter smog fuelled by vehicle emissions, farm fires and industry. The Supreme Court this month allowed the limited use of so-called “green” firecrackers, designed to produce fewer emissions, during Diwali. But restrictions are routinely flouted, with the city reverberating with explosions. On early Monday morning, around eight hours after the peak of the bursting fireworks, levels of cancer-causing PM 2.5 microparticles hit 879 micrograms per cubic metre in the Mandir Marg locality, according to monitoring organisation IQAir, which cited data from a city government station. That is nearly 59 times the WHO’s recommended daily maximum. Authorities have in recent weeks implemented restrictions on traffic and construction as they seek to curb smog in New Delhi, home to more than 30 million people. Vehicles account for 23 percent of Delhi’s winter pollution, while biomass burning, including farm stubble fires, contributes 20 percent, according to India’s environment ministry. Industry, including coal-fired power plants, contributes about nine percent. The largest share, 27 percent, comes from secondary particles, formed when gases released by vehicles, industry, power plants and biomass burning react in the atmosphere. A 2024 study published in The Lancet Planetary Health, a peer-reviewed research journal, estimated that 3.8 million deaths in India between 2009 and 2019 were linked to air pollution. Page · sh.itjust.works

New Delhi (India) (AFP) – Toxic air in parts of India’s capital New Delhi soared to more than 58 times the World Health Organization’s recommended daily limit Monday, after fireworks for the Hindu festival of Diwali, air monitor data showed.

Millions celebrate the annual festival of lights with fireworks in one of the world’s most polluted capitals, worsening winter smog fuelled by vehicle emissions, farm fires and industry.

The Supreme Court this month allowed the limited use of so-called “green” firecrackers, designed to produce fewer emissions, during Diwali.

But restrictions are routinely flouted, with the city reverberating with explosions.

On early Monday morning, around eight hours after the peak of the bursting fireworks, levels of cancer-causing PM 2.5 microparticles hit 879 micrograms per cubic metre in the Mandir Marg locality, according to monitoring organisation IQAir, which cited data from a city government station.

That is nearly 59 times the WHO’s recommended daily maximum.

Authorities have in recent weeks implemented restrictions on traffic and construction as they seek to curb smog in New Delhi, home to more than 30 million people.

Vehicles account for 23 percent of Delhi’s winter pollution, while biomass burning, including farm stubble fires, contributes 20 percent, according to India’s environment ministry.

Industry, including coal-fired power plants, contributes about nine percent.

The largest share, 27 percent, comes from secondary particles, formed when gases released by vehicles, industry, power plants and biomass burning react in the atmosphere.

A 2024 study published in The Lancet Planetary Health, a peer-reviewed research journal, estimated that 3.8 million deaths in India between 2009 and 2019 were linked to air pollution.

Indian capital chokes with pollution after Diwali fireworks

https://sh.itjust.works/post/69645311