Pope condemns Gaza war's ‘barbarity' as 93 reported killed by Israeli fire while waiting for food

The Guardian

21-07-2025

Good morning.
Pope Leo XIV has condemned the 'barbarity' of the war in Gaza and the 'indiscriminate use of force' as Gaza's civil defence agency said at least 93 Palestinians had been killed queueing for food, and Israel issued fresh evacuation orders for areas packed with displaced people.
Gaza's health ministry said scores were killed by Israeli fire while waiting for UN aid trucks entering through the northern Zikim crossing with Israel. It was one of the highest reported death tolls among repeated recent cases in which people seeking food have been killed by Israeli fire.
Elsewhere nine others were reportedly shot dead near an aid point close to Rafah in the south, where dozens of people lost their lives just 24 hours earlier, while four were killed near another site in Khan Younis, a spokesperson for the civil defence agency, Mahmud Basal, said.
What has Israel said about the killings? Israel's military said soldiers had shot at a gathering of thousands of Palestinians in northern Gaza who it claimed posed a threat, and it was aware of some casualties. But it said the numbers reported by officials in Gaza were far higher than its initial investigation found. It did not immediately comment on the incidents in the south.
Migrants at a Miami immigration jail were shackled with their hands tied behind their backs and made to kneel to eat food from styrofoam plates 'like dogs', according to a report published today into conditions at three overcrowded south Florida facilities.
The incident at the downtown federal detention center is one of a succession of alleged abuses at Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (Ice) operated jails in the state since January, chronicled by advocacy groups Human Rights Watch, Americans for Immigrant Justice, and Sanctuary of the South from interviews with detainees.
Dozens of men had been packed into a holding cell for hours, the report said, and denied lunch until about 7pm. They remained shackled with the food on chairs in front of them.
Why else is Ice in the news? An 82-year-old man in Pennsylvania was secretly deported to Guatemala – a country to which he has no connection – after visiting an immigration office last month to replace his lost green card, according to his family, who have not heard from him since and were initially told he was dead.
US carrier Alaska Airlines grounded its flights after an IT outage yesterday that affected its systems, the company said, without specifying the nature of the outage, marking the second time it has grounded its fleet in just over a year.
The Seattle-based airline said there would be residual impacts to its operations throughout the evening, without providing more details.
Did a cyber-attack cause the IT problems? Microsoft stated yesterday that there were 'active attacks' on its server software used by government agencies and businesses but Alaska did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment on whether the outage was related to the Microsoft announcement.
The Ecuadoran government has extradited the notorious drug trafficker Adolfo Macías to the US, more than a year after he escaped from a high-security prison. The flight transporting Macías, also known as 'Fito', landed in New York state last night.
Pakistan has arrested 11 suspects after a video emerged on social media of a woman and a man being shot dead for marrying against the wishes of their families, in an 'honour' killing, authorities said.
Donald Trump has demanded that the NFL's Washington Commanders and MLB's Cleveland Guardians revert to their old names, both of which were abandoned in recent years due to being racially insensitive to Native Americans.
Superbugs could cause millions more people to die worldwide and cost the global economy just under $2tn a year by 2050, modelling shows. The research found the US, UK and EU economies would be among the hardest hit, prompting accusations that recent extreme aid cuts are self-defeating.
When lightning struck on 4 July along the remote North Rim of Grand Canyon national park, sparking a small wildfire in a patch of dry forest, few predicted the terror and loss that lay ahead. The decision to let the small blaze burn – before it suddenly burst through its containment lines – has drawn scrutiny. Now those who love the remote North Rim are reckoning with the destruction.
Climate change-induced food price shocks are on the rise and could lead to more malnutrition, political upheaval and social unrest as the world's poorest are hit by shortages of food staples. The price jumps will have knock-on effects around the world.
Ellen DeGeneres has confirmed that she moved to the UK because of Donald Trump. At a conversation event yesterday, she told broadcaster Richard Bacon: 'We got here the day before the election and woke up to lots of texts from our friends with crying emojis, and I was like: 'He got in.' And we're like 'We're staying here.''
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