Act now: Gaza faces imminent mass starvation
Also Read: Why Israel's chaotic new food program in Gaza has turned so deadly
That any regime could treat humans so badly was met with disbelief at first, but led to 'never again" as a global pledge. In Gaza, while Tel Aviv has conceded air-drops of food in response to international protests against its aid-blockade policy, grim news abounds.
Also Read: A flawed attempt at delivering Gaza aid led to a wave of deaths
Israeli military attacks after Gaza-based Hamas's 2023 terror strikes have left about 60,000 Gazans dead—most of them children and women—estimates suggest. Adding to that toll now are hunger deaths.
Also Read: Washington struggles to rein in an emboldened Israel
The food squeeze has already taken the lives of 127 people, 85 of them children, going by the count of Gaza's health ministry. With reports of underfed doctors fainting at work, the fear of imminent mass starvation is all too real to overlook.
Both Israel and its big backer, the US, have shown their might in the region. It's now time for Uncle Sam to either mount or lead a rescue mission. Or risk being on the wrong side of history.
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The Hindu
a minute ago
- The Hindu
U.K. pensioner, student arrested for backing Palestine Action
Pensioner Marji Mansfield never imagined she would end up suspected of terrorism for protesting against the banning of a pro-Palestinian group. But the British grandmother was arrested on July 5 for joining a demonstration in support of Palestine Action just days after it was added to the UK government's list of proscribed organisations. "It's a terrible shock to be accused of potentially being a terrorist," said Mansfield, 68, who described herself as a "proud grandmother" of seven. She "was never politically interested," the former banking consultant from the southern town of Chichester told AFP. "I just worked hard, raised my family, lived an ordinary life." In early July, the UK government banned Palestine Action under the UK's Terrorism Act, after activists broke into an air force base in England and damaged two aircraft. Since then, the campaign group Defend Our Juries has organised protests around the country to challenge the ban, described as "disproportionate" by the United Nations rights chief. More than 200 people have been arrested, according to Tim Crosland, a member of Defend Our Juries. They risk prison sentences of up to 14 years. British police on Thursday said they had charged two men and a woman over the July 5 protest, adding that they were sending files on the 26 other people arrested that day to prosecutors. A new demonstration in support of the group, which was founded in 2020, is planned on Saturday in London. Organisers expect at least 500 people to turn up, and police have warned all demonstrators could face arrest. People "don't know what the nature of this group is," interior minister Yvette Cooper has said, claiming that "this is not a non-violent group". But Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori has launched a court bid to overturn the ban and a hearing is set for November. Some 52 scholars, including well-known authors Tariq Ali and Naomi Klein, backed the bid in an open letter published in Thursday's Guardian, calling the ban an attack on "fundamental freedoms of expression, association, assembly and protest." 'Not terrorists' Mansfield has long supported the Palestinian people, but the start of the current war, sparked by Hamas's attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, galvanised her into action. "When it started happening again ... it was the most horrible feeling, that children's homes were being blown up, that their schools were being destroyed," she said. Hamas's October 2023 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel's subsequent campaign to eradicate the Palestinian militant group in Gaza has killed more than 60,000 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, which are deemed reliable by the United Nations. For Mansfield, the Palestine Action ban was the final straw, fuelling her feelings that the government was silencing her political views. The night before attending the July demonstration, Mansfield said she was "terrified". But she did not change her mind. Images on British media showed her being moved by several police officers after she refused to get up from the pavement. An 83-year-old woman was by her side. Mansfield spent 12 hours in custody, and is now banned from parts of London, meaning she cannot visit some museums with her grandchildren as she would like to do. "It was just ordinary people," said Mansfield. "We came from all backgrounds ... we're not terrorists." 'Civil liberties' Alice Clark, a 49-year-old doctor, also does not regret attending the protest where she was arrested in London on July 19. "Nobody wants to be arrested. I just feel that there's a responsibility," said Clark, who also accused the government of undermining "our civil liberties". Cooper said the ban on Palestine Action was "based on detailed security assessments and security advice". The ban says the group's "methods have become more aggressive" by encouraging members to carry out attacks which have already caused millions of pounds in damage. But Clark, a former volunteer for medical charity Doctors Without Borders, said she felt "growing disgust and horror" at the images of starving children in Gaza. The 12 hours in custody after her arrest were a shock. If convicted, she risks losing her licence to practice medicine. "There were points where I was close to tears. But I think just remembering why I was doing it kind of helped me keep calm," said Clark. History student Zahra Ali, 18, was also arrested on July 19, before being released under supervision. None of the three women has been charged. She is also appalled by the scenes from Gaza. "The starvation in Gaza, it's disgusting. And our government isn't doing anything about that," she told AFP. Imagining herself in prison at 18 is "a big thing," but "if people who are in their 80s can do it, then I can do it," Ali said. She also does not describe herself as an activist, but as "a normal person ... who decided that what our government is doing is wrong".
Mint
a minute ago
- Mint
Larry Summers Says Trump Policies Are ‘Scarily' Like Argentina's Peron
Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers warned that President Donald Trump's policies risk putting the US on a similar path to that of postwar Argentina, which descended from being a relatively advanced developed nation into an economic laggard. 'Argentina went completely off track because of decisions made in a few years by an elected — through a democracy — leader who pursued autocracy rather than venerating democracy,' Summers said on Bloomberg Television's Wall Street Week with David Westin. 'And that should be a cautionary tale for everyone in the business community and everyone involved in our political process.' The late Juan Perón founded a populist movement in 1946 at a time when Argentina was grouped by some observers with the likes of Canada, Australia and New Zealand as a sophisticated economy with abundant natural resources. Peronism championed import substitution and high tariffs in an effort to stoke Argentina's domestic industry. Trade protectionism was 'the key policy' leading to its economic downfall, according to a 2023 assessment published by the think tank OMFIF. 'Over time, as the nationalism took hold, as economic success became more and more about who is friends with the government — and less and less about who was really good at producing products and competing with foreigners — Argentina's economic performance became calamitous,' said Summers, a Harvard University professor and paid contributor to Bloomberg TV. 'It's a model that, if you think about it, is scarily reminiscent of what we are doing right now.' Summers highlighted that the US does have 'highly resilient institutions' and strengths such that Argentina didn't have when Peron came to office. But he drew parallels with the South American nation's authoritarian past including protectionism, 'a cult of personality around the leader' and attacks on parts of civil society such as media outlets, universities and law firms. The autocratic experiences of postwar Argentina, along with a number of European nations after World War I 'are very cautionary lessons that I think Americans need to pay more attention to and frankly, need to be more widely discussed,' Summers said. Trump and his cabinet chiefs have argued that the steep tariffs he's threatened have given Washington leverage with trading partners, and that deals with some nations will provide a major opportunity for the US to expand its exports. They have also hailed pledges for major investment projects from a slew of other countries and companies, totaling trillions of dollars. Summers expressed skepticism about some of those promises. 'You don't know what they mean, because you don't know what the baseline would have been,' he said. The former Treasury secretary also cautioned that there's going to be 'a lot of investment that goes out — because we're making ourselves such a more problematic hub for production when we're raising the price of all the inputs.' Trump has imposed or planned tariffs on a number of products used in making manufactured goods, such as steel, aluminum, semiconductors and copper. 'I suspect the consequence of some of this may well be a manufacturing sector that is both quantitatively smaller and qualitatively inferior,' he said. More broadly, Summers said 'we are alienating the rest of the world' with protectionist and nationalist policies. 'Higher priced inputs, much more uncertainty for investors and alienating of customers can't be the right strategy,' he said. 'There's a winner here — there really is a winner here in the strategy that we are pursuing. His name is Xi Jinping,' Summers said, referring to China's president. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Hindustan Times
a minute ago
- Hindustan Times
Suspect in shooting of Minnesota lawmakers pleads not guilty in federal court
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged a direct meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the ongoing war, following talks between US envoy Steve Witkoff and Putin. Zelensky emphasized the need for leadership-level discussions and highlighted that Russia must take steps to cease its aggression. He also engaged with European leaders to discuss the situation.
