Survivors mark 80 years since Hiroshima atomic bombing
05/08/2025
'Gloves are off: Intense redistricting and partisan warfare' ahead of 2026 US Midterm Elections
Americas
05/08/2025
Plastic pollution inextricably linked with numerous 'public health crises'
Environment
05/08/2025
War-torn Gaza resident and humanitarian worker recounts harrowing plight of civilians under siege
Middle East
05/08/2025
Fighting plastic pollution: UN's landmark treaty in the making
05/08/2025
Ukraine: Several Dead in Strikes on Northeast Region and Railway Infrastructures
Europe
05/08/2025
Is the US 'complicit in the war crimes being carried out by Israel in Gaza'?
Middle East
05/08/2025
Israel reopens Gaza private goods trade
Middle East
05/08/2025
Swiss 'Mountain Tinder' sparks high-altitude romance
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
LeMonde
2 hours ago
- LeMonde
Lebanon: Hezbollah ignores cabinet decision to disarm it
Hezbollah said Wednesday, August 6, that it would treat a Lebanese government decision to disarm the militant group "as if it did not exist", accusing the cabinet of committing a "grave sin". Amid heavy US pressure and fears Israel could expand its strikes on Lebanon, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Tuesday that the government had tasked the army with developing a plan to restrict weapons to government forces by the end of the year. The plan is to be presented to the government by the end of August for discussion and approval, and another cabinet meeting is scheduled for Thursday to continue the talks, including on a US-proposed timetable for disarmament. Hezbollah said the government had "committed a grave sin by taking the decision to disarm Lebanon of its weapons to resist the Israeli enemy". The decision is unprecedented since Lebanon's civil war factions gave up their weapons three and a half decades ago. "This decision undermines Lebanon's sovereignty and gives Israel a free hand to tamper with its security, geography, politics and future existence... Therefore, we will treat this decision as if it does not exist," the Iran-backed group said in a statement. 'Serves Israel's interests' The government said its decision came as part of implementing a November ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, which culminated in two months of full-blown war. Hezbollah said it viewed the government's move as "the result of dictates from US envoy" Tom Barrack. It "fully serves Israel's interests and leaves Lebanon exposed to the Israeli enemy without any deterrence", the group said. Hezbollah was the only faction that kept its weapons after Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war. It emerged weakened politically and militarily from its latest conflict with Israel, its arsenal pummelled and its senior leadership decimated. Israel has kept up its strikes on Hezbollah and other targets despite the November truce, and has threatened to keep doing so until the group is disarmed. An Israeli strike on the southern town of Tulin on Wednesday killed one person and wounded another, the health ministry said. Israel also launched a series of air strikes on southern Lebanon, wounding at least two people according to the health ministry. The Israeli military said it struck "weapons storage facilities, a missile launcher and Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure which stored engineering tools that allowed for the re-establishment of terrorist infrastructure in the area". Hezbollah said Israel must halt the attacks before any domestic debate about its weapons and a new defence strategy could begin. 'Pivotal moment' "We are open to dialogue, ending the Israeli aggression against Lebanon, liberating its land, releasing prisoners, working to build the state, and rebuilding what was destroyed by the brutal aggression," the group said. Hezbollah is "prepared to discuss a national security strategy", but not under Israeli fire, it added. Partner service Learn French with Gymglish Thanks to a daily lesson, an original story and a personalized correction, in 15 minutes per day. Try for free Two ministers affiliated with Hezbollah and its ally, the Amal movement, walked out of Tuesday's meeting. Hezbollah described the walkout as "an expression of rejection" of the government's "decision to subject Lebanon to American tutelage and Israeli occupation". The Amal movement, headed by parliament speaker Nabih Berri, accused the government of "rushing to offer more gratuitous concessions" to Israel when it should have sought to end the ongoing attacks. It called Thursday's cabinet meeting "an opportunity for correction". Hezbollah's opponent, the Lebanese Forces, one of the country's two main Christian parties, said the cabinet's decision to disarm the militant group was "a pivotal moment in Lebanon's modern history – a long-overdue step toward restoring full state authority and sovereignty". The Free Patriotic Movement, the other major Christian party and a former ally of Hezbollah, said it was in favour of the army receiving the group's weapons "to strengthen Lebanon's defensive power". Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a televised interview that any decision on disarmament "will ultimately rest with Hezbollah itself". "We support it from afar, but we do not intervene in its decisions," he added, noting that the group had "rebuilt itself" following setbacks during its war with Israel.
LeMonde
4 hours ago
- LeMonde
Ghana: Helicopter crash kills 8, including ministers of defense and environment
Ghana's defense and environment ministers were killed in a military helicopter crash on Wednesday, August 6, the presidency said, after the air force chopper carrying three crew and five passengers came down in a forest in the south. Television station Joy News broadcast cell phone footage from the crash scene showing smouldering wreckage in a heavily forested area earlier in the day, before it was revealed that ministers Edward Omane Boamah and Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed were among the dead. Boamah became President John Mahama's defense minister shortly after Mahama's swearing-in in January. Muhammed, 50, was serving as the minister of environment, science and technology. He had been scheduled to attend the UN talks currently underway in Geneva aimed at hammering out a landmark global treaty on combating the scourge of plastic pollution. Ghanaian media reported that the helicopter was on its way to an event on illegal mining – a major environmental issue in the West African country. Everyone on board was killed in the accident in the southern Ashanti region, authorities said. "The president and government extend our condolences and sympathies to the families of our comrades and the servicemen who died in service to the country," said Mahama's chief of staff Julius Debrah. The Ghanaian Armed Forces said investigations had been launched to determine the cause of the crash of the Z9 helicopter. The military had reported earlier Wednesday that an air force helicopter had dropped off the radar after taking off from Accra just after 9 am local time (0900 GMT). It had been headed towards the town of Obuasi, northwest of the capital. Ministers' challenges Alhaji Muniru Mohammed, Ghana's deputy national security coordinator and former agriculture minister, was also among the dead, along with Samuel Sarpong, vice chairman of Mahama's National Democratic Congress party. Boamah was leading Ghana's defense ministry at a time when jihadist activity across its northern border in Burkina Faso has become increasingly volatile. While Ghana has so far avoided a jihadist spillover from the Sahel – unlike neighbours Togo and Benin – observers have warned of increased arms trafficking and of militants from Burkina Faso crossing the porous border to use Ghana as a rear base. A medical doctor by training, Boamah's career in government included stints as communications minister during Mahama's previous 2012-2017 tenure. Before that, he was the deputy minister for the environment. Muhammed, the environment minister, was at the helm as the country battles illegal, informal gold mining that has ravaged farmlands and contaminated water. "Galamsey", as the practice is locally known, has been threatening cocoa production in particular and became a major issue in the election that saw Mahama elected last year. The establishment earlier this year of the Ghana Gold Board and the banning of foreigners from the local gold trade were seen as the first concrete signs of a crackdown on the practice by the new administration. Muhammed was a "committed environmentalist" and "deeply respected" by peers in Africa and globally, said UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen in Geneva, in a statement. Only a few weeks ago, the minister was elected to be a member of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) in Nairobi, said Andersen. Condolence messages also came from the ECOWAS and Africa Union chiefs. Boamah led a delegation to Ouagadougou in May as Ghana pursued increased diplomacy with Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger – all ruled by juntas who have broken with the West African regional bloc ECOWAS. He had been set to release a book titled "A Peaceful Man in an African Democracy", about former president John Atta Mills, who died in 2012. President Mahama suspended all his scheduled activities for the rest of the week and declared three days of mourning starting Thursday, with all flags to be flown at half-mast, his office said.
LeMonde
7 hours ago
- LeMonde
Dozens Palestinians killed while seeking aid in Gaza Strip
At least 38 Palestinians were killed overnight and into Wednesday, August 6, in the Gaza Strip while seeking aid from United Nations convoys and sites run by an Israeli-backed American contractor, according to local health officials. The Israeli military said it had fired warning shots when crowds approached its forces. Another 25 people, including several women and children, were killed in Israeli airstrikes, according to local hospitals in Gaza. The military said it only targets Hamas militants. The latest deaths came as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to announce further military action – and possibly plans for Israel to fully reoccupy Gaza. Experts say Israel's ongoing military offensive and blockade are already pushing the territory of some 2 million Palestinians into famine. A new UN report said only 1.5% of Gaza's cropland is accessible and undamaged. Another escalation of the nearly 22-month war could put the lives of countless Palestinians and around 20 living Israeli hostages at risk, and would draw fierce opposition both internationally and within Israel. Netanyahu's far-right coalition allies have long called for the war to be expanded, and for Israel to eventually take over Gaza, relocate much of its population and rebuild Jewish settlements there. US President Donald Trump, asked by a reporter Tuesday whether he supported the reoccupation of Gaza, said he wasn't aware of the "suggestion" but that "it's going to be pretty much up to Israel." Desperate crowds Of the 38 Palestinians killed while seeking aid, at least 28 died in the Morag Corridor, an Israeli military zone in southern Gaza where UN convoys have been repeatedly overwhelmed by looters and desperate crowds in recent days, and where witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire. The Israeli military said troops fired warning shots as Palestinians advanced toward them, and that it was not aware of any casualties. Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies, said another four people were killed in the Teina area, on a route leading to a site in southern Gaza run by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an American contractor. The Al-Awda Hospital said it received the bodies of six people killed near a GHF site in central Gaza. GHF said there were no violent incidents at or near its sites, and that the one in central Gaza was not open on Wednesday. It said the violence may have been related to the chaos around UN convoys. Two of the Israeli airstrikes hit Gaza City, in the north of the territory, killing 13 people there, including six children and five women, according to the Al-Ahli Hospital, which received the bodies. Partner service The Israeli military says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas because its militants are entrenched in heavily populated areas. Israel facilitated the establishment of four GHF sites in May after blocking the entry of all food, medicine and other goods for 2 1/2 months. Israeli and US officials said a new system was needed to prevent Hamas from siphoning off humanitarian aid. The United Nations, which has delivered aid to hundreds of distribution points across Gaza throughout the war when conditions allow, has rejected the new system, saying it forces Palestinians to travel long distances and risk their lives for food, and that it allows Israel to control who gets aid, potentially using it to advance plans for further mass displacement. 'Disturbing' The UN human rights office said last week that some 1,400 Palestinians have been killed seeking aid since May, mostly near GHF sites but also along UN convoy routes where trucks have been overwhelmed by crowds. It says nearly all were killed by Israeli fire. This week, a group of UN special rapporteurs and independent human rights experts called for the GHF to be disbanded, saying it is "an utterly disturbing example of how humanitarian relief can be exploited for covert military and geopolitical agendas in serious breach of international law." The experts work with the UN but do not represent the world body. The GHF called their statement "disgraceful," and urged the UN and other aid groups to work with it "to maximize the amount of aid being securely delivered to the Palestinian people in Gaza." The Israeli military says it has only fired warning shots when crowds threatened its forces, and GHF says its armed contractors have only used pepper spray and fired into the air on some occasions to prevent deadly crowding at its sites. Gaza's food production mostly destroyed Israel's air and ground war has destroyed nearly all of Gaza's food production capabilities, leaving its people reliant on international aid. A new report by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization and the UN satellite center found that just 8.6% of Gaza's cropland is still accessible following sweeping Israeli evacuation orders in recent months. Just 1.5% is accessible and undamaged, it said. The military offensive and a breakdown in security have made it nearly impossible for anyone to safely deliver aid, and aid groups say recent Israeli measures to facilitate more assistance are far from sufficient. Hospitals recorded four more malnutrition-related deaths over the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 193 people, including 96 children, since the war began in October 2023, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Jordan said Israeli settlers blocked roads and hurled stones at a convoy of four trucks carrying aid bound for Gaza after they drove across the border into the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israeli far-right activists have repeatedly sought to halt aid from entering Gaza. The Israeli military said security forces went to the scene to disperse the gathering and accompanied the trucks to their destination. Le Monde with AP Reuse this content
