Author: ALJAZEERA

The United Nations and aid agencies have slammed the Israeli army for cutting off an essential aid route by seizing the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and southern Gaza, warning that already scarce supplies will be further depleted in the enclave that is on the brink of famine. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres demanded that Israel reopen two key land crossings to enable desperately needed aid supplies to reach Palestinians in Gaza. “The closure of both the Rafah and Kerem Shalom [Karem Abu Salem] crossings is especially damaging to an already dire humanitarian situation. They must be reopened immediately,” he said…

Federal Aviation Administration says Boeing voluntarily informed officials that inspections may not have been completed.Air safety officials in the United States are investigating whether employees at Boeing falsified inspections records for the 787 Dreamliner. The Federal Aviation Administration said on Monday that it had opened the probe after Boeing voluntarily informed officials that it may not have completed required inspections to “confirm adequate bonding and grounding where the wings join the fuselage on certain 787 Dreamliner airplanes”. “The FAA is investigating whether Boeing completed the inspections and whether company employees may have falsified aircraft records. At the same time, Boeing…

Grossi urges ‘practical and tangible measures’ to accelerate cooperation in talks in Tehran on Iran’s nuclear programme.The head of the United Nations nuclear body has called on Iran to increase its efforts to make cooperation tangible and “concrete”. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi urged Tehran on Tuesday to adopt “concrete” measures to foster collaboration. The UN is seeking to re-establish oversight of Iran’s atomic activities but has met various setbacks over how to implement a deal struck last year. However, officials on both sides suggested that there is some distance between their positions. At a news conference…

Announcement comes after rival Microsoft last week unveiled major investments in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.Amazon has announced plans to invest $9bn in Singapore to expand cloud infrastructure in the city-state. The announcement at the Amazon Web Services (AWS) ASEAN Summit on Tuesday comes after the Seattle-based tech giant last year unveiled multibillion-dollar investments in cloud services in Malaysia and Thailand. “AWS is doubling down on its cloud infrastructure investments in Singapore from 2024 to 2028 to support customer demand, and help reinforce Singapore’s status as an attractive regional innovation launchpad,” AWS Country Manager Priscilla Chong said. Amazon said the investment…

Israeli forces have seized control of Gaza’s Rafah border crossing, cutting off a vital route for humanitarian aid and potential sanctuary for civilians from a building offensive. The Israeli military said on Tuesday that it had seized “operational control” of the Gaza side of the border post, which links the besieged enclave with Egypt. The closure of the crucial passage and positioning of tanks in the centre of Rafah is seen as a demonstration of Israel’s determination to press on with an assault on the southern city despite ongoing truce talks. The 401st Brigade entered the Rafah crossing early on…

Cancellation of inaugural crewed space mission comes as Boeing is under fire over safety record at its aviation arm.Boeing has called off the inaugural crewed flight CST-100 Starliner space capsule after engineers detected an issue with a rocket valve. The decision to call off the launch on Monday came two hours before the scheduled liftoff and about an hour after two NASA astronauts had strapped into the spacecraft. The postponement, blamed on a problem with a valve in the Atlas V rocket, was announced during a live NASA webcast. “Standing down on tonight’s attempt to launch,” NASA chief Bill Nelson…

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Al Jazeera has obtained a copy of the Gaza ceasefire proposal that Hamas said it accepted on Monday. The deal, which was put forward by Egypt and Qatar, would come in three stages that would see an initial halt in the fighting leading to lasting calm and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Palestinian territory. The proposed agreement would also ensure the release of Israeli captives in Gaza as well as an unspecified number of Palestinians held in Israeli jails. Israel has said that it does not agree to the proposal but that it will engage in further talks…

The Israeli army has ordered tens of thousands of Palestinians to leave Rafah amid growing fears of a ground assault on the southern Gaza city, where 1.4 million people displaced by Israel’s war on Gaza have sought shelter. An Israeli military spokesperson told journalists about 100,000 people in eastern Rafah should evacuate to “an expanded humanitarian area” on the coast. The order came on Monday as indirect talks between Israel and Hamas over a potential ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza appeared to stall. Here’s how the world reacted to Israel’s evacuation order: Hamas Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told…

Israel’s military has ordered tens of thousands of people in the southern Gaza city of Rafah to evacuate, signalling that a long-expected ground invasion could be imminent. The evacuation order comes as indirect ceasefire talks between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas appeared to stall amid intense disagreements between the warring sides. The United States and Qatar, which have been mediating the talks along with Egypt, were expected to hold discussions on Monday in Doha, but state-linked media in Egypt said the ceasefire talks had stalled after a rocket attack killed four Israeli soldiers on Sunday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin…