Author: ALJAZEERA

Deir el-Balah, Gaza – Like a scene from an endless horror movie, new orders for evacuations were issued on Wednesday morning for residential areas in Deir el-Balah. “Every day brings a new catastrophe,” we despaired as we studied the latest Israeli map, its lines now looming dangerously close to our home. The sounds of tanks grew louder, and the crack of gunfire echoed nearer. A question has haunted us, and everyone in Gaza, for more than 320 days of war. The question we ask the world but never get an answer: “Where should we go?” A question echoing in the…

Romanian authorities say probe relates to alleged crimes including human trafficking and sex with a minor.Influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate have been detained in Romania as part of an investigation into new allegations of criminality, including human trafficking and sex with a minor. The Tate brothers, who were indicted last year on charges including human trafficking and rape, were detained for questioning overnight on Wednesday after investigators carried out searches on four properties in Bucharest and Ilfov county. Romania’s Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) said in a statement that the new probe related to the alleged trafficking…

The stage on Chicago’s United Center and McCormick Place was lit up with blue lights and surrounded by enthused, placard-toting supporters for a second day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) on Tuesday. From main talking points to key speakers, here are the highlights from the gathering on Tuesday: The Obamas arrived to support Harris Former US President Barack Obama delivered the night’s keynote speech, throwing his support behind Democrat Kamala Harris and running mate Tim Walz. Obama, who was the country’s Democratic president from 2009 to 2017, spoke for more than half an hour. He paid tribute to President…

Australia-Asia Power Link is slated to provide up to 15 percent of city-state’s energy needs once completed.Australia has granted environmental approval for a $19bn solar power project to export electricity to Singapore. The Australia-Asia Power Link is slated to generate 6GW of renewable energy, one-third of which would be transmitted to the Southeast Asia city-state via an undersea cable. SunCable, owned by billionaire software entrepreneur and climate activist Mike Cannon-Brookes, has said the project will supply up to 15 percent of Singapore’s energy needs once completed in the early 2030s. Australia’s Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said on Wednesday that the…

UN office warns that a record number of aid workers were killed in 2023 and fears further grim milestones could be set as wars rage.More than half of the 280 aid workers killed worldwide in 2023 died during the first three months of Israel’s war on Gaza, according to the United Nations. The rise in deaths, mainly due to Israeli air attacks in Gaza between October and December last year, represents a 137 percent increase compared with 2022, when 118 aid workers were killed. The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Monday that aid workers…

Medan, Indonesia – Nusantara, the new capital city of Indonesia, will host Independence Day celebrations on Saturday, as the country looks to a future without Jakarta as its capital. The country declared independence from the Dutch in 1945 with Jakarta as its seat of government and administrative centre. But the city in western Jave has grown into a heaving metropolis of at least 11 million people, and is plagued by some of the world’s worst traffic jams, thick smog and overcrowding. It is also reportedly sinking due to unregulated groundwater extraction, and Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency has warned…

The number of acutely malnourished children has increased by 34 percent compared with last year, a United Nations report says.Acute malnutrition is rapidly escalating in Yemen, with famine looming in four districts, United Nations experts have said. A report published on Sunday by the UN’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Technical Group in Yemen, covering areas under government control, said the most critical cases are emerging along the war-torn country’s Red Sea coast. Yemen, already one of the poorest countries in the Arabian Peninsula, has been ravaged by years of war between the Saudi-backed government and the Iran-aligned Houthis.…

As Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris overtakes her Republican opponent Donald Trump in opinion polls – she is now leading in five crucial swing states – experts warn she will face “a heavy road” when it comes to passing economic legislation should she become the next president of the United States. The year 2025 will be one filled with political negotiations as several significant pieces of economic legislation are set to expire, including tax cuts for individuals under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and the reinstatement of the nation’s debt limit, which was suspended last year. But with voters choosing…

Beirut, Lebanon – In 2014, the Syrian regime fired a missile that struck Alaa’s apartment building in Aleppo, Syria. Thirteen-year-old Alaa and his family – mother, father and two sisters – survived the blast and fled to Lebanon. Today, Alaa is a hairdresser in Beirut and worries about having to go through another war as tensions rise between the Lebanese group Hezbollah and Israel. “A war would affect everyone here: Lebanese and Syrian,” Alaa told Al Jazeera outside a barbershop in Hamra, a bustling neighbourhood in West Beirut. “If it happens, it happens. I live day by day.” Alaa is…

US Democratic presidential candidate presents plan to tackle food ‘price gouging’, child care and housing costs.Democratic candidate Kamala Harris has promised to “bring down costs and increase economic security for all Americans” in one of her first major policy speeches in the United States presidential campaign. The US vice president, who secured the Democratic nomination after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race last month, put forward a set of proposals on Friday that she said would help boost the economy and combat food “price gouging”. “I will be laser-focused on creating opportunities for the middle class,” Harris told…