3 min
April 10, 2024 Daily News Brief
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- News
*) Israel blocks food three times more than other aid in Palestine's Gaza: UN
Israel has been blocking far more convoys carrying food aid within Gaza, where famine is looming, than convoys carrying other kinds of aid, the UN said.
On Tuesday, a spokesman for the United Nations' humanitarian agency pointed to statistics from March showing that it was much more difficult to get clearance for delivering food than other aid in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.
Israel is facing mounting international pressure to allow more aid into Gaza, which is facing a humanitarian catastrophe six months into the start of Israeli bombardment.
*) Australia considers recognising independent Palestinian state
Australia has become the latest country to advocate formal recognition of a Palestinian state.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Tuesday that recognising a state of Palestine could restart the moribund Middle East peace process and undermine extremist forces in the Middle East.
"Recognising a Palestinian state — one that can only exist side by side with a secure Israel — doesn't just offer the Palestinian people an opportunity to realise their aspirations", she told an audience in Canberra.
"It also strengthens the forces for peace and undermines extremism. It undermines Hamas, Iran and Iran's other destructive proxies in the region."
*) Palestine hails Turkish export restrictions on Israel amid Gaza onslaught
Israel threatened to hit back at Türkiye over its decision to restrict exports of certain goods, saying they will “appeal to pro-Israel countries and organisations in the US to stop investments in Türkiye and prevent the import of products from Türkiye.”
Israel will "contact countries and organisations in the US to stop investments in Türkiye and to prevent the import of products from Türkiye, and to our friends in the American Congress to examine a violation of the boycott laws and impose sanctions on Türkiye accordingly,” Israel Katz, Tel Aviv’s foreign minister, said on X on Tuesday.
A statement by Katz’s office said he ordered the Foreign Ministry’s economic office to “draw up an extensive list of products that Israel will prevent Türkiye from exporting to Israel.” “Türkiye unilaterally violates the trade agreements with Israel, and Israel will take all necessary measures against it,” the statement said.
*) Europe's top court condemns Switzerland in landmark climate ruling
Europe's top rights court has said Switzerland was not doing enough to tackle the climate crisis in a historic decision that could force governments to adopt more ambitious climate policies.
Hopes had been high for a legal turning point ahead of the rulings in the three cases, treated as a priority by the 17 judges of the court's Grand Chamber.
The Swiss association of Elders for Climate Protection — 2,500 women aged 73 on average — had complained about the "failings of the Swiss authorities" in terms of climate protection that could "seriously harm" their health.
The court ordered the Swiss state to pay the association almost $87,000 within three months.
And finally…
*) Nobel prize-winning physicist Peter Higgs dies at 94
Nobel prize-winning physicist Peter Higgs, who proposed the existence of the so-called "God particle" that helped explain how matter formed after the Big Bang, has died at age 94, the University of Edinburgh said.
The university, where Higgs was an emeritus professor, said he died on Monday following a short illness.
Higgs' work helps scientists understand one of the most fundamental riddles of the universe: how the Big Bang created something out of nothing 13.8 billion years ago.
Higgs won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work, alongside Francois Englert of Belgium, who independently came up with the same theory.
*) Israel blocks food three times more than other aid in Palestine's Gaza: UN
Israel has been blocking far more convoys carrying food aid within Gaza, where famine is looming, than convoys carrying other kinds of aid, the UN said.
On Tuesday, a spokesman for the United Nations' humanitarian agency pointed to statistics from March showing that it was much more difficult to get clearance for delivering food than other aid in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.
Israel is facing mounting international pressure to allow more aid into Gaza, which is facing a humanitarian catastrophe six months into the start of Israeli bombardment.
*) Australia considers recognising independent Palestinian state
Australia has become the latest country to advocate formal recognition of a Palestinian state.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Tuesday that recognising a state of Palestine could restart the moribund Middle East peace process and undermine extremist forces in the Middle East.
"Recognising a Palestinian state — one that can only exist side by side with a secure Israel — doesn't just offer the Palestinian people an opportunity to realise their aspirations", she told an audience in Canberra.
"It also strengthens the forces for peace and undermines extremism. It undermines Hamas, Iran and Iran's other destructive proxies in the region."
*) Palestine hails Turkish export restrictions on Israel amid Gaza onslaught
Israel threatened to hit back at Türkiye over its decision to restrict exports of certain goods, saying they will “appeal to pro-Israel countries and organisations in the US to stop investments in Türkiye and prevent the import of products from Türkiye.”
Israel will "contact countries and organisations in the US to stop investments in Türkiye and to prevent the import of products from Türkiye, and to our friends in the American Congress to examine a violation of the boycott laws and impose sanctions on Türkiye accordingly,” Israel Katz, Tel Aviv’s foreign minister, said on X on Tuesday.
A statement by Katz’s office said he ordered the Foreign Ministry’s economic office to “draw up an extensive list of products that Israel will prevent Türkiye from exporting to Israel.” “Türkiye unilaterally violates the trade agreements with Israel, and Israel will take all necessary measures against it,” the statement said.
*) Europe's top court condemns Switzerland in landmark climate ruling
Europe's top rights court has said Switzerland was not doing enough to tackle the climate crisis in a historic decision that could force governments to adopt more ambitious climate policies.
Hopes had been high for a legal turning point ahead of the rulings in the three cases, treated as a priority by the 17 judges of the court's Grand Chamber.
The Swiss association of Elders for Climate Protection — 2,500 women aged 73 on average — had complained about the "failings of the Swiss authorities" in terms of climate protection that could "seriously harm" their health.
The court ordered the Swiss state to pay the association almost $87,000 within three months.
And finally…
*) Nobel prize-winning physicist Peter Higgs dies at 94
Nobel prize-winning physicist Peter Higgs, who proposed the existence of the so-called "God particle" that helped explain how matter formed after the Big Bang, has died at age 94, the University of Edinburgh said.
The university, where Higgs was an emeritus professor, said he died on Monday following a short illness.
Higgs' work helps scientists understand one of the most fundamental riddles of the universe: how the Big Bang created something out of nothing 13.8 billion years ago.
Higgs won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work, alongside Francois Englert of Belgium, who independently came up with the same theory.
3 min