International Glance
The Court of Appeal has overturned a High Court ruling and found the UK government’s ban on the direct action group Palestine Action to be lawful.
In February, the High Court found that then Home Secretary Yvette Cooper's decision to proscribe the group was "unlawful" and "discriminatory", following a challenge brought by the group's co-founder Huda Ammori.
It ruled that the ban constituted a breach of the European Convention of Human Rights as it entailed "a very significant" interference with rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. It further held that the ban was not consistent with the home secretary's own policy.
The government immediately stated its intention to appeal the ruling, with Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood saying she was “disappointed” with the outcome, adding that the ban "followed a rigorous and evidence-based decision-making process".
UK Court of Appeal rules Palestine Action ban to be lawful
Abdullah Ibrahim, quiet giant of the jazz piano, has died at 91
Abdullah Ibrahim, the South African jazz pianist deemed his country's equivalent to Mozart by Nelson Mandela, died Monday in his adopted home of Germany after a short illness. He was 91 years old.
"Abdullah passed away peacefully with South Africa and its people in his heart," his partner, Marina Umari, said in a statement. "His love for his country never wavered, no matter where in the world he found himself."
In an extraordinarily accomplished career that spanned eight decades, Ibrahim helped bring bebop stylings to South Africa, and he bonded with Duke Ellington, who produced one of his early, influential recordings. In his later years, he became an idol and an inspiration to new generations of jazz pianists.
Abdullah Ibrahim was born Adolph Johannes Brand in 1934. His mother was a pianist at their church, and he began taking piano lessons at the age of 7. By the time he was 15, he was playing professionally — billed as Dollar Brand — and in the late '50s formed a group, the Jazz Epistles, that featured trumpeter Hugh Masekela. In January 1960, the group recorded Jazz Epistle Verse One, the first jazz album by an all-Black South African jazz ensemble.
Russia Says Drone Attack Set Krasnodar Oil Depot Ablaze
A drone attack sparked a fire at an oil depot in Russia’s Krasnodar region in the early hours of Tuesday, Russian regional authorities said, as Ukraine continues its ‘oil sanctions’ campaign against Moscow’s fuel and logistics infrastructure.
According to the operational headquarters of Russia’s Krasnodar region, falling drone debris caused a fire at an oil depot in the village of Poltavskaya, in the Krasnoarmeysky district.
“Due to the fall of UAV debris, a fire broke out at an oil depot in the village of Poltavskaya, Krasnoarmeysky district,” the headquarters said.
Russian officials routinely describe such incidents as fires caused by “falling drone debris,” a formulation that avoids acknowledging that the facility itself may have been directly hit.
Germany's UN defeat is a verdict on its complicity in genocide
On 3 June, for the first time, Germany failed to secure a rotating seat on the UN Security Council, falling 23 votes short. The announcement was made by Annalena Baerbock, Germany's former foreign minister and current president of the UN General Assembly.
The vote was a verdict on Germany's standing in the world, and even Berlin knows why.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul acknowledged that the country had lost votes over its support for Israel's war on Gaza, or as he put it, "Germany's special responsibility for Israel".
He was quick to add that Germany would continue to fulfil that responsibility, despite the international embarrassment.
At a moment when rogue states such as the United States and Israel are waging wars and pursuing coercive campaigns against countries of their choosing - from Iran and Yemen to Lebanon, Palestine and Venezuela - the rest of the world is looking for international partners who can help weather the storm, not fuel it.
Thousands of Palestinians buried under rubble in Gaza 'may never be identified', says Red Cross
Thousands of Palestinians trapped beneath the rubble in Gaza may never be identified, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has warned, citing slow recovery efforts and the large number of bodies yet to be retrieved, The Guardian reported on Sunday.
"There is no doubt that these bodies could soon become difficult to identify," Pat Griffiths, the ICRC spokesperson in Jerusalem, told the British newspaper.
The longer it takes for human remains to be recovered, the more difficult it can be to identify them. The longer the deceased lie beneath the rubble, the more likely they will be in advanced stages of decomposition – even skeletonised – when eventually recovered."
"Forensic experts lose access to circumstantial evidence that can be used to corroborate their identity."
The ICRC warned that the more time passes, the greater the risk that crucial identifying evidence, including fingerprints, dental records and personal belongings, will be lost.
‘A point of resistance’: the Normandy village that said ‘non’ to Pete Hegseth
When news came that the US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, would be travelling to Normandy to mark D-day, some in the seaside village of Langrune-sur-Mer – where the afternoon ceremony was slated to be held – felt they had to speak up.
“We found it unbelievable that they could send someone who held views and values contrary to democracy, human rights, peace and Europe,” said resident Chantal Richard. To her, the incongruence felt deeply personal. “We grew up going to D-day ceremonies, some of us had grandparents or parents whose lives were affected by this war.”
The view led Richard and the 40 or so other members of Langrune en Commun, a residents’ association, to sign a 179-word statement. Published days before the 82nd anniversary of the D-day landings, it called for Hegseth’s visit to be cancelled.
“The honour of Langrune, that of France and the memory of the young allied soldiers – American, British and Canadian – who died on our beaches in the name of democracy demand that this individual’s visit be cancelled,” it said.
Kyiv monastery set on fire in night of Russian attacks across Ukraine
Ukraine has come under a massive Russian missile and drone attack with waves of explosions echoing through the capital, Kyiv, in the early hours of Monday morning as air raids killed at least five people across the country.
Among targets hit in the sustained wave of strikes were the city’s historic Dormition Cathedral within the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, one of Ukraine’s most significant religiMore...ous sites, as well as residential buildings across the city.
Footage from the Perchersk Lavra, a Unesco world heritage site, showed towering flames licking up towards its domes. Six people were reported injured.
“[T]he roof of one of the holiest places in the Christian world – the Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra – is burning,” Metropoliton Epiphanius, head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, wrote on X.
Yulia Svyrydenko, the prime minister, posted a picture of the monastery building in flames and wrote: “A brutal assault on our people and our heritage. This is the true face of Russia’s Orthodox values.
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