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Former President Trump said in Iowa that he has more than $100 million in legal fees as he faces a cascade of court battles.
In a speech to supporters in Sioux City, Iowa, Trump claimed he lost billions of dollars going into politics and lamented the cost of his legal fees.
Trump claimed he turned down multiple opportunities to make money during his presidency because, he said, it would be a conflict of interest, and “I have too much respect for the office.”
“It’s cost me a couple of billion dollars to be a politician. Everyone else makes, they make [money]. I said, ‘No, we can’t do that.’ I could have made a fortune. The countries are coming [and saying,] ‘We’d like to build a job and we’d like to have you involved.’ Billions. I say, I tell my kids, ‘Sorry, kids, we can’t do it. I’m president.’ I respected the office,” Trump said.
“And of course, then they made it much worse with legal fees. I have $100 million worth of legal fees,” Trump said. “And they’re doing good. At least I have good lawyers, because you can spend $100 million and have lousy lawyers too. It happens.”
Trump’s comments come as he faces several civil and criminal cases. The cases have flooded his calendar as Trump presses on in his campaign for president.
The four criminal cases against Trump include two federal cases brought by special counsel Jack Smith, who charged Trump with 37 felony counts related to his retention of classified documents and refusal to hand them over. The second case charges Trump with four felonies stemming from his efforts to stay in power after the 2020 election.
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Former President Trump said Sunday the federal indictments he faces will allow him to retaliate against President Biden if he beats the incumbent in the 2024 presidential election.
Speaking to a crowd of supporters in Iowa on Sunday, Trump railed against the criminal justice system and accused the Justice Department under Biden of “cheating” and of targeting him for political purposes — an unsubstantiated claim Trump has made frequently.
Trump compared the Biden administration to leaders of “banana republics.”
“They brought our country to a new level, and, but that allows — think of this — that allows us to do it to Biden, when he gets out,” Trump said to roaring applause from the audience. “And that would be very easy.”
Trump then tempered his threat, saying, “But I don’t want to do it. You know, once you, once you do that, you’ve set yourself on a very downward, very bad path. Very bad path, but a thing like this has never happened before.”
Trump also suggested he could have gone after Biden when he was in office, but he said he didn’t because “I had too much respect for the office to hit Joe Biden,” even though Trump said Biden was “the most incompetent president, the most corrupt president, the worst president we’ve ever had. Those are tough words.”
“And I would never have done that until they did something that’s never been done. They indicted a former president,” Trump added. “And the only reason they indicted me is that we’re leading him in the polls. We’re killing them.”
Trump currently faces charges in two federal criminal cases, two state criminal cases and in civil suits. While Trump has claimed the investigations into his actions were a result of his entrance into the 2024 presidential election, he was already under investigation when he announced he would run for president again.
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The actor, who was best known for playing Chandler Bing on Friends, was found dead at a Los Angeles-area home on Saturday.
TMZ reported that Perry was found in a jacuzzi at the home, and no drugs were found at the scene.
Warner Bros. issued a statement about the beloved star: “We are devastated by the passing of our dear friend Matthew Perry. Matthew was an incredibly gifted actor and an indelible part of the Warner Bros. Television Group family. The impact of his comedic genius was felt around the world, and his legacy will live on in the hearts of so many. This is a heartbreaking day, and we send our love to his family, his loved ones, and all of his devoted fans."
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SHOOTER FOUND DEAD !
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Palestinians, aid groups, journalists and civil society organisations have said they have lost touch with staff and families in Gaza, after Israel knocked out internet and communications, cutting off the territory’s residents from contact with the outside world.
NetBlocks, a watchdog organisation that monitors cybersecurity and the internet, reported a collapse in connectivity in the Gaza Strip late on Friday.
The Palestinian telecom provider, Paltel, said the bombardment caused “complete disruption” of internet, cellular and landline services.
Shortly after reports of lost service, exceptionally heavy bombardment was heard in the territory and the Israel Defense Forces said their air and ground forces were intensifying their attacks in Gaza.
Already in darkness after most electricity was cut off and fuel for generators ran out, Gaza’s 2.3 million people were thrown into isolation from the rest of the world.
Explosions from continuous airstrikes lit up the sky over Gaza City for hours, but the communications cutoff meant that the number of casualties from strikes and details of ground incursions could not immediately be known.
Al-Jazeera correspondent Tareq Abu Azzoum reported on the ground that Palestinians are “isolated in the territory” without “any access to the networks” at present.
Palestinians outside of Gaza have been unable to reach their relatives. The poet and author Mohammed El-Kurd, tweeted: “No one I know in Gaza is answering my texts.”
The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed alarm, saying the world “is losing a window into the reality” of the conflict. It warned that the information vacuum “can be filled with deadly propaganda, dis- and misinformation”.
The loss of communication dealt a further blow to a medical and aid system which was already on the brink of collapse under Israel’s three-week siege.
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A day after Palestinian militant group Hamas launched its brutal attack on Israel, a curious video emerged out of Tehran’s Azadi stadium. Hundreds of soccer fans, gathered to watch a match between Perspolis FC and Gol Gohar Sirjan FC, chanted in unison: “Shove the Palestinian flag up your a**.”
The vulgar protest came in response to officials attempting to raise a Palestinian flag in the stadium to show support for the October 7 attack. But for the fans, it was another unwelcome mixing of politics and soccer, and a stark reminder of the Iranian government’s involvement in proxy battles in far-flung arenas.
Hamas’ attack, which killed 1,400 people according to Israeli authorities, prompted a fierce aerial campaign on Gaza that has so far killed more than 7,000 people, according to the health ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza. And there are now concerns that more fronts will open in the war, including one with Iran.
Experts say that while Iran is wary of being dragged into the Israel-Hamas war, it may not be in full control if the militias it backs in the region independently intervene as Hamas suffers heavy blows and the death toll in Gaza continues to mount.
“What connects all these groups to Iran is their anti-Israel policies,” said Sima Shine, head of the Iran program at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv, noting that while Iran has varying levels of influence over the groups, it doesn’t dictate all their actions.
In the early days after the October 7 attack, questions were raised about Iran’s potential involvement in the killings. Tehran at the time commended the operation but was quick to deny any hand in it . Initial US intelligence also suggested that Iranian officials were surprised by Hamas’ attack, and that Tehran was not directly involved in its planning, resourcing or approval, CNN has reported.
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New House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told Fox News on Thursday night that he sees a “cognitive decline” in President Biden, echoing one of the network’s frequent criticisms of the president.
“Do you see in Joe Biden a cognitive decline? And if so, is that a danger to the country?” Fox News host Sean Hannity asked Johnson.
“I do, I think most of us do,” the 51-year-old Speaker responded. “That’s reality. It’s not a personal slight to him, it has to do with age and acumen, and everyone’s different. Everyone ages differently.”
“Clearly, if you look at a tape of Joe Biden making an argument in the Senate Judiciary Committee a few years ago, and you see a speech that he delivers now, there’s a difference,” Johnson continued. “Again, I mean, it’s not a personal insult to him. It’s just reality.”
Johnson became Speaker of the House on Wednesday, after weeks of turmoil in the lower chamber, where Republicans nominated but failed to elect three other candidates. The President and Johnson met Thursday at the White House.
“Jill and I congratulate Speaker Johnson on his election,” Biden said in a statement on Johnson’s election Wednesday. “As I said when this process began, whoever the Speaker is, I will seek to work with them in good faith on behalf of the American people.”
“That’s a principle I have always held to, and that I’ve acted on – delivering major bipartisan legislation on infrastructure, outcompeting China, gun reform, and veterans care,” Biden’s statement continued.
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President Biden’s approval rating among Democratic respondents saw a double-digit decline in the past month, resulting in one of the lowest in his presidency, according to a Gallup poll released Thursday.
The survey found that 75 percent of Democrat respondents approve of the job Biden is doing as president, down 11 points from last month’s poll.
Republican respondents’ views of Biden remain unchanged; 5 percent said they approve of the job Biden is doing as president, according to the poll.
Biden also saw a drop in his overall approval rating to 37 percent; 59 percent of those surveyed think otherwise. The overall rating is a 4-point decrease from last month’s poll.
The Gallup poll was released two weeks after Hamas’s surprise attack against Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,400 people in Israel. About 200 others were taken hostage by the militant group.
In response, Israel has launched a series of airstrikes in Gaza, resulting in the deaths of more than 7,000 people and injuries to more than 18,000 more, according to a Thursday update from the Gaza Health Ministry.
Biden, along with other Western allies, has signaled support for Israel. The House approved a resolution Wednesday night that expressed support for Israel and condemned the Hamas attack.
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Former President Trump said the judge in his New York civil trial “has gone crazy in his hatred,” after he fined the former president $10,000 for violating a gag order imposed in the case.
“The judge in the New York State [attorney general (AG)] case refuses to accept the overturning of his decisions by the Appeals Court. This is a first in the history of the State! HE HAS GONE CRAZY IN HIS HATRED OF ‘TRUMP,'” Trump wrote Thursday in a Truth Social post.
In an unexpected twist Wednesday, Trump took the witness stand to answer a series of questions from Judge Arthur Engoron about an apparent violation of a gag order in place that prohibits Trump and other parties in the case from speaking about the judge’s staff.
The violation was in connection to a comment the former president made to reporters about a “very partisan judge with a person who is very partisan sitting alongside him, perhaps even more partisan than he is.”
Engoron suggested Trump was referring to his principal law clerk, who sits to the right of the judge. Trump denied this and said he was instead referencing his ex-fixer Michael Cohen, who testified this week and is a key witness in New York Attorney General Letitia James’s (D) fraud case against Trump.
Responding to Engoron’s questions, the former president said he thinks the judge’s clerk is “very biased against us.”
Upon leaving the stand, Engoron issued an order fining Trump $10,000.
“The Radical Left Judge who should not be handling the FAKE & FULLY DISCREDITED CASE brought against me by the New York State A.G. (It should be handled by the Commercial Division, but should never have been brought!), fined me $10,000 under his so-called gag order,” Trump wrote in a separate Truth Social post Thursday, adding he believes the judge found him guilty “before the trial even started.”
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More than 50 years after The Beatles broke up, the band have announced the release of their "last song".
Called Now And Then, it is based on a 1970s demo recording by John Lennon, and was completed last year by Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Ringo Starr.
Sir Paul teased the song in a BBC interview this summer, saying AI technology had been used to "extricate" Lennon's vocals from an old cassette.
The track will premiere at 14:00 GMT on Thursday, 2 November.
It will also feature on newly-remastered versions of The Beatles' Red and Blue albums, due on 10 November.
Originally released in 1973, the career-spanning compilations have been described by Rolling Stone magazine as "arguably the most influential greatest hits albums in history".
Featuring everything from Love Me Do to The Long And Winding Road, the two volumes are essentially divided between the band's early mop-top days (the Red Album) and their more experimental and expansive late period (the Blue album).
In a press release, the surviving Beatles said completing the song had been a surreal experience.
"There it was, John's voice, crystal clear," said Sir Paul. "It's quite emotional. And we all play on it, it's a genuine Beatles recording. In 2023 to still be working on Beatles music, and about to release a new song the public haven't heard, I think it's an exciting thing."
"It was the closest we'll ever come to having him back in the room so it was very emotional for all of us," added Starr. "It was like John was there, you know. It's far out."
'Rubbish' recording
Now And Then was originally written by John Lennon after the Beatles' split up in 1970, and has circulated as a bootleg for years.
An apologetic love song, it is addressed to an old friend (or lover), to whom Lennon declares: "Now and then, I miss you / Now and then, I want you to return to me".
After Lennon was fatally shot outside his New York apartment building in December 1980, his widow, Yoko Ono, gave the song to Sir Paul.
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US President Joe Biden has warned China that the US will defend the Philippines in case of any attack in the disputed South China Sea.
The comments come days after two collisions between Filipino and Chinese vessels in the contested waters.
Mr Biden reiterated his "ironclad" defence commitment to the Philippines.
Manila has contested Chinese claims to the waters, cutting floating barriers and inviting media to film what it calls Beijing's dangerous moves at sea.
Mr Biden's statement on the South China Sea on Wednesday was his strongest since tensions between Beijing and Manila heated up in recent months.
"I want to be clear — I want to be very clear: The United States' defence commitment to the Philippines is ironclad. The United States defence agreement with the Philippines is ironclad," he said.
Signed in 1951, the Mutual Defense Treaty binds the US and the Philippines, its former colony, into defending each other in the event of an armed attack.
"Any attack on the Filipino aircraft, vessels, or armed forces will invoke our Mutual Defense Treaty with the Philippines," he added in his speech an the White House on Wednesday, as he welcomed Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the US had "no right to get involved in a problem between China and the Philippines".
Should the US defend the Philippines, its actions "must not hurt China's sovereignty and maritime interests in the South China Sea", she told reporters in response to a question on the statement.
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Police in China have rescued more than 1,000 cats from being slaughtered and sold as pork or mutton, state-affiliated media report.
Acting on a tip from animal welfare activists, police intercepted the truck that was carrying the felines in the eastern city of Zhangjiagang.
The cats were moved to a shelter, according to a report in The Paper.
The rescue uncovered an illicit trade of cat meat and raised fresh concerns about food safety, the report said.
Cat meat can fetch 4.5 yuan ($0.61; £0.51) per catty, a unit of measure in China that is roughly equivalent to 600g, activists said. One cat can yield four to five catties.
It was unclear if the rescued cats were strays or pets. They were in transit to the country's south where they were to be served up as pork and lamb skewers and sausages.
According to The Paper, activists in Zhangjiagang had noticed a large number of cats being held in nailed-up wooden boxes in a cemetery and monitored it for six days.
When the cats were loaded onto a truck on 12 October, they stopped the vehicle and called the police.
The story on The Paper, published last Friday, got thousands of angry comments on China's social media platform Weibo. Some users called for tighter inspections of the food industry.
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Russia is executing soldiers who try to retreat from a bloody offensive in eastern Ukraine, the White House has said.
According to the US, some of the casualties suffered by Russia near Avdiivka were "on the orders of their own leaders".
Russian and Ukrainian troops have been locked into a fierce battle for the frontline town since mid-October.
Russia is thought to have suffered "significant" losses in this time.
Ukrainian estimates put the number of Russian casualties in Avdiivka at 5,000, while the US says that Russia lost "at least" 125 armoured vehicles and more than a battalion's worth of equipment.
A Ukrainian army spokesperson said that Russian troops were refusing to attack Ukrainian positions near Avdiivka because of heavy losses and that there had been mutinies in some units.
"Russia's mobilised forces remain under-trained, under-equipped and unprepared for combat, as was the case during their failed winter offensive last year," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said in a briefing on Thursday.
He said that the Russian military "appears to be using what we would call 'human wave' tactics, just throwing masses of these poorly trained soldiers right into the fight."
"No proper equipment, no leadership, no resourcing, no support. It is unsurprising that Russian forces are suffering from poor morale," Mr Kirby added.
Taking Avdiivka - which lies near the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk - would allow Russian troops to push the front line back, making it harder for the Ukrainian forces to make further advances into Donetsk region.
Avdiivka has been all but abandoned by its 30,000 residents as Russian forces continue to pummel it. Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the situation as "particularly tough".
On Thursday, the US announced a new $150m (£123.7m) military assistance package for Ukraine that includes artillery and small-arms ammunition, as well as anti-tank weapons.
However, future aid to Ukraine is in doubt following the election of Republican Mike Johnson as speaker of the US House of Representatives earlier this week.
Mr Johnson - who is on the right wing of the Republican Party - is against further US aid to Ukraine and has previously supported amendments to block it.
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Former Chinese premier Li Keqiang has died at 68, state media has reported.
He was the second most powerful man in the ruling Chinese Communist Party until he retired last year.
State media said he had been "resting" in Shanghai when he suffered a sudden heart attack on Thursday.
He passed away ten minutes past midnight on Friday despite "all-out efforts" to revive him, state broadcaster CCTV said.
Li rose through the party ranks despite not having any power base, and at one point was even pegged for the top role of president.
A trained economist, he was initially given the reins of China's economy, but analysts said he became increasing sidelined towards the end of his career as Chinese President Xi Jinping gathered power around himself.
In his final term, he became the only incumbent top official who didn't belong to President Xi's loyalists group.
Li was seen to be aligned to former leader Hu Jintao, who was taken off stage at last year's Party Congress on Mr Xi's orders.
As he was being led away, he tapped Li Keqiang on the shoulder in a friendly gesture and the premier nodded back.
Li's death is being widely mourned by Chinese netizens online, with one person saying it was like losing "a pillar of our home".
The elite Peking University-educated leader was known for being pragmatic in economic policies, with policies that focused on reducing the wealth gap and providing affordable housing.
"He was a very enthusiastic open man who really strove to get China ahead and facilitated open dialogue with people from all walks of life," Bert Hofman, a professor at the National University of Singapore told the BBC's Newsday programme.
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Police in the US city of Lewiston, Maine have warned a gunman is on the loose, with reports that at least 16 people have been killed.
Residents of the city, the second-largest in the state, have been told to shelter in place.
Police named Robert Card, 40, as a person of interest and said he should be considered "armed and dangerous".
The White House said President Joe Biden had been briefed on the situation and would continue to receive updates.
There were also multiple but unconfirmed reports of at least 50 people injured.
Billie Jayne Cooke, who is running for the city council in Lewiston, told BBC News Channel she had been leaving an event as details of the shooting emerged.
"The entire ride home was just solid sirens, one siren after another," she said.
"Helicopters, sirens, I've never heard so much activity in my life in this city. We have police from all over the state, from out of the state, coming up.
"The whole city's on lockdown. It's horrible. You just don't think that's ever going to happen and it did."
In a statement on X, formerly Twitter, Maine State Police said: "There is an active shooter in Lewiston.
"We ask people to shelter in place. Please stay inside your home with the doors locked."
Lewiston Police said it had responded to two locations, a restaurant called Schemengees, and Sparetime Recreation, a bowling alley.
The two locations appear to be about four miles (6.5km), or 10-minute drive, from each other.
The Central Maine Medical Center said it was reacting to a "mass casualty, mass shooter event" and was coordinating with other hospitals in the area to treat the injured.
The Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office released two images of a suspect, saying he was at large and asking for the public's help identifying him.
They showed a bearded man in a brown sweater carrying a firearm walking into a building.
Police also shared a photo of a white vehicle, saying its front bumper was believed to be painted black, and asked anybody who recognised it to contact police.
Lewiston Public Schools Superintendent Jake Langlais said in a statement that schools in the district would be closed on Thursday.
A statement from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas had been briefed and was continuing to monitor the situation.
"DHS is working closely with our federal, state and local partners to support the Lewiston community," it said.
A US justice department statement said that federal agencies were assisting state and local law enforcement.
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Queen Rania of Jordan has accused Western countries of “aiding and abetting” the killing of Palestinians by supporting Israel’s war against Hamas.
The monarch also accused those backing Israel’s bombing of Gaza in response to Hamas’s terror attack as an example of Western “double standards”.
“The people all around the Middle East, including in Jordan, we are just shocked and disappointed by the world’s reaction to this catastrophe that is unfolding,” she told CNN.
“In the last couple of weeks, we have seen a glaring double standard in the world.”
The monarch added: “When October 7 happened, the world immediately and unequivocally stood by Israel and its right to defend itself and condemned the attack that happened … but what we’re seeing in the last couple of weeks, we’re seeing silence in the world.
“Many in the Arab world are looking at the Western world as not just tolerating this…but aiding and abetting it.”
Queen Rania’s comments came as Israel and Hamas continued bombing each other, with airstrikes in Gaza killing more than 750 people between Tuesday and Wednesday, according to the territory’s health ministry.
The Israeli military said its strikes had killed militants and destroyed tunnels, command centers, weapons storehouses and other military targets, which it has accused Hamas of hiding among Gaza’s civilian population.
Gaza-based militants have also been launching unrelenting rocket barrages into Israel since the conflict started.
The death toll, following a reported 704 killed the day before, was unprecedented in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Even greater loss of life could come when Israel launches an expected ground offensive aimed at crushing Hamas militants.
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By-elections latest: Boris Johnson blamed for Sunak’s ‘armageddon’ defeat in Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire
Sir Keir Starmer has cast himself the heir to Blair after a historic Tory by-election drubbing in which he jubilantly declared Labour was “redrawing the political map”.
The Labour leader said that Tory voters were turning to them because they were “fed up with the decline and despairing of the party they used to vote for”.
The Tories are now staring down the barrel of an unprecedented wipeout after suffering defeats in two fiercely contested by-elections, with huge majorities evaporating overnight following a disastrous few years in which the party has seemingly stumbled from one crisis to another.
Starmers remarks came as polling guru John Curtice said Boris Johnson and Liz Truss were largely to blame for the crushing defeat.
Overturning the biggest majority in British by-election history, Labour took Mid Bedfordshire from the Tories for the first time.
While in Tamworth, the party saw the second biggest swing from the Tories to Labour in a by-election in post-war history.
Meanwhile, former chancellor George Osborne warned the record defeats spell “armageddon” for the Conservatives at the general election.
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Russia’s military has conducted a simulated nuclear strike in a drill overseen by President Vladimir Putin, hours after the upper house of parliament voted to rescind the country’s ratification of a global nuclear test ban.
The bill to end ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, approved in the lower house last week, will now be sent to Putin for final approval. Putin has said that revoking Russia’s 2000 ratification would “mirror” the stance of the US, which signed but did not ratify the nuclear test ban.
State television showed Putin directing the exercise via video call with top military officials.
Russia’s minister of defence, Sergei Shoigu, said the purpose of the drills is to practise “dealing a massive nuclear strike with strategic offensive forces in response to a nuclear strike by the enemy”.
While similar drills are held every autumn, Shoigu’s pointed comments came amid soaring tensions between Russia and the west over the fighting in Ukraine.
The test ban treaty, adopted in 1996, bans all nuclear explosions anywhere in the world, but the treaty was never fully implemented. The treaty is yet to be ratified by China, India, Pakistan, North Korea, Israel, Iran and Egypt.
There are widespread concerns that Russia could move to resume nuclear tests to try to discourage the west from continuing to offer military support to Ukraine. Many Russian hawks have spoken in favour of a resumption of the tests.
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President says Ukraine will not only defend its infrastructure but will also respond, as it prepares for attacks this winter.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said Ukraine is preparing for renewed Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure ahead of the second winter of Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of the country – and that the country is ready to counterattack if targeted.
“We are preparing for terrorist attacks on our energy infrastructure,” Zelenskiy said. “This year we will not only defend ourselves, but also respond.”
The warning came as Russia looks for new tools to win dominance over Ukraine in its war, which has lasted more than 20 months along frontlines that have grown increasingly static.
Russia has launched assaults on the cities of Kupiansk in northern Ukraine and of Avdiivka, where commanders said they were worried that Russia was seeking to surround and besiege the well-defended city.
Footage posted on Wednesday showed the Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, visiting a command post near the frontlines in eastern Ukraine, where he received a briefing on combat operations planned for the winter months and on training for drone operators, who have become crucial to the war effort on both sides.
Shoigu claimed that the Ukrainian army had “reduced capacity” due to the Russian attack. Meanwhile, footage of the Russian assault indicates high numbers of dead and wounded. British defence intelligence have claimed that Russian casualties have grown by 90% since it began the offensive in Avdiivka and Kupiansk. Little territory has changed hands as a result.
On Wednesday, the Russian parliament approved Moscow’s withdrawal from a global treaty banning nuclear weapons tests, in what Kyiv has called an attempt at “nuclear blackmail”.
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Japan’s top court has ruled that a legal clause requiring people to undergo sterilisation surgery if they want to legally change their gender is unconstitutional.
Several international organisations including the European court of human rights, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health and UN had said the requirement was discriminatory and infringed on human rights.
While rights group welcomed the verdict, a decision by the judges to ask a lower court to deliberate on a separate clause, requiring that the genital organs of people who want to change their gender resemble those of the opposite gender, was met with disappointment.
“This decision was very unexpected and I’m very surprised,” the plaintiff, identified only as a transgender woman under the age of 50, said in a statement read out by her lawyers. She added, however, that she was “disappointed” that a decision on the other clause had been postponed.
Some lawmakers and women’s groups in socially conservative Japan had said a ruling that challenged the existing law would sow confusion and undermine women’s rights. The supreme court threw out a similar attempt to scrap the sterilisation requirement in 2019.
Human Rights Watch said Wednesday’s ruling meant the government must follow up. “The government is under the obligation to make any laws constitutional so the government now needs to act quickly to remove the clause,” Kanae Doi, its Japan director, said. “It’s late, but never too late.”
Japanese law states that people who want to change gender must present a diagnosis of gender dysphoria and meet five requirements. These are: being at least 18 years old; not being married; not having underage children; having genital organs that resemble those of the opposite gender; and having no reproductive glands or ones that have permanently lost their function.
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US president calls for end to attacks by West Bank settlers and accuses Hamas of hiding behind civilians in Gaza, but that Israel also must follow the ‘laws of war’
US President Joe Biden has called for an immediate end to Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, as Israel kept up its strikes on Gaza in preparation for a long promised ground invasion.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese, Biden said US support for Israel’s defense was ironclad, but added that the treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank by some Israelis was “pouring gasoline on the fire.”
“They’re attacking Palestinians in places that they’re entitled, and … it has to stop now,” the president said.
Biden accused Hamas of “hiding behind” Palestinian civilians in Gaza, but said Israel must follow the “laws of war,” in its strikes on the besieged enclave.
Israel has been bombarding Gaza since 7 October when Hamas gunmen poured across the border killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 222 others.
More than 6,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas run health ministry, and there are fears the toll could further soar if Israel pushes ahead with a widely expected ground invasion.
Biden however cast doubt on civilian casualty figures put forward by the Palestinians.
“I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed. I’m sure innocents have been killed, and it’s a price of waging war,” he said.
“But I have no confidence in the number that the Palestinians are using.”
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Chaos in Gaza as thousands break into UN aid stores in search of food and medical supplies
in The War in Israel
Posted
Thousands of desperate Gazans have broken into aid warehouses to obtain flour and basic survival items in what the UN has called a “worrying sign” that civil order is breaking down in the strip.
Footage from Khan Younis in southern Gaza showed people carrying boxes and large bags out of a warehouse on Sunday, filled with food items like flour and basic hygiene supplies.
The United Nations’ Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) said people in Gaza are “scared, frustrated and desperate” after three weeks of Israel’s relentless bombing and siege on the enclave.
“Tensions and fear are made worse by the cuts in the phones and internet communication lines,” UNRWA’s Gaza director Thomas White said. “They feel that they are on their own, cut off from their families inside Gaza and the rest of the world.”
The UN has said that more aid is urgently needed, citing hunger, water-borne diseases and dehydration. “The needs of the communities are immense, if only for basic survival, while the aid we receive is meagre and inconsistent,” Mr White added.
Juliette Toma, a spokesperson for UNRWA, which has lost 59 staffers in the bombardment, told The Independent the raided centres were located in the centre and south of Gaza, in areas where civilians have been ordered to evacuate to by Israel.
The massive displacement of people from the north of the Gaza Strip to the south has placed enormous pressure on those communities, adding further burden on crumbling public services. Some families received up to 50 relatives taking shelter in one household.
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