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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Clea Skopeliti

First Thing: At least 27 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire at food point, Gaza officials say

People in the aftermath of people being shot at waiting for food near an aid distribution site in Rafah.
People in the aftermath of people being shot at waiting for food near an aid distribution site in Rafah. Photograph: Hatem Khaled/Reuters

Good morning.

Israeli forces killed at least 27 Palestinians as they waited for food at a distribution point set up by an Israeli-backed foundation in Gaza on Tuesday, according to health officials in the territory.

It is the third time people have been shot waiting for food in three days, with Israel admitting for the first time during the recent events that its soldiers shot at people who were approaching them.

The Gaza civil defence spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal told Agence France-Presse: “Israeli forces opened fire with tanks and drones on thousands of civilians who had gathered since dawn near al-Alam roundabout in the al-Mawasi area, north-west of Rafah.”

Gaza’s health ministry said 27 people were killed early on Tuesday, with the International Committee of the Red Cross confirming that its Rafah hospital received 184 injured people – 19 of whom were already dead on arrival and eight more who subsequently died of their wounds.

  • What is the Israel-backed foundation? Amid Israel’s aid blockade, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation recently took over the handling of food aid. But the UN has objected, saying it cannot meet the population’s needs and lets Israel use food as a weapon.

Suspect charged with federal hate crime in attack on Colorado rally for Israeli hostages

A man is facing a federal hate crime charge for allegedly attacking a Colorado rally for Israeli hostages in Gaza with a makeshift flame-thrower and molotov cocktails, injuring 12 people.

Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, is alleged to have shouted: “Free Palestine” as he attacked the crowd in Boulder on Sunday. The FBI said he told police he planned the attack for a year and had specifically targeted what he labeled as the “Zionist group”.

The Boulder county district attorney told the press on Monday that Soliman would be prosecuted for a federal hate crime and 16 counts of attempted murder. Eight people were treated in hospital after the attack.

  • Is the attack linked to any group? Officials said there was no indication of that.

US man charged for framing immigrant in fake plot to kill Trump

Prosecutors in Milwaukee have charged a man with four felonies over his attempt to stitch up an undocumented immigrant by sending forged letters in his name with a threat to kill Donald Trump.

The handwritten, fake letters were sent to Wisconsin’s attorney general, Milwaukee police and US Immigration & Customs Enforcement (Ice), and became a huge story after the White House and Trump’s backers discussed them, believing them to be genuine. Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, was among those who fell for the hoax, releasing a statement lauding immigration authorities for arresting the undocumented man.

But WISN-TV reported on Monday that a criminal complaint alleges that Demetric Scott admitted to authorities he wrote the letters in the name of Ramon Morales-Reyes, whom he was previously charged with assaulting.

  • How was the hoax revealed? It began to unravel after one of Morales-Reyes’ children told an immigrant rights group that he could not read or write in either Spanish or English.

In other news …

  • Peru’s culture ministry has cut the protected archaeological park around the iconic pre-Columbian Nazca Lines almost by half, with critics warning it will weaken environmental protections and expose the area to illegal mining.

  • Salem police have arrested a man in connection with a mass stabbing that injured 12 people at a homeless shelter on Sunday evening.

  • Climate-led species’ collapse is emptying nature reserves of insects, entomologists have warned, even in regions free of pesticides.

  • A man identifying himself as one of the prisoners who escaped from a New Orleans jail last month has posted videos on social media to plead his case to the public and claim that he was “let out” of prison.

Stat of the day: Under a fifth of western Europeans now have a positive view of Israel, poll finds

Fewer than one in five western Europeans hold a positive view of Israel, a poll of six countries has found, as its public support continues to fall. The YouGov survey found that between Germany, France, Denmark, the UK, Italy and Spain, only between 13% and 21% of respondents in any country had a favorable opinion of Israel. In three countries – Germany, Denmark, and France – public support had plummeted to the lowest point since polling began in 2016.

Don’t miss this: Why MrBeast is the world’s biggest YouTube star – and ‘the Mozart of the attention economy’

With 400 million subscribers, MrBeast is undeniably one of the most popular entertainers around. (For context, this is also approximately the number of native English speakers globally.) The 27-year-old content creator, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, is “monomaniacally committed to a lethally pure conception of algorithmically determined entertainment”, writes Mark O’Connell in this look at what, in his view, makes the YouTuber “some type of genius”.

Climate check: Vanuatu criticizes Australia for extending gas project while seeking to host Cop31

Vanuatu’s climate minister has criticized Australia for extending one of the world’s biggest liquefied natural gas projects, which experts warned could lead to up to 6bn tonnes of greenhouse gases being emitted in future decades. Ralph Regenvanu told the Guardian that the decision raised questions over its bid to co-host the Cop31 summit with Pacific nations.

Last Thing: Lost dog returns after swimming to island on 100-mile journey

An adventurous dog called Amber has been rescued after going on a 100-mile solo walk in southern England that even involved doggy-paddling to an island, before being picked up by a passing ferry. Amber was said to be doing well considering her efforts, with the woman who had been fostering the animal saying: “What a girl!”

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