Author: Elizabeth Jenrola Oso

The Indonesian government is drawing up plans to provide temporary treatment for 2,000 Palestinians from Gaza, holding high-level discussions on logistics, legality and foreign policy implications of the sensitive proposal. Earlier this month, Jakarta announced its intention to extend medical assistance, with Galang island, south of Singapore, identified as one possible site. The island previously hosted a camp for Vietnamese refugees and more recently served as the location of a pandemic hospital. Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation and a longstanding supporter of Palestinian statehood, does not have diplomatic relations with Israel. Officials have disclosed few details, but the matter…

Kim Jong-un has praised North Korean soldiers sent to fight alongside Russian forces in Ukraine, describing them as “heroes” during a ceremony in Pyongyang to honour troops who recently returned from the conflict.

A federal judge in Miami has ordered the closure of the Trump administration’s controversial immigration detention centre known as “Alligator Alcatraz”, ruling that the facility must be shut down within 60 days. District Court Judge Kathleen Williams delivered her decision late on Thursday, prohibiting any further detainees from being transferred to the site while it is wound down. The ruling follows a temporary restraining order issued two weeks ago halting construction at the remote tented camp, which has faced heavy criticism over poor conditions, alleged abuse of detainees and lack of due process. In her 82-page judgment, released on Friday,…

Israel has announced an escalation of its military operations in Gaza City, as the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, condemned the approval of a vast new settlement in the West Bank as a “flagrant breach of international law.” What Israel Defence Forces spokesperson said An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson, Effie Defrin, said the military had entered the second phase of Operation Gideon’s Chariots, launched in May, and would intensify strikes on Hamas in Gaza City, describing it as a “stronghold of regime and military terror.” The announcement coincided with a statement from the office of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu,…

Donald Trump is holding back from direct involvement in negotiations to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, instead urging Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy to hold a bilateral meeting before he joins the process. According to administration officials, the president wants the Russian and Ukrainian leaders to meet face-to-face as the next stage towards peace, with the prospect of a trilateral summit involving him only after such talks take place. In a radio interview on Tuesday, Trump said he believed it would be better for the two men to meet without him initially. “I just want to see what happens at…

Brazilian authorities have suspended one of the most significant agreements safeguarding the Amazon rainforest, the soy moratorium, raising fears of renewed destruction on a vast scale. The move, which conservation groups described as a devastating setback, comes less than three months before Brazil hosts the Cop30 climate summit in Belém. The decision could open an area the size of Portugal to clearance for farming, prompting warnings that the country risks undermining its own climate commitments. The moratorium, introduced in 2006, was a voluntary pact between farmers, traders, environmentalists and multinational food companies including Cargill and McDonald’s. Under the agreement, soybeans…

The World Health Organisation has warned that corporal punishment poses a serious global public health threat, harming children’s physical and mental wellbeing and increasing the risk of later criminal behaviour. A new WHO report found that children exposed to corporal punishment were 24% less likely to be developmentally on track compared with those who were not. The study examined data from 49 low and middle income countries. Corporal punishment, defined as “any punishment in which physical force is used and intended to cause some degree of pain or discomfort, however light”, affects an estimated 1.2 billion children worldwide each year.…

Frank Caprio, the retired Rhode Island municipal judge who became an online sensation for his compassionate approach on the television series Caught in Providence, has died aged 88. His family confirmed on his official social media accounts that he “passed away peacefully” following “a long and courageous battle with pancreatic cancer.” Caprio presided over Providence municipal court for nearly four decades, retiring in 2023. His courtroom became the setting for Caught in Providence, a reality series that won international attention for its sympathetic handling of minor offences. Clips from the programme, often showing Caprio’s humour and kindness, have been viewed…

North Korea has constructed a secret military base close to its frontier with China that may house its latest long-range ballistic missiles, according to new research by a US thinktank.

France has launched an investigation into the death of a man whose violent mistreatment was regularly streamed live on the video platform Kick.