The UN Human Rights Council passed its first ever resolution on Thursday 4 April over tackling discrimination against intersex people, despite opposition from several countries to the terminology used. The resolution passed in the 47-member council with 24 votes in favour, none against and 23 abstentions.

read more: https://www.thecanary.co/global/world-news/2024/04/04/intersex-people-un-resolution/

For months, Israel has been forcing Palestinians in northern Gaza to starve on a tiny fraction of their regular daily calorie needs, a report finds as experts warn of an unprecedented widespread famine across the region.

A new Oxfam analysis has found that, since January, people in northern Gaza have had access to less than 12 percent of the 2,100 calories they need per day on average. This is equivalent to an average of only 245 calories per day — fewer calories than are in a can of fava beans, or about a single cup of cooked rice.

“Before the war, we were in good health and had strong bodies,” one mother who is trapped in northern Gaza told Oxfam. “Now, looking at my children and myself, we have lost so much weight since we do not eat any proper food, we are trying to eat whatever we find — edible wild plants or herbs daily just to survive.”

The lack of food is being caused by Israel’s blockade of all forms of humanitarian aid into Gaza, which is only expected to get worse in coming weeks. Israel has informed the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) that it will no longer allow any food shipments into northern Gaza. Meanwhile, after Israel bombed a convoy of international food aid workers with World Central Kitchen earlier this week, killing seven of them, a number of other food aid groups have announced that they are stopping their efforts in Gaza because of the high risk of being killed by Israeli forces.

This downturn in food aid shipments comes as international food insecurity researchers have warned that half of the population of Gaza, or about 1.1 million people, are at imminent risk of famine, with the entire population already facing a food crisis. Israel’s famine campaign in Gaza has no precedent in modern times in terms of speed and severity, experts have repeatedly warned, and dozens of children have already starved to death as Israel’s genocide goes on.

read more: https://truthout.org/articles/palestinians-in-northern-gaza-only-have-access-to-245-calories-a-day/

Swiss federal ministers are giving up their free annual ski passes worth around $4,000.

Switzerland recently voted in favor of a referendum for greater social welfare that was opposed by the majority right-wing coalition government, which warned against the roughly $5 billion cost.

Social media posts noted that government officials received perks like $200,000 pensions and, notably, free ski lift passes for Swiss slopes every year.

read more: https://www.semafor.com/article/04/03/2024/swiss-federal-ministers-are-giving-up-their-free-ski-passes

HO CHI MINH CITY, Apr 3 2024 (IPS) - In recent months, several European representatives embarked on trade missions to Vietnam. German President Steinmeier visited Hanoi in January. The Netherlands sent Prime Minister Mark Rutte, with the Dutch royal couple, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima, soon to follow suit. Notably, the Netherlands stands as the most significant European investor in Vietnam.

Additionally, official delegations from the US and China have engaged in discussions with Vietnam regarding economic cooperation.

According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment, the country attracted nearly US$36.61 billion of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in 2023, marking a notable increase of over 32 percent compared to the previous year.

What factors contribute to this success? Vietnam, having emerged from a tumultuous history that included a war with the United States until the 1970s and continuing under communist leadership, has made significant strides. European entrepreneurs share their experiences in this thriving Southeast Asian nation.

read more: https://www.ipsnews.net/2024/04/tensions-china-drive-investors-towards-vietnam/

The Israeli army is making heavy use of an artificial intelligence (AI) system that mass-generates assassination targets in Gaza in order to reach certain thresholds of killing of Palestinians every day, a new explosive report finds. This AI generated information is used by the military to kill targets as soon as they step into their homes, all but ensuring “collateral” deaths of non-targets and families.

According to a sprawling investigation by +972 Magazine and Local Call, the AI system, called “Lavender,” has created as many as 37,000 Palestinian targets since October 7, using information like visual characteristics, cellular phone activity, social networks, and more, in order to mark Palestinians as supposed Hamas operatives.

Sources said that the goal of the technology isn’t accuracy, but to automatically generate as many targets as possible for the military to kill, with little to no oversight by humans to determine the legitimacy of the targets. Officers were under pressure by military higher-ups to approve as many targets as possible; if there were days where there were fewer targets, sources said higher-ups would press officers to produce more.

“In a day without targets [whose feature rating was sufficient to authorize a strike], we attacked at a lower threshold. We were constantly being pressured: ‘Bring us more targets.’ They really shouted at us. We finished [killing] our targets very quickly,” one source, identified only as B., told +972 and Local Call.

“One day, totally of my own accord, I added something like 1,200 new targets to the [tracking] system, because the number of attacks [we were conducting] decreased,” said another anonymized source. “That made sense to me. In retrospect, it seems like a serious decision I made. And such decisions were not made at high levels.”

read more: https://truthout.org/articles/report-israeli-army-uses-ai-to-produce-palestinian-targets-for-assassination/

According to Haaretz, the “underreported announcement” came after “pressure from members of the far-left France Unbowed party,” as well as the release of “various unverified videos” on social media platforms which show Israeli soldiers “engaged in illegal acts against prisoners of war.”

France’s Foreign Ministry announced “its intention to pursue legal action” against French nationals serving in the Israeli army who may be complicit in war crimes being committed in the Gaza Strip, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

The paper said that the “underreported announcement” last month came after “pressure from members of the far-left France Unbowed party,” as well as the release of “various unverified videos” on social media platforms which show Israeli soldiers “engaged in illegal acts against prisoners of war.”

In one video, soldiers are seen surrounding blindfolded detainees, all wearing white overalls, and whose hands are tied behind their backs.

The person filming is heard insulting the detainees in French, saying: “Did you see those motherf*****s, my nephew, those sons of removed?”

He then laughs and continues, “Look, he’s pissed himself. I’ll show you his back. You’ll laugh – they tortured him to make him talk. Did you see his back?”

The detainees are seen being taken off the back of a truck, and the footage also shows the detainee’s scarred back.

read more: https://www.palestinechronicle.com/france-intends-legal-action-against-french-israeli-soldiers-complicit-in-gaza-war-crimes-report/

YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6jM5-d-jXc

don't use brave though, unless you want to, I can't stop you

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The broadcast, however, comes just days after a pair of National Institute of Health studies determined that dozens of U.S. government employees who had experienced the condition presented no consistent evidence of brain injury.

Instead, the report concluded that symptoms were likely caused by “preexisting conditions, conventional illnesses, and environmental factors,” among other things.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the White House, and the FBI all reiterated to 60 Minutes in statements Sunday evening that investigating these incidents, which they refer to as anomalous health incidents (AHIs), remains a top priority for officials across the federal government.

read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/60-minutes-links-havana-syndrome-victim-to-alleged-russian-spy

Far-right Hungarian premier Viktor Orbán has claimed that his refusal to help Ukraine is a “pro-peace position.” Yet Hungary is also the only EU state that openly backs an Israeli attack on Rafah — showing the hypocrisy of Orbán’s supposed pacifism.

F | or almost two years, European Union (EU) leaders have chided Hungarian premier Viktor Orbán for his willingness to block critical aid to Ukraine. The divide between Hungary and the EU has only grown since the Financial Times reported that Brussels was ready to hit Hungary’s economy if Orbán vetoed another aid package for Kyiv. In domestic propaganda, Orbán’s support for Vladimir Putin is framed as a sensible “pro-peace” position. Yet the apocalyptic destruction of Gaza proves what a farce this supposed stance really is. Hungary is the only EU member state that hasn’t called on Israel to halt its planned ground offensive in Rafah.

It seems like Orbán is content with the indiscriminate bombing of refugee camps, hospitals, ambulances, residential buildings, schools, universities, libraries, and religious sites, so long as the victims are Palestinians. Orbán has, indeed, repeatedly called for a cease-fire in Ukraine but refused to call for one in Gaza. At the United Nations, Hungary consistently votes “No” to resolutions protecting civilians in Gaza and calling for a cease-fire — one of a handful of states to take this line.

Across Europe, millions of people are protesting against Israel, and human rights organizations warn that Israel may be committing war crimes and genocide. The October 7 attacks cannot possibly justify such Israeli retaliation, which has now killed well over 30,000 people. Yet Orbán’s support for Benjamin Netanyahu is steadfast. After the latest International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling and desperate warnings by human rights experts, even Western states are toning down earlier uncritical support for Israel. But Hungary doesn’t seem to be qualifying its support for Tel Aviv just yet.

It’s an indefensible moral failure. Shamefully, it’s one shared by both Orbán’s government and the mainstream opposition.

read more: https://jacobin.com/2024/03/orban-israel-rafah-ukraine-hypocrisy/

The IDF reportedly ordered Palestinians to leave al-Amal Hospital “naked” and ran over survivors at al-Shifa with tanks.

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Overnight, Israeli forces committed eight massacres in various areas of the Gaza Strip, according to the Ministry of Health on Telegram, killing at least 84 people and injuring 106. Thousands remain under the rubble of bombed buildings.

Israeli forces shelled and bombed the vicinity of al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS). Amir Abu Aisha, a volunteer with the PRCS, was killed by Israeli gunfire inside al-Amal.

His last post on Instagram was a video of Israeli airstrikes near al-Amal.

PRCS said the medical team inside the facility are “in extreme danger…and are completely immobilized.”

“They are unable to bury the body of our colleague Amir Abu Aisha within the hospital’s backyard,” PRCS continued as Israeli forces razed and excavated the area.

Since October, Israeli bombardment killed at least 364 medical workers in the Gaza Strip, including doctors, nurses, and paramedics, and damaged dozens of clinics and ambulances.

On Sunday morning, PRCS also said that Israeli tanks and forces are “besieging both Al-Amal Hospital and Al-Naser Hospital amidst very intense shelling and heavy gunfire.”

PRCS said that one of the displaced Palestinians at al-Amal was “injured in the head,” while Israeli drones are ordering that all people inside the hospital “leave it naked.”

“Smoke bombs are being launched at the hospital to force the staff, wounded, and displaced individuals to leave it,” the PRCS wrote on in a post on X.

“Israeli vehicles [are] surrounding Al-Amal Hospital and are now bulldozing the area in front and around it and closing the hospital gates with barriers,” the post added.

read more: https://truthout.org/articles/israeli-forces-assault-3-gaza-hospitals-in-1-day-committing-massacres/

Basicallly the only vialable nitter altnerative I'm aware of at the moment, biggest downsides being you need a twitter account and you can only access it through android, but it does offer the abillity to see your feed in an rss style, aka no recommendations, which is very useful if you only need to follow a few remaining twitter accounts and don't want to wade through a sea of Elon's spicy memes in between the accounts you actually follow.

read more: https://github.com/j-fbriere/squawker

Under President Javier Milei, Argentina’s government has cut funds to community kitchens, sparking mass protests.

Buenos Aires, Argentina – It is an unusually hot Friday morning but the line outside the communal soup kitchen in Merlo — a town on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina — is particularly long, stretching around the block.

Some of the people waiting are first-timers, fidgeting with empty plastic containers in their hands. Many have jobs. Still, the rice stew the soup kitchen is ladling out could be their only meal of the day.

Similar scenes have been playing out across Argentina in recent weeks. As inflation skyrockets, advocates and everyday citizens are warning of a hunger crisis that could ravage the country’s poor.

Much of the outcry has been directed at libertarian President Javier Milei. Less than three months into his term, Milei’s administration has implemented a series of austerity measures that have slashed government spending — including funds already allocated for soup kitchens, or “comedores”, like the one in Merlo.

“Demand for food has doubled in recent months,” said Liliana Soledad Loto, 38, one of the soup kitchen’s cooks and a leader of the social organisation Somos Barrios de Pie.

“We have seen many more people come, including people with jobs, people who work in construction or in factories and still cannot make it to the end of the month. These people don’t come because they want to. They do it because they need to.”

The institution where she works, the Padre Mugica soup kitchen, is one of approximately 38,000 social organisations that distribute meals to Argentinians in need. Together, they serve an estimated 10 million people, out of a total population of 46 million.

But advocates say the number of people experiencing food insecurity could be even higher, with some of the neediest individuals going uncounted.

That is because some communities, particularly in marginalised areas, have informal systems to address hunger: neighbours helping neighbours individually, by offering free meals or even a simple cup of milk to children in need.

read more: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/28/a-growing-hunger-argentinas-soup-kitchens-battle-mileis-spending-cuts