Minggu, 12 Mei 2024

Natalie Elphicke says claims she lobbied justice secretary over ex-husband's trial are 'nonsense' - Sky News

Accusations MP Natalie Elphicke lobbied the justice secretary in 2020 to interfere in her then-husband's sex offences trial are "nonsense", her spokesperson has said.

It is claimed the Dover MP, who recently defected from Conservative to Labour, approached Sir Robert Buckland when he was lord chancellor and justice secretary before the hearing of Charlie Elphicke's case.

The Sunday Times reported that she allegedly told Sir Robert that it was unfair the case was the first to be heard at Southwark Crown Court after the COVID lockdown and that it was being overseen by Lady Justice Whipple.

One person present viewed her comments as a bid to have the case moved to a lower-profile court to spare her partner public scrutiny, while another saw it as an attempt to replace the senior judge, according to the newspaper.

Former Conservative MP Charlie Elphicke arriving at Southwark Crown Court in London to be sentenced for three counts of sexual assault.
Image: Charlie Elphicke, pictured in 2020. Pic: PA

Sir Robert reportedly told the paper he rejected her plea, suggesting his intervention could undermine the constitutional doctrine of the separation of powers between parliament and the judiciary.

"She was told in no uncertain terms that it would have been completely inappropriate to speak to the judge about the trial at all," Sir Robert said in a statement.

In a statement responding to the claims, also published in The Mail on Sunday, a spokesman for Ms Elphicke said: "This is nonsense.

"It's certainly true that Mr Elphicke continued to be supported after his imprisonment by a large number of Conservative MPs who had known him for a long time, including some who visited him and independently lobbied on his behalf, which was nothing to do with Natalie."

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A Labour Party spokesman said Ms Elphicke "totally rejects that characterisation of the meeting".

"If Robert Buckland had any genuine concerns about the meeting, then he should have raised them at the time, rather than making claims to the newspapers now Natalie has chosen to join the Labour Party," the spokesman said.

Robert Buckland speaking with Beth Rigby
Image: Sir Robert Buckland

Ms Elphicke's former husband and predecessor as MP for Dover, Charlie Elphicke, was convicted in 2020 of sexually assaulting two women and jailed for two years.

She ended the marriage after his conviction but supported his unsuccessful appeal, saying Mr Elphicke had been "attractive, and attracted to women" and "an easy target for dirty politics and false allegations".

Ms Elphicke allegedly also tried to secure him better prison conditions, asking for more comfortable pillows, The Sunday Times reported, something she also denied.

Read more from Sky News:
Natalie Elphicke apologises for supporting sex offender ex-husband
What happens when an MP defects to another party?

Following news of Ms Elphicke's defection this week, Labour MPs raised concerns about the decision to admit her to the party, citing her comments about Mr Elphicke's case and his victims.

In a statement on Thursday, she said she condemned "his behaviour towards other women and towards me", adding it was "right that he was prosecuted" and she was "sorry for the comments that I made about his victims".

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2024-05-12 01:15:39Z
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Israel calls for more Rafah evacuations as threat of ground attack looms - Evening Standard

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  1. Israel calls for more Rafah evacuations as threat of ground attack looms  Evening Standard
  2. Israel Gaza war: More Rafah evacuations as Israel steps up operations  BBC
  3. Terrified families flee Rafah as Israel set to open all-out assault  The Guardian
  4. Biden says there would be a ceasefire in Gaza ‘tomorrow’ if Hamas frees hostages  The Times of Israel
  5. Palestinians in Rafah 'awaiting execution' as pressure grows over ceasefire  The Independent

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2024-05-12 07:10:35Z
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Sabtu, 11 Mei 2024

Ukraine 'contains' new Russian invasion at border zone - The Telegraph

A fresh wave of invading Russian forces have been contained by the border near Kharkiv, Ukraine’s military said after Vladimir Putin’s forces claimed to capture five villages.

Moscow’s troops were being held back in a militarily contested “gray zone”, a spokesperson of the Khortytsia group of forces told national TV.

“The enemy is contained in the gray zone, and it is not expanding,” Nazar Voloshyn said.

The Ukrainian military said reinforcements were sent to the region to help stabilise positions and limit Russia’s advances after it launched its new offensive on Friday.

Artillery, mortar, and aerial bombardments hit more than 30 different towns and villages, killing at least three people and injuring five others, said Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Syniehubov.

Residents of the Vovchansk district which is under constant shelling by Russian troops get on the bus during the evacuation in Kharkiv region
Residents of the Vovchansk district which is under constant shelling by Russian troops get on the bus during the evacuation in Kharkiv region Credit: Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy/Cover Images

“As of now the enemy keeps pressing in the north of our region,” he said.

Kharkiv’s governor, Oleh Syniehubov, said there was no imminent danger to the region’s capital city, which is also Ukraine’s second largest, amid active fighting in the region.

He said there was no need to begin evacuating the roughly 1.3 million inhabitants who continue to live there despite regular missile and drone strikes.

“We clearly understand what forces the enemy is using in the north of our territory. Certainly, the escalation can grow, the pressure can increase, it can strengthen its military units, its military presence,” he said.

“As of now the enemy keeps pressing in the north of our region. Our forces have repelled nine attacks,” he told a news conference.

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2024-05-11 16:03:35Z
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Israel-Gaza war live: IDF orders evacuation of central Rafah as it prepares to expand its offensive - The Guardian

The Israeli military has told residents of neighbourhoods in central Rafah to evacuate, signalling a major expansion of its military operations in the city and threatening the displacement of hundreds of thousands more people.

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) seized the Rafah border crossing with Egypt what it said was a “precise, targeted operation” last week after ordering the evacuation of eastern neighbourhoods.

More than 150,000 people have already fled the city. Many have fled to an “expanded humanitarian zone”, designated by the IDF on the coast and to the northwest where conditions are “horrific”, according to aid workers there.

The new instructions to residents suggest a coming offensive will take the IDF into the centre of Rafah, threatening destruction and displacement of many more, and a likely advance through the entire city.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has rejected US pressure to hold off an attack on Rafah, saying that Hamas has based most of its top leaders and remaining forces there.

Palestinians check the rubble of a residential building destroyed in an Israeli strike in Al-Zawayda in the central Gaza Strip on May 11, 2024.

In case you missed it yesterday, the UN general assembly voted overwhelmingly to back the Palestinian bid for full UN membership.

Israeli tanks have reached the Salahuddin Road which crosses Rafah, dividing its centre from the eastern neighbourhoods evacuated before Israel’s seizure of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt last week, witnesses in Rafah told the Guardian.

In the west of the city, which has yet to be directly affected by the recent fighting. many are already planning on fleeing.

One woman, who has been living in western Rafah for six months after fleeing fighting in the north of Gaza in November, said:

Our neighbours and friends have been looking for a place for a while in case something happened but since the leaflets were dropped this morning, they are afraid and anxious.

They have already begun to dismantle their tents and prepare their belongings for transportation.

Palestinians transport their belongings on the back of a van as they flee Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip to a safer location on May 11, 2023, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas.

Eurovision is one of the biggest nights of the year for many LGBTQ+ venues across the UK, offering an opportunity for a joyful party celebrating music and high camp.

Celebrations will be mixed this year, however, after a number of high-profile events were cancelled in protest at Israel’s participation.

Viewing parties in London and Brighton have been called off, while campaigners in Bristol have called for venues continuing with Eurovision events to be picketed.

Crystal, a drag performer who had been due to host a party for 800 people in east London, said they had cancelled the event in protest at Israel’s inclusion, which they said crossed a “red line”.

Following the news that the Israeli military has told residents of central Rafah to evacuate, here is a link to Jason Burke’s full report.

Australia’s support of a UN vote on Palestinian membership is “the opposite of what Hamas wants”, and was not about recognising Palestine as a state, according to the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong.

The draft resolution was significantly watered down in last-minute negotiations and Australia was among 143 UN general assembly members to pass the resolution calling on the security council to reconsider granting full membership to Palestine.

On Saturday, Wong said the vote was about awarding “modest additional rights to participate in United Nations forums”, and that Australia would only recognise Palestine “when we think the time is right”.

She said Australia’s policy had changed to be open to recognition during a peace process, “not necessarily only at the end of the peace process”.

The leaflets, accompanied by messages on social media, said:

We also call on some other neighbourhoods in eastern Rafah where there have been terrorist activities by Hamas in recent days and weeks, along with other terrorist groups, specifically in the Rafah and Shaboura camps, and the neighborhoods of Al-Adari, Al-Jeneina, and Khirbet Al-Adas in Blocks: 6-9, 17, 25-27, 31 - to head to the expanded humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi.

The messages also called for the evacuation of “all residents and displaced people” from a swath of northern Gaza too.

You are in a dangerous combat zone. Hamas is trying to rebuild its capabilities in the region, and therefore the IDF will work with great force against the terrorist organisations in the region in which you are located, and therefore everyone who is in those areas exposes themselves and their families to danger.

IDF leaflet dropped in Gaza

The Israeli military has told residents of neighbourhoods in central Rafah to evacuate, signalling a major expansion of its military operations in the city and threatening the displacement of hundreds of thousands more people.

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) seized the Rafah border crossing with Egypt what it said was a “precise, targeted operation” last week after ordering the evacuation of eastern neighbourhoods.

More than 150,000 people have already fled the city. Many have fled to an “expanded humanitarian zone”, designated by the IDF on the coast and to the northwest where conditions are “horrific”, according to aid workers there.

The new instructions to residents suggest a coming offensive will take the IDF into the centre of Rafah, threatening destruction and displacement of many more, and a likely advance through the entire city.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has rejected US pressure to hold off an attack on Rafah, saying that Hamas has based most of its top leaders and remaining forces there.

Welcome to our continuing live coverage of the Israel-Gaza war and the wider Middle East crisis. Here’s an overview of the latest news.

The United Arab Emirates has hit out at Benjamin Netanyahu after the Israeli prime minister said the Gulf state could be involved in aiding a future government in Gaza after the war.

The UAE foreign minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, rebuked Netanyahu in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday morning, saying Abu Dhabi denounced the Israeli leader’s comments.

“The UAE stresses that the Israeli prime minister does not have any legal capacity to take this step, and the UAE refuses to be drawn into any plan aimed at providing cover for the Israeli presence in the Gaza Strip,” he said in an Arabic post.

Sheikh Abdullah said the UAE – one of few Arab states with official diplomatic ties to Israel – would be prepared to support a Palestinian government that met the aspirations of the Palestinian people, which he said included independence.

Netanyahu said in an interview that aired this week that the UAE, Saudi Arabia and other countries could possibly assist a civilian government with Gazans in the territory after the war.

Meanwhile, Hamas said efforts to find a Gaza ceasefire deal were back at square one after Israel effectively spurned a plan from international mediators in Cairo, Reuters reports. The White House said it was trying to keep the sides engaged “if only virtually”.

In other key developments:

  • The Biden administration said Israel’s use of US-supplied weapons may be “inconsistent” with international humanitarian law during its military operation in Gaza, in its strongest criticism to date of Israel. But the state department also said in a report to Congress that there was not enough concrete evidence to link specific US-supplied weapons to violations or warrant cutting the supply of arms.

  • The United Nations general assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution for the UN security council to reconsider and support the full membership of Palestine into the UN. A total of 143 countries supported it, nine voted against – including the US – and 25 abstained. The resolution also gives Palestine a range of rights and privileges, in addition to what it is allowed in its current observer status.

Screens show the vote tally during the UN general assembly vote
  • Gilad Erdan, Israel’s UN delegate, accused the body of attempting to allow a “terror state” into its membership led by the “Hitlers of our time” during debate on the resolution. Erdan also shredded a copy of the UN charter, accusing members of doing so while debating the resolution.

  • Riyad Mansour, the permanent observer of Palestine, told the UN: “I stand before you as lives continue falling apart in the Gaza Strip … as more than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed, 80,000 have been maimed, 2 million have been displaced and everything has been destroyed.” He added: “No words can capture what such loss and trauma signifies for Palestinians.”

  • Residents described almost constant explosions and gunfire east and north-east of Rafah in southern Gaza on Friday, with intense fighting between Israeli forces and militants from Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Hamas said it ambushed Israeli tanks near a mosque in the city’s east, a sign that Israeli forces had penetrated several kilometres from the east to the outskirts of the built-up area. Israel has ordered civilians out of the eastern part of Rafah, forcing tens of thousands of people to seek shelter outside the city, previously the last refuge of more than a million uprooted from other parts of the territory in the war.

  • Dwindling food and fuel stocks could force aid operations to grind to a halt within days in Gaza as vital crossings remain shut, forcing hospitals to close down and leading to more malnutrition, UN aid agencies warned on Friday. Humanitarian workers have sounded the alarm over the closure of the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings for aid and people as part of Israel’s military operation in Rafah, where a UN official said about 110,000 people have fled.

  • The UN security council called for an immediate and independent investigation into mass graves allegedly containing hundreds of bodies near hospitals in Gaza. In a statement, members of the council expressed their “deep concern over reports of the discovery of mass graves, in and around the Nasser and Al-Shifa medical facilities in Gaza, where several hundred bodies, including women, children and older persons, were buried”.

  • Three Israeli whistleblowers working at the Sde Teiman desert camp, a holding site for Palestinians detained during Israel’s invasion of Gaza, have claimed to have witnessed a series of abuses by the military, including prisoners being restrained, blindfolded and forced to wear diapers, reports CNN. The Israeli whistleblowers said of the prisoners: “We were told they were not allowed to move. They should sit upright. They’re not allowed to talk. Not allowed to peek under their blindfold.” According to the sources, guards were instructed to enforce silence by shouting “uskot” (Arabic for “shut up”) and to identify and punish problematic individuals.

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2024-05-11 06:38:00Z
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Jumat, 10 Mei 2024

United Nations General Assembly backs Palestinian bid for membership - Al Jazeera English

Resolution does not give Palestine full UN membership, but recognises them as qualified to join and extends rights.

The United Nations General Assembly has backed a Palestinian bid to become a full UN member by recognising it as qualified to join and recommending the UN Security Council “reconsider the matter favourably”.

The vote by the 193-member General Assembly on Friday was a global survey of support for the Palestinian bid to become a full UN member – a move that would effectively recognise a Palestinian state – after the United States vetoed it in the UN Security Council last month.

The assembly adopted a resolution on Friday with 143 votes in favour and nine against – including the US and Israel – while 25 countries abstained. It does not give the Palestinians full UN membership, but simply recognises them as qualified to join.

The UNGA resolution “determines that the State of Palestine … should therefore be admitted to membership” and it “recommends that the Security Council reconsider the matter favourably”.

While the General Assembly alone cannot grant full UN membership, the draft resolution on Friday will give the Palestinians some additional rights and privileges from September 2024 – like a seat among the UN members in the assembly hall – but it will not be granted a vote in the body.

Reporting from the UN headquarters in New York, Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo said it was significant that such a high number of countries voted in favour of the resolution.

“What we were hearing before the vote was anywhere perhaps between 120, 130 – at top end, 140. The fact that they got 143 meets and exceeds all expectations. It’s been overwhelmingly passed,” he said.

“But they still only have observer status.”

The Palestinian push for full UN membership comes seven months into a war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and as Israel is expanding illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Prior to the vote, Riyad Mansour, Palestine’s ambassador to the UN told the UNGA that “voting ‘Yes’ is the right thing to do and I can assure you, you and your country for years to come will be proud to have stood for freedom, justice and peace in this darkest hour.”

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the resolution’s passage showed that the world stands with the rights and freedom of the Palestinian people, and against Israel’s occupation.

“I think strategically speaking this [the vote] is not going to make any difference to Gaza,” Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara said.

“It is far more symbolic. It is an important milestone for Palestine for achieving status in the world arena.”

Meanwhile, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, condemned the vote and said that the UN is now welcoming a “terror state” into its ranks.

“The United Nations was founded with the mission of ensuring such tyranny [of the Nazis] never raises its ugly head again,” he said.

“Today, you are about to do the exact opposite and advance the establishment of a Palestinian terror state, which will be led by the Hitler of our times.”

An application to become a full UN member first needs to be approved by the 15-member Security Council and then the General Assembly. If the measure is again voted on by the council it is likely to face the same fate: a US veto.

Bishara said that stances towards the US likely affected Friday’s vote.

“I think a good number of votes [in favour] were against the United States as much as they were for Palestine, and I think a good number of votes were abstaining under pressure from the United States.”

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2024-05-10 16:07:30Z
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Brazilian horse ‘Caramelo’ rescued after being trapped on roof by floods - Al Jazeera English

Rescue brings rare good news to southern Brazil, devastated by worst flooding in 80 years that has killed more than 100.

The rescue of a horse stranded on a rooftop in southern Brazil has given hope to a nation beleaguered by massive floods that have killed more than 100 people and displaced hundreds of thousands.

“Caramelo”, as he was nicknamed on social media, was rescued on Thursday by firefighters after being stuck on a roof in Canoas, a city in the Porto Alegre metropolitan area, in southern Rio Grande do Sul state hardest hit by recent torrential rains.

The brown horse, weighing 349kg (770 pounds) had been balancing precariously on two narrow strips of slippery asbestos. The rescue, broadcast live on television, saw the team sedate the animal before laying him on an inflatable raft.

“We found the animal in a debilitated state,” said Captain Tiago Franco, a firefighter from Sao Paulo deployed to lead the operation, in a statement from the state’s security secretariat. “We tried to approach in a calm way.”

Social media influencer Felipe Neto sent out updates to his almost 17 million followers on X as the rescue was under way. He subsequently offered to adopt him. “Caramelo, Brazil loves you!!! My God, what happiness,” he wrote.

Caramelo, thought to be seven years old, is recovering at a veterinary hospital affiliated with a university. Mariangela Allgayer, a veterinarian and professor at the institution, said on social media that he arrived very dehydrated.

Bruno Schmitz, one of the veterinarians who helped rescue and evaluate Caramelo, told television network GloboNews that the horse’s general nature greatly helped with the administration of sedatives.

“It was a very difficult operation, well beyond the standards even for specialised teams. I think they had never been through something like this before, but thank God everything went well,” he said.

Rio Grande do Sul agencies have rescued about 10,000 animals since last week, while those in municipalities and volunteers have saved thousands more, according to the state’s housing secretariat.

There is no official tally for the number of animals that have been killed or are missing, but local media have estimated the number is in the thousands.

More storms forecast

The authorities were racing round the clock on Thursday to deliver aid to flood-stricken communities in the south of the country before the arrival of new storms forecast to batter the region once again. Some 400 municipalities have been affected.

INTERACTIVE_BRAZIL_FLOODS_MAY9_2024-1715256142

Many in the region have no access to drinking water or electricity, or even the means to call for help, with telephone and internet services down.

Rescuers in boats and on jet skis were on Thursday travelling on streets turned into rivers, looking for people trapped in their homes or those reluctant to leave for fear of looting.

The state’s Guaiba river, which runs through Porto Alegre, reached historic levels this week, and officials have warned five dams were at risk of rupturing.

“The focus is still on rescues … but we are working very hard on delivering humanitarian aid,” Sabrina Ribas, a spokeswoman for the civil defence force that handles disaster relief, told journalists.

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2024-05-10 10:17:53Z
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Trump hush-money trial resumes after graphic testimony by Stormy Daniels - The Guardian US

The hush-money trial against Donald Trump resumes on Friday at the end of a dramatic week which saw almost two days of testimony from adult film actor Stormy Daniels.

The relationship between Trump and Daniels is central to origins of the case because Trump’s then lawyer and personal fixer, Michael Cohen, paid her $130,000 to keep quiet about their alleged sexual encounter during the 2016 election campaign.

Daniels’ testimony described their relationship in graphic detail and over lengthy periods of court time, despite the alleged criminal behavior at the heart of the charges being due to the way the payments were accounted for as prosecutors have claimed they were an election expense.

Trump is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with the payments and had pleaded not guilty.

After weeks of the trial, Trump’s position in the 2024 election race does not appear to have been impacted much by his almost daily attendance at a courtroom in Manhattan or the salacious details that have emerged.

Trump’s criminal hush-money trial: what to know

From Michael Cohen to Stormy Daniels: the key players

Trump remains the all-but-certain pick for the Republican party’s presidential nominee to face Joe Biden in the race for the White House. He has continued to perform well in the polls, often having a narrow lead over Biden in head-to-head surveys and performing well in crucial swing states.

The hush-money case is the first of four criminal cases to reach a jury against Trump. The other three have hit serious delays, which could perhaps prevent them from starting before November’s presidential election.

They involve Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election result in Georgia, his keeping of sensitive documents at his Florida resort and his conduct during the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol.

In two of those cases – in Georgia and in Florida – other legal developments this week pushed back any likely start dates even further in what many experts see as wins for Trump’s legal team and its strategy of delaying trials until the fight for the Oval Office is finished.

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2024-05-10 07:38:00Z
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