World
UN says acute malnutrition spreading fast among children in Gaza
Israel says it will send a delegation to Qatar for more talks with mediators after Hamas presented a new truce proposal.
The main United Nations aid agency operating in Gaza has said that acute malnutrition was accelerating in the north of the Palestinian enclave as Israel prepared to send a delegation to Qatar for new truce talks on a hostage deal with Hamas.
On Saturday, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said one in three children under the age of two in northern Gaza are now acutely malnourished, putting more pressure on Israel over the looming famine.
“Children’s malnutrition is spreading fast and reaching unprecedented levels in Gaza,” UNRWA said in a social media post.
On Friday, Israel said it would send a delegation to Qatar for more talks with mediators after Hamas presented a new proposal for a ceasefire with an exchange of hostages and prisoners.
A source familiar with the talks told the Reuters news agency that the delegation will be led by the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, David Barnea. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to convene the security cabinet to discuss the proposal before the talks start.
Netanyahu’s office has said the Hamas offer was still based on “unrealistic demands”.
Repeated efforts failed to secure a ceasefire before the holy month of Ramadan, which started a week ago, with Israel saying it plans to launch a new offensive in Rafah in southern Gaza.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, starting a two-day visit to the region, voiced concerns about an assault on Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents are sheltering, saying there was a danger it would result “in many terrible civilian casualties”.
On Friday, Netanyahu’s office said he had approved an attack plan on Rafah and that the civilian population would be evacuated.
It gave no timeframe, and there was no immediate evidence of extra preparations on the ground.
Humanitarian crisis
Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed at least 31,553 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the strip.
The assault has also devastated the enclave, forcing nearly all the inhabitants from their homes, leaving much of the territory in rubble and triggering a massive hunger crisis.
“Children’s malnutrition is spreading fast and reaching unprecedented levels in Gaza,” UNRWA said in a social media post. Hospitals in Gaza have reported some children dying of malnutrition and dehydration.
Western countries have called on Israel to do more to allow in aid, with the UN saying it faced “overwhelming obstacles” including crossing closures, onerous vetting, restrictions on movement and unrest inside Gaza.
A first delivery into Gaza by the World Central Kitchen, pioneering a new sea route via Cyprus, arrived on Friday and was off-loaded, the charity said.
Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said a second cargo of food aid was ready to depart by sea from Cyprus on Saturday, while the United States and Jordan said they carried out an airdrop of humanitarian aid.
In a CNN interview, Queen Rania of Jordan called the airdrops “literally just drops in the ocean of unmet needs” and accused Israel of “cutting off everything that is required to sustain a human life: food, fuel, medicine, water”.
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Brazilian mayoral candidate hospitalized after rival attacks him with metal chair: Watch
A televised mayoral debate in Sao Paulo, Brazil got heated Sunday night, after one of the six candidates attacked another candidate with a metal chair.
The Associated Press reported that Pablo Marcal, a personal development influencer turned right-wing politician, spoke about allegations against one of his opponents, José Luiz Datena, a former TV presenter turned candidate, during the debate.
Marcal said Datena had wanted to slap him, adding, “You’re not even man enough to do this.”
Datena was then seen during the live video walking toward Marcal’s podium with a metal chair over his head and slamming into Marcal’s side as he raised his arms.
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Immediately following the attack, the debate moderator for TV Cultura interrupted the event and cut to commercials. The debate later resumed on Sunday night without Marcal.
Rather than continue the debate, Marcal was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance, where he reportedly received respiratory support.
On Monday, he explained to his followers that he felt pain while breathing and suffered a fracture on the bottom of his rib cage.
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Hospital officials said in a statement that Marcal suffered “trauma to the right chest region and right wrist without major associated complications,” adding that he had been discharged.
Marcal called the incident an “attempted homicide” on social media, even comparing it to the attempted assassination of former President Trump in July, and to the stabbing of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in 2018.
An inquiry into Datena’s alleged misconduct never resulted in charges, the Associated Press reported, and the issue was shelved after the accuser retracted her statements.
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Datena has also denied the accusations.
After the debate, Datena told reporters the episode had been painful for him because he believes it prompted his mother-in-law to suffer a series of strokes and later dying.
On Monday, Datena acknowledged making a mistake during the debate, though he had no regrets.
“If the circumstances were the same, I would not refrain from repeating the gesture, an extreme response to a history of aggression perpetrated against me and many others by my adversary,” he said.
Marcal’s campaign team said the debate should not have continued without him, adding they hope legal measures are taken against Datena.
On Sunday night, the incident was logged with Sao Paulo’s public security agency as “bodily injury and insult.” An investigation into the matter is ongoing.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
World
US rapper Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs arrested in New York
Charges against Combs not immediately clear as lawyer criticises ‘unjust’ prosecution.
Sean “Diddy” Combs, the American rapper and music producer, has been arrested in New York after being indicted by a grand jury.
The charges on which Combs was arrested on Monday were not immediately clear.
Combs’s lawyer Marc Agnifilo issued a statement expressing disappointment at the authorities’ decision to pursue an “unjust prosecution” against the rap mogul.
“Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children, and working to uplift the Black community. He is an imperfect person but he is not a criminal,” Agnifilo said.
“To his credit Mr. Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges. Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts.”
In March, federal authorities carried out raids on properties belonging to Combs in Los Angeles and Miami.
Combs has also been accused of sexual assault and misconduct in a number of lawsuits since November, when his former girlfriend Casandra Ventura sued him for alleged physical and sexual abuse.
Combs and Ventura settled the suit the day after it was filed, without disclosing the terms of the agreement.
Combs has vehemently denied the accusations in the suits against him, saying his accusers were seeking “a quick payday”.
In May, Combs was thrust back into controversy when CNN aired a leaked video of the rapper violently grabbing, dragging and kicking Ventura in 2016.
Combs publicly apologised after the release of the video, calling his actions “inexcusable”.
Combs, who has also gone by the names Puffy Daddy and Love, became one of the most successful producers in the history of rap after founding Bad Boy in the early 1990s.
During his three-decade long career, he has worked with a slew of top-selling artists including the Notorious B.I.G. Mary J. Blige and Usher.
Combs has also ventured into businesses outside of music, including a fashion label, a fragrance brand and a range of alcoholic drinks.
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