5 Israeli soldiers killed overnight in northern Gaza and 18 dead in Israeli strikes
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Toronto Sun
7 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
U.S. sanctions UN human rights expert over criticism of Israel
Published Jul 09, 2025 • 2 minute read United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights Situation in the Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, delivers her rapport during a session of the UN Human Rights Council, in Geneva, March 26, 2024. Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP / FILES / Getty Images The U.S. imposed sanctions on a United Nations expert investigating human rights conditions in the Palestinian territories, escalating a feud after earlier calling for her ouster over allegations of anti-Israel bias. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the sanctions against Francesca Albanese, UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur, were in response to her 'campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel.' 'The United States will continue to take whatever actions we deem necessary to respond to lawfare and protect our sovereignty and that of our allies,' Rubio wrote in a social media post. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Today I am imposing sanctions on UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese for her illegitimate and shameful efforts to prompt @IntlCrimCourt action against U.S. and Israeli officials, companies, and executives. Albanese's campaign of political and economic… — Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) July 9, 2025 Last month, Albanese's office issued a report that called out U.S. companies including Google parent Alphabet Inc., Inc., Microsoft Corp., and Palantir Technologies Inc. for their involvement in Israel's economy given allegations of apartheid, war crimes and genocide in its treatment of the Palestinian territories and response to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas. 'Any decision to continue engagement in Israel's economy is therefore done with knowledge of the crimes that may be taking place, and of the fact that they may provide material support to Israel to continue to commit those crimes,' the report said. In an earlier statement, the U.S. Mission to the UN had called for Albanese's ouster and urged Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to condemn her activities. It also called the rapporteur's allegations of genocide and apartheid against Israel 'false and offensive.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Special rapporteurs do not fall under the Secretary-General's jurisdiction as they are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council. The U.S. withdrew from the body in February. Albanese, who was appointed to her role in 2022, is a staunch critic of Israel's war in Gaza. Her statements have sparked controversy, including a social media post last year that said victims of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack were killed because of 'Israel's oppression.' The U.S. Mission denounced the Human Rights Council in April after Albanese was appointed to to a fresh three-year term, accusing the UN of tolerating 'antisemitic hatred, bias against Israel, and the legitimization of terrorism.' Olympics Basketball Columnists Uncategorized Toronto & GTA
Winnipeg Free Press
7 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
More than 17 million people in Yemen are going hungry, including over 1 million children, UN says
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — More than 17 million people in conflict-torn Yemen are going hungry, including over a million children under the age of 5 who are suffering from 'life-threatening acute malnutrition,' the United Nations humanitarian chief said Wednesday. Tom Fletcher told the U.N. Security Council that the food security crisis in the Arab world's poorest country, which is beset by civil war, has been accelerating since late 2023. The number of people going hungry could climb to over 18 million by September, he warned, and the number of children with acute malnutrition could surge to 1.2 million early next year, 'leaving many at risk of permanent physical and cognitive damage.' Fletcher said the U.N. hasn't seen the current level of deprivation since before a U.N.-brokered truce in early 2022. He noted that it is unfolding as global funding for humanitarian aid is plummeting, which means reductions or cuts in food. According to the U.N., as of mid-May, the U.N.'s $2.5 billion humanitarian appeal for Yemen this year had received just $222 million, just 9%. Yemen has been embroiled in civil war since 2014, when Iranian-backed Houthi rebels seized the capital of Sanaa, forcing the internationally recognized government into exile in Saudi Arabia. A Saudi-led coalition intervened months later and has been battling the rebels since 2015 to try and restore the government. The war has devastated Yemen, created one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters, and turned into a stalemated proxy conflict. More than 150,000 people, including fighters and civilians, have been killed. Hans Grundberg, the U.N. special envoy for Yemen, told the council in a video briefing that two Houthi attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea this week – the first in over seven months – and Israeli airstrikes on the capital and key ports are escalating the conflict. The Houthis have vowed to keep targeting vessels in the key waterway until the war in Gaza ends. Grundberg said freedom of navigation in the Red Sea must be safeguarded and stressed that 'Yemen must not be drawn deeper into regional crises that threaten to unravel the already extremely fragile situation in the country.' 'The stakes for Yemen are simply too high,' he said. 'Yemen's future depends on our collective resolve to shield it from further suffering and to give its people the hope and dignity they so deeply deserve.' Grundberg warned that a military solution to the civil war 'remains a dangerous illusion that risks deepening Yemen's suffering.' Negotiations offer the best hope to address the complex conflict, he said, and the longer it is drawn out 'there is a risk that divisions could deepen further.' Grundberg said both sides must signal a willingness to explore peaceful avenues — and an important signal would be the release of all conflict-related detainees. The parties have agreed to an all-for-all release, he said, but the process has stagnated for over a year. ___
Winnipeg Free Press
8 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
US issues sanctions against UN investigator probing abuses in Gaza
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Trump administration announced it is issuing sanctions Wednesday against an independent investigator tasked with probing human rights abuses in the Palestinian territories, the latest effort by the United States to punish critics of Israel's 21-month war in Gaza. The State Department's decision to sanction Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza, comes after a recent U.S. pressure campaign to force the international body to remove her from her post failed. Albanese, a human rights lawyer, has been vocal about what she has described as the 'genocide' that Israel is waging against Palestinians in Gaza. Both Israel and the U.S., which provides military support, have strongly denied that accusation. In recent weeks, Albanese has issued a series of letters, urging other countries to pressure Israel, including through sanctions, to end its deadly bombardment of the Gaza Strip. The Italian national has also been a strong supporter of the International Criminal Court's indictment against Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for war crimes. She most recently issued a report naming several U.S. giants among companies aiding what she described as Israel's occupation and war on Gaza. 'Albanese's campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel will no longer be tolerated,' Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on social media. 'We will always stand by our partners in their right to self-defense.' Albanese has been the target of criticism from pro-Israel officials and groups in the U.S. and in the Middle East. Last week, the U.S. mission to the U.N. issued a scathing statement, calling for her removal for 'a years-long pattern of virulent anti-Semitism and unrelenting anti-Israel bias.' The statement said that Albanese's allegations of Israel committing genocide or apartheid are 'false and offensive.' It is all a culmination of an extraordinary and sprawling campaign of nearly six months by the Trump administration to quell criticism of Israel's handling of the deadly war in Gaza, which is closing in on two years. Earlier this year, the Trump administration began arresting and deporting faculty and students of American universities who participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations and other political activities. The war between Israel and Hamas began Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel and killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 people captive. Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which says women and children make up most of the dead but does not specify how many were fighters or civilians. Nearly 21 months into the conflict that displaced the vast majority of Gaza's 2.3 million people, it is nearly impossible for the critically wounded to get the care they need, doctors and aid workers say. 'We must stop this genocide, whose short-term goal is completing the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, while also profiteering from the killing machine devised to perform it,' Albanese said in a recent post on X. 'No one is safe until everyone is safe.' ___
