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This week, over 1,800 actors, entertainers, and producers, including some Hollywood stars, signed a pledge to not work with Israeli film institutions that they see as being complicit in the alleged abuse of Palestinians by Israel.
Signatories included actors Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Tilda Swinton, Riz Ahmed, Javier Bardem, and Cynthia Nixon, among others.
This comes as a United Nations Commission of Inquiry concluded on Tuesday that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza and that top Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had incited these acts - accusations that Israel called scandalous.
The U.N. report cites examples of the scale of killings, aid blockages, forced displacement and the destruction of a fertility clinic to back up its genocide finding, adding its voice to rights groups and others who have reached the same conclusion.
The actors pledge and U.N. inquiry come as major European powers have said they could recognise an independent Palestinian state in coming weeks, as thousands around the world from Britain to New Zealand attend marches and protests in support of Palestinians.
Also on my radar today: |
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Javier Bardem wears a keffiyeh as he poses on the red carpet at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, California, U.S. REUTERS/Daniel Cole |
Some companies have faced calls for boycotts and protests over ties with the Israeli government as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza from Israel's military assault grows, and images of starving Palestinians, including children, have sparked global outrage.
"Inspired by Filmmakers United Against Apartheid who refused to screen their films in apartheid South Africa, we pledge not to screen films, appear at or otherwise work with Israeli film institutions – including festivals, cinemas, broadcasters and production companies – that are implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people," the pledge read.
The pledge said it was not urging anyone to stop working with Israeli individuals but instead "the call is for film workers to refuse to work with Israeli institutions that are complicit in Israel's human rights abuses." Israeli film institutions had engaged in "whitewashing or justifying" abuse of Palestinians, it said.
Israel's government has previously dismissed boycott calls against Israeli institutions as discriminatory. |
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UN inquiry on genocide in Gaza |
The calls for boycotts and protests come as the U.N. Commission of Inquiry found that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza and that top Israeli officials had incited these acts. To count as genocide, at least one of five acts must have occurred.
The U.N. commission found that Israel had committed four of them: killing; causing serious bodily or mental harm; deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of the Palestinians in whole or in part; and imposing measures intended to prevent births.
The U.N. commission's 72-page legal analysis is the strongest U.N. finding to date, but the body is independent and does not officially speak for the United Nations. The U.N. has not yet used the term genocide but is under mounting pressure to do so.
"Genocide is occurring in Gaza," said Navi Pillay, head of the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and a former International Criminal Court judge. "The responsibility for these atrocity crimes lies with Israeli authorities at the highest echelons who have orchestrated a genocidal campaign for almost two years now with the specific intent to destroy the Palestinian group in Gaza.”
Israel, which accuses the commission of having a political agenda against Israel and diverging from its mandate, declined to cooperate with it. Israel's nearly two-year-long war was prompted by Palestinian militant group Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and the kidnapping of 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
The subsequent war in Gaza has killed more than 64,000 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, while a global hunger monitor says part of it is suffering from famine. |
Laborers dig a washing pool used in the processing of minerals at the Rubaya coltan mine, in the town of Rubaya, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra |
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Congo and Rwanda deal: Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo will commit to working with third parties, including the U.S., to revamp their mineral supply chains and develop reforms, according to a draft of an economic framework seen by Reuters, as they seek to spur investment following a peace deal reached in Washington. The deal aims to end fighting that has killed thousands, and attract billions of dollars of Western investment to a region rich in tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper, and lithium.
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South Sudan crisis: In South Sudan, U.N. investigators accused authorities of looting national wealth, citing $1.7 billion paid to companies tied to Vice President Benjamin Bol Mel for unbuilt roads, while foreign aid is sharply declining. Justice Minister Joseph Geng dismissed the findings as inaccurate, blaming conflict, climate change, and falling oil sales. But the report argued corruption is the main driver of the country’s economic collapse, leaving nearly two-thirds of its 12 million people in crisis-level hunger.
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Displacement and refuge: It took more than a year, several thousand dollars, ingenuity, setbacks and a jet ski for Muhammad Abu Dakha, a 31-year-old Palestinian, to escape from Gaza to reach Europe. Click here to read the full story which he documented through videos, photographs and audio files, which he shared with Reuters, alongside an interview with him and his travel companions upon their arrival in Italy, and their relatives in the Gaza Strip.
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Morocco quake aftermath: Two years on from Morocco's 6.8-magnitude quake, the pace of recovery efforts has frustrated many victims, and critics point to a contrast to the country's fast-paced investments in stadiums and infrastructure projects ahead of the African Cup of Nations in December and the 2030 World Cup. Last week, on the second anniversary of the quake, dozens of survivors staged a protest in front of Morocco's parliament in Rabat, calling on the government to take reconstruction aid as seriously as World Cup projects.
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AI and scams: Click here for a Reuters investigation on artificial intelligence being used to scam the elderly as our reporters and a Harvard University researcher used top chatbots to plot a simulated phishing scam – from composing emails to tips on timing – and tested it on 108 elderly volunteers.
Complaints of phishing by Americans aged 60 and older jumped more than eight-fold last year as they lost at least $4.9 billion to online fraud, FBI data show. |
Wildlife conservationist Chinedu Mogbo places a rescued sea turtle inside the Turtle Bae Sanctuary pond for rehabilitation in Lagos, Nigeria. REUTERS/Sodiq Adelakun |
Today’s spotlight shines a light on animal conservation in Nigeria as a self-funded climate group works together with local fishermen to save sea turtles.
"We're seeing a drastic decline," said Chinedu Mogbo, founder of the Greenfingers Wildlife Conservation Initiative, which has rescued and released more than 70 turtles over the last five years after treating them at its turtle sanctuary.
At least five endangered or threatened sea turtle species inhabit Nigeria's waters, but exact numbers are not known and resources for monitoring are inadequate, Mogbo said. His team has rescued Olive Ridley, Hawksbill and Leatherba |
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