Women caught in the conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas are now suffering from a severe shortage of menstruation hygiene productsto the point that they are having to cut canvas strips from tents and scraps of clothing as a substitute for sanitary pads, risking infection and deadly toxic shock syndrome.
Since the Israeli onslaught on the Palestinian enclave began on October 7, the total siege on Gaza has prevented hygiene and period products from entering the Strip. Of the 1.9 million Gazans who have fled south to Rafah, one million are estimated to be women and girls and the United Nations estimated that there are 700,000 women and girls in Gaza experiencing menstrual cycles who cannot access the hygiene products.
Riham Jafari, advocacy and communications coordinator at ActionAid Palestine, said the aid trucks that were able to penetrate the enclave mostly prioritized food and medical aid, rather than sanitary products for women. “Women in Gaza go to many places and walk long distances to search in all the pharmacies for pads, but they can’t find them,” Jafari told news outlet Middle East Eye. As a result, most females are now using menstruation-delaying pills to block their periods since sanitary products are scarce and pills are generally more available as they are not commonly used.
Also, keeping themselves clean is an added struggle. Many of them live in makeshift tents and have difficulty accessing clean running water and toilets due to overcrowding. With only one of three water pipelines in Gaza functioning, women are unable to wash themselves, some have said they’ve gone weeks without showering. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) estimated that there is only one toilet per 486 people at its shelters in Rafah.
“We suffer a lot whenever we want to go to the bathroom. We stand in line for a long time and the bathrooms are far away,” a woman who was displaced from her home with her four children told global federation ActionAid International. “This is a new form of suffering experienced by women in Gaza. This situation is extremely difficult for women and adolescent girls, who lack safe, private and dignified places to manage their menstrual hygiene,” Jafari added. Babies are being “delivered into hell”
Apart from the unsanitary living conditions, pregnant women in labor are undergoing cesarean procedures without anesthetic. What is worse, they are being discharged just hours after the operation, according to United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson Tess Ingram.
Since there is only one operational maternity hospital left in Gaza, women in labor are forced to share beds or give birth in their tents or toilets. “Two women who were sharing a bed maybe an hour after getting a cesarean, they were then moved to a chair to free the bed up to somebody else, and discharged after three hours to go back to their shelter,” Ingram reported after she visited the El Emirati Maternity Hospital on Jan. 12. “They are terrified, they are scared about the lack of medical care, but they’re also scared about the prospect of bringing a newborn baby into such an uncertain place.”
UNICEF reported that 20,000 babies have been born in Gaza since the conflict started in October. After delivery, mothers are forced to nurse their newborns in tents and are often unable to find clothes and nappies. According to ActionAid, food supply shortages have left many new mothers too malnourished to breastfeed their newborns.
Meanwhile, a shocking press release dated January 19 from the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, indicated that the Gaza crisis is impacting women and girls at unprecedented levels with loss of life and catastrophic levels of humanitarian need. The study found that around 70 percent of people killed in the enclave are estimated to be women and children, including two mothers per hour killed since the beginning of the crisis. (Related: Israel downplays assassination of two women in Gaza church by absurdly claiming they were “Hamas spotters.”)
UN Women also estimated that at least 3,000 women may have become widows and heads of household, in urgent need of protection and food assistance, and at least 10,000 children may have lost their fathers. And so, more women fear that families will resort to desperate coping mechanisms including early marriage.
The statement also said the organization is calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. It asked that no effort should be spared to ensure womens and girls’ protection and safe access to rapid and unimpeded humanitarian assistance. It also reiterated its deep concern at accounts of unconscionable sexual violence and other gender-based violence during the attacks, its call for accountability, justice, and support for all those affected, and for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.
Check out Humanitarian.newsfor more stories on the current living conditions of women and children in Gaza.
Watch the video below where theArchbishop of Westminster talks about Israel’s “cold-blooded” killing of two women in Gaza.
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Brazilian police say they foiled a bomb attack planned for a Lady Gaga concert on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana beach that attracted an estimated 2.1 million people.
The plot was orchestrated by a group promoting hate speech and the radicalisation of teenagers, including self-harm and violent content as a form of social belonging, according to the Civil Police of Rio de Janeiro, which worked in coordination with the country’s justice ministry.
“The suspects were recruiting participants, including minors, to carry out coordinated attacks using improvised explosives and Molotov cocktails,” the force said.
The justice ministry said the recruiters identified themselves as Gaga’s fans, known as “Little Monsters”.
It said Operation Fake Monster was based on a report by the ministry’s cyber operations lab following a tip-off from Rio state police intelligence, which uncovered digital cells encouraging violent behaviour among teenagers using coded language and extremist symbolism.
Authorities carried out over a dozen search and seizure warrants, and a man described as the group’s leader was arrested in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul for illegal possession of a firearm, and a teenager was detained in Rio de Janeiro for storing child abuse images.
Image: Lady Gaga performing at the huge open-air concert. Pic: Reuters
Gaga’s biggest ever show
Some 500,000 tourists travelled to watch the concert, which was paid for by the city in an attempt to boost the struggling economy.
Saturday night’s two-hour show, which marked Gaga’s biggest ever, marked the first time she had played in Brazil since 2012, having cancelled an appearance at the Rock in Rio festival in 2017 over health issues.
Gaga, who released her seventh studio album, Mayhem, in March, opened with a dramatic, operatic edition of her 2011 track Bloody Mary, before launching into Abracadabra, a recent track.
Image: Pic: AP
Image: Pic: AP
“Brazil! I missed you. I missed you so much,” she exclaimed, before launching into Poker Face, one of her biggest hits.
The American pop star drew in a similar crowd to Madonna’s in May last year, who performed at the same beach, which is transformed into an enormous dance floor for the shows.
Addressing the crowd in English and through a Portuguese translator, Gaga became emotional as she said: “I’m so honoured to be here with you tonight.
Image: Gaga addresses the crowd. Pic: Reuters
Image: Gaga seen performing on giant screens set up across the beach. Pic: Reuters
“Tonight we’re making history, but no one makes history alone. Without all of you, the incredible people of Brazil, I wouldn’t have this moment. Thank you for making history with me.
“The people of Brazil are the reason I get to shine today. But of all the things I can thank you for, the one I most am grateful for is this: that you waited for me. You waited more than 10 years for me.”
She said it took so long to come back because she was “healing” and “getting stronger”. The pop sensation cancelled many of her shows in 2017 and 2018 due to her fibromyalgia condition, which can cause pain and fatigue.
It is estimated Gaga’s show will have injected around 600 million reais (£79.9m) into the economy, nearly 30% more than Madonna’s show.
The large-scale free shows are set to continue annually until at least 2028, always taking place in May, which is considered the economy’s “low season”, according to the city’s government.
A hefty security plan was in place, including the presence of 3,300 military and 1,500 police officers, along with 400 military firefighters.
‘A dream come true’
Image: Pic: AP
The city has been swarmed with Gaga fans since her arrival on Tuesday, with some even keeping vigil outside of the hotel she has been staying at.
Many arrived at the beach at the crack of dawn on Saturday to secure good spots on the beach, despite the show not starting until 9.45pm.
Image: An aerial view shows fans gathering on Copacabana beach ahead of Lady Gaga’s arrival. Pic: Reuters
Ana Lara Folador, who attended with her sister, said it was “a dream come true”, and that Gaga had “really shaped a part of my personality, as a person and an artist”.
Ingrid Serrano, a 30-year-old engineer who made a cross-continent trip from Colombia to Brazil to attend the show, turned up in a T-shirt featuring Lady Gaga’s outlandish costumes over the years.
“I’ve been a 100% fan of Lady Gaga my whole life,” she said, adding the 39-year-old megastar represented “total freedom of expression – being who one wants without shame”.
Image: A fan dons an unusual face mask. Pic: AP
Image: A fan strikes a pose. Pic: AP
Matheus Silvestroni, 25, an aspiring DJ and a Gaga fan since the age of 12, endured an eight-hour bus ride from Sao Paulo for the show.
He said it was Gaga who had inspired him to embrace his sexuality and pursue his dream of becoming an artist.
“I was bullied because I was a fat, gay kid, so I was an easy target,” he said. “Gaga was very important because she sent a message that everything was okay with me, I wasn’t a freak, because I was ‘Born This Way’.”
Rio is known for holding massive open-air concerts, with Rod Stewart holding a Guinness World Record for the four million-strong crowd he drew to Copacabana beach in 1994.
John Lithgow is a man well aware of cancel culture and its ability to destroy careers in the blink of an eye.
The Oscar-nominated actor tells Sky News: “It is terrible to be so careful about what you say. Even in an interview like this. It goes into the world, and you can get misconstrued and misrepresented and cancelled in [the click of a finger].”
Image: Roald Dahl is the subject of West End play Giant, by Mark Rosenblatt. Pic: Johan Persson
It’s a theme that runs parallel with his latest work – the stage show Giant – which through the lens of one explosive day in children’s author Roald Dahl‘s life, poses the question, should we look for moral purity in our artists?
The writer of great works including The Witches, Matilda and The BFG, Dahl revolutionised children’s literature with his irreverent approach, inspiring generations of readers and selling hundreds of millions worldwide. But his legacy is conflicted.
Lithgow describes Dahl as “a man with great charm, great wit and literary talent. A man who really cared about children and loved them. But a man who carried a lot of demons.”
Specifically, the play – which explores Palestinian rights versus antisemitism – deals with the fallout from controversial comments the children’s author made over the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982. Its themes couldn’t be more timely.
Lithgow explains: “Things are said in the play that nobody dares to say out loud… But God knows this is a complicated and contradictory issue.”
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Image: John Lithgow plays Dahl – a man capable of ‘great compassion’ and ‘enormous cruelty’. Pic: Johan Persson
‘It didn’t start as an idea about Roald Dahl at all’
So controversial are some of the play’s themes, the 79-year-old star admits his own son warned him: “Prepare yourself. There’ll be demonstrations in Sloane Square outside the Royal Court Theatre.”
Indeed, the play’s first run carried an audience warning flagging “antisemitic language; graphic descriptions of violence; emotional discussion of themes including conflict in the Middle East, Israel and Palestine; and strong language”.
But it didn’t put audiences off. Following a sold-out run at the Royal Court, the role won Lithgow an Olivier. Now, it’s transferring to London’s West End.
The play was written by Mark Rosenblatt, a seasoned theatre director but debut playwright.
He tells Sky News: “It didn’t start as an idea about Roald Dahl at all. It was about the blurring of meaningful political discourse with racism, specifically when, in 2018, the inquiry into antisemitism in the Labour Party started to come out.”
Rosenblatt describes Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes and Dirty Beasts as the “wallpaper” of his childhood, and says he had no desire to “smash the Roald Dahl pinata”.
But despite the fond recollections, he was conflicted: “Understanding that [Dahl] also, possibly, didn’t like someone like me because I’m Jewish felt complicated.” It was Rosenblatt’s exploration of “how you hold those two things at the same time” that led to Dahl becoming the play’s focus.
Image: Elliot Levey plays Dahl’s Jewish publisher, and Aya Cash plays an American Jewish sales executive. Pic: Johan Persson
‘He’s not cancelled in our home’
Rosenblatt describes him as “a complex man, capable of great compassion, great passionate defence of oppressed people, and also capable of enormous cruelty and manipulation. He was many things at once”.
And as for Dahl’s place in his life now? Rosenblatt says: “I still read his books to my kids. He’s certainly not cancelled in our home.”
It’s likely that Dahl’s comments, if uttered today, would lead to swift social media condemnation, but writing in a pre-social media age, the judgment over his words came at a much slower pace.
Dahl died in 1990, and his family later apologised for antisemitic remarks he made during his lifetime. But the debate of whether art can be separated from the artist is still very much alive today.
Earlier this month, Lithgow found himself drawn into a different row over artists and their opinions – this time concerning author JK Rowling.
Image: JK Rowling in 2019. Pic:AP
‘A matter of nuance’
Soon to play Dumbledore in the Harry Potter TV series, he has been criticised by some fans for working with the author known for her gender critical beliefs.
Lithgow told Sky News: “It’s a question I’m getting asked constantly. I suppose I should get used to that, but JK Rowling has created an amazing canon of books for kids…
“I have my own feelings on this subject. But I’m certainly not going to hesitate to speak about it. Just because I may disagree… It’s a matter of nuance… I think she’s handled it fairly gracefully.”
The actor ignored calls not to take the role.
He goes on: “Honestly, I’d rather be involved in this than not. And if I’m going to speak on this subject, I’m speaking from inside this project and very much a partner with JK Rowling on it.”
Demanding an eight-year commitment and a move to the UK for the part, the stakes are high.
And with a legion of Harry Potter fans watching on from the wings, only time will tell if the Lithgow-Rowling partnership will prove a magical one.
Giant is playing at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London until Saturday, 2 August.
Lorraine Kelly has revealed she is undergoing surgery to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes.
The 65-year-old TV presenter posted a video of her in a hospital bed on Instagram, and said “I’ve not been feeling all that well for a little while”.
Kellyadded she “had a little scan and I have to have my ovaries and my tubes taken out” with keyhole surgery.
She said that the procedure is “purely preventative,” and that “I’m going to be totally fine, see you soon”.
According to the NHS, keyhole surgery – also called laparoscopic surgery – is carried out using several small incisions.
The procedure can take between one and two hours, and doctors recommend staying off work for two to four weeks after the surgery.
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In the caption, the ITV presenter wrote she felt “very lucky to be treated so well” and thanked gynaecologist Dr Ahmed Raafat and hospital staff.
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Good Morning Britain presenter Susanna Reid said she was “sending you all the love in the world”, while TV presenter Julia Bradbury added: “Wishing you a speedy recovery Lorraine, and good luck with the post op rehab.”