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A new aid system has opened its first distribution centres in Gaza, according to a US-backed organisation dealing with supplies.

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began its operations in the territory on Monday, following the resignation of its director, Jake Wood, over its independence.

Gaza’s 2.3m population has been pushed towards famine by Israel’s almost three-month blockade.

Boxes of aid to be distributed across Rafah. Pic: Reuters.
Image:
Boxes of aid to be distributed across Rafah. Pic: Reuters.

The GHF said lorryloads of food – it did not say how many – had been delivered to its hubs, and distribution to Palestinians had begun.

“More trucks with aid will be delivered tomorrow, with the flow of aid increasing each day,” it said in a statement.

The controversial group, backed by Israel and the United States, has been rejected by the United Nations and other aid groups.

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People line up for food in Gaza

UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF.

They claim Israel is weaponising food, and the new distribution system will be ineffective and lead to further displacement of Palestinians.

They also argue the GHF will fail to meet local needs, and violates humanitarian principles that prohibit a warring party from controlling humanitarian assistance.

In the meantime, scores of Palestinians in Gaza, like Islam Abu Taima, have resorted to searching through rubbish to find food.

'We’re dying of hunger... if we don't eat, we'll die', Islam Abu Taeima said.
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Palestinians are having to search through rubbish to find food

She found a small pile of cooked rice, scraps of bread, and a box with a few pieces of cheese inside it – which she said she will serve to her five children.

“We’re dying of hunger,” she told the Associated Press news agency.

“If we don’t eat, we’ll die.”

Islam Abu Taeima finds a piece of bread in a pile of rubbish in Gaza City. Pic: AP.
Image:
Islam Abu Taeima finds a piece of bread in a pile of rubbish in Gaza City. Pic: AP.

It is unclear how many of the GHF’s aid trucks will enter Gaza.

It claims it will reach one million Palestinians by the end of the week.

There are questions, however, over who is funding it and how it will work.

Trucks transporting aid for Palestinians in Rafah. Pic: Reuters.
Image:
Trucks transporting aid for Palestinians in Rafah. Pic: Reuters.

It has been set up as part of an Israeli plan – rather than a UN distribution effort.

Israel, which suggested a similar plan earlier this year, has said it will not be involved in distributing the aid but supported the plan and would provide security.

It says aid deliveries into Gaza are taken by Hamas instead of going to civilians.

Aid groups, however, say there is no evidence of this happening on a systemic basis.

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Israel began to allow a limited amount of food into Gaza last week – after a blockade that prevented food, medicine, fuel and other goods from entering the Palestinian enclave.

A letter has been signed by hundreds of judges and lawyers calling on the UK government to impose trade sanctions on Israel.

It also calls for Israeli ministers to be sanctioned and the suspension of Israel from the UN over “serious breaches of international law”.

“Genocide is being perpetrated in Gaza or that, at a minimum, there is a serious risk of genocide,” the letter says.

The Israeli government has repeatedly dismissed allegations of genocide in Gaza.

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At least 31 dead after school attack

More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its ground invasion of Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, following the deadly attacks by the militant group on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.

The health ministry’s figures do not differentiate between civilians and fighters in Gaza.

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At least five killed in shooting in Jerusalem

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At least five killed in shooting in Jerusalem

At least five people have been killed in a shooting in Jerusalem, authorities have confirmed.

Footage showed dozens of people fleeing from a bus stop during the morning rush hour.

Paramedics who responded to the scene said the area was chaotic and covered in broken glass, with people wounded and lying unconscious on the road and a pavement near the bus stop.

Police said two attackers were “neutralised” soon after.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is now holding an assessment with his heads of security.

A motive for the shooting has not yet been confirmed. Pic: Reuters
Image:
A motive for the shooting has not yet been confirmed. Pic: Reuters

Around 15 people were injured – with six in a serious condition – after it appeared two attackers boarded a bus and opened fire as it reached a major intersection at the northern entrance to Jerusalem, on a road that leads to Jewish settlements in east Jerusalem.

Israeli Defense Force soldiers were dispatched and are searching the area for any other suspects. They are also searching several areas on the outskirts of Ramallah.

The bus with bullet holes in the windscreen. Pic: Reuters
Image:
The bus with bullet holes in the windscreen. Pic: Reuters

A spokesperson for Israeli emergency services, MDA, confirmed four deaths – a man about 50 years old and three men aged around 30.

The fifth victim, a woman about 50 years old, was confirmed at hospital.

Paramedics have evacuated from the scene other casualties in serious conditions with gunshot wounds, to hospitals in Jerusalem.

Several people with minor injuries from glass shards are being treated at the roadside.

The motive for the shooting and who carried it out, was not immediately clear.

The war in Gaza has sparked a surge of violence in both the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Israel.

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Death cap mushroom killer Erin Patterson jailed for minimum of 33 years

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Death cap mushroom killer Erin Patterson jailed for minimum of 33 years

An Australian mother who murdered her estranged husband’s parents and aunt by feeding them a beef wellington laced with poisonous mushrooms has been jailed for life with a minimum of 33 years.

Erin Patterson, 50, lured her former parents-in-law Don and Gail Patterson, both 70, and Gail Patterson’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, 66, to lunch at her home in Leongatha, Victoria, on 29 July 2023.

Mrs Wilkinson’s husband, Reverend Ian Wilkinson, also ate the meal, which was served alongside mashed potatoes and green beans, but survived after receiving a liver transplant and spending months in hospital.

Patterson, a mother-of-two, had made the pastry dish with deadly death cap mushrooms, also known as amanita phalloides.

At the sentencing hearing at the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne, Justice Christopher Beale said the substantial planning of the murders and Patterson’s lack of remorse meant her sentence should be lengthy.

“The devastating impact of your crimes is not limited to your direct victims. Your crimes have harmed a great many people,” he said.

“Not only did you cut short three lives and cause lasting damage to Ian Wilkinson’s health, thereby devastating the
extended Patterson and Wilkinson families, you inflicted untold suffering on your own children, whom you robbed of their beloved grandparents.”

Pic: AP
Image:
Pic: AP

Patterson’s trial in Morwell, southern Australia, heard that she fabricated a cancer diagnosis to use as an excuse not to invite her children, pretending to want to discuss how to break the news to them after the meal.

The four guests fell ill immediately after eating her food. Mrs Wilkinson and Mrs Patterson died on 4 August, and Mr Patterson a day later.

Reverend Wilkinson spent seven weeks in hospital but survived.

Reverend Ian Wilkinson arrives at court. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Reverend Ian Wilkinson arrives at court. Pic: Reuters

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More details of mushroom case revealed

In his victim impact statement, he said the poisoned food meant he had to have a liver transplant and was left feeling “half alive”.

Patterson, who maintains her innocence and that she poisoned her victims by accident, also invited the father of her children, Simon Patterson, to the fatal meal.

Simon Patterson outside of court in May. Pic: AP
Image:
Simon Patterson outside of court in May. Pic: AP

He declined the invitation.

In his victim impact statement, Mr Patterson said of the couple’s children: “The grim reality is they live in an irreparably broken home with only a solo parent, when almost everyone else knows their mother murdered their grandparents.”

In July, Patterson was found guilty of murdering Don and Gail Patterson, and Heather Wilkinson, and attempting to murder Ian Wilkinson.

What makes death cap mushrooms so lethal?

The death cap is one of the most toxic mushrooms on the planet and is involved in the majority of fatal mushroom poisonings worldwide.

The species contains three main groups of toxins: amatoxins, phallotoxins, and virotoxins.

From these, amatoxins are primarily responsible for the toxic effects in humans.

The alpha-amanitin amatoxin has been found to cause protein deficit and ultimately cell death, although other mechanisms are thought to be involved.

The liver is the main organ that fails due to the poison, but other organs are also affected, most notably the kidneys.

The effects usually begin after a short latent period and can include gastrointestinal disorders followed by jaundice, seizures, coma, and eventually, death.

Previous poisoning attempts left husband ill

Following the guilty verdicts, more details of the case were revealed.

Mr Patterson said he had rejected the lunch invite “out of fear” as he believed his former partner had tried to poison him three times before.

After they separated in 2015, he stopped eating any food she had prepared, having become seriously ill after meals cooked by her.

Death cap mushrooms. Pic: iStock
Image:
Death cap mushrooms. Pic: iStock

Reverend Wilkinson also revealed he and the other three guests were served their food on large grey dinner plates, while Patterson served her portion on a smaller, tan-coloured plate.

The nine-week trial attracted intense interest in Australia – with podcasters, journalists and documentary-makers descending on the town of Morwell, around two hours east of Melbourne, where the court hearings took place.

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Trump says he’s ready to move to second stage of Russia sanctions after Moscow launches large aerial attack

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Trump says he's ready to move to second stage of Russia sanctions after Moscow launches large aerial attack

Donald Trump has said he is ready to move to a second stage of sanctioning Russia, just hours after Moscow launched the largest arial attack of the war so far.

At least four people have been killed, including a mother and a three-month-old baby, with more than 40 others injured, after Russia launched a bombardment of drones overnight.

While on his way to the final of the US Open tennis tournament, the president was asked if he was ready to move to the second stage of punishment for Moscow, to which he replied, “Yes”.

It echoes US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who said additional economic pressure by the United States and Europe could prompt Putin to enter peace talks with Ukraine.

“We are prepared to increase pressure on Russia, but we need our European partners to follow us,” Treasury Secretary Scott told NBC News’ Meet the Press.

Sir Keir Starmer said the latest attack shows Vladimir Putin is “not serious about peace” as he joined other allies in condemning Russia’s actions.

The prime minister said the “brutal” and “cowardly” assault on Kyiv – which resulted in a government building catching fire – proved the Russian leader feels he can “act with impunity”.

Russia attacked Kyiv with 805 drones and decoys, officials said, and Ukraine shot down and neutralised 747 drones and four missiles, the country’s air force has said.

The attack caused a fire to break out at a key government building, with the sky above Kyiv covered in smoke.

Appeasement makes ‘no sense’

Polish premier Donald Tusk said the latest military onslaught showed any “attempts to appease” Putin make “no sense”.

“The US and Europe must together force Russia to accept an immediate ceasefire. We have all the instruments,” Mr Tusk said on Saturday.

Read more:
Putin’s warning to Western allies

Why fears of an attack on Europe are not ‘hysteria’

Meanwhile the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said the Kremlin was “mocking diplomacy”.

Vladimir Putin reportedly wants control of the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine – known as the Donbas – as a condition for ending the war.

Russia occupies around 19% of Ukraine, including Crimea and the parts of the Donbas region it seized before the full-scale invasion in February 2022.

But this attack comes after European nations pressed the Russian leader to work to end the war at a virtual meeting of the “coalition of the willing” – a group of countries led by France and Britain seeking to help protect Kyiv in the event of a ceasefire.

Some 26 of Ukraine’s allies pledged to provide security guarantees as part of a “reassurance force” for the war-torn country once the fighting ends, Mr Macron has said.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he is ready to meet Mr Putin to negotiate a peace agreement, and has urged US president Donald Trump to put punishing sanctions on Russia to push it to end the war.

Pic: State Emergency Service of Ukraine
Image:
Pic: State Emergency Service of Ukraine

“The world can force the Kremlin criminals to stop the killings – all that is needed is political will,” he said on Sunday.

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