Israel’s ‘war against Gaza’s children’ explained

One child is killed every 15 minutes in the Israeli bombings of Gaza, according to a Palestinian NGO, highlighting the toll the current war has exacted on children.

More than 100 children have been killed every day since Israel started bombing the besieged Palestinian enclave on October 7 in the wake of the deadly Hamas attack. More than 3,400 Palestinians have been killed in the deadliest Israeli assault in decades.

“We are witnessing a genocide in real time,” a spokesperson for The Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCIP) said.

Joe Biden owns this

So, US President Joe Biden got off a big plane in Tel Aviv on Wednesday and embraced a war criminal whose war crime-addicted military had, only hours earlier, committed yet another war crime of such horrendous nature and scale that it is destined to reverberate in memory and history.

That will be the sick, defining image of Biden’s presidency: a hug on an airport tarmac with an Israeli prime minister who has always revelled in killing Palestinians, even desperate children, women and men who thought they were beyond Benjamin Netanyahu’s malevolent reach on the grounds of a hospital in besieged Gaza that, bit by bit, is being erased in blatant acts of genocide.

A letter to Europe from a Palestinian

Dear Europeans,

I, like millions of Palestinians, am living through the worst nightmare of yet another round of mass death and destruction unleashed on our people – something you would often simply call “an escalation” of the “Palestinian-Israeli conflict”.

As I write these lines, al-Ahli Hospital was bombed, killing hundreds of children, men and women, who had sought safety on the premises of the hospital. Hours earlier, the news of the death of my friend Mohammed Mokhiemar, his wife Safaa, and their three-month-old baby Elyana reached me.

Mutual praise, buzzwords plus a few walkouts: Xi and Putin meet in Beijing

Xi Jinping met his internationally isolated Russian counterpart in Beijing on Wednesday against the backdrop of China’s biggest diplomatic event of the year, underlining the close relationship between two leaders amid the war in Ukraine.

The Chinese president, addressing delegates at the belt and road initiative (BRI) forum, spoke out against international sanctions during his opening speech.

“Ideological confrontation, geopolitical rivalry and bloc politics are not the choice for us, but we stand against economic sanctions, economic coercions, and decoupling and supply chain disruptions,” Xi said. The US Commerce Department on Tuesday had expanded controls on chip and technology exports to China amid tensions with Beijing.

Pension becomes another Alberta-Ottawa fight. But this time, Trudeau's on offence

Jim Dinning, engagement panel chair: Thank you, Duane from Camrose. We appreciate all your comments on the potential Alberta Pension Plan. Isn't this telephone town hall format a swell idea? Sarah, please put through the next call.

Operator: Our next commenter is Justin, and he's on the line from Ottawa.

OK, so it didn't quite happen this way, but may as well have.

Trudeau attacks pitch to take Alberta out of CPP in open letter to Danielle Smith

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has sent an open letter to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith calling her efforts to pull Alberta out of the Canada Pension Plan a risk to "certainty and stability."

"With all the uncertainty they face, Canadians should not have to worry whether or not the Canada Pension Plan will continue to be there for them in their retirement," Trudeau said in the letter.

"Alberta's withdrawal would weaken the pensions of millions of seniors and hardworking people in Alberta and right across the country. The harm it would cause is undeniable."

Kamala Harris now leads in US polls but state-level data puts race on knife-edge

National polls for the US presidential race have been upended ever since Kamala Harris took over from Joe Biden to run against Donald Trump.

While Biden was trailing the Republican former president nationally and in many crucial swing states, Harris has gained about three points in national polls since becoming the nominee.

The Guardian’s poll tracker assesses polls over a rolling 10-day period. It now has Harris leading nationally by about two points.

Poland scrambles planes as Russia strikes western Ukraine

NATO-member Poland has scrambled aircraft as Russia launched air strikes on Ukraine‘s western city of Lviv close to its border.

Polish and “allied” aircraft were scrambled overnight on Tuesday as Russia launched a major attack on Lviv, according to Reuters news agency. It was the third time in eight days that the NATO member’s defences had been activated since Russia stepped up its bombardment across Ukraine.

At least seven people are reported to have been killed in Lviv, with many more injured in drone and missile attacks that saw historic buildings destroyed in the heart of the city, according to regional officials.