Tag: united states

How Trump won South Carolina primary and why Nikki Haley isn’t quitting yet | US Election 2024 News

Frontrunner Donald Trump has cruised to victory in South Carolina’s Republican primary with the support of an almost unwavering base of loyal voters.

But rival Nikki Haley says she is not dropping out of the United States presidential race. Despite her loss in a state where she previously won two terms as governor, Haley said she will stay in the race until at least the Super Tuesday primaries on March 5.

Let’s unpack the primary vote and what it means for the two candidates.

How did Trump win in South Carolina?

Trump’s victory in South Carolina looked remarkably similar to his wins in the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. It’s a sign that regional differences that once existed within the GOP have been supplanted by a national movement that largely revolves around the former president.

Trump, 77, won in South Carolina with voters who are white and do not have a college degree, one of his core constituencies. About two-thirds of Trump’s backers in this election fell into that group.

A majority believe Trump is a candidate who can emerge victorious in November’s general election, while only about half say the same of Haley. Voters were also far more likely to view Trump than Haley as someone who would “stand up and fight for people like you” and to say he would keep the country safe. And about seven in 10 say he has the mental capability to serve effectively as president.

Trump’s voters also backed his more nationalist views – they are more likely than Haley’s supporters to have lukewarm views of the NATO alliance or even consider it bad for the US, to say immigrants are hurting the country and to say immigration is the top issue facing the country.

Why did Haley say she is still in the race?

Haley has become the voice of a portion of the Republican Party that feels rootless, those traditional-minded conservatives who backed presidential candidates such as George W Bush and Mitt Romney.

Haley is the closest thing they have now to a champion and advocate – and for now, at least, she retains a public platform to air her views.

“I’m not giving up this fight when a majority of Americans disapprove of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden,” she said on Saturday.

At the age of 52, Haley has bet that she can offer a generational change for the GOP. But the future she articulated has little basis in the present-day GOP. About four in 10 of South Carolina Republicans – including about six in 10 of those supporting Trump - say they have an unfavourable opinion of her.

Haley meets supporters at her watch party during the primary in Charleston, South Carolina [Brian Snyder/Reuters]

Despite the result, Haley has pledged to continue her campaign.

“I said earlier this week that, no matter what happens in South Carolina, I would continue to run for president,” Haley said in a speech to supporters in the city of Charleston after her loss. “I’m a woman of my word.”

Haley insisted she would fight on at least through “Super Tuesday” on March 5, when Republicans in 15 states and one US territory will cast ballots.

The reason why she is still in the race is money, said Al Jazeera’s Shihab Rittansi, reporting from Charleston.

“Even though she has little prospect to win any of the future races, deep pocket of donors are still prepared to bankroll her because of their antipathy to Donald Trump or to keep her in the running in case Trump’s legal troubles mean he has to drop out,” Rittansi said.

The majority of South Carolina voters consider themselves supporters of the “Make America Great Again” movement, a Trump slogan that helped catapult him to the White House in 2016.

Haley’s voters were much more divided: About half were motivated by supporting her, but nearly as many turned out to oppose Trump.

What are Trump’s potential weaknesses?

Trump has an iron grip on the Republican base, but that might not be enough of a coalition to guarantee a win in November’s general election.

South Carolina was a chance to show that he can expand his coalition beyond voters who are white, older and without a college degree. But about nine in 10 of South Carolina’s primary voters were white, making it hard to see if Trump has made inroads with Black voters whom he has attempted to win over.

Haley outpaced Trump among college-educated voters, a relative weakness for him that could matter in November as people with college degrees are a growing share of the overall electorate. Even though South Carolina Republican voters believe that Trump can win in November, some had worries about his viability.

About half of Republican voters in South Carolina – including about a quarter of his supporters – are concerned that Trump is too extreme to win the general election.

About three in 10 voters believe he acted illegally in at least one of the criminal cases against him, even though about seven in 10  believe the investigations are political attempts to undermine him.

Trump dominates among conservative voters. But his challenge is that those voters were just 37 percent of the electorate in the November 2020 presidential election. The other 63 percent identified as moderate or liberal, the two categories that Trump lost to Haley in South Carolina.

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Oppenheimer wins big at Screen Actors Guild Awards, boosting Oscar hopes | Entertainment News

Christopher Nolan’s historical epic picks up top honour for outstanding cast in advance of next month’s Oscars.

Oppenheimer has picked up three prizes, including the top honour, at Hollywood’s Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, boosting the historical epic’s chances of grabbing the Oscar for best picture next month.

Christopher Nolan’s portrayal of Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, won the award for best movie cast, historically a strong predictor for the Oscars, at the star-studded ceremony in Los Angeles on Saturday.

Cillian Murphy, who plays the titular character, won best movie actor, while co-star Robert Downey Jr picked up the best supporting actor trophy for playing his bitter rival.

“This is extremely special to me because it comes from you guys,” Murphy said as he accepted his award.

The ceremony was the first gala organised by SAG-AFTRA, which represents some 160,000 entertainment industry professionals, since the union held its longest-ever strike last year.

The show was also streamed live on Netflix, a first for a Tinseltown ceremony.

Kenneth Branagh, who plays Danish physicist Niels Bohr in Oppenheimer, recalled how the film’s cast staged a walkout from the London premiere last July as the strike was about to begin.

“We happily went in the direction of solidarity with your good selves,” Branagh said. “So this, this is a full circle moment for us,” he said, to loud applause.

Oppenheimer, which has already claimed prizes at the Golden Globes and the British Academy Film Awards, is the strong favourite for best picture going into the Oscars on March 11.

The film has been nominated for 13 Oscars in total, including best director, best actor and best supporting actor, ahead of Yorgos Lanthimos’s steampunk fantasy Poor Things with 11 nods.

At the past two SAG awards, all five top prizes predicted the eventual Oscar winners.

Other winners on Saturday included Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, for which Lily Gladstone picked up the best actress prize, and The Holdovers, which earned Da’Vine Joy Randolph best supporting actress.

Barbra Streisand, the winner of two Oscars and 10 Grammy awards, received a lifetime achievement award in recognition of her six-decade-long career in entertainment.

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Trump breezes by Haley in South Carolina primary with eyes on Biden rematch | US Election 2024 News

Former United States President Donald Trump has secured another decisive victory in the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential primaries, defeating former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley in her home state of South Carolina.

The Associated Press and other US media outlets swiftly declared Trump the winner of the state’s GOP primary shortly after the polls closed on Saturday evening.

The final results have not yet been released, but Trump was leading 59.7 percent to 39.7 percent with about half of the expected vote counted, according to Edison Research.

Speaking to supporters at an election night party in the state capital of Columbia, the ex-president turned his attention to November’s general election and promised that if he is re-elected, the US would be “respected like never before”.

“There’s never been a spirit like this,” Trump said. “I have never seen the Republican Party so unified as it is right now.”

The former president has maintained a strong grip over the Republican caucus despite facing a slew of civil and criminal cases against him, sweeping every state contest so far.

Trump supporters hold signs as they attend his primary night party in Columbia, South Carolina, on February 24 [Alyssa Pointer/Reuters]

Trump’s victory in South Carolina also makes it increasingly likely that he will face a rematch against his Democratic rival, President Joe Biden, in November.

Al Jazeera’s Shihab Rattansi, reporting from South Carolina on Saturday, noted that Trump did not even mention Haley’s name during his victory speech.

“That is going to be the policy going forward,” Rattansi said. “This is all about Biden.”

But Haley, who served as South Carolina’s governor from 2011 to 2017, has pledged to continue her campaign at least through the Super Tuesday contests on March 5. That’s the day 15 US states and a territory hold their primaries.

“I said earlier this week that, no matter what happens in South Carolina, I would continue to run for president,” Haley said in a speech to supporters in the city of Charleston after her loss. “I’m a woman of my word.”

Her commitment to continuing drew chants of “Nikki! Nikki!” from the crowd.

“I’m not giving up this fight when a majority of Americans disapprove of both Donald Trump and Joe Biden,” Haley added.

“South Carolina has spoken; we’re the fourth state to do so. In the next 10 days, another 21 states and territories will speak. They have the right to a real choice, not a Soviet-style election with only one candidate. And I have a duty to give them that choice.”

Haley speaks on stage in Charleston, South Carolina, on February 24 [Brian Snyder/Reuters]

Haley said she plans to head to Michigan on Sunday, just days ahead of that state’s Republican primary on February 27. Then, her campaign will turn its attention to Super Tuesday states, which include Minnesota, Vermont and Colorado.

But the former UN ambassador has no real path to winning the Republican Party nomination – and the party has largely hitched its wagon to Trump.

Even in her home state, Haley struggled to rally high-profile political endorsements. Only one Republican representative from South Carolina, Ralph Norman, backed her over Trump.

Trump, meanwhile, celebrated his South Carolina victory with a row of his backers, including both of South Carolina’s senators – Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham – as well as the state’s governor.

He had arrived in South Carolina shortly after delivering a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Maryland, the largest annual gathering for conservatives in the country.

Many of his remarks there were focused on Biden. In his 90-minute speech, Trump accused the president of overseeing the country’s decline.

He added that, if he beats Biden in November, it will represent a “judgement day” for the US and his “ultimate and absolute revenge”.

For his part, Biden has warned that the former Republican president likewise poses a threat to the country.

Last month, Biden characterised Trump and his followers as dangerous outliers. The Democratic president asked his party, independents and “mainstream Republicans” who cherish US democracy to back him.

“Democracy is on the ballot. Your freedom is on the ballot,” Biden said.

Trump faces four separate criminal indictments, including two related to his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election – a contest he lost to Biden.

His first criminal trial – on charges of falsifying business documents in connection to hush-money payments – is scheduled to begin on March 25 in New York City.

Trump has denied wrongdoing in all the cases and said they are part of a politically motivated witch hunt.

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US, UK bomb Houthi sites in Yemen amid surge in Red Sea ship attacks | Houthis News

US and UK forces hit 18 Houthi targets including underground weapons and missile storage facilities, officials say.

The United States and the United Kingdom have bombed more than a dozen Houthi sites in Yemen, officials said, as the rebel group stepped up its attacks on ships in the Red Sea in protest against Israel’s war on Gaza.

In a joint statement on Saturday, the US and UK said the military action targeted 18 Houthi sites across eight locations in Yemen, and included attacks on underground weapons and missile storage facilities, air defence systems, radars and a helicopter.

The operation marked the fourth time that the US and UK militaries have carried out joint attacks against the Houthis since January 12.

The US has also been carrying out almost daily raids to take out Houthi targets, including incoming missiles, rockets and drones targeting commercial and other Navy vessels. The raids, however, have so far failed to halt the Houthis’ attacks, which have upset global trade and raised shipping rates.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said the latest wave of strikes were meant “to further disrupt and degrade the capabilities of the Iranian-backed Houthi militia”.

“We will continue to make clear to the Houthis that they will bear the consequences if they do not stop their illegal attacks, which harm Middle Eastern economies, cause environmental damage and disrupt the delivery of humanitarian aid to Yemen and other countries,” Austin said.

The attacks were supported by Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and New Zealand.

The Houthis responded with defiance.

It denounced the “US-British aggression” and pledged to keep up its military operations.

“The Yemeni Armed Forces affirm that they will confront the US-British escalation with more qualitative military operations against all hostile targets in the Red and Arabian Seas in defense of our country, our people and our nation,” it said in a statement.

The Houthis have launched at least 57 attacks on commercial and military ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since November 19, and the pace has picked up in recent days.

A spokesman for the Houthis claimed an attack on MV Torm Thor, a US-flagged, owned and operated chemical and oil tanker, on Saturday, saying the group targeted the vessel using a “number of appropriate naval missiles”.

The US Central Command confirmed the attack, saying its forces downed an antiship ballistic missile launched from Houthi-held areas in Yemen towards the Gulf of Aden, adding that the missile was likely targeting MV Torm Thor.

The tanker was not damaged and there were no injuries, it said.

British maritime security agency UKMTO also reported another attack on an unspecified ship near the port of Djibouti on Saturday night, saying there had been an “explosion in close proximity to the vessel, no damage is reported to the vessel and there are no injuries to the crew”.

“Vessel is proceeding to next port of call,” it added in a bulletin.

Earlier this week, the Houthis also claimed responsibility for an attack on a UK-owned cargo ship and a drone assault on a US destroyer, and said they targeted Israel’s port and resort city of Eilat with ballistic missiles and drones.

No ships have been sunk nor crew killed during the Houthi campaign.

However, there are concerns about the fate of the UK-registered Rubymar cargo vessel, which was struck on February 18 and its crew evacuated. The US military has said the Rubymar was carrying more than 41,000 tonnes of fertiliser when it was hit, which could spill into the Red Sea and cause an environmental disaster.

The turmoil from Israel’s war on Gaza has also spilled over to into other parts of the Middle East.

Apart from the Houthi attacks on vital shipping lanes, Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group has traded fire with Israel along the Israel-Lebanon border and pro-Iran Iraqi militia have attacked bases that host US forces.

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US warns of ‘disaster’ amid oil slick in Red Sea from ship hit by Houthis | Israel War on Gaza News

US military says Iran-aligned group is being reckless with attacks on shipping in the Red Sea off Yemen’s shores.

The United States military has warned of an “environmental disaster” after an attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on a cargo ship caused an oil slick in the Red Sea.

The Iran-aligned group hit the United Kingdom-owned, Belize-flagged bulk carrier Rubymar on February 18 with multiple missiles. It was sailing through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait which connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, on its way to Bulgaria after leaving Khor Fakkan in the United Arab Emirates.

Extensive damage prompted the crew, all of whom are safe, to abandon the ship.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed on Saturday that the ship was now “anchored but slowly taking on water”, which it said has caused a 29-kilometre (18-mile) oil slick.

The vessel was transporting more than 41,000 tonnes of fertiliser when attacked, the military said, “which could spill into the Red Sea and worsen this environmental disaster”.

“The Houthis continue to demonstrate disregard for the regional impact of their indiscriminate attacks, threatening the fishing industry, coastal communities, and imports of food supplies,” it added.

US broadcaster CNN cited an unnamed US official as saying the threat of more Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, combined with the condition of the water, makes it very difficult to safely get to the ship and attempt to tow it to a port. US officials are not sure what kind of substance is causing the slick, the report said.

The group has been disrupting trade through the Red Sea, promising that its attacks will continue until Israel ends its war on Gaza, which has killed more than 29,600 Palestinians, mostly children and women.

Backed by several other allied Western governments, the US and the United Kingdom have been bombing governorates across Yemen in response to the Houthi strikes. The military confrontation has now turned into a daily occurrence.

The US military also confirmed multiple new “self-defence strikes” on Houthi-controlled positions in Yemen. It said it destroyed seven mobile antiship cruise missiles that were prepared for launch towards the Red Sea.

“These actions will protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for US Navy and merchant vessels,” CENTCOM said.

The Houthis, who control Yemen’s most populous regions, earlier this week struck what they said was an Israeli cargo ship, the MSC Silver, in the Gulf of Aden near the entrance to the Red Sea.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group had also used drones to target a number of US warships in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea as well as sites in the southern Israeli resort town of Eilat.

US media cited US officials as confirming earlier this week that the Houthis had hit an MQ-9 attack drone near Yemen, the second time they have shot down a US military drone since the start of the Gaza war.

Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi on Thursday said they have introduced “submarine weapons” in their attacks. This confirms a previous US military report that the group is deploying underwater drones.

A Houthi spokesperson has said the group has recruited and trained more than 200,000 new fighters since the start of the Gaza war.



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Media heroes and traitors – Assange vs Navalny | TV Shows

The media coverage of two dissidents reveals how Western media select those they champion and vilify.

With Alexey Navalny’s death and Julian Assange’s extradition appeal happening within a week of each other, we look at the selective treatment of the two dissenters in the Western media.

Lead contributors:

Chip Gibbons – Policy Director, Defending Rights & Dissent

Matt Kennard – Chief Investigator, Declassified UK

Branko Marcetic – Writer, Jacobin

Rebecca Vincent – Director of Campaigns, Reporters Without Borders (RSF)

On our radar:

Usually silent in the face of the suffering in Gaza, Israeli TV channels broadcast segments on the abuse of Palestinian captives – with a positive spin. Tariq Nafi reports.

Namibia’s (mis)remembered genocide

Germany’s genocide in Namibia early in the 20th century has long been a misremembered episode in colonial history. Despite efforts to correct that record, many are yet to hear the testimonies of the victimised communities: the Herero and Nama peoples.

Featuring:

Christina Haritos – Communications Scholar

Suzie Ndaundika Shefeni – Researcher and Journalist

Jephta Nguherimo – Herero Activist and Poet

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What’s at stake for Nikki Haley in the South Carolina primary? | US Election 2024 News

Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and former United States President Donald Trump are facing each other in Saturday’s South Carolina primary in the race for the 2024 Republican Party’s presidential nomination.

Staunchly pro-Israel, Haley served as US ambassador to the United Nations under Trump, during which time she blocked the appointment of former Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad as the global body’s envoy to Libya. Despite taking a “consensus” approach to the issue of abortion in a bid to present herself as more “reasonable” to US voters than many of her conservative colleagues, critics said Haley is firmly anti-abortion rights.

Recently, she stated that she believes frozen embryos are children, a move taken as an endorsement of the Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling to that effect this week. That ruling has potential implications for fertility rights and abortion in the US and has sparked criticism from women’s rights groups.

South Carolina is a particularly crucial primary for Haley, so what’s in store?

Why is this primary so important for Haley?

South Carolina is Haley’s home state. She was its governor for six years until 2017. A loss to Trump, who leads her in opinion polls by 36 points, would come as a major political blow. Regardless, Haley has promised to fight on even if she does lose in the state.

On Tuesday, she said she has “no need to kiss the ring” by bowing out and endorsing the former president.

In South Carolina, Haley’s governorship was viewed favourably among her core constituents. However, women have made up an average of 53 percent of the voters in presidential elections since 2000, and this could, ironically, be to her disadvantage. In December, an Emerson College poll showed just 8 percent support among Republican women for Haley compared with 19 percent support among Republican men.

(Al Jazeera)

How is a presidential candidate selected?

South Carolina operates under an open primary system, which permits any registered voter to participate in the party’s primary. However, voters can take part in only one party’s presidential primary. Those who cast their votes in South Carolina’s Democratic primary on February 3 are ineligible to participate in the Republican contest.

South Carolina’s Republican primary is being held on Saturday with polls closing statewide at 7pm (00:00 GMT).

The state contests from January to June choose delegates, the people who will ultimately cast votes at the party conventions in the summer to decide their party’s presidential candidate. South Carolina has 50 Republican delegates and will award the votes of 29 of them to the candidate who wins this primary. It will also award three to the winner in each of the state’s seven congressional districts.

A minimum of 1,215 delegates are needed nationwide to secure the Republican presidential nomination – more than half the 2,429 available.

After three state contests so far, Haley has 17 delegates to Trump’s 63.

South Carolina’s delegates are a sliver of the total number, but wins in early primaries and caucuses have historically created momentum leading up to Super Tuesday, the day when most of the states vote. This year, Super Tuesday is on March 5, and 16 states will choose about one-third of all delegates. They include California (169 delegates) and Texas (161).

Former US President Donald Trump participates in a Fox News town hall with host Laura Ingraham at the Greenville Convention Center on February 20, 2024, in Greenville, South Carolina [Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/AFP]

Is Trump likely to win South Carolina?

Trump is a formidable presidential candidate this year, having already swept up Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada. Opinion polls show he has a substantial lead over Haley.

With high-profile Republican endorsements from Governor Henry McMaster and US Senator Tim Scott, Trump remains a star for the party.

So far this year, Trump has backing from seven governors, 18 senators and more than 90 members of the House of Representatives. This includes House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Despite being dogged by criminal cases and lawsuits – including a civil fraud case in which Trump was ordered on February 16 to pay more than $350m in damages – his popularity among his core base has not waned. Indeed, many see him as the victim of a witch-hunt and are even more determined to support him.

With several other cases against him still pending across several jurisdictions, however, Trump’s path to the presidential nomination remains uncertain.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing in all of the cases.

Is Haley finished if she loses this primary?

Losing South Carolina could spell the start of the end of Nikki Haley’s presidential campaign bid. Political analysts said a loss in such early primaries dampens chances to build momentum and win voters, not to mention donors.

However, during a campaign speech on Tuesday in Greenville, South Carolina, she defiantly said: “South Carolina will vote on Saturday, but on Sunday, I’ll still be running for president.”

There was a glimmer of hope for her campaign during the New Hampshire primary, held on January 23. Haley placed second in that race with 43.2 percent of the vote, compared with Trump’s 54.3 percent – much less of a landslide for Trump than he has achieved in other states.

In some hypothetical head-to-head polls of registered voters of all political persuasions, however, Haley performs better against US President Joe Biden than Trump does.

According to the latest Quinnipiac poll, in a hypothetical 2024 presidential election scenario, Biden, a Democrat, would maintain a narrow lead over Trump, garnering 49 percent of registered voters compared with Trump’s 45 percent. In a Haley-Biden run-off, however, 47 percent of voters said they would support Haley compared with 42 percent for Biden.

If Trump does win Saturday’s primary, however, Republican leaders may be forced to throw their weight behind him.

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US says new Israeli settlements ‘inconsistent’ with international law | Israel War on Gaza News

The US and its allies have historically done little to pressure Israel to halt or roll back settlement expansion.

The United States has said that new Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are illegal, effectively reversing a policy by the administration of former President Donald Trump.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said an announcement by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich that more than 3,300 new Israeli settlements are to be built in the occupied West Bank was “disappointing”.

“It has been a longstanding policy of both Democratic and Republican administrations that new settlements are counterproductive to achieving enduring peace. They are also inconsistent with international law,” Blinken said at a news conference late on Friday in Buenos Aires.

“Our administration maintains firm opposition to settlement expansion. In our judgement it only weakens, not strengthens Israel’s security,” he added, without making any mention of tangible consequences Israel could face for settlement expansion.

This negates the so-called Pompeo Doctrine, which referred to an announcement in November 2019 by then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that Washington supports Israeli settlements in the West Bank, Golan Heights and East Jerusalem as legal.

The majority of the global community views these settlements as illegal and an extension of Israeli occupation.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that Blinken’s position “has been consistent over a range of Republican and Democratic administrations”.

“If there’s an administration that is being inconsistent, it was the previous one,” Kirby said.

The Pompeo Doctrine itself had overturned a legal position held by the US Department of State since 1978 when the administration of former President Jimmy Carter had evaluated Israeli settlements to be in violation of international law.

Germany has also condemned the latest Israeli plans to construct thousands of new settler homes in the occupied West Bank.

“You know our position on settlement construction. It is contrary to international law and this also applies when new construction projects are carried out,” deputy foreign ministry spokeswoman Kathrin Deschauer told a news conference in Berlin.

New settlements

Israel’s Smotrich had announced the new settlement plans were a supposed response to what he called a “terrorist” attack on Thursday, when three Palestinians opened fire near a checkpoint between Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank city of Ma’ale Adumim, killing one Israeli and wounding several others.

Smotrich now plans to build 2,350 new housing units on Palestinian land in Ma’ale Adumim, 300 in Kedar and 694 in Efrat, with backing from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh on Saturday called the announcement a “blatant challenge to the international community” and an obstacle to establishing an independent Palestinian state.

Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now said that “Israel’s 2024 budget shows an addition of over $100m to settlements”.

“In 2024, coalition funds for settlements will amount to over $203m [instead of the originally allocated $76m in the government decision from May 2023],” it added.

Ministers in the most far-right administration in the history of Israel have also called for increased curbs on Palestinians, including heavy restrictions on movement, after the attack.

Over decades, Israel has advanced plans to build new illegal settlements regardless of any attacks. The US and its allies have historically done little to pressure Israel to halt or roll back settlement expansion.

Raids across Palestinian territories occupied by Israel had become an almost daily occurrence even before the war on Gaza started on October 7, and they have only significantly intensified since, growing deadlier as well.

In the Gaza Strip, more than 29,500 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks since the start of the war, most of them children and women.

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Russia-Ukraine two years on: towards an endless and wider war? | Russia-Ukraine war

In an UpFront special, we discuss where the war in Ukraine currently stands and where it is heading.

It’s been two years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, causing mass destruction and a mounting civilian death toll.

Even with support from the West, Ukraine is facing increased weapons and infantry shortages as its fight against Russian forces carries on, seemingly with no end in sight.

So what future lays ahead for Ukraine and could the war spill over into neighbouring countries? Are peace negotiations even possible or does it run the risk of becoming an endless war?

In an UpFront Special, Marc Lamont Hill discusses the fallout of Russia’s war on Ukraine with Ukrainian Member of Parliament Lesia Vasylenko, political scientist Ilya Matveev, and journalist Aaron Mate.

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Is the Red Sea becoming fully militarised?

Some world powers are increasing their military presence in the region amid Houthi attacks and Israel's war on Gaza.

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