Light News (LN)

  Fund will provide humanitarian support to Palestinians, crack down on ‘violent’ Israeli settlers and support Gaza peace plan. Britain, Australia and Canada have launched a joint peace fund to advocate for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with each country contributing £1m ($1.34m) to ⁠the initiative. The fund, which was announced on Thursday, will focus on new and existing grassroots projects – particularly those that include youth ‌groups, ⁠civil society organisations and women, according to a news release from the United Kingdom foreign ministry. The move comes after the three countries – alongside France, New Zealand, and Norway –  announced coordinated sanctions  against networks financing and executing Israeli  settler violence  against Palestinians in the illegally occupied West Bank earlier this week. The Western countries’ response follows record illegal settlement expansion and rising violence by Israelis in the West Bank. “Pe...

  According to FIFA, 2.9 billion people worldwide watched the 2022 World Cup in Qatar on linear TV, with 2.7 billion also streaming the tournament. The 2026 World Cup is set to kick off on Thursday, as cohosts Mexico take on 2010 hosts South Africa. A record 1,248 players from 48 teams will take part in this year's expanded version of the tournament, with 104 matches to be played across Canada, Mexico and the United States. Euronews has broken down everything you need to know about the World Cup 2026. Key facts Host cities in 2026 include Toronto and Vancouver in Canada, Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey in Mexico, and Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle in the US. Some of the region's most iconic stadiums will take centre stage for the tournament, including Mexico City's Estadio Azteca, New Jersey's MetLife Stadium - which is set to host the final - and LA's So...

  Thousands of migrants shelter in a Durban park after being driven from their homes ahead of a June 30 expulsion ultimatum. More than 3,000 Malawians, including hundreds of children, are staying in an open field in South Africa’s port city of Durban, after fleeing what they described as escalating  anti-immigrant threats  and attacks. For weeks, groups armed with sticks, whips and shields have marched through parts of the country demanding that foreigners with no papers leave by June 30. At the park, which transformed into a makeshift transit camp in Durban on Wednesday, many people said repatriation was their only safe option. “It’s hard to stay here,” Falesi Chukuwumba, a Malawian national, told Al Jazeera. “You can see we are outside. How can we stay in this cold? Our children can get sick.” Sayiba John, 33, a Malawian who fled Nazareth township with her husband and three children, told the AFP news agency her daughter, a Grade 2 pupil, was forced to abandon her exams...

  The massive blaze, which engulfed seven of the eight high-rise apartment blocks at the Wang Fuk Court estate in November, prompted a months-long investigation into the cause. Hong Kong filed manslaughter charges against several people and companies on Wednesday over the world's deadliest residential building fire in decades, which killed 168 people at a public housing estate last year. The massive blaze, which engulfed seven of the eight high-rise apartment blocks at the Wang Fuk Court estate in November, prompted a months-long investigation into the cause. Public hearings were told that almost all life-saving fire safety measures had failed on the day of the blaze because of human errors. The directors of the construction contractor and the consultant firm involved in Wang Fuk Court's renovation at the time of the fire, as well as an inspector, were accused of manslaughter along with their companies, according to charge sheets seen by the AFP news agency. Seven individuals i...

  As elections near, Israel’s PM finds himself squeezed between his voters, his allies, and his opponents. The ceasefire between the United States, Israel and Iran that began on April 8 is balanced, by all accounts, on a knife’s edge. Over the weekend, Iran and Israel both exchanged fire, only halting after the intervention of US President Donald Trump on Monday. However, while that round of violence may have paused after Trump called on both sides to “stop shooting”, Israel’s strikes on southern Lebanon –  whose cessation is one of Iran’s key conditions for any agreement –  continue. And Iran and the US have also  exchanged attacks , with Trump threatening to restart full-scale conflict. For Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it had all appeared so much simpler when the US and Israel launched the war on Iran. After years of reported attempts, he had finally persuaded a US president to join him in attacking regional  nemesis Iran , and had launched wide...

  Ukrainian forces have carried out a missile attack deep inside Russia, hitting a major military plant overnight, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said. He said FP-5 Flamingo cruise missiles struck the drone and missile plant in the city of Cheboksary, in the Chuvash Republic, more than 900km (560 miles) from the front line. Local officials said three people were injured in a missile attack on the city. Ukraine also said it had hit the Moscow-occupied port of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov, a Russian oil refinery in Samara and a "shadow fleet" oil tanker in the Black Sea. In recent months, Ukraine's military has intensified its drone strikes on key facilities across Russia. Kyiv says energy sites are legitimate targets, as they allow Moscow to continue its war effort. However, missile attacks deep inside Russia have been rare. Russia's military said that its air defence units had intercepted or shot down 326 Ukrainian drones over a number of regions overnight. Meanwhile...