As a result of Trump’s Starmer/Churchill statement...
...Just for the record, I don't think that Trump is another Roosevelt!
He, at least, followed the rules of war, unlike the war-monger ruining (not running) the USA currently. Speaking of which, he should have a current running through him! (I'll throw the switch).
Patrizia Parrusi @PatriziaParrusi
Maidenhead
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Politics - Any party - No vetting - No waiting US Congress Members Accuse Trump Of Waging ‘Illegal Iran War’ With No Exit Planhttps://saharareporters.com/2026/03/04/us-congress-members-revolt-after-classified-briefing-accuse-trump-waging-illegal-iran US Congress Members Revolt After Classified Briefing, Accuse Trump Of Waging ‘Illegal Iran War’ With No Exit Plan The outrage followed a classified briefing attended by members of Congress, where top administration officials reportedly failed to provide clear justification or a concrete endgame for the escalating military campaign. Fresh cracks have emerged within the American political establishment after several US lawmakers accused President Donald Trump of dragging the United States into what they described as an illegal and directionless war against Iran. The outrage followed a classified briefing attended by members of Congress, where top administration officials reportedly failed to provide clear justification or a concrete endgame for the escalating military campaign. Senator Ed Markey, in a post on X shortly after the closed-door session, did not mince words. “I just left the classified briefing on Iran. And it only confirmed what we already knew: Donald Trump is waging an illegal war and he has no plan to end it,” Markey wrote. His remarks were echoed by Congressman Seth Magaziner, who revealed key takeaways from the briefing in a video shared on his X account. Magaziner said the briefing was conducted by the U.S. Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defence, the CIA Director and other top officials. According to him, the session raised more questions than answers. “Number one, there is no intelligence that suggests that Iran was planning an attack against the United States,” Magaziner stated. “Number two, the administration does not have any plan for what is going to happen to Iran after the war is over.” He stressed the scale of the potential fallout, noting that Iran is a nation of roughly 90 million people with nearly one million armed personnel. He added that his constituents in Rhode Island were questioning why the U.S. had entered “yet another Middle Eastern war.” “Unfortunately, the Trump administration is still not giving members of Congress or the American people any answers,” he said. Senator Chris Van Hollen also expressed frustration, describing the conflict as “Trump’s war of choice.” “Today, Congress was finally briefed on Trump’s war of choice in Iran,” Van Hollen wrote on X. “Even behind closed doors, they couldn’t get their story straight. But one thing is clear: they don’t have a clue what the end game is, and it sure as hell isn’t making America safer.” Similarly, Congressman Don Beyer condemned the military campaign, calling it unlawful and morally indefensible. “Trump’s war in Iran is not smart, not legal, not morally right and not in our national interest,” Beyer wrote, urging Congress to pass a War Powers Resolution aimed at curbing the President’s military authority. The backlash comes amid rising global tension following coordinated U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iranian military installations and strategic infrastructure, strikes Tehran described as unprovoked aggression. On Tuesday, Iran’s newly declared Supreme Leader, Alireza Arafa, issued a fiery statement vowing retaliation against both Washington and Tel Aviv. “The time for negotiations is over. The United States has chosen to cross the red line,” Arafa declared in a message circulated across social media platforms. He warned that by launching the war, the U.S. had “signed their own death warrant.” Arafa dismissed Western claims that the strikes were pre-emptive measures to counter a nuclear threat, insisting Iran had not initiated hostilities. He also warned Israel of sustained retaliation, raising fears that the conflict could spiral into a broader regional war involving Iranian-aligned armed groups across Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
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https://www.unaids.org/en/2026-zero-discrimination-day On Zero Discrimination Day, 1 March, we celebrate the right of everyone to live a full and productive life with dignity. This year, UNAIDS shines a light on the persistent discrimination faced by people living with and at risk of HIV, discrimination that undermines access to health services, violates rights, and holds back progress toward ending AIDS by 2030. This year's Zero Discrimination Day highlights the need to put people first. The evidence is clear: HIV‑related stigma and discrimination put lives at risk. Based on data from more than 30,000 people living with HIV across 25 countries, stigma and discrimination remain pervasive barriers to health access, dignity, and human rights. According to the People Living with HIV Stigma Index 2.0 Global Report, nearly one in four report being stigmatized by others, including in healthcare settings, where discrimination undermines trust and access to life‑saving services. In addition, 85% of people living with HIV feel internalized stigma, and many change their behaviour— hiding their HIV status, or interrupting HIV treatment—because of fear of rejection and judgment. These findings confirm that HIV‑related stigma is not a side issue; it is a barrier to ending AIDS by 2030. NUMBERS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS • 1 in 4 have faced discrimination when seeking non-HIV health care: Healthcare facilities—places meant to heal—become sources of fear and rejection. • 24% have experienced community discrimination in the past year: Verbal harassment, and exclusion from family and community activities remain commonplace. • 38% feel ashamed of being HIV-positive: Internal stigma keeps people isolated and prevents them from seeking the support they need. • 85% experience some form of internalized stigma: From hiding their status to feeling worthless, the psychological burden is immense. For women and girls living with and affected by HIV, gender inequalities intersect with HIV-related stigma and discrimination. Reproductive coercion, mistreatment and abuse is a persistent and widespread manifestation of stigma and discrimination that occurs along the continuum of healthcare services. A review of data collected from 26,502 women living with HIV from 23 countries, which recently completed the Stigma Index 2.0, revealed that in every single country, women living with HIV have reported experiencing some form of coercion within the last 12 months. Intersectional stigma and discrimination also impacts their experience of other services, as well as community and domestic life and their access to justice and redress. Additionally, HIV-related stigma and discrimination combine with gender norms and inequalities to place a heavy burden of unrecognized and unpaid care on women and girls. Discrimination continues to: • Prevent people from testing for HIV • Stop people from seeking HIV prevention services including medicine to prevent HIV • Stop people from accessing treatment • Drive people away from health services • Deny people their fundamental human rights • Fuel the AIDS epidemic As the world works toward ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, we cannot succeed if discrimination stands in the way. Zero Discrimination Day highlights how we can all become informed and promote inclusion, compassion, peace and, above all, a movement for change. WHAT MUST CHANGE 1. Remove discriminatory laws Countries must examine their policies and laws and eliminate those that discriminate, criminalize and harm people living with and risk of HIV—including laws that criminalize sex work, drug use, same-sex relationships, and HIV non-disclosure—that stand in the way of accessing health services. 2. Protect rights to access health care • Ensure confidentiality • Ensure training for health workers and implement zero-tolerance policies for discrimination • End mandatory HIV testing • Provide quality, compassionate care for all 3. Address stigma in communities • Challenge myths and misinformation about HIV • Promote U=U (Undetectable = Untransmittable) • Support community education and awareness • Build empathy and understanding 4. Support community-led responses • Fund organizations led by people living with HIV • Ensure meaningful participation in policy decisions • Strengthen peer support networks • Protect the rights of communities to lead HIV responses On 1 March 2026, UNAIDS calls on governments, health care providers, employers, communities and individuals to listen to the voices of people living with and affected by HIV and act on the evidence, so no one feels “less than” because of their HIV status; health systems become spaces where people can seek testing, treatment, and care without discrimination. On Zero Discrimination Day 2026, UNAIDS invites everyone to: Sustain the gains: Protect and scale what works: by safeguarding funding for HIV, human rights; institutionalizing stigma-free practices in health systems, education, and workplaces; reforming and repealing discriminatory laws and policies; and defending hard-won community leadership, legal protections, and U=U progress. Stand with communities: Support, fund and partner with community‑led organizations that lead advocacy efforts and provide trusted, stigma‑free services. Share the facts: Use social media, workplaces, and schools to spread messages that HIV is a health condition, not a moral failing, and that people living with HIV can live long, healthy, dignified lives.
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Attacks on Iran and retaliatory strikes ‘undermine international peace and security’ https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/02/1167059 UN Secretary-General António Guterres and the heads of UN agencies have condemned Saturday’s joint Israeli and US attacks on Iran and the Iranian retaliatory strikes on Israel and the Gulf Regions. His statement on X is as follows. António Guterres @antonioguterres "I condemn today’s military escalation in the Middle East. The use of force by the United States & Israel against Iran, and the subsequent retaliation by Iran across the region, undermine international peace & security. All Member States must respect their obligations under international law, including the Charter of the @UN . The Charter clearly prohibits “the threat of the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.” I call for an immediate cessation of hostilities & de-escalation. Failing to do so risks a wider regional conflict with grave consequences for civilians & regional stability. I strongly encourage all parties to return immediately to the negotiating table. I reiterate that there is no viable alternative to the peaceful settlement of international disputes, in full accordance with international law, including the UN Charter. The Charter provides the foundation for the maintenance of international peace and security." -
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A 2023 article written by Suella Braverman has recently been posted in Anything Plus on SL (without attribution), claiming that Multiculturalism has "failed". This article which counters the claim was posted in February 2024. How can we say multiculturalism has failed when we struggle to explain what it is? - Arv Kaushal 08 February 2024 By Arv Kaushal, Head of People Development & EDI at MK College Group A few months ago, the former home secretary, of Kenyan Indian and Mauritian Indian parentage, caused a storm of controversy with her claims that multiculturalism had “failed”. She said there was an “existential challenge for the political and cultural institutions of the West,” and that the “misguided dogma of multiculturalism” has allowed people to come to Britain with the aim of “undermining the stability and threatening the security of society.” To determine whether she is right or not, we need to understand what multiculturalism actually is. If you were to ask a hundred people, there’s a good chance you’d end up with (at least) a hundred different answers. How do you define a term that is so utterly dependent on perspective? My own concept of multiculturalism would certainly be very different from that of Suella Braverman, or a Ukrainian refugee, or a Huguenot fleeing religious persecution in seventeenth century France. Where does multiculturalism start, and interculturalism or cosmopolitanism begin or end? When somebody uses the word, how do we know what they're talking about? A lack of shared experience means a gap in shared understanding. Is multiculturalism all about black and brown and white faces? Does prime minister Rishi Sunak, the former Winchester head boy, Oxford graduate and Stanford MBA, have more in common, culturally, with a nurse whose grandparents came from the same village in the Punjab as Mr Sunak’s, or with the clutch of male Old Etonians and Oxbridge alumni with whom he has shared membership of various cabinets? Certainly, the Covid inquiry has heard suggestions that the monoculture of those making the decisions during the pandemic led to a lack of understanding of the needs of, and risks to, ethnic minorities, children in need of free school meals and elderly people in care homes. Is this a failure of multiculturalism, or no multiculturalism at all? At Milton Keynes College Group, we are committed to a community of staff and learners who reflect the makeup of the city in which we operate. That means our diversity, from senior managers, teachers, cleaners and catering staff, should mirror our homes and neighbourhoods. This is not some blind sacrifice to the God of multiculturalism; it is not “woke” or political correctness gone mad. It is simple business sense. How could we attract the best staff, the keenest students, the individuals most likely to meet local skills needs, if we fail to fish in all available ponds for talent? Isn’t multiculturalism in this context simply another term to describe commercial good sense? For the sake of argument, let’s define multiculturalism as the collective recognition, respect and valuing of different groups of people, all with the same rights, responsibilities and laws. My late immigrant Indian father had to abide by the law, and also had the right to vote, to buy a house and so on. This has not always been the case. When black and Asian immigrants came to Britain in numbers in the 40s, 50s and 60s, it was the trades unions that first found the concept of multiculturalism unpalatable, calling for British jobs for British workers. The 1965 and 1968 Race Relations Acts, largely came into being as a reaction to the Bristol Bus Boycott of 1963, where the bus company defended its refusal to employ black crews, because the Transport and General Workers Union had demanded they do so. Trades Unionism has undergone a transformation in its relationship with the ethnicity of workers and such a situation could not arise today. A company, blatantly and explicitly refusing to hire non-white workers would find itself demonised in even the most right-wing newspapers and in court shortly afterwards. So, from 1963 to today, surely, it has to be said that multiculturalism has actually succeeded. Nobody reacts with surprise or alarm when getting onto a bus driven by a black driver. It is the norm. And this is a key thing to consider. For something to have failed it needs to be assessed over a period of time, but what period? What is the timeline for assessing which particular trends? Is the home secretary talking about the last five years, or fifty, or fifteen hundred even? In the last century, British servicemen (for it was only men) of colour, used to be consigned to unmarked graves if they fell in the field for their country. Today such indignity would be unthinkable, and great care is taken by the armed forces to recognise the religious sensitivities of its fallen soldiers. That’s multiculturalism too. Does racism still exist in British society? Of course it does. Are there inequalities in health, education, employment, life expectancy? Palpably so. Are white and black people equal before the law? In theory, yes. In practice, no. Is that a failure of multiculturalism? Are refugees from Ukraine regarded in the same way as those from Afghanistan or Syria? No. Is that a failure of multiculturalism? There is a tendency among those who see multiculturalism as a failure, or even a threat, to want to preserve or even conserve something called Britishness, as if trapped like a fly in amber. But which Britishness is it? Is it the Britishness of today or yesterday, of the 1930s or the 1730s? Cultures cannot be frozen in time. The only ones that are, are those that no longer exist. The cultures of ancient Greece or the Incas are fixed and immutable… and dead. Television, and advertising in particular, have taken great conscious strides to be more representative of the multiethnic nature of society in recent years, but this is one of the great irritations for some who feel that multiculturalism has been artificially forced upon British society, rather than being part of a natural process. Supermarket advertisements featuring black and brown families tucking into a traditional Christmas lunch routinely provoke howls of protest about being unnecessarily and even offensively “woke.” Strangely, the depiction of some of the nation’s favourite meals (and yes, they really are) like Chicken Tikka Masala, Spaghetti Bolognese or Beef Chow Mein being eaten by white British families seems to cause no offence. Could it be that the reality is that what causes upset, is not a cultural difference, but the presence of non-white faces in situations which are not considered by some to be their place? Those of us working in the equality, diversity and inclusion space are often asked, “What does success look like? When will we have achieved the nirvana of total integration, total cultural harmony?” The reality is that the pursuit of multicultural perfection is a process. There is no end point, because all cultures are subject to constant change, with extinction and replacement the only possible alternative. So, has multiculturalism failed? Yes. In one sense it fails every day. However, the process of continual improvement, of gentle, sometime almost imperceptible evolution, goes on. Multiculturalism is an aspiration, and not a destination. Rather than decrying its failure, let us celebrate its achievements. -
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Why Crime Rates Are Falling Across the U.S. Crime rates are dropping across the U.S, in some cases reaching their lowest levels in decades. Data from 40 American cities shows a decrease in crime across 11 out of 13 categories of offenses last year compared to 2024, the Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ) found in a new analysis released on Thursday. Nine of those offenses, ranging from shoplifting to carjacking to aggravated assault, declined by 10% or more. The homicide rate fell 21% in 35 cities which provided data for the crime, accounting for 922 fewer deaths. And the report predicted that the rate will drop even further, to four per every 100,000 residents, when the FBI releases nationwide data for jurisdictions of all sizes. That would represent the lowest homicide rate since 1900 and the largest percentage drop in homicides in any single year on record. President Donald Trump has taken credit for falling crime rates around the country, citing his immigration crackdown and deployment of the National Guard in cities across the U.S. since he began his second presidential term. Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel highlighted the CCJ report’s findings on Thursday and credited the Administration for the decrease in overall crime. “Media gymnastics can’t hide the reality that this administration brought law and order back, and Americans are safer because of it,” he wrote in a post on X. He also pointed to statistics from what he called the “FBI’s historic year” that credited the agency with disrupting 1,800 gangs, seizing 2,000+ kilograms of fentanyl, and increasing violent crime arrests by 100% in 2025, among other achievements. Data shows, however, that there has been a steady decline in crime since a spike during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that rates were already falling before Trump returned to office—including in cities the Administration has targeted in its immigration and crime crackdowns. Experts tell TIME that the drop recorded last year is part of this larger trend and can be attributed to a kaleidoscope of factors, none of which can singularly or definitively account for the decline. “We see very confident claims of credit in abundance, but scarce hard evidence to back them up,” CCJ president and CEO Adam Gelb tells TIME. He stresses that disaggregating all the contributing factors that act against crime to create a coherent explanation for the data is an “impossibly difficult” task. “The remarkable consistency in the magnitude of the decline across the country really suggests that everything's happening at the macro level,” he added, pointing to “broader changes in society and culture and technology that are exerting enormous influence on what's happening at the local level.” Here’s what you should know about the recent data, and what factors experts believe could be contributing to the decline. • Last year’s decline in crime The CCJ report found that homicide rates decreased from 2024 to 2025 in 31 out of the 35 cities evaluated, with Denver, Omaha, Nebraska, and Washington seeing declines of 40% or more. Little Rock, Arkansas, marked the biggest outlier in the broader trend, seeing a 16% increase in homicides. In addition to the steep decline in homicides, the report found that there were 9% fewer reports of aggravated assault, 22% fewer gun assaults, 23% fewer robberies, and 2% fewer incidents of domestic violence. Violent crime in 2025 was overall at or below its levels in 2019, before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the report. Cities saw 25% fewer homicides than in 2019, with the largest drop—of 36%—occurring in the cities that had the highest homicide rates before the pandemic. Robberies fell 36% in the evaluated cities from their 2019 levels, and carjackings 29%. Beyond violent crimes, other categories of offenses also saw declines last year compared to 2024, including a 27% decrease in motor vehicle thefts, a 17% drop in residential burglaries, and a 10% decline in shoplifting. Drug offenses were the only category that saw an increase in 2025 from the previous year, rising 7%. But they were still down a notable 19% from 2019 levels. • Rebounding from the pandemic Data shows that the steady drop in crime recorded in the last three years follows a widespread spike in rates during the COVID-19 pandemic. “When COVID hit, and the world shut down, we basically turned off the water with respect to prevention and intervention strategies,” says Alexis Piquero, the former director of the Bureau of Justice Statistics appointed by President Joe Biden and a professor of criminology at the University of Miami. “And then it took about two or three years for the water to be turned back on. Then it starts dripping a little bit. And now ‘25 and into ‘26 the water now is at full blast.” John Roman, the director of the Center on Public Safety and Justice at the National Opinion Research Center of the University of Chicago, tells TIME that the loss of local government jobs as a result of the pandemic crippled communities' abilities to prevent crime, but that local government jobs have since grown past pre-pandemic levels. “We actually have more local government employees now that we've ever had and crime is at the lowest level it's been since 1960 and I don't think that's a coincidence,” he says, noting that those in such positions, like teachers, counselors, clinicians, and local police officers, are “the people who most directly work with young adults and adolescents who are at the greatest risk of committing a crime or being the victim of a crime.” He asserts that the most influential factor in reducing crime was the allocation of federal funds that led to the proliferation of such jobs, specifically crediting the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, a $1.9 trillion stimulus package that provided hundreds of billions in relief funds to state and local governments, among other provisions. “I do think that there's a policy argument that the American Rescue Plan is probably the most important federal legislation in the years since the pandemic,” says Patrick Sharkey, a Princeton University professor of sociology who founded AmericanViolence.org, calling the measure the “strongest and most effective investment in federal funding” in his lifetime. “I think it has gone unrecognized how incredibly effective it was in stabilizing communities and stabilizing local government … It's not very visible how important these resources are, but they play an enormous role in just making sure that communities don't fall apart.” These federal investments are essential for crime reduction programs at the local, neighborhood level that combat community violence, such as after-school, employment, and education programs, Piquero stresses to TIME. Barring another pandemic-level predicament, he expects these drops in crime to continue with the continued federal support trickling down to local jurisdictions. “We're much safer now than we've been in the last, certainly six years, and certainly since the height of the crack trade in the 1980s and in the strife and unrest of the 60s,” he adds “So I'm very I'm optimistic, but it's also not the time to take our foot off the pedal right now." • Shifts in technology and culture Outside of more trackable factors like federal funding, Gelb, CCJ’s president, believes a host of other contributors have worked together to reduce crime rates. Among them, he contends, is technology. From the growing frequency of cameras outside of homes and businesses; to more advanced criminal justice surveillance techniques and interconnected databases; to digital wallets, which have made cash robberies less common, Gelb says the increasingly technological world is causing crime to falter. He adds that the now ever-present role of tech is also leading to “rising youth independence,” with young people isolating themselves more rather than “carousing” with their friends. He notes that young people often co-offend in instances of violent crime. He also attributes the falling crime rates to cultural and social influences, namely a decline in alcohol consumption and a slowing of the opioid epidemic. Increased police presence, taking guns off the streets, and local community violence intervention programs are other factors contributing to the steep drop, he says. • Trump’s role Though Trump has taken credit for reducing overall crime in 2025, rates were already declining before he returned to office last January, and experts say it’s at best too soon to tell if his Administration has played a notable role in the drop—and that it could be outright false to attribute the change to his crackdown. Gelb acknowledges that the increased presence of federal agents could be contributing to lower rates of crime. But, he says, “This level of deployment and these types of tactics are unprecedented. So even if we had good research about general deterrence, it wouldn't necessarily apply here because of the unprecedented nature of this federal deployment.” Piquero notes that crime has also trended down in cities and areas where the National Guard has not been deployed and ICE operations have not been ramped up. “We're in the fourth year of a crime decline, and the National Guardian and ICE deployments have really been something that's only happened over the last six months. It’s hard to link the two at this point,” Roman added. “It's clear that the crime decline was fully developed before any of those deployments happened.” Sharkey, meanwhile, believes there’s no correlation between the ramped up federal presence in cities and the decrease in crime rates at all. “It would be ridiculous to argue that federal presence in cities played any role,” he tells TIME. “This started in 2023. So that argument is nonsensical.” https://time.com/7357500/crime-homicide-rate-violent-property-decline-trump-covid-19/ -
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The pathetic creature has decided not to remove his racist post, but to edit it, so that he can claim it is mainstream. Just be aware that I will pick you up on anything I consider to be racist, whether it be your words or words you have taken from another source. Oh, and editing comments doesn't mean they were never said, they were, and a copy exists to prove it. Just make sure I don't need to write about you again, as I hate racists, which includes your aged pal who feels your original post wasn't racist. Either he and you haven't a clue what racism is, or you don't care, but, be aware, we do. -
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What a pathetic little creature Georgy boy is! In a story of a young lad who stabbed 2 other children and then went to a mosque to cry, he, Georgy, asks "what are they teaching them in these mosques?" That is a totally racist statement as nothing has been published anywhere which states that his actions were as a result of anything to do with mosques. Georgy is making racist inferences to further his pathetic assertions. -
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Radio 2 DJ has completed her challenge to walk/jog/run 135 miles in 5 days. She completed the challenge this afternoon raising over £7.6 million for Children in need. The prgramme airs tonight on BBC1 at 19.00 To donate: https://donate.bbcchildreninneed.co.uk/sara More information: https://www.bbcchildreninneed.co.uk/shows/sara-cox-marathon-challenge/ -
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GENEVA – Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel said in a new report today. The Commission urges Israel and all States to fulfil their legal obligations under international law to end the genocide and punish those responsible for it. The Commission has been investigating the events on and since 7 October 2023 for the last two years, and concluded that Israeli authorities and Israeli security forces committed four of the five genocidal acts defined by the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, namely killing, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of the Palestinians in whole or in part, and imposing measures intended to prevent births. Explicit statements by Israeli civilian and military authorities and the pattern of conduct of the Israeli security forces indicate that the genocidal acts were committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as a group. “The Commission finds that Israel is responsible for the commission of genocide in Gaza,” said Navi Pillay, Chair of the Commission. “It is clear that there is an intent to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza through acts that meet the criteria set forth in the Genocide Convention.” “The responsibility for these atrocity crimes lies with Israeli authorities at the highest echelons who have orchestrated a genocidal campaign for almost two years now with the specific intent to destroy the Palestinian group in Gaza,” Pillay said. “The Commission also finds that Israel has failed to prevent and punish the commission of genocide, through failure to investigate genocidal acts and to prosecute alleged perpetrators.” The report is based on all the Commission’s prior investigations, as well as factual and legal findings in relation to attacks in Gaza carried out by Israeli forces, and the conduct and statements of Israeli authorities from 7 October 2023 until 31 July 2025. The Commission’s findings are based on a comprehensive examination of the underlying acts of genocide (actus reus) and genocidal intent (dolus specialis). In establishing the genocidal acts, the Commission examined the Israeli military operations in Gaza, including killing and seriously harming unprecedented numbers of Palestinians; imposing a total siege, including blocking humanitarian aid leading to starvation; systematically destroying the healthcare and education systems in Gaza; committing systematic acts of sexual and gender based violence; directly targeting children; carrying out systematic and widespread attacks on religious and cultural sites; and disregarding the orders of the International Court of Justice. In establishing genocidal intent, the Commission applied the “only reasonable inference” standard set forth by the International Court of Justice in the case of Bosnia v. Serbia. The Commission analysed statements made by Israeli authorities and concluded that those statements are direct evidence of genocidal intent. The Commission also analysed the pattern of conduct of Israeli authorities and the Israeli security forces in Gaza, including imposing starvation and inhumane conditions of life for Palestinians in Gaza, and found that genocidal intent was the only reasonable inference that could be concluded from the nature of their operations. “Israel has flagrantly disregarded the orders for provisional measures from the International Court of Justice and warnings from Member States, UN offices, human rights organisations and civil society groups, and continued the strategy of destruction of the Palestinians in Gaza,” said Pillay. “The Commission finds that the Israeli authorities had no intention to change their course of actions. On the contrary, Israeli authorities have persisted and continued with their genocidal campaign in Gaza for almost two years now. Israel must immediately end the genocide in Gaza and comply fully with the orders for provisional measures of the International Court of Justice,” she added. The acts of Israeli political and military leaders are attributable to the State of Israel. The Commission therefore concluded that the State of Israel bears responsibility for the failure to prevent genocide, the commission of genocide and the failure to punish the perpetrators of genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The Commission also concluded that Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, have incited the commission of genocide and that Israeli authorities have failed to take action against them to punish this incitement. The Commission has not fully assessed statements by other Israeli political and military leaders and considers that they too should be assessed to determine whether they constitute incitement to commit genocide. The Commission urges the Government of Israel to comply immediately with its international legal obligations, including to end the genocide in the Gaza Strip and fully implement the provisional measures orders of the International Court of Justice. Israel must end its policy of starvation, lift the siege and facilitate and ensure the unimpeded access of humanitarian aid at scale and unhindered access of all United Nations staff, including UNRWA and OHCHR international staff, and all recognized international humanitarian agencies delivering and coordinating aid. The Commission calls on Israel to immediately end the activities of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The Commission recommended that Member States cease the transfer of arms and other equipment that may be used for the commission of genocidal acts to Israel; ensure individuals and corporations in their territories and within their jurisdiction are not involved in aiding and assisting the commission of genocide or incitement to commit genocide; and take action on accountability through investigations and legal proceedings against individuals or corporations that are involved in the genocide directly or indirectly. “The international community cannot stay silent on the genocidal campaign launched by Israel against the Palestinian people in Gaza. When clear signs and evidence of genocide emerge, the absence of action to stop it amounts to complicity,” said Pillay. “Every day of inaction costs lives and erodes the credibility of the international community. All States are under a legal obligation to use all means that are reasonably available to them to stop the genocide in Gaza,” she added. Read the full report here: (https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/sessions-regular/session60/advance-version/a-hrc-60-crp-3.pdf) https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/09/israel-has-committed-genocide-gaza-strip-un-commission-finds -
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Police still looking for second perpetrator after daylight attack in Oldbury A previously sealed off area of grassland near Tame Road in Oldbury, West Midlands, as police are investigating the reported rape of a woman The woman was attacked as she walked near Tame Road in Oldbury, West Midlands, on September 9 A man in his 30s has been arrested on suspicion of raping a woman in a “racially motivated attack” in West Midlands. The victim, a British-born Sikh aged in her 20s, told police she was targeted by two men as she walked to work near Tame Road in Oldbury last Tuesday. The men allegedly said “you don’t belong in this country, get out” as they sexually assaulted the woman between 8am and 8.30am. The force previously said they were looking for two white men in connection with the attack. On Sunday evening, West Midlands Police confirmed a man had been arrested and remained in custody. Chief Superintendent Kim Madill said: “This is a significant development in the investigation and we want to thank the community for their continuing support. “The investigation remains ongoing and we would urge people not to speculate as we work to identify and trace all those who may have been involved.” In a statement released through the Sikh Federation (UK) earlier on Sunday, the victim said she was “truly humbled” by the love and support shown by her local community as she tried to process the incident. She said: “I want to sincerely thank everyone for supporting me and my family during this very difficult time. We are going through a lot, but the strength and kindness shown by the right people in the community has been incredible, and I can’t thank them enough for being my voice. “I would never wish this on anyone. All I was doing was going about my day on my way to work, and what has happened has deeply affected us. Through it all, my family has been my rock, and my community has stood strong beside me. “The police are doing their best to find those responsible and I truly hope they are caught so that this doesn’t happen to anyone else.” Dabinderjit Singh OBE, an executive at Sikh Federation (UK), thanked the police for their investigation into the “brutal racist sexual attack”. “We hope the other man will also be arrested, charged and prosecutions will quickly follow for this vile crime,” Mr Singh said. Gurinder Singh Josan, the local Labour MP for Smethwick, previously said the “truly horrific attack” was being treated as a hate crime. “The police are working extremely sympathetically with the victim...who has been traumatised by the attack,” Mr Josan said. “We are grateful for all the CCTV and information that has already been forthcoming from the community.” The investigation continues. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/09/15/man-arrested-racially-motivated-rape-sikh-woman-oldbury/
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