Israel-Palestine, Zimbabwe, Uganda.
Today's three stories you should know.
Israel-Palestine
Israel’s killing of seven aid workers - including six Westerners - in Gaza has drawn swift condemnation from its closest allies. US President Joe Biden said he was “outraged and heartbroken.” Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was “appalled.” Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was “outraged” by the “completely unacceptable” attack. All three, and several other world leaders, have called on Israel to carry out an urgent investigation. The immediate impact of the strike appears clear. World Central Kitchen, the organisation the seven worked for, said it will cease operations in Gaza, and other aid orgs have said the same, leaving Palestinians in the lurch as a starvation crisis worsens. Many people have pointed out that, with more than 30,000 Palestinians dead, it took the killing of Westerners to prompt the strongest criticism of Israel yet. Some 196 Palestinian aid workers have been killed in Israeli strikes since the war began.
More from Al Jazeera here.
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe has declared a state of national disaster as a prolonged drought pushes the country’s poorest to the brink. President Emmerson Mnangagwa said more than 2.7 million people will go hungry this year and that his government needs about $2bn to tackle the crisis, which has wiped out about half of the maize crop. It follows similar announcements from Zambia and Malawi as drought caused by the El Nino global weather pattern grips the southern Africa region.
More from Reuters here.
And an explainer on El Nino from BBC here.
Uganda
Uganda’s Constitutional Court has rejected a petition to overturn one of the world’s harshest anti-LGBTQ+ laws but did concede it is inconsistent with some fundamental rights. "We decline to nullify the Anti-Homosexuality Act 2023 in its entirety, neither will we grant a permanent injunction against its enforcement," lead judge Richard Buteera said. But some more minor sections "inconsistent with right to health, privacy and freedom of religion" will be struck down. The law, popular in Uganda but widely condemned internationally, contains provisions that make “aggravated homosexuality” punishable by death.
More from the Guardian here.