Foreign News
Women Bear the Brunt of the Climate Crisis, COP26 Highlights

Women took the global stage on Tuesday at the United Nations climate summit, COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, to show that climate change isn’t gender neutral and that climate action needs them.
They noted that investing in women and girls creates ripple effects felt throughout entire communities and the frontline knowledge they possess is needed now more than ever.
After ‘walking’ some 8,000 miles across Europe, Little Amal, a giant puppet representing a young Syrian refugee girl arrived in Glasgow right on time for ‘Women’s Day’ at COP26.
The 3.5-meter-tall living artwork surprised attendants of Tuesday’s plenary when it walked up the stairs and joined Samoan climate activist Brianna Fruean in a hug and a gift exchange.
Brianna gave her a flower, representing hope and light, and Amal, a bag of seeds in return.
“Both of us have embarked here for a journey, from two very different places, but we are connected by the fact that we are living in a broken world that systemically has marginalised women and girls. Especially women and girls from vulnerable communities,” Fruean told the plenary.
The young activist reminded participants that the brunt of the climate emergency which amplifies existent inequalities is often felt harder by women.
“Amal brought seeds to physically share, to inspire, seeds represent hope.
“The beautiful thing about seeds is that you have to be selfless enough to be content in the fact that you might not eat the fruit or bear the flowers.
“But feeling it is worth it, knowing that your children will live with its beauty,” she added, using seeds as a metaphor for the decisions being taken at COP26 for the future of our planet.
Fruean highlighted that seeds needed to be watered, pruned and nurtured to bear fruit and flowers, inviting delegates to keep their work after the conference finishes.
“I will plant these seeds out when our ministers are ready, but I hope that within the negotiations and rooms you are able to plant them.
“When we leave COP, you’ll tend to them so that they’ll grow into a beautiful world that is deserving of girls like Amal and deserving of having all girls be safe in it.”
Alok Sharma, the COP26 President, made a short intervention, but not without being observed by Little Amal and Fruean, who stood tall watching his speech.
“Today is gender day because gender and climate are profoundly intertwined. The impact of climate change impact women and girls disproportionately,” he said, urging to empower and support women.
Little Amal, and the Syrian girls it represents, are not alone in their distress: 80 per cent of the displaced by climate related disasters and changes around the world are women and girls.
For millennia, women have had a special relationship with nature. They contribute enormously to the well-being and sustainable development of their communities, as well as to the maintenance of the planet’s ecosystems, biological diversity and natural resources.
Women in developing countries are generally the first to respond to managing the environmental capital that surrounds them.
From collecting water for cooking and cleaning, using the land for livestock, foraging for food in rivers and reefs, and collecting firewood, women all over the planet use and interact with natural resources and ecosystems daily.
According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and other UN agencies, they are also the first to feel the effects of climate change when they must travel longer and longer distances to find what they need to feed their families.
Moreover, while environmental degradation has serious consequences for all human beings, it affects, in particular, the most vulnerable sectors of society, mainly women, whose health is most fragile during pregnancy and motherhood.
However, the recognition of what women contribute or can contribute to the survival of the planet and to development remains limited. Gender inequality and social exclusion continue to increase the negative effects of unsustainable and destructive environmental management on women and girls.
Persistent discriminatory social and cultural norms, such as unequal access to land, water, and other resources, as well as their lack of participation in decisions regarding planning and management of nature, often lead to ignorance of the tremendous contributions they can make. (NAN)
Foreign News
Israel Vows to Build Jewish Settlements, Rejects Macron’s Call for Palestinian State

“Do not threaten Israel with sanctions” as it will continue to build a “Jewish state” on the ground,” Israeli Defense Minister, Israel Katz, warned on Friday.He also rebuffed a call by French President Emmanuel Macron for establishing a Palestinian State.In open defiance of international law, Katz claimed that world powers may recognize a Palestinian state “on paper.
”Katz made the remarks during a visit to Sa-Nur, an illegal outpost in the northern West Bank that the Tel Aviv government recently decided to officially designate as a settlement for illegal Israeli settlers. In a direct message, Defense Minister Israel Katz targets French President Macron and European allies.He also dismissed the potential international consequences.He said: “They will recognise a Palestinian state on paper, while we will build the Jewish Israeli state on the ground.“Don’t threaten us with sanctions. You will not make us bow.“The State of Israel will not kneel before threats.”His comments came hours after President Macron stated that recognising the State of Palestine was a “moral duty”.Macron also reiterated that France may move toward official recognition during an upcoming international conference focused on the two-state solution.Earlier this week, Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the Israeli Security Cabinet had secretly approved the establishment of 22 new illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.In response, the Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now issued a statement Thursday, revealing that 12 of the newly approved settlements were previously unauthorised outposts and farming sites established in recent years.According to Peace Now, there are currently 156 illegal settlements and 224 outposts across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, with over 736,000 illegal Israeli settlers living on occupied Palestinian land.The international community, including the UN, considers the Israeli settlements illegal under international law.The UN has repeatedly warned that continued settlement expansion threatens the viability of a two-state solution, a framework seen as key to resolving the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict.In July 2024, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian land illegal and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.(AA/NAN)Foreign News
Comedian Russell Brand Pleads not Guilty to Rape, Sexual Assault

British comedian and actor Russell Brand has pleaded not guilty to charges of rape and sexual assault.
The 49-year-old appeared in the dock at London’s Southwark Crown Court on Friday flanked by two officers, where he stood stock-still and looked straight ahead as he delivered his pleas.
He is accused of raping a woman in a hotel room while she attended a Labour Party conference in Bournemouth, and grabbing a TV worker’s breasts and orally raping her after dragging her into a male toilet.
Brand is also alleged to have grabbed a radio station worker’s face, pushing her against a wall and kissing her before groping her breasts and buttocks.
The final charge alleges the actor indecently assaulted another woman after grabbing her forearm and attempting to drag her into a male toilet.
The allegations against Brand are said to have taken place against four women between 1999 and 2005.
The defendant, of Hambleden, Buckinghamshire, who faces one count each of rape, indecent assault and oral rape, as well as two counts of sexual assault, is due to stand trial on June 3 next year at the same court.
As Friday’s hearing finished, the comedian replaced his sunglasses before exiting the dock and calmly walked past reporters.
He was charged following an investigation by Channel 4 and the Sunday Times newspaper in which several women made allegations against him.
Brand previously told his 11.2 million followers on X that he welcomed the opportunity to prove his innocence.(dpa/NAN)
Foreign News
Man Sentenced for Blackmailing German Priest With Nude Photos

A 50-year-old man was on Friday given a 20-month suspended sentence for blackmailing a German priest with nude photos.
During the trial at Augsburg District Court in the southern state of Bavaria, the defendant, who had no previous convictions, admitted to all charges.
According to the indictment, he sent nude photos downloaded from an internet platform hosting homosexual content, as well as a photo showing the priest, to the theologian at the end of 2022.
He threatened to give the photos to television stations and publish them in the priest’s parish, and demanded the priest send him 50,000 euros (56,600 U.S. dollars).
Later, the defendant also sent an email with the nude photos to the priest’s parish office.
The priest did not respond to either attempt or contact but reported the matter to the police.
The defendant was charged with attempted extortion and sentenced to one year and eight months in prison.
The sentence was suspended on probation.
The man must also pay 800 euros.
The verdict is not yet final. (dpa/NAN)