Gaza War: Palestinian journalists win top press freedom prize

“We have a huge debt to their courage and commitment to freedom of expression,” Mauricio Weibel, who chaired the jury, said in commemoration of World Press Freedom Day.

 (PHOTO CREDIT: https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/05/1149301)

ByAgency Report
May 3, 2024

The Palestinian journalists covering the war in Gaza have been named winners of the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize.
The top award for reporters who have witnessed the destruction of much of their homeland under Israel’s relentless bombardment came at the recommendation of an international jury of media professionals.

“In these times of darkness and hopelessness, we wish to share a strong message of solidarity and recognition to those Palestinian journalists who are covering this crisis in such dramatic circumstances.

“We have a huge debt to their courage and commitment to freedom of expression,” Mauricio Weibel, who chaired the jury, said in commemoration of World Press Freedom Day.


World Press Freedom Day is celebrated on 3 May to raise awareness of the importance of press freedom and the right to freedom of expression for all other human rights.


The UN science, education and culture agency’s chief Audrey Azoulay, said the Prize reminded everyone of “the importance of collective action to ensure that journalists around the world can continue to carry out their essential work to inform and investigate.”

The ongoing conflict in Gaza is having grave consequences for journalists.

Since 7 October 2023, UNESCO has condemned and deplored the deaths of 26 journalists and media workers in the line of work, based upon information from its international NGO partners.

UNESCO is supporting journalists reporting from conflict and crisis zones which includes distributing essential supplies to journalists in Gaza, and has established safe working spaces and provided emergency grants for journalists in Ukraine and Sudan.

2024 World Press Freedom is dedicated to the importance of journalism and freedom of expression in the context of the current global environmental crisis.

Awareness of all aspects of the global environmental crisis and its consequences is essential to build democratic societies.

READ ALSO: Gaza: If this is not genocide, what then is it?, By Femi Fani-Kayode

Journalists encounter significant challenges in seeking and disseminating information on contemporary issues, such as supply chain problems, climate migration, extractive industries, `illegal mining, pollution, poaching, animal trafficking, deforestation, or climate change.

Ensuring the visibility of these issues is crucial for promoting peace and democratic values worldwide.

(NAN)

World Press Freedom Day: Gaza conflict deadliest for journalists

As the war in Gaza becomes the deadliest conflict for journalists, Al Jazeera looks at press freedom in the past year.

Colleagues and family members pray at the funeral of Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abudaqa in Khan Younis, Gaza [File: Mahmud Hams/AFP]

By Hanna Duggal and Marium Ali
Published On 3 May 2024

Every year on May 3, UNESCO commemorates World Press Freedom Day.

It is being marked today at a particularly perilous time for journalists globally, with Israel’s war on Gaza becoming the deadliest conflict for journalists and media workers.


KEEP READING
How are journalists in Gaza coping with the war?

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Lebanon and the War on Journalists

Missing Mexican journalist’s body found ‘with signs of violence’

“When we lose a journalist, we lose our eyes and ears to the outside world. We lose a voice for the voiceless,” Volker Turk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement today.

“World Press Freedom Day was established to celebrate the value of truth and to protect the people who work courageously to uncover it.”
Deadliest period for journalists in Gaza

More than 100 journalists and media workers, the vast majority Palestinian, have been killed in the first seven months of war in Gaza, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).

Gaza’s media office has the number at more than 140 killed, which averages to five journalists killed every week since October 7.

Since the start of the war, at least 34,596 Palestinians have been killed and 77,816 others injured in Gaza. More than 8,000 others are missing, buried under the rubble.

“Gaza’s reporters must be protected, those who wish must be evacuated, and Gaza’s gates must be opened to international media.” Jonathan Dagher, Head of RSF’s Middle East desk said in a statement in April.
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“The few reporters who have been able to leave bear witness to the same terrifying reality of journalists being attacked, injured and killed … Palestinian journalism must be protected as a matter of urgency.”


Al Jazeera journalists killed and injured in Gaza

On January 7, Hamza Dahdouh, the eldest son of Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief, Wael Dahdouh, was killed by an Israeli missile in Khan Younis. Hamza, who was a journalist like his father, was in a vehicle near al-Mawasi, a supposedly safe area that Israel designated, with another journalist, Mustafa Thuraya, who was also killed in the attack.

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According to reports from Al Jazeera correspondents, Hamza and Mustafa’s vehicle was targeted as they were trying to interview civilians displaced by previous bombings.Al Jazeera’s bureau chief in Gaza, Wael Dahdouh, centre, hugs his daughter during the funeral of his son Hamza Wael Dahdouh, a journalist with the Al Jazeera television network, who was killed in a reported Israeli air strike in Rafah in the Gaza Strip on January 7, 2024 [AFP]

The Al Jazeera Media Network strongly condemned the attack, adding: “The assassination of Mustafa and Hamza … whilst they were on their way to carry out their duty in the Gaza Strip, reaffirms the need to take immediate necessary legal measures against the occupation forces to ensure that there is no impunity.”[Al Jazeera]

On December 15, 2023, Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abudaqa was hit in an Israeli drone attack that also injured Wael Dahdouh, while they were reporting at Farhana school in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.

Abudaqa bled to death for more than four hours as emergency workers were unable to reach him because the Israeli army would not let them.

Abudaqa was the 13th Al Jazeera journalist killed on duty since the launch of the network in 1996.Al Jazeera established a monument at its headquarters in Doha carrying the names of those who have paid the ultimate price in the line of duty [Al Jazeera]

In 2022, Palestinian reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, renowned across the Arab world, was killed by the Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank while reporting.

Al Jazeera has called on the international community to hold Israel accountable for attacks on reporters.
How many journalists have been killed around the world in 2024?

So far in 2024, 25 journalists and media workers have been killed, according to the CPJ.

At least 20 of those killed were in Palestine. While two were killed in Colombia, and one each in Pakistan, Sudan and Myanmar.
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In 2023, more than three-quarters of the 99 journalists and media workers killed worldwide died in the Israel-Gaza war, the majority of them Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza.

“Since the Israel-Gaza war began, journalists have been paying the highest price – their lives – to defend our right to the truth. Each time a journalist dies or is injured, we lose a fragment of that truth,” CPJ programme director Carlos Martinez de la Serna said.

(Al Jazeera)

Where is press freedom most restricted?

To measure the pulse of press freedom around the globe, the media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) publishes an annual index. It ranks the political, economic, and sociocultural context as well as the legal framework and security of the press in 180 countries and territories.

According to the 2024 World Press Freedom Index, Eritrea has the worst press freedom, followed by Syria, Afghanistan, North Korea and Iran.

According to RSF, all independent media have been banned in Eritrea since the transition to a dictatorship in September 2001. The media is directly controlled by the Ministry of Information – a news agency, a few publications and Eri TV.

How many journalists are imprisoned?

As of December 1, 2023, 320 journalists and media workers were imprisoned, according to CPJ.

China (44 behind bars), Myanmar (43), Belarus (28), Russia (22) and Vietnam (19) rank as having the highest number of imprisoned journalists.
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China has long been “one of the world’s worst jailers of journalists”, according to the CPJ.

Of the 44 journalists imprisoned in China, nearly half are Uighurs, where they have accused Beijing of crimes against humanity for its mass detentions and harsh repression of the region’s mostly-Muslim ethnic groups.

(Al Jazeera)
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

Labour leader renews call for general election following by-election victory

'Here in Blackpool, a message has been sent directly to the prime minister, because this was a parliamentary vote,' says Keir Starmer

Burak Bir |03.05.2024 

Keir Starmer Votes in the Local Elections in London

LONDON

Labour Party leader Keir Starmer on Friday demanded Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to call general election after his party's Blackpool South by-election victory.

Labour Party's candidate Chris Webb received 10,825 votes with a 7,607 majority after Thursday's contest, a 58.9% vote share. Starmer called it a "historic" win in a new blow to Sunak.

The by-election comes following the resignation of former Conservative MP Scott Benton in March.

"Here in Blackpool, a message has been sent directly to the prime minister, because this was a parliamentary vote," he said.

Starmer added: "This was directly to Rishi Sunak to say we're fed up with your decline, your chaos, and your division, and we want change. We want to go forward with Labour."

"That wasn't just a little message, that wasn't just a murmur. That was a shout from Blackpool," he said, praising Webb for "making history" with this win.

On his victory, Webb stated that people were "fed up" and "want change," adding Conservatives also voted for him in this election because they want that change.

The by-election victory comes amid local elections across England and Wales in which Labour Party leads with positive results with four new councils and 59 new council seats as the count continues.

The ruling Conservative Party has lost three councils they were defending, alongside 113 council seats, as almost one-third of the results are declared.

Despite overall positive results, the Labour votes saw a decrease in areas where Muslims make up 5% of the population amid reaction to party’s stance toward the Israeli attacks in Gaza.

Labour win Blackpool South in biggest by-election swing since WWII

Neil Shaw

Thu, 2 May 2024 

Labour has won the Blackpool South parliamentary by-election and made gains in council contests to heap pressure on Rishi Sunak. In the contest triggered by the resignation of former Tory MP Scott Benton following a lobbying scandal, Labour’s Chris Webb secured 10,825 votes, a majority of 7,607.

Tory David Jones came in second with 3,218 votes, just 117 ahead of Reform UK’s Mark Butcher. Mr Webb said: “People no longer trust the Conservatives. Prime Minister: do the decent thing, admit you’ve failed and call a general election.”

The 26.33% swing was the third biggest from the Conservatives to Labour at a by-election since the Second World War. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: “This seismic win in Blackpool South is the most important result today.

“This is the one contest where voters had the chance to send a message to Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives directly, and that message is an overwhelming vote for change. The swing towards the Labour Party in Blackpool South is truly historic and shows that we are firmly back in the service of working people.”

Tory deputy chair Angela Richardson told the BBC: “The result was not unexpected. I think, given the circumstances that caused the by-election in the first place, it was always going to be difficult for the Conservatives.”

Elections expert Professor Sir John Curtice said: “The only thing that’s stopped this result from being basically an unmitigated disaster for the Conservatives was the fact they just narrowly squeaked ahead of Reform.”

He added: “Basically the project that Rishi Sunak is meant to be there to achieve, which is to narrow the gap on Labour, that project still has yet to provide any visible benefit.”

The Tories were also facing losses in council elections across England, after votes took place in 107 authorities. Most of the council seats up for re-election in England were last contested in 2021, at the peak of Boris Johnson’s popularity as the Covid-19 vaccine was rolled out.

Tory peer and polling expert Lord Hayward said he expected the Tories to lose upwards of 400 seats but he suggested that Mr Sunak’s position was not in immediate jeopardy. “In recent days I have been left with the very clear impression that, amongst Tory MPs, the ‘let’s have a leadership election’ balloon has been substantially deflated,” he said.

However, “an audible, very small group will disagree and probably do so early”.

A strong showing by Reform UK will add to Tory unease about Mr Sunak’s ability to lead the party to a general election victory. Reform UK’s leader Richard Tice told the PA news agency his party had “rapidly become the real opposition to Labour, whether it’s in the North, the Midlands, we know it’s the case in Wales”.

In Sunderland, one of the few councils where Reform fought every seat, it beat the Conservatives into third place in 16 of the 25 seats up for grabs while Labour made a net gain of six to increase its comfortable majority. A total of 11 mayoral contests are also taking place, including for the London mayoralty between frontrunners Labour incumbent Sadiq Khan and Tory challenger Susan Hall.

Forecasts have consistently put Mr Khan ahead of Ms Hall, with a poll published on Wednesday by Savanta giving him a 10-point advantage after his lead tapered over the campaign. Allies of Mr Khan said they expected a “close” fight, with the result announced on Saturday.

Conservative mayors Andy Street in the West Midlands and Lord Ben Houchen in Tees Valley are also facing re-election battles. Victory for either would be a boost for Mr Sunak, although Labour point to the mayors distancing themselves from the current Tory leadership.

Voters across England and Wales also had the chance to choose their police and crime commissioners.

The final results from the various elections are not expected until Sunday but key developments include:

– Labour won Rushmoor in Hampshire for the first time and claimed the council in key general election battleground Redditch.

– Labour won Hartlepool council, regaining ground in an area where the party suffered a Westminster by-election humiliation in 2021.

– Labour won Thurrock, one of its top targets and an area of the country that will be a key battleground with the Tories at the next general election.

– The Tories clung on by a single seat in Harlow, a council targeted by Sir Keir on the eve of polling day.

– With 29 of 107 councils declared, the Tories have lost three authorities and a net 826 councillors, while Labour gained four authorities and 59 councillors.

– The Greens put on 13 councillors, the Liberal Democrats gained eight while there were also increases for independents and residents groups.

– Labour gained the Cumbria police and crime commissioner from the Conservatives.

The gains for Labour came despite setbacks in some previously safe areas, particularly those with large Muslim populations, where the party’s candidates may have suffered as a result of Sir Keir’s stance on the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. The Liberal Democrats said they expected to put further holes in the “blue wall” of Tory battleground seats in southern England.

Green co-leader Adrian Ramsay said: “North and south, east and west, Greens are winning the trust of voters fed up with the chaos of the Conservatives and the U-turns of Labour. We are winning because our message of hope is being heard by new groups of voters.”

The relatively new requirement for voters to show photographic identification caused some high-profile problems, including for Mr Johnson, who as prime minister introduced the changes. He was turned away while attempting to cast his ballot in South Oxfordshire, where a police and crime commissioner for the Thames Valley is being elected, Sky News
reported.

Labour wins UK by-election as Tory PM Sunak stares at more losses

AFP
Thu, 2 May 2024

New Labour Party MP for Blackpool South, Chris Webb (C) reacts as his win is announced at the count centre in Blackpool (Oli SCARFF)


Britain's ruling Conservatives lost a parliamentary seat to the main Labour opposition Friday, as the country awaited local election results likely to pile more pressure on embattled leader Rishi Sunak.

Labour seized the constituency of Blackpool South, in the northwest of England, in the latest by-election defeat for the Tories as it appears on course to lose an upcoming general election.

The vote, triggered by a lobbying scandal that saw the area's Conservative MP resign, took place as voters cast ballots on Thursday in a mix of council, mayoral and other local contests across England.

Labour's Chris Webb won with a 26.3 percent swing -- the third largest margin from the Conservatives to Labour at a by-election since World War II.

"This seismic win in Blackpool South is the most important result today," said Labour leader Keir Starmer, tipped to be Britain's next prime minister.

The polls represent the last major ballot box test before Sunak goes to the country in a nationwide vote expected in the second half of the year.

His ruling Tories, in power nationally since 2010 and defending hundreds of seats secured the last time these local elections were held in 2021, are tipped to suffer heavy losses.

Early results showed that Labour was making gains in council seats, but all eyes were on key regional and London mayor races, the outcome of which are only expected later Friday and Saturday.

The capital's Labour mayor Sadiq Khan is expected to win a record third term easily, but mayoral contests in the West Midlands and Tees Valley, in northeast England, are predicted to be tight.

A victory for the Labour opposition in either of the regions, home to bellwether constituencies, would be hailed as further evidence voters are ready to return the party to power nationally.

Speculation is rife in the UK parliament at Westminster that a bad showing may lead some restive Tory lawmakers to try to replace Sunak, who has been in charge since October 2022.

Wins for the incumbent Tory mayors in the West Midlands and Tees Valley, Andy Street and Ben Houchen, would boost their hopes that the beleaguered leader can still revive their fortunes.

But with the Tories under fire nationally, on issues from water pollution to transport and inflation, Street and Houchen have appeared to distance themselves from the party during the campaign.

Pollsters forecast that the Conservatives could lose about half of the nearly 1,000 council seats they are defending in cities, towns and districts across England.

Worryingly for Sunak, the Conservatives only scraped into second place in Blackpool South ahead of the fringe Reform UK party, which threatens to squeeze the right-wing vote at the general election.


Labour Easily Wins Blackpool South By-Election As Tory Vote Collapses

Kevin Schofield
Updated Thu, 2 May 2024 

Labour candidate Chris Webb with his wife Portia and son Cillian wait for the declaration at the count centre in Blackpool. OLI SCARFF via Getty Images

Labour has won the Blackpool South by-election on another disastrous night for Rishi Sunak.

The party’s candidate, Chris Webb, become the Lancashire seat’s new MP as the Tory vote collapsed by 32%.

The result in one of the Red Wall seats the Conservatives won in 2019 will set alarm bells ringing among the party’s MPs with the general election election on the horizon.

The huge 26% swing from the Tories to Labour will also raise further questions about Sunak’s future as PM, with rebel MPs ready to mount a challenge against his leadership.

Webb received 10,825 votes, giving him a majority of 7,607 over Tory candidate David Jones, who only beat Reform UK’s Mark Butcher by 117 votes.

The by-election was held after Scott Benton, who won the seat for the Conservatives at the 2019 general election, quit following a lobbying scandal.

Benton had the Tory whip suspended after he was filmed last year offering to help the gambling industry in exchange for money.

Following an investigation, he was handed a 35-day suspension from the Commons.

The by-election result means Labour has regained a seat it previously held between 1997 and 2019.

It is also the 10th by-election defeat Sunak has suffered in just 18 months as prime minister, and reduces the Tories’ working Commons majority - which was 80 after the 2019 election - to 47.

Chris Webb said: “The people of Blackpool South have spoken for Britain.

“They have said to Rishi Sunak and to the Conservatives they’ve had enough. They’ve had enough of 14 years of the Conservatives being in power, they’ve lost the trust of the British people and Blackpool has had enough of this failed government, which has crashed the economy, destroyed our public services and put up taxes.

“They have said it is time for change and that change has started here in Blackpool tonight.”

Keir Starmer hailed the “seismic” result, which coincided with local elections across England and Wales.

He said: “This is the one contest where voters had the chance to send a message to Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives directly, and that message is an overwhelming vote for change.

“The swing towards the Labour Party in Blackpool South is truly historic and shows that we are firmly back in the service of working people.”

A Conservative Party spokesperson said: “This was a tough fight, and David Jones was an excellent candidate who campaigned hard for every single vote.

“This was always going to be difficult election given the specific circumstances related to the previous incumbent.

“What has been clear is that a vote for Reform is a vote for Sir Keir Starmer - taking us right back to square one.”

England local and mayoral elections: results to look out for and when

Eleni Courea 

Political correspondent

THE GUARDIAN
Thu, 2 May 2024 

Labour and the Conservatives are each defending about 1,000 seats in Thursday’s elections.Composite: Guardian Design/Getty


Voters across England have the opportunity to give their verdict on Rishi Sunak’s government on Thursday in the last set of local elections before the general election.

Many of the seats up for grabs were last contested in May 2021, when the Conservatives under Boris Johnson were enjoying a Covid “vaccine bounce”. Fast-forward three years and the Tories are trailing 20 points behind Labour in national polls.

There is therefore no doubt that the next few days are going to be difficult for the Conservatives as the results trickle in. Just how difficult they will be will depend on whether the extent of the Tory drubbing surpasses expectations.

Related: Polls open in England’s local elections with Tories braced for heavy losses

This is a small set of local elections, covering 2,636 seats across 107 English councils. Labour and the Conservatives are each defending about 1,000 seats, and psephologists predict that the Tories may lose 500. Voters will also elect 10 metro mayors. A particularly bad set of results could destabilise Sunak’s position.

Here are the key results to look out for and when:

Early hours of Friday
The result of the parliamentary election in Blackpool South will set the tone early on. Labour is expected to win back the seat, which fell vacant after the former Tory MP Scott Benton resigned after breaching standards rules in a lobbying scandal. Benton won the once solidly Labour-voting constituency in the 2019 election with a 3,690 majority.

Between around 1.30am and 4am on Friday, 39 councils are expected to declare their results, giving a partial picture of the overall outcome. Among the councils due to declare at around 3am is Harlow, a key bellwether town and general election battleground where all 33 seats are up for grabs. Keir Starmer went to Harlow, which is currently Tory-controlled, for his eve-of-poll campaign visit on Wednesday.

Overnight results are also due to come in from Rushmoor, Thurrock and Redditch, all of which are Tory-controlled but which Labour hopes to take.

Friday lunchtime
Things will go quiet for a while on Friday morning, after the councils that counted overnight have finished declaring and the ones that only start counting in the daytime begin. The result of the Tees Valley mayoral contest, where Ben Houchen is fighting a challenge from Labour’s Chris McEwan, is expected at about 12.30pm.

Houchen won a second term as mayor in 2021 with a huge 72.8% of the vote. But in the last four years his popularity has taken a knock from controversy over the Teesworks regeneration project and the national collapse in the Tory brand. Nonetheless, YouGov polling this week put Houchen seven points ahead of McEwan. If he were unexpectedly to lose, it would deal a major blow to Sunak.

At around noon on Friday, Labour will find out if it has won the contest for the new North East mayor, which would be a shoo-in if not for the independent Jamie Driscoll.

Results will also come in from Tory-controlled Walsall, a key general election battleground that was part of the “red wall” that flipped from Labour in 2019. Labour is also fighting for three extra seats it needs for a majority on Cannock Chase council, which has been a bellwether since 1997.

Friday afternoon
The result of the new East Midlands mayoral contest is due at around 2pm on Friday, and Labour is expect to win. At around 3pm we will find out the result of the York & North Yorkshire mayoral race, where Labour is eyeing an upset in a Tory heartland – and Sunak’s back yard.

About half of the councils holding elections are expected to declare their results between noon and 6pm on Friday. Between 2 and 3pm these will include Basildon, Nuneaton & Bedworth, Hyndburn and Milton Keynes, all top Labour targets. Labour needs just two seats to take control in Milton Keynes, a bellwether area, for the first time in 24 years.

By around 4pm results are expected from Tunbridge Wells and Wokingham, two Lib Dem target areas that are “blue wall” Tory strongholds in the south-east of England. The Lib Dems are hoping to take control of both councils.

Around 6pm it will be clear how many Green gains there have been in Bristol at Labour’s expense. Bristol is the Greens’ top target in the general election. By Friday evening there should be results from Elmbridge, Dominic Raab’s patch, where the Lib Dems are gunning for control of the council, and Dorset and Gloucester, which they want to knock into no overall control.

Saturday afternoon
The West Midlands metro mayoralty – perhaps the most closely fought major contest in this set of elections – is expected to declare its result on Saturday around 3pm. Andy Street is seeking re-election for a third term but faces a challenge from Labour’s Richard Parker, with polls suggesting the pair have been neck and neck.

The results of the London mayoral contest and London assembly elections are also due on Saturday. Labour’s Sadiq Khan is seeking a third term and polls have put him comfortably ahead of Tory Susan Hall, despite jitters in Khan’s campaign team. The Greater Manchester contest, which Andy Burnham is all but certain to win, is also due.

This last set of results, which will include some councils and police and crime commissioners declaring on Saturday and Sunday, will complete the picture of these local elections and determine just how much trouble the Conservatives

Rishi Sunak's Own Constituency Set To Have A Labour Mayor, Latest Poll Shows

Could the PM's seat, previously seen as a Tory stronghold, be at risk?


By Kate Nicholson
|Updated May 1, 2024

Rishi Sunak could be faced a constant reminder of his party's failings if a Labour mayor is elected on his doorstep in Yorkshire.

New polling suggests there could soon be a Labour mayor elected to the combined authority which Rishi Sunak’s own constituency sits in.

According to research from left-leaning Labour Together think tank, those who have already decided how they will be voting in Thursday’s York and North Yorkshire mayoral election are backing Keir Starmer’s party.

Labour’s David Skaith is on 41 points in the polls compared to the Tories’ Keane Duncan, who lags behind on 27 points.

The poll, conducted between April 26 and 30, also found 23% of the local electorate did not intend to vote, while 22% remain undecided.

This is the first time a mayor will be elected for the combined authority, which encompasses Sunak’s Richmond constituency.

It is one of the many eagerly anticipated local elections taking place this week.

Although a relatively small proportion of the population will be casting votes for their local authorities, it is a good way to measure the public’s attitudes towards Westminster parties ahead of the general election.

And it’s already looking pretty bleak for the Tories.

Of the eight constituencies in York and North Yorkshire, Labour only holds two right now including former Tory safe seat Selby, which was secured in a by-election last year.

The area is still seen as a Conservative stronghold, but it seems this could all start to shift with this week’s local elections.

Director of research at Labour Together, Christabel Cooper, said: “After a 21% swing toward the party in Selby and Ainsty last summer, our polling shows that Labour is competitive everywhere, including in Rishi Sunak’s backyard in North Yorkshire.

“A win here would indicate a terrible night for Prime Minister.”

Labour are on course to secure a further three seats in the area from the Tories, according to projections.

Sunak has held the seat comfortably since being elected in 2015, winning a majority of 19,550 in 2019.

But, a mega-poll conducted by Survation MRP for Best for Britain concluded in March that the PM’s lead in his seat will drop to be less than 2.5% over Labour – and that’s including the expected margin of error seen in most polls.

The same research suggested the Tories will win fewer than 100 seats in the next general election, if the Conservative share of the vote is translated into MPs.

UK 

Travellers face bank holiday misery as 150 train lines hit by strikes and delays

A combination of rail strikes and engineering works are set to cause chaos for eight days

A fresh wave of strikes are set to hit the UK in May (Photo: Justin Tallis/Getty)

By Sam Rucker

May 3, 2024 

Britons hoping for a bank holiday weekend away could have their hopes dashed, as more than 150 train lines are set to be hit by a combination of rail strikes and engineering works over an eight-day period.

The upcoming bank holiday on Monday, 6 May, is predicted as the worst affected day, as a combination of rail works and an overtime ban will spark a “crescendo” of cars taking to UK roads.

Transport commentator and railway historian Christian Wolmar told i strikes were purposefully planned for the upcoming bank holiday weekend to “create a maximum impact”.

“It was obviously envisaged that the strikes would coincide with engineering works,” the author of The Subterranean Railway said.

Key stretches of train lines will be closed from late on Friday, 3 May, through to the start of service on Tuesday morning, 7 May. Network Rail says it will have 487 projects in operation over the course of the weekend.

Drivers at 16 train companies will strike between Tuesday and Thursday with an overtime ban in place from Monday to Saturday

A three-day succession of “rolling” strikes, starting on 7 May and affecting 16 rail operators, will also be held by Aslef, the union representing train drivers.

Union members will also be banned from overtime from Monday, 6 May, until Saturday, 11 May, causing further cancellations. At least 152 train lines are due to be affected by the disruption, according to analysis by i.

Rail expert Mr Wolmar warned that the upcoming Monday “will not go well” for hopeful holidaymakers, as thousands take to roads up and down the UK to avoid rail disruptions.

“It is not going to be a good day. It is sure to add at least a few per cent more users to the road,” Mr Wolmar said.

Earlier this week, car insurance company RAC revealed it expects 16 million motorists will make a leisure trip between Friday and Monday, taking bank holiday traffic well above pre-Covid levels.

On bank holiday Monday itself, parts of north-west England, East Anglia and south-west England will be hardest hit by returning traffic. RAC spokesperson Alice Simpson said to anticipate a “crescendo of cars on the road over the weekend”.

Those planning on driving to avoid rail disruption on Monday are urged to travel before 9am or after 5pm over the bank holiday period.

Strike days

• Monday 6 May: a ban on overtime is due to disrupt hundreds of lines
• Tuesday 7 May: c2c, Greater Anglia, GTR’s Great Northern, Thameslink and Southern (including Gatwick Express), Southeastern, and South Western Railway
• Wednesday 8 May: Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, London Northwestern Railway, West Midlands Trains, Chiltern and GWR
• Thursday 9 May: LNER, Northern, and TransPennine Express
• Friday 10 May: a ban on overtime is due to disrupt hundreds of lines
• Saturday 11 May: a ban on overtime is due to disrupt hundreds of lines

Addressing the engineering works, Network Rail’s system operator director Anit Chandarana said: “The vast majority of the railway will be open for business as normal.

“We know people want to travel by train and not replacement bus and we do our best to fit as much work as we can into these closures to minimise the impact on passengers and freight customers.”

Meanwhile, continued Aslef strikes form part of a near two-year-long pay dispute. There was hope this week of negotiations restarting between Aslef and train operators with the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), which represents rail companies.

No meetings have been held between the two sides for a year, while government ministers have not met with Aslef since the start of 2023.

Mr Wolmar predicts there is no end in sight to the latest wave of industrial action, blaming a “standoff” between the Government and Aslef.

He told i: “There will be more of this. There is just so much anger in Aslef with ministers refusing to talk. There is absolute deadlock.”

Looking beyond the bank holiday, industrial action is expected to affect the largest area of the country on Wednesday 8 May. A spokesperson for the RDG said the strikes were “wholly unnecessary”.

The spokesperson added: “[Strikes] will sadly disrupt customers and businesses once again, while further damaging the railway at a time when taxpayers are continuing to contribute an extra £54m a week just to keep services running.”

Mick Whelan, Aslef’s general secretary, said: “It is now a year since we sat in a room with the train companies – and a year since we rejected the risible offer they made and which they admitted, privately, was designed to be rejected.”

Drivers at 16 train companies will strike for 24 hours on three consecutive dates between Tuesday and Thursday. In some places there may be no trains at all on strike days, and services that are running will typically run between 7.30am and 6.30pm.

Planned engineering works

• The main London-Birmingham line will be severed between Rugby and Birmingham International, disrupting Avanti West Coast, West Midlands Railway and London North Western Railway
• Avanti West Coast lines will generally be operating much-reduced services with many journeys taking significantly more time due to diversionary routes
• The Leamington Spa to Coventry line will affect CrossCountry services due to track renewals
• Lines around Cambridge will be disrupted due to work on the new Cambridge South station
• The Stansted airport-Cambridge line will be suspended
• The Euston and Milton Keynes Central line will be completely closed on 5 May
• Lines between Glasgow and anywhere in England will be closed on 5 May, “owing to improvement work on the West Coast Main Line at Crewe, Wigan and other locations”
• Lines around Liverpool will be affected by track renewals on 5 and 6 May
• Lines in Kent and Sussex will be impacted by widespread work linked to the Southeastern network
• The Dover-Folkestone will be running at a reduced speed

The union is asking for an unconditional pay rise, while rail firms and the Government say wage increases need to be contingent on reforms to working practices.

It has already rejected a two-year offer of 4 per cent in 2022, and again in 2024, claiming it was too far below inflation and linked to changes in working conditions.

Inrix transportation analyst Bob Pishue said: “Although delays won’t be as severe as Easter, drivers should expect the lengthiest hold-ups on major roads to and from popular destinations this weekend.

“Delays will likely peak on Friday afternoon with some areas seeing usual travel times double as holiday drivers vie for space on the roads with commuters.”

RDG said: “We continue to seek a fair agreement with the Aslef leadership which both rewards our people, gives our customers more reliable services and makes sure the railway isn’t taking more than its fair share from taxpayers.”

Speaking on industrial action last month, a Department for Transport spokesperson said: “Aslef is the only rail union continuing to strike, targeting passengers and preventing their own members from voting on the pay offer that remains on the table.”

 In pictures: Palestine solidarity protests spread across the world

The "Student Spring" protests on US campuses, the biggest since the Vietnam demonstrations in the 1960s and 1970s, have inspired universities from Australia to Mexico to the United Kingdom to protest in solidarity with Palestine.



AFP

Members of the Australian Palestinian community shout slogans at the Palestinian Protest Campsite at University of Sydney in Sydney on May 3, 2024. / Photo: AFP

Thousands of students protesting Israel's war in Gaza rallied at some of the top universities worldwide demanding divest from companies with ties to Israel, in a movement inspired by the student protests in several US campuses.

Hundreds of people protesting Israel's war on Gaza set up an encampment last week outside the sandstone main hall at University of Sydney, one of Australia's largest tertiary institutions.

Similar camps have sprung up at universities in Melbourne, Canberra and other Australian cities.

Unlike in the US, where police have forcibly removed scores of defiant antiwar protesters at several colleges, demonstration sites in Australia have been peaceful with scant police presence.



AFP

Members of the Australian Palestinian community gather at the Palestinian Protest Campsite at University of Sydney in Sydney on May 3, 2024.


In Canada, students erected antiwar camps across some of the largest universities, including the University of Toronto, the University of British Columbia and the University of Ottawa, demanding they divest from groups with ties to Israel.



AFP

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators wave flags and hold up smartphones outside the fenced in area of an encampment on the University of Toronto campus on May 2, 2024, in Toronto, Canada.


In Mexico, dozens of pro-Palestinian students from the country's largest university camped out in solidarity as well.



AFP

Pro-Palestinian students and activists face police officers after protesters were evicted from the library on campus earlier in the day at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon on May 2, 2024.


Mounting flags and chanting "Long live free Palestine," the protesters set up tents in front of the National Autonomous University of Mexico's (UNAM) head office in Mexico City.


The students called on the Mexican government to break diplomatic and commercial ties with Israel.



AFP

Activists from the Interuniversity and Popular Assembly in Solidarity with the People of Palestine erect tents in front of the rectory building of the Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)


In Türkiye, a group at Bogazici University's South Square held a rally in support of Palestine, carrying balloons and signs in Turkish, English, and Arabic.

Students condemned Israel's attacks in Palestine despite international outcry, pledging solidarity with Palestinian people and denouncing the atrocities in Gaza with US support.

Students also called for an end to the humanitarian crisis and justice for the victims, urging intervention to stop the crimes against humanity committed by the Zionist regime.



AA

Students from Bogazici University Islamic Studies Club (BISAK) gather to organise a solidarity demonstration for Pro-Palestinian encampment in the US universities such as Columbia University, in Istanbul.


Students from the universities Warwick, York, Leeds, Newcastle, Bristol and Sheffield in the United Kingdom are set to hold action at the campuses against administration of universities and British government in solidarity with the Palestinians.

Students will finalise demands and publish them at the Bristol University while they hold protest/rally outside the senate of the University.



REUTERS

People gather during a protest in support of Palestinians, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, at Newcastle University, in Newcastle, Britain.


Earlier this week, hundreds of students gathered outside the University of Tehran to express support for students in the US protesting against the Israeli war on Gaza.


Shouting slogans against Israel and the US, protesters condemned police action against students at various US universities in recent days, including Columbia University.



OTHERS

Students at Amirkabir University of Technology in the Iranian capital of Tehran are seen in a pro-Palestine rally on April 28, 2024.


In France, protesters supporting Palestine gathered at Paris' Sorbonne University, chanting "Free Palestine" and setting up tents.



AFP

Students display a giant Palestinian flag as they take part in a rally in support of Palestinians at the Sorbonne University in Paris on April 29, 2024.


The Sorbonne protest was peaceful, with students calling for the university to condemn Israel.

Police secured the area, and several French politicians, including Mathilde Panot, encouraged support for the protest.

Paris' Sciences Po university was closed for the day on Friday after a debate between the institute's leadership and students on the war in Gaza failed to ease tensions, prompting protesters to occupy it overnight.

Pro-Palestinian students camp out at Mexico’s largest university

By

 AFP

Dozens of pro-Palestinian students from Mexico’s largest university camped out Thursday in solidarity with similar protests that have swept colleges in the United States. 

Mounting flags and chanting “Long live free Palestine,” the protesters set up tents in front of the National Autonomous University of Mexico’s (UNAM) head office in Mexico City.

The students called on the Mexican government to break diplomatic and commercial ties with Israel. 

“We are here to support Palestine, the people who are in Palestine, and the student camps in the United States,” said Valentino Pino, a 19-year-old philosophy student.

Jimena Rosas, 21, said she hoped the protest would have a domino effect and spread to other universities in the country. 

“Once people see that UNAM is beginning to mobilize, other universities should start as well,” she said.

Dozens of universities in the United States have seen pro-Palestinian demonstrations in recent weeks, leading to clashes with police and counter-protests.

The Gaza war started when Hamas militants staged an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7 that left around 1,170 people dead, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 34,500 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

Pro-Palestinian protesters set up encampments at universities in Australia

University of Sydney vice chancellor Mark Scott said there was space for both groups of protesters.


Protesting students occupy an area of the quadrangle at the University of Sydney (Rick Rycroft/AP) (Rick Rycroft/AP)

By Associated Press Reporter

May 03, 2024 

Pro-Palestinian protesters are camping on university campuses across Australia, with some scuffling with pro-Israel protesters in Sydney – mirroring similar events in the United States.

Students have set up encampments at universities in major Australian cities over the last two weeks to protest over Israel’s offensive in Gaza.

The students are demanding that universities sever all academic ties with Israel and cut off research partnerships with arms manufacturers   

.

Protesting students occupy an area of the quadrangle at the University of Sydney (Rick Rycroft/AP) (Rick Rycroft/AP)

No arrests were made, as the violence seen on some American campuses has not occurred in Australia.

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters on Friday met a counter-protest supporting Israel at the University of Sydney, Australia’s oldest univrsity.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported a scuffle between the groups.

Supporters of both sides later backed down because of a heavy security presence.

University of Sydney vice chancellor Mark Scott said there was space for both groups of protesters.

“They may strongly disagree with the matters that have been discussed. … We can host that conversation and we should be able to do that in a non-threatening way,” he told ABC.

Mr Scott said not all of the protesters were students, and that some might not be committed to peaceful and productive engagement.

“We are working with security and police,” he said.

Pro-Palestine protestors flood

Australian universities, set up

encampments

ByHT News Desk
May 03, 2024 

Over the past two weeks, students across major Australian cities have established protest encampments on university campuses.

Australian university campuses witnessed pro-Palestinian protests on Friday. In Sydney, tensions escalated as scuffles broke out between the pro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israel counter-protesters. These demonstrations mirrored similar protests unfolding on campuses across the United States.

Members of the Australian Palestinian community shout slogans at the Palestinian Protest Campsite at University of Sydney. (AFP)

Over the past two weeks, students across major Australian cities have established protest encampments on university campuses. Their demonstrations are in response to Israel's recent military offensive in Gaza. The student protesters are calling for their universities to cut all academic ties with Israel and terminate research collaborations with arms manufacturers. This move aims to exert pressure on Israel through academic and research channels in light of the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

At the University of Sydney, Australia's oldest institution, hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered on Friday, facing a counter-protest in support of Israel. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported a scuffle between the two groups, however no arrests were made. This indicates a less volatile atmosphere than scenes unfolding across certain campuses in the US.

Similar protest camps have been set up in Melbourne, Canberra and other Australian cities.

Due to heavy security presence, the protestors from both sides backed down in Sydney.

Addressing the situation, University of Sydney Vice Chancellor Mark Scott affirmed that there was space for both groups to express their views peacefully on the university grounds.

“They may strongly disagree with the matters that have been discussed. ... We can host that conversation and we should be able to do that in a non-threatening way,” he said to ABC.

Read Here: Parveen Shaikh, Mumbai school head ousted for pro-Palestine stance, gets parents' support

Scott added that not all the protestors were university students and expressed concerns that some of the individuals involved might not be genuinely committed to peaceful and productive engagement on the issue.

“We are working with security and police,” he said.

Despite being a longstanding ally of Israel, Australia has grown increasingly critical of Israel's conduct in the conflict, especially after an Australian aid worker was killed in an Israeli attack last month.

At the demonstrations, protesters voiced their dissatisfaction with the Australian government's efforts, claiming it has not done enough to push for peace in the region. They led chants against Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his administration, expressing their discontent with the government's response to the ongoing crisis, Reuters reported.

Sciences Po uni closes main Paris site over Gaza protest

TEHRAN, May 03 (MNA) – France's prestigious Sciences Po University said it would close its main Paris site on Friday due to a fresh occupation of buildings by dozens of protesting pro-Palestinian students.

In a message sent to staff on Thursday evening, its management said the buildings in central Paris "will remain closed tomorrow, Friday, May 3. We ask you to continue to work from home".

According to Agence France-Presse, a committee of pro-Palestinian students earlier Thursday announced a "peaceful sit-in" at Sciences Po and said six students were starting a hunger strike "in solidarity with Palestinian victims" in war-torn Gaza.

Echoing tense demonstrations rocking many top US universities, students at Sciences Po have staged a series of protests, with some furious over the Gaza war and ensuing humanitarian crisis in the besieged Palestinian territory of Gaza.

The Paris regional authority's right-wing head Valerie Pecresse temporarily suspended funding to Sciences Po earlier this week over the protests, condemning what she claimed "a minority of radicalised people calling for anti-Semitic hatred".

Israel waged a genocidal war on the besieged Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian Hamas Resistance group carried out a historic operation against the occupying entity in retaliation for the regime’s intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

At least 34,596 Palestinians have been killed and 77,816 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7.

A member of the student committee who identified himself only as Hicham said the hunger strikes would continue until the university's board voted on holding an investigation into its partnerships with Israeli universities.

SD/PR

Taking cues from students, UCLA faculty members join the pro-Palestinian protests

At Columbia, some faculty members delivered food and water, incorporated the protests into their academic lessons, participated in panel discussions and stood guard outside the perimeter to make it harder for the authorities to evict the students

Anemona Hartocollis 

Published 03.05.24


A pro-Palestinian protest camp set up on Sproul Plaza at the University of California, Berkeley, in Berkeley, Calif., on Wednesday, May 1, 2024.(Jim Wilson/The New York Times)

This week, some faculty members at the University of California, Los Angeles, had an emergency call with students who were active in the pro-Palestinian protests.

“We just got a really clear message from them: ‘We feel unsafe, and we’d like your help in fixing this,” recalled Graeme Blair, an associate professor of political science.

In that moment, several dozen faculty activists volunteered to join the students in shifts around the clock at their encampment on campus.

And in the dark hours of Thursday morning, as the police cracked down on the protests, those faculty members were linking arms with students, allowing themselves to be arrested.

It was one of the clearest instances of a little-noted fact of the student demonstrations against the war in the Gaza Strip — that a small fraction of faculty members at UCLA, Columbia and other universities have provided logistical and emotional support to the protesters.

Some faculty members have formal ties to Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine, the counterpart of Students for Justice in Palestine, a decentralized national network of pro-Palestinian groups.

Others are not necessarily sympathetic to the Palestinian cause but see a moral obligation to protect the free speech and the welfare of their students, who are facing some of the biggest disruptions to their educational lives since the pandemic.

“It’s a breach of trust that they would call the police on our students,” said Stephanie McCurry, a history professor at Columbia University, who watched over the perimeter of the encampment before the last police sweep on Tuesday morning.

The issue has torn apart the faculties at these universities. More than a few say the activist professors are romanticizing the demonstrations, which have thrown campuses into chaos.

“It’s a sad way to end the semester,” said James Applegate, an astronomy professor at Columbia University.

At Columbia, some faculty members had shown their support for the students — if not necessarily for their message — by visiting the encampment before it was swept away by police. They delivered food and water, incorporated the protests into their academic lessons, participated in panel discussions and stood guard outside the perimeter to make it harder for the authorities to evict the students.

The faculty members did not necessarily agree with the views of the students on Gaza, said Camille Robcis, a history professor at Columbia. But, she said, “I believe in their right to protest more than anything.”

Over the last few chaotic days, they had communicated with one another through Listservs and on the encrypted Signal app, signing up for time slots to appear on campus.

In a counterweight, pro-Israel faculty members and students formed their own WhatsApp and email support groups.

“Those have been really helpful,” said Carol Ewing Garber, a professor of applied physiology at Teachers College, an affiliate of Columbia. “They actually brought people together who had never met before. It was a silver lining.”

Bruce Robbins, an English professor at Columbia, is among those who are more devoted to the Palestinian cause, a member of Columbia’s chapter of Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine.

He brought one of his classes to the tents as part of a course studying atrocities.

“It was one of the things that faculty who supported the encampment did,” he said, “was take their classes inside the encampment.”

Two of his students, who he believes were former members of the Israeli military, did not show up for that lesson.

“I was planning on making it as comfortable as I could,” he said. “But I think the feeling in the class was not running in their favor, and that may be why they didn’t show up.”

At one point, students asked the faculty members to help protect them, Robbins said. “We were described as ‘de-escalators.’”

Several faculty members put on orange safety vests, he said, and got “a quick training on how not to get into a fight — if they push past us, let them push past us.”

“I played football,” he said. “It was not my instinct to de-escalate. But that’s what I was there to do.”

Applegate, the astronomy professor, thought the faculty’s participation in the campus protests was part of a romanticization of the Vietnam-era anti-war protests.

“These guys are trying to relive 1968,” he said, referring to a violent confrontation with the police that shook Columbia back then. “I don’t think they have any intention of having a sensible conversation with anybody.”

At UCLA, members of Faculty for Justice in Palestine helped negotiate with the administration, Blair said.

The faculty members even hired a professional to train them in de-escalating physical or verbal conflict, he said, “with the idea that the faculty could help play this role.”

Blair also called on his sister, Susannah Blair, an adjunct lecturer in art history at Columbia, to share her experience with about 75 UCLA faculty members. On Zoom, she told them how most of her students were hungry to talk about what they were going through, even though they came from different backgrounds and experienced things differently.

“Their libraries are closed right now,” she said in an interview. “It’s finals. They have had friends arrested. Some of them have been protesting against a genocide, and this has deeply disrupted all sorts of aspects of their lives.”

The crisis at UCLA reached a climax Thursday morning.

Protesters learned that the administration was going to shut down their encampment, Blair said.

“The faculty was there to try to be the first people arrested, to stand in front of the students to bear witness,” he said. “We watched from that vantage as the California Highway Patrol aimed weapons that were using nonlethal ammunition. We basically pleaded with them to not aim their weapons at our students, at what was an entirely peaceful protest.”

Ultimately, about 200 protesters were arrested, along with about 10 faculty members, Blair said. Many were lecturers and assistant professors, without the protections of tenure, he said, adding, “It remains to be seen what the consequences will be.”

The New York Times News Service

US Department of Education to investigate Columbia University over anti-Palestinian discrimination

Columbia University is under federal investigation for anti-Palestinian racism, including by inviting New York police, says Palestine Legal

3/05/2024 Friday
AA


The US Department of Education is launching a federal investigation into anti-Palestinian discrimination against students at New York's Columbia University, the Palestinian advocacy group Palestine Legal said Thursday.

“Today @EDcivilrights announced @Columbia is under federal investigation for anti-Palestinian racism, including by inviting NYPD officers in riot gear to arrest Palestinian and associated students protesting Israel's genocide in Gaza,” Palestine Legal wrote in a X post.

“The law is clear— if universities do not cease their racist crackdowns against Palestinians and their supporters, they will risk losing federal funding” Palestine Legal senior staff attorney Radhika Sainath said in a statement.

The investigation comes a week after Palestine Legal filed a complaint claiming that Columbia University was engaging in discrimination against Palestinian students and those advocating for Gaza, accusing the university of creating an unsafe environment for those students.

Columbia University is under criticism for asking the New York Police Department to forcibly evict a group of students who staged an encampment on a campus lawn. Over 100 people were arrested on April 18, but the protesters quickly adapted and formed another sit-in.

They were forcibly removed on Tuesday night by police from that site, as well as a building they occupied.

The school has asked police to remain on campus until the day after its graduations conclude.