Former prime minister appealed to voters in Facebook video after being noticeably absent in lead up to 14 October election

• Read all our coverage of the New Zealand 2023 election

Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s former prime-minister, has made an eleventh-hour appearance to throw her support behind the party she once led, just days out from the country’s general election.

Ardern, who was elected in 2017 on a wave of ‘Jacindamania’ and enjoyed extraordinary popularity for much of her leadership, led the governing party for nearly six years up until her shock resignation in January 2023. But the former leader has been noticeably absent in the lead up to the 14 October election.

In today’s newsletter: A complicated legal battle over whether the UK government plan to send thousands of migrants to Rwanda could cause a fundamental shift in how asylum seekers are treated

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Good morning. Five supreme court judges are this week deciding whether the UK government plan to deport tens of thousands of asylum seekers to Rwanda should go ahead.

The decision of the UK’s highest court will be life-changing for more than 24,000 asylum seekers issued with letters warning them that they are being considered for forcible removal. It will also either make home secretary Suella Braverman’s “dream” come true or poleaxe a key part of Rishi Sunak’s pledge to “stop the boats”.

Israel | The leaders of the UK, US, France, Germany and Italy have released a joint statement expressing “steadfast and united support” for the state of Israel and “unequivocal condemnation” of Hamas. Earlier, Israel declared a “complete siege” of Gaza, cutting off water, food and power supplies.

Environment | The damage caused by the climate crisis through extreme weather has cost $16m (£13m) an hour for the past 20 years, according to a new estimate.

Transport | A list of transport projects to be funded using HS2 money, which included schemes that had already been built or were swiftly deleted, was intended only to be “illustrative”, the prime minister has said.

Labour | A new Labour government would give all towns and cities in England new powers and funding to boost local economies, Keir Starmer will announce, in the biggest expansion of devolution since Labour was last in power.

Scotland | A hoard of coins linked to a Highland chief – which may have been stashed away as he tried in vain to escape the Glen Coe massacre– has been discovered underneath a fireplace.

Sjinkie Knegt reist later deze maand niet met de Nederlandse selectie mee naar het Canadese Montréal voor de eerste World Cup van het seizoen. De 34-jarige shorttracker uit Bantega ontbreekt in de selectie van bondscoach Niels Kerstholt.

The Israeli military prepared for a possible ground invasion in Gaza on Thursday as it pounded the tiny coastal strip in retaliation for the unprecedented weekend attack on Israel by the militant group Hamas.

In a deliberate show of support for Israel, a U.S. official confirmed that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin plans to visit on Friday, a day after Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Suffering in Gaza, meanwhile, rose dramatically with Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine and the territory’s only power plant shut down for lack of fuel. The morgue at Gaza’s biggest hospital overflowed Thursday as bodies came in faster than relatives could claim them.

Israel said Thursday that a complete siege would remain in place until Hamas freed 150 hostages taken during its incursion. Egypt has engaged in intensive talks with Israel and the United States to allow the delivery of aid and fuel through its Rafah crossing point, which remained closed on both sides Thursday.

The war has claimed at least 2,800 lives on both sides, and displaced 423,000 people in Gaza.

Here's what's happening on Day 6 of the latest Israel-Hamas war:

JERUSALEM — Israel’s military on Friday ordered the evacuation of northern Gaza, a region that is home to 1.1 million people, within 24 hours, a United Nations spokesperson said.

The order, delivered to the U.N., comes as Israel presses an offensive against Hamas militants. U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said the evacuation would be “impossible” without “devastating humanitarian consequences.”

This could signal an impending ground offensive, though the Israeli military has not yet confirmed such an appeal. On Thursday, it said that while it was preparing, a decision had not yet been made.

Israel’s military directed the evacuation on Friday of all of the hundreds of thousands of civilians living in Gaza City ahead of a feared Israel ground offensive. The directive came on the heels of what the United Nations said was a warning they received from Israel to evacuate 1.1 million people living in the north of Gaza within 24 hours.

The Israeli military order, which comes on the seventh day of a war declared by Israel following an unprecedented Hamas incursion and deadly attack, directs residents of Gaza City to flee deeper south into the Gaza Strip, a narrow coastal territory. Israel’s directive charged that Hamas militants were hiding in tunnels under the city.

“This is chaos, no one understands what to do,” said Inas Hamdan, an officer at the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency in Gaza City while she grabbed whatever she could throw into her bags as the panicked shouts of her relatives could be heard around her. She said all the U.N. staff in Gaza City and northern Gaza had been told to evacuate south to Rafah.

“This evacuation is for your own safety,” the Israeli military said, in a warning it said was sent to Gaza City civilians.

The flurry of directives could signal an impending ground offensive, though the Israeli military has not yet confirmed such an appeal. On Thursday it said that while it was preparing, no decision has been made.

Israel delivered an even broader evacuation order — giving almost half of tiny Gaza’s population 24 hours to flee to the territory’s south — to the U.N., spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. The Israeli military did not immediately confirm the broader evacuation order.

The broad order for all of Gaza's north also applies to all U.N. staff and to the hundreds of thousands who have taken shelter in U.N. schools and other facilities since Israel launched round-the-clock airstrikes Saturday.

“The United Nations considers it impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences,” Dujarric said.

“The United Nations strongly appeals for any such order, if confirmed, to be rescinded avoiding what could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation,” the spokesman said.

Another U.N. official said that the United Nation is trying to get clarity from Israeli officials at the senior most political level.

“It’s completely unprecedent,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

Panicked rumors of an evacuation had begun to spread in north Gaza in the early morning Friday.

A ground offensive in Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas and where the population is densely packed into a sliver of land only 40 kilometers (25 miles) long, would likely bring even higher casualties on both sides in brutal house-to-house fighting.

Hamas’ assault Saturday and smaller attacks since have killed more than 1,300 people in Israel, including 247 soldiers — a toll unseen in Israel for decades — and the ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed more than 1,530 people in Gaza, according to authorities on both sides. Israel says roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were killed inside Israel, and that hundreds of the dead in Gaza are Hamas members. Thousands have been wounded on both sides.

As Israel pounds Gaza from the air, Hamas militants have fired thousands of rockets into Israel. Amid concerns that the fighting could spread in the region, Syrian state media reported that Israeli airstrikes on Thursday put two Syrian international airports out of service.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “crush” Hamas after the militants stormed into the country’s south on Saturday and massacred hundreds of people, including killings of children in their homes and young people at a music festival.

Amid grief and demands for vengeance among the Israeli public, the government is under intense pressure to topple Hamas rather than continuing to try to bottle it up in Gaza.

The number of people forced from their homes by Israel’s airstrikes soared 25% in a day, reaching 423,000 out of a population of 2.3 million, the U.N. said Thursday.

On Thursday, the Israeli military pulverized the Gaza Strip with airstrikes, prepared for a possible ground invasion and said its complete siege of the territory — which has left Palestinians desperate for food, fuel and medicine — would remain in place until Hamas militants free some 150 hostages taken during their grisly weekend incursion.

A visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, along with shipments of U.S. weapons, offered a powerful green light to Israel to drive ahead with its retaliation in Gaza after Hamas’ deadly attack on civilians and soldiers, even as international aid groups warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis. Israel has halted deliveries of basic necessities and electricity to Gaza’s 2.3 million people and prevented entry of supplies from Egypt.

“Not a single electricity switch will be flipped on, not a single faucet will be turned on and not a single fuel truck will enter until the Israeli hostages are returned home,” Israeli Energy Minister Israel Katz said on social media.

Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesman, told reporters Thursday that forces “are preparing for a ground maneuver” should political leaders order one.

The Office of the Commissioner for Animal Welfare has launched an extensive animal awareness campaign. The campaign comprises of a series of radio messages, in both the English and Maltese languages, broadcast across multiple radio stations. In addition, a digital display campaign further disseminates the same messages in a visual format across Google platforms and local websites.  

The selected communication channels have been strategically chosen to effectively reach a diverse audience - individuals of varying ages and backgrounds and extend beyond those who already possess a strong affinity for animals or champion their cause.

Collectively, the messages advocate for various aspects of responsible and compassionate treatment of animals, responsible pet ownership, the importance of reporting instances of cruelty and extending support to organisations dedicated to animal rescue. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of adhering to leash laws, adopting responsible clean-up practices, administering preventive care to pets, and ensuring the microchipping of dogs and cats.

Additionally, this campaign seeks to foster a culture of pet adoption from shelters, fostering a community where the greater good triumphs over personal preferences. " Such campaigns go beyond mere information; they play a vital role in our community. They serve as a poignant reminder of a fundamental truth: our shared responsibility is to coexist harmoniously with the creatures who share our world.

These initiatives are not just about educating; they're about instilling a sense of duty and compassion. They prompt us to recognise that we're not alone on this planet; we're part of a larger ecosystem, and it's our moral obligation to treat our fellow inhabitants with kindness and care." - Commissioner for Animal Welfare, Alison Bezzina.

The latest developments in the Middle East, a part of the world that has been in the limelight for decades, are a matter of serious concern.

Hundreds have already died in an escalation of events that started last Saturday when Hamas launched a terror attack on Israel killing hundreds of civilians. The conflict continued in the following days as Israel retaliated with devastating bombardments and Hamas launched rockets. The war has already left too many victims – Palestinians and Israelis alike, and too much destruction.

And, from what is being said and reported, it is unlikely that the situation will calm down anytime soon. The sensation is that matters will become worse before they can get better. While the world is used to seeing the Middle East in the news, what has happened in the past days is unprecedented, and it will have a lasting effect for years to come.

The events have affected many other countries too. Among the dead are people of different nationalities who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and this has meant that other nations have been directly involved in the issue. Many other foreigners who were in the zone where the conflict broke have had to be hastily repatriated. The experience they spoke about with the media exposed how volatile and dangerous the situation is, and how lucky they were to leave unscathed. Civilians have also been taken as hostages.

The world is in a difficult situation. The war in the Ukraine after Russia’s invasion still lingers on, with all its effect on trade and commerce. Thousands have died here too, and many more thousands have been displaced as they moved away in search of a more peaceful setting. Inevitably, this has exacerbated the migration issue even further, as neighbouring countries have had to contend with the thousands of people crossing the borders into safer land.

In the meantime, hundreds more migrants continue to flock into Europe from North Africa, risking their lives on rickety boats in an attempt to seek greener pastures. Southern European states, as well as North African states, are busy dealing with this influx, as they have been doing for the past 25-30 years. With all that is now happening in the Middle East, it is likely that the surge of people who want to move towards Europe increases.

All this is happening as the world attempts to recover from more than two years of a global pandemic, which in itself has had a negative effect on people’s lives not only from a medical point of view, but also in terms of the economy, as inflation has hit hard and is still hitting hard. Again, the situation in the Middle East will only help to make matters worse.

There are countries that are openly supporting Israel and others who are backing the Palestinians. Unfortunately, very few seem to be talking about peace in the region. We are sure that, behind the scenes, there are efforts to bring the two sides to some kind of negotiating table in the hope that some solution can be found. Whether this is possible, at present, is very much in doubt.

The Israeli government is under intense public pressure to topple Hamas after its militants stormed through a border fence Saturday and killed hundreds of Israelis in their homes, on the streets and at an outdoor music festival.

In the Gaza Strip, meanwhile, residents are facing ever-growing uncertainty after the territory's only power plant ran out of fuel and shut down Wednesday. Without power, communication is limited and information is scarce.

Egypt has engaged in intensive talks with Israel and the United States to allow the delivery of aid and fuel through its Rafah crossing point, which remained closed on both sides Thursday. However, Egypt pushed back against proposals to establish corridors out of Gaza, saying an an exodus of Palestinians from the enclave would have grave consequences on the Palestinian cause.

The war, which has claimed more than 2,500 lives on both sides, is expected to escalate.

Here's what's happening on Day 6 of the latest Israel-Palestinian war:

MEDIA REPORTS: ISRAELI AIRSTRIKES ON AIRPORTS IN SYRIA

DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria’s pro-government media reports that Israeli airstrikes have targeted the airports of the capital city Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo, damaging their runways.

Al-Watan Daily and Dama Post did not give further details other than both airports are out of service.

They were the first Israeli strikes on Syria since the militant Palestinian group Hamas carried out its deadly attacks in southern Israel.

Earlier this year, the airports of Damascus and Aleppo were hit several times.

NETANYAHU PRAISES BLINKEN'S VISIT TO ISRAEL

TEL AVIV, Israel — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressed journalists on Thursday in Tel Aviv.

Netanyahu praised Blinken’s visit as a “tangible example of America’s unequivocable support of Israel.”

“President Biden was absolutely correct in calling this ‘sheer evil,’” Netanyahu said, referring to Hamas' unprecedented attack Saturday on Israel.

They shook hands after Netanyahu’s remarks.

Blinken said that he came before journalists “not just as secretary of state, but also a Jew” while recounting his own family’s history of surviving the Holocaust.

“So prime minister, I understand on a personal level, the harrowing echoes that Hamas’ massacres carry for Israeli Jews, as well as Jews everywhere,” Blinken said.

ISLAMIC GROUP CONDEMNS ISRAEL'S AIRSTRIKES IN GAZA

JERUSALEM — The 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation on Thursday strongly condemned what it called the “ongoing Israeli military aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.”

“The OIC considers this brutal aggression against the Palestinian people a blatant international and humanitarian law violation and a war crime,” it said in a statement. It cited the killing and wounding of women and children, the destruction of civilian buildings and other locations.

The OIC said it held Israel “fully responsible” for the “repercussions of the continuation of this sinful aggression."

The OIC, based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, broadly aligns itself with the thinking of Saudi Arabia’s rulers. That suggests the ongoing war likely will affect the ongoing efforts by the United States to broker a deal that could see Saudi Arabia diplomatically recognize Israel.

ISRAELI AIRSTRIKES HAVE BLOCKED THE OPERATION OF THE RAFAH CROSSING, EGYPT SAYS

CAIRO — Egypt’s Foreign Ministry denied Thursday it had officially closed the Rafah crossing and said Israeli airstrikes have prevented it from operating.

In the statement, the ministry called on all countries and international organizations wishing to provide humanitarian aid to deliver supplies to el-Arish International Airport, in Egypt’s northern Sinai. Hamas’ border authorities said Tuesday that an Israel airstrike hit the no-man’s land between Gaza and Egypt, blocking the road with a large crater.

ICRC SAYS IT'S IN TOUCH WITH HAMAS, ISRAELI AUTHORITIES ABOUT ISRAELI HOSTAGES

The International Committee of the Red Cross on Thursday said it was in touch with Hamas and Israeli authorities as part of efforts to secure the release of Israeli hostages who are believed to be held in the Gaza Strip.

“As a neutral intermediary we stand ready to conduct humanitarian visits, facilitate communication between hostages and family members and to facilitate any eventual release,” said Fabrizio Carboni, the group’s Middle East regional director.

The Mideast emirate of Qatar, a frequent mediator between Israel and Hamas, has also confirmed its involvement in the negotiations.

Carboni appealed to Israel to allow badly needed humanitarian assistance into Gaza as Palestinians face staggering supply shortages following Israel’s decision to impose a siege on the crowded territory.

CZECH GOVERNMENT TO ALLOW ISRAELIS TO RETURN HOME ON CZECH PLANES

PRAGUE — The Czech Foreign Ministry said it has agreed with a request from Israel to allow Israeli citizens to fly home on Czech government planes evacuating Czech citizens from Israel. The ministry said the Israeli nationals need to return home for humanitarian and family reasons, or to join the military following the attacks by Hamas.

An unspecified number of Israel’s citizens were aboard a Czech plane that took off from Prague on Thursday. Another such plane is scheduled to fly to Israel later in the day.

INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS WORKING TO MOBILIZE SUPPLIES, STAFF ALREADY IN GAZA

CAIRO — Fabrizio Carboni, the International Committee of the Red Cross's regional director, said the aid group's first aim is to mobilize the medical supplies, fuel and staff already within Gaza — particularly those that could support medical facilities.

Speaking to journalists at an online presser, he said that aid delivery through the Rafah crossing requires both a political agreement and also a security deal so that needed supplies can safely reach affected areas.

“I fear that what’s coming next is going to be at least as challenging as what we’re seeing now.” Carboni said.

SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM X REMOVES HUNDREDS OF HAMAS-LINKED ACCOUNTS

LONDON — The head of Elon Musk’s social media platform X says it has removed hundreds of Hamas-linked accounts and taken down or labeled thousands of pieces of content since the militant group’s attack on Israel.

CEO Linda Yaccarino on Thursday outlined efforts by X, formerly known as Twitter, to get a handle on illegal content flourishing on the platform following a warning from a top European Union official, who requested information on how X is complying during the Israel-Hamas war with tough new EU digital rules aimed at cleaning up social media platforms.

The new Digital Services Act mandates social media companies step up policing of their platforms for illegal content, under threat of hefty fines.

2 PALESTINIANS ARE GUNNED DOWN AT A FUNERAL IN THE OCCUPIED WEST BANK

ISRAEL — The Palestinian Health Ministry reported Thursday that two Palestinians were killed in the occupied West Bank when Israeli settlers sprayed bullets at a funeral for three Palestinians who had been killed in a settler rampage the day before. Footage showed Jewish settlers in their cars swerving into the funeral procession and cutting off the road to the village of Qusra, south of Nablus, before stopping and opening fire.

Health authorities identified the two men killed as a father and son: 62-year-old Ibrahim al-Wadi, a local official in the secular nationalist Fatah party; and 25-year-old Ahmed al-Wadi, an off-duty Palestinian security officer.

Residents near the northern West Bank city of Nablus and north of Ramallah reported that armed settlers have rampaged through villages and hurled stones at passing Palestinian cars after the unprecedented Hamas militant attack on Israel on Saturday.

220 EVACUEES ARRIVE IN MADRID FROM TEL AVIV

MADRID — Spain’s foreign ministry says a plane evacuating 220 people from Tel Aviv landed in Madrid late Wednesday, bringing to 429 the number of people flown out of the city on Spanish flights in two days.

The Wednesday flight included 149 Spaniards, 15 people from other European Union countries, 36 from Latin America and 20 from other countries, a foreign ministry statement said.

The previous day’s flight brought out 209 people, 185 of them Spaniards.

FRANCE MAKES 24 ARRESTS FOR ANTISEMITIC ACTS SINCE HAMAS ATTACKED ISRAEL

PARIS — France’s interior minister is reporting 24 arrests for antisemitic acts in the country since Hamas attacked Israel and says that online hate is surging.

“Since the end of the day Saturday, since the terrorist massacres in Israel, there have been more than 100 antisemitic acts, essentially graffiti — swastikas, ‘death to Jews,’ calls for an intifada against Israel,” said the minister, Gerald Darmanin. Speaking Thursday on France Inter radio, he said there have also been people caught with knives near Jewish schools and synagogues and a drone equipped with a camera that was spotted flying over a Jewish cultural center. Because of stepped-up police security around Jewish sites, “we were able to detain a large proportion of these people" with 24 arrests, he said.

Online, “hatred is surging,” he added, with more than 2,000 cases of antisemitic speech reported to a French online watchdog force, he said.

ISRAEL IS TRYING TO IDENTIFY THOSE MISSING SINCE SATURDAY'S ATTACK

JERUSALEM — The Israeli official overseeing the effort to return hostages taken by Hamas says the government is still trying to identify all of those missing or taken captive in Saturday’s attack.

In a statement, Gal Hirsch said his office is working “to formulate an assessment of the situation” and to assist the families of the captives and missing. “The searches in the field are continuing and the difficult work of identifying the bodies continues,” said Hirsch, a former general who was appointed after the incursion by Hamas on Saturday.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the chief military spokesperson, said Thursday that the army has notified the families of 97 Israelis believed to be in Hamas captivity.

CAIRO — The Egyptian government has rejected any proposal to establish corridors out of Gaza for Palestinians fleeing Israel’s bombardment in Gaza, a senior Egyptian official said early Thursday.

The official said they were talking with Israel and the United States about establishing safe corridors inside Gaza and the allowance of humanitarian aid to besieged Palestinians.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief media, was responding to White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby, who said that the Biden administration is in active conversations to achieve safe passage out of Gaza for civilians.

Egypt's state-run media reported that Israel's offensive is part of a scheme to empty the enclave.

Palestinians in Gaza lined up outside bakeries on Thursday after spending the night in pitch darkness surrounded by the ruins of pulverized neighborhoods, as Israel launched new airstrikes and said it was preparing for a possible ground invasion.

International aid groups warned that deaths in Gaza could accelerate as Israel prevents delivery of supplies. The war, which was ignited by a bloody and wide-ranging Hamas attack into Israel, has already claimed at least 2,400 lives on both sides.

Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesman, told reporters Thursday that forces “are preparing for a ground maneuver if decided," but that the political leadership has not yet ordered one. A ground offensive in Gaza, the first since the 2014 war, would likely bring even higher casualties on both sides in brutal house-to-house fighting.

In Gaza, Palestinians fleeing airstrikes can be seen running through the streets, carrying their belongings and looking for a safe place. Hundreds of thousands have crowded into U.N.-run schools while others are staying with relatives or even strangers who let them in.

Lines form outside bakeries and grocery stores during the few hours they dare to open, and the bakeries could soon shut down for lack of fuel or power.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “crush and destroy” Hamas with the support of a new war cabinet formed Wednesday that includes a longtime opposition critic. “Every Hamas member is a dead man,” Netanyahu said in a televised address.

The U.S. has pledged unwavering support for Israel's response, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv on Thursday to meet with Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders.

The Israeli military said overnight strikes targeted Hamas' elite Nukhba forces, including command centers used by the fighters who attacked Israel on Saturday, and the home of a senior Hamas naval operative that it said was used to store unspecified weapons.

Another airstrike killed a commander with the Islamic Jihad armed group in his family home in the northern town of Beit Lahia, according to media linked to the group's armed wing.

“Right now we are focused on taking out their senior leadership,” Hecht, the military spokesman, said. "Not only the military leadership, but also the governmental leadership, all the way up to (top Hamas leader Yehiyeh) Sinwar. They were directly connected."

The Hamas-run Interior Ministry said Israeli strikes demolished two multi-story houses on top of residents without warning, killing and wounding “a large number” of people, mainly civilians. Hamas has threatened to kill Israeli hostages if Israel strikes Palestinian civilians without warning.

Israel has halted the entry of food, water, fuel and medicine into the territory. On Tuesday, Gaza’s only power station ran out of fuel and shut down, leaving only lights powered by scattered private generators. Those will shut off as well if fuel is not allowed in.

A senior official with the the International Committee of the Red Cross warned that lack of electricity could cripple hospitals, as he called for Hamas to release hostages.

“As Gaza loses power, hospitals lose power, putting newborns in incubators and elderly patients on oxygen at risk. Kidney dialysis stops, and X-rays can’t be taken," said Fabrizio Carboni, ICRC’s regional director. “Without electricity, hospitals risk turning into morgues.”

In Israel, opposition leader Benny Gantz, a former defense minister and political opponent of Netanyahu, joined a new wartime cabinet. Israel has mobilized 360,000 reservists, massed additional forces near Gaza and evacuated tens of thousands of residents from nearby communities.

The Israeli government is under intense public pressure to topple Hamas after its militants stormed through a border fence Saturday and massacred hundreds of Israelis in their homes, on the streets and at an outdoor music festival.

Netanyahu alleged that the attackers engaged in atrocities, including binding boys and girls and shooting them in the head, burning people alive, raping women and beheading soldiers.

The prime minister’s allegations could not be independently confirmed, and authorities did not immediately offer further details. Rescue workers and witnesses have described horrifying scenes, including the slaughter of elderly people and finding bloody rooms crowded with massacred civilians.

Militants in Gaza are holding an estimated 150 people taken hostage from Israel — soldiers, men, women, children and older adults — and they have fired thousands of rockets into Israel over the past five days.

Israel’s increasingly destructive airstrikes in Gaza have flattened entire city blocks and left unknown numbers of bodies beneath debris. A ground offensive in Gaza, whose 2.3 million residents are densely packed into a strip of land only 40 kilometers (25 miles) long, would likely result in a surge of casualties on both sides.

The UN said late Wednesday the number of people displaced by the airstrikes had soared 30 percent within 24 hours, to 339,000, two-thirds of them crowding into U.N. schools. Others sought shelter in the shrinking number of safe neighborhoods.

The Egyptian government rejected an American proposal to allow Palestinians fleeing Israel’s bombardment to leave Gaza, a senior Egyptian official said early Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press. Egypt believes that Palestinians leaving Gaza would harm the Palestinian cause, and its state-run media reported that the Israeli offensive is part of a scheme to empty the enclave.

Convoys stood loaded with fuel and food Wednesday on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing, but were unable to enter Gaza, the official said. The only crossing point between Egypt and Gaza was shut down Tuesday following nearby Israeli airstrikes.

The official said Egypt was talking with Israel and the U.S. on establishing safe corridors inside Gaza and delivering humanitarian aid to the besieged Palestinians, and with Israel and other foreign governments to evacuate foreigners through the Rafah crossing point.

The risk of the war spreading was evident Wednesday after the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah fired anti-tank missiles at an Israeli military position and claimed to have killed and wounded troops.

The Israeli military confirmed the attack but did not comment on possible casualties. The Israeli army shelled the area in southern Lebanon where the attack was launched.

The death toll in Gaza rose to 1,200 early Thursday, the Palestinian health ministry said.

The Gaza Strip’s biggest hospital, Al-Shifa, has only enough fuel to keep power on for three days, said Matthias Kannes, a Gaza-based official for Doctors Without Borders. The group said the two hospitals it runs in Gaza were running out of surgical equipment, antibiotics, fuel and other supplies.

Ghassan Abu Sitta, a reconstructive surgeon at al-Shifa, said he had 50 patients waiting to go to the operating room.

“We’re already beyond the capacity of the system to cope,” he said. The health system “has the rest of the week before it collapses, not just because of the diesel. All supplies are running short.”

The Palestinian Red Crescent said other hospitals’ generators will run out in five days. Residential buildings, unable to store as much diesel, likely will go dark sooner.

Shock, grief and demands for vengeance against Hamas are running high in Israel.

In the West Bank, Israeli settlers attacked a village south of Nablus, opening fire on Palestinians and killing three, the territory's health ministry said. More than two dozen Palestinians have died in fighting in the West Bank since the weekend.

In a new tactic, Israel is warning civilians to evacuate whole Gaza neighborhoods, rather than just individual buildings, then leveling large swaths in waves of airstrikes.

Israel’s tone has changed as well. In past conflicts, its military insisted on the precision of strikes in Gaza, trying to ward off criticism over civilian deaths. This time, military briefings emphasize the destruction being wreaked.

Even with the evacuation warnings, Palestinians say some are unable to escape or have nowhere to go, and that entire families have been crushed under rubble.

Other times, strikes come with no notice, survivors say.

“There was no warning or anything,” said Hashem Abu Manea, 58, who lost his 15-year-old daughter, Joanna, when a strike late Tuesday leveled his home in Gaza City.

The Israeli military said more than 1,200 people, including 189 soldiers, have been killed in Israel, a staggering toll unseen since the 1973 war with Egypt and Syria that lasted weeks.

Israel says roughly 1,500 Hamas militants were killed inside Israel, and that hundreds of the dead inside Gaza are Hamas members.

Top EU officials gathered outside the European Parliament in Brussels for a solemn moment in solidarity with the victims of terror attacks in Israel.

EU Parliament President Roberta Metsola delivered a speech.

"Our presence here - outside the European Parliament - is significant. Our gathering held in the Simone Veil Agora is symbolic. Our voice is important. And our strong stand against terrorism is crucial. October 7th is a day that will go down in global infamy. The world has witnessed Jews being murdered simply because they were Jewish. Again. In Israel. We are here with the President of the European Council, the President of the European Commission, and all of you - as one - to express our solidarity, to condemn the appalling acts of terror and murder and to demand the immediate release of hostages."

Europe, she said, "stands ready to help broker resolutions, but I have said it before and it bears repeating - There is no justification for terrorism. Hamas is a terrorist organisation. They do not represent the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people. They do not offer solutions. They offer bloodshed."

"It helps to speak plainly. On October 7th Hamas murdered more than a thousand innocent babies, children, women and men and still hold close to 100 more hostage. They opened fire on hundreds of young people at a music event, killing indiscriminately - including EU nationals. They abducted young girls and boys. They took elderly Holocaust survivors and dragged them out of their homes. They paraded dead people through the streets like trophies."

"This is not a time for whataboutism. We have to be clear about what we are talking about: this is terror in its worst form."

Photo: EU Parliament

Essent en SnowWorld hebben contracten ondertekend voor de installatie van zonnepanelen op de daken van de pistes van Snowworld in Zoetermeer als Landgraaf. Essent, al jarenlang de energieleverancier van SnowWorld, helpt SnowWorld bij het ontwikkelen en realiseren van dit grootschalige zonnestroomproject.

De populariteit van Europese aandelen is al jarenlang tanende. Een decennium geleden maakten Europese aandelen nog 26 procent van de MSCI World Index uit, vandaag de dag blijft dat percentage steken op 18 procent. Ook voor meer waarde-georiënteerde beleggers bleken Europese aandelen minder aantrekkelijk te zijn.

Het gemiddelde wereldwijd beleggende large-cap waardefonds had in 2012 bijna de helft van het fondsvermogen belegd in Europese bedrijven, maar dat is door de jaren heen afgekalfd tot ongeveer 25 procent. Sinds 2020 zien we echter een opleving en werd de allocatie naar Europese aandelen stapsgewijs verhoogd naar 32 procent gemiddeld per eind januari 2022. Daarmee zijn de fondsen in de waardecategorie wel een uitzondering, want onder beleggingsfondsen in de categorie large-cap gemengd blijft Europa impopulair.

Populariteit Europa

Het Europese continent heeft dan ook de nodige tegenslagen moeten overwinnen in de afgelopen 10 jaar. De Europese staatschuldencrisis, torenhoge werkloosheidscijfers in Spanje en Griekenland, Brexit, gematigde economische groei en de Italiaanse bankencrisis, om maar eens wat te noemen. Het zijn slechts enkele redenen waarom de voorkeur van beleggers het afgelopen decennium buiten Europa lag.

Toch zijn Europese aandelen niet geheel van de beleggersradar verdwenen. Koopjesjagers en dividendbeleggers komen steeds vaker uit bij Europese aandelen.

Nu de centrale banken wereldwijd erop aansturen om het ruimhartige monetaire beleid een halt toe te roepen en aandelen van de tot dan toe superieure technologiebedrijven corrigeerden, krijgen beleggers meer oog voor ondergewaardeerde Europese bedrijven en cyclische sectoren die in Europese indices groter vertegenwoordigd zijn dan in de Amerikaanse evenknieën.

Zo bedraagt de weging van de sector industrie in de MSCI Europe index 14 procent versus 6 procent voor de S&P 500, terwijl de weging van technologieaandelen in de Europese index met 7 procent ver achterblijft bij de 25 procent-weging van de sector in de S&P 500.

Europees dividend

Dividendbeleggers worden aangetrokken door het royale dividendrendement dat Europese aandelen gemiddeld genomen bieden versus hun Amerikaanse tegenpolen. Met een dividendrendement van ongeveer 2,7 procent voor de MSCI Europe ligt de Europese inkomstenstroom ruim 1 procentpunt boven die van de S&P 500.

Europese bedrijven belonen aandeelhouders vaker via het uitkeren van dividend, daar waar Amerikaanse bedrijven de voorkeur geven aan het terugkopen van aandelen. Dat maakt Amerikaanse dividenden wel iets robuuster dan Europese.

MFS Meridian Contrarian Value aan kop

Voor de top-5 van deze week zijn de actief beheerde fondsen in de Morningstar categorie aandelen wereldwijd large-cap waarde gerangschikt op hun portefeuilleblootstelling aan Europese aandelen. De lijst wordt aangevoegd door een fonds waarvan de naam al doet vermoeden dat het tegendraadse beleggingen niet schuwt: MFS Meridian Contrarian Value.

Maar liefst 70 procent van het fondsvermogen is belegd in Europese aandelen. Sinds de oprichting van het fonds in 2019 hebben beheerders Anne Christine Farstad en Zahid Kassam een duidelijke voorkeur gehad voor Europese aandelen, waarbij op landenniveau bedrijven uit het Verenigd Koninkrijk de grootste weging hebben met 34 procent per eind januari 2022, drie keer zo veel als het gemiddelde fonds in de categorie.

Het duo stelt een geconcentreerde portefeuille van ongeveer 40 posities samen waarbij de nadruk wordt gelegd op financiële leverage en een passende onderwaardering ten opzichte van de intrinsieke waarde van een aandeel.

Vooral in de sector industrie vindt het team aantrekkelijke beleggingskansen, waaronder voor de twee grootste posities in het Zweedse Trelleborg en het Schotse Weir Group. Ook het Franse Danone neemt een prominente positie in, waarbij het team de overweging in het laatste kwartaal verder aanzette na solide cijfers. Financiële waarden vormen een andere hoeksteen van de portefeuille, met posities in onder andere UBS, BNP Paribas en CaixaBank.

Zilver voor Schroder ISF Global Sustainable Value

Op de tweede plaats staat een fonds dat pas sinds eind 2021 bestaat: Schroder ISF Global Sustainable Value. Aan het roer staan Liam Nunn, Robert Barr en Simon Adler. Hoewel de strategie pas kort bestaat zijn de beheerders betrokken bij diverse andere strategieën.

Zo maken Nunn en Adler onderdeel uit van het met een Bronze rating gewaardeerde Schroder Global Recovery. In dit waardefonds waarin duurzame criteria worden geïntegreerd in het beleggingsproces is per eind januari 67 procent van het fondsvermogen belegd in Europese aandelen.

De allocatie naar aandelen uit het Verenigd Koninkrijk, Frankrijk en Duitsland is twee tot vier keer het gewicht dat de gemiddelde concurrent heeft gealloceerd naar deze landen. Als gevolg is slechts 19 procent van het fondsvermogen belegd in Amerikaanse aandelen, tegenover bijna 50 procent voor het gemiddelde fonds in de categorie.

De ongeveer 40-posities tellende portefeuille heeft een voorkeur voor aandelen met een bovengemiddeld dividendrendement en het team heeft ook oog voor bedrijven in het mid- en small-cap segment. Qua sectorpositionering springt de hang naar de sector communicatie dienstverlening in het oog, die bijna een derde van de portefeuille beslaat. Reclamebedrijven WPP en Publicis hebben een plek in de portefeuille, maar ook televisiebedrijven ProSiebenSat 1 Media, Television Francaise en ITV. Ruim 75 procent van de bedrijven in portefeuille hebben een laag of verwaarloosbaar ESG risico zoals gemeten door de Morningstar Sustainability Rating, waarmee het fonds de maximale vijf globes heeft.

De Amerikaanse techreus Microsoft mag gameproducent Activision Blizzard overnemen voor 69 miljard dollar. De Britse marktwaakhond CMA heeft daar goedkeuring voor gegeven. Het was de laatste horde die genomen moest worden, aangezien de deal eerder al in de VS en de EU werd goedgekeurd. Het is de grootste overname ooit in de gamesindustrie.

Activision Blizzard is de uitgever van bekende titels als World of Warcraft, Call of Duty en Candy Crush. De mogelijke overname werd begin vorig jaar bekendgemaakt. Met name rivaal Sony, eigenaar van Playstation, verzette zich de afgelopen maanden fel tegen het plan van Microsoft, dat de Xbox-spelcomputer uitgeeft.

Vrees voor exclusiviteit

Sony vreest dat Microsoft de populaire games van Activision Blizzard alleen nog maar voor de Xbox zal uitgeven, waardoor eigenaars van een Playstation achter het net zouden vissen. Microsoft heeft onder meer beloofd Call of Duty de komende tien jaar niet exclusief voor zijn eigen platform uit te brengen. De marktwaakhonden in de VS, EU en het VK maakten zich zorgen over de concurrentiepositie van Microsoft binnen de gamesindustrie.

De Britse waakhond zette met name vraagtekens bij het marktaandeel cloud gaming dat Microsoft na de overname zou hebben in het VK. Met die technologie kunnen mensen games vanuit de cloud streamen en spelen, zonder dat ze een krachtige pc of spelcomputer nodig hebben. Verwacht wordt dat cloud gaming de komende jaren een grote vlucht zal nemen.

Microsoft ligt met zijn eigen technologie al ver voor op de concurrentie en de vrees bestond dat de concurrentie in het VK door de overname weggevaagd zou worden. Om de waakhond tegemoet te komen, heeft Microsoft besloten de streamingrechten van Activision-games voor de komende vijftien jaar aan de Franse uitgever Ubisoft te verkopen.

Laatste horde genomen

"We hebben voorkomen dat Microsoft deze zich snel ontwikkelende markt in een wurggreep kan houden", zegt de topvrouw van de Britse waakhond daarover. Microsoft-topman Brad Smith is blij met de beslissing. "We hebben de laatste horde genomen om deze overname te kunnen afronden." De deal zal nu voor de eerder afgesproken deadline worden beklonken, waardoor Microsoft geen boete van 4,5 miljard dollar hoeft te betalen.

Eerder ging de Europese waakhond al akkoord. De Amerikaanse FTC is het niet eens met de overname, maar een federale rechter koos de kant van Microsoft. Tegen dat besluit loopt nog wel een hoger beroep van de FTC.

Bron

Bron