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Building a nation: Papua New Guinea’s 50 years of independence

In the early 1970s, Dame Meg Taylor remembers a sense of immense optimism as Papua New Guinea stood on the brink of independence. At that time she joined the staff of Sir Michael Somare, who would later become the country’s first prime minister. “There was a lot of hope,” said Taylor, diplomat and former secretary general of the Pacific Islands Forum. “I still have very wonderful memories of sitting out on the old steps of the office … just thinking, ‘What have we got ourselves into, and what an amazing opportunity that we have to build a country’.” Now, as Papua New Guinea prepares to mark 50 years of independence from Australia, Taylor and other prominent figures reflect on a nation failing to live up to its promise. The Guardian interviewed dozens of people from across Papua New Guinea – including a former prime minister, ex-military commander and constitutional architect – and the Pacific for this series on the nation at 50. They paint a picture of a country struggling to control violence and lawlessness, and divided on the path forward. The conversations revealed law and order, leadership and access to essential services as the biggest challenges facing the country of nearly 12 million people. They shared differing views on how to address social problems and what role Australia – its nearest neighbour and former colonial administrator – should play. Many highlighted the resilience of the population and expressed optimism about the future. Peter O’Neill, who led Papua New Guinea from 2011 to 2019, said the founding fathers would not approve of “the way the country has been managed.” “I know that they would’ve been very disappointed that we have lost our way,” O’Neill told the Guardian. “We have been blessed with a beautiful country with a lot of resources and beautiful people. All we need to do is manage ourselves in a better way,” O’Neill said. ‘This is just the beginning’ Papua New Guinea was administered by Australia as a single territory from 1945. The territory included the former British protectorate of Papua and the former German colony of New Guinea. In 1972, Gough Whitlam promised that if elected Australia’s prime minister, he would begin the transition to self-governance. He followed through on the pledge and on 16 September 1975, Papua New Guinea was granted independence. In a late night radio address that evening, Somare told the new nation: “I wish to remind all that this is just the beginning. Now we must stand on our own two feet and work harder than ever before. We are indeed masters of our own destiny.” Five decades on, Papua New Guinea is the largest Pacific nation after Australia with a young and growing population. About 40% live below the poverty line and in parts of the country, crime and violence are rampant. Many lack access to basic health services and education. Child mortality rates are ten times higher than Australia’s. Rich with gold, copper, oil and gas, minerals and energy extraction account for most of Papua New Guinea’s export earnings. But this abundance has proved both a blessing and a curse, and its natural wealth has brought conflict, unrest and division. Corruption is rife. Poor infrastructure holds the economy back and young people across the country lack opportunity. O’Neill believes independence was given to Papua New Guinea “too soon”. He says not enough was done by the Australian colonial administrators to develop education and infrastructure in the country before they left. Now, he points to mismanagement by leaders, inadequate policing and crime and violence as some of its biggest development challenges. “Enforcement of the rule of law is absolutely nonexistent,” O’Neill said. The sentiment is echoed by current prime minister James Marape, who last year said “the greatest impediment facing us today is a lack of respect for our country’s law.” In a speech to the University of Papua New Guinea, Marape said if asked to rate the country’s progress since independence on a scale of one to ten, “I would not go past three.” Marape did not respond to requests for an interview. Leader of the opposition Douglas Tomuriesa told the Guardian internal security has overtaken health and education as Papua New Guinea’s most urgent challenge. He argues the general breakdown in law and order reflects deep structural issues, including scarce opportunities for young people, “weak enforcement of justice and an under-resourced police force.” “Limited trust in justice systems have left many communities feeling abandoned,” Tomuriesa said. This has been most evident with the escalation of violence in the central and western Highlands regions. In recent years, fighting between tribes has devastated families and ruined local economies. Police in Enga province, in the Highlands region, told the Guardian hundreds of people are estimated to have been killed in conflicts this year. Deeply rooted in historical contests over land, disputes are governed by customs and beliefs that stretch back generations. Yet fighting has become more deadly as an influx of high-powered firearms transformed traditional conflicts into fatal confrontations. Retired Maj Gen Jerry Singirok, commander of the Papua New Guinea defence force during the 1990s, said gun violence has overtaken all other crimes. He said there is no government oversight of the use of illegal guns and it is “crippling the nation.” Outside Porgera, in Enga province, village leader Tomaiti Hando said his community had been devastated by violence. “We’ve lost fathers, brothers and sons, and now I watch my grandsons growing up in this same violence,” Hando said. He called on Australia to help bring an end to the troubles in the Highlands. “I want it to end for good and I hope that Australia can step in and address this. Australia is our big brother, our leaders have not been able to address this issue for decades,” Hando said, adding that tackling the root causes of conflicts are essential for “lasting peace and stability.” Gender equality is a significant challenge in Papua New Guinea, women are vastly underrepresented in parliament, have less access to health and education and face a high risk of violence. Two-thirds of women in Papua New Guinea will experience violence in their lifetime. Ruth Kissam – one of the country’s leading human rights activists – describes the harm to women and girls as a “systemic failure to protect our most vulnerable.” “We are talking about a pandemic within our homes and communities. The reality is that for many women in Papua New Guinea, violence is a daily experience, not an isolated event,” said Kissam. Many say limited opportunities for the surging youth population has contributed to unrest and violence. They point to access to education as a crucial plank of development. Taylor said without education “you’re going to have people who don’t have hope.” A report published by the World Bank in 2024 estimated 72% of ten-year-olds are unable to read, and only 18% of 20-to 24-year-olds have completed secondary or tertiary education. More investment in education is “critical” to Papua New Guinea’s economic future and could turn its young population into an “engine of growth,” the report said. Singirok also highlighted the need to lift education levels among younger generations, and said Papua New Guinea must invest to “not only teach the core subjects but ethics, religion and all aspects of life where they are taught to live in harmony with others.” More power to provinces To confront challenges, former and current politicians called for local communities to be given more control of their affairs. John Momis is one of the country’s constitutional fathers and former president of Bougainville. He argues too much power resides in the capital Port Moresby, and not in the villages and towns where so many live. The 83-year-old is a respected politician who spent decades in the national parliament. In 1972, he was elected to parliament and Somare asked him to help lead the constitutional planning committee. “Papua New Guinea was so highly diversified, we had 800 languages, the biggest number of languages in the whole world. The best way of uniting a highly diversified country is through decentralisation, giving power to the different provinces,” Momis said from his home in Bougainville. “The problem today is the national government has monopolised power again. And they’re just providing services to the poor people in the provinces,” he said. Australia remains the country’s biggest aid partner. In 2024-25, Canberra provided an estimated $637.4m in official development assistance (ODA). Over the last decade, Australia has provided about $6.2bn in ODA funding to Papua New Guinea. Momis cautions that Australia “should not just give to Papua New Guinea when they beg.” “People must be both subjects and objects of development. People must drive development,” Momis said. Tomuriesa, an MP for a district in Milne Bay province, said Australia can assist in rebuilding capacity in policing, governance, health and education. “But aid must align with local priorities, and be delivered with transparency and accountability,” he said. Looking ahead, Tomuriesa draws optimism from “our people’s resilience”. He said young people are eager to learn, small business sector is growing and women are stepping into leadership. “The lesson is clear: where the people are empowered, progress follows,” he said. Papua’s New Guinea’s natural strengths – productive land, rich culture and its people, give Taylor reasons for hope. “The country is rich in resources, rich in I believe, in human capital, where you have a very strong agricultural base, who can cultivate and we can feed ourselves as we put our minds to,” Taylor said. She said the country’s survival as a parliamentary democracy, despite decades of turmoil, is another positive sign – as is the enduring strength of traditional systems. “There’s still a lot of hope. We’re only 50 years old in terms of modern constitutional Papua New Guinea. I’m not going to give up, and I know a lot of people in this country are not going to give up,” Taylor said. Momis too, is hopeful about the future. “I am an eternal optimist. I’m in the village and things are difficult, you know. But I think there’s a lot of hope.” Bethanie Harriman, Prianka Srinivasan and Martha Louis contributed to this report

Is Trump tariff deal really a win for Vietnam – or a way of punishing China?

As news spread that Vietnam would become just the second nation to reach an initial tariff agreement with Washington, shares in the clothing companies and manufacturers that have a large footprint in the country rose with optimism. Just hours later though, they declined sharply, as it became clear that the devil would be in the detail, and the most striking part of the deal might in fact be aimed at Vietnam’s powerful neighbour China. Dodging the severe levy of 46% that was threatened in April, Vietnam is instead facing a tariff of 20% for many goods, and in return US products coming into the country will have zero tariffs placed on them. However, a 40% tariff will remain for so-called transshipments – a provision that is aimed at Chinese companies accused of passing their products through Vietnam, or elsewhere, to avoid US tariffs. Businesses worry that “transshipment” is a politicised term, and that if the US defines it too broadly, many goods could be unfairly targeted. “Vietnam is a manufacturing hub – and as a hub you take inputs from other countries and make value-added stuff in Vietnam, and then export it to other countries,” says Dr Nguyen Khac Giang, visiting fellow at the ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute. It is unrealistic, he adds, to expect most Vietnamese goods, other than agricultural products, would be made entirely in Vietnam. What remains to be decided is: what proportion of a product should be? How transshipments will be defined under the agreement – and how this policy will be enforced – remains to be seen, but it could have significant implications for global trade and tensions with China. “One lesson for other countries is that the US intends to use these deals to apply pressure on China,” said Stephen Olson, a former US trade negotiator. Vietnam, a booming manufacturing hub, benefited during the last Trump administration when punishing tariffs placed on China prompted many Chinese companies to shift their supply chains. However, this caused the Vietnamese trade surplus with the US to surge, attracting US ire and allegations that Vietnam was wrongly acting as a conduit for Chinese companies wanting access to the US market. China’s commerce ministry spokesperson He Yongqian responded to the US-Vietnam deal on Thursday stating: “We firmly oppose any party reaching a deal at the expense of China’s interests. If such a situation occurs, China will resolutely counter it to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.” Vietnam’s manufacturing industry is closely intertwined with both the US and China. US exports account for 30% of Vietnam’s GDP, while China is Vietnam’s top import source, relied on for raw materials used to make anything from footwear to furniture and electronics. Vietnam is not alone in relying on China for such components, especially across electronic sectors. “[China] is completely interwoven into global supply chains,” says Dan Martin, international business adviser at Dezan Shira and Associates, based in Hanoi. If companies are expected to prove the origin of all goods, this could place an unwelcome burden on those in sectors such as textiles where margins are low, says Martin. However, he cautions that it remains to be seen whether the higher 40% tariff on transshipments will be actively enforced. It is also possible that Vietnam could benefit if US policy encourages suppliers to set up shop in Vietnam, Martin adds. Businesses are largely pausing decisions until a clearer picture emerges, say analysts. Policymakers in Hanoi remain on a diplomatic tightrope. Vietnam has long sought to balance relations with Washington and Beijing. It considers the US not only a key export market but a security partner that serves as a counterbalance to China’s assertiveness. However, if Beijing considers that Hanoi is helping Washington constrain it, this risks antagonising Vietnam’s northern neighbour. It could lead to economic measures from China, or pressure over the disputed South China Sea, a major flashpoint in the region, says Peter Mumford, head of practice for south-east Asia at Eurasia Group. As things stand, “aggressive retaliation” by Beijing against Hanoi is unlikely, he says: “Hanoi may even have given Beijing a rough indication of the steps it would have to take to secure a US trade deal.” Vietnam has made efforts to show goodwill towards China over recent months, while also courting Trump. In exchange for the 20% tariff rate, Trump said Vietnam would open up its market to US goods. US-made SUVs, “which do so well in the United States, will be a wonderful addition to the various product lines within Vietnam”, said Trump. However the market for cars remains small in Vietnam, where city streets are famously crammed with millions of motorbikes.

Israeli strikes kill at least 38 in Gaza as ceasefire talks reach critical point

Israeli warplanes launched a wave of strikes in Gaza on Sunday, killing at least 38 Palestinians, according to hospital officials, as talks over a ceasefire in the devastated territory reached a critical point. Officials at Nasser hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis said 18 people were killed by strikes in al-Mawasi, a nearby coastal area that is crowded with tented encampments of those displaced by fighting elsewhere. According to the health ministry in Gaza, 80 people were killed and 304 wounded in Israeli attacks there over the last 24 hours. Late on Sunday the Israeli military also said it had attacked Houthi targets in the ports of Hodeidah, Ras Isa and Salif, and the Ras Qantib power plant in Yemen. This was in response to repeated attacks by the Iran-aligned group on Israel, the Israeli military said. Israel has escalated its Gaza offensive in recent days, as momentum gathers in negotiations over a US-sponsored proposal that could lead to an end to the 21-month war. Speaking as he left Israel for talks with Donald Trump in Washington on the ceasefire and other regional issues, Benjamin Netanyahu said late on Sunday that he was determined to ensure the return of hostages held in Gaza and to remove the threat of Hamas to Israel, reiterating promises he has made repeatedly throughout the conflict. He also spoke of regional opportunities in the aftermath of Israel’s brief war with Iran last month, which was ended by a US-imposed ceasefire after Trump sent bombers to attack three Iranian nuclear sites. “We have never had such a friend in the White House … We have already changed the face of the Middle East beyond recognition, and we have an opportunity and the ability to change it further and to enable a great future for the state of Israel, the people of Israel and the entire Middle East,” Israel’s prime minister told reporters at the airport. It will be Netanyahu’s third visit to the White House since Trump returned to power nearly six months ago. Trump said he believed a hostage release and ceasefire deal could be reached this week, which could lead to the release of “quite a few hostages.” “I think there’s a good chance we have a deal with Hamas during the week,” Trump told reporters before flying back to Washington after a weekend golfing in New Jersey. A draft of the proposed agreement for a 60-day pause in hostilities seen by the Guardian specifies that Trump himself would announce a deal, which some hoped could be concluded before his meeting with Netanyahu scheduled for Monday evening US time. On Tuesday, the US president said in a social media post that Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” an agreement, while Hamas said on Friday it had responded in a “positive spirit” to the US-backed proposal. Israel on Saturday rejected a series of changes to the proposed deal demanded by Hamas, and Netanyahu stressed on Sunday that negotiators he had sent to a new round of indirect ceasefire talks in Qatar had “clear instructions” to achieve an agreement but without making concessions. “We are working to achieve the much-discussed deal, on the conditions that we have agreed to … I believe that the conversation with President Trump can definitely help advance that result which we are all hoping for,” the Israeli leader said. In Gaza City, there was tension, hope and anxiety. “We pray to God that the ceasefire succeeds this time. Even though we’ve heard so many times before about a possible truce, it always fails, and now we’re afraid to even feel hopeful,” said Abu Adham Abu Amro, 55. “There is no more trust left because of the ongoing disagreements between the Palestinian and Israeli sides – one side agrees, the other refuses, and so it goes.” The war in Gaza was triggered on 7 October 2023 when Hamas launched a surprise attack into southern Israel, killing about 1,200, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages. Hamas is still holding approximately 50 hostages but fewer than half are thought to be alive. In Israel, public pressure is mounting for a deal to free all the hostages still in Gaza. Vicky Cohen, the mother of a soldier being held by Hamas in Gaza, said Israelis could only recover from the trauma of the 2023 attack if all the hostages were returned. “Israelis care for each other … we will not leave anyone back there and we will bring them all back. These are the values that Israel is based on. I hope our prime minister is brave enough to do the right thing,” she said. Israel’s military offensive in Gaza has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, displaced almost all of the 2.3 million population and reduced much of the territory to rubble. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had no immediate comment on the individual strikes in Gaza reported on Sunday, but said 130 targets were struck across the territory in the previous 24 hours, including militants, Hamas command and control structures, storage facilities, weapons and launchers. The IDF also said a strike on a cafe in Gaza City last Monday that killed or wounded about 100 people, including many women, children and elderly people, had targeted a meeting of senior Hamas commanders. Experts have said the strike, which involved a 500lb bomb dropped on to a terrace crowded with waiters, families and students, could constitute a war crime. IDF sources told the Times of Israel newspaper that Ramzi Ramadan Abd Ali Salah, who led Hamas’s naval force in northern Gaza, and several other Hamas commanders died in the attack. Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers in recent weeks as they have gathered in large crowds to get food from looted convoys, from distributions by the UN, or from sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a controversial US- and Israel-backed private organisation that started operations last month. On Saturday, Israel’s security cabinet said it would allow aid organisations to resume convoys into northern Gaza, where the humanitarian crisis in the territory is most acute. The move was opposed by far-right members of Israel’s ruling coalition, who say any aid will be stolen by Hamas and that none should be allowed to enter Gaza. The head of a Palestinian armed group opposed to Hamas and accused of looting aid in Gaza confirmed in an interview with public radio on Sunday that it was coordinating with the Israeli military. “We keep them informed, but we carry out the military actions on our own,” Yasser Abu Shabab said in an interview with Makan, Israel’s Arabic-language public radio broadcaster.

Peter Everington obituary

My friend Peter Everington, who has died aged 90, was in his second year studying classics at Cambridge when the Suez crisis came to a head in October 1956. The perceived arrogance and deceit driving Britain’s involvement in the invasion of Egypt shocked him deeply, and prompted him to rethink the direction of his life. Turning to his strong Christian faith, he felt a call to build bridges between Britain and the Arab world. This led him to switch his degree course to Arabic, and after graduation, in 1958, he became an English teacher in newly independent Sudan. Over an eight-year period, he worked in secondary schools in Port Sudan and Khartoum and at the Higher Teacher Training Institute in Omdurman, and he revisited the country many times subsequently. While teaching in Northern Ireland prior to Cambridge, Peter had become involved in a movement called Moral Re-Armament (MRA), later renamed Initiatives of Change, which encouraged conflict resolution. Peter attempted this kind of work in Sudan – divided between the Muslim north and the Christian south – by supporting figures on either side who wanted to bring peace to the wartorn country. One of these was Joseph Lagu, a guerrilla leader who later became vice-president of Sudan before going into exile in London. There, Peter and Lagu worked closely together from the mid-1980s onwards, supporting peacebuilding efforts. In 1996 Peter was awarded the Order of the Two Niles for services to Sudan. Born in Hendon, then in Middlesex, to Stella (nee Hilleary) and Jack Everington, a lawyer, Peter grew up in Radlett, Hertfordshire, and went to Marlborough college in Wiltshire. He did military service in Hong Kong, and a stint teaching at Mourne Grange preparatory school near Kilkeel in Northern Ireland before going to Pembroke College, Cambridge. Returning from Sudan to the UK in 1966, he decided to work full-time with MRA. In 1972, he married Jean Robertson, and they spent the first two and a half years of their marriage in Iran. Back in the UK from the mid-1970s, with the couple eventually settling in Acton, west London, Peter was involved over the next two decades in running a student exchange programme for the British-Arab Universities Association. In 2017, a Khartoum-based cultural organisation published, in English and Arabic, a memoir by Peter entitled Watch Your Step, Khawaja: A British Teacher in Sudan 1958-66. In recent years, Peter was a lay preacher at his local Anglican church, St Dunstan’s. He also volunteered with Ealing and Acton Support Enterprise (Ease), a charity working with asylum seekers. A cricket lover, he was a member of the MCC. He is survived by Jean and their son, John.

Paris reopens River Seine to public swimming after century-long ban

Parisians and tourists flocked to take a dip in the Seine River this weekend after city authorities gave the green light for it to be used for public swimming for the first time in more than a century. The opening followed a comprehensive clean-up programme sped up by its use as a venue in last year’s Paris Olympics after people who regularly swam in it illegally lobbied for its transformation. The outgoing mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, also helped to champion the plans, jumping in the river herself before the Olympics. About 1,000 swimmers a day will be allowed access to three bathing sites on the banks of the Seine for free, until the end of August. About €1.4bn (£1.2bn) has been invested in the project including inconnecting more than 20,000 homes to the sewer system (the waste from which had hitherto been dumped directly into the Seine), improving water treatment facilities and building substantial rainwater storage reservoirs equivalent in size to 20 Olympic swimming pools to avoid overflows of sewage during rain storms. Paris’s efforts have been in part inspired by, and have helped to inspire, similar popular projects in cities around Europe where campaigners have fought to reclaim waterways for swimming. Concerns about allowing city dwellers to cool down amid increasing summer temperatures have been at the heart of their arguments. Despite health concerns that affected some Olympic training sessions last summer, as well as the men’s triathlon event, races went ahead as planned, helping to increase confidence in the public swimming plans. Tourist authorities predict it will become one of the most talked about pastimes of the season and act as a magnet for visitors. The bathing spots are located near to the Eiffel Tower – which is focused on swimming for families with small children – the Notre Dame Cathedral and the National Library. Lifeguards are present, and changing and shower facilities are available. Water quality will be tested daily by health authorities and a flag system will indicate how safe it is to swim. Diving is not permitted due to the shallowness of the water. In addition to the three Paris sites, 14 bathing spots beyond the city on the Seine and Marne rivers are planned. Two, on the Marne, opened in June. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, now has no excuse not to fulfil one of his promises to the electorate – that he too would one day bathe in the Seine when it was possible to do so.

‘Our days are full of hardship’: people in Gaza barely dare to hope for success in ceasefire talks

In Gaza City on Sunday morning, there was only one topic of conversation: the possibility of peace. In the half-ruined town, as across the entire territory, few took their eyes off their phones, a television or better-informed relatives or friends for more than a few minutes. Um Fadi Ma’rouf, from the now destroyed town of Beit Lahiya in the far north of Gaza, said she was encouraged by the positive response from Hamas to the most recent US-sponsored proposal of terms for a deal. “I think this means it will happen. I really hope it goes through because this situation has exhausted us,” said the 50-year-old, who has been forced to move nine times during the conflict. Israel has so far rejected Hamas’s demands for changes to a 14-point draft agreement circulated last week but on Sunday despatched a negotiating team to Qatar for indirect talks. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, is scheduled to meet Donald Trump, who is thought to hope to announce a ceasefire himself, in Washington on Monday evening local time. In Gaza City, the mood was tense and subdued. In the early morning, barefoot children with torn clothes and dirty faces walked the cracked streets carrying pots in search of food or scavenged for rubbish that could be used as fuel. Later, many of those living in stifling tents headed to the coast in search of respite from soaring temperatures. “From time to time, we hear airstrikes, but they are very far away and barely audible,” one Gaza City resident told the Guardian. “We haven’t seen any planes but a warship came very close to the shore but caused no trouble. It didn’t open fire.” There have been two previous ceasefires in Gaza, one in November 2023, and a second this year which came into effect in January but collapsed in March when Israel reneged on a promise to move to a second phase that might have led to a definitive end to the conflict. A new Israeli offensive followed and an 11-week total blockade that led to almost the entire population facing the threat of famine. The near 21-month war was triggered by a Hamas raid into Israel in October 2023 in which militants killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 250 hostages. Fifty hostages remain in Gaza, of whom more than half are thought to be dead. The ensuing Israeli offensive has reduced much of Gaza to rubble, displaced almost the entire 2.3 million population multiple times and killed more than 57,000, mostly civilians. Ma’rouf said: “During the last truce, I never expected the war to return. When it did, it was a tragic feeling – indescribable. I lost my sister in this war, along with around 20 other members of my extended family. My greatest fear is losing someone else from my family – one of my children, my siblings, or close relatives.” Nineteen-year-old Shahd Ashour, whose sister’s fiance was killed just before the last ceasefire was announced, said she too was remaining cautious. “My biggest fear now is that the news of the ceasefire turns out to be false – just rumours – and the war and killings continue. I still have hope, but only a little,” she said. Many children share such fears. Lama al-Mubayyed, 12, said she was scared of being “torn apart, killed, paralysed or losing a limb”. “I was so happy during the last ceasefire. We felt a bit safe. But when the war returned, I cried a lot because it meant going back to the suffering of tents, the summer heat, and repeated displacement,” Lama said. Aid officials in Gaza said on Saturday that supplies of fuel, essential to run the generators that are the primary source of power in the territory, are close to being exhausted. Without fresh deliveries, they said, humanitarian operations would collapse, the few remaining hospitals would be unable to function and communications would be cut off. “We are hopeful about a ceasefire of course, but we need to know how much aid is going to get in and how fast, and who will be able to distribute it. There are a lot of questions that are unanswered,” one humanitarian official in Deir al-Balah said. In recent weeks the flow of aid into Gaza has varied, though it has been little more than a fraction of what is needed, UN officials said. Hundreds have died seeking food from looted trucks or a small number of distribution hubs. Prices for the limited basics available in the few markets vary wildly from day to day, though remain far too high for almost all in the territory to afford. On Sunday, a kilo of flour was selling for the equivalent of $10, a kilo of lentils for $12 and a kilo of rice or pasta for $14. “The greatest hardship we’re facing now – myself and everyone in Gaza – is finding food and water each day,” said Adel Sharaf, 18, who is from Beit Lahia but is living in a tent after his home was destroyed. Many in Gaza are bracing themselves for bad news. Ahmad, from the al-Shujaiya neighbourhood that has been almost entirely destroyed in repeated Israeli military operations, said he was pessimistic “because everyone was lying”. “Every week they hear about a possible ceasefire, and then it falls apart. This is always what happens, just like in previous times,” the 35-year-old said. Abu Adham Abu Amro, 55, said he was afraid to hope because he had already lost 25 family members in the conflict. “We pray to God that the ceasefire succeeds this time. Our days are full of hardship – struggling to access water and food, dealing with a shortage of resources, and the rise in prices,” Abu Amro, who is from Gaza City, said. “Right now, I have no fears other than the possibility that the ceasefire won’t happen this time.”

Ibiza’s ambulance service risks collapse due to callouts to clubs, says union

The ambulance service on the Spanish island of Ibiza says it is at risk of collapse because of frequent callouts to attend to clubbers having bad experiences with recreational drugs. The local ambulance union says up to a third of emergency calls are to clubs, the largest of which has a capacity of as many as 10,000 partygoers, and are largely drug-related. It is calling on club owners to contract private ambulance services. “It’s inconceivable that businesses with an income of millions of euros a year can’t provide this service which is saturating the emergency services at the expense of the local population,” the president of the local health services union, José Manuel Maroto, told elDiario.es. “The clubs are obliged to employ nurses and other health workers but not ambulances, the cost if which is borne by public services,” he said, adding that it was unjust that the island’s 161,000 residents should receive an inferior service because of the demands of 3.6 million annual visitors. According to Maroto, only one major club, DC-10, uses a private service. The island, part of the hippy trail in the 1970s, has been a mecca for clubbers since the early 1980s. The pioneering clubs were Amnesia and Pacha, but dozens have sprung up since, making the dance scene – and the drugs that fuel it – a major part of Ibiza’s tourism industry. The Hollywood star Will Smith was at the inauguration last month of UNVRS, the island’s biggest club, where the cheapest entry is €100 (£86) and a drink can cost €25. According to the regional government, tourists to the island spend €1.5 of every €10 on the dancefloor, but many clubbers complain the scene is now all about money and big-name DJs who command enormous appearance fees. A study by the local paper El Diario de Ibiza found that the island is the third most expensive destination in the Mediterranean after Saint-Tropez and Capri. Much of the money goes to a company founded by the former footballer and politician Abel Matutes. The Matutes family, the most powerful on Ibiza, as well as owning numerous hotels in Spain, Mexico and the US, owns three of the island’s biggest party venues, Ushuaïa, Hï Ibiza and UNVRS. Drugs are a major part of the informal economy and large busts are common. More than a million MDMA doses were recovered in a single raid last year. A study published in European Psychiatry found that there were 58 drug-related deaths on Ibiza between 2010 and 2016 with the largest proportion (36%) being young Britons.

‘We want closure’: family searches for answers over Kenyan police officer missing in Haiti

The relatives of a Kenyan police officer who went missing while working in Haiti have spoken of their anguish and anger at Kenyan authorities over a lack of definitive information about what has happened to him. Benedict Kuria and some colleagues were ambushed in March by suspected gang members. Haitian media reported that he had died, but Kenya’s police service says a search is continuing. “We’ve tried many times to get information from the government, but they’ve refused,” said Kuria’s wife, Miriam Watima. “We don’t know what to do any more.” Hundreds of Kenyan officers have been posted to Haiti as part of a US and UN-backed mission to help police in the Caribbean country get to grips with rampant gang violence. More than a million people have been forced from their homes in a relentless cycle of indiscriminate killings, kidnappings, gang rapes and arson. Kuria’s case has reignited public concern over Kenya’s involvement in the multinational security support mission (MSS), which started last year and was the subject of intense domestic public and legal scrutiny from the outset. In a search for answers, Kuria’s family filed a court petition in June that listed the attorney-general, the inspector general of police and various ministers as respondents. A Nairobi court has scheduled a preliminary court appearance for September but the family, who want the matter treated with urgency, have called for the session to be brought forward. “We entrusted our son with the government,” said Kuria’s mother, Jacinta Kabiru. “They should give us the information.” Kuria, a 33-year-old administration police officer, joined the MSS last July. On 26 March the MSS said he was “unaccounted for” after an ambush the day before on a team who had gone to assist the recovery of a Haitian police vehicle stuck in a ditch that it suspected had been dug by gangs. Later on 26 March, Kenyan police said a search and rescue mission was continuing, while local leaders and police chiefs went to Watima’s house in the town of Kikuyu, north-west of Nairobi in Kiambu county, to tell her that her husband was missing. But the following day, Haitian media outlets reported that Kuria had been killed, quoting Haiti’s presidential transitional council as saying that he “fell … while carrying out his mission” and “gave his life for a better future for our country”. In the months since, his family’s desperate scramble for clarity has included visits to police – who have told them a search and rescue mission is continuing – and politicians’ offices. Through their lawyer, Mbuthi Gathenji, they have petitioned parliament and written letters to Kenya’s attorney-general and María Isabel Salvador, the special representative of the UN secretary-general in Haiti. Their court petition accuses government officials of “refusing and/or neglecting” to provide the family with information on Kuria’s whereabouts “to ease their agony”, and asks judges to assist in “compelling the respondents to disclose information”. “You can imagine the pain that the parents and relatives are going through,” said Gathenji. “We are asking the government to come out with finality.” The Guardian has approached Kenya’s interior cabinet secretary as well as the MSS and the Kenyan police for comment. Kenya’s leading role in the mission stemmed from a desire by the US and the UN to restructure international intervention in Haiti with a multinational mission headed by an African country, after a series of floundering UN missions during which UN troops caused a cholera outbreak and peacekeepers were accused of sexual assault. Kenya, which has participated in many peacekeeping missions internationally, volunteered to lead the Haiti intervention. For its president, William Ruto, the deployment was a chance to position his country as a reliable international partner and burnish the reputation of its police force, which regularly uses violence against civilians. The arrival of the Kenyan officers in June 2024 brought some hope to Haiti, but the mission, beset by funding, equipment and personnel issues, has failed to repel the criminal advance. In April, Salvador said Haiti was approaching a “point of no return”. And on Wednesday, Ghada Waly, the executive director of the UN office on drugs and crime, told the UN security council that gangs now controlled an estimated 90% of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Kuria’s mother had tried to dissuade him from joining the mission after learning about Haiti’s violent reputation, but he was determined to go, motivated in part by the extra pay the job came with, which he planned to use to improve his relatives’ lives. “This is an opportunity we have got as a family,” his brother, Philip Kuria, recalled him saying. Kuria was due to return this year at the end of his one-year contract. “It’s a struggle,” said Philip. “What we want is closure.” Kuria’s uncle, Daniel Ndung’u, said the family was open to any news. “My prayer is that he’s going to come back to join us,” he said. “This suspense is actually torturing us.” Watima recalled her last call with Kuria as they discussed academic plans for their 17-year-old daughter. She tops up credit for her husband’s phone so it doesn’t get deactivated, hoping that one day he’ll call again. In the meantime, she waits for the government. “They should tell us whether he’s alive or not,” she said. “That’s all we want to know.”