Five women who say they were forced to undergo invasive examinations seek to overturn judgment finding they could not directly sue Qatar Airways Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast Five women who allege they were forced off a Qatar Airways plane by armed guards and intimately examined at Doha airport are attempting to overturn a legal decision that found they could not sue the airline directly. Earlier this month, Australia’s federal court dismissed a lawsuit lodged against Qatar Airways over the Oct ..read more

Denounced as giving a ‘veneer of legality to slaveholding’ and despite claims of reform, kafala laws persist, allowing bosses to abuse women, who vanish from society. This is their testimony, gathered over two years in a Guardian investigation Condemned as dangerous and abusive, the kafala labour system not only disregards migrant workers’ rights but depends on exploitation. But 10 years after Qatar was advised by the UN to abolish kafala (“sponsorship”) entirely and replace it with a regulated labour network, the system is thriving across Lebanon, Jordan and the Gulf states – with the region ..read more

Grim milestone comes as G7 leaders urge Netanyahu not to press ahead with Rafah invasion The death toll from Israel’s war on Gaza climbed to more than 34,000 on Saturday, with the majority of victims women and children, including at least six killed by an overnight airstrike on a house in Rafah. The latest grim milestone comes as hope of a ceasefire has dimmed, and global attention has shifted to the dangerous exchange of missile and drone strikes between Iran and Israel ..read more

Tit-for-tat attacks present Sunni monarchies with complicated choices over region’s future Iran’s missile and drone attack on Israel had, by the end of this week, become one of the most interpreted events in recent modern history. Then, in the early hours of Friday, came reports of Israel’s riposte. As in June 1914, when Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated in a moment that ultimately led to the first world war, these shots were heard around the world, even if few can agree conclusively on what they portend. By one de minimis account, Tehran was merely sending a performative ..read more

UN due to vote on Thursday on bid for full membership by Palestine in move the US is expected to block See all of our updates on the Israel-Gaza war and wider Middle East crisis The EU has edged closer to calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East after a meeting of the 27 bloc leaders last night. Leaders have struggled to agree language from the outset of the conflict, engaging in torturous discussions over whether they should use the word ceasefire, pause, or pauses in the first official bloc-wide declaration in October ..read more

Federal court dismisses case against airline but judge says five women can refile claims for damages against subsidiary Matar Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast Qatar Airways has successfully dodged an Australian lawsuit over an incident at Doha airport in which women were forcibly removed from planes by armed guards and some intimately examined. However, while the federal court dismissed the case against the airline, justice John Halley determined the five Australian women bringing the case could i ..read more

Campaigners warn Fifa over risk of death toll rising once 2034 preparations start, after Guardian investigation reveals most of the thousands of Bangladeshi workers’ deaths are unexplained Another World Cup will be tainted by worker deaths if Fifa fails to act, say rights groups An ambulance is weaving through the chaos of the cargo depot at Dhaka’s international airport, navigating a careful route through trolleys stacked high with boxes, men hauling rolls of cloth and trucks reversing into loading bays. It stops and, shortly afterwards, from between the towering piles of goods, a coffin is ..read more

Officials at Cairo talks say list is first step in truce deal as militant group demands aid into Gaza Egyptian and Qatari officials are putting pressure on Hamas negotiators in Cairo to produce a list of hostages to be released as the first step in a phased ceasefire agreement with Israel, according to officials familiar with the talks. Israel has not sent a delegation to the second day of talks in Cairo, demanding that Hamas present a list of 40 elderly, sick and female hostages who would be the first to be released as part of a truce that would initially last six weeks, beginning with the mo ..read more

Agreements on fighting, hostage and prisoner releases and aid in Gaza are part of terms the two sides could sign up to Middle East crisis – live updates The US president, Joe Biden, said he hoped a deal for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza and hostage release could be reached by next Monday, as negotiators for Israel and Hamas try to pin down the terms of a draft agreement ..read more

US national security spokesperson says talks in Cairo ‘constructive and moving in right direction’ Middle East crisis – live updates Israel and Hamas are making progress towards a deal that would bring about a ceasefire and free hostages held in the Gaza Strip, officials with knowledge of the talks have said. The US national security council spokesperson, John Kirby, speaking as negotiations were held in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, said: “They’ve been constructive and moving in the right direction ..read more