Balanced calmly on top of what was once a refrigerator door, fisherman Khaled Habib uses a makeshift paddle to propel himself through the waters of Gaza City’s fishing port.
More than 15 months of Israeli bombardment has destroyed most of the boats in the harbour, wrecking the fishermen’s means of making a living.
“We’re in a very difficult situation today, and struggling with the fishing. There are no fishing boats left. They’ve all been destroyed and tossed on the ground”, said Habib.
“I made this boat from refrigerator doors and cork, and thankfully it worked”.
To continue feeding his family, Habib came up with the idea of stuffing cork into old fridge doors to make them buoyant. He covered one side with wood and the other with plastic sheeting to help make the makeshift paddleboard waterproof.
Habib also crafted a fishing cage out of wire because of the lack of nets, but admitted that his resulting catch was “small”.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in December that the conflict had taken Gaza’s “once thriving fishing sector to the brink of collapse”.
“Gaza’s average daily catch between October 2023 to April 2024 dropped to just 7.3 percent of 2022 levels, causing a $17.5 million production loss”, the FAO said.
Using dough as bait, Habib now fishes mainly inside the small port area.
Nuuk, Greenland – Greenland’s most popular social media influencer announced her political bid just weeks ahead of Tuesday’s elections as she felt the winds of change blowing across the vast Arctic island.
“This is truly a historic moment. I feel like we are finally voting on independence. This has primarily happened because the US is showing greater interest in Greenland”, Qupanuk Olsen, the 39-year-old running with the pro-independence opposition party Naleraq in the parliamentary vote, told Al Jazeera. “It’s a huge wake-up call”.
Usually, she spends her time updating her hundreds of thousands of social media followers about everyday life in Greenland, from revealing how much a pair of Sketchers costs at a mall in Nuuk, the capital, to the type of seafood eaten on festive days.
To Olsen and many other Greenlanders, Tuesday’s vote feels like the most critical election in the territory’s recent history.
Greenland has captured the world’s attention since United States President Donald Trump doubled down on his intentions to absorb the island, an uncomfortable prospect that has renewed a long-running debate over independence from Denmark.
While the level of self-governance has expanded over the years, full sovereignty remains a distant yet powerful aspiration for many Greenlanders – and the issue is at the heart of the snap election that was called after Trump underscored his ambitions.
In the run-up to the vote, Nuuk has been overrun with international journalists taking an unusually keen interest in Greenlandic politics.
Among the questions being continually asked: Will Greenland take concrete steps towards breaking away from Denmark, or will economic realities keep it tethered to Copenhagen?
“I don’t think full independence will happen anytime soon – it has always been a factor in Greenlandic elections. However, I don’t see it happening quickly, even though some political parties are pushing for it. Maybe in 20 to 30 years”, Maria Ackren, a professor of political science at Greenland University, told Al Jazeera.
“Almost every party in Greenland supports independence. However, the timing, conditions, and pace of the process vary”.
An immense Arctic island of just 56, 000 people, Greenland has been a semi-autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark since 1979. Until 1953, it was a Danish colony.
Under a 2009 home-rule agreement, Greenland has full control over its domestic affairs but still relies heavily on Denmark, which maintains authority over foreign policy and defence.
Denmark provides Greenland with an annual subsidy of about $570m, covering nearly a third of the island’s budget.
“It is about time that we take a step forward and shape our own future, including deciding who we collaborate closely with and who our trade connections will be. Our relationships with other countries cannot happen solely through Denmark”, said Mute B Egede, Greenland’s premier and leader of the pro-independence democratic socialist Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA) party, in his New Year’s speech.
Some parties are calling for Greenland to hold a referendum on a specific article in the home-rule law within the next four years. If the result is a yes, negotiations on independence and statehood would begin with Denmark.
Recent polls suggest a large majority of Greenlanders do not want to join the US and most back the idea of independence.
One survey showed that 70 percent of Danes believe that if Greenland leaves the Danish Realm, the annual subsidy – the so-called “block grant” – should be discontinued.
Navigating the snow-covered streets of Nuuk, a Greenlandic Trump supporter admired the red MAGA hat he placed on top of the dashboard of his car.
“It’s the original one – from back in 2016. It has been in my car for nine years”, Jorgen Boassen told Al Jazeera proudly.
He works with a Republican-affiliated organisation called American Daybreak, which aims to increase the US’s influence in Greenland.
Previously, Trump has refused to rule out military or economic coercion to seize Greenland.
In recent days, the US leader has reiterated his wish to snap up the island.
“I think we are going to get it. One way or another”, Trump said in an address to Congress.
The day after, Prime Minister Egede posted on Facebook, “We do not want to be Americans, nor Danes – we are Greenlanders. The Americans and their leader must understand that”.
In 2019, when Trump, then president, suggested that the US should buy Greenland from Denmark, he called it a “strategic real estate deal”, angering both Copenhagen and Nuuk.
Jorgen Boassen believes US President Donald Trump could be a force for good in Greenland]Peter Keldorff/Al Jazeera]
Greenland is geographically part of the North American continent but has been culturally connected with Europe for many centuries.
“The Greenlandic parties have yet to present a clear and concrete vision for independence. It remains unclear exactly what they mean by it. However, it is evident that Donald Trump’s interest has given them a sense of momentum, which they are using to put pressure on Danish politicians”, said Ackren, the professor at Greenland University.
Since Christmas, Trump has repeatedly claimed that the US should seek greater control over the island’s resources and expand its Arctic military presence, Greenland is already home to a large US base.
In January, the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr, visited. While officially described as a private trip, the tour appeared to be a well-planned social media stunt aimed at putting pressure on Greenland and Denmark.
Boassen said he helped organise the controversial visit, footage of which showed some Greenlanders wearing MAGA hats. Danish media later claimed some of those donning the red caps were bribed.
“I am not interested in Greenland becoming an American state”, said Boassen. “But I want a larger American military presence here. Denmark has not done what they promised regarding military build-up, and we can’t solely rely on Europe any more”.
Analysts believe Trump’s administration views Greenland, which has immense untapped resources such as rare-earth minerals, oil and gas, as a strategic asset – a key Arctic territory as geopolitical tensions between China, Russia and the US are heating up.
While local politicians have insisted Greenland is open for business, Greenlanders are certainly not interested in a new colonial ruler.
Argentina’s President Javier Milei has declared a period of mourning after a flash flood in the port city of Bahia Blanca killed at least 16 people, with more still missing.
The president’s office announced late on Sunday that the country would mark three days of national mourning over the tragedy, which came after heavy rains lashed the port city of Bahia Blanca. The statement did not say when the mourning period would begin.
“All areas of the national government will remain dedicated… to assisting the victims in this moment of sorrow for all Argentines”, the presidency announced.
The deadly floods struck on Friday when a year’s worth of rain, estimated to be 260 millimeters (10 inches), fell in a matter of hours in and around Bahia Blanca, a major port city south of Buenos Aires.
People row kayaks on flooded streets in the city of Bahia Blanca, in the province of Buenos Aires]Juan Sebastian Lobos/Reuters]
The Minister of Security of the Province of Buenos Aires Javier Alonso confirmed that two girls, aged one and five, were swept away in the torrent on Sunday and were among the victims.
Bahia Blanca Mayor Federico Susbielles told a news conference that the flooding had caused $400m in infrastructure damage.
In a post on X, he said “there are 16 confirmed deaths, but there are likely to be more” as search efforts continue.
The storm left much of the surrounding coastal area without power.
An organised crime network fabricated a plot to attack a synagogue in Australia to divert law enforcement resources, according to police.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) said on Monday that the discovery of explosives in a caravan parked in Sydney was part of a “criminal con job”. The country has previously said it suspected there were criminal links to a surge in anti-Semitic crime since the start of the Gaza war.
The authorities found the caravan, which contained enough explosives to create a blast wave of 40 metres (130 feet), in January. The police now say they quickly realised that the cache was fabricated by an organised crime network.
The caravan had been easily located, the AFP said, adding that the explosives were clearly visible and no detonator was present, suggesting there was never any intent to attack Jewish targets.
“The caravan was never going to cause a mass casualty event but instead was concocted by criminals who wanted to cause fear for personal benefit”, Krissy Barrett, AFP’s deputy commissioner for national security, told a news conference.
“Almost immediately, experienced investigators … believed that the caravan was part of a fabricated terrorism plot – essentially a criminal con job”.
‘ Chilling effect ‘
In a statement on Monday, the AFP said its investigation, named Operation Kissinger, has identified a number of people involved in the fake terrorism plot and is working with local and overseas law enforcement to bring them to justice.
It was decided to release the information to the public to provide comfort to Sydney’s Jewish community, New South Wales Police Deputy Commissioner Dave Hudson told a news conference.
“]The plot] was about causing chaos within the community, causing threat, causing angst, diverting police resources away from their day jobs, to have them focus on matters that would allow them to get up to or engage in other criminal activity”, he said.
The country’s counterterrorism unit had considered releasing information to the public earlier but it had been receiving tip-offs about other related “terror plots”.
However, “we are now confident that all these tip-offs were fabricated, and the caravan plot was an elaborate scheme contrived by organised criminals domestically and from offshore”, the AFP statement said.
Australia has suffered a spate of anti-Semitic attacks in recent months, with homes, schools, synagogues and vehicles targeted by vandalism and arson, drawing the ire of the country’s traditional ally Israel.
Barrett said, in this atmosphere, the fake caravan plot had had a “chilling effect” on the Jewish community.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence claimed its forces took control of the village of Kostyantynopil in southern Ukraine’s east Donetsk region. Three other villages – Malaya Loknya, Cherkasskoye Porechnoye and Kositsa – in the Kursk border region were also recaptured by Moscow, the ministry said.
The ministry claimed that Russian troops captured territory in Ukraine’s Sumy region for the first time since 2022 in a cross-border offensive.
Ukraine’s military announced that the number of Russian soldiers killed or wounded since the start of Moscow’s war on Kyiv has risen to about 885, 130. Some 1, 180 of these casualties were recorded within the past 24 hours alone, the military said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia carried out more than 2, 100 aerial attacks, including 1, 200 guided aerial bomb strikes and about 870 attack drones, on Ukraine in the past week.
Politics and diplomacy
French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecournu said his country plans to use interest from frozen Russian assets to fund $211m in arms for Ukraine. France will also send some of its older armoured fighting vehicles to Kyiv, he said.
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Saudi Arabia this week for talks with Ukrainian counterparts, the US Department of State said.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said Poland, which pays for Ukraine’s access to Starlink internet services, could be “forced to look for other suppliers” after the service’s owner Elon Musk said Ukraine’s “entire front line would collapse if I turned it]Starlink] off”.
Rubio hit back at Sikorski in a post on X, accusing him of “making things up” and saying no one had made any threats about cutting Ukraine off from Starlink. “And say thank you because without Starlink Ukraine would have lost this war long ago”, Rubio said.
Following the exchange, Musk said on X that he would never turn off Starlink terminals in Ukraine, regardless of his disagreement with Kyiv’s policies.
Zelenskyy said he would be travelling to Saudi Arabia on Monday, after Kyiv and Washington held initial exploratory talks.
US President Donald Trump expressed a positive outlook towards the US-Ukraine talks in Saudi Arabia, adding that his administration had “just about” ended its suspension on sharing intelligence with Kyiv.
Awra Amba, Ethiopia – Aregash Nuru pointed at the rolling green landscape in Ethiopia’s central Amhara region. “We used to watch sunset from the hills”, she said with a sigh. “But no more”.
These days, it is too dangerous to risk leaving the safety of the village, according to Nuru, a 30-year-old accountant and local tour guide. Gunshots can sometimes be heard from afar. Locals have been kidnapped. Schools have been forced to shut.
“The political situation has changed everything”, added Nuru, staring down at the ground in sadness.
For decades, violent insecurity and conflict have struck many parts of Ethiopia – none more so than during the Tigray conflict between 2020 and 2022, which led to the deaths of some 600, 000 people in the East African nation, estimates have found.
But one place that had remained relatively untouched was the village of Awra Amba, set in the highlands of Amhara. The community, which was founded in the 1970s, is a pioneering utopian project home to about 600 people who live by strictly egalitarian rules, including the equal division of work by gender.
Over the years, Awra Amba has gained recognition for its efforts, winning awards for its approach to conflict resolution – which includes special dispute meetings and democratically-elected committees – as well as its emphasis on peace. Officials from the Ethiopian government and international bodies such as the United Nations, the Red Cross and Oxfam have come to observe the community’s famed example.
However, during the past two years, a deadly conflict has taken hold in Amhara – a region home to the UNESCO-protected rock-hewn churches of Lalibela and the historic fortress of Gondar – as the armed group Fano has violently clashed with federal government soldiers of the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF).
Since the conflict began in April 2023, after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed attempted to dissolve regional forces into police or federal military, there have been reports of mass gender-based violence and thousands of murders perpetrated by both the ENDF and Fano, who are demanding full control of territory they claim is theirs.
Aregash Nuru, left, a 30-year-old accountant and local tour guide in Awra Amba]Peter Yeung/Al Jazeera]
The nonprofit International Crisis Group has called the development an “ominous new war”.  , Amnesty International has called for global attention to this “human rights crisis” while Human Rights Watch has condemned “war crimes” committed by the ENDF.
“There is a trauma now in the region, there has been devastation”, said Bantayehu Shiferaw Chanie, a research associate at the Centre for International Policy Studies in Ottawa, Canada, who is from Amhara and worked in Ethiopia until July 2023.
In turn, the pacifist community of Awra Amba has been caught up in the crossfire of the spiralling conflict.
Economy upturned
Nuru is a member of the community’s cooperative, which pools all of its income and resources together. They use the funds for projects, including a care home for the elderly, support for orphans and a welfare charity to help people in need. But the once-thriving, self-sufficient economy has been turned on its head, Nuru said.
Awra Amba once welcomed thousands of visitors a year – domestic and international tourists alike, as well as classes of schoolchildren – who could stay at an on-site lodge and buy the community’s products, such as handwoven garments and textiles.
But overnight, that income has evaporated.
“There used to be many foreigners who came to visit”, said Worksew Mohammed, 25, another former tour guide in Awra Amba. “We were so happy to share our story of peace with them. But now there are none. It is too dangerous for them to come here”.
Community members are even fearful of travelling to markets to sell their agricultural produce, such as maize and teff, a popular grain in Ethiopia, since robberies by gangs along the highway are now common due to the prevailing state of lawlessness.
“Trade has been impacted”, said Ayalsew Zumra, a 39-year-old community member. “Going to other towns is difficult, sometimes it is not safe. That means we can’t transport the produce. But that’s how we make most]of our] income”.
Community members harvesting maize in the fields together]Peter Yeung/Al Jazeera]
Community members, who live in humble adobe homes and plough the fields with oxen, are also being affected by the ongoing conflict in other ways.  , In attempts to hinder rebels, the Ethiopian government routinely blocks the internet across the Amhara region, the second most populous in the country.
Alamu Nuruhak, a 24-year-old studying IT at university, was back in Awra Amba, where he was born and raised, to visit his family. However, due to the blackout, he could not study.
“It’s difficult here to get anything done”, said Nuruhak.
The community has also been forced to shut down a school, for which it provided half the funds during its construction in 2019 and then donated to the state, due to the complexities of the conflict and this perceived association with the government. Last year, Fano fighters descended on Awra Amba and demanded that teaching stop immediately.
“The government wanted the school to continue operating, but the other forces]Fano] didn’t want to continue the learning process”, said Zumra. “The conflict … it affects everyone”.
Devastation will cause ‘ larger crisis ‘
Then terror rippled across Awra Amba last year when a villager was kidnapped by unidentified armed men who demanded 1 million Ethiopian birr ($7, 900) for his return – a huge sum that the community has been unable to pay in full.
In the meantime, the community’s founder, Zumra Nuru, and his son have fled to Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa. Locals say his son was also the target of an attempted abduction as armed men came searching for him one day – but he was out of town.
Armed men now regularly occupy Awra Amba, which was once relatively untouched by Ethiopia’s conflicts]Peter Yeung/Al Jazeera]
Chanie, the researcher, says the Amhara conflict will persist unless there is a significant turnaround in Abiy’s policy towards Fano and that they are given – as promised by the prime minister – genuine political representation.
Fano fought beside federal troops during the two-year conflict in Tigray, but in the aftermath, Amhara people from outside Abiy’s party, including Fano, were not included in negotiations that resulted in the Pretoria peace deal in November 2022.
The roots of Fano – an Amharic term meaning “freedom fighter” – date back to the grassroots forces that rose up against the Italian fascist occupiers of Ethiopia in the 1930s, but today it is a largely informal coalition of several volunteer militias in the region that has gained widespread popular support in its fight for Amhara interests.
“There is a lack of political representation of Amharas in Abiy’s ethnic federalism”, said Chanie.
“The prime minister and his government didn’t keep their promises. He has just conserved his power. He consolidated his power, so it’s just a one-man show”.
For now, the conflict rages on in Amhara.
A June 2024 report by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights found that federal forces carried out torture, rape, extrajudicial executions and murders of civilians, and that Fano militias were responsible for killings of civilians, attacks on civilian objects and unlawful arrests. Some four million children are reportedly out of school due to the violence in the region.
Occupants of the elderly people’s care home in Awra Amba]Peter Yeung/Al Jazeera]
“As we see in the Amhara, nothing has been resolved through military action. So we need a clear, serious conversation between political groups”, said Chanie. “If the conflict continues, the devastation will result in a larger crisis. State collapse could lead to a bigger risk of regional insecurity”.
In the meantime, the people of Awra Amba in the remote highlands of Ethiopia are dreaming of a peaceful resolution.
“We just want peace”, founder Zumra Nuru, now 76, told Al Jazeera at his current home in Addis Ababa. “We believe that all conflicts can be resolved with reasonable discussion and debate”.
It is not the first time that the community of Awra Amba has been caught up in political strife, he added.
In 1988, during the Derg regime, a communist military government that ruled Ethiopia for nearly two decades, they were accused of supporting the opposition and were forced to flee their land.
The villagers were able to return only in 1993, two years after the regime’s authoritarian time in power came to an end.
