First Thing: 51 men found guilty in Pelicot mass rape trial | Gaza

Good morning.

A panel of judges has declared all of the 51 defendants in France’s mass rape case to be guilty, after a three-month trial that sent shockwaves around the world.

Dominique Pelicot – described by his family as the worst sexual predator in recent French history – was convicted by a French court of the aggravated rape of his then wife, Gisèle Pelicot, and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

For nearly a decade, Pelicot drugged his wife so that he and strangers he recruited online could abuse her. Fifty other men were accused alongside Pelicot. The court found 46 of them guilty of rape, two guilty of attempted rape and two guilty of sexual assault.

• Who are the men convicted of rape and assault? They include a soldier, a nurse, a butcher, a truck driver, a supermarket worker and dozens more. But the Pelicot children have said they are “disappointed by the low sentences”, Agence France-Presse reports.

• What happens now? “The surge of united feminist feeling that has risen throughout France is a springboard from which we can continue our battle for equality and justice,” said Clémence Guetté, the vice-president of France’s national assembly.

• Follow our live coverage here.

Trump planning to target progressive non-profits, watchdog warns

Donald Trump and his Republican allies are planning to target progressive groups they perceive as political enemies in a sign of deepening “authoritarianism”, a watchdog warns.

“Trump has made it clear that he plans to use his second term to attack the progressive ecosystem and his perceived enemies,” Adrienne Watson, of the Congressional Integrity Project, told the Guardian. “This is a worrying progression of Trump’s authoritarianism that would undermine our democracy.”

Trump’s agenda overlaps with Project 2025, a policy blueprint from the Heritage Foundation that includes plans to attack non-profits, researchers and civil society groups.

• What levers could Trump pull to attack critics? He could use the justice department and Internal Revenue Service to target non-profits and researchers, launch politically motivated investigations and pass legislation to restrict their activities.

• What have Trump’s nominees for top government roles said? Kash Patel, Trump’s nominee for FBI director, has vowed to “come after” media outlets and non-profits that he falsely claims “helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections”.

Human Rights Watch accuses Israel of genocide for restricting Gaza water supply

Israel’s restriction of Gaza’s water supply to levels below minimum needs amounts to an act of genocide and extermination as a crime against humanity, a report from Human Rights Watch has alleged.

It has accused Israeli forces of deliberate actions intended to cut the availability of clean water so drastically that the population has been forced to resort to contaminated sources, leading to the outbreak of lethal diseases, especially among children.

Israel’s actions have killed many thousands of Palestinians and constitute an act of genocide, HRW argues, citing declarations by ministers in the country’s ruling coalition that Gaza’s water supply would be cut off as evidence of intent. Israel rejects the report.

• How has the lack of clean water affected people in Gaza? There have been nearly 670,000 recorded cases of acute watery diarrhoea since the war began, and more than 132,000 cases of jaundice, a sign of hepatitis.

• How do HRW’s findings differ from Amnesty International’s? An Amnesty report this month concluded that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza. The HRW allegations are not as broad as Amnesty’s, focusing specifically on the Gaza water supply, but the organisation claims the evidence is overwhelming that Israel has used water as a weapon against the Palestinian population collectively, with lethal results.

In other news …

• Vanuatu’s public health system risks being overwhelmed amid rising waterborne disease, aid agencies have said after Tuesday’s 7.3 magnitude earthquake.

• Wall Street fell sharply on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 closing down almost 3%. It came after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates to between 4.25% to 4.5%.

• The Russian security council’s deputy head said the editors of the Times of London are “legitimate military targets”, after a newspaper editorial said Ukraine’s assassination of a Russian general was legitimate.

• A controversial study that promoted hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for Covid-19 has officially been retracted.

Stat of the day: Uber and its CEO donate $1m each to Trump’s inauguration fund

Uber and its CEO have donated $1m each to Donald Trump’s inauguration fund, joining a growing list of firms seeking to garner favor with the administration. Meta also gave $1m, with Amazon and OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, reportedly planning similar donations.

Don’t miss this: Why do boomer men refuse to slow down?

Those born in the baby boomer generation are entering the longest phase of elderhood in history. As men age, they are likely to feel pressure to remain self-reliant and avoid perceived weakness. These demographic and sociological realities raise thorny questions for boomer men and their families.

Climate check: The rise of the ‘balcony power plant’

Manufacturers say that installing two 300-watt solar panels will save up to 30% on a typical household’s electricity bill. Panels have already been installed on about 1.5m German balconies, where they are so popular the term Balkonkraftwerk (balcony power plant) has been coined.

A toadstool with teeth, a vine smelling of marzipan, and a flower that has cheated its way out of having to photosynthesise are among new plant and fungus species discovered in 2024. There are 400,000 named plant species, and an estimated 100,000 waiting to be identified.

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