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Thousands led by Cuba's president march in Havana in solidarity with Palestinine
Thousands of people led by Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel have marched along Havana’s iconic boardwalk in solidarity with the Palestinian people and demanding an end to the war between Israel and Hamas
HAVANA -- Thousands of people led by Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel marched along Havana’s iconic boardwalk Thursday in a show of solidarity with the Palestinian people and demanding an end to the war between Israel and Hamas.
Wearing a black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh scarf, Díaz-Canel was accompanied by Cuba’s main leaders, including Prime Minister Manuel Marrero and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez.
The marchers walked for 2 kilometers (1.2 miles), passing in front of the U.S. Embassy. Palestinian medical students who were in Cuba as part of a cooperation program joined the rally.
“Today we are supporting the Palestinian people, supporting all those people who feel the pain of having lost a family member, a loved one due to this massacre,” said Yanquiel Cardoso, a physical culture specialist who participated. “We are asking for a ceasefire ... and for Palestine to be free.”
Many young people had posters with the phrase “Free Palestine” with crude photographs of children injured by bombs or flags identifying both Cubans and Palestinians.
“This march means a lot to us,” said Sami Sabala, a 26-year-old Palestinian medical student in Havana. “It raises feelings … And it makes people feel that Palestine is not alone.”
The war started Oct. 7 when Hamas militants entered southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages being taken to Gaza. Israel’s crushing aerial, ground and naval offensive in Gaza has left more than 13,300 Palestinians dead and caused wide destruction in the sealed-off enclave.
Since the war began, this is the second time that Cuba’s top leaders have participated in solidarity rallies. Last week, the Palestinian flag was projected on the monument to José Martí, the most iconic in the Caribbean capital. | Middle East Politics |
It wasn't the usual end to a day out walking in the countryside.
On Thursday, journalist Riham Alkousaa was on a hiking holiday, walking with a group through the mountainous wooded region of Saxon Switzerland, in the eastern German state of Saxony.
But when she got back to her hostel, she found that police officers were waiting for them.
Someone had called the police, saying that "a group of foreigners" had been spotted.
The caller reported them as migrants who were supposedly trying to cross the border from nearby Czechia illegally.
But Ms Alkousaa was out walking with a registered German hiking club whose members are mostly Syrians living in Germany.
She is an award-winning journalist who works for Reuters. Originally from Syria, she is a German citizen, who graduated from Columbia University in New York. For the past 10 years she has worked for many German and American publications.
The Syrians she was hiking with all work or study in Germany legally.
Saxony police told the BBC that a German citizen contacted regional police on Germany's emergency number 110, having spotted the hiking group near the border, and suspecting that the group might be being smuggled across the border.
Regional police then passed on the information to the federal police force who sent officers to the region to patrol, where they found the hikers.
Having checked the hiking group's documents which proved the whole group was in Germany legally, police said they ended the operation.
Ms Alkousaa's post about the incident on X, formerly known as Twitter, has provoked a storm of reaction on social media.
Police said Ms Alkousaa had not contacted them directly and no complaint has been lodged.
Many of the reactions to the post express support for her, but some of the comments are racist. Others approve of the police's response.
The incident points to growing concerns in Germany about whether minorities are welcome in areas where the anti-migrant far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, is surging.
Saxon Switzerland is one of Germany's most beautiful regions. Its spectacular mountainous terrain is portrayed in the works of 18th and 19th century Romantic painters, such as Caspar David Friedrich. The landscape has a special place in German culture and is popular with tourists.
But the state of Saxony is also a place where the far-right does well in elections.
In polls the AfD is either the most popular party, with around a third of the votes, or neck-and-neck with the incumbent conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
Next year three German regions, including Saxony, will elect new regional parliaments. At the moment it's unlikely that the AfD will get into power because no other party will form a coalition with it.
But if the far-right wins the most votes, it could make it impossible for mainstream parties to form a stable governing coalition.
Over the past few months Germany has been embroiled in a ferocious debate about rising numbers of asylum seekers. So far this year around 290,000 people have applied for asylum, which is more than in 2022.
The numbers are much lower than in 2015 and 2016, when 1.5 million migrants and refugees came to Germany.
But some local councils are struggling logistically because the current influx comes on top of large numbers of Ukrainians. Germany has taken in 1.5 million Ukrainians since Russia's full invasion last year.
The increasingly fractious mood over migration is a boon for the AfD, which is fiercely anti-migrant.
Over the past decade its rhetoric has morphed from anti-euro populism to nativist far-right radicalism. Nationally the AfD typically polls over 20%, second only to the opposition conservatives.
Conservative politicians have also been adding pressure on the government. Angela Merkel's centrist so-called Willkommenskultur, or welcome culture, appears to have vanished from the debate. The new conservative leader Friedrich Merz is more hard-line with his rhetoric and is pushing the government to toughen up borders.
As a result, chancellor Olaf Scholz's left-leaning coalition has introduced spot checks on eastern borders with Poland and Czechia, where some migrants cross into Germany.
Officials say the aim is to target people smugglers. But critics suspect that when they are faced with the rise of the AfD, the move is more about cosmetic political action in the run-up to key elections across eastern Germany next year.
As Germany struggles with labour shortages in many sectors, local business leaders regularly express concern that the rise of the AfD may be harming eastern Germany's economic prospects.
They fear that potential workers from abroad might be reluctant to work in regions where the far-right is popular. Judging from reactions to Riham Alkousaa's experience, some international tourists may be put off too. | Europe Politics |
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish opposition leader Donald Tusk declared the beginning of a new era for his country after opposition parties appeared to have won enough votes in Sunday's parliamentary election to oust the governing nationalist conservative party.
That party, Law and Justice, has bickered with allies and faced accusations of eroding rule of law at home in its eight years in power. It appeared that voters were mobilized like never before, voting in even greater numbers than when the nation ousted the communist authorities in 1989. Exit poll results pegged it at a record 72.9%. In some places people were still in line when polling officially closed, but all were allowed to vote.
If the result predicted by the exit poll holds, Law and Justice won but also lost. It got more seats than any other party but fewer than in the previous election and not enough to be able to lead a government that can pass laws in the legislature.
The Ipsos exit poll suggested that Law and Justice obtained 200 seats. Its potential partner, the far-right Confederation got 12 seats, a showing the party acknowledged was a defeat.
It also showed that three opposition parties have likely won a combined 248 seats in the 460-seat lower house of parliament, the Sejm. The largest of the groups is Civic Coalition, led by Tusk, a former prime minister and former European Union president. It won 31.6% of votes, the exit poll said.
“I have been a politician for many years. I’m an athlete. Never in my life have I been so happy about taking seemingly second place. Poland won. Democracy has won. We have removed them from power,” Tusk told his cheering supporters.
“This result might still be better, but already today we can say this is the end of the bad time, this is end of Law and Justice rule," Tusk added.
Law and Justice leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski acknowledged the ambiguous result. He told supporters at his headquarters that his party’s result, at nearly 37% of the vote, according to the exit poll, was a success, making it the party to win the most votes for three parliamentary elections in a row.
“We must have hope and we must also know that regardless of whether we are in power or in the opposition, we will implement this (political) project in various ways and we will not allow Poland to be betrayed," Kaczynski said.
If the result holds, and Law and Justice is the single party with the most seats, then it would most likely get the first chance to try to build a government.
It falls to President Andrzej Duda, who is an ally of Law and Justice, to tap a party to try to form a government.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Polsat News that Duda “will entrust the mission of forming the government to the winning party and in this first step we will certainly try to build a parliamentary majority."
The question arose whether it would obtain the new parliament's approval.
Three opposition parties, Tusk's Civic Coalition, Third Way and the New Left, ran on separate tickets but with the same promises of seeking to oust Law and Justice and restore good ties with the European Union.
Wlodzimierz Czarzasty, a leader of the Left party, vowed to work with the others to “create a democratic, strong, reasonable and predictable government.”
Katarzyna Pelczynska-Nalecz, the head of election campaign for Third Way, called it a “huge day for our democracy.”
Votes were still being counted and the state electoral commission says it expects to have final results by Tuesday morning.
The high turnout also extended the count of Ipsos' late poll, based on findings from 50% of the voting stations, which was still not published in the early hours of Monday.
At stake in the election were the health of the nation’s constitutional order, its legal stance on LGBTQ+ rights and abortion, and the foreign alliances of a country that has been a crucial ally to Ukraine after Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
LGBTQ+ rights activist Bart Staszewski called it the end of a “nightmare” for himself as a gay man and others.
“This is just the beginning of reclaiming of our country. The fight is ahead but we are breathing fresh air today,” Staszewski said.
Environmental activist Dominika Lasota was emotional with relief, saying “we have our future.”
Law and Justice has eroded checks and balances to gain more control over state institutions, including the courts, public media and the electoral process itself.
During the campaign many Poles described the vote as the most important one since 1989, when a new democracy was born after decades of communism. Turnout then was 63%.
Despite many uncertainties ahead, what appeared certain was that support for the governing party has shrunk since the last election in 2019 when it won nearly 44% of the vote, its popularity dented by high inflation, allegations of cronyism and bickering with European allies.
There is a high level of state ownership in the Polish economy, and the governing party has built up a system of patronage, handing out thousands of jobs and contracts to its loyalists.
A political change could open the way for the EU to release billions of euros in funding that has been withheld over what the EU viewed as democratic erosion.
Piotr Buras, of the European Council on Foreign Relations, said the opposition had gained from “growing fatigue” with the government among Poles, "beyond the groups usually supporting the liberals.”
The fate of Poland's relationship with Ukraine was also at stake. The Confederation party campaigned on an anti-Ukraine message, accusing the country of lacking gratitude to Poland for its help in Russia's war. Its poor showing will be a relief for Kyiv.
A referendum on migration, the retirement age and other issues was held simultaneously. Some government opponents called on voters to boycott the referendum, saying it was an attempt by the government to galvanize its supporters. Many voters were seen refusing to take part in the referendum and the exit poll pegged participation at 40%, which meant the results would not be legally binding.
___
Associated Press journalists Kwiyeon Ha, Pietro De Cristofaro and Rafal Niedzielski contributed to this report.
Monika Scislowska And Vanessa Gera, The Associated Press | Europe Politics |
UNITED NATIONS -- The Islamic State group still commands between 5,000 and 7,000 members across its former stronghold in Syria and Iraq and its fighters pose the most serious terrorist threat in Afghanistan today, U.N. experts said in a report circulated Monday.
The experts monitoring sanctions against the militant group, also known by its Arab acronym Daesh, said that during the first half of 2023 the threat posed by IS remained “mostly high in conflict zones and low in non-conflict areas.”
But the panel said in a report to the U.N. Security Council that “the overall situation is dynamic,” and despite significant losses in the group's leadership and reduced activity in Syria and Iraq, the risk of its resurgence remains.
“The group has adapted its strategy, embedding itself with local populations, and has exercised caution in choosing battles that are likely to result in limited losses, while rebuilding and recruiting from camps in the northeast of the Syrian Arab Republic and from vulnerable communities, including in neighboring countries,” the experts said.
The Islamic State group declared a self-styled caliphate in a large swath of territory in Syria and Iraq that it seized in 2014. It was declared defeated in Iraq in 2017 following a three-year battle that left tens of thousands of people dead and cities in ruins, but its sleeper cells remain in both countries.
Despite sustained counter-terrorism operations, Daesh continues to command between 5,000 and 7,000 members across Iraq and Syria, “most of whom are fighters,” though it has reduced its attacks deliberately “to facilitate recruiting and reorganization,” the experts said.
In northeast Syria, approximately 11,000 suspected Daesh fighters are being held in facilities of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which have played a prominent role in the fight against IS, the panel said. The fighters include more than 3,500 Iraqis and approximately 2,000 from almost 70 nationalities, it said.
Northeast Syria is also the site of two closed camps – al-Hol and Roj – where the experts said some 55,000 people with alleged links or family ties to IS are living in “dire” conditions and “significant humanitarian hardship.”
Approximately two-thirds of the population are children including over 11,800 Iraqis, nearly 16,000 Syrians and over 6,700 youngsters from more than 60 other countries, the experts said.
The panel quoted one unnamed country as saying Daesh has maintained its “Cubs of the Caliphate” program, recruiting children in the overcrowded al-Hol camp. In addition, more than 850 boys, some as young as 10, were in detention and rehabilitation centers in the northeast, the experts said.
In Afghanistan, the panel said U.N. members assess the Islamic State group poses the most serious terrorist threat to the country and the wider region. IS has reportedly increased its operational capabilities and now has an estimated 4,000 to 6,000 fighters and family members in Afghanistan, it said.
In Africa, on a positive note, the experts said the deployment of regional forces in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province disrupted the IS affiliate, and regional countries estimate it now has 180-220 male fighters with battlefield experience, down from 280 previously.
In the east, the experts said several countries expressed concern that terrorist groups like Daesh could exploit political violence and instability in conflict-wracked Sudan.
And some countries assess that the Daesh affiliate in Africa's Sahel “has become increasingly autonomous and had played a significant role in the escalation of violence in the region, alongside other terrorist groups,” they said, pointing to increased IS attacks on several fronts in Mali and to a lesser extent in Burkina Faso and Niger. | Middle East Politics |
Young girl thought to be dead freed in hostage release
A 9-year-old Israeli-Irish girl believed to be dead was unexpectedly freed Saturday as part of the hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas.
Emily Hand was among the 17 hostages released Saturday, the second wave of 50 hostages planned to be released by Hamas by Monday after Israel and Hamas reached a short-term cease-fire deal this week.
The girl’s father, Thomas Hand, told CBS News that his daughter was at a sleepover at Kibbutz Be’eri on Oct. 7, when Hamas militants unexpectedly attacked Israeli border settlements, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping about 240 more.
Thomas Hand was informed by the Israeli military that his daughter was killed, he told CBS News.
“The thought of a little eight-year-old child in the hands of those animals… Can you imagine the sheer horror for an 8-year-old child?” he said.
But the military, weeks later, told him that his daughter may in fact be alive, as her remains were not found.
She was released to Israel on Saturday after 50 days in captivity.
“Emily has come back to us!” her family said in a statement to CBS News. “We can’t find the words to describe our emotions after 50 challenging and complicated days.”
The release of the second wave of hostages was delayed slightly Saturday after Hamas claimed Israel did not adequately supply humanitarian aid, as agreed. The two sides struck a deal hours later, however, and the hostage deal and cease-fire continued.
“I am delighted that Emily Hand — a bright and beautiful young girl — has been released and will be reunited with her family,” Micheal Martin, Ireland’s foreign affairs minister, said in a statement.
“After weeks of trauma, this is a precious and deeply moving moment for the Hand family. The people of Ireland have been touched by Emily’s story, her innocence and the quiet dignity and determination of her father, Tom.”
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. | Middle East Politics |
Ben & Jerry’s is among the companies whose supply chains utilize migrant child labor, often in violation of child labor laws, despite the company’s self-proclaimed progressive values and vowing to “honor and stand with” immigrants.
A New York Times exposé, released earlier this week, interviewed more than 100 migrant children in more than 20 states “who described jobs that were grinding them into exhaustion, and fears that they had become trapped in circumstances they never could have imagined.” The report detailed children as young as 13 working 12-hour days, often overnight shifts before going to school during the day, in order to survive.
The report said migrant children are employed in the supply chain for major companies like Walmart, Target, Whole Foods, Ford, General Motors and Ben & Jerry’s, among others.
Ben & Jerry’s, a self-described progressive company, told Fox News Digital that it is “opposed to child labor” and has worked to ensure fair compensation and safety of farmworkers.
“Ben & Jerry’s is opposed to child labor of any kind whatsoever. The company has an established track record standing for justice and equity for all including five plus years with Milk with Dignity supporting migrant workers. The Milk with Dignity Standards Council ensures that farmworkers are fairly compensated for their labor, work in healthy conditions, and builds in additional safeguards for those who are 16 and 17,” a spokesperson for the company said.
Ben & Jerry’s head of values-led sourcing, Cheryl Pinto, “said that if migrant children needed to work full time, it was preferable for them to have jobs at a well-monitored workplace,” according to the New York Times.
But national child labor laws prevent children younger than 16 from working more than three hours or after 7 p.m. on school nights, with the exception of farms.
Ben & Jerry’s has also been known for taking a stance on controversial political initiatives, often naming ice cream flavors in support of, or opposition to, controversial issues.
In 2018, the company released a new flavor, “Pecan Resist,” which was designed to send a message about resisting the Trump administration.
“We honor & stand with women, immigrants, people of color, & the millions of activists and allies who are courageously resisting the President’s attack on our values, humanity and environment,” Ben & Jerry’s wrote on its website. “We celebrate the diversity of our glorious nation and raise our spoons in solidarity for all Americans.”
Other politically charged flavors have included EmpowerMINT, released in 2016 to draw attention to claims of voter suppression, and I Dough, I Dough, a temporary name change to the chocolate chip cookie dough flavor in support of the legalization of same-sex marriage.
Ben & Jerry’s non-dairy frozen dessert, “Change the Whirled,” honors former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s “activism in pursuit of racial justice,” and his portion of the proceeds are donated to the Know Your Rights Camp.
The mission of Kaepernick’s Know your Rights Camp is to “advance the liberation and well-being of Black and Brown communities through education, self-empowerment, mass-mobilization and the creation of new systems that elevate the next generation of change leaders.”
The Know Your Rights camp did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. | Human Rights |
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has won re-election, according to unofficial data from state-run Anadolu Agency, in a tense run-off after he failed to secure more than 50 percent of votes required for an outright victory in the first round on May 14.
With 97 percent of ballot boxes opened, Erdogan received 52.2 percent of votes in the second round on Sunday, beating his challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who won 47.8 percent.
The official Supreme Election Council has yet to confirm the results.
The victory would mean that Erdogan, 69, will extend his 20-year rule for another five years, and will also see him take Turkey past the centenary of the republic’s foundation in October.
While the incumbent went into the run-off with a strong momentum and an edge over of his rival, his chances were bolstered by the endorsement of nationalist Sinan Ogan who came in third in the presidential race.
Ogan cited Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AK Party) winning a parliamentary majority as a reason for his decision. The AK Party and its allies secured 323 seats in the 600-strong parliament in simultaneous elections held on May 14.
Erdogan performed better than expected in the first round in regions hit by devastating earthquakes in February that killed more than 50,000 in the country, confounding critics as the government was criticised for its slow response to the disaster.
Ultimately, the man who has led Turkey for more than two decades fought off what many observers had said would be his toughest challenge yet as Kilicdaroglu formed a six-party alliance to defeat him that included the CHP, a nationalist party and former allies of Erdogan.
The president’s position had been precarious in light of Turkey’s deepening economic crisis, soaring inflation and the devaluation of the currency, as well as the energy behind the opposition campaign, especially among young people.
Kilicdaroglu headed a steelier campaign in the days leading up to the run-off, sharpening his rhetoric on the divisive issue of Syrian and other refugees and pledging to send them home in order to capture the votes of nationalists.
That was not enough to unseat Turkey’s longtime leader, who has been president since 2014, and was prime minister from 2003.
These elections have been billed as the most consequential since Turkey’s first fair multi-party polls in 1950 – boiling down to a choice between five more years of Erdogan, the country’s most electorally successful politician, or a new direction under an old party, the CHP, that has attempted to reinvent itself in recent years.
The 2023 elections took on extra significance as the year marks the centenary of the Republic of Turkey. The country’s founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk also established the CHP, which governed under a largely one-party system for 27 years.
It was only the third time Turkey has directly voted for a president. Both previous contests had resulted in an outright victory for Erdogan in the first round, so a run-off vote has been unchartered territory for the country.
This is a breaking story. More to follow. | Middle East Politics |
CARACAS, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Venezuelans will vote on Dec. 3 in a referendum on "the rights" over a potentially oil-rich territory in dispute with its neighbor Guyana, authorities said on Friday.
Both countries have been involved in a long-running dispute over their borders. In April, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that it had jurisdiction over the issue.
The vote has been described by critics as a way for the ruling party to measure its strength ahead of planned elections next year and to encourage the international courts to give it full rights over the disputed border territory.
Venezuela protested an oil tender announced by Guyana in September, arguing that the offshore areas are subject to dispute and the companies awarded the fields will not have the rights to explore them.
The approximately 160,000 square kilometers under dispute along the countries' borders is mostly impenetrable jungle, and known as the "Esequiba region." It constitutes over two thirds of Guyana's total land mass.
Venezuela's claims extend over the territory was reactivated in recent years after the discovery of oil and gas near the maritime border.
Reporting by Deisy Buitrago, Writing by Isabel Woodford; Editing by Alistair Bell
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Latin America Politics |
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has taken part in a ceremony to reveal what Pyongyang says is its first submarine capable of launching nuclear weapons.
State media said the sub strengthened the country's nuclear deterrent by "leaps and bounds".
It has been named Hero Kim Kun Ok after a North Korean naval officer and historical figure.
A nuclear submarine has long been on the list of weapons North Korea wants to build.
In photographs released by state media, Mr Kim is seen standing in a shipyard, surrounded by naval officers, and overshadowed by an enormous black submarine.
He is quoted as saying that the sub will be one of the navy's main means of "underwater offensive."
"The nuclear attack submarine, which has been a symbol of aggression against our nation for the past few decades, now symbolises our threatening power that strikes fear into our unscrupulous enemies," he said.
But there is some scepticism about how effective it will be.
Analysts believe it is a Soviet-era Romeo-class sub - the same that Mr Kim inspected in 2019 - but has been modified to carry nuclear weapons.
"As a platform, it will have some fundamental limitations and vulnerabilities," said Joseph Dempsey, a researcher at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
These include being noisy, slow and having limited range, according to Vann Van Diepen, a former US government weapons expert, who spoke to Reuters news agency.
Mr Dempsey said it appears the stern and propellers of the sub have been blurred to hide that it is an old vessel.
We don't know if this submarine is operational. The North Koreans have yet to demonstrate it can successfully fire nuclear-capable missiles.
It is thought the vessel has been designed to carry shorter-range submarine-launched cruise missiles (SLCM), which are capable of striking regional targets.
South Korea has condemned the launch and questioned the sub's capabilities, saying the North may have exaggerated them.
Japan has also expressed unease. Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said North Korea's military activity is "posing graver and more imminent threat to our country's security than before", according to Reuters.
North Korea has also continued regular tests of ballistic and cruise missiles this year, following a significant increase in tests carried out in 2022.
The revelation of the submarine comes days ahead of the 75th anniversary of the North's founding. State media have said a Chinese delegation will be sent to participate in the celebrations.
It also follows reports that Mr Kim plans to travel to Russia this month to meet President Vladimir Putin.
There are concerns that in return, North Korea may seek advanced weapons technology from Moscow. | Asia Politics |
Singapore Picks Tharman As President In Ruling Party Boost
Singaporeans began voting for a new president for the first time in over a decade, posing a test for the ruling party challenged by higher living costs and political scandals.
(Bloomberg) -- Singapore’s former deputy premier Tharman Shanmugaratnam won Friday’s presidential race in a landslide, suggesting voters didn’t let recent scandals involving the ruling party affect their decision to support him.
Tharman, who served in key roles within the People’s Action Party for more than two decades, took in 70.4% of votes, according to the Elections Department early Saturday.
“It is not just a vote for me, it is a vote for Singapore’s future,” Tharman, 66, told reporters after a sample count showed he was in the lead. “My campaign was one of optimism and solidarity and I believe that’s what Singaporeans want.”
Ng Kok Song, a former chief investment officer of Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte., took second place with 15.7%. Tan Kin Lian, who was a 2011 presidential hopeful, came in third with 13.9%.
Candidates with long-standing ties to the PAP have dominated the largely-ceremonial post since it became an elected position three decades ago.
The results for the non-partisan role indicate Singaporeans are supporting the ruling party as Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong plans to step aside after nearly two decades in office. Lee’s succession is expected to coincide with national polls that must be called by 2025.
Tharman’s win “will make the PAP heave a sigh of relief but I don’t think the victory can be attributed to the party as much as Tharman’s own popularity,” said Nydia Ngiow, managing director at strategic business consultancy firm BowerGroupAsia.
Voters have been grappling with rising living costs, especially expensive housing, while the trade-reliant nation faces slowing growth and weaker global demand. A series of political scandals is also putting the government’s clean reputation to test.
Tony Tan, a former deputy prime minister backed by Lee, won the last contested presidential polls twelve years ago that was decided by a margin of less than 1% in a recount.
While the prime minister runs the government, the president holds some powers such as the right to veto spending bills or requests to draw on past reserves. During the pandemic, Tharman’s predecessor approved the use of past reserves to fund extraordinary spending needs.
The president, whose term runs for six years, signs off on key civil service appointments and can instruct the anti-graft agency to continue an investigation even if the premier objects.
Tharman has sought to cast himself as independent-minded with a breadth of government experience. He won the biggest margin of votes among PAP members of parliament in the 2020 general election despite the party’s worst-ever showing.
Lee has touted Tharman’s credentials, saying he could “scrupulously” carry out the duties of the president. Yet Tharman’s connections to his former party have seen him take a defensive position at a forum this week.
“All the senior people on the public track, they owe their positions to bosses who are political figures,” Tharman said at the time. “Are they obligated to their bosses because of that? Not necessarily. It depends on the individual.”
(Updates with final election results from second paragraph)
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P. | Asia Politics |
An Israeli woman in her mid-to-late 70s, previously thought to have been killed, is alive and among 13 hostages freed Friday, Israeli authorities said.
Hanna Katzir was abducted from her home in the Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7, when her husband, Rami, was killed. Her name, alongside several others from her kibbutz, was released by the Israeli government in a list of hostages freed.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a Gaza militant group that sometimes acts in coordination with Hamas, claimed in its Telegram channel on Tuesday that Katzir was dead.
"We announce the death of the settler, Hanna Katzir, whom we had previously expressed our willingness to release — for humanitarian reasons — but the enemy’s procrastination led to the loss of her life," said a post in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad's Telegram channel.
But after 49 days in captivity, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari announced on Friday that Katzir has been freed.
Liat Bell Sommer, a spokeswoman for the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, said Katzir is mother to three children and has six grandchildren. She and her husband were inseparable, Sommer said.
"[Katzir's] family and friends describe her as a woman with a big heart who would give of herself to others," said Sommer. "She worked for many years as a caretaker in the kibbutz."
The names of 12 other hostages were released on Friday. At least five of them are over 70 years old. Here are their stories:
Adina Moshe, 72, and Yaffa Adar, 85
Adina Moshe and Yaffa Adar were both kidnapped from the same community as Katzir, Kibbutz Nir Oz.
A video of Adar being driven into Gaza on a golf cart was widely shared on social media, as her three children and grandchildren pleaded publicly for her return. One of Adar's grandchildren who was kidnapped alongside her remains in captivity.
Moshe is returning to her four children and grandchildren. Her husband Sa'id Moshe was killed by Hamas.
Hanna Peri, 79
Hanna Peri, a 79-year-old diabetic woman from Kibbutz Nirim, has lived and worked at the kibbutz’s grocery store since she immigrated to Israel in the 60s from South Africa. She enjoys tai chi, gardening and taking care of her cat.
One of her three children was kidnapped and another was killed on the day she was kidnapped.
Ohad Munder, 9, his mother Keren Munder, and his grandmother Ruthy Munder, 78
Ohad Munder, 9, and his mother Keren were visiting their grandparents Ruthy and Avraham in Kibbutz Nir Or when they were kidnapped. On the day they were kidnapped, they had all planned to go to a family gathering.
Avraham remains under captivity.
Keren, 54, is a children's volleyball coach and special education teacher in Kfar Saba, where she and her son live.
Ruthy, 78, was the librarian and seamstress of the kibbutz before she retired.
Doron Katz Asher, 34, and her daughters Aviv, 2, and Raz, 4
Doron Katz Asher and her two daughters, Aviv and Raz, were visiting their grandmother at Kibbutz Nir Oz when they were kidnapped. They live in Ganot Hadar where Doron works as an accountant.
Doron's husband Yoni Asher received a call from his wife telling him terrorists had entered the home she was hiding in. He later found videos on social media of his family crammed on the back of a vehicle.
Margalit Moses, 78
Margalit Moses is a cancer survivor with diabetes and fibromyalgia. Despite her health conditions she loves hiking and bird watching. She also enjoys knitting, and participated in a hat knitting campaign for a neonatal intensive care unit.
An avid traveler, Moses sailed in Norway last summer and plans to travel to Mozambique this winter.
Daniel Aloni, 44, and her daughter Emilia Aloni, 6
Daniel Aloni and her daughter, Emilia, were kidnapped on Saturday morning during a vacation to Kibbutz Nir Oz. In her last message to her family before the kidnapping, Daniel said she was afraid she would not survive because terrorists were inside her sister's home.
Daniel's sister Sharon Aloni-Cuino was also kidnapped along with her 3-year-old twins and husband. | Middle East Politics |
HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi was welcomed in Zimbabwe on Thursday by people singing songs criticizing the West as he arrived on what's expected to be the last stop of his three-nation Africa trip.
Raisi was greeted at Harare's international airport by Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who thanked the Iranian leader for showing "solidarity.”
Both countries are under U.S. sanctions and Raisi's trip to Africa, which has already included stops in Kenya and Uganda, highlights Iran's efforts to build new partnerships in a bid to soften the impact of those heavy economic punishments.
Iran and Zimbabwe already have a joint permanent commission on political and trade relations.
They also share historical ties and Mnangagwa thanked Raisi for Iran's help in a liberation war in the 1970s that eventually led to the southern African nation breaking free of white minority rule.
“When we went to war, Iran was our friend. I am happy you have come to show solidarity,” Mnangagwa said in brief remarks on the tarmac at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport named after the late Zimbabwean leader Mnangagwa helped oust in a coup in 2017.
Dozens of supporters came out to see Raisi arrive, with some waving Zimbabwe's and Iranian flags, and some holding placards with Raisi's face on them. They also sang songs criticizing the West as “white masters” intent on interfering in Zimbabwe.
Members of Zimbabwe’s Muslim community also came to the airport to welcome Raisi and he inspected an honor guard by Zimbabwe’s military.
On his visit to Uganda on Wednesday, Raisi sharply criticized Western nations' support for homosexuality and LGBTQ+ rights, calling it “one of the dirtiest things.” He said Uganda's recently-passed anti-gay legislation and Western criticism of it was “another area of cooperation for Iran and Uganda.”
Zimbabwe also has anti-gay laws, and homosexuality and same-sex marriages are illegal.
However, Mnangagwa has not attacked homosexuality, unlike his predecessor, the late Mugabe, who described gays as “worse than dogs and pigs.”
The last visit by an Iranian leader to Zimbabwe was in 2010 by then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
___
AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa | Africa politics |
Staggering Alice Springs crime statistics reveal alcohol related assaults and domestic violence both up more than 60 per cent
The 2022 crime statistics from Alice Springs have revealed the shocking violence rates in central Australia with alcohol-related assaults and domestic violence both up more than 60 per cent.
New crime statistics from Alice Springs show alcohol-related assaults and domestic violence has soared by over 65 per cent in the last 12 months.
The Government recently introduced a series of alcohol restrictions in response to the soaring crime rate which has been blamed on a lapse of previous constraints on the community’s access to alcohol.
Crime statistics summarising 2022 released on Friday by Northern Territory emergency services reveal just how much the situation has deteriorated compared to 2021.
Overall domestic violence has risen by a shocking 65.58 per cent while alcohol-related assaults jumped by a massive 68.07 per cent and general assaults were up by over 50 per cent.
Commercial break-ins soared by 46.83 per cent and house break-ins jumped by 9.23 per cent meanwhile motor vehicle theft rose by 13.02 per cent and property damage rates were up 54.84 per cent.
The only category which saw a decline was sexual assaults dropping by 11.24 per cent.
Alice Springs has a population of 28,000 yet the region recorded a staggering total of 2823 assaults recorded, 1886 domestic assaults, 1521 alcohol-related assaults and 79 sexual assaults in 2022.
In property-related offences there were 959 house break-ins, 834 commercial break-ins, 408 motor vehicle thefts and 3631 cases of property damage.
Demonstrating the police concern at the crimes was Commander Danny Bacon who said family violence was the community’s “primary” offence.
“Overnight we had 29 domestic violence incidents that our officers had to respond to in the greater Darwin area,” he said, NT News reported.
“In comparison we only had two unlawful entries.
“I’m not degrading the unlawful entries in themselves, I’m just saying that is where the body of our work is as an organisation and where we need to work better with our stakeholders to reduce those numbers.”
Strike Force Lyra was established a couple of years ago to combat the high rates of domestic violence and Strike Force Trident was focused on property crime in the Northern Territory.
The increase in crime and rampant spread of alcohol comes after the intervention-era Stronger Futures Laws lapsed in July last year.
The crime statistics were released as the Territory government appointed its first Aboriginal Advisory Board on domestic, family and sexual violence.
Laws banning alcohol across remote communities in the Northern Territory were also passed in Parliament this week and are already in effect.
The Liquor Amendment Bill will reimpose bans until communities develop alcohol management plans under an opt-out arrangement.
Dry zones will remain in place across Central Australia until alcohol management plans can be developed by each community.
Any communities that wish to lift restrictions on alcohol will require 60 per cent of residents to vote in agreement.
Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday night, Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said the community voices must be respected, adding people must stop playing politics with the issue.
"What this bill does is it provides a pathway out of an alcohol ban that is robust but it also provides a pathway for that community voice to be heard," she told parliament.
"And then people need to respect that community voice and stop playing politics with this issue, and focus on the long-term harm reduction and long-term investment for generational change." | Australia Politics |
What appears to be happening is that Israeli forces are concentrating on the northern area of the Gaza strip, in Beit Hanoun, and pushing down a bit further south from there.
The Israeli army is not adding anything to what it said last night - that it is upping the tempo of its operations.
We have seen from video that has emerged from Gaza this morning, and from what could be seen along the border area last night, evidence of a very, very large bombardment.
But the communications blackout means it's very hard to find out exactly what's going on. For example I have spoken to the UN who have been able to communicate with their main office in the south over a satellite phone, but as there is no internal communication, they can't connect with their area offices that look after their aid operations - currently suspended completely - to see how they are doing.
While the bombardment is very focused on the north, the Gaza Strip is only about 28 miles long, so you can hear the extent of the explosions for miles around and certainly throughout the area.
As I understand it, the Israeli army is still in there this morning, most likely attempting to clear out tunnels, probably with special forces spotting targets for those air force attacks. Tanks can be more vulnerable in daylight so they may pull some of those back.
But as far we can tell it's still going on.
Is it a ground offensive? I don't think we should get too hung up on definitions of all of this. When we saw the military build-up, the mobilisation of over 300,000 reservists, we thought we would be seeing an all-fronts invasion of Gaza.
I think what they may be doing, though, is clearing areas of Gaza slice by slice. I felt from the tone of comments from the Israeli army last night their emphasis was that they would continue pushing, and that this was about "payback".
I think you could call this a very extended raid, or the ground offensive. But it's certainly a very large military operation. | Middle East Politics |
‘I’ve done my bit by having six children, so now you do yours”, Jacob Rees-Mogg demanded of GB News viewers recently. Not so long ago, politicians were panicking about overpopulation. Now many worry that there are – or will be – too few people in the world. “There is one critical outcome that liberal individualism has completely failed to deliver and that is babies,” one of the rising stars of the Tory party, MP Miriam Cates, told the National Conservatism conference in May.
The resurgence of such natalism has been provoked by falling birthrates across the globe. In 1950, according to a study in the Lancet, women were having an average of 4.7 children in their lifetime. By 2017, that had fallen to 2.4 and is predicted to fall below 1.7 by 2100. England and Wales are almost at that figure now, the birthrate having dropped from 2.9 in 1964 to 1.61 in 2021, marking, in Cates’ view, a “population collapse”.
In response, many countries are actively pursuing policies to increase the numbers of children born, though the efficacy of such programmes is debatable. In Japan and South Korea, decades of policymaking have done little to stem the downward trend.
In Europe, the charge towards more “family friendly” policies has been led by rightwing populist politicians, notably in Hungary, Poland and Italy. These programmes have won widespread acclaim from conservatives elsewhere.
There is, however, a paradox in rightwing natalism. Studies have shown that the biggest and longest-lasting impact comes from expanding good-quality, properly funded childcare and increasing paid parental leave, while tax reforms and cash transfers have, at best, small and temporary effects.
Yet conservative natalism often points in a different direction. In Britain, a pernicious policy of recent years has been the “two child” cap on benefit recipients, which punishes people for having too many children and drives larger families into poverty.
One might have thought that self-proclaimed natalists would oppose policies that penalise people for having larger families. Not so. Cates and Rees-Mogg both support the cap. Cates also objects to government plans to expand free childcare, arguing that instead there should be tax reform to persuade mothers to stay at home. Rightwing natalists may be desperate for people to have more babies, but only the right kinds of people and within the right family structure. Theirs is a policy programme linked to fears about immigration and demographic change, on the one hand, and the breakdown of traditional gender roles, on the other. Both fears have been exploited by western conservatives’ favourite natalist – Hungary’s Viktor Orbán.
In his 2019 state of the nation address, Orbán announced a series of natalist measures, including the waiving of income tax for women raising at least four children. Dismissing the idea that the answer to “fewer children born in Europe… is immigration”, he insisted that “we need Hungarian children…. Migration for us is surrender”.
“If, in the future, Europe is to be populated by people other than Europeans,” Orbán told a demography summit in Budapest later that year, “then we will effectively be consenting to population replacement: to a process in which the European population is replaced.” It was a deliberate nod to the “great replacement” theory – a far-right belief that the elites are replacing “indigenous” Europeans with immigrants. Immigration, he insisted at the next demography summit, “is an identity issue”. For him, only white Christians make acceptable migrants; others, especially Muslims, are “invaders”.
The linking of baby production with the protection of racial identity and western civilisation has a long history. At the end of the 19th century, the future US president Theodore Roosevelt claimed that “competition between the races” reduced itself “to the warfare of the cradle”. This has become a key motif within contemporary far-right circles. “The cradle”, Adriano Scianca, a leading member of the neo-fascist CasaPound organisation, argues, is “the most powerful weapon”; when “the baby cots are empty, civilisation dies”.
It is not just the far right that links civilisation to the cradle. As Orbán has become a lodestar for mainstream conservatives, so they have been drawn not just to his natalist policies but also to his demographic vision of the west. They increasingly worry about “white decline” and about Europeans being driven out of their “homeland”, and endorse the great replacement theory. Many yoke fears about the falling birthrate to a dread that Europe will lose its racial identity. “Fertility in Africa and the Middle East is sky-high,” bemoaned the novelist Lionel Shriver in a polemic against “The age of the anti-natalists”. Without drastic change, she continued, “European peoples and their diaspora will dwindle”.
If hostility to immigration is one pole of rightwing natalism, the other is the maintenance of traditional gender roles, the desire for more women to be stay-at-home mothers. The expansion of childcare, Cates argues, “devalues the crucial role of motherhood”. For Cates, “you cannot be socially liberal and economically conservative”.
In Hungary and Poland, natalist policies go hand-in-hand with restrictive policies on abortion and contraception. They also correspond to more hostile views of the gay community. “The western left attack the traditional family model,” Orbán insists, “by relativising the concept of the family” and promoting the idea that gay couples are equally capable of ensuring a flourishing family life. That, Orbán claims, is “LGBTQ propaganda”. Italy, too, under Giorgia Meloni, has joined in the legal assault on the gay community in the name of protecting traditional families.
There are good reasons for expanding affordable childcare and funding proper parental leave; not because this might increase the fertility rate but because such policies are good for women, for children and for society. There are good reasons for thinking more concretely about the consequences of falling birthrates and the policies needed to respond to it; and to acknowledge, too, that immigration cannot be the sole answer, but is likely to be part of it.
There are, though, no good reasons for using concern about birthrates to exacerbate hostility to immigration, to project divisive notions of identity and to restrict the rights of women and gay people. That is to enclose iniquity in a “family friendly” wrapping.
Kenan Malik is an Observer columnist
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 250 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at [email protected] | Europe Politics |
Mali, Burkina Faso vow to defend Niger from ECOWAS invasion, expect Russian support
Mali and Burkina have threatened to withdraw their ECOWAS membership and rise up in support of Niger’s military government should the West African bloc invade the country.
The two countries where soldiers had recently ceased power expressed their support for the military takeover of power in Niger earlier this month in a joint statement on Monday, vowing to “lend a hand to the people of Niger” to fight invaders.
Mali and Burkina Faso warned that “any military intervention against Niger would amount to a declaration of war against Burkina Faso and Mali,” the statement said.
They also said an invasion of Niger would see their immediate withdrawal from ECOWAS, as well as the adoption of self-defence measures in support of the armed forces and the people of Niger.
Berating ECOWAS and its leaders, Mali and Burkina Faso accused ECOWAS of hypocrisy.
“The Transitional Governments of Burkina Faso and Mali are deeply indignant and surprised by the imbalance observed between, on the one hand, the celerity and the adventurous attitude of certain political leaders in West Africa wishing to use force armed forces to restore constitutional order in a sovereign country, and on the other hand, the inaction, indifference and passive complicity of these organizations and political leaders in helping States and peoples who have been victims of terrorism for a decade and left to their fate,” the statement added.
It followed the weekend’s decision of ECOWAS to leave military options open for Niger should the coup plotters fail to relinquish power to democratically-elected President Mohamed Bazoum and return to their barracks. ECOWAS also threatened to block all trades, including banking and utility supply, with Niger, as well as blockade the country’s airspace.
Mr Bazoum was ousted from office on July 27. Soldiers immediately declared an indefinite curfew and closure of all borders,
Colonel Amadou Abdramane, who appeared to be among the leaders of the coup, addressed Mr Bazoum directly, saying the soldiers seized power to “put an end to the regime that you know due to the deteriorating security situation and bad governance.”
However, this development has been widely condemned by international communities, the United States of America, the United Nations and ECOWAS, which is led by President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria.
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“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”
The two countries said a military intervention against Niger would amount to a declaration of war.
The president said the participating transport companies will be able to access credit under the “facility at 9% per annum with 60 months repayment period.”
She revealed that her abductors seized her while on her way to the farm and kept her inside the thick forest in the kidnappers’ den.
He made the appeal on Monday.
Mr Sanwo-Olu said plans had been concluded with various stakeholders to distribute food items to vulnerable people in the State. | Africa politics |
The NATO military alliance said it would support Ukraine in its fight against Russia “for as long as it takes” after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stepped up calls for Western sanctions against Moscow following the discovery of a mass burial site in a city once occupied by Russian forces.
Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, how Kyiv is fighting back, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here. NATO military committee Chairman Admiral Rob Bauer on September 17 said Western military aid was making a crucial difference as Ukraine conducts a powerful counteroffensive to retake occupied lands in the east and south of the country.
"The ammunition, equipment, and training that allies and other nations are delivering are all making a real difference on the battlefield," he said at a meeting in Tallinn.
"With its successes on the ground and online, Ukraine has fundamentally changed modern warfare," he added, citing both military and civilian actions.
Bauer said NATO would support Ukraine for "as long as it takes. Winter is coming but our support shall remain unwavering."
The reaffirmation of support came as Zelenskiy called on the global community to condemn the Russian "terrorist state” following the discovery of a mass burial site and evidence of torture in Izyum days after the city was retaken from Russia. Speaking in his nightly video address on September 16, Zelenskiy said Russia should be punished with tougher sanctions. "There is already clear evidence of torture, humiliating treatment of people. Moreover, there is evidence that Russian soldiers, whose positions were not far from this place, shot at the buried just for fun," he said.
Zelenskiy compared the discoveries made in Izyum this week with the Bucha massacre in the spring and reiterated his call for an international tribunal to be set up to hold Russia accountable for any crimes it committed in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry has said that at least 440 bodies had been found at the site in Izyum.
The UN Human Rights Office said it planned to send investigators to Izyum.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby described the reports as "repugnant" but said they were "in keeping with the kind of depravity and the brutality with which Russian forces have been prosecuting this war."
The Czech Republic, which currently holds the rotating EU Presidency, called for the creation of an international war crimes tribunal after the new mass burial sites were found.
"Russia left behind mass graves of hundreds of shot and tortured people in the Izyum area. In the 21st century, such attacks against the civilian population are unthinkable and abhorrent," Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said on Twitter.
"We must not overlook it. We stand for the punishment of all war criminals," he added.
Moscow has not commented on the mass burial site in Izyum, which was a Russian frontline stronghold before Ukraine's counteroffensive forced its forces to flee.
Reacting to the reports, U.S. Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said war crimes in Ukraine cannot be hidden.
"In terms of the totality of the scale [of potential war crimes], I don't know. But I would tell you that the world will discover that. War crimes cannot be hidden, especially things like mass graves," Milley told reporters traveling with him after arriving in Estonia for a NATO gathering.
Milley lauded Ukraine's military for seizing the "strategic initiative" from Russia -- suggesting that Ukraine had momentum in the war.
Asked whether Ukraine would be able to retake all its territory, Milley said: "The offensives are in the early stages. We're only looking at probably about two weeks so far. And it remains to be seen how far the Ukrainians can press this fight. So I think we'll have to wait and see how the fighting develops."
Elsewhere, the UN atomic watchdog said the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant has been reconnected to the Ukrainian national grid after one of its four power lines was repaired.
The plant had been completely shut down a week ago amid heavy fighting in the area, raising fears of a potential radiation disaster. Russia has taken control of the plant, but it is still operated by Ukrainian personnel.
Near the city of Zaporizhzhya, which is still under Ukrainian control, the Vatican reported that papal envoy Cardinal Konrad Krajewski came under light arms fire as he delivered humanitarian aid in the name of Pope Francis. No one was hurt and it was not clear where the shots came from.
The cardinal is scheduled to visit Kharkiv after previously traveling to Odesa.
WATCH: The speed and efficiency of Ukraine's counteroffensive in the northeastern region of Kharkiv came as a stunning surprise to the Russian military. Ukraine went to great lengths to keep its counteroffensive secret, including deliberately deceiving Russian forces about its military maneuvers. RFE/RL spoke to some of the soldiers involved, who described their tactics.
Meanwhile, Russia’s TASS news agency quoted local authorities in Russia's Belgorod region as saying Ukrainian shelling from across the border had killed one person in the area. The report could not be independently verified.
Ukrainian authorities say that Russian forces have used the border region to fire missiles into nearby Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.
In a Twitter update on September 17, British military intelligence said Ukraine continued its offensive operations in the northeast of the country while Russian forces have established a defensive line between the Oskil River and the town of Svatove.
"Russia likely sees maintaining control of this zone as important because it is transited by one of the few main resupply routes Russia still controls from the Belgorod region of Russia," the Defense Ministry said on Twitter.
"Russia will likely attempt to conduct a stubborn defense of this area, but it is unclear whether Russia's frontline forces have sufficient reserves or adequate morale to withstand another concerted Ukrainian assault," it added.
With reporting by RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, Reuters, dpa, AP, and AFP | Europe Politics |
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An army general has pointed out Vladimir Putin's failures in his invasion of Ukraine, saying the war-torn nation remains "free" while Russia "is now a global pariah" almost one year on.
Rebel Wilson has made a candid confession about her much-publicised relationship with girlfriend Ramona Agruma in a heartbreaking new interview.
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The CEO of the nation’s biggest bank conceded that many households are feeling a “significant strain” after nine rate hikes, as it posts a profit of $5.15 billion.
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If you've missed your favourite Sky News show on Foxtel or would prefer to catch up in a podcast, a selection of programming is available here or on your favourite podcast app. | Australia Politics |
A group of saboteurs has crossed from Ukraine into Russia's Belgorod region, with resulting clashes injuring several people, the Russian authorities say.
Local governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said Russian forces were searching for the group, which he said had attacked Grayvoronsky district by the border.
Vladimir Putin's spokesman said the Russian president had been informed.
Ukraine denies responsibility and said Russian citizens from two paramilitary groups were behind the attack.
Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said six people had been injured, including two people admitted to hospital after the village of Glotovo was shelled and three people who had suffered shrapnel wounds in the town of Grayvoron.
Fighting had also damaged three houses and a local administrative building, he said.
Kyiv said those behind the ongoing incident were from groups called the Liberty of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps (RVC).
The Liberty of Russia Legion - a Ukraine-based Russian militia which says it is working inside Russia to overthrow President Putin - said on Twitter on Monday it had "completely liberated" the border town of Kozinka. It said forward units had reached the town of Grayvoron, further east.
However Mr Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies that efforts were underway to eliminate the sabotage group, and said its purpose was to draw attention away from the eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmut - which a Russian mercenary group claims to have taken control of after months of intense and bloody fighting.
"We perfectly understand the purpose of such sabotage - to divert attention from the Bakhmut direction, to minimise the political effect of the loss of Artemovsk [Bakhmut] by the Ukrainian side," he said.
Kyiv says it still controls parts of the city.
Ukrainian presidential advisor Mikhaylo Podolyak said his country was watching events in Belgorod "with interest", but "has nothing to do with it".
"As you know, tanks are sold at any Russian military store, and underground guerrilla groups are composed of Russian citizens," he added.
Ukraine has previously denied responsibility for reported sabotage attacks on Russian territory.
The latest incident comes ahead of a widely expected counter offensive by Kyiv against invading Russian forces.
In April, Russia accidentally dropped a bomb on the city of Belgorod, which lies 40 km (25 miles) north of the border with Ukraine.
More than 3,000 people were evacuated from their homes after an undetonated explosive was found days later. | Europe Politics |
Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal (TK) has issued a ruling effectively upholding President Andrzej Duda’s decision to pardon the government’s security services minister, who had been found guilty of exceeding his powers and banned from holding public office but was in the process of appealing that conviction.
The ruling by the TK, a body widely seen as being under the influence of the ruling party, is the latest twist in a long-running legal dispute that has involved two of Poland’s highest courts as well as the president, government and parliament. A separate ruling relating to the case by the Supreme Court is scheduled for next week.
— wPolityce.pl (@wPolityce_pl) June 2, 2023
The roots of the issue lie in the time when the current ruling party, Law and Justice (PiS), was previously in power from 2005 to 2007. During that period, a PiS politician, Mariusz Kamiński, was appointed as head of the Central Anticorruption Bureau (CBA).
In 2009, when PiS were no longer in power but Kamiński was still head of the CBA, he was charged by prosecutors with exceeding his powers during an investigation into a corruption scandal involving one of PiS’s junior coalition partners. The scandal helped lead to the collapse of the PiS-led government in 2007.
In March 2015, Kamiński and his deputy Maciej Wąsik were found guilty by a Warsaw court, which gave them jail sentences of three years. Kamiński was additionally banned from holding public office for ten years. However, they both maintained their innocence and filed appeals against the ruling.
However, in November 2015, before those appeals had been heard, President Andrzej Duda – a PiS ally – issued a pardon to Kamiński, Wąsik and two other former CBA officials convicted over the same case.
Duda made that decision one day after Kamiński had been named as the minister responsible for the security services in a new government formed by PiS after it was returned to power at the previous month’s elections. In 2019, Kamiński was additionally made interior minister. Wąsik has again served as his deputy since 2015.
President Duda today appointed Mariusz Kamiński as interior minister, four years after pardoning him from a three-year prison sentence and ban from holding public office for abuse of power. Kamiński will also remain minister of the security services https://t.co/SXQDXloEKU
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) August 14, 2019
While under Poland’s constitution the president has the right to issue a pardon, many legal experts argued that this prerogative can only be exercised once someone has received a final, legally binding conviction – not while their case is still being considered, as happened with Kamiński.
“Pardoning an innocent person – that is, someone who has not been convicted in a final ruling – is like granting a divorce to a person who is engaged to be married,” Marcin Matczak, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Warsaw, told broadcaster TVN24.
Duda’s pardons were referred to the Supreme Court, which in 2017 adopted a resolution declaring them to be ineffective because they were issued before final convictions had been made.
TK o prawie łaski, w tle ułaskawienie Kamińskiego i Wąsika. "Jakbyśmy dali rozwód narzeczonemu" https://t.co/RN4Hmd0a42
— iwona bia (@IwonaBialik) June 2, 2023
However, before the Supreme Court could issue a final ruling on the case, the then speaker of parliament, Marek Kuchciński of PiS, referred the case to the Constitutional Tribunal. He argued that the Supreme Court was exceeding its powers by ruling on the president’s constitutional right of pardon.
The Supreme Court suspended its final ruling on the case until the TK had resolved that question. However, six years later, the TK – headed by Julia Przyłębska, a close associate of PiS chairman Jarosław Kaczyński – had still not made a decision.
The Supreme Court eventually lost patience and decided, in March this year, that it would resume its case on 6 June. That pushed the TK to take action, with Przyłębska quickly announcing that the tribunal would hold a hearing on 31 May regarding the Supreme Court’s right to rule on a presidential pardon.
However, the TK is currently locked in an internal dispute, with six rebel judges – 40% of its bench – refusing to recognise Przyłębska’s authority as they claim her term as chief justice expired in December. That led to concerns that the necessary quorum of judges to rule on the pardon case would not be reached.
The PM has appealed to a group of rebel constitutional court judges to “think about the good of Poland” and end their refusal to rule on a law intended to unlock billions of euros of EU funds.
The rebels do not accept the legitimacy of the chief justice https://t.co/tklteAq0HI
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) April 28, 2023
And indeed, on 31 May, Przyłębska was forced to postpone the planned hearing after the TK fell one judge short of a quorum. However, on Friday two of the rebels relented and, while insisting they continued not to recognise Przyłębska as chief justice, agreed to participate in hearing the pardon case.
The ruling the TK issued was, as most analysts had expected, effectively in favour of Duda and Kamiński. “The law of pardon is the exclusive competence of the president and not subject to review,” found the TK.
“There are no restrictions on the application of the law of pardon,” added the rapporteur on the case, judge Stanisław Piotrowicz, a former PiS colleague of Kamiński. “The president may exercise the right of pardon at any time. There are no obstacles to applying an act of pardon to a person who has not yet received a final sentence.”
Matczak was among those to criticise the TK’s decision, telling Gazeta Wyborcza that, by establishing an unlimited power of pardon, it would allow Duda, “for example, to pardon all members of PiS in advance for past and future crimes” they have not yet been charged with.
This, for now, concludes an almost 8-year-long story of Duda lending a helping hand to the former head of the anti-corruption agency and Zbigniew Ziobro's close ally, Mariusz Kamiński. 17/ https://t.co/ObrZJgYwg3
It remains unclear for now how the Supreme Court – which is due to have its own hearing relating to Duda’s pardon on Tuesday next week – will react. It has two options, according to Stanisław Biernat, a former deputy head of the Constitutional Tribunal.
The first is to simply accept the TK ruling that the Supreme Court does not have the right to review the president’s power of pardon, Biernat told news website Wirtualna Polska.
But the second option is for it to argue that the TK is not a lawful entity and refuse to recognise its ruling. In doing so, it could point to both European and Polish court rulings that have found the TK to be unlawfully constituted because it contains judges who were improperly appointed by President Duda.
A number of legal experts have – like the rebel TK judges – also argued that Przyłębska is no longer the chief justice of the tribunal. That could also undermine the validity of yesterday’s ruling.
Poland’s constitutional court cannot adjudicate lawfully because it contains improperly appointed judges who “infect it with unlawfulness”, the country’s top administrative court has found in the latest ruling against the government’s judicial policies https://t.co/kN1h0BQGcB
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) December 6, 2022
Main image credit: Igor Smirnow/KPRP
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. | Europe Politics |
A “historic” agreement allowing New Zealanders a faster pathway to Australian citizenship is the biggest change “in a generation” and will help the two countries forge even closer ties, the New Zealand prime minister, Chris Hipkins, has said.
Hipkins visited Australia on Sunday for talks with the Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, after the decision to give New Zealanders the right to apply for Australian citizenship without becoming permanent residents first.
Before 2001, New Zealanders who came to Australia were automatically granted permanent residency, but under changes by the Howard government, new arrivals were placed on a special category visa.
This allowed New Zealanders to live and work in Australia indefinitely, but placed limits on their access to Medicare and welfare, and required them to apply for permanent residency before citizenship.
The change by Australia’s Labor government, first flagged last July while Jacinda Ardern was New Zealand prime minister, will mean about 380,000 New Zealanders living in Australia will have a faster pathway to citizenship.
Hipkins and Albanese attended a citizenship ceremony in Brisbane to celebrate the changes, which Albanese said “normalised relations that Australians [who are in New Zealand] have enjoyed for many, many years”.
“New Zealanders who are here in Australia, paying taxes, contributing to the economy should be treated with the respect and that’s what this provision will do,” Albanese said. “Strengthening our bonds, strengthening the relationship between our two great nations.”
Hipkins said the situation in Australia for many New Zealanders had been “challenging” and the announcement “will make an enormous difference”.
The pair also expect to create even stronger bonds between the two countries “in an increasingly complex world”.
“New Zealand, like Australia, is clear-eyed that there is a challenging strategic environment in the Indo-Pacific region,” Hipkins said.
“We both want a stable, secure and resilient region. And New Zealand agrees with the Aukus partners, that the collective objective needs to be the delivery of peace and stability and the preservation of an international rules-based system in our region. We have a long and positive history of working together on these matters.”
As Australia and New Zealand approach four decades of the Australia-New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement, Hipkins said he saw an opportunity for “further integration of our economies”.
But neither leader believed the changes would lead to a “brain drain” of New Zealand’s talent to Australia as both nation’s deal with labour shortages.
“We welcome all of your smartest and brightest, but I’ve never met a kiwi who wasn’t smart and bright and so the contribution that will be made is being made already,” Albanese said.
“I don’t think it will lead to more people from New Zealand coming to Australia, it will just mean that they’re treated better when they’re here. Simple as that, and that’s the objective here,” Albanese said.
Hipkins agreed, saying: “This is fundamentally a question of fairness.
“These New Zealanders are living in Australia, they’ve made their lives in Australia. And by not being able to access the pathway to citizenship they also haven’t been able to access many of the public services that they should be able to rely on.”
Albanese said recent data showed increasing numbers of Australian-born people were choosing to live in New Zealand, where the citizenship pathway and access to public services were already fast-tracked.
Hipkins said he did not fear a mass exodus, as New Zealanders knew the value of their homeland.
“I’m absolutely confident that New Zealanders living and making a life in New Zealand will want to continue to stay with the home of the All Blacks, the true home of the pavlova, and the lamington – there’s plenty of reasons for them to stay back home in New Zealand,” he said. | Australia Politics |
- A new video shows Russian troops raising the alarm about their treatment by commanders in Ukraine.
- The 50 or so mobilized soldiers said they weren't given food or ammo, and weren't being paid on time.
- They warned that they were being led by a "drunk commander" to reinforce positions in Bakhmut.
Around 50 mobilized Russian troops in Ukraine sent their families a desperate plea for help in a newly-surfaced video, saying they were brought to the frontlines by a "drunk" commander and given no supplies to survive.
In a video addressed to their relatives, the men from the 85th Brigade gathered solemnly in a building in Svetlodarsk and said they'd been sent to fight in Bakhmut without food, ammo, or fire support, according to a Sunday Telegram post by independent Russian outlet Astra.
Astra wrote that it received the clip from relatives of the mobilized soldiers and that after the clip was filmed at least 10 of these men were deployed in the city of Bakhmut.
Insider could not independently verify the details of their deployment, or when the video was filmed.
The troops alleged a litany of grievances, saying they were ordered to reinforce unmined positions with a "drunk commander" but were delayed by heavy fire from enemy tanks, mortars, and missiles.
A man in the video added that the commander from another unit "said that for us it would be a suicide mission."
"We tried to explain to the commander that we are not stormtroopers or special forces, we have no ammo, or food, no evacuation, no vehicles, we were thrown in like stormtroopers," the unnamed soldier said.
His unit protested their orders, but were instructed to carry on and "die an honorable death," he said. Those who initially refused were told they were traitors and threatened with imprisonment or death, the man added.
"We won't fight not in this direction, not in the first line of defense, and not with these commanders. I think that's it," the man said.
He added that the troops were receiving only part of their salaries, which weren't even paid on time.
The only comfort they had left was their phones, which they used to record their message, he said.
The besieged city of Bakhmut has been the site of bitter fighting for months, with Kyiv and Moscow both suffering heavy casualties in what's been dubbed the war's "meat grinder."
The Wagner Group, led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, was stationed in Bakhmut in the spring, before being replaced by the Russian army.
Russia mobilized some 300,000 men in September, hoping to bolster its waning manpower in Ukraine. But reports emerged just weeks after the mobilization from troops who said they were given little to no training and treated essentially as cannon fodder.
The Russian Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
The video comes amid a new wave of Russian air attacks on multiple cities in southern and eastern Ukraine, officials said on Tuesday, according to Al Jazeera.
Drones and ballistic missiles were possibly used in the attacks, which destroyed several buildings, they added. | Europe Politics |
At least 29 people, including children, have been killed in an artillery strike on a camp for displaced people in north-east Myanmar.
The camp is located in an area controlled by the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO), an insurgent group fighting the country's ruling junta.
All the victims were civilians, a KIO spokesman told the BBC.
It is one the deadliest attacks in the junta's decades-long fight against Kachin insurgents.
Kachin officials say the junta has scaled up attacks over the past year because of growing Kachin support for other insurgent groups fighting the military government.
Myanmar has been embroiled in conflict since a 2021 military coup displaced the country's civilian government. The military has increasingly used air strikes against their opponents since seizing power.
The exiled National Unity Government (NUG) has blamed the junta for the attack on the camp, describing it as a "war crime and crime against humanity".
Junta spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun denied that the military was behind the attack.
He claimed the army does not have any operations in the area but said the destruction was "probably" caused by stockpiled explosives.
Images shared by local media showed bodies being pulled from the rubble and dozens of body bags lying side by side.
The attack late on Monday night happened in the Mong Lai Khet Quarter - some two miles away from the KIA's headquarters in the mountainous town of Laiza.
Parts of the camp were destroyed by powerful explosions at around midnight, KIO officials told the BBC.
Footage of the aftermath shows many houses obliterated and large numbers of casualties.
Kachin officials believe at least 11 children are among those killed. Fifty-six more people were also injured in the latest attack, 44 of whom had been taken to hospital for treatment.
The United Nations in Myanmar said it is "deeply concerned" about reports of deaths in the camp.
"IDP camps are places of refuge, and civilians, no matter where they are, should never be a target," it said in a statement on Facebook.
The area around the camp, which lies on the border with China, has experienced conflict for decades.
However, locals say that no fighting has taken place near the camp in recent times.
It is possible the attack was carried out from the air.
Almost exactly one year ago, the Myanmar air force used precision guided bombs to attack an open-air concert at another Kachin base in the night, killing more than eighty people.
Last October, more than 60 people were killed when the military launched airstrikes on Anampa in Kachin State.
The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) - the KIO's armed wing - is one of the largest and most powerful insurgent groups in Myanmar. It has been battling the military for decades, even before the 2021 coup.
The military has a double grievance against the KIA, both for its armed clashes with the junta since a ceasefire between the two broke down in 2011, and for its backing of other insurgent groups.
KIA has a long-standing alliance with the Arakan Army based in Rakhine State, and is believed to be supplying weapons to other insurgent groups in Myanmar. | Asia Politics |
Alarming audio recording reveals how Hamas is stealing critical fuel supply from Gazan hospitals: 'Fill it up for him now... they'll start shooting us'
The IDF has released a phone conversation between a Gazan resident, a doctor and a Hamas commander showing how the Palestinian militant group siphons diesel from the region's hospitals.
The IDF has released an audio recording exposing how Hamas fighters are stealing fuel from Gaza’s hospitals.
In the intercepted phone conversation, a Hamas Deputy Commander of the Western Jabaliya Battalion tells a Gazan citizen that he has arrived at the Indonesian Hospital to siphon 1,000 litres of diesel.
"I'm here with Dr. A'ataf on speaker," the Hamas commander told the Gazan resident.
“We went to fill up the diesel. The thousand litres that you talked about. But they told me there's no diesel".
ð´IDF exposes a conversation between a commander of Hamasâs Western Jabaliya Battalion and a Gazan resident, with the participation of the director of the Indonesian Hospital about how Hamas steals fuel from hospitals at the expense of Gazan civilians pic.twitter.com/nZZ8Det6DH— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) November 1, 2023
The citizen replied he was told hours earlier by Abu Ahmad from the Ministry of Finance that Hamas could take diesel from the northern Gaza hospital.
“Abu Ahmad spoke with me yesterday and told me to fill up [diesel] at the Indonesian [Hospital]", the citizen said.
"Who is Abu Ahmad?" the doctor replied.
"From the Ministry of Finance," the Gazan answered.
The doctor replied there was no fuel left to give them, because other members of Hamas had already been there the previous night to “fill up”.
“The Ministry of Finance official told me last night that I should fill up for him (Hamas) only if he needs to move at night”, Dr. A'ataf said.
“I said to him that the hospital has 600 litres in the supply. Hamas told me to fill up with 600 litres for them.”
“For God’s sake, fill it up for him now. People are pressuring us. They’ll start shooting us!” the Gazan resident replies.
Hospitals in the region are suffering from a critical shortage of fuel, with the United Nations warning its health system is on the brink of collapse.
On Wednesday, the only hospital offering cancer treatment in the besieged region has been forced to close after running out of fuel, Palestinian health authorities said. | Middle East Politics |
Nyunggai Warren Mundine has called for action over alcohol-fuelled violence and crime in remote communities, saying the current crisis plaguing Alice Springs is "just the tip of the iceberg". Mr Mundine made the comment as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese arrived in the Northern Territory on Tuesday to meet with community leaders about the surge in crime rates. Some experts are pointing to alcohol as the driving force behind the spike in violence after long-term liquor bans were lifted across dozens of Indigenous communities in July. "The numbers are not only frightening, they are just too frightening,” Mr Mundine told Sky News host Cory Bernardi.Stream more on politics with Flash. 25+ news channels in 1 place. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Offer ends 31 October, 2023“You’re looking at alcohol sales going through the roof.“You’re looking at violence going through the roof and crimes going through the roof.“Alice Springs is just the tip of the iceberg, you go across Northern Australia, you go to Townsville…and you have the same thing happening."Restrictions on alcohol were imposed by the then-Howard government and later replaced by Labor's Stronger Futures laws in 2012. The Albanese government chose not to extend the legislation beyond its July expiration, meaning the state government needed its own laws to regulate alcohol consumption.The state government passed legislation last May allowing communities to "opt in" if they want liqour bans in place, but the lifting in restrictions meant residents in some areas could buy alcohol for the first time in 15 years. Mr Mundine said no one could “justify” what the federal and state government have “done” in Alice Springs. He said key issues impacting Indigenous communities need to be addressed, including the reinstatement of the cashless welfare debit card to reduce alcohol-related harm.“We made sure everyone who was on the dole, in those welfare areas – if you’re black, white, pink, green, purple – whatever colour you are you were on that card," he said. “That ensured kids got lunch, breakfast and dinner, they got proper groceries and veggies and fruits, they got school uniforms and transportation to school, they got a whole lot of things that focused on kids so they could be safe and have a normal life like the rest of Australians."Mr Mundine said there also needed to be a focus on investment and jobs in remote communities, as well as ensuring children have access to education.“And how you get jobs and investment is by having businesses that are profitable and commercial who will hire people - and you need to get kids to school," he said. “If you’ve get those together that’s like an umbrella for all the other issues, you know you’ve got skilled workers, you’ve got healthy people.“As I’ve said this is not rocket-science, this is 200 years of what tells us what lifts people out of poverty and lowers crime rates." On Tuesday afternoon the Prime Minister and First Minister Natasha Fyles announced a number of measures to curb the surge in crime in Alice Springs. "These are measures to reduce the amount of alcohol in our community. It is a decision that police fully support and by reducing that amount of alcohol we will reduce the harm," Ms Fyles told reporters. Takeaway alcohol will be banned on Mondays and Tuesdays, and will only be permitted between 3pm and 7pm on remaining days. Each person is limited to one liquor purchase per day, with the restrictions to come into effect immediately. | Australia Politics |
Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of Hamas co-founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef, called for Israel to set a time limit for the terrorist group to release the remaining hostages it is holding and to kill its leaders – including his own father – if they fail to do so, in a video posted on X Tuesday.
After the successful release of the most vulnerable group of hostages, Israel must give Hamas a timeframe to release the remaining hostages. If they fail Israel must execute Hamas mass murderers in Israeli prisons. No exception, Sheik Hassan Yousef is included. pic.twitter.com/xpeVKHuLX4— Mosab Hassan Yousef (@MosabHasanYOSEF) November 28, 2023
"Hamas has been waging psychological warfare against humanity... They want to release thousands of mass murderers back to the street in return for the Israeli hostages. Israel cannot afford this, but also humanity cannot afford this – because the release of mass murderers means the death of many other innocent people," said Yousef.
"Israel must not compromise," stressed the son of the Hamas co-founder.
"I understand that Israel had to compromise in the past week or two in order to release children, women, elders, and defenseless civilians," he accepted, but said that "the remaining hostages – especially soldiers, [and] those who failed to defend themselves and defend the civilians in the southern communities when they were captured – should be treated as war prisoners and Israel must shift its priority from a hostage rescue mission to an offensive that focuses on eradicating Hamas."
Yousef warned that Hamas will attempt to stretch out negotiations indefinitely in order to avoid an end to the ceasefire.
He pointed to the Hamas members being held in Israeli prisons, saying "Israel must use this card. This is the time when Israel needs to use Hamas savages in prison to pressure Hamas leadership everywhere to release the hostages."
"Israel cannot continue like this. Prisoners like Ibrahim Hamed and Abdullah Barghouti must be sentenced to death. Hamas must have a timeframe – a month or two or six months – to return the hostages and if they don't return the hostages within the time frame, Israel must execute top Hamas leaders in prison, especially the mass murderers," Yousef advised.
"When I say execute top Hamas leaders, I mean no exceptions. That includes my own father, the co-founder of the Hamas movement. In this war, there are no exceptions," added Yousef. "I made a mistake, 10 or 15 years ago when I saved his life many times... He was supposed to die for his actions. I saved his life. Things did not change; things got worse," he lamented.
"I give the Israeli government permission to execute all Hamas top leaders in prison before we go after them in Gaza and before we go after them in Qatar. Again, I make myself very clear: no exceptions for anyone."
"If this is what Hamas wants, the release of those mass murderers, then in my opinion this is the head of the snake," stressed Yousef. "The head of the snake at this moment isn't in Qatar or in Gaza, it's in the Israeli prisons. If Israel knows how to manage and play this card against Hamas, I guarantee you the return of all the hostages and the defeat of Hamas."
Says Israel should demand Qatar expel terror group
Yousef additionally called for Qatar not to be used as a mediator as long as it allows Hamas leaders to remain in the country and for Israel to treat it as an enemy state until Doha kicks Hamas out – within a month – and to carry out assassinations in Qatar if they aren't kicked out.
The son of the Hamas co-founder added that, in Gaza, the IDF should concentrate on Hamas leaders and shouldn't feel under any pressure to complete its goals within a certain timeframe. He added that the military should be even more careful than it already is to avoid harming civilians at this stage. | Middle East Politics |
Newspoll reveals Voice to Parliament is tipped to secure majority as Anthony Albanese clarifies its 'consultation' role
The first Newspoll of the year has revealed a majority of Australians support a change to the Constitution, despite some fearing it will "divide" the nation.
The majority of Australians will support a constitutionally enshrined Voice to Parliament when a referendum is held on the issue later this year, a new poll has revealed.
The Newspoll, which was conducted for The Australian and released on the eve of parliament resuming, showed 56 per cent of voters were in favour of the change, with 37 per cent against the proposal.
However, of the 1,512 voters surveyed across the nation, those “partly” and “strongly” in favour were neck-to-neck on 28 per cent each.
Stream more on politics with Flash. 25+ news channels in 1 place. New to Flash? Try 1 month free. Offer ends 31 October, 2023
The main reason behind the support for the Voice is the belief that it would enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people to have a say on policies that affect their lives as well as ensuring their views are heard in Parliament.
Meanwhile the 23 per cent of voters “strongly” against altering the constitution believe it would not fix the issues facing these communities and they fear it could lead to one group being favoured over other Australians and create an overall division in society.
Despite a majority in polling, the similar level of “strong support” for the Yes case as the 1999 failed referendum for a republic suggests the Albanese Government will still have to convince more voters to get the change across the line.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reiterated the responsibility that Australians have to “bring the country together” and make First Nations peoples' lives better by giving them the Voice.
“This is something that has arisen from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people themselves and we should answer this call,” he told reporters out the front of St Paul’s Anglican Church in Canberra.
“Polls come and go, what matters is when people cast their vote.
“In the spirit of the service that we’ve just been to, the call for a Indigenous recognition in our constitution and consultation on matters that affect them will not have an impact on most people's lives.
“But it might just make some of the most disadvantaged people in our country, their lives better.”
Mr Albanese also clarified the purpose of the Voice was consultation, after hitting back at "misinformation" around it's role on social media on Sunday.
“This is about consultation, it won’t have a right of veto, it won’t be a funding body. It’s very clear with the principles put out,” he said.
Today every First Minister in Australia signed a commitment to support the Voice to Parliament.— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) February 3, 2023
The Voice will recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our constitution, and consult on matters affecting them. pic.twitter.com/TnAfSjwAGO
On Thursday the Prime Minister hosted a Referendum Working Group meeting which included Opposition Leader Peter Dutton who has led calls for more information about the Voice.
The nation’s premiers and chief ministers gathered in Canberra on Friday for National Cabinet where they signed a "Statement of Intent" to support the constitutionally enshrined Voice.
The first poll of the year also showed Mr Albanese’s personal popularity has taken a small dip, with 57 per cent of those surveyed - down five points - approving of the Prime Minister's performance. | Australia Politics |
Moscow warned the United States on Wednesday to keep its aircraft away from Russia’s claimed airspace as the two nations traded blame over the downing of an American surveillance drone above the Black Sea.
Anatoly Antonov, Russia’s ambassador to Washington, claimed the US drone had “deliberately and provocatively” approached Moscow’s airspace, forcing Russia to react.
“The unacceptable activity of the US military in the close proximity to our borders is a cause for concern,” Antonov said. “They gather intelligence, which is subsequently used by the Kyiv [Ukraine] regime to strike at our armed forces and territory.”
He further called on Washington to “stop making sorties near the Russian borders.”
“Let us ask a rhetorical question: if, for example, a Russian strike zone appeared near New York or San Francisco, how would the US Air Force and Navy react?” Antonov said.
The US military said it had to ditch the MQ-9 Reaper in international waters after one of two Russian Su-27 fighter jets conducting an “unsafe and unprofessional intercept” struck the drone’s propeller Tuesday morning.
The incident is believed to be the first time since the Cold War that an American aircraft crashed because of an encounter with a Russian warplane.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the US had done nothing wrong.
“First of all, they don’t belong in Ukraine. Secondly, they certainly don’t belong in Crimea. And we were flying, again, well outside of the airspace that was, that’s claimed by Ukraine or any other country. The Black Sea doesn’t belong to Russia,” he told CNN Wednesday.
“We’re going to continue to operate, again, in complete accordance with international law,” Kirby stressed.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that relations between the US and Russia were in a “lamentable state.”
Peskov added that Russian President Vladimir Putin had been briefed about the drone and referred further questions to the defense ministry.
The MQ-9 Reaper had its transponders off when it “entered the zone of the special military operation,” Antonov told the Russian news agency Tass, using the Kremlin’s euphemistic term for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“They provoked us to take a certain action, which would allow them to accuse Russia and the Russian military of being non-professional,” he said.
Antonov said that the Russian fighter jets did not fire at the US drone.
”I would like to stress that Russian pilots acted in a very professional manner. There was no contact, no use of weapons on the part of our fighter jets,” the envoy said.
US European Command said the Russian jets dumped fuel on and flew in front of the drone in a “reckless, environmentally unsound, and unprofessional manner.”
“I certainly don’t want to speak for the Russian pilots, but it is clear their actions were unprofessional and outside the norms of internationally accepted practices,” Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Garron Garn told The Post on Tuesday.
Kirby said Wednesday that the drone has not been recovered and may never be found.
“I’m not sure that we’re going to be able to recover it. I mean, where it fell into the Black Sea [is] very, very deep water. We’re still assessing whether there can be any recovery effort mounted. There may not be,” he told CNN.
“We did the best we could to minimize any intelligence value that might come from somebody else getting their hands on that drone.”
With Post wires | Europe Politics |
Gujarat Congress Invites Rahul Gandhi To Start Second Phase Of Bharat Jodo Yatra From State
The Supreme Court, on Aug. 4, stayed the conviction, paving the way for Gandhi's reinstatement as Lok Sabha MP.
The Gujarat Congress on Monday said it has invited party leader Rahul Gandhi to start the second phase of his 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' from the western state, which is the 'land of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel'.
The second phase of the march, after the first one which covered several states between Kanyakumari in the south and Kashmir in the north, is likely to cover areas from the east and west, a Congress leader said.
"We have extended an invitation to Rahul Gandhi to start the second phase of Bharat Jodo Yatra from Gujarat, which is the land of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel. The second phase should begin from the state," Amit Chavda, Leader of Opposition in the Gujarat Assembly, told reporters here.
"A committee has been formed at the central level to chalk out the second phase of Bharat Jodo Yatra. Details are being finalised. Many state units have made similar or other suggestions for the second phase of the padyatra," Chavda informed.
The first phase. which began in September last year and culminated in Kashmir more than 130 days later after covering 12 states and two Union Territories, was highly successful and had frightened the Bharatiya Janata Party, Chavda asserted.
He hailed the restoration of Gandhi's Lok Sabha membership earlier in the day and alleged the BJP had tried to curb the latter's voice since he was raising the ruling party's connection with (billionaire industrialist Gautam) Adani.
"We will be able to hear the roar of Rahul Gandhi in the Parliament once again," Chavda said.
Gandhi was disqualified as Lok Sabha member from Wayanad in Kerala on March 24 after a Surat court sentenced him a day earlier to two years in jail in a 2019 defamation case connected to the 'Modi surname' remark.
The Supreme Court, on Aug. 4, stayed the conviction, paving the way for Gandhi's reinstatement as Lok Sabha MP.
On Monday, the Lok Sabha Secretariat issued a notification announcing that his disqualification has been revoked and his membership restored. | India Politics |
"Socalj" for Borderland Beat
Select members of Congress were informed during a private briefing on Capitol Hill with Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso on Wednesday, September 26, 2023. Lasso was in Washington to meet with State Department officials and sign two deals, according to Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX), who was present at the meeting and spoke with the Washington Examiner on Thursday.
"They were announcing and signing an agreement with the United States," said Crenshaw, who leads the Congressional Task Force to Combat Mexican Drug Cartels.
Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-TX shakes hands with Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso, at a private briefing on Capitol Hill on Sept. 27, 2023.
Ecuadorian President Lasso stated, "When we came to government in May 2021, the Ecuadorian criminal organizations with strong ties to the Mexican cartels were practically constituted as powerful structures that have used the prisons as centers of operation. They are economically strong, they are armed, with materials that surpass the police, and have the capacity to co-opt young people."
The State Department has not publicized the agreements in any of the more than 30 press releases issued since Wednesday, but a State spokesperson confirmed to the Washington Examiner on Friday that it had signed a status of forces agreements and maritime law enforcement agreements.
|Senior representatives from the Department of Homeland Security's military branch, the US Coast Guard, and the Defense Department attended the signing.|
US Military Agreement
The maritime agreement allows US military vessels to be present in the waters off the northwestern coast of South America, which Colombian drug cartels use to move cocaine. The ability to move military vessels into the area will "strengthen cooperative law enforcement activities and build mutual capacity to prevent and combat illicit transnational maritime activity," according to State.
Status of forces agreements outlines the terms by which members of a foreign military, in this case, the Defense Department, can operate or are expected to conduct themselves while in another country.
The second agreement was a less common one, according to Adam Isacson, who heads defense oversight at the Washington Office on Latin America and has worked on Latin American issues since 1994.
"That doesn't mean we're doing it, but it means we can and it means that they're making a very clear signal to us that they want more us involved," Crenshaw said.
The State and Defense Departments did not answer follow-up questions about the duties of troops on deployments to Ecuador and other agreements signed with Latin American countries. The US withdrew all military from the base in Manta, Ecuador, in 2009.
The second agreement was a less common one, according to Adam Isacson, who heads defense oversight at the Washington Office on Latin America and has worked on Latin American issues since 1994.
"That doesn't mean we're doing it, but it means we can and it means that they're making a very clear signal to us that they want more us involved," Crenshaw said.
The State and Defense Departments did not answer follow-up questions about the duties of troops on deployments to Ecuador and other agreements signed with Latin American countries. The US withdrew all military from the base in Manta, Ecuador, in 2009.
The US Coast Guard, a military branch that is the only one housed under the DHS, not the DOD, has had its Cutter ships deployed across Atlanta, Pacific, and Caribbean regions for years to interdict drug smuggling loads in international waters.
On Sept. 20, Coast Guard Cutter Confidence returned to its home port in Florida following a two-month counternarcotics deployment to the Caribbean and offloaded 12,100 pounds of cocaine valued at $160 million seized in cooperation with partners agencies.
On Sept. 20, Coast Guard Cutter Confidence returned to its home port in Florida following a two-month counternarcotics deployment to the Caribbean and offloaded 12,100 pounds of cocaine valued at $160 million seized in cooperation with partners agencies.
|Assassinated Presidential Candidate Fernando Villavicencio.|
Ecuador's Drug Violence
The country, which is not a major cocaine producer, has seen violence peak when a presidential candidate known for his tough stance on organized crime and corruption, Fernando Villavicencio, was fatally shot at the end of an August 9, 2023 campaign rally.
He had accused the Ecuadorian Los Choneros gang and its imprisoned leader, José "Fito" Adolfo Macías Villamar, whom he linked to Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, of threatening him and his campaign team days before his assassination.
He had accused the Ecuadorian Los Choneros gang and its imprisoned leader, José "Fito" Adolfo Macías Villamar, whom he linked to Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, of threatening him and his campaign team days before his assassination.
The United States recently offered a $5 million reward leading for information to the masterminds of those responsible for the assassination. Organized crime was behind the killing, Ecuador's president said at the time.
The US also offered a $1,000,000 reward for information on any leaders in the gang responsible for his death. "The United States will continue to support the people of Ecuador and work to bring to justice individuals who seek to undermine democratic processes through violent crime," Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who announced the reward, said on Thursday.
The US also offered a $1,000,000 reward for information on any leaders in the gang responsible for his death. "The United States will continue to support the people of Ecuador and work to bring to justice individuals who seek to undermine democratic processes through violent crime," Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who announced the reward, said on Thursday.
|Ecuador's Presidential Candidates.|
Ecuador will go to a runoff vote on 15 October between the frontrunner, Luisa González, who has promised to revive the social programs of former president Rafael Correa, and Daniel Noboa, the son of a prominent banana businessman and five-time presidential candidate.
“At the moment we are totally invaded by narco-terrorism and we have to fight it with all the strength we have,” said Noboa, from one of Guayaquil’s wealthiest families. “The violence and death rates we are facing are like those in a warzone – so we should treat it as a war and treat these narco-terrorist groups as our enemy,” he said.
Ecuador saw 4,600 violent deaths in 2022, double the previous year, and the country is set to break the record again with 3,568 violent deaths in the first half of 2023. Of those, nearly half were in Guayas, the province that includes Guayaquil, where nearly 1,700 people have been murdered so far this year.
But the country’s armed forces and police appear to be losing the battle against the narcos who have turned the country into a cocaine superhighway as gangs, both inside and outside the weak and overcrowded prison system, vie for drug trafficking routes, with backing from powerful Mexican cartels.
Due in part to its proximity to cocaine production, cartel groups from Mexico, Colombia, and the Balkans have settled in Ecuador because it uses the US dollar and has weaker laws and institutions, along with a network of long-established gangs like Los Choneros to work with.
Authorities say Ecuador also gained prominence in the global cocaine trade after political changes in Colombia over the last decade. Coca fields in Colombia have been moving closer to the border with Ecuador due to the break-up of criminal groups after the 2016 demobilization of the rebel group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, (FARC).
Authorities say Ecuador also gained prominence in the global cocaine trade after political changes in Colombia over the last decade. Coca fields in Colombia have been moving closer to the border with Ecuador due to the break-up of criminal groups after the 2016 demobilization of the rebel group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, (FARC).
Last week, the body of Los Choneros' former leader "Junior" Roldan was taken from the vault in the cemetery where he was buried at in Medellin, Colombia following his shooting death in May 2023, across the border in Colombia. He had fled there following an attempt on his life by the rival Los Lobos gang.
Large-scale prison riots and killings have empowered the gangs in Ecuador, to the point of orchestrating the public assassination of a presidential candidate who had spoken out against the gangs, linking the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel based in prisons where they control; and thousands of gang members.
Last month, the cartels showed their power with a mass hostage-taking in six prisons, in an apparent response to the prison transfer of a major gang leader. Over 11,000 troops and law enforcement participated in his transfer to a more secure area of the large prison complex.
World's Largest Banana ExporterLarge drug busts have become more frequent, and within the past month, European authorities have made record-setting busts after inspecting containers carrying bananas from Ecuador. More than 8,000 kilograms of cocaine was allegedly found hidden in a container of bananas intercepted by Dutch authorities.
From January to August 2023, Ecuador exported 247,000,000 boxes of bananas, 7.17% more than in the same period of 2022, according to data from the Banana Marketing and Export Association (Acorbanec). Exports to the European Union amounted to 24,796,000 million boxes and had increased by 22.41%.
|Over 8 tons of cocaine, hidden in a large banana export shipment to the Netherlands was discovered.|
Record Seizures from Ecuador in 2023Record Cocaine Seizure in Spain
9.5 tons hidden among cardboard boxes of bananas in a refrigerated container on August 25
Authorities in Greece and Italy also announced seizures of cocaine hidden in Ecuadorian bananas this year. Ireland has reported its largest seizure of over 2.25 tons on a cargo ship from Venezuela however, in South America.
In 2021, cocaine production was at an all-time high, and nearly one-third of the cocaine seized by customs authorities in Western and Central Europe came from Ecuador.
Record Cocaine Dutch SeizureNearly 8 tons of cocaine in a container of Ecuadorian bananas in July
Authorities in Greece and Italy also announced seizures of cocaine hidden in Ecuadorian bananas this year. Ireland has reported its largest seizure of over 2.25 tons on a cargo ship from Venezuela however, in South America.
In 2021, cocaine production was at an all-time high, and nearly one-third of the cocaine seized by customs authorities in Western and Central Europe came from Ecuador.
This is double the amount reported in 2018, according to a United Nations report citing data from the World Customs Organization. US military forces targeting drug cartels, violence and gangs in Ecuador could set a precedent and/or elevate debates amongst US and Mexican politicians.
Political debates and proposals from politicians, including Congress and Presidential candidates to allow the use of United States military forces to be provided to fight Mexican drug cartels in Mexico have increased, especially following the explosion of fentanyl trafficking and overdose deaths in recent years. have primarily been made by Republican politicians, and was heavily debated at the first Republican Presidential Candidate debate.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Mexican drug cartels should be treated like “foreign terrorist organizations” and vowed, “I’m going to use the U.S. military to go after the Mexican drug cartels.” Not to be outdone, Nikki Haley said she would “send in our special operations and we will take out the cartels.”
Should the US military be used to fight Mexican cartels on their turf, it would likely result in the loss of cooperation from Mexico on stopping the flow of drugs or migrants and could potentially lead to fighting between US armed forces and Mexican military or police, corrupted or not and escalate tensions to extreme levels at the southern border with the United States' second largest trading partner.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Mexican drug cartels should be treated like “foreign terrorist organizations” and vowed, “I’m going to use the U.S. military to go after the Mexican drug cartels.” Not to be outdone, Nikki Haley said she would “send in our special operations and we will take out the cartels.”
Should the US military be used to fight Mexican cartels on their turf, it would likely result in the loss of cooperation from Mexico on stopping the flow of drugs or migrants and could potentially lead to fighting between US armed forces and Mexican military or police, corrupted or not and escalate tensions to extreme levels at the southern border with the United States' second largest trading partner.
In April 2023, following large-scale indictments and sanctions against cartel members, including Los Chapitos; US President Joe Biden issued an Executive Order to grant authority to the DOD and military to provide resources to the southern border to combat drug trafficking across the border.
Previous Status of Force Agreements
The US has long entered into numerous Status of Forces agreements with NATO countries in Europe, allies in Asia, and conflict zones in Africa. But agreements in the Western Hemisphere, and in the Americas, are far less common.
The US signed agreements with Costa Rica in 1983, Nicaragua in 1998, El Salvador in 2007, Honduras and Guatemala in 2020 according to a Government Accountability Office analysis published in 2012 and the US State Department. These countries have all experienced violence and corruption related to drug trafficking as well as rebellions.
The US signed agreements with Costa Rica in 1983, Nicaragua in 1998, El Salvador in 2007, Honduras and Guatemala in 2020 according to a Government Accountability Office analysis published in 2012 and the US State Department. These countries have all experienced violence and corruption related to drug trafficking as well as rebellions.
While it is not uncommon for US troops to assist governments in times of unrest, rebellions, and violence; it has been rare to have military personnel directly fighting criminal organizations and drug trafficking groups. Usually, assistance in counter-narcotics operations and training in the host country occurs. They also allow for sea and air patrols in the territory by US forces.
In 1989, the US military was granted international arrest capabilities as part of the invasion of Panama in order to arrest General Manuel Noriega, removing the dictator from power. He served time after being convicted in the US of drug trafficking charges. There have also been rumors of US Special Forces, including the Army's Delta Force being involved in hunting down Pablo Escobar in Colombia in the early 1990s. Escobar had used Panamanian banks to launder drug money and used it as a base outside of Colombia.
The US government and military have however openly provided assistance to Mexico, Colombia, and other countries to combat drug trafficking, including monetary assistance, programs, and shared intelligence. Military gear and weapons have also been provided as part of the assistance packages. Mexican military members have also received training from US troops in the United States.
Sources Washington Examiner, The Guardian, ABC Au, Fresh Plaza, Rep Crenshaw, BBC, State Dept, State Dept, White House, Washington Post | Latin America Politics |
Soldiers blocked off the presidential palace in the Nigerien capital, Niamey, on Wednesday.
Based on first comments officially and unofficially from President Mohamed Bazoum's office, a contingent of the presidential guard was trying to detain Bazoum inside the residence.
What's happening?
Security sources in the president's office spoke to several news agencies, with one telling AFP that elite troops had suffered a "fit of temper" and that "talks" were underway looking to defuse the situation.
Soon after, Niger's presidency issued a pair of tweets, the first of which it soon deleted.
The second said that elements of the presidential guard were in effective revolt but that the bulk of the armed forces remained loyal.
"The president of the republic and his family are doing well," the publication that remained online said. "The army and the national guard are ready to attack the elements of the GP [presidential guard] involved in this fit of temper if they do not return to better feelings."
An AFP journalist in Niamey reported that the area around the presidential complex was sealed off on Wednesday, but also reported no abnormal signs of military activity of sounds of gunfire in the area. Traffic appeared normal.
Foreign leaders call for president's release
The West African ECOWAS group of countries, currently chaired by Nigeria, issued a communique soon after the news broke saying it reacted with "shock and consternation" to the news of an "attempted coup d'Etat."
"ECOWAS condemns in the strongest possible terms the attempt to seize power by force and calls on the coup plotters to free the democratically-elected President of the Republic immediately and without any condition," the statement, signed by Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, said.
"ECOWAS and the international community will hold all those involved in the plot responsible for the security and safety of the President, his family, members of the government and the general public."
The EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell wrote in French that he was "very preoccupied by the events underway in Niamey."
"The EU condemns all attempts to destabilize the democracy and threaten the stability of Niger," he said, adding the EU also associated itself with ECOWAS' first response to the matter.
A spokeswoman for Germany's Foreign Ministry told a press briefing on Wednesday that "the situation on site is still very unclear."
"We are in contact both with our embassy there and also with international partners," she said. "And if it is necessary, we will of course also take appropriate steps."
A Defense Ministry spokesman in Berlin similarly said it was too early to evaluate the situation.
He said the German troops in Niger as part of an international mission helping fight Islamist rebels were "in safety for now," and that what came next would have be evaluated in the coming days.
Coups common in Sahel, Niger struggling with violence near the capital
And in Niger itself, a failed coup attempt in 2021 two days before Bazoum's inauguration sought to stop him from taking office.
All three countries are struggling to contain an Islamist uprising in their shared border area, with the fighting not far from Niger's capital, Niamey.
Niger is also fighting insurgents in its southeastern area bordering Nigeria.
Past coup leaders in Mali and Burkina Faso, and those who tried and failed in Niger in 2021, said poor progress against militants was a motivation for their bids to seize power.
msh/wd (AFP, Reuters) | Africa politics |
Turkey has intensified its efforts to be removed from the gray list, which identifies countries facing challenges in combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
According to the information obtained by AA (Anadolu Agency), while 5 out of the 7 deficiencies identified by FATF (Financial Action Task Force) have been addressed, the relevant ministries and institution directors, under the coordination of the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, held their first meeting on Monday, July 10th to address the remaining 2 deficiencies.
With this meeting, the Ministry of Treasury and Finance initiated a fast and effective coordination process. As part of this process, efforts will be accelerated regarding education and awareness-raising activities on money laundering and the financing of terrorism. Specialized Republic Prosecutors’ Offices and designated courts will be established in all provinces for money laundering and terrorism financing cases, and guidelines regarding the investigation process by the law enforcement agencies have been prepared. Training programs aimed at increasing awareness will be expedited.
Special task forces will be formed, and technical teams have also been established to strengthen Turkey’s positive perception in the international community.
Treasury and Finance, the Ministry Mehmet Şimşek stated that Turkey is strongly committed and sincere in its efforts to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism in line with the international standards set by FATF. He emphasized that they have intensified their work to address the deficiencies identified by FATF.
Şimşek reminded that out of the 7 deficiencies identified by FATF, 5 have been addressed. He stated:
“To efficiently address the remaining 2 deficiencies, under the coordination of our ministry, the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Interior, along with the deputy ministers and relevant institutions (Financial Crimes Investigation Board of the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, Directorate of Foreign Relations and EU Affairs and General Directorate of Penal Affairs of the Ministry of Justice, General Directorate of Security (Organized Crime and Anti-Smuggling units) and Gendarmerie General Command (Organized Crime and Anti-Smuggling units)), gathered on Monday.
During the meeting, it was once again emphasized that the efforts to address these deficiencies should be carried out rapidly and effectively in a coordinated manner. In this regard, specialized courts and prosecutors’ offices responsible for combating money laundering and terrorism financing have been designated, and special investigation bureaus for combating money laundering have also been established. Additionally, various guidelines have been prepared for the relevant units, and educational and awareness-raising activities have been conducted. Furthermore, the technical working groups formed by our ministries continue their activities intensively.”
Şimşek emphasized that they will swiftly implement the necessary measures to exit the gray list of FATF and strengthen Turkey’s positive perception in the international community.
Şimşek also discussed the negative effects of being on the gray list, stating that it leads to a decrease in capital inflows by a certain percentage of gross domestic product and an increase in the cost of syndicated loans. | Middle East Politics |
‘All the best to you’: Premier Daniel Andrews shuts down man questioning vaccine mandates at press conference
Premier Daniel Andrews said he won’t apologise for saving the lives of Victorians after being questioned about vaccine mandates by a member of the public during a tense back-and-forth.
Daniel Andrews has shut down a man questioning various vaccine mandates in effect during a tense exchange at a press conference.
The Premier was taking questions from reporters in Melbourne on Sunday when a member of the public chimed in, asking when vaccine mandates will be dropped for police and health workers.
The man also noted that some volunteer bodies have since dropped the mandates.
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While not making eye contact with the man, Mr Andrews said he would not apologise for saving lives.
“I’m not sure that you’re an accredited journalist at a press conference,” he replied.
“Let me one thing very clear to you sir: vaccines work, vaccines work and I am absolutely pro-vaccine.”
The press conference intruder then went on to reference the Premier’s “stupid” election night victory speech where he spruiked the importance of vaccines during some of the state’s darkest days.
Mr Andrews was again asked by the man how long the mandates will stay in place for, before firing back at the heckler.
“Others can judge whose being stupid at the moment. Science is important, science is very important,” he said.
“All the best to you.”
The Premier also highlighted Labor’s crushing election victory last November before moving on to other questions.
“There was an election held, sir, and I am very pleased to say that we have been re-elected,” Mr Andrews said.
“Part of that is listening to a broad range of views, you’ve had your say, and you are frankly wrong. Next.”
The November 26 election saw Labor cruise to victory, winning 56 out of the 88 seats in the Legislative Assembly.
Premier Andrews became only the third Labor leader in Victoria’s history to secure a third term, after John Cain and Steve Bracks.
Mr Andrews is set to surpass Mr Cain’s time in office this year and become Labor’s longest serving Premier. | Australia Politics |
With no guardrails, Putin’s war needs ‘a golden bridge to retreat’
In the spring of 1864, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant mounted an overland campaign intended to capture Richmond, Va., and, in so doing, to end the American Civil War. But Grant instead suffered a series of defeats and horrific battlefield losses, leading him to abandon doctrines of strategic finesse and limited warfare. He then opted for what was in essence a “military smackdown” — or, in our contemporary parlance, a “war of attrition” — in which he would accept immense losses of soldiers, equipment and materiel in the knowledge that his losses were replenishable, whereas Gen. Robert E. Lee’s were not. So, for roughly the next year, Grant pounded away at his adversary, suffering a string of battlefield defeats, until the Confederacy, not only exhausted but militarily and economically depleted, finally surrendered.
Particularly in recent years, we have developed checks-and-balances to safeguard against unfettered military actions. In part, this is aimed at preventing programmed slaughter and indiscriminate destruction, in which soldiers become fodder and the civilian infrastructure is regarded as a legitimate military target. Faced with significant battlefield losses, today’s Congress likely would require an accounting of its military leadership; the populace would recoil at the mounting casualties; the media would decry violations of international humanitarian law; our society would resist a military operation aimed at a land grab from another sovereign nation; and our political leadership would need to concurrently produce battlefield results and preserve the economic welfare of the voting public or face electoral defeat.
Yet, none of these limitations to state military action seems to apply to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which apparently enjoys around a 70 percent approval rating within Russian society. To a large extent, this is attributable to the disengagement of the Russian public from the war and, more generally, state politics. Whereas in the West, there likely would be widespread demonstrations and protests, Russians tend to engage in political make-believe characterized by external loyalty to the state, combined with internal and suppressed cynicism.
In addition, the Russian public continues to be largely insulated from the economic challenges arising from the Western sanctions. Russian President Vladimir Putin remains generally popular for having provided security and relative economic stability, particularly in contrast to the meltdown in Russia following the fall of communism. There is a largely complacent middle class, food items are accessible, pension checks are paid, the housing shortage is slowly dissipating, the ruble is stable, and there has been no economic implosion. All these factors have resulted in a continuation of the social contract in which Russians trade security, stability and economic comfort for disengagement from politics, including the war in Ukraine, however bungled it has turned out to be.
There are other social and cultural elements that contribute to popular disengagement from a scorched-earth campaign involving immense loss of Russian life, extraordinary financial cost, international isolation, and a blatant assault on Ukrainian non-combatants and its civilian infrastructure. These factors include:
Collective over the individual: From tsarist times through the Soviet period and now in Russia, the rights of the individual have been subjugated to the needs of the state. Whereas the United States was formed under the Enlightenment concepts of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” the Russian state historically has consolidated power in its political leader to resist threats — real and imagined — from external sources.
The Russian state controls the internal narrative: The state can weave a story justifying its invasion, given its near-total control of the media and marginalization of the few and disparate voices of dissent. In the Russian narrative, the invasion is being waged to protect the rights of a Russian diasporic population against a takeover by a Nazi cabal — and here, it should be noted that roughly 70 percent of Crimea’s population are Russian nationals and sizable Russian communities live in eastern Ukraine — and to reclaim territory historically belonging to Russia. But beyond this liberation justification, Moscow has depicted its current military action in apocalyptic terms as a brutal fight to the finish against NATO and a struggle to preserve Russian culture.
Resurgence of Russian nationalism: For most of the 20th century, the Soviet Union was an acknowledged global power. But with the fall of communism and the dismemberment of the Soviet state, Russia went from a global power to a marginalized, regional actor. The invasion of Ukraine is, in large measure, a reassertion of Russia’s return as an impactful global power, a stance that is embraced by the Russian population.
Leadership consolidation of power: Russia today is a highly controlled state in which the likelihood of regime change is quite low, particularly given Putin’s continued protection by the Federal Security Service, or FSB (formerly the KGB) and its brazen crackdown on political dissent.
Russia is managing through sanctions: Russia over the years has become progressively more economically isolated from the West, being forced by sanctions to adopt an economic policy of self-containment. Particularly over this past year, it has opened up new trading partners with countries in Asia and Africa, allowing it to maintain a modicum of economic and currency stability and to blunt to an unexpected degree the effects of the Western sanctions.
The entire basis of Putin’s legitimacy is the myth of his infallibility: This tracks a time-honored approach of a long line of Soviet and Russian leaders, thereby playing into the Russian public’s expectation of a strong and infallible leader. This basic theory of leadership legitimacy, in combination with the absence of meaningful checks within Russian society on his ability to wage an extended “war of attrition,” suggests strongly that Russia has the resolve to pursue its conflict until the bitter end.
Unquestionably, Moscow miscalculated the valor of the Ukrainians and the resolve of the Western alliance when it launched its invasion a year ago. The Russian military has committed significant blunders, has suffered far greater-than-expected losses, and has revealed its ineptitude in the strategic and operational management of an offensive war.
But even so, in the absence of internal resistance, Russia retains considerable latitude to pursue a brutal, open-ended war of attrition that has resulted in the loss of thousands of Russian lives, the country’s international isolation, putative commission of international war crimes, and economic retardation. Just as with Grant, Putin is unlikely to seek a negotiated end to the war that involves making a rational assessment of Russia’s costs, human and otherwise. Instead, a negotiated end to the conflict may require a new paradigm suggesting a victorious outcome as articulated by the medieval Chinese military leader and theorist, Sun Tzu: the building of a “golden bridge to retreat.”
Robert Aronson is the immediate past chair of HIAS, the agency of the American Jewish community providing safety and protection to refugees worldwide, including thousands of Ukrainians forcibly displaced from their homes. He lived for several years in Moscow, initially as a visiting scholar at Moscow University Law School and then as a business representative.
Daniel P. Grossman served as a U.S. diplomat focused on human rights in Leningrad, in Vienna with the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, and at the Soviet Desk in the State Department. He is the immediate past CEO of the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund of the San Francisco Bay Area, and a board member of HIAS.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. | Europe Politics |
Thailand prime minister says 12 Thai hostages released from Gaza
Thailand’s prime minister said 12 Thai hostages have been released from Gaza and are safely in Israel’s custody in what appears to be the first exchange of prisoners since a four-day truce began on Friday.
Thailand Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday morning that he confirmed with his Ministry of Foreign Affairs the release of the 12 hostages and that embassy officials were en route to pick them up.
Thailand’s Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara said there are still more Thai hostages being held by Hamas.
“I sincerely hope there will be more hostages released soon including the innocent Thais waiting to return home,” the foreign minister wrote on X.
Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas have agreed to the temporary pause in fighting to facilitate the release of hostages and humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The hostages include people with nationalities from around the world, including U.S. citizens.
Hamas is set to release 50 hostages over the next four days and Israel will in exchange free 150 Palestinians from prison.
The truce officially began on Friday and Israeli authorities have said preparations are in order to quickly transfer hostages to hospitals and to treat them on-site if needed.
Fuel trucks also began entering Gaza to help the coastal enclave keep the power on at hospitals and other critical sites.
The hostages are expected to be released over the period of the truce, and once the four days are up, fighting is expected to resume.
The New Arab, a London-based Arab news outlet, reported that 39 Palestinian prisoners will be released in exchange for the Thai prisoners.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. | Middle East Politics |
Euroskeptics more likely to think of the EU as less democratic than it is, study shows
A significant share of voters see the EU as less democratic than it really is and believe the European Commission can steamroll its member states, a new study shows.
The research shows that key channels of legitimation in the EU are not well known by the citizens of large member states. Whether people see themselves only as citizens of their nation, or simultaneously as a European, is linked to what they believe about the EU.
A substantial share of EU voters who took part in the study believed that the members of the European Parliament are not directly elected. Many assumed the European Parliament is unimportant for decision making in Brussels.
Less than half of those who took part in the research knew which powers the EU has and which it does not have.
Some were aware of their gaps in knowledge about EU institutions, but a large number who had gaps in their knowledge also thought they were informed.
Those who said they did not hold a European identity were more likely to assume that the EU is less democratic than it is.
The research, published in the journal European Union Politics, was carried out by Florian Stoeckel, Jack Thompson and Jason Reifler from the University of Exeter, Vittorio Mérola from Durham University and Benjamin Lyons from the University of Utah.
Professor Stoeckel said, "Not knowing how a complex institution like the EU works is completely understandable but it is problematic when people have the wrong idea about how the institution works and assume the organization is not as democratic as it is or has power over member states that it doesn't have. Populist parties can mobilize or exploit such misperceptions, or they create them in the first place."
"Our findings help elucidate the rhetorical value of 'taking back control' from Brussels. Indeed, to voters who believe that the European Commission can legislate against the will of a majority of MEPs or member states, European integration is likely to appear like an absolute loss of the sovereignty of the general will, rather than just a transfer of authority to another level."
Researchers carried out a survey in France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and Sweden, with approximately 1,000 respondents per country, in February 2019. Participants were asked three questions—if MEPs are directly elected by voters; to react to the following statement: 'the European Commission can issue new laws even when a majority of MPs of the European Parliament objects' and whether the following statement is correct: 'the European Commission can issue new laws for the EU even when a majority of member states objects."
While the exact proportions vary by country and issue, the combined share of the uninformed and misinformed made up more than half of respondents.
For instance, a third (35 percent) of respondents knew the European Commission cannot pass laws against the will of a majority of Member States. In contrast, 40 percent of respondents wrongly believed the EC could override the will of member states, while another 25 percent were uninformed.
Respondents who took part in the study who described their identity in a narrow, national way thought of the EU as an organization with more unrestricted powers. They are more likely to wrongly believe MEPs are not directly elected and the European Commission can rule over the European Parliament and EU member states. They were less likely to know legislation needs to be approved by a majority of MEPs in order for it to become law.
Substantial portions of the public in all six countries were either uninformed or misinformed. Pooling responses across countries showed 19 percent held the misperception that MEPs are not directly elected and 21 percent of respondents answered that they 'don't know.'
A total of 22 percent of respondents said the European Commission could pass laws while overriding the objection of the European Parliament, while 27 percent of the respondents selected the 'don't know' category.
Only 35 percent of respondents correctly said that the European Commission cannot pass laws against the will of the member states of the EU, whereas 40 percent of respondents held a misperception and another 25 percent of respondents chose 'don't know.'
More information: Florian Stoeckel et al, Public perceptions and misperceptions of political authority in the European Union, European Union Politics (2023). DOI: 10.1177/14651165231193833
Provided by University of Exeter | Europe Politics |
Ukraine’s defence ministry has warned that Russia plans to simulate a major accident at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station, which is under the control of Russian forces, in a bid to thwart the expected counteroffensive by Ukraine to retake its territory captured by Moscow.
The Zaporizhzhia plant, which lies in an area of Russian-occupied southern Ukraine, is Europe’s biggest nuclear power station and the area has been repeatedly hit by shelling with both sides blaming each other for the dangerous attacks.
Ahead of Ukraine’s expected counteroffensive, fears have increased that a nuclear disaster could occur amid rising military activity around Zaporizhzhia.
“Russians are preparing massive provocation and imitation of the accident at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in the nearest hours,” the Ukrainian defence ministry’s intelligence directorate said on Friday.
“They are planning to attack the territory of the ZNPP [Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant]. After that, they will announce the leakage of the radioactive substances,” the intelligence directorate said in a statement and later on social media channels.
Reports of radioactive material leaking from the plant would cause a global incident and force an investigation by international authorities, during which all hostilities would be stopped, the directorate said. Russia would then use that pause in fighting to regroup its forces and better prepare to stop the Ukrainian counteroffensive, the intelligence service said.
“They obviously will blame Ukraine,” the directorate said, adding that the attack’s aim would be to “provoke the international community” into investigating the incident and forcing a pause in fighting.
‼️ Russians are preparing massive provocation and imitation of the accident at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in the nearest hours.
They are planning to attack the territory of the ZNPP. After that, they will announce the leakage of the radioactive substances. pic.twitter.com/Vk6hRDD26v
— Defence intelligence of Ukraine (@DI_Ukraine) May 26, 2023
Experts say that reports of a radiation leak at the plant would be followed by immediate evacuations, which could be extremely complex in a war zone. According to experts, for many people, the fear of being contaminated by radiation could also be more dangerous than the radiation itself.
Last week, witnesses said Russian military forces were enhancing defensive positions in and around the nuclear power plant ahead of Ukraine’s much-anticipated counteroffensive.
In preparation for the planned radioactive incident, Russia had disrupted the scheduled rotation of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), who are based at the plant, Ukraine’s intelligence directorate said.
The report of a planned incident at Zaporizhzhia was repeated in a tweet by Ukraine’s representative to the United Nations in New York, Sergiy Kyslytsya, who said the events could unfold “in the coming hours”.
Moscow is preparing a large-scale provocation to create a center of radiation danger, according to @DI_Ukraine In the coming hours, the russians are preparing a large-scale provocation to simulate an accident at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.https://t.co/KuxZEGRB2i
— Sergiy Kyslytsya 🇺🇦 (@SergiyKyslytsya) May 26, 2023
The directorate statement did not provide any proof to support its claims and the Vienna-based IAEA, which frequently posts updates on the situation at the power plant, has made no mention of any disruption to its timetable.
Kyiv and Moscow have repeatedly accused each other of attacking the plant.
In February, Russia said Ukraine was planning to stage a nuclear incident on its territory and pin the blame on Moscow.
Moscow has also repeatedly accused Kyiv of planning “false-flag” operations with non-conventional weapons, using biological or radioactive materials.
No such attacks have taken place so far.
The IAEA’s Director General Rafael Grossi will brief the UN Security Council next week on the security situation at Zaporizhzhia and his plan for safeguards at the site. Grossi, who last visited the plant in March, has upped his efforts to reach an agreement with Ukraine and Russia to ensure the plant’s protection during the fighting.
In a statement last week, Grossi said: “It is very simple: don’t shoot at the plant and don’t use the plant as a military base”.
“It should be in the interest of everyone to agree on a set of principles to protect the plant during the conflict,” he added.
Zaporizhzhia once supplied approximately 20 percent of Ukraine’s electricity and continued to function in the early months of Russia’s invasion, despite frequent shelling, before halting power production entirely in September.
None of Ukraine’s six Soviet-era reactors has since generated electricity but the Zaporizhzhia facility remains connected to the Ukrainian power grid for its own needs, notably to cool the plant’s nuclear reactors. | Europe Politics |
Rhun ap Iorwerth has been elected unopposed as the new leader of Plaid Cymru, a month after the dramatic resignation of Adam Price.
He was the only candidate for the vacancy triggered by a damning report alleging bullying, harassment and misogyny.
The new leader vowed to make Plaid a "welcoming party where everyone feels safe".
The former journalist has represented Ynys Mon in the Senedd since 2013.
Plaid is the Welsh Parliament's third largest party with 12 seats - it has three MPs in Westminster.
It is in a co-operation deal with the Welsh government, where Labour ministers have agreed to implement some of Plaid's policies in return for votes in the Senedd.
The announcement follows months of problems in the party and claims of a toxic culture, while last November an allegation of sexual assault was made against a senior member of staff.
It led to the Project Pawb report by former Senedd member Nerys Evans, which found "too many instances of bad behaviour in the party".
A Plaid Cymru Senedd member was separately suspended last year - pending an investigation - following a serious allegation about his conduct.
Speaking at the St David's Hotel in Cardiff Bay, Rhun ap Iorwerth committed to the co-operation agreement, saying it showed "a glimpse from opposition of what we could achieve in government".
"But to be the champions that Wales needs, we have to be fit as a party and ready to face the challenges ahead," he said.
"And I'm determined that we will be, and I will be uncompromising in making this a welcoming party where everyone feels safe and supported and empowered to play their parts."
The Anglesey politician was the only candidate for the role.
That was despite former leader Leanne Wood saying the new leader should be a woman.
Shortly after her intervention on BBC Wales Live, the two remaining potential candidates ruled themselves out.
First Minister Mark Drakeford welcomed the announcement and said he looked forward "to a constructive working relationship". | United Kingdom Politics |
- A Ukraine MP said 27 Russian soldiers were killed by friendly fire during a botched retreat.
- The soldiers were fleeing positions in Donetsk when they were mistaken for enemy troops, per the MP.
- Ukrainian lawmaker, Yuriy Mysiagin said the Russians retreated "chaotically and almost in a panic."
At least 27 Russian soldiers in Donetsk attempting to retreat from their positions were killed by friendly fire from their comrades, according to a Ukrainian lawmaker.
Yuriy Mysiagin, a Ukrainian member of parliament, said in a Telegram message on September 10 that Russian fighters had "retreated to new positions chaotically and almost in a panic."
According to Mysiagin, the Russian forces assumed their troops were Ukrainians attempting to recapture territory near the Donetsk airport. The rushed exit caused the soldiers to endure friendly fire from their own artillery, Mysiagin added.
"The result was 27 dead and 34 wounded. Approximately half of the wounded had their arms or legs blown off," Mysiagin said. "Several pieces of equipment were lost."
Kostyantyn Mashovets, a colonel from Ukraine's armed forces, said in a September 10 Facebook post that the friendly fire likely kicked off because of poor coordination by the Russians.
"For some unknown reason, the enemy artillery began to fire, not near the front line or behind Ukrainian positions in order to suppress our firepower, but on the positions and rear of this unit," Mashovets said in his post, published on September 10.
Representatives for Russia's Ministry of Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider sent outside regular business hours.
This wouldn't have been the first time Russian forces gunned down their own troops.
In August, a deputy battalion commander of Ukraine's 129th Territorial Defense Brigade told The New York Times that he saw Russian soldiers taking fire from their own side.
The soldier, who goes by the call sign Kherson, was fighting the Russians in the village of Neskuchne as part of the Ukraine's counteroffensive. Kherson said he saw Russian forces firing rockets at the battlefield just as their soldiers were starting to retreat.
"They buried quite a lot of their own guys," Kherson told The Times.
Representatives for the Russian Ministry of Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider sent outside regular business hours. | Europe Politics |
Libya's chief prosecutor announced Friday he has ordered an investigation into the collapse of two overwhelmed dams during the catastrophic floods -- and whether better maintenance could have avoided the disaster.
After Mediterranean storm Daniel brought heavy rains, and widespread flooding, to eastern Libya, two dams near the port city of Derna collapsed earlier this week, wiping out a quarter of the area. The city has been declared a disaster zone.
Decades-old studies showed that the two dams, built primarily to protect the city from floods, suffered cracks and subsidence that may lead to their collapse, according to Libya Attorney General Al-Siddiq Al-Sour.
Al-Sour said around $8 million had been allocated for maintenance that was halted months after it began when the Arab Spring uprising broke out in the country in the early 2010s. Prosecutors are investigating the spending of dam maintenance funds, he told reporters Friday.
A team of 26 prosecutors will also head to Derna to keep a record of victims and identify causes of deaths, he said. His office did not have an accurate tally of deaths as investigations remain underway.
According to the Libyan Red Crescent, at least 11,300 people have died and another 10,100 were reported missing as of Friday in the wake of the destructive floods.
The death toll in Derna could reach upwards of 20,000 people, based on the extent of the damage, Derna Mayor Abdulmenam al-Ghaithi said Thursday.
Libya's National Center of Meteorology reported that more than 16 inches of rain fell in the northeastern city of Bayda within a 24-hour period to Sunday, according to the flood tracking website Floodlist.
The head of the United Nation's World Meteorological Organization said Thursday that most of Libya's flooding casualties could have been avoided if the divided country had a functioning meteorological service. | Middle East Politics |
Trudeau offended Israel with call for 'maximum restraint,' says Israeli president
Isaac Herzog says his country cares about civilians in Gaza but is fighting an 'empire of evil'
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offended his country earlier this month when he asked Israel to exercise "maximum restraint" in military operations in Gaza.
"We were offended by the comments of Prime Minister Trudeau because I spoke myself with Prime Minister Trudeau just a week before [he] spoke to me about enabling the exit of Canadian civilians, who are in Gaza, and Israel has done its best and made it a priority," Herzog told CBC's The National on Sunday.
The Israeli president said Israel "truly" cares about civilians in Gaza and warns them of imminent attacks through leaflets, text messages and other methods to give them time to flee.
"We tell them please move out of your premises, because out of your premises missiles were launched against us, terror operations came out of your premises, from your houses, from your shops, from your mosques," he said.
Herzog said Hamas's Oct. 7 attack — which saw roughly 1,200 Israelis die and hundreds of civilians taken hostage — was the work of an "empire of evil" that has ambitions beyond his country.
Palestinian officials say the aerial bombardment of Gaza has killed 14,000 people since Israel launched its offensive against Hamas, which is listed as a terrorist organization by the Canadian government.
Trudeau has stopped short of explicitly calling for a ceasefire and has instead pushed for temporary pauses to the fighting to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Earlier this month, while making an announcement about electric vehicle batteries in Maple Ridge, B.C., Trudeau warned Israel that the rising number of civilian deaths in Gaza is raising concern.
"I have been clear that the price of justice cannot be the continued suffering of all Palestinian civilians. Even wars have rules. All innocent life is equal in worth — Israeli and Palestinian," Trudeau said.
"I urge the government of Israel to exercise maximum restraint. The world is watching, on TV, on social media.
"We're hearing the testimonies of doctors, family members, survivors, kids who've lost their parents. The world is witnessing this — the killing of women and children, of babies. This has to stop."
A swift Israeli backlash
Trudeau also condemned Hamas in his remarks, saying that the militant group "needs to stop using Palestinians as human shields" and calling on Hamas to release its hostages.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hit back swiftly. In a social media post that tagged Trudeau, Netanyahu said Israel isn't the one "deliberately targeting civilians, but [it is] Hamas that beheaded, burned and massacred civilians in the worst horrors perpetrated on Jews since the Holocaust.
"While Israel is doing everything to keep civilians out of harm's way, Hamas is doing everything to keep them in harm's way."
Nethanyahu said Israel has been providing Palestinian civilians in Gaza with humanitarian corridors and safe zones. He accused Hamas of stopping civilians from leaving at gunpoint.
"It is Hamas, not Israel, that should be held accountable for committing a double war crime — targeting civilians while hiding behind civilians. The forces of civilization must back Israel in defeating Hamas barbarism," he said.
Trudeau's words were also criticized by Michael Levitt, a former Liberal MP who now serves as the president and CEO of the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre, a Jewish rights group.
Levitt said Trudeau's "reckless accusations against Israel are deeply concerning."
"His words, which belie the facts on the ground in the war between a fellow democracy and a genocidal terror group, may have been meant to deliver a message overseas but that's not the only place they landed," he said in a social media post.
"The scathing remarks also landed here at home, where Jews like me, reeling from weeks of surging antisemitism, got the message loud and clear."
Levitt said Trudeau's comments have "the potential to further fan the flames of Jew-hatred that we are facing." | Middle East Politics |
Yemen's Houthi rebels hijack cargo ship in Red Sea
Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels say they have seized an Israeli cargo ship in the Red Sea.
They said the vessel was then taken to a port in Yemen.
Israel said the ship was not Israeli, and no Israelis were among its crew. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said this was "another act of Iranian terrorism".
Iran has not commented. Houthis had threatened to hijack Israeli ship within their reach over Israel's war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Israel says 1,200 people were killed and more than 240 taken hostage during the surprise Hamas attack on the south of the country on 7 October.
Israel has launched a massive military operation - involving air and artillery strikes as well as ground troops - with the aim of eliminating Hamas.
The Hamas-run health ministry says the death toll in Gaza since then has reached 12,300. More than 2,000 more are feared to be buried under rubble.
The Houthis have fired several missiles and drones towards Israel just after Israel launched its retaliatory operation.
The US said at the time that all the missiles and drones were intercepted by its warship in the Red Sea.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) described the attack on the ship - which it did not name - as a "very grave incident of global consequence".
The IDF said the vessel was on its way from Turkey to India when it was seized in the southern Red Sea near Yemen.
Although Israel says the seized vessel does not have any connection with it, unconfirmed reports suggest the ship may have an Israeli owner.
In Sunday's statement on social media, Mr Netanyahu said that Israel "strongly condemns the Iranian attack against an international vessel".
He said the ship was owned by "a British company and is operated by a Japanese firm", adding that "25 crew members of various nationalities including Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Filipino and Mexican" were on board the ship.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has recently said that what he called resistance groups allied to Tehran were "cleverly adjusting pressure" on Israel and its supporters.
Earlier this month, the Houthis shot down a US military drone off Yemen's coast, American officials said.
The Houthis have been locked in a prolonged civil war with Yemen's official government - backed by Saudi Arabia - since 2014.
More on Israel-Gaza war
- Live: Latest developments
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- From Israel: Hostages' fates haunt Israel as Gaza war intensifies
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'I don’t have that figure': Premier Dominic Perrottet stumped on key question during live televised debate with Chris Minns
New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet was left stumped during his first televised debate with Opposition Leader Chris Minns before the NSW election on March 25.
New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet and Opposition Leader Chris Minns have gone head to head for the second time in their first televised debate on Channel 7.
The meeting on Wednesday afternoon follows a heated radio debate with 2GB’s Ben Fordham a month ago and started in a slightly chaotic fashion after a fire alarm began ringing while the two leaders made their opening statements.
Viewers who listened to the earlier debate last month may have felt a sense of déjà vu as Mr Perrottet and Mr Minns argued once again about the Liberal government’s privatisation strategies.
“Our approach has ensured we have the biggest infrastructure building program in our state’s history. That didn’t happen by accident that happened through strong financial and economic management,” Mr Perrottet said.
“We’ve got $116 billion of fully funded infrastructure projects. Our debt position here in New South Wales is incredibly strong. We’re the only state in this nation with two triple A credit ratings,” he added.
When pressed by moderator Amelia Brace on whether a Labor government would abandon the Liberal government’s infrastructure plans, Mr Minns clarified he would only build infrastructure that didn’t require further privatisation of the state’s assets.
“I’m going to build as much infrastructure in as many places as soon as I possibly can. But I have to go into this election campaign honest with the people of this state and say I will not sell infrastructure in this state to build infrastructure. The Premier has a $50 billion infrastructure plan that is completely unfunded,” Mr Minns said.
The unfunded projects include two additional metro lines and raising the Warragamba dam to mitigate the risk of future flooding.
“The Premier has been a constant advocate of asset recycling and privatisation his entire professional career, and yet we’re all expected to believe on the eve of an election campaign that privatisation is out?” Mr Minns asked.
The Premier then countered Mr Minns by ruling out the sale of additional state assets.
“We have ruled out privatisation here (…) you make the decisions that suit the times,” Mr Perrottet replied.
“The short-sighted approach of Labor means we won’t keep building,” he warned.
Later in the discussion, which aired on International Women’s Day, Mr Perrottet was unable to answer what percentage of Liberal candidates were female.
“They (nominations) closed at midday today, so I don’t have that figure,” Mr Perrottet said.
Conversely, Brace said 46 per cent of Labor’s candidates were women and Mr Minns couldn’t help but throw a jab at the Premier.
“We’re not celebrating that, it should just be the norm if you’re running to be elected in New South Wales in the year 2023,” Mr Minns said.
The two leaders will meet for a second televised debate which will be aired and streamed live on Sky News Australia on March 22 just days before the state heads to the polls on March 25 to elect a new state government. | Australia Politics |
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CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Political instability in Niger resulting from a military takeover that deposed the president this week threatens the economic support provided by Washington to the African nation, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Saturday.
Members of the Niger military announced on Wednesday they had deposed democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum and on Friday named Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani as the country’s new leader, adding Niger to a growing list of military regimes in West Africa’s Sahel region.
Blinken, who is in Australia as part of a Pacific tour, said the continued security and economic arrangements that Niger has with the U.S. hinged on the release of Bazoum and “the immediate restoration of the democratic order in Niger.”
WATCH: Coup in Niger puts U.S. efforts to thwart terrorism in Africa’s Sahel region at risk
“Our economic and security partnership with Niger — which is significant, hundreds of millions of dollars — depends on the continuation of the democratic governance and constitutional order that has been disrupted by the actions in the last few days,” Blinken said. “So that assistance, that support, is in clear jeopardy as a result of these actions, which is another reason why they need to be immediately reversed.”
Blinken stopped short of calling the military actions in Niger a coup, a designation that could result in the African country losing millions of dollars of military aid and assistance.
Speaking in Brisbane, Blinken said he had spoken with President Bazoum on Saturday but did not provide details. He cited the support of the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States and other regional entities in trying to bring an end to the unrest.
“The very significant assistance that we have in place that’s making a material difference in the lives of the people of Niger is clearly in jeopardy and we’ve communicated that as clearly as we possibly can to those responsible for disrupting the constitutional order and Niger’s democracy,” Blinken said.
Blinken said the U.S. Embassy in Niger had accounted for the safety of all staff members and their families, while issuing a security alert advising U.S. citizens in the country to limit unnecessary movements and avoid areas impacted by the coup.
The military group that conducted the coup, calling itself the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Country, said its members remained committed to engaging with the international and national community.
“This is as a result of the continuing degradation of the security situation, the bad economic and social governance,” air force Col. Major Amadou Abdramane said in the video released by the coup leaders Wednesday. He said aerial and land borders were closed and a curfew was in place until the situation stabilized.
Bazoum was elected two years ago in Niger’s first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since independence from France.
Niger is seen as the last reliable partner for the West in efforts to battle jihadis linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group in Africa’s Sahel region, where Russia and Western countries have vied for influence in the fight against extremism.
France has 1,500 soldiers in the country who conduct joint operations with Niger’s military, while the U.S. and other European countries have helped train the nation’s troops.
Hannon reported from Bangkok.
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Germany's far-right AfD notched up another first Sunday, July 2, when its candidate was elected a full-time town mayor, in a further boost for the anti-immigration party.
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) has surged to record highs in opinion polls, and the latest result comes just a week after they won their first district election.
Hannes Loth was elected mayor of the small town of Raguhn-Jessnitz, in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, in a run-off against independent candidate Nils Naumann, according to results on the town's Facebook page. Loth, reportedly a 42-year-old farmer who was already a member of the local parliament, won 51.1% of the vote against 48.9% for Naumann in the town of about 9,000 inhabitants.
It marks the first time the party has won an election race for a full-time mayor's position, German media reported. AfD members have held positions as voluntary, or part-time, mayors in smaller places. An AfD member was a full-time mayor of a town in southwest Germany from 2018 to 2020 but was not elected under the party's banner – he joined the outfit during his term.
Loth thanked his supporters for the "wonderful result." "I will be mayor for everyone in Raguhn-Jessnitz," he wrote on social media.
Support for the AfD at a record 18 to 20%
In last week's election, Robert Sesselmann, a lawyer and regional lawmaker, won a runoff for district administrator in Sonneberg in the central state of Thuringia, near the border with Bavaria.
Recent surveys have put support for the AfD at a record 18 to 20%, neck-and-neck with Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats and behind only the conservative CDU/CSU bloc.
Created in 2013 as an anti-euro outfit before morphing into an anti-Islam, anti-immigration party, the AfD has benefited from growing discontent with Scholz's three-party coalition amid concerns about inflation and the affordability of the government's climate plans. High immigration also remains a key voter concern. The AfD stunned the political establishment when it took around 13% of votes in the 2017 general elections, catapulting its lawmakers into the German parliament. It slid to around 10% in the 2021 federal election. | Europe Politics |
Spaniards are heading to the polls to vote in a bitterly contested general election that could see the far right play a key role in government for the first time since the country returned to democracy after General Franco’s death five decades ago.
The vote, called two months ago by Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, after his Spanish Socialist Workers party (PSOE) suffered a drubbing in May’s regional and municipal elections, offers people a stark choice between the left and right blocs.
While the opposition conservative People’s party (PP) is expected to finish first, polls suggest it is likely to fall short of an absolute majority and to have to rely on the support of the far-right Vox party to form a government.
Sánchez has depicted Sunday’s vote as a crucial showdown between the forces of progress and the forces of reactionary conservatism. The prime minister argues that only the PSOE and the new, leftwing Sumar alliance, led by Spain’s deputy prime minister and labour minister, Yolanda Díaz, can defend and deliver the progressive agenda he has pursued over the past four years.
But the PP and Vox – which have forged more regional governing coalitions since May’s elections – accuse Sánchez and his minority government partners in the Unidas Podemos alliance of being weak, opportunistic and over-reliant on the Catalan and Basque separatist parties on which it depends for support in parliament.
They also say Sánchez and his partners have failed Spaniards through their badly botched reform of sexual offences legislation which has led to more than 100 convicted sex offenders being granted early release.
Although the PP has consistently led the polls and waged an aggressive campaign, it suffered a poor final week as the focus shifted to its leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo. He had already been left looking awkward after his claims about the PP’s track record on pensions turned out to be untrue, but was then criticised for the sexist tone of an apparent reference to Díaz’s makeup.
By Friday, Feijóo found himself having to respond to renewed questions about his friendship in the 1990s with a man who was later convicted of drug trafficking.
The PP leader, who was a senior politician in Galicia before serving as regional president between 2009 and last year, has faced fresh scrutiny over his relationship with Marcial Dorado, who was arrested in 2003 and subsequently jailed for offences including drug trafficking, bribery and money laundering.
Feijóo has always insisted he had no reason to suspect Dorado was involved in anything illegal and has said he broke off contact with him as soon as he was charged with criminal offences.
“It’s easier to find out about these things now because you’ve got the internet and Google,” Feijóo said on Wednesday. “When I knew him, this gentleman wasn’t facing any proceedings over drug trafficking.”
Two days later, Feijóo accused his opponents of trying to smear him, adding that when he knew Dorado, he “had been a smuggler [but] never a drug trafficker”.
Sánchez, who was unexpectedly beaten by Feijóo in the only head-to-head debate between the leaders of Spain’s two biggest parties, seized on the controversy and confusion as proof of the left’s growing comeback.
“I see a right and a far-right that are absolutely bankrupt,” he said at his party’s final campaign rally near Madrid on Friday night. “The socialist advance is unstoppable. All I ask is that we all bet on red on Sunday to win the election and guarantee four more years of progress.”
Díaz, meanwhile, exhorted people to get out and vote so that Spanish society “doesn’t go back 50 years”.
Feijóo urged Spaniards to vote “to bring our country together again” and said that, unlike Sánchez, he was beholden to no one.
“I’ve got no debts or deals with anyone,” he told supporters in the Galician city of A Coruña on Friday. “I don’t need to answer to anyone except the Spanish people.”
Vox, which has made culture wars a central part of its campaign, called on Spaniards to come out and speak up. Addressing a rally in Madrid on Friday, the far-right party’s leader, Santiago Abascal, laid into the government over its ideology and bungled sexual offences legislation.
“There are millions of Spaniards who want to say yes to freedom of expression and no to cancel culture,” he said. “[And millions] who want to say yes to safe streets and no to the government of rapists.”
An Ipsos poll for La Vanguardia this month found that the economy was the single biggest issue for voters, with 31% of those surveyed putting it at the top of their list. Next was unemployment (10%) and healthcare (9%). Immigration, one of Vox’s favourite talking points, was the most important issue for just 2% of those polled. | Europe Politics |
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ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday praised Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo for his “democratic principles” during a visit with the West African leader, who’s facing rising discontent over inflation and fresh concerns about regional security.
Harris is just beginning a weeklong trip to the continent that will also take her to Tanzania and Zambia, part of a concerted effort to broaden U.S. outreach at a time when China and Russia have entrenched interests of their own in Africa.
READ MORE: Kamala Harris arrives in Ghana, kicking off weeklong Africa visit to bolster relations
On Monday, the vice president was welcomed into the Ghanaian presidential palace, called the Jubilee House, where she promised assistance with security in the nation and increased investments there, announcing $100 million in U.S. aid to the region.
“Under your leadership, Ghana has been a beacon of democracy and a contributor to global peace and security,” she told the president in remarks following their meeting.
Akufo-Addo oversaw one of the world’s fast-growing economies before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the cost of food and other necessities has been skyrocketing, and the country is facing a debt crisis as it struggles to make payments.
During the meeting with Harris, Akufo-Addo called for solidarity as countries like Ghana work to get their economies “back on track.” He also expressed concern that private American investors tend to overlook the nation.
“We want to be able to change that dynamic,” he said. He said their meeting had been a “boost to the steadfast cooperation” between the two nations.
In addition, sporadic fighting has increased in Ghana’s north, which borders the more tumultuous nation of Burkina Faso and the Sahel, a region where local offshoots of al-Qaida and the Islamic State group have been operating.
Akufo-Addo called terrorism a “poison” that was spreading across West Africa, making the region unstable.
“We’re spending a lot of sleepless nights trying to make sure we’re protected here,” he told the vice president as the two gathered in a conference room at the palace, their delegations seated on opposite sides of a long table.
During a press conference following their meeting, Akufo-Addo said he was concerned about terror groups but said he had no formal confirmation that al-Qaida is present in the nation.
He also said he worried that the Russian mercenary force known as Wagner could expand its footprint in the region.
“It raises the very real possibility that once again our continent is going to become the playground for a great power conflict,” Akufo-Addo said.
Akufo-Addo dismissed any concerns about China’s influence in the region, saying his country had relationships with many nations, including the United States, and they were separate from one another.
“The relationships with America is a relationship that has been close over several decades,” he said.
Some of the money pledged by Harris will require congressional approval, which could prove difficult amid sharp partisan differences over the federal budget. The Treasury Department also plans to dispatch an adviser to Accra to help manage the country’s burdensome debt.
Other programs are intended to reduce child labor, improve weather forecasting, support local musicians and defend against disease outbreaks.
The United States has already sent troops to train militaries from Ghana and other countries in the hopes of bolstering their defenses. However, other countries have turned to Wagner, which has been on the front lines of Russia’s war in Ukraine but also has a presence in Africa.
Wagner began operating in Mali, which ousted French troops based there, and there are concerns that it will also deploy to Burkina Faso, where France also ended its military presence. Ghana recently accused Burkina Faso’s leaders, which took power in a coup last year, of already turning to Wagner for help, something Akufo-Addo said would be “unsettling.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently visited Niger, which borders Mali and Burkina Faso, to announce more assistance for the region.
“We’ve seen countries find themselves weaker, poorer, more insecure, less independent as a result of the association with Wagner,” he said.
Although China’s influence in Africa has been a leading concern for U.S. foreign policy, Russia’s own attempts to make inroads has alarmed Washington as well. Some countries have longstanding ties dating back to the Soviet era.
The Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, has made multiple trips to the continent in an effort to show that the West has failed to isolate Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.
“The Russians are continuing to make the first move in Africa, and the U.S. is continuing to play catch-up,” said Samuel Ramani, associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based defense and security think tank.
“It’s really unclear how Russia will really be able to expand its influence in the long term,” he added. “But in the short term, they’re creating goodwill for themselves.”
Mucahid Durmaz, a senior analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, a global risk intelligence company, said that Moscow’s overall investments in Africa “are very modest” compared with Washington’s but adds that it’s been able to leverage anti-Western sentiment in some areas of the continent.
“The Ukraine war has boosted Africa’s importance in international politics and increased geopolitical jostling among global powers for the support of its governments and nations,” he said.
U.S. officials have steered clear of framing their approach in terms of global rivalries, something that could swiftly sour Africans who are wary of being caught in the middle.
“They remain cautious about becoming collateral damage to geopolitical competition by repeating the same mistakes of the Cold War era,” Durmaz said.
Mednick reported from Dakar, Senegal.
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CNN — At least five people were killed in an explosion near the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday, according to police in Kabul, in the latest sign of a deteriorating security situation in the country’s capital. Five civilians were “martyred and a number of others were injured,” Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran wrote on Twitter, adding that the perpetrators would be found and punished. The explosion took place in Kabul’s diplomatic district, Zanbaq Square, around 4 p.m. local time, Zadran said. Several countries, including Turkey, India and China, have embassies in the area. Zadran did not say how many people were injured, though the humanitarian organization Emergency said its surgical center in Kabul had received more than 40 patients following the blast. “This is the first mass casualty in 2023, but certainly one of those with the most patients since the beginning of 2022. So much so that we have also set up beds in the kitchens and canteen,” Emergency’s Afghanistan director Stefano Sozza said in a statement. ISIS’ local affiliate, ISIS-K, claimed responsibility for the explosion, which it described as a suicide bomb attack. Without providing evidence, ISIS’ Amaq news agency said the attack killed 20 people after an ISIS-K militant detonated an explosive belt in the middle of a crowd of workers near the main gate of the ministry. CNN cannot independently verify the claim. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan condemned the attack in a statement Wednesday. “Rising insecurity is of grave concern. Violence is not part of any solution to bring lasting peace to Afghanistan,” it wrote on Twitter. Since the Taliban took control of the country in August 2021, there have been multiple attacks in Kabul that have claimed dozens of lives. In September last year, a suicide bomber killed at least 25 people, mostly young women, at an education center in Kabul. Earlier that month, six people including two Russian Embassy employees were killed in a suicide blast near the Russian Embassy. In August, an explosion at a mosque during evening prayers killed 21 people and injured 33. | Asia Politics |
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YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) — The separatist government of Nagorno-Karabakh said Thursday it will dissolve itself and the unrecognized republic will cease to exist by year’s end after a three-decade bid for independence, while Armenian officials said over half of the region’s population has already fled.
The moves came after Azerbaijan carried out a lightning offensive last week to reclaim full control over the region and demanded that Armenian troops in Nagorno-Karabakh disarm and the separatist government dissolve itself.
READ MORE: Dozens dead in gas station explosion as Nagorno-Karabakh residents flee to Armenia
A decree signed by the region’s separatist President Samvel Shakhramanyan cited an agreement reached Sept. 20 to end the fighting under which Azerbaijan will allow the “free, voluntary and unhindered movement” of Nagorno-Karabakh residents to Armenia.
Some of those who fled the regional capital of Stepanakert said they had no hope for the future.
“I left Stepanakert having a slight hope that maybe something will change and I will come back soon, and these hopes are ruined after reading about the dissolution of our government,” said Ani Abaghyan, a 21-year-old student, in an interview with The Associated Press.
Lawyer Anush Shahramanyan, 30, added: “We can never go back to our homes without having an independent government in Artaskh,” referring to Nagorno-Karabakh by its Armenian name.
The mass exodus of ethnic Armenians from the mountainous region inside Azerbaijan began on Sunday. By Thursday morning, over 70,000 people — more than half of Nagorno-Karabakh’s population of 120,000 — had fled to Armenia, and the influx continued with unabating intensity, according to Armenian officials.
After separatist fighting ended in 1994 following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Nagorno-Karabakh came under the control of ethnic Armenian forces, backed by the Armenia. Then, during a six-week war in 2020, Azerbaijan took back parts of the region in the south Caucasus Mountains along with surrounding territory that Armenian forces had claimed earlier.
Nagorno-Karabakh was internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan’s sovereign territory.
In December, Azerbaijan imposed blockaded the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, alleging the Armenian government was using it illicit weapons shipments to the region’s separatist forces.
Armenia alleged the closure denied basic food and fuel supplies to Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan rejected the accusation, arguing the region could receive supplies through the Azerbaijani city of Aghdam — a solution long resisted by Nagorno-Karabakh authorities, who called it a strategy for Azerbaijan to gain control of the region.
Weakened by the blockade, with Armenia’s leadership distancing itself from the conflict, ethnic Armenian forces in the region agreed to lay down arms less than 24 hours after Azerbaijan began its offensive last week. Talks have begun between Baku and Nagorno-Karabakh’s separatist authorities on “reintegrating” the region back into Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijani authorities have pledged to respect the rights of ethnic Armenians in the region and restore supplies.
Many residents, however, have decided to leave for Armenia, fearing reprisals. The only road link to Armenia quickly filled with cars, creating a massive traffic jam on the winding mountain road.
It took Abaghyan, the student, three days to get to Armenia from Stepanakert, a distance of about 50 miles (80 kilometers).
Shahramanyan spent 30 hours on the road and still had half the journey ahead of her Thursday.
She said that for her and her family, living in Nagorno-Karabakh will be impossible under Azerbaijan rule because she believes their basic rights will be violated.
“No power in the world is willing to stop the atrocities of Azerbaijan. What can any Armenian hope for under the control of that genocidal state?” she said.(backslash)
Azerbaijan’s military last week accused Nagorno-Karabakh residents of burning down their homes in Martakert, a town in the north of the region that until the last week’s offensive remained under the control of ethnic Armenian forces. Their claims could not be independently verified. But that is something that also happened in 2020 when people fled territories taken over by Azerbaijan.
On Monday night, a fuel reservoir exploded at a gas station where people lined up for gas that was in short supply from the blockade. At least 68 people were killed and nearly 300 injured, with over 100 others still considered missing.
It isn’t immediately clear if the ethnic Armenians still living in the region will remain there. Shakhramanyan’s decree urged Nagorno-Karabakh’s population — including those who left — “to familiarize themselves with the conditions of reintegration offered by the Republic of Azerbaijan, in order to then make an individual decision about the possibility of staying in (or returning to) Nagorno-Karabakh.”
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday also urged the Armenian population of the region “not to leave their places of residence and become part of the multinational Azerbaijan.”
Azerbaijani authorities said they are sending 30 buses to Stepanakert at the request of “the Armenian residents” for those who don’t have cars but want to go to Armenia.
In Yerevan, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that “in the coming days, there will be no Armenians left in Nagorno-Karabakh.”
“This is a direct act of an ethnic cleansing and depriving people of their motherland, exactly what we’ve telling the international community about,” he said.
In a statement, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said it “strongly” rejected Pashinyan’s accusations.
“Pashinyan knows well enough that the current departure of Armenians from Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region is their personal and individual decision and has nothing to do with forced relocation,” the ministry said. “With this alarming narrative, the Armenian prime minister is seeking to disrupt Azerbaijan’s efforts to provide humanitarian assistance and the reintegration process, and also undermines possible prospects for peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia.”
Armenia has set up two main centers in the cities of Goris and Vayk to register and assess the needs of those fleeing Nagorno-Karabakh. The government is offering accommodations to anyone who doesn’t have a place to stay, although only 13,922 of the 70,500 people who have crossed into the country — under 20% — applied for it.
“The accommodation suggested by the government is mostly in the border villages, where people face serious security issues due to the periodic shootings by Azerbaijan. Besides, finding a job is difficult,” said Tatevik Khachatrian, who arrived Thursday. She said she and her family will stay with relatives in Yerevan before trying to rent an apartment.
On Thursday, Azerbaijani authorities charged Ruben Vardanyan, the former head of Nagorno-Karabakh’s separatist government, with financing terrorism, creating illegal armed formations and illegally crossing a state border. Vardanyan, a billionaire banker, who was arrested on Wednesday, faces up to 14 years in prison if convicted, according to Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti. He was placed in pre-trial detention for at least four months, according to Azerbaijani media.
Azerbaijani officials said Vardanyan, who made his fortune in Russia, was detained as he was trying to enter Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh along with thousands of others and taken to Baku. The arrest appeared to indicate Azerbaijan’s intent to quickly enforce its grip on the region.
Vardanyan moved to Nagorno-Karabakh in 2022 and headed the regional government for several months before stepping down earlier this year.
Another top separatist figure, Nagorno-Karabakh’s former foreign minister and now presidential adviser David Babayan, said Thursday he will surrender to Azerbaijani authorities after they “demanded my arrival in Baku for a proper investigation.” Babayan said in a Facebook post that he will head from Stepanakert, the region’s capital, to the nearby city of Shusha, which has been under Azerbaijani control since 2020.
“My failure to appear, or worse, my escape, will cause serious harm to our long-suffering people, to many people, and I, as an honest person, hard worker, patriot and a Christian, cannot allow this,” Babayan said.
Associated Press writers Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, and Aida Sultanova in London contributed.
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India Slams China For Blocking UN Move To Designate 26/11 Accused As 'Global Terrorist'
China on Tuesday blocked a proposal moved by the United States and co-designated by India to blacklist Lashkar-e-Taiba leader Sajid Mir as a global terrorist and subject him to assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo.
India has hit out at China for blocking a move to designate Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba leader Sajid Mir as a “global terrorist” by the United Nations, saying it shows a lack of genuine political will to fight the scourge of terrorism.
China on Tuesday blocked a proposal moved by the United States and co-designated by India to blacklist Mir under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council as a global terrorist and subject him to assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo.
Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Mir is wanted for his involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
In a strongly-worded statement, joint secretary at India's permanent mission in New York, Prakash Gupta, said if efforts to ban terrorists fail due to “petty geopolitical interests”, then “we really do not have the genuine political will to sincerely fight this challenge of terrorism”.
"The first and most critical gap we feel addressing is avoiding double standards, and this self-defeating justification of good terrorists versus bad terrorists. Terror act is a terror act, plain and simple. Any justification of any kind being used should not be countenanced by anybody," he said at United Nation’s counter-terror meeting.
Gupta said in this day and age of accountability and transparency, can evidence-based listing proposals be blocked without giving any reason.
He said India has fought against terrorists in practically real-time on a daily basis.
"While the 9/11 terror bombings in this iconic city of New York had changed the landscape of the global counterterrorism architecture, the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks shook the collective conscience of the world's largest democracy," he said.
Gupta also played an audio clip of Mir in which he can be heard instructing terrorists from Pakistan during the Mumbai 26/11 terror attacks in 2008.
Ten fully armed assailants from across the borders well trained in conducting urban warfare, descended on the shores of Mumbai and wreaked havoc for three days. The carnage resulted in the killing of 166 innocents, including 26 foreigners.
"Justice still continues to elude the victims of the Mumbai terror attack," he said. Mir was listed as a proscribed terrorist under the national laws of India and under the laws of the United States and several other countries globally, he said.
"But when the proposal for listing him did not go through the Security Council sanctions regime, we had strong reasons to believe that something was genuinely wrong in the global sanctions regime, as manifested in the Security Council," Gupta said.
"If we cannot get established terrorists who have been proscribed across global landscapes, listed under the Security Council architecture for petty geopolitical interests, then we really do not have the genuine political will needed to sincerely fight this challenge of terrorism," he added.
Gupta rued that 15 years after the Mumbai terror attacks, its masterminds in Pakistan have not yet been brought to justice.
Mir, believed to be in his mid-40s, is one of India's most wanted terrorists and has a bounty of $5 million placed on his head by the U.S. for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
In June last year, Mir was jailed for over 15 years in a terror-financing case by an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan.
Pakistani authorities had in the past claimed Mir had died, but Western countries remained unconvinced and demanded proof of his death. This issue became a major sticking point in FATF's assessment of Pakistan's progress on the action plan late last year. | India Politics |
Tens of thousands of Spaniards protested in Madrid on Sunday against possible plans by acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to grant an amnesty to Catalan separatists to keep himself in office after an election he failed to win.
Waving Spanish flags, supporters of the opposition conservative People’s Party (PP) traveled from across Spain to attend the rally in Madrid. Authorities estimated the size of the crowd at 40,000.
Sanchez, who came second in an election in July, could stay in office if he wins the support of exiled former Catalonia leader Carles Puigdemont, whose Junts per Catalunya party controls seven seats in parliament.
Puigdemont, wanted in Spain for attempting the region’s secession, has demanded that legal action be dropped against fellow separatists as a condition for his support.
Alberto Nunez Feijoo, leader of the PP which won the most votes on July 23, said he would never concede to demands for an amnesty for organizers of a 2017 independence referendum in Catalonia, which was held despite courts ruling it was illegal.
Withdrawing criminal cases against the separatists would amount to granting an amnesty to “coup plotters,” he told supporters at the Madrid rally.
Gregorio Casteneda, 72, a pensioner, had traveled from Santander on Spain’s north coast to show his opposition to any amnesty.
“I am not in favor of the government that we have. To me this is a disaster because it is going to divide Spain totally,” he told Reuters.
Sanchez held his own political rally in Gava, near Catalonia’s regional capital Barcelona, on Sunday. He did not mention an amnesty but said the Socialists wanted to heal social divisions over the Catalan crisis.
“We are trying to turn the page,” he told supporters.
In 2021, Sanchez granted pardons to nine separatists jailed over their roles in the independence push.
Feijoo will take the first stab at a vote to become prime minister on Sept. 27, but his chances of winning are seen as slim since the PP opposes any concessions to separatists. If Feijoo fails, Sanchez will get a chance to see if he can muster support. | Europe Politics |
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UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The International Criminal Court should prosecute Taliban leaders for a crime against humanity for denying education and employment to Afghan girls and women, the U.N. special envoy for global education said.
Gordon Brown told a virtual U.N. press conference on the second anniversary of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan on Tuesday that its rulers are responsible for “the most egregious, vicious and indefensible violation of women’s rights and girls’ rights in the world today.”
The former British prime minister said he has sent a legal opinion to ICC prosecutor Karim Khan that shows the denial of education and employment is “gender discrimination, which should count as a crime against humanity, and it should be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court.”
The Taliban took power in August 2021, during the final weeks of the U.S. and NATO forces’ pullout after 20 years of war. As they did during their previous rule of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban gradually reimposed their harsh interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, barring girls from school beyond the sixth grade and women from most jobs, public spaces and gyms and recently closing beauty salons.
Brown urged major Muslim countries to send a delegation of clerics to Afghanistan’s southern city of Kandahar, the home of Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, to make the case that bans on women’s education and employment have “no basis in the Quran or the Islamic religion” — and to lift them.
WATCH: Will Putin face arrest after International Criminal Court warrant for Ukraine war crimes?
He said he believes “there’s a split within the regime,” with many people in the education ministry and around the government in the capital, Kabul, who want to see the rights of girls to education restored. “And I believe that the clerics in Kandahar have stood firmly against that, and indeed continue to issue instructions.”
The Taliban’s chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, brushed aside questions about restrictions on girls and women in an Associated Press interview late Monday in Kabul, saying the status quo will remain. He also said the Taliban view their rule of Afghanistan as open-ended, drawing legitimacy from Islamic law and facing no significant threat.
Brown said the Taliban should be told that if girls are allowed to go to secondary school and university again, education aid to Afghanistan, which was cut after the bans were announced, will be restored.
He also called for monitoring and reporting on abuses and violations of the rights of women and girls, sanctions against those directly responsible for the bans including by the United States and United Kingdom, and the release of those imprisoned for defending women’s and girls’ rights.
Brown said 54 of the 80 edicts issued by the Taliban explicitly target women and girls and dismantle their rights, most recently banning them from taking university exams and visiting public places including cemeteries to pay respects to loved ones.
He announced that the U.N. and other organizations will sponsor and fund internet learning for girls and support underground schools as well as education for Afghan girls forced to leave the country who need help to go to school.
“The international community must show that education can get through to the people of Afghanistan, in spite of the Afghan government’s bans,” he said.
Brown said there are a number of organizations supporting underground schools and there is a new initiative in the last few weeks to provide curriculum through mobile phones, which are popular in Afghanistan.
He wouldn’t discuss details over concerns for the safety of students and teachers, “but there is no doubt that girls are still trying to learn, sometimes risking a lot to be able to do so.”
During the 20 years the Taliban were out of power, Brown said 6 million girls got an education, becoming doctors, lawyers, judges, members of parliament and cabinet ministers.
Today, he said, 2.5 million girls are being denied education, and 3 million more will leave primary school in the next few years, “so we’re losing the talents of a whole generation.”
Brown urged global action and pressure — not just words — to convince the Taliban to restore the rights of women and girls.
“We have not done enough in the last two years,” he said. “I don’t want another year to go by when girls in Afghanistan and women there feel that they are powerless because we have not done enough to support them.”
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SEOUL, May 6 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States will begin their largest-ever combined live-fire exercise this month on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of their alliance and the 75th anniversary of the South Korean military's establishment, Seoul's defense ministry said Saturday.
The allies are set to stage the drills five times between May 25 and June 15 at Seungjin Fire Training Field in Pocheon, 52 kilometers northeast of Seoul, according to the ministry.
This year's drills will be the largest ever of their kind, and the exercise is expected to involve advanced weapons systems, including F-35A stealth fighters, AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, K2 tanks and Chunmoo multiple rocket launchers.
More than 10 such high-profile firepower demonstrations have taken place since 1977, including both combined and South Korea-only drills.
The last such exercise took place in 2017 and mobilized 48 South Korean and U.S. units and over 2,000 troops.
As part of a program to celebrate the landmark anniversary, South Korea is also seeking to hold this year's Armed Forces Day ceremony with the participation of the U.S. Forces Korea in late September.
The South and the U.S. signed their mutual defense treaty, a bedrock alliance document, in October 1953, after the Korean War ended in a truce three months earlier.
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Far-right Turkish leader Umit Ozdag has endorsed opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu for the Turkish presidency.
The opposition challenger is running against Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the 28 May presidential run-off.
Mr Ozdag said they had agreed on a plan to send millions of migrants back to their countries within a year.
President Erdogan is favourite to win Sunday's vote, having won almost half the vote in the first round.
Mr Ozdag, who leads the Victory Party, said he had held similar talks with Mr Erdogan, but decided against endorsing him because his plans did not involve repatriating migrants.
His decision contrasts sharply with that of his ultranationalist ally, Sinan Ogan, who won nearly 2.8 million votes as third candidate for the presidency and earlier this week pledged his support for President Erdogan.
Turkey hosts the most refugees in the world, with 3.5 million Syrians under temporary protection. But many Syrians are living there unofficially and irregular migrants have also arrived from Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan.
In the run-up to the second round, Mr Kilicdaroglu has doubled down on his pledge to send Syrians home within two years, and he has accused President Erdogan of letting 10 million refugees in. Mr Erdogan has promised to accelerate the voluntary repatriation one million Syrians.
Mr Kilicdaroglu was chosen to run for president by an alliance of six opposition parties, but fell 2.5 million votes short of Mr Erdogan on 14 May and needs to attract voters who either backed Sinan Ogan in the first round or did not vote at all.
Mr Ozdag said he had agreed a seven-point plan with the opposition challenger that involved sending back all "refugees and fugitives", especially Syrians, to their home countries within a year - "in line with international law and human rights". He said Turkey's biggest problem was "13 million refugees and fugitives".
Prof Murat Erdogan, who runs the Syrians Barometer, has estimated there are at most six million refugees and irregular migrants in Turkey.
Mr Erdogan's AK Party has been in power since November 2002, and he has ruled Turkey since 2003, first as prime minister and later as president.
After a failed coup in 2016 he cracked down on dissent, detaining tens of thousands of people, and revamped the presidency as a more authoritarian role with sweeping powers.
Mr Kilicdaroglu's allies had been confident of unseating the president with a promise to hand powers back to parliament, but he faces an uphill task in overturning Mr Erdogan's first-round lead.
He is also backed by the main pro-Kurdish party which makes up 10% of the vote.
As part of the agreement with the far-right Victory Party leader, the six-party Nation Alliance is said to have approved a deal saying that all "terrorist organisations will be fought", including the Kurdish militant group PKK.
That could affect Mr Kilicdaroglu's bid for Kurdish voters to give him their support. | Middle East Politics |
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Monday it simulated a nuclear attack on South Korea with a ballistic missile launch over the weekend that was its fifth missile demonstration this month to protest the largest joint military exercises in years between the US and South Korea.
The North’s leader Kim Jong Un instructed his military to hold more drills to sharpen the war readiness of his nuclear forces in the face of “aggression” by his enemies, state media reported.
The South Korean and Japanese militaries detected the short-range missile being launched Sunday into waters off the North’s eastern coast, which reportedly came less than an hour before the US flew long-range B-1B bombers for training with South Korean warplanes.
The North characterizes the U.S.-South Korea exercises as a rehearsal to invade, though the allies insist they are defensive in nature.
Some experts say the North uses the exercises as a pretext to advance its weapons programs.
Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency said the missile, which flew about 500 miles, was tipped with a mock nuclear warhead.
It described the test as successful, saying that the device detonated as intended 800 yards above water at a spot that simulated an unspecified “major enemy target,” supposedly reaffirming the reliability of the weapon’s nuclear explosion control devices and warhead detonators.
The report said the launch was the final step of a two-day drill that also involved nuclear command and control exercises and training military units to switch more quickly into nuclear counterattack posture, properly handle nuclear weapons systems and execute attack plans.
The exercise was also a “stronger warning” to the United States and South Korea, who are “undisguised in their explicit attempt to unleash a war” against the North, KCNA said.
Photos published by state media showed Kim walking through a forest with his daughter and senior military officials and a missile the North described as a tactical nuclear weapon system soaring from the woods spewing flames and smoke.
Saying that his enemies are getting “ever more pronounced in their moves for aggression,” Kim laid out unspecified “strategic tasks” for further developing his nuclear forces and improving their war readiness, KCNA said.
This indicated that the North could up the ante in its weapons demonstrations in coming weeks or months.
Jeon Ha Gyu, spokesperson of South Korea’s Defense Ministry, said it’s clear North Korea with its ramped-up testing activity is making “considerable progress” in nuclear weapons technology.
He did not provide a specific assessment about the North’s claim about the successful warhead detonation.
North Korean photos indicated the latest launch was of a solid-fuel missile apparently modeled after Russia’s Iskander mobile ballistic system that the North has been testing since 2019.
The missiles are built to travel at low altitudes and be maneuverable in flight, which theoretically improve their chances of evading South Korean missile defenses.
While these missiles have been mostly fired from wheeled vehicles, North Korea has also tested them or their variants from railcars, a submarine and a platform inside a reservoir.
Photos of the latest test suggested the missile was possibly fired from a silo dug into the ground, highlighting the North’s efforts to diversify its launch options and make it harder for opponents to identify and counter them.
South Korea’s military said the launch took place at a mountainous northwestern region near Tongchangri, which hosts a site where the North conducted long-range rocket and satellite launches in previous years.
North Korea likely has dozens of nuclear warheads, but there are differing assessments on how far the North has advanced in miniaturizing and engineering those weapons so that they could fit on the newer weapons it tested in recent years.
While the North after six nuclear tests may be able to place simple nuclear warheads on some of its older systems, like Scuds or Rodong missiles, it will likely require further technology upgrades and nuclear tests to build warheads that can be installed on its more advanced tactical systems, according to Lee Choon Geun, an honorary research fellow at South Korea’s Science and Technology Policy Institute.
Sunday’s short-range launch was the North’s fifth missile event this month and the third since the US and South Korean militaries began joint exercises on March 13.
The allies’ drills, which are to continue through Thursday, include computer simulations and their biggest springtime field exercise since 2018.
The North so far in 2023 has fired around 20 missiles over nine different launch events. They included short-range missiles fired from land, cruise missiles launched from a submarine, and two different intercontinental ballistic missiles fired an airport near Pyongyang as it tries to demonstrate a dual ability to conduct nuclear attacks on South Korea and the US mainland.
The latest ICBM test last Thursday preceded a summit between South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who agreed to resume security dialogues and take other steps to improve their oft-strained relations in the face of North Korean threats.
North Korea already is coming off a record year in testing activity, with more than 70 missiles fired in 2022, as Kim accelerates his weapons development aimed at forcing the United States to accept the idea of the North as a nuclear power and negotiating badly needed sanctions relief from a position of strength.
In response to the most recent ICBM launch, the U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency open meeting Monday morning at the request of the United States, United Kingdom, Albania, Ecuador, France and Malta.
Security Council resolutions have long banned North Korean ballistic missile activity, but permanent council members Russia and China have thwarted punishment or further sanctions in recent years.
The U.N. Security Council held an informal meeting Friday at which the US, its allies and human rights experts shone a spotlight on what they described as the dire rights situation in North Korea.
China and Russia denounced the meeting as a politicized move.
North Korea’s U.N. Mission called the meeting about “our non-existent ‘human rights issue’” unlawful.
It also said the US held Friday’s meeting “while staging the aggressive joint military exercise which poses a grave threat to our national security.” | Asia Politics |
A Russian aircraft collided with an unmanned U.S. system over the Black Sea on Tuesday.
Two Russian Su-27 aircraft dumped fuel on and in front of a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 unmanned aircraft "several times" before one of them struck its propeller, causing U.S. forces to bring it down in international waters, according to a statement from U.S. European Command. Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said the Russian aircraft "essentially ran into the MQ-9."
"Our MQ-9 aircraft was conducting routine operations in international airspace when it was intercepted and hit by a Russian aircraft, resulting in a crash and complete loss of the MQ-9," U.S. Air Force Gen. James B. Hecker, the commander of U.S. Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa, said. "In fact, this unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians nearly caused both aircraft to crash."
"U.S. and Allied aircraft will continue to operate in international airspace, and we call on the Russians to conduct themselves professionally and safely," Hecker said.
President Joe Biden was briefed on the incident by national security adviser Jake Sullivan, National Security Council coordinator John Kirby told reporters.
State Department spokesman Ned Price informed reporters that the United States is "engaging directly with the Russians again at senior levels to convey our strong objections to this unsafe unprofessional intercept, which caused the downing of the unmanned US aircraft."
Specifically, the U.S. is summoning Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov, "where we will convey this message in Moscow," he added. "Meanwhile, Ambassador Tracy has conveyed a strong message to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs."
Antonov said, "I was invited to the State Department where I categorically rejected all the insinuations of the U.S. side. I explained the position of the Russian Federation. I stressed that the American UAV that was moving deliberately and provocatively towards the Russian territory with its transponders turned off violated the boundaries of the temporary airspace regime established for the special military operation, which was communicated to the all concerned users of international airspace in accordance with international norms."
"At the same time, the Russian fighters scrambled to identify the intruder did not use on-board weapons and did not come into contact with the UAV," he added. "The unacceptable actions of the United States military in the close proximity to our borders are cause for concern. We are well aware of the missions such reconnaissance and strike drones are used for."
The Pentagon is working through the declassification process to release video of the incident, Ryder explained, though he didn't specify how long the process could take. He declined to say whether the U.S. would look to recover the drone.
EUCOM said this incident follows a pattern of dangerous behavior by Russian pilots.
Last month, the Alaskan Region of North American Aerospace Defense Command tracked and intercepted four Russian aircraft that were entering and operating within the Alaska Air Defense Identification two days in a row. NORAD said at the time that the activity near the North American ADIZ was "not seen as a threat, nor is the activity seen as provocative."
Kirby also noted such intercepts are "not an uncommon occurrence," but he said that “this one obviously is noteworthy because of how unsafe and unprofessional” it was. | Europe Politics |
Shazia Ramzan has spent most of her young life fighting for her right – and the right of all girls – to go to school. In 2012, at the age of 14, sitting alongside her friend Malala Yousafzai on a bus that was going from school to her home, in the Swat valley in the north of Pakistan, she was shot at by an extremist intent on stopping girls from getting an education. She suffered injuries from which she, Malala and their friend Kainat took months to recover.
Now completing a nursing degree at Edinburgh University, and preparing to start her own nurses’ training school in Pakistan, Shazia almost always has the needs of girls in her home area in her thoughts. In her time between classes, she is raising funds for Pakistani charities that are quietly but effectively helping Afghan girls who have been losing out on their education since the Taliban shut them out of the country’s secondary schools.
There are 5 million girls in Afghanistan who are currently out of school, and they urgently need our support. Many have risked everything by demonstrating in the streets of Kabul. While sooner or later the regime will find that they cannot forever oppress brave women who have known what it is like to be free, for now the young protesters face arrest and torture.
Theirs is an untold story of courage and resilience. Girls in Afghanistan are also at risk of punishment beatings if they attend underground schools run by their parents and teachers. Many more are fleeing across the border into exile in Pakistan in the hope of an education.
But, sadly, those who have crossed the border are joining Pakistan’s ever-lengthening queue for schooling that is already 23 million children long. This is not just because of the country’s recent floods, which have closed 27,000 schools, but because of Pakistan’s long-term failure to invest in girls’ education.
Step back and the picture becomes even graver: these girls are only a fraction of the world’s 222 million crisis-affected children who are in dire need of educational support. Of them, 78.2 million, including 42 million girls, do not go to school at all, while the others are suffering so many disruptions in their education that they fail to acquire even the most basic literacy and numeracy skills.
Their numbers, so large that they already exceed the combined populations of Germany, France and Britain, are rising every year. More than 100 million people are refugees or internally displaced because of conflicts and civil wars, from Ukraine and Myanmar to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia.
A large number of children today, though, are exiled from their homes not because of war but because they are the victims of droughts, floods and other climate-induced disasters, or of natural disasters. In Turkey and Syria the dead are still being counted, but we must also address the urgent needs of the living, all those forcibly displaced by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake from which it will take years to recover. Even if we manage to feed, shelter and treat the victims, there will be little cash left over to provide temporary schooling, unless we do better than in the past; the child victims of the earthquake could spend years excluded from education.
In Turkey and Syria, as elsewhere, it will be girls who will suffer most: they are 35% more likely to be out of school than their male contemporaries, according to data from Unesco. And we have been warned to expect that by 2030 many of them – an additional 10 million girls – will have been forced into child marriages, the number of girl brides rising yet again after years when forced marriage was on the decline.
Children should not have to wait for wars to end for the opportunity to learn and thrive. It is to finance the education of the forgotten 222 million that Education Cannot Wait (ECW), which I chair, was created in 2017. Its replenishment conference will take place in Geneva this week in the presence of Andrew Mitchell and other international development ministers from all over the world.
Seeking to bridge the divide between humanitarian aid, only 2% of which was spent on education, and development aid, which always comes too late to deal with refugee crises, ECW is asking donors for $1.5bn to support its new strategic plan. Initiatives that will prevent child labour, early marriage and trafficking include the provision of safe schools in countries where Boko Haram still abduct girls from their classrooms; the expansion of online learning; and of double-shift schools that, piloted in Lebanon, use school buildings more effectively by teaching local children English and French in the morning and Syrian refugee children Arabic in the afternoon.
We know from unspeakable recent tragedies that hope dies when food convoys and rescue workers cannot get through to besieged towns, and when flimsy boats carrying refugees capsize at sea. Hope also dies when children are locked out of education and denied the chance to plan and prepare for their future. At the age of 11, 12 and 13, young people should be optimistic and excited about great opportunities that lie ahead, but I cannot forget hearing from charity workers in a refugee camp in Moria, Greece, who had discovered three refugees in their early teens so desolate that they were planning a joint suicide. For them, behind barbed wire in an insanitary camp with no schooling and little else, there was only the bleakness of despair.
But hope can come alive, even in the harshest and least promising places in the world, if we offer children the chance of an education. It is the one way to honour the international community’s as yet unredeemed promise set out in sustainable development goal 4 – to be the first generation in history where every single boy and girl, stateless or not, goes to school. As Shazia’s work of mercy reminds us, it is also a moral obligation that we owe to the next generation. Instead of developing some of the potential of only some children in some parts of the world, we should be developing the potential of every child everywhere.
Gordon Brown is chairman of the UN’s Education Cannot Wait fund and was UK prime minister between 2007 and 2010 | Asia Politics |
Odelyn Joseph/AP
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Armed members of "G9 and Family" march in a protest against Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023.
Odelyn Joseph/AP
Armed members of "G9 and Family" march in a protest against Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023.
Odelyn Joseph/AP
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The U.N. Security Council voted Monday to send a multinational armed force led by Kenya to Haiti to help combat violent gangs, marking the first time in almost 20 years that a force would be deployed to the troubled Caribbean nation.
The resolution drafted by the United States and Ecuador was approved with 13 votes in favor and two abstentions from China and the Russian Federation.
The resolution authorizes the force to deploy for one year, with a review after nine months. The non-U.N. mission would be funded by voluntary contributions, with the U.S. pledging up to $200 million.
The vote was held nearly a year after Haiti's prime minister requested the immediate deployment of an armed force, which is expected to quell a surge in gang violence and restore security so Haiti can hold long-delayed elections. Haiti's National Police has struggled in its fight against gangs with only about 10,000 active officers in a country of more than 11 million people.
"More than just a simple vote, this is in fact an expression of solidarity with a population in distress," said Jean Victor Généus, Haiti's foreign affairs minister. "It's a glimmer of hope for the people who have been suffering for too long."
A deployment date has not been set, although U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently said a security mission to Haiti could deploy "in months."
Kenyan Foreign Affairs Minister Alfred Mutua said last week that the force could deploy within two to three months, or possibly early January. He also noted that key officers are being taught French.
Hours after the vote, Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry thanked the U.N. Security Council, the U.N.'s secretary general and Kenya and other countries who agreed to join the force, saying, "The bell of liberation sounded. ... We couldn't wait any longer!"
It wasn't immediately clear how big the force would be. Kenya's government has previously proposed sending 1,000 police officers. In addition, Jamaica, the Bahamas and Antigua and Barbuda have pledged to send personnel.
China and Russia abstain from vote, noting concerns
Vassily Nebenzia, the Russian Federation's U.N. ambassador, said he did not have any objections in principle to the resolution, but that sending an armed force to a country even at its request "is an extreme measure that must be thought through."
He said multiple requests for details including the use of force and when it would be withdrawn "went unanswered" and criticized what he said was a rushed decision. "Authorizing another use of force in Haiti ... is short-sighted" without the details sought by the Russian Federation, he said.
China's U.N. ambassador, Zhang Jun, said he hopes countries leading the mission will hold in-depth consultations with Haitian officials on the deployment and explained his opposition to the resolution.
"Without a legitimate, effective, and responsible government in place, any external support can hardly have any lasting effects," he said, adding that a consensus for a transition is urgently needed as well as a "feasible and credible" timetable. "Regrettably, the resolution just adopted fails to send the strongest signal in that regard."
Généus said he's grateful the resolution was approved because a foreign armed force is essential, but noted that it's "not enough."
"Socioeconomic development must be taken into account to take care of extreme poverty," he said, adding that it is the source of many of Haiti's problems and has created fertile ground for the recruitment of young people by gangs.
About 60% of Haiti's more than 11 million people earn less than $2 a day, with poverty deepening further in recent years as inflation spikes.
The deployment of an armed force is expected to restore peace and security to Haiti so it can hold long-awaited general elections that have been repeatedly promised by Prime Minister Ariel Henry after the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.
Haiti lost its last democratically elected institution in January after the terms of 10 remaining senators expired, leaving not a single lawmaker in the country's House or Senate. Henry has been ruling the country with the backing of the international community.
The president of the U.N. Security Council, Brazil's Sérgio França, noted that without a Haitian political solution based on free, transparent and fair elections, "no ... aid will guarantee lasting success."
International intervention in Haiti has a complicated history. A U.N.-approved stabilization mission to Haiti that started in June 2004 was marred by a sexual abuse scandal and the introduction of cholera, which killed nearly 10,000 people. The mission ended in October 2017.
Abuse and rights worries cloud Kenya's police
The resolution approved Monday warns that mission leaders must takes measures to prevent abuse and sexual exploitation as well as adopt wastewater management and other environmental controls to prevent water-borne diseases, such as cholera.
But concerns remain.
Critics of the Kenyan-led mission have noted that police in the east Africa country have long been accused of using torture, deadly force and other abuses. Top Kenyan officials visited Haiti in August as part of a reconnaissance mission as the U.S. worked on a draft of the resolution.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., told reporters that the resolution contains strong accountability and vetting language and that she's confident Kenya will be able to carry out the mission.
"I can assure you the U.S. will engage on these issues very, very aggressively," she said. "We've learned from mistakes of the past."
Jason DeCrow/AP
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, meets with Kenya's President William Ruto, left, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023, in New York.
Jason DeCrow/AP
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, meets with Kenya's President William Ruto, left, Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023, in New York.
Jason DeCrow/AP
Monday's vote comes nearly a year after Haiti's prime minister and 18 top government officials requested the immediate deployment of a foreign armed force as the government struggled to control gangs amid a surge in killings, rapes and kidnappings.
From Jan. 1 until Aug. 15, more than 2,400 people in Haiti were reported killed, more than 950 kidnapped and another 902 injured, according to the most recent U.N. statistics. More than 200,000 others have lost their homes as rival gangs pillage communities and fight to control more territory.
Among those left homeless is Nicolas Jean-Pierre, 32, who had to flee his house with his partner and two children and now lives in a cramped school serving as a makeshift shelter with others like him. He has sent his family to temporarily live in the southern coastal city of Les Cayes to keep them safe. Jean-Pierre said he would like the foreign armed force to be based in his neighborhood "so I can have a life again."
"The sooner they get here, the better it will be," said Jean-Pierre, who is seeking work after gangs burned down the garage where he used to work as a mechanic.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan thanked Kenya and other nations who have pledged to join the mission, saying it would bring much-needed help to Haiti's population.
"We have taken an important step today, but our work to support the people of Haiti is not done," he said. | Latin America Politics |
U.S. forces were attacked four times in Iraq and Syria on Thursday with rockets and armed drones, but there were no casualties or damage to infrastructure, a U.S military official said.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said U.S. and international forces were attacked at two sites in northeastern Syria with multiple rockets and a one-way attack drone.
In Iraq, multiple one-way drones were launched at the Ain Al-Asad air base west of Baghdad and a drone was launched at a base that houses U.S. forces near Irbil airport in northern Iraq.
A group calling itself the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which analysts say is a catch-all for several Iran-aligned, Iraqi-armed groups, had claimed responsibility for attacks on those locations earlier in the day.
The attacks came the day after the U.S. struck the Iran-aligned Kataib Hezbollah, or KH, armed group south of Baghdad in an attack that KH said had left eight members dead.
The attack was condemned by the Iraqi government as escalatory and a violation of sovereignty.
U.S. officials said the United States had struck Iran-aligned groups after an escalation in their attacks that have targeted U.S. and international forces dozens of times since October 17, 10 days after the Israel-Hamas war began.
As of Thursday, there had been 36 attacks in Iraq and 37 in Syria, the U.S. military official said. | Middle East Politics |
Reports that Moscow’s troops have captured the eastern Ukrainian town of Maryinka are premature and have been falsely inflated and promoted by a popular Telegram channel, a Russian milblogger has claimed.
Friday saw conflicting reports about the status of the now-ruined town, located southwest of the Russian-occupied regional centre of Donetsk and near the heavily-contested town of Avdiivka.
In an evening report, Ukraine’s military said it had repelled Russian attacks on villages around the town but made no mention of Russian troop movements in the area itself.
The Kremlin didn’t mention Maryinka at all but a popular Russian milblogger highlighted a photo posted to social media showing Moscow’s troops raising a flag above the ruins of a building.
Mash, a Russian news Telegram channel, then published what it said was a statement from Russian soldiers claiming the town had been taken.
On Saturday morning, German Bild journalist Julian Röpcke said Russian forces had taken Maryinka, saying: “Russia's army hoisted the Soviet Union's victory banner over the ruins of the Ukrainian city of Maryinka, which it captured yesterday.
“And some naive people in the Bundestag still believe that Putin would be content with a few annexed areas of Ukraine.”
Russlands Armee hat über den Ruinen der gestern eroberten ukrainischen Stadt Mariinka das Siegesbanner der Sowjetunion gehisst.— Julian Röpcke🇺🇦 (@JulianRoepcke) December 2, 2023
Und einige Naivlinge im Bundestag glauben immer noch, Putin würde sich mit ein paar annektierten Gebieten der Ukraine zufrieden geben. pic.twitter.com/bK3HH0XNvD
But just an hour after Röpcke’s post, Russian milblogger Roman Sapon'kov cautioned it was “too early to rejoice in Maryinka.”
He added: “To put it mildly, one unit decided to raise the flag on the outermost house and report on the capture of Maryinka as a whole.
“Perhaps in another war the capture of the last house would have led to the capture of the village, but a little later. But in this war this is not at all the case.”
He then said the Mash Telegram channel had recently undergone editorial changes that affected the reliability of its output, adding: “I advise you to immediately unsubscribe from this garbage dump.”
Further confirmation that reports of Moscow’s forces capturing Maryinka were premature came from Russian military correspondent Alexander Sladkov, who wrote: “From the line where our control ends to the end of Maryinka, to the city limits, a kilometer. We still have a kilometer to storm Maryinka.
“The other day we tried to get around Maryinka for the hundredth time, but failed.”
While the Kremlin hasn’t commented on Maryinka directly, it has been at pains this week to portray a positive image of what’s happening on the front lines.
Russia said on Friday its troops were advancing in every section of the Ukrainian front, despite observers seeing little movement.
The front lines have barely shifted in 2023 but fighting has remained intense.
The latest major flashpoint is the nearly encircled industrial town of Avdiivka, where Ukraine said it was fending off assaults.
“Our servicemen are acting competently and decisively, occupying a more favourable position and expanding their zones of control in all directions,” Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Friday.
In a briefing with Russia’s top military brass, Shoigu said his men were “effectively and firmly inflicting fire damage on the Ukrainian armed forces, significantly reducing their combat capabilities”.
His ministry announced on Wednesday it had taken control of Khromove, a small village on the outskirts of Bakhmut in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, but other territorial gains have proved elusive.
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SEOUL, South Korea -- The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un alleged on Monday that the country's warplanes repelled a U.S. spy plane that flew over its exclusive economic zone and warned of “shocking” consequences if the U.S. continues reconnaissance activities in the area.
The U.S. and South Korean militaries did not immediately respond to the comments by Kim Yo Jong, one of her brother's top foreign policy officials, which were published in state media Monday evening.
Earlier Monday, North Korea's Defense Ministry issued a statement accusing the U.S. of flying spy planes into its “inviolable airspace” and warning that approaching aircraft might be shot down.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff responded by denying that the U.S. had flown spy planes into North Korean territory. Spokesperson Lee Sung Joon said at a briefing that the U.S. was conducting standard reconnaissance activities in coordination with South Korea's military.
Apparently in response to that comment, Kim accused the Joint Chiefs of Staff of acting like a “spokesperson” for the U.S. military and said the U.S. has been intensifying its reconnaissance activities in a serious infringement of North Korea's sovereignty and safety.
But while the North Korean Defense Ministry statement seemed to imply an intrusion into the country's territorial airspace, Kim accused the U.S. of sending spy planes over the North’s exclusive economic zone, the area within 200 nautical miles of its territory where it controls rights to natural resources.
Kim said a U.S. spy plane crossed the eastern sea boundary between the Koreas at around 5 a.m. Monday and conducted reconnaissance activities over the North’s exclusive economic zone before being chased away by North Korean warplanes. She said the U.S. aircraft crossed the eastern sea boundary again at around 8:50 a.m., prompting North Korea’s military to issue an unspecified “strong warning” toward the United States.
She said North Korea would take decisive action if the U.S. continues to fly reconnaissance planes over her country’s exclusive economic zone, but added that it would “not take a direct counteraction” for U.S. reconnaissance activities outside of the zone.
“A shocking incident would occur in the long run in the 20-40 kilometer section in which the U.S. spy planes habitually intrude into the sky above the economic water zone" of North Korea, she said.
Kim’s comments come at a time of heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula as the pace of North Korean weapon tests and U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises have intensified. North Korea has test-fired nearly 100 missiles since the start of 2022 as Kim Jong Un expands a nuclear arsenal he apparently sees as his strongest guarantee of survival. | Asia Politics |
US and Israeli officials react to blockbuster report that Israel knew Hamas was planning attack
"We're going to have to get to the bottom of it after the war."
In the wake of blockbuster new reporting that Israel was aware Hamas was planning a major terror attack more than a year in advance, American officials are continuing to assess that information while Israel plans to conduct its own investigation after fighting ends with Hamas, officials said Sunday.
"All of these questions, we're going to have to get to the bottom of it after the war," Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer told ABC "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos.
Dermer maintained that he had been unaware of the intelligence about Hamas' plans until it was published in The New York Times late last week.
The Times cited a 40-page document, which Israel reportedly obtained, predicting many of the steps taken by Hamas in the Oct. 7 terror attack that sparked the current war.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, in a separate "This Week" appearance on Sunday, was pressed by Stephanopoulos on whether the U.S. had any warning of the attack or should have.
"Our intelligence community is taking a look into that," Kirby said. But he added, "They have no indications that we, the United States intelligence community, had any knowledge of that [Hamas planning] document beforehand or any visibility into it."
Kirby also noted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said there were intelligence failures.
"They'll do the forensics. They'll do that and they'll do it thoroughly. But right now, certainly on intelligence, the focus has got to be on making sure that Israel has what it needs to go after Hamas leadership," he said.
Israel has resumed its retaliatory military operations in Gaza after the collapse of a temporary cease-fire as part of a broader hostage-prisoner exchange with Hamas.
Kirby told Stephanopoulos that the U.S. was still pushing for another pause in the conflict in order to free more of the hostages.
"We're working at this literally by the hour," he said.
He blamed Hamas for the breakdown because they "refused to come up with additional lists of women and children, which we know they are holding."
Kirby said about 140 people are believed to be still held captive by Hamas, including eight Americans, though he said officials have limited information on their location and condition.
While outside humanitarian groups, including the U.N., have warned of catastrophe for civilians in Gaza if sufficient aid isn't allowed into the territory, Kirby said on "This Week" that "food, water, medicine and even fuel continues to get into Gaza" -- though in smaller amounts than during the cease-fire.
Dermer, in his interview, expressed gratitude for the Biden administration's work on a hostage deal but said Israel's larger goal -- "to dismantle Hamas' military capabilities, to end its political rule in Gaza" -- had not changed.
Stephanopoulos pressed Dermer on the civilian death toll and pointed to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's recent comments that such casualties could only fuel the very extremism that sparked October's terror attack.
At least 15,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
American officials like Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have also recently called out the high death toll in Gaza.
"We're doing everything we can to keep civilians out of harm's way," Dermer told Stephanopoulos. He highlighted steps like providing maps of locations where people in Gaza can go for safety and blasting out warnings to those in southern Gaza, many of whom fled earlier fighting.
"I want the American people to understand this: This war is not going on thousands of miles away. It's going on literally hundreds of yards away, and it's going on at a time when rockets are flying into our country and we have people running to bomb shelters," Dermer said.
He argued that Israel's attacks on Hamas in Gaza could force the group into another cease-fire.
"What we know is that the thing that brings Hamas to the table and its willingness to make a deal is military pressure," he said.
Kirby, in his interview, said the U.S. has urged the Israeli government to account for civilians as they continue their military operations.
"We believe that they have been receptive to our messages here, in terms of trying to minimalize civilian casualties," he said.
"They are making an effort," he said.
While Dermer said he could not give a timeline for when the war ends -- in weeks or months -- he acknowledged "we still have some ways to go."
More broadly, Kirby said that President Joe Biden still believes in a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But Kirby said the Palestinian Authority, which governs part of the West Bank territory, needed to be "revitalized" and reformed and Hamas could not have a stake in the process.
Dermer said Israel's government also supports some form of Palestinian autonomy: "We want the Palestinians to have all the powers to govern themselves but none of the powers that they can use to threaten Israel."
"That's something when we get back to negotiations, we'll have to see how we do that," he said.
"But the first thing we have to do is destroy Hamas, which is not interested in any peace," he said. | Middle East Politics |
ABUJA, Nigeria -- Nigeria’s main opposition said Thursday it will present new evidence to support its court challenge seeking to overturn this year's presidential election, saying it can show the declared winner provided faked academic credentials to authorities.
President Bola Tinubu forged a diploma from an American university that he presented to Nigeria’s election commission before the February vote and should be removed from office, first runner-up Atiku Abubakar and his lawyer alleged in a briefing with reporters. They cited records obtained from the university in a U.S. court hearing and shared with The Associated Press.
Abubakar previously has argued Tinubu should not be president because the election commission did not follow due process in announcing the winner and Tinubu was not qualified to run, citing allegations of dual citizenship and of a criminal indictment in the United States.
Tinubu has denied those claims. He did not comment on the new allegation, but his spokesman denied it. “A man cannot forge the academic records he possesses,” Temitope Ajayi, Tinubu’s media aide, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The challenge is being closely watched by many Nigerians following a divisive election that saw Tinubu win with less than 50% of the votes, a first in Nigeria’s history.
Abubakar is one of three candidates who are in court seeking to void Tinubu’s election victory.
Kalu Kalu, Abubakar’s lawyer, said they are set to present “fresh evidence” in the case pending before Nigeria's Supreme Court.
“A party at fault cannot be allowed to enjoy the fruit of his illegality,” Kalu said.
No presidential election in Nigeria has ever been voided.
In advancing his court challenge, Abubakar secured an order from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois directing Chicago State University, which Tinubu attended, to release his academic records.
In a transcript of a deposition this week given to AP by Abubakar’s lawyers, and which has not been made available by the court, Caleb Westberg, registrar of the university, confirmed the school “has the original record of Bola Tinubu." But he said he could not confirm the authenticity of the diploma that the Nigerian leader presented to the election commission indicating he graduated in 1979.
“We’re not qualified to verify whether this document (the diploma) is authentic, given that it is not in our possession,” Westberg said.
Asked to confirm that the school “has no record of issuing” the diploma in question, Westberg responded, "Correct."
Alexandre de Gramont, who represented Abubakar in U.S. court, said in a statement that the team got “virtually everything we sought” after a “hard-fought battle to obtain the educational records … which Mr. Tinubu’s lawyers vigorously opposed at every step.”
It is not the first time that a Nigerian leader has been accused of forgery. Muhammadu Buhari, Tinubu’s predecessor, faced similar allegations though they were never proven to be true. | Africa politics |
The Left — the most left-wing party in the German Bundestag — called on its former leader Sahra Wagenknecht to give up her parliamentary seat on Saturday following speculations about her plan to start a new political party.
The party leadership issued a resolution against the controversial lawmaker, saying "the future of The Left is a future without Sahra Wagenknecht."
Following the party's poor results in the 2021 general election which saw them lose 30 seats and only just manage to scrape by the minimum requirements necessary to get any seats in the Bundestag, Wagenknecht has increasingly expressed frustration and a desire to found a new party.
What did The Left say?
The Left leadership said that Wagenknecht — who was a co-leader of the party from 2015 to 2019 — was flouting democratically agreed decisions and was trying "to push through a different agenda with the threat of forming a competing party."
She is "not ready to fight for a strong Left together with all party comrades and to respect the democratic process."
"To date, she has not complied with the request to clearly distance her from any competing party project," the resolution said.
The party expressed concerns that Wagenknecht is using resources from her role as a member of the Bundestag for The Left to get a new party going.
It is a question of "political decency and fairness regarding the members of the party, if those who take part in a competing party project, act consistently and give up their seat," the party said in the resolution.
Who is Sahra Wagenknecht?
The 53-year-old was born in East Germany and was a member of the Soviet successor party — the Party of Democratic Socialism — which merged to form The Left in 2007.
She has been a major figure in the party for many years, but has courted controversy on numerous occasions, at times also courting support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Wagenknecht has taken positions against allowing migration, even criticizing Germany's previous policies of allowing in refugees. She has expressed skepticism toward the coronavirus vaccines. And she even wrote a book attacking members of her own party who were pushing for more action on climate protection and gender-neutral language.
Most recently, Wagenknecht has made headlines due to her stance on Russia, NATO, and the war in Ukraine.
A long-time supporter of Moscow, the lawmaker launched a petition — and a subsequent protest movement — calling for negotiations to end the war and an end to deliveries of weapons in Ukraine.
Wagenknecht's position on the conflict in Ukraine is not that far removed from her party's stance — namely that talks between Russia and Ukraine are more likely to end the war than western weapons deliveries — but nevertheless the Left distanced itself from her so-called peace rally in Berlin in February.
ab/msh (dpa, AFP) | Europe Politics |
NIAMEY, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Niger's junta has revoked an anti-migration law that had helped reduce the flow of West Africans to Europe but which was reviled by desert dwellers whose economies had long relied on the traffic, it said on Monday.
The law, which made it illegal to transport migrants through Niger, was passed in May 2015 as the number of people travelling across the Mediterranean Sea from Africa reached record highs, creating a political and humanitarian crisis in Europe where governments came under pressure to stop the influx.
Niger's junta, which took power in a July coup, repealed the law on Saturday and announced it on Monday evening on state television.
The junta is reassessing its relations with former western allies who condemned the coup, and is seeking to shore up support at home, including in the northern desert communities that had benefited most from migration.
The number of migrants moving through Niger, a main transit country on the southern fringe of the Sahara Desert, dropped sharply over the years because of the law, but the change drained the lifeblood from towns and villages that had fed and housed migrants and sold car parts and fuel to traffickers.
In return, the European Union launched the 5 billion euro Trust Fund for Africa in 2015, aimed at eradicating the root causes of migration, but many felt it was not enough. Unemployment soared in places like the ancient city of Agadez, a popular gateway to the Sahara.
How European leaders greet the news, and the impact on migration to Europe, is yet to be seen.
But some welcomed it. Andre Chani used to earn thousands of dollars a month driving migrants through the desert before police impounded his trucks in 2016. He plans to restart his business once he has the money.
"I'm going to start again," he said via text message from Agadez on Monday. "We are very happy."
Reporting by Moussa Aksar and Edward McAllister; editing by Grant McCool
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Africa politics |
The scale of China’s balloon surveillance could be more extensive than a handful of flights over the U.S., as intelligence agencies sift through hundreds of sightings of unidentified balloons and aerial objects in recent years, a lawmaker, a U.S. official and experts told NBC News.
The Biden administration is still trying to determine the full extent of China’s spy balloon intrusions into U.S. airspace, and it’s possible that the number of confirmed Chinese surveillance flights over the U.S. rises.
The revelation this month that the Chinese were able to fly surveillance balloons into American airspace without the U.S. military detecting it over a period of years has raised questions about an intelligence failure and prompted calls for investments in the country’s air defense and radar systems.
There are currently five known Chinese balloon flights into U.S. territory, including two during the Biden administration and three during Donald Trump’s presidency, according to the Biden administration’s public statement. The military and intelligence agencies detected the three balloon flights during the Trump presidency after Trump had left office, by reviewing the data for previous sightings of unidentified aerial objects, according to Biden officials. The four known flights prior to the February shootdown spent far less time in U.S. airspace.
The U.S. military and intelligence agencies are examining previous sightings of unidentified objects over the U.S. using new information gleaned from tracking the Chinese balloon that flew across the country earlier this month, the U.S. official and lawmaker said. That balloon, which was 200-feet tall and carried a payload weighing more than 2,000 pounds, was shot down on Feb. 4 off the coast of South Carolina by a missile fired from a F-22 fighter jet.
“I think now that we really understand a lot more about these things, we’ll be in a position to better understand what they’ve done in the past,” said Rep. Jim Himes, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.
The congressman said he expected more Chinese balloon flights to be identified.
“It is likely,” he told NBC News. “I do think that now, having watched one of these balloons, for more than a week, we know a lot more about how they behave and what they’re capable of. So yes, I do believe that we’ll be able to sort of backfill.”
The White House National Security Council did not respond to a request for comment. The Pentagon declined to comment.
Other countries are also examining whether Chinese balloon flights over their territory went undetected.
Japan’s ministry of defense said on Tuesday that it carried out further analysis and determined that three unidentified flying objects were “strongly presumed” to be Chinese reconnaissance balloons that violated the country’s airspace.
The flights took place in November 2019, June 2020 and September 2021, Japan said in a statement.
Britain’s Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said his government will review the country’s security in light of the Chinese balloon flight over the U.S.
Australia was not aware of any Chinese surveillance balloons flying over its territory, an Australian official said. But China has carried out a “relentless campaign of espionage” against Australia on many fronts and “Australia is watching this very closely,” the official said.
The U.S. Defense Department received 366 new reports of UFOs or “unidentified aerial phenomena” since March 2021, and about half of them appeared to be balloons or drones, according to a report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released last month.
An initial assessment found that 163 sightings were balloons or “balloon-like entities,” the report said.
It remains unclear if new information could indicate that those balloon sightings were in fact Chinese surveillance airships.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., the ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told reporters “there’s been things flying over places that don’t belong in America for a very long time.”
He added that was why lawmakers had pushed for setting up an effort to study sightings of unidentified aerial objects.
The full scale of China’s intrusions into U.S. airspace remain unclear, and arriving at a precise number for how many balloon flights took place may not be feasible, according to Brynn Tannehill, a technical analyst at the RAND Corp think tank.
“The answer is we don’t know. And I think we’re going to work very hard to find out and I think we’re going to go back and look at a lot of data to try and come up with some kind of estimate,” said Tannehil, a former U.S. Navy pilot who flew P-3 surveillance aircraft. “Because even when we go back and review the data, we can assume that there’s stuff that we did not see.”
The Pentagon and White House officials have rejected the idea that undetected Chinese balloon flights in recent years over U.S. territory represented a possible intelligence failure.
Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told a news conference last week that “in terms of monitoring these and collecting on them, we have been able to put together a body of knowledge that enables us to be able to detect them and act.”
“It was not an intelligence failure,” Ryder said.
But lawmakers are demanding more information from the White House about the Chinese surveillance balloon program and how the U.S. has responded to it.
The president needs to “clarify what the heck is going on” and “what intelligence gaps” need to be addressed, Republican Sen. Todd Young of Indiana said on Fox News on Wednesday.
President Joe Biden was due to deliver remarks on the Chinese balloon episode and subsequent shoot downs of unidentified aerial objects for the first time on Thursday. Former national security officials in the Trump administration received a classified briefing about the issue on Wednesday, NBC News reported earlier.
The government clearly “missed the Chinese high-altitude balloon threat for a long time,” said one congressional staffer. U.S. officials weren't "looking for them and were surprised when they finally discovered them,” the staffer said.
“There needs to be further scrutiny on past intrusions. Additionally, those incidents should have prepared the U.S. government for the more recent and more serious incursion,” the staffer said.
The head of U.S. Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, Air Force Gen. Glen VanHerck, said earlier this month that the Chinese balloon flight had highlighted a “domain awareness gap.”
Michael Dumont, a retired Navy admiral who was deputy commander of U.S. Northern Command from October 2018 to February 2021, said it’s too early to tell how damaging the Chinese balloon surveillance program has been, and that officials will know more after the balloon’s recovered sensors are analyzed.
But if nothing else, “the balloon program allows them to test out things, see how we react.”
Former senior military officers and experts say the balloon incident has also spotlighted long-standing weaknesses in the Cold War-era system of radars that is supposed to detect threats to the North American continent.
The U.S. and Canadian militaries rely on a chain of radar sites across northern Canada to track the northern approaches to North American airspace. The North Warning System (NWS) uses short- and long-range radar sites constructed in the late 1980s and the radars are becoming “increasingly challenged” by modern weapons technology, according to the Canadian government.
In 2021, the head of U.S. Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, Air Force Gen. Glen VanHerck, said that a more advanced system was needed for the NWS that could detect not only bombers or cruise missiles but small drones.
“The system itself, the guts of the system, was developed in the 1980s,” said Dumont, the deputy commander of Northern Command.
The outdated technology means analysts at Northern Command must rely on separate systems to detect different sorts of threats, he said.
“When you think about the ability to integrate all kinds of sensors into a warning system, we’re just not there,” Dumont said. “We don’t have a central consolidated point to integrate these systems into one … The guts of the system need to be upgraded.”
A more modern system, he said, could give the U.S. “much greater standoff range and much greater early warning.”
In the current system, when analysts adjust the “gain” of the radars to detect slow moving objects like surveillance balloons, their screens fill up with various objects, most of which are irrelevant.
“There were times I was on duty that I would get alerted to a certain activity and it turned out to be a flock of birds or debris from a weather balloon,” he said. | Asia Politics |
Five people, including a 10-year-old girl and her mother, have been killed in a Russian missile strike on the home city of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
At least 53 people were also injured when the missile struck a residential building in Kryvyi Rih, in central Ukraine.
President Zelenskyy, who grew up in the city, shared a defiant message on social media in the aftermath of the attack, writing: "This terror will not frighten us or break us."
It comes as Russia's defence minister Sergei Shoigu claimed Ukraine was "desperately throwing" large numbers of troops at its lines and that this proved its counteroffensive was "failing".
Mr Shoigu also claimed Russian troops had killed 20,000 Ukrainian troops in the past month alone.
In other developments in the Ukraine war:
A Kremlin spokesperson said NATO was "wasting" its resources by sending weapons and supplies to Ukraine
However, a Ukrainian official said its forces had claimed back two square kilometres of territory near the eastern city of Bakhmut in the past week
Another official claimed Russia was suffering major logistical issues due to recent explosions on bridges to Crimea
The mayor of Russian-controlled Donetsk claimed two people were killed after a Ukrainian shell hit a bus.
The Ukrainian defence ministry confirmed on Monday that 53 people had been injured in the missile strike on Kryvyi Rih.
The ministry also confirmed previously unverified reports that the 10-year-old child killed was a girl - and that she died alongside her 45-year-old mother.
The governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Serhiy Lysak, confirmed the "tragic news" of the deaths on Telegram.
Air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said the attack appeared to have been carried out with ballistic missiles.
In Russian-controlled Donetsk, two people died in Ukrainian shelling, claimed Denis Pushilin, the Moscow-installed mayor of the city.
Mr Pushilin said the casualties occurred when Ukrainian shells hit a civilian bus.
"As a result of the shelling, a passenger bus was destroyed," he said.
The mayor also said six people were being treated for injuries sustained in the blast.
Meanwhile, Russia's defence minister, Mr Shoigu, who last month was one of the chief targets of a coup launched by Yevgeny Prigozhin's Wagner mercenaries, praised his forces' effectiveness against Ukraine's counteroffensive.
He pointed to what he called the successful defence of Orekhovskaya from a "large-scale" Ukrainian operation as an example of Kyiv wasting resources.
Mr Shoigu also said more than 20,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed in the past month alone, and claimed the number of young men enrolling in Russian military colleges has increased dramatically in recent months.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Ukraine's counteroffensive showed no signs of any success and that Kyiv was now in a "difficult position".
Mr Peskov said NATO was "wasting" its resources by sending weapons and supplies into Ukraine due to this lack of success on the battlefield.
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He also discussed the potential of Saudi Arabia mediating peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
It comes after The Wall Street Journal reported the Saudi Arabian government was considering inviting a number of Western states, Ukraine and developing countries to hold talks on the war.
Ukraine and the West hope the possible discussions, which would exclude Russia, could lead to international backing for peace terms favouring Ukraine, the newspaper said.
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However, Mr Peskov said the Kremlin needed to gain an "understanding of the aims of the talks" before commenting further. | Europe Politics |
North Korea launches two missiles in protest of South Korea-US exercises
North Korea launched two ballistic missiles Thursday to protest military drills by South Korea and the United States, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
North Korea launched the pair of short-range missiles toward the sea Thursday, South Korea said. The missiles traveled about 480 miles from North Korea’s capital region before landing in the sea between Japan and the Korean Peninsula.
The launch came hours after South Korea and the U.S. concluded their fifth round of military drills near the border on Thursday, a move that the North Korea military called “provocative and irresponsible” ahead of the missile launch.
“Our army strongly denounces the provocative and irresponsible moves of the puppet military authorities escalating the military tension in the region despite its repeated warnings, and warns them solemnly,” a spokesperson for the North Korean Defense Ministry said in a statement published by North Korea state media KCNA.
“Our armed forces will fully counter any form of demonstrative moves and provocation of the enemies,” the statement added.
The U.S., Japan and South Korea issued a joint statement Thursday condemning the missile launch by North Korea. The national security advisors of the three countries called on all nations to “fully implement” United Nations Security Council resolutions that are meant to prevent North Korea from “acquiring the technologies and materials needed to carry out these destabilizing launches.”
“These launches are clear violations of multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions, and demonstrate the threat the DPRK’s unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs pose to the region, international peace and security, and the global non-proliferation regime,” the advisors wrote in the statement.
This launch comes as national security adviser Jake Sullivan meets with advisers from South Korea and Japan in Tokyo Thursday, where they discussed coordination tactics in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, the White House said.
This is the first launch by North Korea since it failed to launch a spy satellite into orbit last month. North Korea announced that its plans to launch the spy satellite was necessary due to the United States “reckless” military exercises with South Korea.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. | Asia Politics |
- The imminent Fukushima water release comes more than a decade after Japan was rocked by the second-worst nuclear disaster in history.
- Japan's government has repeatedly said the discharge of the treated water is safe and the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog has endorsed the move, saying Tokyo's plans are consistent with international standards and will have a "negligible" impact on people and the environment.
- Neighboring countries are far from happy, however.
Japan is expected to start releasing a huge amount of treated radioactive water from the tsunami-hit Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, a highly controversial move that has drawn sharp criticism from neighboring countries.
The imminent water release comes more than a decade after Japan was rocked by the second-worst nuclear disaster in history. A massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 destroyed the Fukushima nuclear power plant, which is situated on Japan's east coast, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) northeast of the capital Tokyo.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said earlier this week that the country plans to discharge roughly 1.3 million metric tons of treated wastewater — enough to fill about 500 Olympic-sized swimming pools — from the wrecked Fukushima power plant into the sea from Thursday, depending on weather conditions.
Japan's government has repeatedly said the discharge of the treated water is safe and the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog has endorsed the move. The International Atomic Energy Agency said in early July that Tokyo's plans were consistent with international standards and will have a "negligible" impact on people and the environment. The process will take decades to complete.
Neighboring countries are far from happy, however.
Local fishing groups and U.N. human rights experts have voiced their concerns about the potential threat to the marine environment and public health, while campaigners say that not all possible impacts have been studied.
Japan says the process of releasing the filtered and diluted water is a necessary step of decommissioning the plant and that a relatively swift solution is needed because the storage tanks holding the treated water will soon reach their capacity.
Regionally, China has emerged as one of the fiercest opponents to Japan's plans.
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin on Tuesday accused Tokyo of being "extremely selfish and irresponsible" by pressing ahead with the disposal of the water, adding that the ocean should be treated as a common good for humanity "not a sewer for Japan's nuclear-contaminated water."
"China strongly urges Japan to stop its wrongdoing, cancel the ocean discharge plan, communicate with neighboring countries with sincerity and good will, dispose of the nuclear-contaminated water in a responsible manner and accept rigorous international oversight," Wang said at a news conference.
A spokesperson for Japan's Embassy in London did not respond to a request for comment from CNBC.
Hong Kong's Chief Executive John Lee, meanwhile, "strongly opposes" the discharge of wastewater from the Fukushima power plant. Responding to Japan's announcement, Hong Kong announced import curbs on some Japanese food products.
South Korea, at times a lone voice of regional support to Japan, said it sees no scientific problem with the plan to release the treated water. It made clear in a statement issued on Tuesday, however, that the government "does not necessarily agree with or support the plan."
Hundreds of activists in South Korea had gathered in the capital of Seoul earlier this month to rally against Japan's plan to dispose of the treated water into the ocean.
Both China and South Korea have banned fish imports from around Fukushima.
Nigel Marks, an associate professor at Curtin University in Perth, Australia, said the Fukushima water problem boils down to tritium — a radioactive isotope of hydrogen that occurs naturally in the environment and is released as part of the routine operation of nuclear power plants.
"Tritium releases far higher than that planned at Fukushima have been happening for around sixty years with a perfect safety record," Marks told CNBC via email.
It "poses the question as to how the Fukushima water became such a PR nightmare, given that from a radiation safety perspective the tritium is essentially harmless," he continued. "The underlying problem is that the release sounds bad. The typical person isn't aware that their own body is radioactive, nor do they have a sense of scale of how much radiation is a lot, nor how much is little."
"At this point science needs to step in and have a say — after all, tritium is produced in the upper atmosphere every day; in fact, one year of Fukushima water has the same amount of tritium as four hours of rainfall across the Earth," Marks said.
"Fundamentally this is why the Fukushima water is a total non-issue — there is already a small amount of tritium around us (harmlessly doing nothing) and the tiny extra bit won't matter one jot."
Fishing groups in Japan, South Korea and the Philippines have all criticized the release of treated wastewater from the nuclear plant, fearing that it could affect regional resources and the livelihood of coastal communities.
Analysts at environmental campaign group Greenpeace said they were "deeply disappointed and outraged" by Japan's decision to release treated radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean.
"Instead of engaging in an honest debate about this reality, the Japanese government has opted for a false solution – decades of deliberate radioactive pollution of the marine environment – during a time when the world's oceans are already facing immense stress and pressures," said Shaun Burnie, a senior nuclear specialist at Greenpeace East Asia.
"This is an outrage that violates the human rights of the people and communities of Fukushima, and other neighboring prefectures and the wider Asia-Pacific region." | Asia Politics |
Palestinians trapped inside Gaza’s biggest hospital are digging mass graves, with no means of keeping corpses from decomposing due to Israel’s siege, an official there says.
“We are planning to bury them today in a mass grave inside al-Shifa medical complex,” said a health ministry spokesperson, Ashraf al-Qidra. “The men are digging right now as we speak.”
With Israeli forces at the gates of the complex, and fighting raging with Hamas militants in the streets of Gaza City, patients have been dying owing to energy shortages and dwindling supplies. Some of the hospital’s buildings have been bombed.
The Biden administration said on Tuesday that US intelligence supported Israel claims that Hamas was using al-Shifa as a military command centre and probably as a weapons store too.
“We have information that confirms that Hamas is using that particular hospital for a command and control mode” the White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters aboard Air Force One. “That is a war crime.”
But Kirby added that the actions of Hamas did not diminish Israel’s responsibility to protect civilians in the course of its military operations.
At least 32 patients, including three premature babies, died at the weekend, the health ministry in Gaza said, and another 36 babies and other patients at al-Shifa were at risk. Life-saving equipment, such as incubators, cannot function without fuel to run generators.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) said on Tuesday that more than 200,000 people had fled northern Gaza in the past 10 days.
It said only one hospital in the northern half of the blockaded Gaza Strip – al-Awda – still had electricity and was able to receive patients, with other medical facilities in sprawling Gaza City now mostly functioning as shelters for people fleeing the violence.
Those who have left in the last week join the estimated 1.5 million people – three-quarters of the blockaded territory’s population – who have already fled their homes through the Israeli military “safe routes” in the six weeks of war that has killed more than 11,000 Palestinians and 1,200 people in Israel, according to officials.
Ocha said: “Hundreds of thousands of people who are either unwilling or unable to move to the south remain in the north amid intensified hostilities. They are struggling to secure the minimum amount of water and food for survival.”
Hebrew-language media reported on Tuesday that Israeli and Palestinian officials were trying to arrange for unconscious patients and those requiring dialysis and cancer treatment to be evacuated from al-Shifa to appropriate facilities in the southern half of the strip. The reports were not immediately confirmed by medics on the ground. The Israeli military said it had started an effort to send incubators to the hospital, but it was not clear how they would be transferred.
Civilians in the area said heavy gunfire could be heard around the hospital compound. Staff at al-Shifa have said snipers were shooting at people outside, making it dangerous to move around the complex.
A World Health Organization spokesperson, Margaret Harris, said on Tuesday that the world needed to focus on “saving lives, not taking lives”.
“Somehow the understanding that a hospital must be a safe haven, a place where people come to be cured, to be treated when they are in trouble, when they are in need, it has been forgotten,” Harris said. “There seems to be a trend to want to turn them into places of death, despair and danger, which should never happen.”
A spokesperson for the UN secretary general, António Guterres, said he was deeply disturbed by the “dramatic loss of life” in Gaza hospitals. “In the name of humanity, the secretary general calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire,” said the spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric.
The US president, Joe Biden, said on Monday that he hoped the Israeli military would proceed with a “less intrusive” operation at al-Shifa, adding that Palestinian civilians must be protected.
Israel says al-Shifa sits above the “nerve centre” of the Palestinian militant group’s operations. Israel has not provided conclusive evidence, but the group often fires rockets from densely crowded residential areas and maintains a vast tunnel network.
UN officials have said Israel’s claims of militant activity in hospitals, whether true or false, do not absolve it from an obligation to spare civilian life.
The war, the fifth in Gaza since Hamas seized control of the strip in 2007 and already the bloodiest in the 75-year-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, was sparked by an unprecedented assault by Hamas in which militants massacred hundreds of Israeli civilians and took 240 hostage. Three weeks of Israeli airstrikes, one of the most intense such campaigns anywhere in the world this century, were followed by a ground invasion.
Israeli troops and tanks have slowly but steadily cut off Gaza City as talks mediated by Qatar and the US on releasing hostages and brokering a humanitarian pause or ceasefire have stalled. The Israeli military has ordered Palestinian civilians to move south of the Gaza river to “safe zones” but there has also been intense bombing in the southern half of the strip.
In southern Gaza on Tuesday, young men carrying a man wounded from an Israeli strike rushed into Nasser hospital, one of the few medical centres still open.
At the same hospital, in the city of Khan Younis, relatives of those killed in Israeli attacks wept as their bodies were transferred from the morgue to be buried.
A French hospital ship is expected to arrive in the region in the next few days, and the UAE is setting up a field hospital in Gaza’s south, but these measures are unlikely to alleviate the humanitarian crisis for the 2.3 million Gaza population. The coastal territory, already impoverished by the 16-year-old Israeli-Egyptian blockade imposed after the Hamas takeover, has been left in ruins by the Israeli bombing campaign: about 45% of houses have been damaged or destroyed, along with 279 educational facilities, the UN said on Monday.
Clean water, food and medical supplies are scarce. A tiny fraction of the aid that used to reach Gaza every day has entered from Egypt. Rubbish is piling up in the streets, increasing the risk of diseases such as cholera and dysentery.
Israel’s foreign minister, Eli Cohen, said on Monday that he believed that the international community would press Israel to wind down its operations in Gaza in the next two to three weeks. “From a political standpoint, we are starting to see that pressure on Israel has begun. That pressure isn’t very high, but it is in an upward trend … we will continue in any event according to plan,” he told reporters.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas as a military and governing power in Gaza, but it is not clear what it plans to do with the territory after the fighting subsides.
A senior far-right member of the Israeli government, the finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said on Tuesday that Palestinians should “voluntarily” leave Gaza for other countries.
Palestinians have accused Israel of seeking a new Nakba, or catastrophe, the mass displacement of 700,000 Palestinians in wars surrounding the founding of the state of Israel in 1948.
On Saturday, Avi Dichter, a member of the Israeli security cabinet member and agriculture minister, said in a television interview: “We are now rolling out the Gaza Nakba.” The prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, warned cabinet ministers the next day to choose their words carefully.
An unverified video published online showed what appeared to be Israeli soldiers in front of bombed-out buildings, with one saying they were “conquering, expelling and settling”.
On Tuesday, rocket fire by Palestinian militants in Gaza hit areas around the strip, including the city of Ashkelon, where medics said two Israelis were lightly wounded. Hours later, shrapnel from another rocket attack on Tel Aviv, wounded three people, one of them seriously.
In the north, anti-tank missiles and mortars were fired from Lebanon at Israeli military positions, and forces returned fire, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said. Israel’s fighting with the powerful Iran-backed militia Hezbollah has killed about 70 Lebanese militants and 16 civilians, as well as seven Israeli soldiers and three civilians.
In the occupied West Bank, the worst violence for 20 years continued to escalate, with 182 Palestinians killed, mostly in clashes with the IDF and Israeli settlers living in the Palestinian territory. Israeli forces killed at least eight Palestinians in the West Bank on Tuesday, Palestinian medics and local media said.
Reuters contributed to this report | Middle East Politics |
Three Conservative MPs have been condemned after attending a conference hosted by the populist Hungarian leader, Viktor Orbán, along with representatives from a series of hard right and far-right European parties.
Veteran backbenchers Sir Edward Leigh, Sir Christopher Chope and Ian Liddell-Grainger were pictured in Budapest alongside Orbán and members of other populist or far-right parties including Belgium’s Vlaams Belang, Spain’s Vox and the Sweden Democrats.
Leigh, who represents Gainsborough in Lincolnshire and has been an MP for 40 years, on Saturday tweeted a photo of himself and his two colleagues with Orbán saying they had been “learning about his country’s effective ways of combating illegal migration”.
Orbán has been something of a pioneer in Europe of ultra-tough laws on migration, associated with rhetoric about “invasions” that often touches on far-right or sometimes antisemitic tropes. His government passed a law criminalising individuals or groups who help unofficial entrants claim asylum.
On his own Twitter feed, Orbán posted a photo of himself and the three British MPs among a larger gathering of populist, hard right and far-right MEPs and MPs from a series of countries.
The presence of Leigh, along with Chope, who became the MP for Christchurch in Dorset in 1997 after losing his Southampton Itchen seat in 1992 after a nine-year stint, and Liddell-Grainger, an MP since 2001 and the member for Bridgwater and West Somerset, highlights the Conservatives’ wider links with such groups.
The UK MPs were attending a gathering of the European Conservatives Group and Democratic Alliance, or EC/DA, a rightwing grouping in the Council of Europe’s parliamentary assembly, a separate body to the EU’s parliament, of which the UK is still a member.
Formed in 1970, with the Tories as founder members, this was initially a centre-right grouping, but has become increasingly populist. Other member parties include the Danish People’s party, the far-right Finns party, and Greek Solution, as well as Orbán’s Fidesz. Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party was a member, when Russia was part of the Council of Europe.
Liddell-Grainger is currently the chair of the EC/DA, with about a dozen Tory MPs in total being members.
Christine Jardine, the Liberal Democrats’ Cabinet Office spokesperson, said: “This is a shameful image for the Conservative party. Conservative MPs should not be cosying up to a far-right leader who has enforced homophobic and anti-democratic policies.
“The British public will be shocked to see the Conservative party now learning lessons from the likes of Orbán. This is a new low for Conservative MPs.”
Leigh, Chope and Liddell-Grainger were contacted for comment. | United Kingdom Politics |
Hamas Chief Says Close To ‘Truce’ As Hostage Talks Progress
The comments come after President Joe Biden said Monday that Israel and Hamas are closing in on a deal to free a group of hostages.
(Bloomberg) -- Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said his group is close to reaching a “truce agreement” in talks with Qatar and Israel, rare public comments that suggest discussions over freeing some hostages held by the militant group are progressing.
“The movement delivered its response to the brothers in Qatar and the mediators, and we are close to reaching a truce agreement,” Haniyeh said in a statement on Telegram.
His comments come after US President Joe Biden said Monday that Israel and Hamas are closing in on a deal to free a group of hostages taken when the group stormed Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people. “I believe so,” Biden said when asked if a deal was near. He added that he wasn’t prepared to offer details.
Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s leader in the Gaza Strip, has agreed in principle for more than 50 women and children to be released, Axios reported earlier. In return, Israel would pause its military attacks for a specified time each day and release some Palestinians in Israeli jails.
Qatar, which hosts some of Hamas’s political leaders, is helping broker the talks between the group, a designated terrorist organization by the US and European Union, and Israel.
US Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer said in an interview Sunday with NBC that the parties were “closer than we have been in quite some time, maybe closer than we have been since the beginning of this process, to getting this deal done.”
Even with those discussions, the fighting rages on.
Read More: China Hosts Mideast Diplomats to Discuss Israel-Hamas War
Israeli forces have been engaged in heavy fighting with Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip. The Israeli military and Shin Bet, the country’s domestic security service, said they killed three Hamas commanders, while fighter jets bombed more buildings and sites used by Hamas.
The main thrust of Israel’s ground offensive is eastwards into Gaza City, which the military describes as Hamas’s “center of gravity.” Israeli forces have taken control of many parts of the city’s Shifa hospital and over the weekend showed videos they say prove Hamas exploited the facility, building a command center and tunnels underneath it.
While Israel has concentrated its airstrikes and ground assault on northern Gaza, it is now turning its attention to the south, signaling the possibility of sending troops there.
Read More: Understanding the Roots of the Israel-Hamas War: QuickTake
In recent days, the Israel Defense Forces has dropped leaflets on Khan Younis, telling residents to leave the southern city. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Saturday evening, said “all Hamas leaders are dead men walking” and wouldn’t rule out ground attacks in the area.
“We’re approaching the end of our campaign in northern Gaza to root out Hamas infrastructure and will turn to the rest of the Gaza Strip,” Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy told Bloomberg Radio on Monday.
Israel has urged civilians to evacuate to southern Gaza since the beginning of the war, which erupted when Hamas militants swarmed southern Israel last month. About 240 people were believed to have been taken hostage. Israel’s retaliatory attacks have led to more than 13,000 deaths, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the Palestinian enclave.
The United Nations says the humanitarian situation in the densely packed Gaza Strip is dire and that its roughly 2 million inhabitants need much more food and medicine. Israel, which has put the territory under an almost-total blockade, has allowed more aid in from Egypt in recent weeks. The UN says the quantities are nowhere near enough.
On Monday, an Arab delegation headed by Saudi Arabia’s top diplomat visited China and met Foreign Minister Wang Yi. They called for de-escalation in Gaza to end the “catastrophe” there.
The risks of the war turning into a wider Middle East conflict were again underscored on Sunday when Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen seized a cargo ship in the Red Sea that’s owned by an Israeli businessman.
(Adds details throughout.)
©2023 Bloomberg L.P. | Middle East Politics |
NICOSIA, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Police in Cyprus have made 20 arrests after a spate of racism-fuelled violence against migrants which erupted last week in the west of the island and spread at the weekend to the southern city of Limassol.
Storefronts belonging to migrants in the island's second city were smashed and Asian delivery drivers assaulted in a string of violent incidents which started on Friday night and continued until the early hours of Sunday.
Cyprus has seen an upsurge in anti-migrant sentiment in recent years, as well as a spike in antisocial behaviour which was formerly restricted to soccer hooliganism and drunken tourists.
The latest disturbances have been fuelled by what advocacy groups say is a fumbled response by the government to a surge in irregular migration and a tolerance of xenophobic rhetoric and behaviour.
State officials frequently say Cyprus is on the frontline of irregular migration in the eastern Mediterranean, though the rate of increase has tapered off this year.
Last week Syrians living in Chlorakas, a village in western Cyprus, were targeted by hooded attackers in sporadic incidents over two days, leading to 22 arrests.
Undeterred, about 500 people moved to the coastal city of Limassol on Friday going on a rampage which targeted foreign-owned businesses and people who did not look Greek Cypriot. Overnight Saturday to Sunday, three people from southeast Asia were attacked and robbed, state media said.
Among the victims were a group of visitors from Kuwait, according to social media accounts of witnesses.
Senior diplomat Kyriakos Kouros said a protest was filed by an ambassador of an unnamed Arab state on Saturday after tourists were targeted.
"They cut short their visit. I doubt they will ever return," Kouros, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, wrote on the social media platform X on Sunday, posting a picture of the departure of a group at an airport. One member of the group was in a wheelchair.
"It is the first time I have felt so embarrassed about such an incident in our country," he wrote. "This isn't the Cyprus I was born, raised, had a family and am getting old in," he said.
Writing By Michele Kambas Editing by Ros Russell
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Europe Politics |
In the trial, which has been ongoing for over three years, Netanyahu stands accused of alleged fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases involving powerful media moguls and wealthy associates.
What exactly is Netanyahu accused of?
In one case, it is alleged that the prime minister offered perks to Israeli telecom giant Bezeq during his time as communications minister in return for favorable reporting.
In another, Netanyahu is accused of accepting luxury gifts worth around 700,000 shekels ($189,000; €174,000) between 2007 and 2016 — including jewelry, cigars and pink champagne — in return for his support of the extension of a law which would have saved Israeli Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan millions in tax payments.
Bribery charges in Israel carry a jail sentence of up to 10 years and/or a fine. Fraud and breach of trust carry prison sentences of up to three years.
Netanyahu has always denied all the accusations and has spoken of a "witch hunt," insisting that he only ever accepted gifts from friends and never solicitied bribes.
What happens next?
According to Israeli media, the 74-year-old isn't expected to be called to the stand in the immediate term, but could be summoned in the coming months.
The trial, which opened in 2020, is a first for a sitting Israeli prime minister.
Like all non-urgent trials in the Israeli justice system, Netanyahu's trial was temporarily put on hold following the deadly raids into Israeli territory by Hamas terrorists on October 7. Israel says more than 1,200 Israelis were killed.
The attacks prompted Netanyahu to form an emergency war cabinet which in turn ordered deadly retaliatory strikes on the Gaza Strip. According to authorities in Hamas-ruled Gaza, more than 15,500 Palestinians have been killed.
mf/nm (AFP, Reuters) | Middle East Politics |
The far-right party PVV led by Geert Wilders emerged victorious in a seismic election in the Netherlands on Wednesday with fears over how it could impact the country’s climate ambitions.
Environmental groups have expressed shock and promised climate action in response to Dutch election results. Wednesday night saw the historic victory of the far right Party for Freedom (PVV).
The party led by Geert Wilders is projected to win 37 seats in the 150 seat Dutch parliament, putting it in the driver's seat to form a new government.
“We are shocked,” Extinction Rebellion Netherlands says. “This outcome will likely mean a rollback of climate measures, new fossil investments, exclusion of marginalised groups, and more.”
Friends of the Earth Netherlands spelled out what PVV’s rule could mean for Dutch society: “A Wilders government will mean four years of climate change denial, exclusion and a breakdown of the rule of law.”
What is the PVV’s position on climate change?
Their concerns are based on the PVV manifesto.
It declares: "We have been made to fear climate change for decades... We must stop being afraid."
“The climate is always changing, for centuries,” the document goes on to say. "When conditions change we adapt. We do this through sensible water management, by raising dykes when necessary and by making room for the river. But we stop the hysterical reduction of CO2, with which, as a small country, we wrongly think we can "save" the climate.”
The manifesto also calls for more oil and gas extraction from the North Sea and keeping coal and gas power stations open.
Natuur & Milieu, a Dutch environmental organisation, believes politicians need to be honest about the challenges the Netherlands face because of the climate crisis.
It says the election shows that “some Dutch people did not feel sufficiently represented by the incumbent political parties” and that “trust in politics and support for policy is also crucial for climate and nature policy.”
Wilders’ extreme views and anti-Islam stance have made him an inflammatory figure. He supports a vote on leaving the EU and has been found guilty in court of insulting Morrocans.
Will the far right be able to form a government?
Despite the record win there are still significant barriers to the PVV entering government.
On Friday morning Dilan Yesilgöz, the leader of the VVD, who are projected to have 24 seats, said the party will not be entering into government with the PVV. According to Dutch media she did say that the VVD would be willing to tacitly support a center-right Cabinet.
Frans Timmermans, the leader of an alliance of the centre-left Labor Party and Greens, also ruled out entering government with his 25 MPs alongside the PVV.
Others may be more willing though. The leader of the New Social Contract party, which was only launched three months ago, said he would be open to talks with Wilders. The party won an estimated 20 seats in the election.
Whatever happens, a new government is likely going to take a long time to form.
How have climate activists responded to the election result?
In the meantime environmental activists are sure to put pressure on their politicians. On Thursday afternoon four protesters from Greenpeace held a banner saying ‘No climate denier as our prime minister’ outside the Torentje, the prime minister’s office, in the Hague.
As Extinction Rebellion says, “The future of everything and everyone is at stake. So we will continue to take action.” | Europe Politics |
KYIV, June 30 (Reuters) - Ukrainian troops are advancing in all directions of their counteroffensive against occupying Russian forces, a senior defence official said on Friday.
Since the start of the counteroffensive this month, Ukraine says it has reasserted control over clusters of villages in the southeast although Russia still holds swathes of territory in the east, south and southeast.
"If we talk about the entire frontline, both east and south, we have seized the strategic initiative and are advancing in all directions," Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar told Ukrainian television.
Reuters was unable to verify the situation on the battlefield. Russia, which began its full-scale invasion in February 2022, has not acknowledged the Ukrainian gains and has said Ukraine's military are suffering heavy casualties.
Maliar said Ukrainian troops were moving "confidently" on the flanks around the devastated eastern city of Bakhmut, which is held by Russian forces, and the main fighting was going on around the city.
In the south, Kyiv's forces were moving with mixed success and mainly levelling the frontline, she said.
"In the south, we are moving with varying success, sometimes there are days when it is more than a kilometre, sometimes less than a kilometre, sometimes up to 2 kilometres," she said.
She noted that the effectiveness of the counteroffensive should be evaluated by "a lot of different military tasks" and not just by advances and the liberation of settlements.
"Therefore, all these tasks are being carried out and only the military can assess this correctly and accurately, and according to their assessment, everything is going according to plan," she said.
President Voldoymyr Zelenskiy has described the counteroffensive as proceeding more slowly than desired, but that Kyiv would not be pressured into speeding it up.
Ukrainian officials have also said the "main event" of the counteroffensive has yet to start, and that Ukraine has not yet sent its main troop reserves into combat.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Europe Politics |
Hamas says 3 Israeli hostages, including an infant, are no longer alive
Hamas claims an Israeli bombing was responsible for the deaths of members of the Bibas family
Last-minute negotiations between Israel and Hamas to extend the Gaza truce were overshadowed on Wednesday by an unconfirmed claim by Hamas that a 10-month old baby Israeli hostage and his family had been killed.
Shortly before the final release of women and children hostages scheduled under the truce, the military wing of Hamas said the youngest hostage, baby Kfir Bibas, had been killed in an earlier Israeli bombing, along with his four-year-old brother Ariel and their mother. Their father has also been held.
The date and circumstances of the alleged bombing were not immediately clear.
Israel said it was checking the claim, which was potentially explosive, as the family were among the highest-profile civilian hostages yet to be freed.
- What questions do you have about the war between Israel and Hamas? Send an email to [email protected].
"Hamas is wholly responsible for the security of all hostages in the Gaza Strip," the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said in a statement.
Reuters could not independently confirm the Hamas statement. Relatives had issued a special appeal for the family's freedom after the children and their parents were excluded from the penultimate group freed on Tuesday.
"We are waiting for the information to be confirmed and hopefully refuted by military officials. We thank the people of Israel for their warm support, but kindly request privacy during this difficult time," said a statement attributed to relatives of the family and released by the Abducted and Missing Persons Families Forum in Israel.
'Human lives hang in the balance'
Families of the Israeli hostages due to be released later on Wednesday were informed earlier of their names, the final group to be freed under the truce unless negotiators succeed in extending it. Officials did not say at the time whether that included the Bibas family.
Gaza's Hamas rulers published a list of 15 women and 15 teenagers to be released from Israeli jails in return for the hostages, among the approximately 240 people seized by Hamas fighters in their deadly raid on Israel on Oct. 7.
WATCH | Ali Weinstein says her family doesn't if her aunt is even alive:
For the first time since the truce began, the list of Palestinians to be freed included Palestinian citizens of Israel, as well as residents of occupied territory.
So far, Gaza militants have freed 60 Israeli women and children captured on Oct. 7. In return, Israel has released 180 Palestinian security detainees, all women and teenagers.
Negotiators seeking to prolong the six-day truce in Gaza believe it can be extended for another two days, two Egyptian security sources said on Wednesday.
The number of civilian hostages held by Hamas who would be released under the extension was still being worked out, the sources said.
Negotiations for the release of civilian hostages were going well, but military hostages held by Hamas presented an obstacle, the sources added.
Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy said Israel would consider any serious proposal, though he declined to provide further details.
"We are doing everything we can in order to get those hostages out. Nothing is confirmed until it is confirmed," Levy told reporters in Tel Aviv. "We're talking about very sensitive negotiations in which human lives hang in the balance."
Once the release of hostages ends, the fighting will resume, he said: "This war will end with the end of Hamas."
U.S. hopes for prolonged truce
Qatar, which mediated indirect talks between Hamas and Israel that resulted in the ceasefire, on Tuesday hosted the spy chiefs from Israel's Mossad and the CIA.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that he would work with the Israelis during his trip to Israel in the coming days to see if a temporary ceasefire could be extended.
Speaking at a news conference in Brussels following a NATO meeting, Blinken said the continuation of the pauses would mean more hostages to be freed and more assistance getting into Gaza.
"Clearly, that's something we want. I believe it's also something that Israel wants," he said.
"We're working on that every single day and I expect to take that up tomorrow when I'm in Israel with the government," he added.
Blinken, who also will visit Jordan and the United Arab Emirates this week, said he would also be having conversations about the future of Gaza and a future two-state solution to the conflict.
Reports emerged Tuesday that the U.S. had asked Israel to take greater care to protect civilians and limit damage to infrastructure in any offensive in southern Gaza if and when the truce expires. Israel urged Palestinians in Gaza to migrate south in previous weeks during their air campaign.
Some 15,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, many of them children, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza.
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned, including on Wednesday, that overcrowding in Gaza could spread infectious diseases in the densely populated enclave. Several hospitals and clinics have closed in the enclave due to a lack of fuel and other resources.
"With severe overcrowding, the risks are increasing for epidemics of respiratory tract infections, acute watery diarrhea, hepatitis, scabies, lice and other diseases," said World Health Organization director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The comments from the White House represent a distinct shift in Joe Biden's administration policy after strong domestic and international criticism. It comes a month after the White House said it had set no "red lines" for Israel's response to Hamas's Oct. 7 attacks, with the U.S. committing substantial military aid to Israel.
The message has been delivered from the president on down, the U.S. officials told reporters on a conference call.
"We have reinforced this in very clear language with the government of Israel — very important that the conduct of the Israeli campaign when it moves to the south must be done in a way that is to a maximum extent not designed to produce significant further displacement of persons," one official said.
It wasn't clear what, if any, consequences Israel could potentially face for not heeding the U.S. warning. | Middle East Politics |
This evening (Thursday) Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant hosted U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Ministry of Defense Headquarters in Tel Aviv. The Minister and Secretary delivered brief remarks to the press, after which they held a one-on-one meeting.
Minister Gallant told Blinken: “Mr. Secretary, thank you for coming. Thank you for being here in the middle of the war - a just war. [A war] for the future of the Jewish people and the future of Israel. We appreciate very much your personal commitment to this just war, and we are going to fight Hamas till we prevail no matter how long it takes. It’s a just war, it’s a war to defeat Hamas - the ISIS of Gaza, and it’s a war to bring the hostages back home - as long as it takes. Thank you.”
Earlier, Secretary Blinken met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
President Herzog said during their meeting: "Once again, unfortunately as we are meeting now, there are casualties in a serious terror attack at the entrance to Jerusalem our capital. Two terrorists have attacked innocent civilians waiting to be picked up to go about their day, to go to work."
"We have casualties and loss of life and I would like to express my heartfelt condolences to the families and of course to pray for the swift recovery of the wounded.
"This is another example of the situation we’re in, the endless war that we are fighting against terror organisations, especially Hamas, in these very complicated and challenging times," he stressed.
Thanking Blinken for his support, Herzog continued, "We are working, praying for and demanding the immediate release of all hostages, and I thank the United States of America for the immense work it is devoting to the release of the hostages."
"There are still around 150 hostages who are in Hamas hands in Gaza. I would like to raise the plight of the Bibas family, the two young children, ten-month-old baby, four-year-old boy, and of course their parents. Their whereabouts are unknown to us and we are demanding their immediate release. It should be obvious that little toddlers will be released with their mother and hopefully with a father as soon as possible," Herzog said.
Blinken responded, "This is my fourth visit Israel since October 7. And, as you said, we're reminded yet again by the events in Jerusalem today of the threat from terrorism that Israel and Israelis face every single day. Like you, my heart goes out to the victims of this attack. ... We’re thinking of them, we’re thinking of their families, their loved ones, and we mourn their loss just as we mourn the loss of any innocent life."
"From day one, we have been focused on trying to secure the release of hostages from Gaza, from Hamas. And we have seen over the last week the very positive developments of hostages coming home and being reunited with their families, and that should continue today. It's also enabled the increase in humanitarian assistance to go to innocent civilians in Gaza who need it desperately. So this process is producing results. It's important and we hope that it can continue.
"At the same time I look forward to detailed conversations with the Government of Israel about the way ahead in Gaza. The United States firmly supports Israel and its right to defend itself and to try to ensure that October 7 never happens again."
He added, "You noted the passing of Henry Kissinger. Kissinger really set the standard for everyone who followed in in this job. I was very privileged to get his counsel many times including as recently as about a month ago. He was extraordinarily generous with his wisdom and his advice. Few people were better students of history. Even fewer people did more to shape history than Henry Kissinger."
The White House stated that in his meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu, Blinken stressed that the Biden Administration wants Israel to take further precautions to protect civilians before expanding its military operation to southern Gaza when the current ceasefire ends.
Netanyahu said that he told Blinken: "We swore, and I swore, to eliminate Hamas. Nothing will stop us." | Middle East Politics |
Anti-government protests have been gaining steam in Syria for more than a month, echoing the demonstrations that President Bashar Assad sent his security forces to crack down on in 2011, sending the country into a downward spiral that morphed into a full-scale civil war.
The demonstrations, focused predominantly in the southern city of Suwayda, were initially driven by a deepening cost of living crisis —by years of war and is straining under the weight of myriad international sanctions. But anger over the crumbling economy has evolved quickly into demands for the downfall of the Assad government.
What's behind the latest protests?
The demonstrations in Suwayda and nearby Deraa — where the 2011 uprising began — started after Assad's government reduced fuel subsidies and raised gasoline prices by nearly 250% in August.
Assad doubled already-meager public sector wages and pensions, but the efforts to mitigate public anger did little to cushion the economic blow. Instead, the move accelerated inflation and further weakened the Syrian pound. Millions of Syrians who were already living in poverty after more than a decade of war found themselves even worse off.
The government insists the country's economic trouble is the result of the sanctions imposed by the U.S. and its European allies since the war broke out.
The Druze, and the Assad government's response
Three protesters were wounded in Suwayda on Sept. 13, when armed individuals opened fire as the demonstrators attempted to shut down a branch of the ruling Baath party. The shooters went unidentified, but reports said they were plain-clothes security forces. It was the first time that shots were fired at protesters during the recent demonstrations.
Overall, however, the government's response to the loud but non-violent demonstrations in Suwayda has been restrained.
The city is the heartland of the Druze religious minority in southwest Syria, and Assad has appeared reluctant to wield overwhelming force against the group. During the civil war, the government has presented itself as a defender of religious minorities against "Islamist extremism."
In 2010, the last year before the initial Syrian revolt, Druze made up 3% of the country's 22 million people. Members of the community, which is concentrated in Suwayda and in the Damascus suburb of Jaramana, are generally well-educated, and it is one of the most secular groups within Syrian society. They are also a transnational minority, with a presence in Lebanon, Jordan and Israel.
After the 2011 revolt, the Druze remained largely on the sidelines of the civil war, though many young men from the community refused to be conscripted in the Syrian military. Now, at least one powerful figure within the community is advocating for resistance to central than neutrality
U.S. outreach to the Druze, and Captagon in Suwayda
Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijiri, the most influential of the so-called Sheikh al-Aql (Sheikhs of Reason) who lead the Druze community in Syria, has called for the establishment of a new democratic state and rejected the Syrian national government's control over the region.
U.S. Rep. French Hill, a Republican from Arkansas, paid a brief visit to a rebel-held part of northwest Syria last month. Hill joined two other U.S. lawmakers for the trip, which was the first known visit to the war-torn country by American politicians in six years.
After his visit, Hill held a video call with Sheikh Hijiri, "to learn first-hand about the experiences of the Syrians living in Suwayda."
The congressman told CBS News they'd "discussed the frustrations of the local people and their peaceful protests," and that Hijiri had informed him that Syrian government forces were "cutting off access to water and electricity" in the city. The sheikh also accused the Assad government and "Iranian militia operators" allied with it of traffickingin the area.
The Biden administration, in conjunction with the U.K., sanctioned several members of Assad's own family in March for "facilitating the export of Captagon," with the U.S. Treasury saying the sanctions package, "underscores the al-Assad family dominance of illicit Captagon trafficking and its funding for the oppressive Syrian regime."
Maher Sharafeddine, a Druze writer, journalist and opposition activist from Suwayda, told CBS News that Hill had made it clear to Hijiri that he hoped relations between the U.S. and the local Druze community would deepen, and Sharafeddine hoped the initial contact could signal new support in Washington for the opposition in Syria's civil war.
Assad welcomed back by his neighbors
Assad has held on to power through the war thanks in large part to the armed assistance of his allies in Russia and Iran. But the conflict has splintered the country, left at least 300,000 civilians dead and displaced half of Syria's pre-war population of 23 million.
The protests in Suwayda have rattled the Syrian government, but they don't seem to pose an existential threat. Government forces have consolidated their control over most of the country and, after years spent fighting demonization for, Assad has very literally retaken his seat at the table.
Other Middle Eastern leaders have been restoring relations with the Assad government, arguing that engagement is the best way to address the flow of refugees and illegal drugs across Syria's borders.
The 22-member Arab League, which cut ties with Syria early in the war, recently reinstated Syria as a member and, for the first time in more than a decade, Assad joined the bloc's other leaders as they met in May.
The Biden administration, however, has indicated no softening of its stance on the heavily-sanctioned Assad government.
"We don't support normalization of relations with the Assad regime," U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said bluntly in March as the U.S. worked to get humanitarian aid into .
Rep. Hill, after his visit to rebel-held ground in Syria and his discussion with Sheikh Hijiri, told CBS News he felt the objective for the U.S. and all other nations should be "to work for a political solution that ends Assad's systematic destruction of his country and finds an outcome where Syrians can securely and safely return to homes and villages to live and work."
Syria's state-controlled media outlets have made no mention of the demonstrations in Suwayda. The Syrian Arab News Agency SANA has instead been reporting on food aid provided to the rural village of Salkhad, outside Suwayda, by Russia.
Assad's office announced Tuesday, meanwhile, that the Syrian leader would travel to Beijing this week to hold a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping as part of a Chinese-Syrian summit.
CBS News' Ellis Kim in Washington contributed to this report.
for more features. | Middle East Politics |
Sweden’s parliament adopted a change to its energy targets on Tuesday, which will see it become 100% fossil fuel-free by 2045.
The country previously sought to transition to 100% renewable energy by 2045.
The change means that nuclear generation can count towards the government’s energy targets. Sweden’s Government voted to phase-out nuclear power 40 years ago, but in June 2010 parliament voted to repeal the policy. The government elected last year seeks to promote nuclear power.
Sweden has set a target to become carbon neutral by 2045. Electricity demand in the country is expected to reach 300 terawatt-hours by 2040.
“This creates the conditions for nuclear power development,” Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson said in parliament. “We need more electricity production, we need clean electricity and we need a stable energy system.”
In 2016, Sweden’s parliament agreed that new nuclear reactors could be built at existing sites. However, without subsidies, this has proven prohibitively expensive.
Sweden currently generates 98% of its electricity from water, nuclear and wind. Nuclear represented around 30% of Sweden’s electricity production in 2022.
Opinions on nuclear energy differ across Europe. Following the Fukushima disaster in Japan in 2011, Germany chose to phase-out nuclear, with the country’s final three nuclear reactors closing earlier his year.
France has remained staunchly pro-nuclear, causing delays to this month’s EU renewables bill due to its failure to accommodate nuclear generation under renewables targets. France currently generates around 70% of its electricity from nuclear.
Vattenfall, Sweden’s state-owned utility, plans to build at least two small modular reactors and extend the lifetime of the country’s existing nuclear reactors.
Sweden’s Government also plans to cut the bio-fuel mix in petrol and diesel, leading to greater CO₂ emissions, which could impact the country’s 2030 emission goals. Proposals to prolong subsidies for standby coal power plants have been met with criticism by other EU member states. | Europe Politics |
Yorgos Karahalis/AP
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Kyriakos Mitsotakis, center, leader of center-right New Democracy party poses for the media with his daughter Dafni Mitsotakis, left, and son Konstantinos Mitsotakis at a polling station in Athens, Greece, on Sunday.
Yorgos Karahalis/AP
Kyriakos Mitsotakis, center, leader of center-right New Democracy party poses for the media with his daughter Dafni Mitsotakis, left, and son Konstantinos Mitsotakis at a polling station in Athens, Greece, on Sunday.
Yorgos Karahalis/AP
ATHENS, Greece — Greece's conservative New Democracy party won a landslide victory in the country's second election in five weeks Sunday, with partial official results showing it gaining a comfortable parliamentary majority to form a government for a second four-year term.
Official results from nearly 90% of voting centers nationwide showed Kyriakos Mitsotakis' party with just over 40% of the vote, with his main rival, the left-wing Syriza party, suffering a crushing defeat with just under 18%, even worse than its 20% in the last elections in May.
Sunday's vote came just over a week after a migrant ship capsized and sank off the western coast of Greece, leaving hundreds of people dead and missing and calling into question the actions of Greek authorities and the country's strict migration policy. But the disaster, one of the worst in the Mediterranean in recent years, did not affect the election, with domestic economic issues at the forefront of voters' minds.
Mitsotakis' party was projected to win around 157 or 158 of Parliament's 300 seats, thanks to a change in the electoral law that grants the winning party bonus seats. The previous election in May, conducted under a proportional representation system, left him five seats short of a majority despite winning 41% of the vote.
In all, eight parties are projected to surpass the 3% threshold to enter Parliament, including an ultra-religious party and far right party backed by a jailed former lawmaker from the Nazi-inspired and now outlawed Golden Dawn party. The number of parties that make it into Parliament will affect how many seats the winner will hold.
Mitsotakis, 55, campaigned on a platform of securing economic growth and political stability as Greece gradually recovers from a brutal nearly decade-long financial crisis.
Michael Varaklas/AP
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Opposition leader Alexis Tsipras, head of the left-wing Syriza party, votes at a polling station in Athens, Greece, on Sunday.
Michael Varaklas/AP
Opposition leader Alexis Tsipras, head of the left-wing Syriza party, votes at a polling station in Athens, Greece, on Sunday.
Michael Varaklas/AP
His main rival, 48-year-old Alexis Tsipras, served as prime minister from 2015 to 2019 — some of the most turbulent years of Greece's nearly decade-long financial crisis. His performance Sunday leaves him fighting for his political survival. After his poor showing in May elections, he had struggled to rally his voter base, a task complicated by splinter parties formed by some of his former associates.
Speaking after voting in a western Athens neighborhood, Tsipras seemed to accept his party would be in opposition for the next four years even while the voting was still ongoing.
"This crucial election is not only determining who will govern the country, it is determining our lives for the next four years, it is determining the quality of our democracy," Tsipras said. "It is determining whether we will have an unchecked government or a strong opposition. This role can only be played by Syriza."
Mitsotakis, a Harvard graduate, comes from one of Greece's most prominent political families. His late father, Constantine Mitsotakis, served as prime minister in the 1990s, his sister served as foreign minister and his nephew is the current mayor of Athens. The younger Mitsotakis has vowed to rebrand Greece as a pro-business and fiscally responsible euro zone member.
The strategy, so far, has worked. New Democracy routed left-wing opponents in May, crucially winning Socialist strongholds on the island of Crete and lower-income areas surrounding Athens, some for the first time.
"We are voting so people can have a stable government for the next four years," Mitsotakis said after voting in northern Athens Sunday. "I am sure that Greeks will vote with maturity for their personal prosperity and the country's stability."
Despite scandals that hit the Mitsotakis government late in its term, including revelations of wiretapping targeting senior politicians and journalists, and a deadly Feb. 28 train crash that exposed poor safety measures in public transport, voters appear happy to return to power a prime minister who delivered economic growth and lowered unemployment.
"Our expectations are that the country will continue the path of development that it has had in recent years," said insurance company employee Konstantinos, who arrived early in the morning at a polling station in northern Athens with his newly wed bride Marietta, still in her wedding dress, straight from their wedding reception. He asked that his surname not be used.
Another early morning voter, Sofia Oikonomopoulou, said she hoped the winning party on Sunday would have enough parliamentary seats to form a government "so that the country will not suffer any more."
"We hope for better days, for justice, a health system, education, that everything will go better and that the Greek truly will be able to live a better life through these elections," she said.
Sunday's vote is being held under an electoral system that grants a bonus of between 25 and 50 seats to the winning party, depending on its performance, which makes it easier for a party to win more than the required 151 seats in the 300-member parliament to form a government. | Europe Politics |
'United We Stand' Is Opposition's Slogan As Leaders Converge In Bengaluru
"United We Stand" is the slogan on posters that dotted the streets of Bengaluru with pictures of opposition leaders
Top leaders of 26 opposition parties were arriving here on Monday for a two-day brainstorming session with a call for unity and are expected to chalk out their joint programme aimed at defeating the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
"United We Stand" is the slogan on posters that dotted the streets of Bengaluru with pictures of opposition leaders, including Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, NCP's Sharad Pawar, AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal, DMK chief M K Stalin and leaders of Left and some regional outfits.
Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge arrived in the Karnataka capital on a special plane and were received at the airport by state chief minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, along with RJD chief Lalu Prasad and Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav also reached later in the afternoon.
A warm welcome was also accorded here to other leaders like former chief ministers Akhilesh Yadav (SP), Farooq Abdullah (NC) and Mehbooba Mufti (PDP), besides Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M), D Raja (CPI) and Jayant Chaudhary (RLD).
The Congress asserted that Opposition unity would be 'a game changer' for the Indian political scenario and took a swipe at the BJP, saying those who used to talk of defeating the opposition parties alone are now making attempts to breathe new life into the NDA which had become a 'ghost'.
The Opposition meeting coincides with the NDA meeting convened on July 18 in Delhi, where some new allies are likely to join the ruling BJP-led coalition.
Talks of unity notwithstanding, differences among opposition parties, especially those who have been traditional rivals remain, and reconciling political interests will be a challenging task.
Arriving for the Opposition meet, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury ruled out any alliance with the TMC in West Bengal and said that secular parties along with the Left and the Congress will take on the BJP as well as the TMC in the state.
Yechury, however, added that the endeavour is to reduce the split in opposition votes and they will chalk out a plan to fight together.
The BJP, which has been targeting these parties over their differences, on Monday called it a 'meeting of opportunists and power-hungry' leaders and said such an alliance will not do any good for the country at present or in the future.
But Congress general secretary organisation KC Venugopal said the 26 opposition parties are here to move forward unitedly and give a solution for people's problems and to address the concerns over this 'dictatorial government's actions'.
Sources said the opposition leaders will firm up a strategy to defeat the BJP in the next general elections during the two-day session, which will start with a dinner meeting that will be attended by Sonia Gandhi and other top leaders.
Mamata Banerjee is not likely to attend the dinner due to an injury.
The opposition leaders will begin work on a common minimum programme and announce a joint agitational plan, besides holding discussions on issuing a joint declaration and moving forward on their proposal of putting up common opposition candidates in a majority of the Lok Sabha seats.
The agenda for the talks would be finalised during discussions before a dinner meeting on Monday evening. Ahead of the meeting, Congress president Kharge said all opposition alliance partners will unitedly fight against the BJP and thwart attempts to divide them.
He also took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he had claimed that he alone is enough to take on the Opposition, then why was he feeling the need to get 30 parties together.
Referring to the National Democratic Alliance meeting on Tuesday, Kharge claimed that seeing the Opposition getting together, the BJP was 'rattled' and was now bringing together parties that have already splintered, in order to show numbers.
The PM had said "Main akela kaafi hoon saare Opposition ke liye' while speaking in Rajya Sabha, then why is he bringing together 30 parties. Who are these 30 parties, what are their names, are they all registered with the Election Commission."
He accused the BJP of trying to destabilise democratically-elected governments.
Addressing a press conference ahead of the meeting, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said attempts are being made to breathe new life into the NDA.
"There used to be no talk about NDA and suddenly since the past few days we are hearing and reading about it. Suddenly, it was reported that an NDA meeting has been called for tomorrow."
"So NDA, which had become a ghost, attempts are now being made to breathe a new life into it," Ramesh said.
This is a result of the meeting in Patna, he added.
Venugopal said people will teach a lesson when the time comes to those who have totally failed in governance and cheated them with false promises.
"That is why we have come here. This is the second meeting. We will decide in this meeting what the course of action would be in future," Venugopal said.
The Parliament session is starting on July 20 and the opposition parties will chalk out the strategy for that also, he said.
"We are very sure that this is going to be a game changer for the Indian political scenario and we are very happy to see that after the Patna meeting those who were saying that 'we are very comfortable in defeating the entire Opposition alone, have now started meetings, that is the real success of opposition unity," Venugopal said.
Asked who would be the leader of the alliance, Venugopal said, 'We have enough leaders, who have proved their mettle in various capacities. You don't worry about the leader, worry about the situation in the country.' He said the Opposition parties are all united by a common purpose to protect democracy, constitutional rights and the independence of institutions in this country.
"These are all under attack from the BJP government. They want to silence the Opposition's voice. They are using their agencies like the Enforcement Directorate, CBI to suppress the voice of Opposition. The disqualification of Rahul Gandhi was the biggest example of that," Venugopal alleged.
"The incident happening in Maharashtra also shows that. They want to destabilise elected governments by misusing these agencies," he alleged referring to the Ajit Pawar-led revolt in the NCP.
Venugopal also said that Manipur has been 'burning' since the last 75 days and the 'silence of the PM is shocking'.
Referring to his party's differences with the TMC, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said the situation is different in every state.
The effort is to ensure that in these situations the division of votes which gives BJP the advantage should be minimal. This is not a new thing. Like in 2004, the Left had 61 seats, out of which we won 57 defeating the Congress candidates...then the Manmohan Singh government was formed and it ran for 10 years.
"Mamata and CPI(M) will not happen. There will be secular parties along with the Left and the Congress in West Bengal which will fight against the BJP and TMC," the CPI(M) general secretary said, adding that at the Centre what form this will take will be decided later.
Yechury referred to the 2004 model which brought the Left-Congress coalition to power at the Centre.
Meanwhile, sources said there is a proposal to set up a subcommittee for drafting a common minimum programme and communication points for the Opposition alliance for the 2024 general elections.
Besides, the sources said, the plan is also to set up a subcommittee for chalking out the joint programme of parties that includes rallies, conventions and agitations. A plan to discuss the process for deciding seat sharing on a state-to-state basis is also on the table.
The opposition leaders may also discuss the issue of EVM and suggest reforms to the Election Commission, the sources said. The opposition leaders also plan to suggest a name for the alliance.
Fifteen parties including the Congress, TMC, AAP, CPI, CPI-M, RJD, JMM, NCP, Shiv Sena (UBT), SP and JDU, attended the last meeting for opposition unity hosted by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna on June 23.
"This time we are expecting leaders of 26 parties," Venugopal said.
The total strength of the opposition parties attending this meet is around 150 in the Lok Sabha.
Among the parties which will be added this time are MDMK, KDMK, VCK, RSP, CPI-ML, Forward Bloc, IUML, Kerala Congress (Joseph) and Kerala Congress (Mani), besides the Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) of Krishna Patel and Tamil Nadu's Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK) led by M H Jawahirullah.
The Opposition meeting also comes in the backdrop of the split in the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party and the West Bengal panchayat polls which saw widespread violence that claimed many lives with state units of the Congress and Left parties accusing the TMC government of oppression. | India Politics |
Biden congratulates Greece prime minister Mitsotakis on his reelection
President Biden congratulated Greece’s prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on winning a second term as his country’s leader.
“On behalf of the people of the United States, I send our congratulations to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of Greece on his reelection,” Biden said in a statement on Sunday, noting that he’s looking forward to continuing his partnership with Mitsotakis, focusing on their shared priorities such as to foster prosperity and regional security.
“Together—as Allies, partners, and friends—Greece and the United States have championed democracy,” Biden added in his statement. “We will keep working with the government and people of Greece as well as our vibrant Greek-American community in the United States to continue this legacy.”
Biden’s remarks come as Mitsotakis and his party, the center-right New Democracy, garnered over 40 percent of the vote in Sunday’s election, winning at least 158 seats in the 300-seat parliament, according to CNN.
New Democracy’s opposition, the leftist-based Syriza, only garnered 17 percent of the vote, according to early results.
“We have high targets that will transform Greece,” Mitsotakis said in his victory speech. “Today we will celebrate our victory, tomorrow we will roll up our sleeves.”
Mitsotakis, 55, saw success in his first term as Greece’s prime minister, with his government staging a turnaround in its economy, which is now on the brink to return to investment grade on the global market for the first time since losing market access since 2010, CNN reported.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. | Europe Politics |
A video shows bombs being dropped on what appears to be a Russian military warehouse in Bakhmut.
The JDAM-ER kits have been sent to Ukraine by the US in recent months.
The kits transform unguided free-fall bombs into all-weather, precision-guided smart weapons.
A video appears to show Ukraine striking a Russian military warehouse in Bakhmut using US-made JDAM-ER technology.
The bomb kits, which transform unguided, free-fall bombs into precision-guided munitions, have been sent to Ukraine in recent months, per reports.
The video was shared on social media by the Army of Drones, a crowdfunding initiative part of Ukraine's government-run United24 platform, which claims to have raised $108 million and purchased 3,300 drones for the army, according to Forbes.
The aerial video shows four bombs hitting buildings that the Army of Drones described as Russian warehouses in Bakhmut, eastern Ukraine, where intense fighting has been raging for months.
The Twitter account Ukraine Weapons Tracker, which monitors videos and images of weapons used in the conflict, said the bombs appeared to be GBU-62, which describes Mk 64 Quickstrike naval mines combined with the extended-range Joint Direct Attack Munition kits.
The kits can be bolted to unguided bombs ranging from 500 to 2,000 pounds, and its pop-out wings allow it to glide up to 45 miles.
The account noted that this appears to be one of the first videos showing bombs equipped with JDAM-ERs in action in Ukraine.
Mark Cancian, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Newsweek that the building could have been used as Russian headquarters of some kind.
"The explosion is large and seemingly precise, indicating an air-delivered munition," Cancian said. "Apparently, the US has sent the extended-range version of JDAM. That would mean that the Ukrainian aircraft did not need to fly over the target."
Leaked Pentagon documents have previously revealed concerns that the bomb kits have been hindered by Russian signal jamming.
The documents were among the sensitive intelligence documents recently leaked on the internet and are now the subject of a federal investigation.
Read the original article on Business Insider | Europe Politics |
US public support for Israel’s war in Gaza has dropped significantly over the past month and most Americans now believe Israel should agree to a ceasefire, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll.
The poll found that only 32 per cent agreed with the statement that the US “should support Israel,” which represents a drop of 9 per cent since the same question was asked one month ago.
Some 68 per cent of respondents in the poll said they agreed with a statement that “Israel should call a ceasefire and try to negotiate” — that number was made up of three-quarters of Democrats and half of Republicans.
Those numbers stand in stark contrast to the position of lawmakers on both sides of the political divide, most of whom have rejected calls for a ceasefire. The Biden administration refused those calls and instead supported “humanitarian pauses,” despite the killing of more than 11,000 Palestinians in one month, including more than 4,500 children. Only one US senator, Democrat Dick Durbin, has called for a ceasefire.
The US government is Israel’s strongest ally, providing almost unconditional political and material support for decades. The US gives Israel around $3.8bn a year in aid for its military and missile defence systems, and has given more than $130bn since Israel’s founding in 1948. Following the Hamas massacre of 1,200 people on 7 October, which sparked the latest Gaza conflict, president Joe Biden asked Congress to approve a further $14.3bn in funding.
The Reuters poll found that just 31 per cent of respondents supported sending Israel weapons, while 43 per cent were opposed.
Israel launched its war in Gaza in response to a massacre by Hamas in southern Israel that left 1,200 people dead. Israel responded by launching a war that has killed more than 11,000 Palestinians, including more than 4,500 children.
As the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has worsened, calls for a ceasefire have grown. The United Nations secretary general, Antonio Guterres, warned this week that Gaza was becoming a “graveyard for children”, and that “the unfolding catastrophe makes the need for a humanitarian ceasefire more urgent with every passing hour”.
The Biden administration has also faced calls for a ceasefire from hundreds of staffers, members of President Joe Biden’s campaign and Democratic Party employees, who signed a letter calling on him to “urgently demand a ceasefire.”
Dozens of State Department employees signed internal memos to Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressing their sharp disagreement with the administration’s approach to Israel’s military campaign. Several internal cables have urged Mr Biden to call for a ceasefire, according to The New York Times.
On Wednesday, 24 Democratic members of Congress wrote a letter to president Biden and secretary of state Antony Blinken pushing for “an immediate cessation of hostilities and the establishment of a robust bilateral ceasefire.”
In recent days, Israel has struck a number of hospitals and medical facilities across the densely populated Gaza Strip, which is home to 2.3 million people. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has reported that at least 521 people, including 16 medical workers, have been killed in 137 “attacks on health care,” and on Tuesday evening Israeli troops raided Gaza’s largest hospital.
Public support for Israel is generally higher in the US than most countries in the world, and that support has remained steadfast. But in recent years, the gap between support for Israel and Palestinians has narrowed. That “sympathy gap” stands at 23 points in favour of Israel as of this year, down from a 42 per cent gap in 2017. According to an annual Gallup poll on Americans’ opinions of Israel, sympathy toward the Palestinians among US adults reached a new high of 31 per cent in March, while 54 per cent of Americans sympathised more with the Israelis, the lowest since 2005. | Middle East Politics |
In a statement released on the International Women’s Day, the U.N. mission said that Afghanistan’s new rulers have shown an almost “singular focus on imposing rules that leave most women and girls effectively trapped in their homes.”
Despite initial promises of a more moderate stance, the Taliban have imposed harsh measures since seizing power in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO forces were in the final weeks of their pullout from Afghanistan after two decades of war.
They have banned girls’ education beyond sixth grade and women from public spaces such as parks and gyms. Women are also barred from working at national and international nongovernmental organizations and ordered to cover themselves from head to toe.
“Afghanistan under the Taliban remains the most repressive country in the world regarding women’s rights,” said Roza Otunbayeva, special representative of the U.N. secretary-general and head of the mission to Afghanistan.
“It has been distressing to witness their methodical, deliberate, and systematic efforts to push Afghan women and girls out of the public sphere,” she added.
The restrictions, especially the bans on education and NGO work, have drawn fierce international condemnation. But the Taliban have shown no signs of backing down, claiming the bans are temporary suspensions in place allegedly because women were not wearing the Islamic headscarf, or hijab, correctly and because gender segregation rules were not being followed.
As for the ban on university education, the Taliban government has said that some of the subjects being taught were not in line with Afghan and Islamic values.
“Confining half of the country’s population to their homes in one of the world’s largest humanitarian and economic crises is a colossal act of national self-harm,” Otunbayeva also said.
“It will condemn not only women and girls, but all Afghans, to poverty and aid-dependency for generations to come,” she said. “It will further isolate Afghanistan from its own citizens and from the rest of the world.”
At a carpet factory in Kabul, women who were former government employees, high school or university students now spend their days weaving carpets.
“We all live like prisoners, we feel that we are caught in a cage,” said Hafiza, 22, who goes only by her first name and who used to be a first-year law student before the Taliban banned women from attending classes at her university. “The worst situation is when your dreams are shattered, and you are punished for being a woman.”
The U.N. mission to Afghanistan also said it has recorded an almost constant stream of discriminatory edicts and measures against women since the Taliban takeover — women’s right to travel or work outside the confines of their home and access to spaces is largely restricted, and they have also been excluded from all levels of public decision-making.
“The implications of the harm the Taliban are inflicting on their own citizens goes beyond women and girls,” said Alison Davidian, the special representative for U.N. Women in Afghanistan.
No officials from the Taliban-led government was immediately available for comment.
At the carpet factory, 18-years-old Shahida, who also uses only one name, said she was in 10th grade at one of Kabul high schools when her education was cut short.
“We just demand from the (Taliban) government to reopen schools and educational centers for us and give us our rights,” she said.
Ahead of the International Women’s Day, about 200 Afghan female small business owners put together an exhibition of their products in Kabul. Most complained of losing business since the Taliban takeover.
“I don’t expect Taliban to respect women’s rights,” said one of them, Tamkin Rahimi. “Women here cannot practice (their) rights and celebrate Women’s Day, because we cannot go to school, university or go to work, so I think we don’t have any day to celebrate.”
The U.N. Security Council was to meet later Wednesday with Otunbayeva and women representatives from Afghan civil society groups.
According to the statement, 11.6 million Afghan women and girls are in need of humanitarian assistance. However, the Taliban are further undermining the international aid effort through their ban on women working for NGOs. | Asia Politics |
The row triggered by Gary Lineker’s suspension from the BBC was spiralling out of control on Saturday night as it threatened to bring down the corporation’s most senior leaders and even derail parts of the government’s controversial new asylum policy.
The crisis reached new heights as the BBC was forced to dramatically scale down its TV and radio sports coverage and put its Match of the Day programme – normally fronted by Lineker – on air without presenters, pundits or the normal post-match interviews with players, many of whom came out in solidarity with him. The show, scheduled for 80 minutes, will only air for 20 minutes tonight.
On Saturdaynight the BBC chairman, Richard Sharp, and its director general, Tim Davie, were both under growing pressure to resign, after leading sports and media figures defended Lineker’s right to criticise what he regards as racist language used by ministers to promote their immigration policy. Davie last night insisted he would not quit.
In a sign that the government feared being seen as the reason for Lineker’s suspension, the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, described him as “a great footballer and a talented presenter”. He said he hoped “that the current situation between Gary Lineker and the BBC can be resolved in a timely manner, but it is rightly a matter for them, not the government”.
BBC staff past and present tore into the corporation’s handling of the wider freedom of speech and neutrality issues at the heart of the row.
Several contrasted the Lineker case with the controversy swirling around Sharp, who is under scrutiny over the role he played in securing an £800,000 loan for Boris Johnson, when he was prime minister, at a time when Sharp himself was applying for the post of BBC chair.
On Saturday, as reverberations were felt across the worlds of sport, media and politics, Liverpool’s German manager, Jürgen Klopp, waded in, defending Lineker’s right to speak out on what he said were human rights issues: “It is a really difficult world to live in, but if I understand it properly this is an opinion about human rights and that should be possible to say.”
Lineker was criticised by home secretary Suella Braverman after he compared the language used by ministers to describe their asylum policies to that of the Nazis in 1930s Germany. On Friday evening the popular former England striker was asked by the corporation to step back from Match of the Day while a resolution was sought.
The Observer understands that Lineker was told he had no option after he refused an offer to settle the matter with an apology. Earlier in the week he had been assured there would be no action taken against him, prompting some to suspect that pressure from government turned BBC minds against him.
Immediately after his suspension was announced, fellow presenters and pundits came out in solidarity, including MOTD regulars Ian Wright, Alan Shearer and Jermaine Jenas. Alex Scott, presenter of Football Focus, pulled out of her show, while much of BBC Radio 5 Live’s sports reporting was replaced by recorded content.
Amid signs that the row may be changing public perception of the government’s asylum policy, the furore has also exposed deep Tory splits and unease over its hardline nature, under which refugees arriving on small boats in the UK will be detained and deported “within weeks” – either to their own country if it is safe or a third nation if it is not.
Several senior Tories, including Priti Patel – herself a hardliner on immigration while in charge at the Home Office – are expected to raise their concerns about what the bill, which has its second reading in the Commons on Monday, means for the treatment of children who arrive in the UK with their parents. Other Tory MPs are concerned that it breaches international law and the UK’s international treaty obligations.
Tobias Ellwood, Tory chair of the Commons defence select committee, said he needed reassurance that there would be workable routes by which genuine asylum seekers could reach the UK “so this is seen as a genuine attempt to save lives … not just the bombastic rhetoric that riled people like Gary Lineker”.
The row overshadowed a bilateral mini-summit between Sunak and France’s president Emmanuel Macron on Friday which was supposed to “reset” Anglo-French relations and chart a way forward on boats carrying asylum seekers crossing the Channel.
The BBC apologised for changes to the weekend’s sporting schedule and said it was “working hard to resolve the situation and hope to do so soon”.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused the BBC of “caving in” to Conservative MPs, saying such behaviour was “the opposite of impartial”. “They got this one badly wrong and now they’re very, very exposed,” Starmer said. “Because at the heart of this is the government’s failure on the asylum system. And rather than take responsibility for the mess they’ve made, the government is casting around to blame anybody else – Gary Lineker, the BBC, civil servants, the ‘blob’.”
Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, called for Sharp to resign. “We need leadership at the BBC that upholds our proud British values and can withstand today’s consistently turbulent politics and Conservative bullying tactics.
“Sadly, under Richard Sharp’s leadership, this has not been the case: his appointment and position are now totally untenable and he must resign.”
Roger Mosey, once a BBC head of news and a former director of sport, also called for Sharp to quit: “Richard Sharp should go. He damages the BBC’s credibility. Ideally, Lineker should stay within clear, agreed guidelines. And the BBC should send out its executives to be interviewed and explain how they intend to resolve this crisis.”
Former BBC news boss Phil Harding said he felt the row had been largely “confected” by politicians and so the decision to cover the story so comprehensively after Lineker had made his critical tweet “was insane”.
Mark Damazer, a former member of the BBC Trust and one-time controller of Radio 4, said Davie should not stand down, because the director general had to enforce current guidelines. “There was no good option for Tim. He either had to act or ignore the guidelines. And Gary had certainly been here before. He is at least as brilliant a broadcaster as people say, but that does not mean he is above the guidelines. However, putting the original story so high on the news agenda is a classic BBC phenomenon, because the BBC is so nervous about not appearing to cover its own problems. I can see exactly why they veered in that direction.”
Much of the anger among BBC staff focuses on the appointment of Sharp as chairman. Even those who support BBC attempts to rein in Lineker’s political comments argue that Sharp, whose actions are still under investigation because he failed to mention the aid he gave Johnson when he was interviewed for the job, has already seriously damaged the image of the public service broadcaster.
BBC 5 Live presenter Nihal Arthanayake said: “The director general has been very clear that impartiality is his priority and I have seen that play out with a focus that I have not witnessed before. One of the many questions raised by Gary and his tweets is while he has been asked to ‘step back’, why is a man who is reported to have donated £400k to the Conservative party still the chairman of the BBC?
“I have been asked this many times now. If perception is important, how will the BBC deal with that issue? I struggled with posting this because I felt fearful to do so. But then I realised that this is a legitimate question that would be discussed on my show. I feel sad that I should feel fearful though. I believe in the BBC passionately, but consistency is important.”
Damazer said he could see one possible route to peace: “It could work if the BBC agrees to consult on the guidelines and ask if they ought to be redrawn, after consultation with viewers and presenters – and if Gary agrees to hold back from commenting on the news meanwhile. You do have to say though that if Richard Sharp was to stay and Lineker was to go, it would look peculiar.” | United Kingdom Politics |
NEW DELHI (AP) — Sri Lanka’s strategic location has attracted outsized interest in the small island nation from regional giants China and India for more than a decade, with Beijing and its free-flowing loans and infrastructure investments widely seen as having gained the upper hand in the quest for influence.But Sri Lanka’s economic collapse has proved an opportunity for India to swing the pendulum back, with New Delhi stepping in with massive financial and material assistance to its neighbor.“There is no such thing as charity in international politics,” said Sreeram Chaulia, who heads the School of International Affairs at O.P. Jindal University in Sonipat, India.“The intent is to drive China away from India’s backyard and restore the balance in New Delhi’s favor.”Sri Lanka, a country of 22 million, sits off the southern coast of India on the Indian Ocean shipping lanes through which China receives the vast majority of its imported oil from the Middle East.As part of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative to pump money into infrastructure projects across Asia and Africa, former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa took on many loans, including $1.1 billion to build a port in his home region of Hambantota despite the plan having been rejected by an expert panel.When the deep-water port failed to generate the foreign revenue needed to pay China back, Sri Lanka in 2017 was forced to hand the facility and thousands of acres of land around it to Beijing for 99 years — giving China a key foothold directly opposite regional rival India’s coastline.That stoked India’s ongoing concerns about China’s growing influence in South Asia, particularly in smaller countries like Sri Lanka, Nepal and Maldives.Concerns over China’s increasing regional assertiveness deepened in 2020 when Indian and Chinese soldiers clashed in deadly skirmishes on the disputed Himalayan Ladakh border.In its maritime approach, Beijing’s military focus is currently more on the South China Sea and the Pacific, while its interest in Sri Lanka and the Indian Ocean appears to be more economically motivated, said Rahul Roy-Chaudhury, a London-based analyst with the International Institute for Strategic Studies. “On the security side for China it’s not a priority, but it is an emerging opportunity for China to bolster its influence in South Asia and ... to counter India’s influence,” he said.Caught in between is Sri Lanka itself which, like many others in the region, needs both China and India, whose combined population is nearly 3 billion people, Roy-Chaudhury said.“It’s not black and white,” he said. “The leaders of these countries have to be pro-India and pro-China at the same time.”Sajith Premadasa, the current Sri Lankan opposition leader, emphasized that while the country is “extremely grateful” for India’s help in the current crisis, the government needs to ensure that Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and political independence are not impacted by the situation.“What Sri Lanka should do always is to ensure our own national interests — in order to maximize our own national interests,” he told The Associated Press. “We should work with everyone in international society, irrespective of which power group or power bloc anybody belongs to.”Sri Lanka has been rocked by protests since April after its foreign currency reserves ran dry, leading to widespread food and fuel shortages and power cuts, with demonstrators calling for the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the brother of Mahinda Rajapaksa who was elected in 2019.In May, Mahinda, who had been appointed prime minister, himself resigned, but Gotabaya has clung to power.Gotabaya inherited an economy already in a slump after a series of attacks in early 2019 by Islamic extremists caused a dramatic drop-off in tourism, a major source of income, and enormous foreign debt from infrastructure projects, many bankrolled by Chinese money and commissioned by brother Mahinda. But a series of unwise economic decisions made the situation worse, and it was further exacerbated by the global coronavirus hitting the tourism sector again, while the war in Ukraine has driven up food and fuel costs. The government now owes $51 billion and is unable to make interest payments. It has suspended repayment of $7 billion in foreign debt due this year out of $25 billion to be repaid by 2026, pending the outcome of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund on a rescue package.China, Sri Lanka’s third largest creditor after Japan and the Asian Development Bank, accounts for about 10% of its debt.China has offered to lend more on favorable terms but has balked at forgiving some of Sri Lanka’s debt, possibly over concerns it would prompt other borrowers across Asia and Africa to demand the same relief. But Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who took office after Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned, has said that Sri Lanka has not been able to access $1.5 billion in loans offered by China, because Beijing has made the money contingent on the country having enough foreign reserves for three months. Beijing has also promised to “play a positive role” in Sri Lanka’s talks with the IMF and is providing some 500 million yuan, about $75 million, in humanitarian aid, according to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijan. Meanwhile, India has stepped in with millions of dollars worth of rice, milk powder, medicine and other humanitarian aid, as well as diesel fuel and gasoline.India has also extended Sri Lanka a $4 billion credit line on favorable terms that has been widely credited with helping the country’s crisis from worsening, even as Wickremesinghe last week declared the economy had “completely collapsed.”Wickremesinghe, who has served as prime minister several times before, is seen as pro-India, though he has limited leverage in his current role with Gotabaya Rajapaksa remaining president.While the Rajapaksa family is considered pro-China, and with the general perception that China has been partially responsible for the country’s problems, the political winds seem to be shifting in India’s favor, Chaulia said.India has not been actively promoting the perception that Chinese loans contributed to the crisis in Sri Lanka, but it also has not fought it, seeing the idea of a Chinese “debt trap” as an advantageous narrative for it regionally.“India is not worried if this message comes across,” Roy-Chaudhury said.New Delhi has recently succeeded in wresting away some of Beijing’s important projects in Sri Lanka, which is also a major destination for Indian exports.In March, Sri Lanka finalized a joint venture with India to develop a solar power plant in the island nation. That same month, Colombo also terminated a contract with a Chinese company to build a $12 million wind farm in the country and offered it to an Indian rival.“While India is trying to maintain its strategic footprint in Sri Lanka, its main aim appears to be to minimize Chinese hold in the country,” said K C Singh, a former Indian foreign secretary and a strategic affairs expert.Coming to Sri Lanka’s aid also fits neatly into Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Neighborhood First” foreign policy initiative, which focuses on cultivating and sustaining relations with nearby countries, and it is also in India’s self interest not to have a neighboring country like Sri Lanka collapse into chaos, Roy-Chaudhury said.But at the same time India does not want to find itself in a position where it is stuck alone with an economic bailout, so it has been pushing Sri Lanka to turn to the IMF and asking for other countries to help.“In security terms, yes, it would want to be a preferred security partner,” Roy-Chaudhury said. “In economic terms, I think it would want to be one of a number of countries providing economic reassurance or support.”_____Rising reported from Bangkok. Associated Press journalists Krutika Pathi in New Delhi, Joe McDonald in Beijing, and Krishan Francis in Colombo, Sri Lanka, contributed to this report. | Asia Politics |
The former Canberra Raiders captain Terry Campese has pulled out as Labor’s candidate for the New South Wales seat of Monaro after a series of reports into his behaviour.
The charity founder and former rugby league player was an outside chance of taking the seat at the March state election – Monaro was formerly held by former Nationals leader John Barilaro from 2011 until his retirement in 2021.
But after weeks of media attention, including over a scandalous party and how he came to be selected as Labor’s candidate, Campese has now withdrawn.
“I have come to realise that, for some, politics is not about representing people but about their own power with a ‘win at all costs’ mentality,” he said.
“[I will stand down] not because my heart isn’t in it but because I love this community too much to drag it through the media – whether [media reports] are truthful or not.
“However, I will continue to serve my community in the same way I have over the last decade, through the work of my foundation and other charities.”
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Labor enjoyed a 6.4% swing at the 2022 byelection brought about by Barilaro’s retirement. Replicating that on 25 March would take Monaro out of the National party’s hands, but Labor now faces a rush to find another representative.
Campese’s announcement diverted attention from Labor’s attack on the government over the explosion in the number of senior government executives.
A five-fold increase between 2010 and 2021 has meant the annual wages bill for those highly paid roles has risen nearly $800m, the shadow treasurer, Daniel Mookhey, said on Friday.
“It’s obscene that [the premier is] happy to pay this but won’t even think about giving a fair pay rise to our teachers, nurses and paramedics and healthcare workers – let alone negotiate,” Mookhey said.
“Twelve years of this government has created a surplus of top bureaucrats and a deficit of essential workers.”
In the final years of the last Labor government, senior executive positions were slashed by 171, leaving one executive for every 400 public servants. Multiple remuneration tribunal members noted this was a “very small” proportion.
In 2021, one executive – paid an average of $250,000 – oversaw an average of 115 employees.
Over the same 11-year period, NSW teacher numbers grew 7.1% – the slowest of any mainland state, according to ABS figures.
Taking in all specialist support staff and admin staff, such as teachers aides, numbers grew 14.6%.
“The minister for education continues to insist the teacher shortage is a nationwide problem, but this data shows that NSW is recording the largest declines and the slowest recruitment across the nation,” Labor education spokesperson Prue Car said.
Meanwhile, on Friday the NSW Greens unveiled an election policy to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote from 2024.
Greens MP Abigail Boyd said the global evidence was unequivocal that enfranchising young people brought a range of benefits, including increased political participation and trust in democracy.
Following a campaign from a group called Make It 16, in November 2022 the New Zealand supreme court deemed the minimum voting age of 18 was discriminatory.
Elsewhere, the Coalition government has pumped $800,000 into the Greek festival of Sydney and $2.4m into rebuilding riverbanks and wetlands damaged by flood and fire.
Treasurer Matt Kean also committed $8m for a pilot to get three suburbs and towns to fully decarbonise.
The scheme won’t force homes to get involved, but it will involve the private sector using solar, battery storage, heat pumps and other cost-effective measures to create zero-emission homes. | Australia Politics |
India Ramps Up Border Drone Defense After Hamas Attack On Israel
Talks are on to deploy High-Altitude Pseudo Satellites by May. Drones and the software backing them will be developed locally.
(Bloomberg) -- India is setting up a surveillance system with drones across its borders to wade off surprise attacks like the one from Hamas in Israel, according to people familiar with the matter.
The country’s defense officials met with six home-grown vendors of surveillance and reconnaissance drones over the past week and an order is expected to be announced as soon as next month, the people said, asking not to be named as the information isn’t public. The military is looking to have the system up and running across some parts of the border as early as May, the people added.
The move to monitor the borders all the time comes as tensions with neighboring China and Pakistan persist, especially along the Himalayas. While the war in Ukraine has made Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government reevaluate its armory, preparedness for war and priorities on the battlefield, the surprise Hamas attack has pushed the nation to implement some of the suggested measures quickly.
India has been caught out by surprise attacks in the past. In 2008, attackers from Pakistan, armed with assault weapons and grenades, infiltrated Mumbai by sea and laid siege to key landmarks in the city for three days, killing 166 people.
Also, India has alleged that drones are being used to move weapons and drugs across its western border. It might take almost 18 months to have the system cover the entire stretch of borders, and could cost as much as $500 million annually, the people said.
So-called High-Altitude Pseudo Satellites, which are solar-powered drones that can operate for prolonged durations without landing, will be used for the system, they said. The 24/7 high-altitude long endurance drones will also act as a back-up to the traditional radar network along the borders, directly beaming images to local command centers.
A spokesperson for India’s Defense Ministry didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The drones deployed and the software backing them will be developed locally, the people said. The Indian military, which is heavily dependent on Russia for weapon platforms, is trying to boost local production amid a 10-year, $250 billion military modernization effort.
The entire 14,000 miles (22,531 kilometers) that make up India’s land borders and coastline will be under constant surveillance once the system is up, the people said. Earlier, New Delhi had hired two drones from the US when the current round of border tensions first flared with Beijing in the summer of 2020, for surveillance and reconnaissance.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
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BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia’s president demanded Tuesday to have a NATO-led peacekeeping force take over for the national law enforcement agency in northern Kosovo after a daylong shootout between armed Serbs and Kosovar police left one officer and three gunmen dead.
In one of the worst confrontations since Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, about 30 masked men opened fire on a police patrol near the village of Banjska early Sunday then broke down the gates of a Serbian Orthodox monastery and barricaded themselves with the priests and visiting pilgrims.
The violence further raised tensions in the Balkan region at a time when European Union and U.S. mediators have been pushing for a deal that would normalize ties between former wartime foes Serbia and Kosovo. A NATO bombing campaign on Serb positions in Kosovo led to the end of the 1998-99 war.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic met with ambassadors from five Western countries and the EU in Belgrade on Tuesday. He said he wanted the NATO-led Kosovo Force, or KFOR, to take over “all the security matters in the north of Kosovo instead of (Kosovo Prime Minister Albin) Kurti’s police.”
Kurti accused the Serbian government on Sunday of logistically supporting “the terrorist, criminal, professional unit” that fired on Kosovo Police officers. Vucic denied the allegations, saying the gunmen were local Kosovo Serbs “who no longer want to withstand Kurti’s terror.”
READ MORE: What is behind renewed tensions between Serbia and Kosovo?
KFOR has around 4,500 troops stationed in Kosovo, where ethnic Serbs are concentrated in four northern municipalities. There was no immediate reaction from NATO to Vucic’s request, but it is highly unlikely to be granted because the primary role of the troops is peacekeeping, not policing.
The Western military alliance bolstered the number of troops in Kosovo after clashes with ethnic Serbs there in May left 30 international soldiers wounded.
Vucic, a pro-Russian politician, has often spoken against NATO and its peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, blaming them for allegedly failing to protect minority Serbs from Kosovo Albanian harassment.
The weekend standoff ended when most of the assailants escaped on foot under cover of darkness on Sunday evening. Three of the gunmen were shot and killed by police. U.S. Ambassador to Serbia Christopher Hill said after the meeting with Vucic that the episode was a very serious event.
“And the concern is, of course, that it could get even worse,” he told reporters.
“We really deeply regret the loss of life and frankly, we condemn the killing of the Kosovo police officer,” Hill said. “Beyond that, I think it is very important to know what happened but equally important to move the political and diplomatic process, which I think really needs to be strengthened in the days and months ahead.”
Vucic said in an Instagram post that these are “one of the hardest moments for Serbia.” Earlier, the government proclaimed Wednesday as a day of mourning because of “the tragic events,” referring to the shootout.
A Kosovo Serb party allied with Vučić proclaimed three days of mourning starting Tuesday in Serb-dominated northern Kosovo for the three killed Serb assailants. In a sign of defiance, hundreds of Serbs in the northern Kosovo town of Mitrovica lit candles and laid flowers for the killed Serb.
On Tuesday in Kosovo’s capital, a court decided to keep three of the six gunmen who were arrested after Sunday’s gunfight in pretrial detention for a month. They are accused of violating the country’s constitution and of terror acts.
Kosovo Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla claimed Tuesday that the leader of the Serb gunmen who killed the Kosovo police officer is Milan Radoicic, a close ally of Vucic’s who was sanctioned by the U.S. and Britain for alleged criminal activities.
Radoicic, a businessman, is deputy leader of a pro-Vucic Kosovo Serb party that has been calling the shots in northern Kosovo.
Svecla posted drone footage on Facebook that allegedly shows Radoicic with a group of uniformed men leaning against a wall of the Orthodox monastery where the gunmen barricaded themselves. The authenticity of the video could not be confirmed.
“Chief criminal Radoicic has been the leader of the terrorist group and of the attack where police officer Afrim Bunjaku was killed,” Svecla said.
The minister also claimed that Radoicic was wounded in the shootout and undergoing treatment at a Belgrade hospital.
Serbia and Kosovo, its former province, have been at odds for decades. Their 1998-99 war left more than 10,000 people dead, mostly Kosovo Albanians. Kosovo unilaterally declared independence in 2008, but Belgrade has refused to recognize the move.
The EU, with the backing of the U.S., has been brokering negotiations between the two sides. In February, Kurti and Vucic gave their approval to a 10-point EU plan for normalizing relations, but the two leaders have since distanced themselves from the agreement.
Llazar Semini contributed to this report from Tirana, Albania.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that war is “gradually returning” to Russia hours after the Kremlin accused Kyiv of targeting Moscow with drones, the latest in a series of attacks.
The Russian Defense Ministry said three drones were intercepted Sunday but a business and shopping development in the west of the capital was hit. The fifth and sixth floor of a 50-story building were damaged, and no casualties were reported, state news agency TASS reported.
Videos showed debris as well as emergency services at the scene.
“Ukraine is getting stronger, and the war is gradually returning to Russia’s territory, to its symbolic centers and military bases,” Zelensky said in his daily address. “This is an inevitable, natural, and absolutely fair.”
A spokesman for Ukraine’s Air Force said the latest drone attacks on Moscow were aimed at impacting Russians who, since the Kremlin invaded Ukraine in February 2022, felt the war was distant.
“There’s always something flying in Russia, as well as in Moscow. Now the war is affecting those who were not concerned,” the spokesman, Yurii Ihnat, said on Ukrainian television.
“No matter how the Russian authorities would like to turn a blind eye on this by saying they have intercepted everything … something does hit.”
Ukraine’s military has increasingly been deploying unmanned aerial vehicles for more than just reconnaissance.
Ukrainian Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, whose Digital Transformation Ministry oversees the country’s “Army of Drones” procurement plan, had said there would be more drone strikes to come as Kyiv ramps up a summer counteroffensive aimed at pushing Russian troops out of Ukrainian territory.
Moscow was targeted earlier this week. Ukraine claimed responsibility for a strike on Monday that hit two non-residential buildings, including one near the Ministry of Defense headquarter. Russia called that incident a “terrorist attack,” although the Kremlin’s military actions in Ukraine have regularly caused civilian casualties.
A Russian missile attack in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy late on Saturday killed at least two people civilian and injured another 20, while a rocket strike on Zaporizhzhia left another two people dead.
Both areas had been subject to lengthy bombardments over the weekend. Ukrainian authorities in Sumy said there had been 25 instances of shelling in a single day, while a military leader in Zaporizhzhia said Russian forces had carried out 77 attacks on 20 settlements across the Zaporizhzhia, hitting 31 residential buildings and other pieces of infrastructure.
Though the strikes in Moscow did not reportedly cause any injuries or fatalities, they have unsettled residents of the Russian capital.
One witness to Sunday’s attack explained how the incident upended some planned down time.
“My friends and I rented an apartment to come here and unwind, and at some point, we heard an explosion – it was like a wave, everyone jumped,” she told Reuters. “There was a lot of smoke, and you couldn’t see anything. From above, you could see fire.”
Ukrainian drones also targeted the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula on Sunday.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said it intercepted 25 unmanned aerial vehicles over the territory, which Moscow illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, shooting down 16 of them with air defense systems.
The other nine crashed into the Black Sea after their signals were jammed by electronic warfare equipment, according to the ministry. There do not appear to have been any casualties, but CNN has not been able to verify claims made by Russia’s Defense Ministry.
On Friday Russia said it shot down a Ukrainian missile over the southern Russian city of Taganrog. Ukraine did not comment on the attack, an apparent rare case of Ukraine using missiles inside Russian territory. | Europe Politics |
MANILA: Two Filipino doctors serving in Gaza have been evacuated through the Rafah crossing with Egypt, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday.
Doctors Darwin Dela Cruz and Regidor Esguerra from the international aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) were among 136 Filipinos and hundreds of other foreign nationals trapped in Gaza since Israel began its daily bombardment of the densely populated enclave.
Only on Wednesday, some 500 people with foreign passports were allowed to enter Egypt.
“So far, no other Filipino has been allowed to cross the border. But we are making diplomatic representations in this regard,” Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo De Vega told Arab News.
The doctors are now in Ariah, a city near the Rafah crossing, from where they will travel to Cairo and fly to their new deployment stations.
“They are presently in Egypt while awaiting their new assignments from the Doctors Without Borders. They are in touch with their families back home,” De Vega said.
The Philippine nationals in Gaza are mostly overseas workers and those who are married to Palestinians.
Philippine authorities have a list of those waiting for evacuation but do not know when it will be possible.
“Gaza remains under a total blockade, with the movement of people and goods severely curtailed,” the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Thursday.
Israel has been limiting the passage of foreign nationals from Gaza and entry of necessary food and medical aid.
The number of people killed in Gaza has exceeded 8,700 since Oct. 7, when Israeli warplanes began their daily bombardment of residential buildings, schools and medical facilities in the densely populated enclave, in retaliation for an attack by the Gaza-based militant group Hamas.
Women and children make up nearly 70 percent of the dead, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, while tens of thousands of others have been injured. Hundreds of people remain missing, many under the rubble as rescue teams have not been able to reach them. | Middle East Politics |
BEIJING -- China on Friday condemned a Japanese plan to release treated radioactive wastewater from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea, demanding that Tokyo first receive the approval of neighboring countries.
China has made similar complaints on a regular basis in the past, but has not said how it would respond if Japan goes ahead with the planned release.
China, which Japan invaded in the first half of the last century, has been a constant critic of Tokyo and its security alliance with the U.S., with the ruling Communist Party frequently invoking historical wrongs to rally domestic support and seek to undermine Japan’s global standing.
Japan’s behavior is “extremely irresponsible,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a daily briefing Friday.
"I would like to stress that Japan’s release of treated nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima plant concerns the global marine environment and public health, which is not a private matter for the Japanese side,” Mao said.
“Until full consultation and agreement is reached with neighboring countries and other stakeholders and relevant international institutions, the Japanese side shall not initiate the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water into the sea without authorization,” she said.
A magnitude 9.0 earthquake and massive tsunami slammed into the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant 12 years ago on March 11, 2011, destroying its power and cooling systems and triggering the meltdowns of three reactors. Massive amounts of radiation were released in the surrounding area.
South Korea, several Pacific Island nations and Japanese fishing communities have also objected to the planned release.
Japanese officials and the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, say the radioactive elements in the water can be reduced to safe levels.
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tetsuro Nomura has said he will work to counter any damage from the release to the reputation of the area's seafood industry.
“We will convey the safety of the fish caught in the Japanese sea with scientific evidence,” Japan's Kyodo News quoted Nomura as saying.
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Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report. | Asia Politics |
The United States has now had "direct contact" with Niger's junta leaders, but the conversations have yet to substantially move the needle as the West African nation -- a key ally on counterterrorism in the region -- faces an apparent coup, U.S. officials said.
U.S. Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller acknowledged for the first time during a press briefing on Monday that American diplomats have been speaking with Nigerien military figures behind the attempted takeover but said they "remain in touch with" the country's democratically elected president and other leaders in West Africa.
"There has been direct contact with military leaders urging them to step aside," Miller told reporters, insisting there was still a chance to turn things around despite the difficult realities.
"The window of opportunity is definitely still open," he added. "I don't want to put an assessment on when that window would be closed other than to say that using diplomacy to achieve this objective is our top priority with respect to Niger and we continue to pursue it."
Acting Deputy U.S. Secretary of State Victoria Nuland was among the American diplomats who recently traveled to Niger to meet with the power-players in the insurgent government there, telling reporters later Monday that the goal was "to get some negotiations going and also to make absolutely clear what is at stake in our relationship and the economic and other kinds of support that we will legally have to cut off if democracy is not restored."
But they were unable to make any significant progress despite speaking for more than two hours with Niger's self-proclaimed top defense official, according to Nuland.
"The conversations were extremely frank and at times quite difficult," Nuland said. "It was not easy to get traction there. They were quite firm in how they want to proceed."
Nuland told reporters that her requests to see Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum went unfulfilled and she was also not given an opportunity to meet with Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani, the commander of Niger's presidential guard who has been declared the new head of state.
“I hope they will keep the door open to diplomacy," she added. "We made that proposal. We'll see."
Despite the setbacks, Nuland said the U.S. was not yet ready to officially declare that a coup had indeed taken place in Niger.
"Obviously, we are at the stage where assistance is paused. There is still a lot of motion here," she told reporters. “It is not our desire to go there, but they may push us to that point."
On July 26, a group of mutinous soldiers led by Tchiani placed Bazoum and his family under house arrest in the Nigerien capital of Niamey. They then announced on Nigerien state television that they have "put an end to the regime" of Bazoum due to "the continuing degradation of the security situation, the bad economic and social governance." The group, which calls itself the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Country, said "all institutions" have been suspended, aerial and land borders have been closed and a curfew has been imposed until the situation is stabilized.
"The defense and security forces are managing the situation. All external partners are asked not to interfere," Tchiani, flanked by soldiers, said in the televised statement.
Bazoum's apparent ousting marks the seventh attempted coup in West and Central Africa since 2020 and throws into question the future of Niger, a landlocked country that has had four coups since gaining independence from France in 1960. Bazoum was elected to office in 2021 in Niger’s first peaceful democratic transfer of power.
As military leaders seized control last month, the streets of Niger's capital erupted in chaos as hundreds of people marched in support of the president while chanting "No coup d'etat." Thousands of others came out in support of the junta, waving Russian flags and holding signs that read "Down with France." Protesters also burned down a door and smashed windows at the French embassy in Niamey before being dispersed by Nigerien soldiers.
France, along with several other countries, has since evacuated its citizens from Niger while the U.S. partially evacuated its embassy in Niamey. Although the U.S. embassy remains open for limited, emergency services to its citizens there, routine consular services were suspended and Americans were being advised not to travel to Niger.
"We can confirm that our non-emergency U.S. government personnel and eligible family members have departed from Niger," a U.S. Department of State spokesperson told ABC News in a statement on Monday. "We were able to accommodate nearly 100 private U.S. citizens with the extra capacity on the charter flight that relocated embassy employees and their family members on August 4. Some U.S. citizens also departed on flights organized by our French, Italian, and Spanish organized flight partners."
The ordered temporary departure of non-emergency U.S. government personnel and eligible family members from the American embassy in Niamey has no impact on U.S. forces in Niger, according to U.S. Department of Defense spokesperson Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a regional body comprised of 15 West African countries, announced sanctions against Niger on July 30 and threatened to use force if the coup leaders don't reinstate Bazoum within one week. The African Union and the United Nations have also issued statements condemning the apparent coup.
Guinea, a nearby nation that has been under military rule since 2021, issued a statement on July 30 expressing support for Niger's junta and urging ECOWAS to "come to its senses." On July 31, the military-ruled governments of Burkina Faso and Mali, which share borders with Niger, released a joint statement denouncing the ECOWAS sanctions as "illegal, illegitimate and inhumane," refusing to apply them, and also warned that "any military intervention against Niger will be considered as a declaration of war against Burkina Faso and Mali."
Meanwhile, Benin, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Senegal -- all ECOWAS member states -- have indicated their willingness to send troops into Niger if the bloc decided to do so.
Senior officials within the U.S. Department of State told ABC News last week that ECOWAS is creating plans for military action if it becomes necessary but sees it as a very last resort.
In a televised statement on Sunday night, hours before the deadline set by ECOWAS, a spokesperson for the Nigerien coup leaders announced that the nation's airspace will be closed until further notice due to “the threat of intervention being prepared in a neighboring country." The spokesperson warned that any airspace violation will be met with "an energetic and immediate response." At least 3,000 Nigerien troops have since been moved from the northern Agadez region to the country's southern border with Nigeria.
Various sources told ABC News on Monday that an American delegation was currently in the Nigerian capital of Abuja to discuss a strategy to avoid neighboring Niger being overtaken by the Wagner Group, a Russian paramilitary organization, which could destabilize the entire region.
Bazoum's government has been a top ally to both the U.S. and Europe in the fight against violent extremists linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group in Africa's Sahel region. The U.S. Department of Defense said it has provided $500 million in military assistance to Niger since 2012, "one of the largest" security assistance and training packages in sub-Saharan Africa.
There are currently 1,100 U.S. military personnel in Niger as part of a long-running counterterrorism mission that trains the Nigerien military and runs drone operations from a large base in the northern city of Agadez, located in the Sahara desert. Those operations have been suspended in the wake of the apparent coup, namely the drone activity since Niger's airspace has been closed below 24,000 feet.
Other countries in the region, including Burkina Faso and Mali, have ousted the French military and instead enlisted the help of Wagner. In a voice message posted July 27 on social media channels linked to Wagner, the group's founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, appeared to endorse the coup in Niger and offer the services of his fighters to the junta.
So far, there has been no indication that Prigozhin's mercenaries have arrived in Niger, but the U.S. Department of State is aware of unverified reports that leaders of the Nigerien junta have traveled abroad to seek assistance from Wagner, according to Miller.
While the U.S. has freezed its funding to Niger amid the apparent coup, Miller said money could start flowing again as soon as Bazoum is back in control.
"That assistance will affect development aid to the government, security aid to the government. It's a significant amount," he told reporters on Monday. "I don't have a number because it's a pause, and it's a pause that we would hope would be reversed if the junta leaders would step aside and restore constitutional order."
"As we've made clear, hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake," he added.
ABC News' Luis Martinez, Emma Ogao and Joe Simonetti contributed to this report. | Africa politics |
Khalid Osman
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Nagwa Khalid Hamad, who died when mortar hit her home in Khartoum, at a wedding in in 2019. Her son says: "I don't even recall whose wedding it was but all i can remember is my brother, sister, mom and myself were there and we were happy." He describes her as "a very calm person." If he was upset, he says, "she would say to just take it in, just breathe it in and don't worry about it."
Khalid Osman
Nagwa Khalid Hamad, who died when mortar hit her home in Khartoum, at a wedding in in 2019. Her son says: "I don't even recall whose wedding it was but all i can remember is my brother, sister, mom and myself were there and we were happy." He describes her as "a very calm person." If he was upset, he says, "she would say to just take it in, just breathe it in and don't worry about it."
Khalid Osman
Nagwa Khalid Hamad, age 66, died last Sunday when a mortar collided with her home in Sudan's capital, Khartoum. Hamad was an ophthalmologist beloved by her patients. She was also a wife and mother of four. She is one of at least 400 people killed since conflict erupted last Saturday.
Intense fighting between the army and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group has ripped through Khartoum and other parts of Sudan. Normally bustling areas have been overtaken by air strikes, artillery, gunfire and tragedy.
Both sides were meant to were meant to join and become one Sudanese army but are now locked in a struggle for power in Sudan. Their claim to be fighting to protect Sudan's transition to democracy is one that many in the country reject.
Since Hamad died there has been an outpouring of grief and gratitude for her life from people who knew her. The Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors and the Sudanese American Physicians both released statements following her death. Her youngest son Khalid Osman is an engineer for Boeing and a U.S Army veteran who lives in Ohio. He tweeted about his mom — "the love of my life" — and spoke with NPR about her death, her life and what she meant to him and those who loved her. Here is what he said.
My mom's full name is Nagwa Khalid Hamad. She was a doctor, an ophthalmologist. She worked at Khartoum Eye Hospital for more than 30 years. When she passed away she was around 66 years old. She lived in Khartoum, Sudan.
She had three sons and one daughter. I'm the youngest.
Khalid Osman
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This photo of Nagwa Khalid Hamad is from July 22, 2022, at the Khartoum International Airport in Sudan, with her husband and her son Khalid Osman, who says, "I was on my way back to the U.S after spending Eid al-Adha with my mom, dad and sister." His mom died when her home was struck with mortar during the fighting. He says that she "loved her country so much."
Khalid Osman
This photo of Nagwa Khalid Hamad is from July 22, 2022, at the Khartoum International Airport in Sudan, with her husband and her son Khalid Osman, who says, "I was on my way back to the U.S after spending Eid al-Adha with my mom, dad and sister." His mom died when her home was struck with mortar during the fighting. He says that she "loved her country so much."
Khalid Osman
The last time I spoke to my mom was a little less than 24 hours prior to the incident. The conversation was very casual. She was telling me about a sick relative of ours who was in the hospital and how she needed our hopes and prayers. Then I received another voice recording on WhatsApp. It was less than an hour before she died, before she was killed. The message was mainly focused on telling [my family and me] how severe the attacks were. There were so many loud explosions, the sound of automatic machine guns, the sound of active war over there. She didn't know the next one would hit her.
I was in the process of bringing her to the U.S. I'd already applied for her green card and she was approved. She was just waiting to get her appointment with the U.S. Embassy in Sudan and trying to help me fill out the paperwork so we could expedite this process [of getting the physical card].
In the last voice message I received from her she thanked me for supporting our relative who was in the hospital. When my mom heard about it she was very thankful. She would say, thank you so much for helping Khalid. It's going to be helpful to her.
When the incident happened she was in the living room of our house. It was Sunday morning around 6 a.m. Khartoum time. The mortar just came down and hit our house. The shrapnel flew all over and broke the windows, and some of it came inside. Sadly, she was hit by a piece of shrapnel and died almost immediately. My dad tried to perform first aid but he couldn't because the damage was too severe. He couldn't save her.
This whole war — I'm not even going to call it a conflict. It's a war between the military leader and the militia leader for, in my opinion, personal vengeance. Two people get mad at each other and they're calling for whole militaries, whole platoons, whole companies to fight on their behalf. And sadly, the victims are innocent civilians. [Both sides are] using weapons that they're not even supposed to be using in a city. Who would ever use mortars, rockets, missiles and RPGs in the middle of a city?
My mom was an angel. She was a true angel. And I'm not just saying that because I'm her son. I saw all the social media reactions to my post. I've received so many direct messages on Twitter and Facebook, and I don't know 99 percent of the people who sent them. Those people were her patients, colleagues and friends. Some were even strangers. The Central Committee of Sudan Doctors put an announcement on Twitter about my mom's death and people from all over showed up. They sent me their condolences and asked me if I needed anything. It's just in the Sudanese people's nature to support each other. My mom did so much good for people that I didn't even know about.
My mom was such a nice person. She was calm. She was very calm. I'm an easily tempered person and every time I had an issue while at her house I'd go to her room. I would be storming. And then I would talk to my mom and complain to my mom. My mom would just calm me down and tell me it was OK. She would say to just take it in, just breathe it in and don't worry about it.
She was always there for everyone. Whenever we had any kind of occasion — a wedding a funeral, a friend in the hospital — she was always the first person there. She was such a beloved person. She was warm, she was kind and she was always smiling.
My mom loved her country so much. She just wanted a backup plan. I convinced her that she and my dad should have a backup plan so that, whenever they needed to, they could flee the country. But my mom just didn't want to leave the country. She wanted to stay. She hated the coup regime that Omar al-Bashir led and this new one too. Like the rest of the Sudanese people she just wanted a civilian-led government.
The only comfort I've had lately is knowing that the people she helped and the people who loved her are there for me. | Africa politics |
CAIRO — Fighters from a paramilitary force and their allied Arab militias rampaged through a town in Sudan's war-ravaged region of Darfur, reportedly killing more than 800 people in a multiday attack, doctors and the U.N. said.
The attack on Ardamata in West Darfur province earlier this month was the latest in a series of atrocities in Darfur that marked the monthslong war between the Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, RSF.
Sudan has been engulfed in chaos since in mid-April, when simmering tensions between military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan and the commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, exploded into open warfare.
The war came 18 months after both generals removed a transitional government in a military coup. The military takeover ended Sudan's short-lived fragile transition to democracy following a popular uprising that forced the overthrow of longtime strongman Omar al-Bashir in April 2019.
In recent weeks the RSF advanced in Darfur, taking over entire cities and towns across the sprawling region, despite the warring parties' return to the negotiating table in Saudi Arabia late last month. The first round of talks, brokered by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, failed to establish a cease-fire.
The dayslong attack in Ardamata came after the RSF took over a military base in the town after a brief fighting on Nov. 4 with troops there, said Salah Tour, head of the Sudanese Doctor's Union in West Darfur. He said the military withdrew from the base, adding that around two dozen wounded troops fled to Chad.
Spokespeople for the military and the RSF didn't respond to phone calls seeking comment.
After seizing the military base, the RSF and their allied Arab militias rampaged through the town, killing non-Arabs inside their homes and torching shelters housing displaced people, Tour said.
"They violently attacked the town," he said, adding that the RSF and their militias targeted the African Masalit tribe. "They went from house to house, killing and detaining people."
The Darfur Bar Association, an advocacy group, accused RSF fighters of committing "all types of serious violations against defenseless civilians" in Ardamata. It cited an attack on Nov. 6 during which the RSF killed more than 50 people including a tribal leader and his family.
The UNHCR said more than 800 people have been reportedly killed and 8,000 others fled to neighboring Chad. The agency, however, said the number of people who fled was likely to be an underestimate due to challenges registering new arrivals to Chad.
The agency said about 100 shelters in the town were razed to the ground and extensive looting has taken place there, including humanitarian aid belonging to the agency.
"Twenty years ago, the world was shocked by the terrible atrocities and human rights violations in Darfur. We fear a similar dynamic might be developing," said U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi.
The U.S. State Department said it was "deeply disturbed by eyewitness reports of serious human rights abuses by the RSF and affiliated militias, including killings in Ardamata and ethnic targeting of the Masalit community leaders and members.
"These horrifying actions once again highlight the RSF's pattern of abuses in connection with their military offensives," it said in a statement.
Ardamata is located a few kilometers (miles) north of Geneina, the provincial capital of West Darfur. The RSF and Arab militias launched attacks on Geneina, including a major assault in June that drove more of its non-Arab populations into Chad and other areas in Sudan.
The paramilitary group and its allied Arab militias were also accused by the U.N. and international rights groups of atrocities in Darfur, which was the scene of a genocidal campaign in the early 2000s. Such atrocities included rape and gang rape in Darfur, but also in the capital, Khartoum. Almost all reported cases were blamed on the RSF.
The U.N. Human Rights Office said in July a mass grave was found outside Geneina with at least 87 bodies, citing credible information. Such atrocities prompted the International Criminal Court's prosecutor to declare that he was investigating alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the latest fighting in Darfur.
The conflict killed about 9,000 people and created "one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history," according to the U.N. Undersecretary-General Martin Griffiths. More than 6 million people were also forced out of their homes, including 1.2 million who have sought refuge in neighboring countries, according to the U.N. figures.
The fighting initially centered in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, but quickly spread to other areas across the east African nation, including Darfur.
It turned the capital into a battle ground, wrecking most of civilian infrastructure, most recently the collapse of a bridge over the Nile River connecting Khartoum's northern part with the capital's sister city of Omdurman. Both sides traded accusations of having exploded the Shambat bridge. | Africa politics |
Oct 6 (Reuters) - Six men suspected of involvement in the murder in August of Ecuador's anti-corruption presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio were killed in prison on Friday, the prisons agency said, barely a week before a crucial run-off election.
The killings took place in a penitentiary in Guayaquil, the South American country's largest city, the attorney general's office announced earlier on Friday.
Ecuador's government swiftly condemned the killings.
Outgoing President Guillermo Lasso pledged "neither complicity nor cover-up" in getting to the bottom of the killings, in a post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
"Here the truth will be known," he said.
The SNAI prisons agency said in a statement the six men were all Colombian nationals. It gave no more details of the killings.
The government has said authorities are determined to identify those behind Villavicencio's murder.
Villavicencio, a prominent journalist, was gunned down less than two weeks before a first round general election as he left a campaign event in the capital, Quito.
Police arrested the six Colombians on the day of Villavicencio's assassination. A seventh suspect, also Colombian, was shot and killed by police, while other suspects were later arrested.
The second round run-off vote is scheduled for Oct. 15, the culmination of an election cycle marred by numerous incidents of violence.
Business heir Daniel Noboa, who holds a narrow lead in some polls ahead of the run-off, said in a social media post that the government must provide details of what occurred at the prison and that peace must be restored in the country.
His main rival for the presidency is Luisa Gonzalez, a protege of leftist former President Rafael Correa. She has said that surging crime is unprecedented and that voters should not allow "terror" to stop them from voting for change.
Reporting by Julia Symms Cobb; Editing by David Alire Garcia and Robert Birsel
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. | Latin America Politics |
Dinesh Joshi/AP
toggle caption
Security officers carry boxes of material confiscated after a raid at the office of NewsClick in New Delhi, India, Tuesday. Indian police raided the offices of the news website as well as the homes of several of its journalists, in what critics described as an attack on one of India's few remaining independent news outlets.
Dinesh Joshi/AP
Security officers carry boxes of material confiscated after a raid at the office of NewsClick in New Delhi, India, Tuesday. Indian police raided the offices of the news website as well as the homes of several of its journalists, in what critics described as an attack on one of India's few remaining independent news outlets.
Dinesh Joshi/AP
NEW DELHI — Indian police raided the offices of a news website that's under investigation for allegedly receiving funds from China, as well as the homes of several of its journalists, in what critics described as an attack on one of India's few remaining independent news outlets.
The raids came months after Indian authorities searched the BBC's New Delhi and Mumbai offices over accusations of tax evasion in February.
NewsClick, founded in 2009, is known as a rare Indian news outlet willing to criticize Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A number of other news organizations have been investigated for financial impropriety under Modi's Hindu nationalist government, as international monitors warn that press freedom is eroding in India.
Indian authorities registered a case against the site and its journalists on Aug. 17, weeks after a New York Times report alleged that the website had received funds from an American millionaire who, the Times wrote, has funded the spread of "Chinese propaganda." NewsClick has denied the charges.
The case was filed under a wide-ranging anti-terrorism law that allows charges for "anti-national activities" and has been used against activists, journalists and critics of Modi, some of whom have spent years in jail before going to trial. No one has been arrested in connection with NewsClick so far.
Two people, including NewClick's editor in chief, were detained during the raids, and police carried away boxes of documents.
At least two journalists whose houses were raided by Delhi police said their devices were seized.
"Delhi police landed at my home. Taking away my laptop and phone," journalist Abhisar Sharma wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Delhi police did not immediately respond for a comment, but India's junior minister for information and broadcasting, Anurag Thakur, told reporters that "if anyone has committed anything wrong, search agencies are free to carry out investigations against them."
In August, Thakur accused NewsClick of spreading an "anti-India agenda," citing the New York Times, and of working with the opposition Indian National Congress party. Both NewsClick and the Congress party denied the accusations.
Reporters Without Borders, an advocacy group for journalists, ranked the country 161st in its press freedom rankings this year, writing that the situation in the country has deteriorated from "problematic" to "very bad."
The Press Club of India said it was "deeply concerned about the multiple raids conducted on the houses of journalists and writers associated with NewsClick."
"The PCI stand in solidarity with the journalists and demands the government to come out with details," it wrote in a statement on X.
Ties between India and China have been strained since 2020, when clashes between the two militaries in a disputed border area killed at least 20 Indian troops and four Chinese soldiers. Since then, New Delhi has banned many Chinese-owned apps, including TikTok, and launched tax probes into some Chinese mobile phone companies.
The Modi administration has also introduced rules that require government approval for investments by companies from China and other countries that neighbor India. | India Politics |
(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with details, photo; AMENDS headline; ADDS byline)
By Lee Minji
SEOUL, June 19 (Yonhap) -- North Korea called its failed attempt to launch a purported military reconnaissance satellite the "most serious" shortcoming in the first half of this year and reaffirmed its pledge to put it into orbit soon, Pyongyang's state media said Monday.
The North made the assessment following a plenary meeting of the 8th Central Committee of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, attended by leader Kim Jong-un, that wrapped up the previous day, referring to its botched attempt to launch a rocket carrying a military spy satellite on May 31.
The "Chollima-1" rocket carrying a military reconnaissance satellite, "Malligyong-1," took off from a new launch pad at the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground but crashed into the Yellow Sea following what Pyongyang claimed was the "abnormal starting" of the second stage engine of its space rocket.
"The most serious one was the failure of the military reconnaissance satellite launch, the important strategic work in the field of space development, on May 31," the North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in an English-language dispatch, citing the failure as among the "shortcomings that cannot be overlooked."
The KCNA said that officials who were responsible for the launch were "bitterly" criticized and that an order was made to thoroughly analyze the cause of the failure to "successfully launch the military reconnaissance satellite in a short span of time and thus make a shortcut to improving the capabilities of the Korean People's Army's reconnaissance intelligence."
Pyongyang has vowed to "correctly" put the satellite into orbit soon despite global condemnation that the move breaches multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions banning any launch using ballistic missile technology.
During the three-day meeting that discussed the secretive regime's defense and diplomatic strategies, the North made clear its push to increase the "production of powerful nuclear weapons" to counter the "changed security situation."
"The complicated and serious situation on the Korean peninsula which is getting out of control requires the DPRK to ceaselessly renew its military potentials and make a faster advance toward the bolstering up of its capabilities for self-defence," it said, using the acronym of its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
During the key meeting, participants reviewed the goals it had laid out for the first half, such as increasing grain production and building new homes for economic development, and set forth new agenda items, including the "epoch-making measures for developing education" and the "important measures for intensifying the building of the Party discipline."
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