News & Announcements

Palestinians marked the first day of Eid al-Fitr religious holiday under relentless aerial bombardment with Gaza’s health ministry saying at least 87 people, including 18 children, have been killed since the Israeli offensive began late on Monday. More than 530 others have been wounded.

At least six Israelis and one Indian national have also been killed. The Israeli army said hundreds of rockets have been fired from Gaza towards various locations in Israel and they have added reinforcements near the enclave’s eastern lands.

There have also been more violent confrontations between Jewish Israelis and Palestinian citizens of Israel in several cities inside Israel.

On Wednesday, German police detained more than a dozen men in three cities suspected of damaging a synagogue, burning Israeli flags and starting a fire at a Jewish memorial site.

“Security agencies expect intensifying protest activities by Palestinians in Germany as well as parts of the leftist movement,” an Interior Ministry spokesman said.

Some of the suspects in the earlier incidents told police the Israel-Palestinian violence had motivated them to throw stones at a synagogue.

France’s interior minister has asked police to ban a pro-Palestinian protest in Paris this weekend over the conflict with Israel fearing a repeat of clashes during a similar situation in 2014.

Also, activists had called the protest in the Barbes district of northern Paris to demonstrate against Israel’s use of force in the Gaza Strip in response to the rocket fire by militant group Hamas at the Jewish state.

“I have asked the Paris police chief to ban the protests on Saturday linked to the recent tensions in the Middle East,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on Twitter.

“Serious disturbances to public order were seen in 2014,” he added, urging police chiefs elsewhere in France to also remain vigilant over demonstrations.

In a circular seen by AFP, he also urged local police chiefs to assure the “protection of places of worship, schools, cultural centres and businesses of the Jewish community.”

At least 11 civilians were killed and 13 others wounded in four separate bombings in Afghanistan on Thursday, hours after a three-day ceasefire began across the country to mark the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr, local officials said.

AFP reports that although there were no reports of direct fighting between the Taliban and government forces as they observe a temporary ceasefire, roadside bombs continued to inflict casualties on civilians.

A roadside bomb struck a car in the Panjwai district of southern Kandahar province, killing five civilians, including a woman and children said Jamal Naser Barekzai a spokesman for the provincial police.

In another incident, two children were killed and three adults wounded when a roadside bomb exploded beneath a taxi in the Maiwand district of the same province, Barekzai added.

In the northern Kunduz province, a sticky bomb attached to a civilian car exploded, killing two civilians and wounding 10 more, said Enhamuddin Rahmani, a spokesman for the province’s police chief.

Two civilians were also killed by a roadside bomb in central Ghazni province, officials said.

Afghanistan’s TOLO News cited a Kunduz resident saying: “The security forces arrived in the area 40 minutes after the incident occurred, while the Kunduz police headquarters is only 100 metres away from the incident area.”

 “A Muslim never oppresses another Muslim in this way. We grow our children in poverty and miserable conditions, but they become victims very easily. If they (perpetrators) are Muslims, they should never commit such an atrocity against children,” another resident of Kunduz province told TOLO News.

The three-day ceasefire announced by the Taliban and heeded by the government comes at a time when violence has sharply escalated across Afghanistan following Washington’s announcement last month of plans to pull out all US troops by September 11.

Afghan security forces had mounted an operation to retake a Taliban-held district outside the capital, Kabul, in neighbouring Wardak province on Wednesday but it was halted to observe the ceasefire.

A day earlier, Taliban fighters killed or captured some government soldiers and forced others to retreat after storming the district of North, less than

As part of efforts to achieve a ceasefire in the ongoing violence in Gaza, an Egyptian delegation is in Tel Aviv for talks with Israeli officials as part of efforts to negotiate a cease-fire in the escalating conflict with Gaza, Egyptian intelligence officials said Thursday.

The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to brief the media. The same delegation met with Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip first, they said, and crossed into Israel by land. Egypt has played a mediating role in the past between the sides.

Late Wednesday, Egypt’s foreign minister, Sameh Shukry, condemned Israeli attacks on Palestinian territory in a phone call with his Israeli counterpart, Gabi Ashkenazi. He said it was important for both sides to avoid escalation and resorting to military means, according to readout of the call.

The violence in Palestinian has reached deeper into Israel then at any time since the 2000 Palestinian intifada, or uprising. Arab and Jewish mobs are rampaging through the streets, savagely beating people and torching cars and flights have been cancelled or diverted away from the country’s main airport.

The escalating fighting between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers has echoed — and perhaps even exceeded — their devastating 2014 war. That conflict and two others were largely confined to the impoverished and blockaded Palestinian territory and Israeli communities on the frontier. But this round — which like the intifada, began in Jerusalem — seems to be rippling far and wide, tearing apart the country at its seams.

Meanwhile, in Gaza residents are bracing for more devastation as militants fire one barrage of rockets after another and Israel carries out waves of bone-rattling airstrikes, sending plumes of smoke rising into the air. Since the rockets began Monday, Israel has toppled three high-rise buildings that it said housed Hamas facilities after warning civilians to evacuate.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said the death toll has climbed to 83 Palestinians, including 17 children and seven women, with more than 480 people wounded. Islamic Jihad confirmed the deaths of seven militants, while Hamas, the Islamic militant group that seized power in Gaza from rival Palestinian forces in 2007, acknowledged that a top commander and several other members were killed. Israel says the number of militants killed is much higher than Hamas has acknowledged.

A total of seven people have been killed in Israel. Among them were a soldier killed by an anti-tank missile and a 6-year-old child hit in a rocket attack.

The fighting comes as Muslims mark Eid al-Fitr, the end of the month of daily fasting that is usually a festive time when families shop for new clothes and gather for large feasts.

Instead, Hamas urged the faithful to mark communal Eid prayers inside their homes or the nearest mosques instead of out in the open, as is traditional.

Hassan Abu Shaaban tried to lighten the mood by passing out candy to passers-by after prayers, but acknowledged “there is no atmosphere for Eid at all.”

“It is all airstrikes, destruction and devastation,” he said. “May God help everyone.”

In Gaza’s southern town of Khan Younis, dozens of mourners marched through the streets carrying the bodies of an 11-year-old and a 13-year-old killed when an Israeli airstrike hit near their home on Wednesday.

The owner of a five-story building in Gaza City, meanwhile, said he got a call from the Israeli military on Thursday asking him to evacuate it before an airstrike brought it down.

“The building is residential, what is in to hit?” said the man, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of security concerns.

The Israeli military later said the building housed intelligence offices used by Hamas.

Gaza militants continued to bombard Israel with nonstop rocket fire into Thursday. The attacks brought life to a standstill in southern communities near Gaza but also reached as far north as the Tel Aviv area, about 70 kilometres (45 miles) away, for a second straight day.

Israel has begun diverting some incoming flights from Ben Gurion International Airport, near Tel Aviv, to the Ramon airfield in the country’s far south, the Transportation Ministry said. Several flights have also been cancelled.

The Israeli military says more than 1,600 rockets have been fired since Monday, with 400 falling short and landing inside Gaza. Israel’s missile defences have intercepted 90% of the rockets. Israeli airstrikes have struck around 600 targets inside Gaza, the military said.

The Israeli army shared footage showing a rocket impact between apartment towers in the Tel Aviv suburb of Petah Tikva early Thursday, apparently sparking a large fire. It said the strike wounded people and caused significant damage.

“We’re coping, sitting at home, hoping it will be OK,” said Motti Haim, a resident of the central town of Beer Yaakov and father of two children. “It’s not simply running to the shelter. It’s not easy with the kids.”

While United Nations and Egyptian officials have said that cease-fire efforts are underway, there were no signs of progress. Israeli television’s Channel 12 reported late Wednesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Security Cabinet authorized a widening of the offensive.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the “indiscriminate launching of rockets” from civilian areas in Gaza toward Israeli population centres, but he also urged Israel to show “maximum restraint.” U.S. President Joe Biden called Netanyahu to support Israel’s right to defend itself, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he was sending a senior diplomat to the region to try to calm tensions.

The current eruption of violence began a month ago in Jerusalem, where heavy-handed Israeli police tactics during Ramadan and the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinian families by Jewish settlers ignited protests and clashes with police. A focal point of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police was Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, built on a hilltop compound that is revered by Jews and Muslims.

Jerusalem is at the heart of the conflict between the bitter enemies: Israel regards the entire city as its capital, while the Palestinians want east Jerusalem to be the capital of their future state.

Hamas, claiming to be defending the city, launched a barrage of rockets at the city late Monday, in a dramatic escalation. Hamas banners could be seen outside Al-Aqsa on Thursday as thousands gathered there for Eid prayers.

The recent fighting has also set off violent clashes between Arabs and Jews in Israel, in scenes unseen in more than two decades. Netanyahu warned that he was prepared to use an “iron fist if necessary” to calm the violence.

But ugly confrontations erupted across the country late Wednesday. Jewish and Arab mobs battled in the central city of Lod, the epicentre of the troubles, despite a state of emergency and nighttime curfew. In nearby Bat Yam, Jewish nationalists attacked an Arab motorist, dragged him from his car and beat him until he was motionless.

Israeli police said two people were shot and wounded in Lod and an Israeli Jew was stabbed. An Arab citizen was stabbed and seriously wounded in Jerusalem’s central Mahane Yehuda market, where many Arabs work in restaurants and as food vendors. Dozens of people were arrested in towns across Israel where clashes and rioting broke out.

In the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military said it intervened in a Palestinian shooting attack that wounded two people. The Palestinian Health Ministry said the suspected gunman was killed. No details were immediately available.

Still unclear is how the fighting in Gaza will affect Netanyahu’s political future. He failed to form a government coalition after inconclusive parliamentary elections in March, and now his political rivals have three weeks to try to form one.

They have courted a small Islamist Arab party, but the fighting could hamper those efforts.

At least 25 people have been killed in the past seven days due to heavy rains pounding several parts of Somalia, the United Nations humanitarian agency said in a statement on Sunday.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said among the dead include 14 children and seven internally displaced people.

OCHA said riverine flooding has affected an estimated 25,000 people in 15 villages in Jowhar in the Middle Shabelle region, displacing people in eight villages and inundating farms.

The heavy rains, AFP reports, have hit various parts of Somalia over the past week, triggering flash floods that have killed and displaced people, but a forecast suggests the rains will begin to subside from mid-May.

The Somalia Water and Land Information Management (SWALIM) managed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on Saturday warned of an imminent danger of potentially unprecedented flooding expected along the Shabelle River in the coming days and the concern for safety and wellbeing of the people in Beledweyne and along the river.

OCHA said Juba River reportedly has broken its bank in Doolow, reaching 4.70 meters, which is 0.20 meters above the moderate flooding level, and flooding three villages.

It said the heavy rains on April 30 flooded the dry river valley in Hargeisa in Somaliland, affecting around 40 houses and washing away seven vehicles.

The floods also temporarily affected some of the internally displaced people who are living in sub-standard shelters.

In addition, the UN agency said, flash floods washed away over 1,250 heads of livestock and damaged shelters in low-lying areas of Ceel Daahir under Bossaso district and Berri Cad under Garowe between April 27 and May 5.

According to OCHA, despite the heavy rains that have hit parts of Somalia, the rains have come too late for the planting season, hence further exacerbating already significant food security concerns in the country.

One leopard remained at large in eastern China on Monday after escaping from a safari park with two of its fellow big cats, prompting fierce public criticism of the wildlife attraction over the safety lapse and for brutally hunting down the escapees with packs of dogs.

Residents of the city of Hangzhou first reported seeing leopard sightings in local tea plantations late last week, but the Hangzhou Safari Park only acknowledged the outbreak after the news went viral.

The park has said the cats were not fully grown and that it delayed making a public statement to avoid causing panic, but it faces accusations that keeping mum recklessly endangered residents.

Local officials said Monday that five people associated with the park — including its general manager — had been detained and that police had launched an investigation into the incident.

AFP quotes Chinese media as reported that a search team was on the trail of the third leopard after fresh paw prints were found on Sunday, in an effort that included a spotter hovering over the plantations in a powered parachute.

Some of the fiercest criticism was sparked by videos of the recapture of at least one of the cats — looking nearly full-grown — showing a pack of at least five dogs mauling the leopard as it clawed desperately at them.

Video from a Chinese state-run television outlet released over the weekend also appears to show one of the recaptured leopards resting in an enclosure with one of its hind feet missing. The stump appeared freshly wounded and was unbandaged. The safari park has not yet commented on the videos.

“What did these young leopards do wrong to have to suffer the consequences of such serious mismanagement, and to be tracked and mauled by a search team with vicious dogs?” asked one of a string of angry posts accompanying the clip on China’s Twitter-like Weibo.

“Is this how we look after our nationally protected animals?”

Leopards, which still exist in isolated pockets in the wild in China, are a protected species under Chinese law, with strict bans on hunting or trafficking in leopard-derived products.

Chinese zoos and wildlife parks frequently face criticism over recurring revelations of horrific conditions in captivity or deadly incidents blamed on lax management.

Chinese state media reported in 2017 that a tiger killed a visitor to a wildlife park in the eastern city of Ningbo after the man apparently entered its enclosure, and tigers at a Beijing park killed one woman and injured another the previous year after the pair left their vehicle.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Monday said that some 600 illegal migrants have been rescued off Libya’s western coast.

“Some 600 people were returned today to Tripoli and to Zawiya by Libyan Coast Guard, among them many women and children,” the UN refugee agency tweeted earlier Monday.

In 2020, a total of 11,891 illegal immigrants were rescued and returned to Libya, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said, noting that 381 migrants died and 597 went missing on the Central Mediterranean route during the same period.

Libya has become a preferred point of departure for thousands of illegal immigrants who attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea to reach European shores.

Rescued migrants end up inside overcrowded reception centers across Libya, despite repeated international calls to close them.

Ahead of the August 12 presidential election in Zambia, nineteen aspirants have so far paid their nomination fees to qualify to stand for the poll. This was disclosed by the country’s electoral body on Monday.

The Electoral Commission of Zambia said the 19 people managed to submit their bank details confirming their payments as of Sunday, May 9, the deadline for the payment.

Chief Electoral Officer Patrick Nshindano, however, said the electoral body has made room for other aspirants who may have made their payments with banks on Saturday but have not yet deposited their bank statements with the electoral body.

He told the media that the final number of presidential candidates will only be known after the filing of nomination papers on May 17-20.

Some candidates may be disqualified for failing to meet the conditions set for filing in of their nomination papers, such as not having the required number of supporters.

President Joe Biden set a new vaccination goal to deliver at least one shot to 70% of adult Americans by July Fourth as he tackles the vexing problem of winning over the “doubters” and those unmotivated to get inoculated.

Demand for vaccines, AP reports, has dropped off markedly nationwide, with some states leaving more than half their available doses unordered. Aiming to make it easier to get shots, Biden on Tuesday called for states to make vaccines available on a walk-in basis and he will direct many pharmacies to do likewise.

His administration for the first time also is moving to shift doses from states with weaker demand to areas with a stronger interest in the shots.

“You do need to get vaccinated,” Biden said from the White House. “Even if your chance of getting seriously ill is low, why take the risk? It could save your life or the lives of somebody you love.”

Myanmar’s military-controlled media has announced a ban on satellite television dishes, saying outside broadcasts threaten national security, like the generals who seized power in a coup on February 1 charged a Japanese journalist with spreading false news.

“Satellite television is no longer legal. Whoever violates the television and video law, especially people using satellite dishes, shall be punished with one-year imprisonment and a fine of 500,000 kyats ($320),” MRTV state television said on Tuesday.

“Illegal media outlets are broadcasting news that undermines national security, the rule of law and public order, and encouraging those who commit treason.”

The generals, led by army chief Min Aung Hlaing, arrested elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and members of her government on February 1 as they seized power, ending Myanmar’s sluggish progress towards democracy.

The country has been in turmoil ever since, with more than 760 people killed as security forces struggle to quash near-daily demonstrations against their rule.

They have cut off mobile internet access, forced independent media to close and arrested reporters. At least 50 are currently in detention.

Japanese journalist Yuki Kitazumi, who was arrested for a second time last month, was charged on Monday.

Kitazumi is the first foreign journalist to be charged since the coup. A Polish photographer arrested while covering a protest in March was freed and deported after nearly two weeks in custody.

Japan, for years a top aid donor to Myanmar, has been pressing for Kitazumi’s release.

“Naturally, we will continue to do our utmost for the early release of the Japanese national being held,” Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told Japanese journalists during a trip to Britain, according to national broadcaster NHK.

Pro-democracy rallies have continued despite the military’s efforts to stamp out opposition.

On Tuesday, protesters gathered in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-biggest city, with education staff calling for a boycott of schools and universities when they reopen in June, Myanmar Now news agency reported.

Local media reported that five people were killed by at least one parcel bomb on Tuesday, including an overthrown legislator and three police officers who had joined the civil disobedience movement against military rule.

Meanwhile, the Chinland Defence Force, a newly formed militia in Chin state bordering India, said on its Facebook page on Tuesday that its forces had killed at least four Myanmar army soldiers and wounded 10 in a clash overnight.

The Myanmar army did not comment on the claim.

Villagers had found the beheaded body of a military-appointed local administrator in the northwestern Sagaing region, independent broadcaster DVB reported, a day after another local official was stabbed to death in the biggest city, Yangon.

The Reuters news agency was unable to reach local police for comment.

The military has defended its power grab, alleging fraud in the November election, which was won by Aung San Suu Kyi’s party in a landslide, and condemned protesters as rioters and terrorists.

Malian woman has given birth to nine babies, joining a small group of mothers of nonuplets, according to Mali’s government.

The pregnancy of Halima Cisse, 25, fascinated the country and attracted the attention of its leaders. When doctors in March said Cisse needed specialist care, authorities flew her to Morocco, where on Tuesday she gave birth to five girls and four boys by caesarean section.

“The newborns (five girls and four boys) and the mother are all doing well,” Mali’s health minister Fanta Siby said in a statement, adding they are due to return home in several weeks’ time.

Siby offered her congratulations to “the medical teams of Mali and Morocco, whose professionalism is at the origin of the happy outcome of this pregnancy”.

Cisse was expected to give birth to septuplets (seven babies), according to ultrasounds conducted in Morocco and Mali that missed two of the babies.

Cases of women successfully carrying septuplets to term are rare – and nonuplets even rarer.

Moroccan authorities have yet to confirm what would be an extremely rare case. Health ministry spokesman Rachid Koudhari said he had no knowledge of such multiple births have taken place in one of the country’s hospitals, according to the AFP news agency.