LIVE
Home Blog Page 2261

UN Meeting Begins As Israel-Gaza Conflict Escalates

Zoe Maven
-
0
UN Meeting Begins As Israel-Gaza Conflict Escalates

A UN Security Council emergency meeting has begun, with international mediators hoping to broker a ceasefire.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened the meeting by describing the violence as “utterly appalling” and said the fighting must stop immediately.

The flare-up of violence over the last week came after weeks of increasing Israeli-Palestinian tension in East Jerusalem, which culminated in clashes at a holy site revered by both Muslims and Jews.

Hamas began firing rockets after warning Israel to withdraw from the site, triggering retaliatory air strikes.

Israel’s military said it struck the homes of both Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and his brother Muhammad Sinwar, whom it described as head of logistics and manpower for the movement.

Local sources confirmed to media that the Hamas leader’s home in the Gaza town of Khan Younis had been bombed. There were no immediate reports about the fate of the two brothers.

Palestinian rescue workers have been working through the rubble of at least three destroyed buildings, pulling out bodies and searching for survivors.

Shortly after noon, rockets were launched by militants in Gaza against Ashkelon, Ashdod, Netivot and other parts of central and southern Israel, according to Israeli media.

President Biden’s envoy, Hady Amr, has been in Israel since Friday, discussing the crisis with Israeli officials.

Iranian Minister Cancels Austrian Visit Over Israeli Flag

Zoe Maven
-
0
Iranian Minister Cancels Austrian Visit Over Israeli Flag

Iran’s foreign minister has cancelled a visit with his Austrian counterpart to show displeasure that Chancellor Sebastian Kurz’s government had flown the Israeli flag in Vienna in a show of solidarity.

Confirming a report in newspaper Die Presse, a spokeswoman for Schallenberg said, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was supposed to meet Alexander Schallenberg but had called off the trip.

The spokeswoman said, they regret this and take note of it, but for them it is as clear as day that when Hamas fires more than 2,000 rockets at civilian targets in Israel then they would will not remain silent.

In Tehran, foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told the semi-official news agency ISNA that Zarif did not consider the trip beneficial in these circumstances, and therefore the travel arrangements were not finalised.

Hamas is the Islamist group that runs Gaza. Israel has pummelled Gaza with air strikes and Palestinian militants have launched rocket barrages at Israel in the worst escalation of violence in years.

Kurz, who is firmly pro-Israel, had called flying the Israeli flag over the federal chancellery on Friday a mark of solidarity amid the violent clashes. But Abbas Araqchi, who heads the Iranian delegation at the Vienna talks, criticised the move.

The dispute comes during talks in Vienna to try to revive a 2015 accord with western powers in which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear programme in exchange for relief from sanctions. Former U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned the deal in 2018, prompting Iran to begin violating its terms.

North Carolina Jury Awards $75m To Brothers Wrongly Convicted

Zoe Maven
-
0
North Carolina Jury Awards $75m To Brothers Wrongly Convicted

A jury in a North Carolina federal civil rights case has awarded $75 million to two black, intellectually disabled half brothers who spent decades behind bars after being wrongfully convicted in the 1983 rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl.

The eight-person jury last week decided that Henry McCollum and Leon Brown should receive $31 million each in compensatory damages, $1 million for every year spent in prison. The jury also awarded them $13 million in punitive damages.

After the trial Raleigh attorney Elliot Abrams who was part of the brothers’ legal team said the first jury to hear all of the evidence found Henry and Leon to be innocent and has done what the law can do to make it right at this late date.

McCollum and Brown have pursued the civil case against law enforcement members since 2015, arguing that their civil rights were violated during the interrogations that led to their convictions.

The two were released from prison in 2014 after DNA evidence that pointed to a convicted murderer exonerated them. They were teenagers when they were accused of the crime, which happened in Red Springs in Robeson County.

Attorneys for the men have said they were scared teenagers who had low IQs when they were questioned by police and coerced into confessing. McCollum was then 19, and Brown was 15.

On Friday, the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office, one of the defendants, settled its part of the case for $9 million. The town of Red Springs, originally named in the civil suit, settled in 2017 for $1 million.

Ecuador Indigenous Party Wins National Assembly Presidency

Zoe Maven
-
0
Ecuador Indigenous Party Wins National Assembly Presidency

Ecuador’s National Assembly has elected a representative of the Pachakutik indigenous political party as its president for the next two years, with the support of allies of conservative President-elect Guillermo Lasso.

Lawmaker Guadalupe Llori who previously served as a local official in Orellana province in the Amazon region, won the National Assembly presidency with 71 votes in the 137-seat chamber.

She was jailed during former President Rafael Correa’s government on terrorism and sabotage charges after organizing protests against oil companies but was later granted amnesty, describing the charges politically motivated.

The alliance between Pachakutik and Lasso’s CREO party effectively sidelined the left-wing UNES party. UNES won the most seats in the congress in elections earlier this year but fell short of an outright majority.

Meanwhile, President-elect Guillermo Lasso will take office in the oil-producing South American country on May 24 after beating out UNES candidate Andres Arauz, a Correa protege, in an April runoff.

Lasso, a former banker, has pledged to revamp crude production contracts to attract more investment to the sector but has also promised to review the need for more drilling in the Amazon region.

Pachakutik candidate Yaku Perez placed third in a first-round vote in February.

Myanmar Anti-Coup Fighters Retreat From Town Amid Assaults

Zoe Maven
-
0
Myanmar Anti-Coup Fighters Retreat From Town Amid Assaults

Fighters of a local militia opposed to Myanmar’s junta have pulled back from the northwestern town of Mindat after days of assault by combat troops backed by artillery.

The fighting in the hill town of Mindat, about 100 km from the Indian border in Chin state, has been some of the heaviest since the coup plunged Myanmar into chaos with daily protests.

One fighter said they retreated out of concern over damage to the town, adding that only women and children remained in the town of over 40,000 that was now largely occupied by the army.

The U.S.-funded RFA website quoted a member of the group as saying five of its fighters were killed, but it believed it had inflicted losses several times that many on the army, widely known as the Tatmadaw.

The United States and Britain called on the army to avoid civilian casualties while the shadow National Unity Government formed by loyalists of Myanmar’s detained elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, appealed for international help.

The fighting marks the emergence of the Chinland Defence Force, one of several new groups to spring up in opposition to the junta in a country which already had about two dozen ethnic armed groups.

The fighters also say they are part of the People’s Defence Forces of the shadow government.

But the Army-controlled Myawaddy television said on Saturday that some security forces were killed and others missing after attacks, adding that Security forces would work day and night to bring order.

Australia Sticks By Plan To Reopen Border In Mid-2022

Zoe Maven
-
0
Australia Sticks By Plan To Reopen Border In Mid-2022

Australian will stick to plans to start reopening the country only from the middle of next year amid pressure on the ruling conservatives to end the international border closure.

In a television interview on Sunday with the Australian Broadcasting Corp Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said they would follow the medical advice that has served them very well through this crisis.

Australia closed its borders to non-nationals and non-residents in March 2020 and has allowed only limited international arrivals in recent months, mainly citizens returning from abroad.

The closure, combined with snap lockdowns, swift contact tracing and public health compliance have reportedly made Australia’s Covid-19 pandemic control measures among the world’s most effective.

The government’s reopening plans, unveiled this week, have sparked criticism from businesses and industries, as well as politicians within Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s Liberal Party.

However, Tim Wilson, a Liberal Party Member of Parliament from Melbourne, was quoted as saying that international border closures had a temporary place, but was no longer sustainable.

Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton had also suggested that Australia must start thinking about a reopening strategy once there is high vaccination coverage.

In its budget unveiled last week, the government envisaged that all willing Australians will be vaccinated by the end of the year.

Chile Votes For Body To Rewrite Dictatorship-Era Constitution

Zoe Maven
-
0
Chile Votes For Body To Rewrite Dictatorship-Era Constitution

Chileans on Sunday headed to the polls in a second day of voting to elect 155 people who will rewrite the country’s dictatorship-era constitution.

Some 14 million people were eligible to vote this weekend in what many consider to be Chile’s most important election since its return to democracy 31 years ago.

According to the country’s Electoral Service over three million people, or approximately 20.4 percent of the electorate, cast their ballot Saturday,

After casting his ballot in the capital Santiago, President Sebastian Pinera expressed hope that they would have a constitution that captures the soul of the nation.

Many are reportedly voting for a system that “works for everyone, allowing all voices to be heard” and ensuring “that rights and duties are really fair for all human beings.”

Chile’s constitution dates from 1980, enacted at the height of dictator Augusto Pinochet’s 1973-1990 rule, and is widely blamed for blocking equitable progress in the country.

Analysts say the election will be a battle between candidates from parties on the left and the right, with independents not expected to draw any meaningful support.

Parties on the left broadly seek greater state control of mineral and other natural resources and more public spending on education, health, pensions and social welfare.

Those on the right, with a nod to the need to boost social support, largely defend the capitalist, free-market system they thank for Chile’s decades of economic growth.

Fighting Resumes In Afghanistan As Eid Ceasefire Ends

Zoe Maven
-
0
Fighting Resumes In Afghanistan As Eid Ceasefire Ends

Fighting between the Taliban and Afghan government forces resumed Sunday in the restive southern province of Helmand, ending a three-day ceasefire agreed by the warring sides.

An Afghan military spokesman and a local official said there were clashes on the outskirts of Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand, which has seen intense fighting since the United States began its final troop withdrawal from Afghanistan earlier this month,

Head of the Helmand provincial council, Attaullah Afghan told newsmen that fighting started early today and was still ongoing, adding that Taliban fighters attacked security checkpoints on the outskirts of Lashkar Gah and other districts.

The three-day truce initiated by the Taliban and swiftly agreed to by the Afghan government had largely held during the Eid holidays that ended on Saturday.

The calm was broken on Friday by a blast at a mosque on the outskirts of the Afghan capital, which killed 12 people including the imam leading Friday prayers.

The Taliban denied it was behind the attack which has been claimed by the Islamic State group, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist groups.

The truce was only the fourth agreed pause in fighting in the two-decades-long conflict.

It comes after negotiators from the Afghan government and Taliban said they had met in Doha on Friday to discuss speeding up peace talks, which opened in September but have made little headway.

Thousands Evacuated From India’s West Coast Ahead Of Cyclone

Zoe Maven
-
0
Thousands Evacuated From India’s West Coast Ahead Of Cyclone

India is evacuating thousands of people from low-lying areas along its western coast as a powerful cyclone that has killed at least six people is expected to make landfall on Tuesday morning in the state of Gujarat.

Cyclone Tauktae, which formed in the Arabian sea, has already brought lashing rain and winds, damaging houses and uprooting trees to parts of western and southern India.

India Meteorological Department said in a statement that the conditions were likely to intensify further during the 24 hours, and move north-northwestwards and reach Gujarat coast in the evening of 17th (May).

According to officials and statements as the cyclone has moved north at least six people have been killed in the western states of Goa and Karnataka.

Further south, 31 boats registered with the state of Tamil Nadu were missing and the cyclone is expected to cross Gujarat with wind gusts of up to 175 kmph

Nearly 150,000 people will be moved from villages and low-lying areas near the coast and directions have been issued to complete the evacuation process by Sunday evening, the Gujarat government said in a statement.

The meteorological agency also warned that there could be flooding of escape routes. Disruption to railway services was also expected until May 21.

Rescue and relief teams from the army, navy and coastguard, along with ships and aircraft, have also been deployed.

African Countries Hope To Secure Badly Needed Lending In Paris

Zoe Maven
-
0
African Countries Hope To Secure Badly Needed Lending In Paris

African and European leaders, as well as heads of multilateral lenders and institutions, are set to meet in Paris on Tuesday to try to find new solutions to financing Africa’s development needs.

The meet tagged “Summit on Financing African Economies” will be hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron who is calling for a “New Deal for financing Africa”.

The International Monetary Fund has projected that Africa was likely to face a financing gap of 290 billion dollars by 2023.

Although the continent experienced its first recession in half a century last year (-2.1%), growth is expected to rebound by 3.4% in 2021 and 4% in 2022.

He made the statement at the end of April saying Africa should not be abandoned to solutions that date back to the 1960s”, warning against the risk of a boomerang effect, between “reduced economic opportunities”, “forced migration” and “expansion of terrorism”.

A pause on public debt servicing introduced in April 2020 at the initiative of the Paris Club and the G20 after the stress caused by the pandemic has also provided some breathing space for developing countries, by suspending some 5.7 billion euros in interest payments.

China, Africa’s largest bilateral creditor, has provided at least $10.7 billion in global debt relief in 2020 and 2021.

However, Economic Experts in Africa continue to warn on Africa’s rising Debt profile and the Debt-trap Diplomacy of Lender Nations which continue to use the loans to gain leverage over the borrower.

1...2,2602,2612,262...2,557Page 2,261 of 2,557
Kingschat

© 2025 LN247. All Rights Reserved