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UN General Assembly calls for ‘humanitarian truce’ in Gaza
The UN General Assembly on Friday called by a large majority for an "immediate humanitarian truce" in Gaza, on the 21st day of the Israel-Hamas conflict as the Israeli army announced it was extending its ground operation into the shattered territory. The non-binding resolution, criticized by Israel and the United States for failing to mention Hamas, received 120 votes in favor, 14 against and 45 abstentions from UN members. Israel angrily dismissed the measure, and said the country would use "every means at our disposal" in confronting Hamas. "Today is a day that will go down as infamy. We have all witnessed that the UN no longer holds even one ounce of legitimacy or relevance," Israeli ambassador Gilad Erdan said, telling the assembly: "Shame on you." "Israel will continue to defend itself. We will defend our future, our very existence by ridding the world of Hamas's evil so that it can never threaten anyone else again," he said. Hamas meanwhile welcomed the call for a break in the conflict. "We demand its immediate application to allow the entry of fuel and humanitarian aid for civilians," said a Hamas statement. The rival Palestinian Authority's foreign ministry said that as Israel's campaign "reaches a new peak of brutality," there was "a solid international position rejecting Israel's unhinged aggression". The text proposed by Jordan in the name of 22 Arab countries called for "an immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities." An earlier version called for an "immediate ceasefire." Jordan's Ambassador Mahmoud Hmoud, just before the vote, stressed that: "It is not merely our responsibility, but a profound moral obligation to champion the cause of peace." Israel has heavily bombarded Gaza since Hamas gunmen stormed across the border on October 7, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping over 220 others, according to Israeli officials. The health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, in an update on Friday, said the Israeli strikes had now killed 7,326 people, mainly civilians and many of them children. The resolution co-sponsored by nearly 50 other countries centered largely on the dire humanitarian situation in sealed-off Gaza as Israel presses on with its bombardment. The document urges "immediate" provision of water, food, medical supplies, fuel and electricity and unhindered access for UN and other humanitarian agencies trying to help the Palestinians. The draft condemns "all acts of violence aimed at Palestinian and Israeli civilians, including all acts of terrorism and indiscriminate attacks" but it does not mention Hamas. The resolution exposed a division within Western countries, with France voting for the measure; Germany, Italy and Britain abstaining; while Austria and the United States voted against. "It is outrageous that this resolution fails to name the perpetrators of the October 7 terrorist attack," US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said. "Another key word missing in this resolution is hostage," she added. The post UN General Assembly calls for ‘humanitarian truce’ in Gaza appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
‘Our lives stopped’: Relatives plead for Israel hostages
Moran Betzer Tayar, wracked by anguish about the kidnapping of her nephew and his wife by Hamas fighters on October 7, summed up her feelings during a press conference: "On Saturday morning, our lives stopped." The 54-year-old, speaking in Paris on Wednesday, is on a European tour with other relatives of hostages snatched by the Palestinian militant group during a raid that killed more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians. Israel's retaliation has so far killed more than 6,500 people, including 2,704 children, Hamas says. The Islamists are still believed to be holding more than 200 hostages. It is the plight of these people that Betzer Tayar -- who says she is "worried sick" and cannot eat -- and her compatriots are desperate to keep in the public eye. She told a press conference organized by the Council of Jewish Institutions in France how her relatives were snatched from Kibbutz Nirim, where community members were reportedly besieged for nine hours in one of dozens of attacks staged on 7 October. 'They got me' Two sisters -- Shani and May Yerushalmi -- joined Betzer Tayar to describe how their sister, Eden, was taken from the bar where she was working. "She called us, screaming, saying that terrorists were shooting at them," said Shani Yerushalmi, describing the attack at a rave party where 270 people were killed. Eden hid among bodies of her friends in a car, her sister said, before trying to use a bush as cover. "She told us she could hear the terrorists coming," Shani Yerushalmi said. "We knew it was the last moment with her. Her last sentence was: Shani, they got me." She played the screams of her sister, recorded on her phone, to the gathered journalists. Another of the women on stage, Ofir Weinberg, described how her cousin Itay Svirsky was taken from Kibbutz Beeri, where Hamas fighters killed at least 100 people, according to Israeli authorities. Messages began to pour into the family WhatsApp group on 7 October -- the calls for help and the progress of the attackers documented minute by minute. "I can't even begin to describe the feeling you have when you feel like you're losing your family one by one," said Weinberg. The families have had no news of their loved ones since the Hamas attack. The Israeli army has confirmed only that they are among the hostages taken to Gaza. They are asking for the Red Cross to be allowed to visit their relatives to answer the most basic questions -- whether they are still alive, where they are, and whether they are hurt. But political questions remain taboo. Those caught in the middle of the tragedy decline to speculate on the best course of action for their loved ones: a ground invasion of Gaza or a ceasefire and negotiations. "We're not representing the country... We don't tell Israel what to do," said Ofir Weinberg. "I don't have the answers. I'm just a citizen." The post ‘Our lives stopped’: Relatives plead for Israel hostages appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Hundreds dead in Israel-Gaza war as Hezbollah launches attacks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday warned of a "long and difficult" war, as fighting with Hamas left hundreds dead on both sides after a surprise attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group. The conflict's bloodiest escalation in decades saw Hamas carry out a massive rocket barrage and ground, air and sea offensive Saturday that Israel's army said had killed more than 200 Israelis and wounded 1,000, while soldiers and civilians were taken hostage. Gaza officials said intense Israeli air strikes on the coastal enclave had brought the Palestinian death toll to at least 256, with nearly 1,788 wounded. As fighting raged Sunday, Lebanon's powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah movement said it had fired "large numbers of artillery shells and guided missiles" at Israeli positions in a contested border areas "in solidarity" with Hamas. Israel's army had earlier said it fired artillery on southern Lebanon in response to a shot from the area without identifying the attackers. "We are embarking on a long and difficult war that was forced on us by a murderous Hamas attack," Netanyahu said on X, formerly Twitter, early Sunday. "The first stage is ending at this time by the destruction of the vast majority of the enemy forces that infiltrated our territory," he added, pledging no "respite" until victory. Overnight Israel battered the Gaza Strip with air strikes as rockets from the blockaded Palestinians territory rained on Israel. Sunday morning gun still battles raged between Israeli forces and hundreds of Hamas fighters in multiple locations, including at the Sderot police station across the border from Gaza. Police and Israeli army special forces "neutralized 10 armed terrorists" who were holed up inside the station, a police statement said. The bloody air, sea and land attack launched Saturday by Hamas came half a century after the outbreak of the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, taking Israel and the world by surprise. As the UN Security Council called an emergency meeting for Sunday, President Joe Biden voiced "rock solid and unwavering" support for the US ally and warned "against any other party hostile to Israel seeking advantage in this situation". - Hostages and 'so many bodies' - The Israeli army said overnight its forces were still engaged in gun battles in a string of Israel locations, in an operation labelled "Swords of Iron", as reservists were being called up. Hamas earlier released images of several Israelis taken captive, and another army spokesman, Daniel Hagari, confirmed that soldiers and civilians had been kidnapped. "I can't give figures about them at the moment," he said late Saturday, adding there was also a "severe hostage situation" in the Negev desert communities of Beeri and Ofakim east of Gaza. According to Ynet Israeli news website "dozens of Israeli captives, including numerous women, children and elders, are believed to have been taken into the Gaza Strip". The fighting prompted Israel to cut off Gaza's electricity, fuel and goods supplies, Netanyahu said. The Islamist group started the multi-pronged attack around 6:30 am (0330 GMT) on Saturday with thousands of rockets aimed as far as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, some bypassing the Iron Dome defense system and hitting buildings. Hamas fighters -- traveling in ground vehicles, motorized paragliders and boats -- breached Gaza's security barrier and attacked nearby Israeli towns and military posts, opening fire on residents and passersby. "Send help, please!" one Israeli woman sheltering with her two-year-old child pleaded as militants outside opened fire and tried to break into their safe room, Israeli media reported. Bodies were strewn on the streets of the Israeli town of Sderot near Gaza and inside cars, the windscreens shattered by a hail of bullets. "I saw many bodies, of terrorists and civilians," one man told AFP, standing beside covered corpses on a road near Gevim Kibbutz in southern Israel. "So many bodies, so many bodies." AFP journalists witnessed Palestinian armed men gather around a burning Israeli tank, and others driving a seized Israeli military Humvee vehicle back into Gaza, where they were met by cheering crowds. - 'Gates of hell' - Israeli army Major General Ghasan Alyan warned Hamas had "opened the gates of hell". An AFP journalist in Gaza saw clouds of dust from the remains of bombed residential towers which Gaza's interior ministry said contained 100 apartments. Israel's military said it had warned residents to evacuate before targeting the multi-story buildings used by Hamas. The escalation follows months of rising violence, mostly in the occupied West Bank, and tensions around Gaza's border and at contested holy sites in Jerusalem. Before Saturday, at least 247 Palestinians, 32 Israelis and two foreigners had been killed this year, including combatants and civilians, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials. Hamas labeled its attack "Operation Al-Aqsa Flood" and called on "resistance fighters in the West Bank" as well as in "Arab and Islamic nations" to join the battle. Its armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, claimed to have fired more than 5,000 rockets, while Hecht said Israel had counted more than 3,000 incoming rockets. Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said the group was on the "verge of a great victory", vowing to press ahead with "the battle to liberate our land and our prisoners languishing in occupation prisons must be completed". - 'Dangerous precipice' - Air raid sirens wailed across southern and central Israel, as well as in Jerusalem on Saturday, and there were major disruptions at Tel Aviv airport where many carriers canceled flights. Israel said schools would remain closed on Sunday which marks the start of the week. Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, leading to Israel's crippling blockade of the impoverished enclave of 2.3 million people. Israel and Hamas have since fought several wars. The last major military exchange, in May, killed 34 Palestinians and one Israeli. Violence also erupted across the West Bank, including annexed east Jerusalem, with five Palestinians killed and 120 wounded in clashes with Israeli forces and settlers, Palestinian medical services said. Countries around the world condemned the wave of attacks by Hamas, which Israel, the United States and European Union consider a terrorist group. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the attack "terrorism in its most despicable form". But Hamas drew support from other foes of Israel, with Iran's supreme leader declaring he was "proud". UN Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland warned of "a dangerous precipice" and called on all sides to "pull back from the brink". (Rosie Scammell with Adel Zaanoun in Gaza) az-rsc-jd/hkb © Agence France-Presse The post Hundreds dead in Israel-Gaza war as Hezbollah launches attacks appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Israel says at ‘war’ after rocket barrages, militant infiltration
Palestinian militants have begun a "war" against Israel, the country's defense minister said Saturday after a barrage of rockets were fired and fighters from the Palestinian enclave infiltrated Israel, a major escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Violence between Israel and the Palestinians has been surging for almost two years, with fatalities in the occupied West Bank hitting a scale not seen in years. At least two people were killed in Israel, officials said. Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Palestinian militant group Hamas has "launched a war against the State of Israel." "Troops are fighting against the enemy at every location," he said in a statement. AFP journalists said Israel's military began air strikes on Gaza, following the rocket barrage from inside the territory which is sealed off from Israel by a militarized border barrier. "Dozens of IDF fighter jets are currently striking a number of targets belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip," the military said. Rockets had earlier streamed across the sky repeatedly after the first launches from multiple locations across the Palestinian territory from 6:30 am (0330 GMT), AFP journalists in Gaza City reported. The armed wing of Hamas, which controls Gaza, said it was behind the aerial assault, saying its militants had launched thousands of rockets and its fighters seized an Israeli tank. Israel's army did not immediately comment on the tank claim when contacted by AFP. Israeli security chiefs convened over the violence, which occurred on Shabbat and during a Jewish holiday. Air raid sirens wailed across southern and central Israel, and the army urged people to stay near bomb shelters. AFP journalists in Jerusalem heard multiple rockets being intercepted by Israeli air defense systems. Sirens blared across the city on more occasions than in any Gaza conflict in the past three years. "We decided to put an end to all the crimes of the occupation (Israel). Their time for rampaging without being held accountable is over," the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said. "We announce Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and we fired, in the first strike of 20 minutes, more than 5,000 rockets." Hundreds of Gazans flee Hundreds of residents fled their homes in eastern Gaza to move away from the border with Israel, an AFP correspondent said. Men, women and children carrying blankets and food left their homes, mostly in the northeastern part of the territory, the reporter said. Israel's military said Hamas launched "massive shooting of rockets", while at the same time "terrorists infiltrated into Israeli territory in a number of different locations". Hamas "will face the consequences and responsibility for these events", it said in a statement. In Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, some Palestinian residents cheered and blew their car horns as sirens blared. A regional council for Israeli communities northeast of Gaza said its president was killed in an exchange of fire with attackers from Gaza. Separately, a woman in her 60s was killed "due to a direct hit" in Israel, the Magen David Adom emergency services said. Fifteen others were wounded, two of them seriously, medics said. An AFP photographer in the coastal city of Tel Aviv saw a gaping hole in a building, with residents gathered outside. Hamas calls to 'join battle' Hamas called on "the resistance fighters in the West Bank" as well as "our Arab and Islamic nations" to join the battle, in a statement posted on Telegram. The United States condemned the Hamas fire and urged "all sides to refrain from violence and retaliatory attacks." "Terror and violence solve nothing," the US Office of Palestinian Affairs wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Israel has imposed a crippling blockade on Gaza since 2007 after Hamas took power. Palestinian militants and Israel have fought several devastating wars since. The latest violence follows heightened tensions in September, when Israel closed the border to Gazan workers for two weeks. The shutdown of the crossing came as Palestinian demonstrators along the border burned tires and threw rocks and petrol bombs at Israeli troops, who responded with tear gas and live bullets. Resuming workers' passage on 28 September had raised hopes of calming the situation in impoverished Gaza, home to 2.3 million people. In May, an exchange of Israeli air strikes and Gaza rocket fire killed 34 Palestinians and one Israeli. So far this year at least 247 Palestinians, 32 Israelis and two foreigners have been killed in the conflict, including combatants and civilians on both sides, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials. The vast majority of fatalities have occurred in the West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. There has been a rise in army raids, Palestinian attacks targeting Israelis and Israeli settler violence against Palestinians and their property. The rising violence this year came against the backdrop of divisive judicial reforms introduced by the hard-right government of President Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption charges he denies. Several far-right ministers in Netanyahu's cabinet live in West Bank settlements deemed illegal under international law. The post Israel says at ‘war’ after rocket barrages, militant infiltration appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Tony Bennett, last of classic American crooners, dead at 96
Tony Bennett, the last in a generation of classic American crooners whose ceaselessly cheery spirit bridged generations to make him a hitmaker across seven decades, died Friday in New York. He was 96. Raised in an era when big bands defined US pop music, Bennett achieved an improbable second act when he started winning over young audiences in the 1990s -- not by reinventing himself but by demonstrating his sheer joy in belting out the standards. And then at age 88, Bennett, in 2014 became the oldest person ever to reach number one on the US album sales chart through a collection of duets with Lady Gaga -- who became his friend and touring companion but only one of a long list of younger stars who rushed to work with the singing great. Bennett's publicist, Sylvia Weiner, announced his death. Likened since the start of his career to Frank Sinatra, Bennett first tried to distance himself but eventually followed much of the same path as other crooners of yore -- singing in nightclubs, on television, and for movies, although his attempts to act ended quickly. His gift proved to be his stage presence. With a welcoming smile and dapper suit, he sang with gusto and a smooth vibrato in a strong, clearly enunciated voice, which he kept in shape through training from the operatic Bel Canto tradition. Starting with his recording of the film song "Because of You" in 1951, Bennett sang dozens of hits including "Rags to Riches," "Stranger in Paradise" and, in what would become his signature tune, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco," which landed him two of his career's 19 Grammy Awards. But the British Invasion led by The Beatles initially took a toll on the singer, whose music suddenly sounded quaint and antiquated. He nearly died of a cocaine overdose in 1979 before sobering up and eventually reviving his career. "When rap came along, or disco, whatever the new fashion was at the moment, I didn't try to find something that would fit whatever the style was of the whole music scene," Bennett told the British culture magazine Clash. "I just stayed myself and sang sincerely and tried to just stay honest with myself -- never compromising, just doing the best songs that I could think of for the public. "And luckily it just paid off." Singing as hardscrabble youth Tony Bennett -- his stage name came after advice from showbiz A-lister Bob Hope -- was born Anthony Dominick Benedetto in the Astoria neighborhood of New York's Queens borough. His father was a struggling grocer who immigrated from southern Italy's Calabria region, to which his mother also traced her ancestry. He showed early promise as an entertainer, singing at age nine next to legendary New York mayor Fiorello LaGuardia when he ceremonially opened the city's Triborough Bridge, now known as the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge. But his father's death at age 10, at a time when the United States was still struggling to exit the Great Depression, led him to leave school and earn money through jobs including singing at Italian restaurants and caricature painting, which remained a lifelong side career. During World War II, Bennett was drafted into the 63rd Infantry Division and was sent to France and Germany. But he was demoted after cursing out an officer from the South who objected to Bennett dining with an African American friend in the then racially segregated army. As punishment, Bennett spent his tour of duty digging out bodies and shipping them. But after the Allied victory, Bennett found an unexpected break into music as he waited with fellow troops in Wiesbaden, Germany to return home. With the city's opera house still intact, a US Army band performed a weekly show to be broadcast on military radio across Germany. Taken on as the band's librarian, Bennett was quickly impressed with his voice and was made one of four vocalists. "During this period in the army, I enjoyed the most musical freedom I've ever had in my life," Bennett later wrote in his autobiography, "The Good Life." "I could sing whatever I wanted, and there was no one around to tell me any different," he wrote. Outspoken against racism and war When he returned to the United States, he took formal singing lessons through the GI Bill, which covered educational expenses for returning troops. His experiences made Bennett a lifelong liberal. He became especially enraged in the 1950s when he played in Miami with jazz pioneer Duke Ellington, who was not allowed to attend a press party due to segregation at the hotel. In a then risky move for a popular entertainer, he accepted an invitation from singer Harry Belafonte to join civil rights icon Martin Luther King in the 1965 march from Selma, Alabama in support of equal voting rights for African Americans. He later wrote in his memoir that the hostility of the white state troopers reminded him of Nazi Germany. He was also an outspoken opponent of war, at times raising controversy. "The first time I saw a dead German, that's when I became a pacifist," he told popular radio host Howard Stern days after the 11 September 2001 attacks. Late in life, still cool Bennett was married three times and had four children including Antonia Bennett, who has followed his path as a singer of pop and jazz standards. But his son Danny Bennett was most instrumental in his father's career, aggressively courting MTV and other players in the pop world as a manager for his father. By the early 1990s, Bennett -- his style and look little changed from the 1960s, except for more gray hair -- was appearing in music videos on MTV and singing warm-up at concerts by alternative rock giants such as Smashing Pumpkins and Porno for Pyros. Proof that Bennett was back came in 1993 when he presented a prize at the MTV Video Music Awards alongside the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who hailed his cool factor and playfully sang part of "I Left My Heart in San Francisco." His career only kept building and a decade later, he released three successful albums of duets. On one of them, "Body and Soul," he sang with Amy Winehouse in her last recording before she died in 2011 at age 27. He marked his 90th birthday with a star-studded concert at New York's Radio City Music Hall, which was turned into a television special and album. The title was taken from a song popularized by Bennett: "The Best Is Yet to Come." Bennett toured the United States and Europe into his final decade, playing his last public performance before the coronavirus pandemic halted touring in New Jersey on 11 March 2020. Soon after, he revealed he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2016. He had kept his condition quiet for years. Upon turning 95, Bennett played two more birthday concerts, again at Radio City Music Hall, with Lady Gaga -- shows billed as his farewell to New York. He then canceled the remainder of his 2021 tour dates on "doctors' orders." "And let the music play as long as there's a song to sing / And I will stay younger than spring," he crooned during the first of his farewell shows, in a rendition of his ballad "This Is All I Ask." "You've been a good audience," Bennett said prior to his encore. "I love this audience." The post Tony Bennett, last of classic American crooners, dead at 96 appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
25 killed in militant attack on school in western Uganda: police
Twenty-five people including children have died in an overnight "terrorist attack" on a school in western Uganda by the Islamic State-aligned Allied Democratic Forces militia, the national police spokesman said Saturday. Fred Enanga said the ADF, which is based in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, attacked a secondary school in Mpondwe late Friday where "a dormitory was burnt and food store looted". "So far 25 bodies have been recovered from the school and transferred to Bwera Hospital", he said, referring to a nearby town close to the DR Congo border. Boys and girls were among the dead, he added. "Also recovered are eight victims, who remain in critical condition at Bwera hospital," he said. The school is less than two kilometres (1.2 miles) from the border. District Commissioner Joe Walusimbi told AFP that a number of students were still unaccounted for. Enanga said the army and police units were in "hot pursuit" of the attackers who fled in the direction of Virunga National Park over the border in DR Congo. A vast expanse on the border with Uganda and Rwanda, Virunga is the oldest nature reserve in Africa and is renowned worldwide as a sanctuary for rare species, including mountain gorillas. Militias -- of which dozens are active in eastern DR Congo -- also the use the park as a hideout. Originally insurgents in Uganda, the ADF gained a foothold in eastern DR Congo in the 1990s and have since been accused of killing thousands of civilians. Since 2019, some ADF attacks in eastern DR Congo have been claimed by the Islamic State group, which describes the fighters as a local offshoot, the Islamic State Central Africa Province. It is not the first attack on a school in Uganda attributed to the militia. In June 1998, 80 students were burnt to death in their dormitories in an ADF attack on Kichwamba Technical Institute near the border of DR Congo. More than 100 students were abducted. Uganda and DR Congo launched a joint offensive in 2021 to drive the ADF out of their Congolese strongholds, but the measures have so far failed to end the group's attacks. In March this year, the United States announced a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the capture of the ADF's leader. The post 25 killed in militant attack on school in western Uganda: police appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Pinoys among those evacuated as Sudan fighting enters 2nd week
Sudan's Rapid Support Forces said Sunday it had "coordinated with" American troops to evacuate Washington's embassy in the country, where fighting between the paramilitary group and the army entered a second week following a brief lull. More than 150 people from various nations had already reached the safety of Saudi Arabia in the first announced evacuation of civilians. Foreign countries have said they are preparing for the potential evacuation of thousands more of their nationals, even though Sudan's main airport remains closed. "The Rapid Support Forces Command has coordinated with the U.S Forces Mission consisting of 6 aircraft, for evacuating diplomats and their families on Sunday morning," said a tweet by the heavily armed paramilitary group. The RSF pledged "full cooperation with all diplomatic missions, and providing all necessary means of protection, and ensuring their safe return to their countries". The group previously said it was ready to "partially" open "all airports" in Sudan to evacuate foreign citizens. It was not possible to verify which airports the RSF controls. Fighting has left hundreds dead and thousands wounded, while survivors cope with shortages of electricity and food. On Saturday, Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry announced the "safe arrival" of 91 of its citizens along with nationals from Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Tunisia, Pakistan, India, Bulgaria, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Canada and Burkina Faso. As the kingdom's naval forces transported the civilians, including diplomats and international officials, across the Red Sea from Port Sudan to Jeddah, fighting resumed in Sudan's capital Khartoum after a temporary truce saw gunfire momentarily die down on Friday, the first day of Eid al-Fitr. Eid is normally a major celebration for Sudanese marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. This year it is marked by fear, grief and hunger. Earlier on Saturday, Sudan's army said its chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan had received calls from leaders of multiple countries to "facilitate and guarantee safety for evacuating citizens and diplomatic missions". It noted that the evacuations were expected to begin "in the coming hours", adding that the US, Britain, France and China were planning to airlift their nationals out of Khartoum using military planes. Burhan told Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV that the army was in control of "all airports, except for Khartoum airport" and one in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur. Urban warfare began on 15 April between forces loyal to Burhan and those of his deputy-turned-rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. Daglo commands the RSF, which emerged from the Janjaweed fighters unleashed in Darfur by former strongman Omar al-Bashir, drawing accusations of war crimes. The former allies seized power in a 2021 coup but later fell out in a bitter power struggle. On Saturday morning, heavy gunfire, loud explosions and fighter jets were heard in many parts of the capital, according to witnesses. The army announced Friday agreement to a three-day ceasefire. Daglo said in a statement he had "discussed the current crisis" with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and was "focused on the humanitarian truce, safe passages, and protecting humanitarian workers". Five humanitarians, including four from UN-linked agencies, have so far been killed. Two 24-hour ceasefires announced earlier in the week were also ignored. In Khartoum, a city of five million people, the conflict has left terrified civilians sheltering inside their homes. Many have ventured out only to get urgent food supplies -- stocks of which are dwindling -- or to flee the city. While Khartoum has seen some of the fiercest battles, they have occurred across the country. Late Friday, the army accused the RSF of attacks in the capital's twin city of Omdurman where they released "a large number of inmates" from a prison, accusations the group denies. Battles have raged in Darfur, where Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in the city of El Fasher said their medics had been "overwhelmed" by the number of patients with gunshot wounds, many of them children. More plans are being made to evacuate foreigners, with South Korea and Japan deploying forces to nearby countries, and the European Union weighing a similar move. The German ministers of defence and foreign affairs held a crisis meeting Saturday on a possible evacuation, after three military transport planes had to turn back Wednesday, according to German weekly Der Spiegel. The World Health Organization (WHO) said 413 people had been killed and 3,551 wounded in the fighting across Sudan, but the actual death toll is thought to be higher. More than two-thirds of hospitals in Khartoum and neighbouring states are now "out of service", and at least four hospitals in North Kordofan state were shelled, the doctors' union said. The World Food Programme said the violence could plunge millions more into hunger in a country where one-third of the population needs aid. Burhan and Daglo's dispute centred on the planned integration of the RSF into the regular army, a key condition for a deal aimed at restoring Sudan's democratic transition after the military toppled Bashir in April 2019 following mass citizen protests. In October 2021, Burhan and Daglo joined forces to oust a civilian government installed after Bashir's downfall. Daglo now says the coup was a "mistake", while Burhan believes it was "necessary" to include more groups into politics. The post Pinoys among those evacuated as Sudan fighting enters 2nd week appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
VP Sara: Protect kids vs NPA recruitment
VICE President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte is asking for help to protect the school children so they would not be easily recruited by the New People's Army (NPA)......»»
Taiwan thanks world, PLA shows simulated attacks in new year’s messages
China's People's Liberation Army puts out a new year's music video called 'You Only Win by Coming Home' and sung partially in Hokkien, widely spoken in Taiwan as well as the Chinese province of Fujian.....»»
Taiwan thanks world; PLA shows simulated attacks in new year’s messages
China's People's Liberation Army puts out a new year's music video called 'You Only Win by Coming Home' and sung partially in Hokkien, widely spoken in Taiwan as well as the Chinese province of Fujian.....»»
Xinhua Asia-Pacific news summary at 1600 GMT, Jan. 18
ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan military said in a statement that the country had carried out effective strikes early Thursday morning against hideouts inside Iran used by "terrorists" responsible for recent attacks in Pakistan. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan army, said that the precision strikes were carried out by "using killer drones, rockets, loitering munitions, and stand-o.....»»
Xinhua Asia-Pacific news summary at 1600 GMT, Jan. 18
ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan military said in a statement that the country had carried out effective strikes early Thursday morning against hideouts inside Iran used by "terrorists" responsible for recent attacks in Pakistan. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan army, said that the precision strikes were carried out by "using killer drones, rockets, loitering munitions, and stand-o.....»»
PH army’s new cyber defense group questioned over potential use for attacks
In 2018, several websites of progressive organizations and media outfits became victims of relentless DDoS attacks. A probe by Sweden-based Qurium Media Foundation revealed that the attacks came from the Philippine Army, including activities linked to the Chief of Staff for Intelligence of the Philippine Army. The post PH army’s new cyber defense group questioned over potential use for attacks appeared first on Bulatlat......»»
NSC laments Reds’ order to intensify attacks
The National Security Council slammed yesterday the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front for calling on its armed members to launch fresh and bigger attacks against the government despite ongoing exploratory talks on possible peace negotiations in Oslo, Norway......»»
Israeli president tells Musk he has ‘huge role’ in anti-Semitism
Israel's president told Elon Musk on Monday that the tech mogul has "a huge role to play" to combat anti-Semitism, which his social media platform is accused of spreading. The meeting came after the world's richest person visited a kibbutz community devastated in attacks by Hamas militants on October 7, and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence officials. Musk has been criticised over what critics say is a proliferation of hate speech on X, formerly Twitter, since his takeover of the social media site in October 2022. He has been accused by the White House of "abhorrent promotion" of anti-Semitism after endorsing a conspiracy theory seen as accusing Jews of trying to weaken white majorities. Israel's figurehead President Isaac Herzog told him: "Unfortunately, we are inundated by anti-Semitism, which is Jew hatred. "You have a huge role to play," he said. "And I think we need to fight it together because on the platforms which you lead, unfortunately, there's a harbouring of a lot of... anti-Semitism." Musk did not mention anti-Semitism in his video remarks released by Herzog's office, but said Hamas militants "have been fed propaganda since they were children". "It's remarkable what humans are capable of if they're fed falsehoods, from when they are children; they will think that the murder of innocent people is a good thing." On October 7 Hamas militants broke through Gaza's militarised border into southern Israel to kill around 1,200 people and seize about 240 hostages, according to Israeli officials, in the worst-ever attack since the nation's founding. Vowing to destroy Hamas in response, Israel has carried out a relentless bombardment of targets in Gaza, alongside a ground invasion, that the Hamas government says has killed almost 15,000. A temporary truce has been in effect since Friday. Talk of satellites Earlier Monday, Netanyahu and Musk discussed "security aspects of artificial intelligence" with senior defence officials, the Prime Minister's Office said. Musk and Netanyahu held a conversation on X following their tour of Kfar Aza, one of the communities attacked by Hamas. "We have to demilitarise Gaza after the destruction of Hamas," Netanyahu said, calling for a campaign to "deradicalise" the Palestinian territory. "Then we also have to rebuild Gaza, and I hope to have our Arab friends help in that context." Netanyahu told Musk he hoped to resume United States-mediated normalisation talks with Saudi Arabia after Hamas's defeat and "expand the circle of peace beyond anything imaginable". The war stalled progress towards a Saudi-Israel normalisation deal, and in early November Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler denounced the conduct of Israeli forces fighting Hamas in Gaza. Israel's Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi said his country had reached an understanding in principle on the use of Starlink satellites, operated by Musk's company SpaceX, in Israel and the Gaza Strip "with the approval of the Israeli Ministry of Communications". Starlink is a network of satellites in low Earth orbit that can provide internet to remote locations, or areas that have had normal communications infrastructure disabled. In September, Netanyahu urged Musk "to stop not only anti-Semitism, or rolling it back as best you can, but any collective hatred" on X. Musk said at the time that while his platform could not stop all hate speech before it was posted, he was "generally against attacking any group, no matter who it is". X Corp is currently suing nonprofit Media Matters on the grounds that it has driven away advertisers by portraying the site as rife with anti-Semitic content. Musk has also threatened to file suit against the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish advocacy group, over its claims that problematic and racist speech has soared on the site since he completed his $44-billion takeover......»»
FACT CHECK: Video shows World Youth Day gathering, not Palestinian victims
A video taken in August 2023 shows children sleeping outdoors during World Youth Day in Portugal. They are falsely presented as victims of attacks by the Israel Defense Forces......»»
A powerful indictment of Israel’s war vs Palestine
As Israel continues its deadly attacks on Gaza, with civilian deaths nearing 9,000, mostly children and women in over 11,000 targets, the United Nations top human rights body has warned that the “disproportionate attacks… could amount to war crimes.”.....»»
Iraqi religious leader demands closure of American embassy
Influential religious leader Moqtada Sadr called on the Iraqi government Friday to close the United States embassy in Baghdad because of Washington’s “unconditional support” for Israel in its war with Palestinian terrorist group Hamas. “If the government and parliament do not respond, we will take a different position that we will announce later,” the Shiite cleric, who often criticizes the government, warned on X. On 22 October, Washington ordered all non-essential staff to leave its embassy in Baghdad’s high security Green Zone and its consulate in Arbil, capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region. Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has criticized the “Zionist occupation” since Israel began its bombardment of Gaza, calling it a “genocide” of the Palestinian people. On 7 October, Hamas militants stormed into Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians, who were shot, mutilated, or burned to death on the first day of the raid, according to Israeli officials. Israel says around 1,500 Hamas fighters were killed in clashes before its army regained control of the areas under attack. More than 7,300 Palestinians, mainly civilians, have been killed across Gaza in relentless Israeli bombardments in response to the attacks, according to the Hamas health ministry in the territory. Iraqis stage regular protests to condemn the Israeli bombing and in support of the Palestinians. Militia attacks All Iraqi political factions support the Palestinian cause, and like its neighbor Iran, Israel’s sworn enemy, Iraq does not recognize the Israeli state. US forces and their coalition allies in Iraq have been the target of attacks mostly claimed by the group “Islamic Resistance in Iraq” on Telegram channels tied to pro-Iran factions. On Thursday, the Pentagon said there had been 16 such attacks in Iraq and Syria this month, and blamed “Iranian-supported militias.” The Baghdad government is supported by parties that have close links with Tehran, but it is working to maintain relations with the US, which has 2,500 soldiers on Iraqi territory. On Monday, Baghdad called the attacks on American soldiers “unacceptable” and promised to investigate. WITH AFP The post Iraqi religious leader demands closure of American embassy appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Nearly 29,000 people flee southern Lebanon
Nearly 29,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon amid deadly exchanges between Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters and the Israeli army, a United Nations agency said Friday. A total of 28,965 people have been displaced, mainly in the country’s south, the International Organization for Migration said in an update, adding that the figure had risen by 37 percent since 23 October. Some have found refuge with family members elsewhere in the country, while those who can afford it have been able to rent apartments on a short-term basis. But with Lebanon in the grips of an economic crisis that has plunged most of the population into poverty, many are living in makeshift shelters in the south’s larger towns. Since Palestinian militant group Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip on 7 October, Lebanon’s southern border has seen tit-for-tat exchanges between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah, a Hamas ally. At least 58 people have been killed in the cross-border exchanges of fire, most of them Hezbollah fighters but also including at least four civilians, one of them Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah. Soldiers and volunteers on Thursday were battling a blaze on Lebanon’s southern border caused by Israeli bombing overnight, local officials said. Mayor of the border village of Alma al-Shaab, Jean Ghafari, said fire broke out after Israeli bombing late Wednesday. “The blaze reached the edges of the village after midnight” and is still burning, he told Agence France-Presse, adding that it “has come close to houses.” The municipality said some 70 percent of the village’s population had fled due to Israeli attacks. The post Nearly 29,000 people flee southern Lebanon appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
US says anti-Iran strikes in Syria hit ammunition depots
The United States said Friday it sought to degrade ammunition supplies of Iranian-linked militias with strikes in Syria but insisted it did not want to widen the Middle East conflict. The Pentagon on Thursday announced air strikes on two sites in eastern Syria it said were used by Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) after a string of attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. "The purpose for those two sites that we targeted was to have a significant impact on future IRGC and Iran-backed militia group operations," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Friday. "It went right at storage facilities and ammo depots that we know will be used to support the work of these militia groups, particularly in Syria." "The main goal was to disrupt that ability and also to deter -- to prevent -- future attacks," he said. The White House earlier said that President Joe Biden had relayed a direct warning to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei against militias' strikes on US troops in Syria and Iraq, where US forces are stationed as part of efforts against the Islamic State group, which also has clashed with Shiite Iran. There have been at least 14 attacks on US and allied forces in Iraq and six in Syria since October 17, a period in which 21 American military personnel suffered minor injuries and one contractor died from a cardiac incident, according to the Pentagon. The US strikes on Thursday were the first on Iranian interests since March, breaking a stretch of calm after the Biden administration opened quiet diplomacy with the US arch-enemy that led to a prisoner swap and conversations on Iran's disputed nuclear program. The October 7 assault by Hamas and Israel's retaliatory strikes have inflamed the region. Iran's clerical leaders back Hamas, while the United States is the foremost ally of Israel. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in a statement Thursday, said that the strikes were "narrowly tailored" to protect US personnel. "They are separate and distinct from the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, and do not constitute a shift in our approach to the Israel-Hamas conflict," Austin said. The Pentagon said Friday evening that its current assessment is the strikes did not cause casualties. 'Finger on the trigger' In new pressure, the United States -- which already considers Hamas and the Revolutionary Guards to be terrorist organizations -- said it was imposing sanctions on a Hamas official based in Iran and members of the IRGC. The Biden administration has vowed to target the finances of Hamas, which holds hundreds of millions of dollars in global assets, according to US Treasury Department estimates. Iran also has a close relationship with Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militia and political movement that has repeatedly fired at Israel but has so far stopped short of opening a full second front. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Friday that he has spoken with Lebanese and Palestinian militants and they "have their finger on the trigger" if Israel expands its ground operation into Gaza. Speaking to US National Public Radio from the United Nations, Amir-Abdollahian said the militants' actions would be "much more powerful and deeper than what you’ve witnessed." "Therefore I believe that if this situation continues and women and children and civilians are still killed in Gaza and the West Bank, anything will be possible," he said. Amir-Abdollahian insisted, however, that militants would decide their own actions, saying, "We don't really want this conflict to spread out." Addressing the General Assembly on Thursday, Amir-Abdollahian said that the Palestinians "as a nation under occupation" have the "legitimate right to resist the occupation using all available methods, including armed struggle." Hamas militants on October 7 stormed out of the blockaded Gaza Strip and killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, including children, the elderly and revelers at a music festival, and took more than 220 hostages in the deadliest attack in Israel's history. Israel has struck back with a relentless bombing campaign which Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry says has killed 7,326 people, mostly civilians, among them 3,038 children. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, meeting Friday with Amir-Abdollahian, urged Iran to work toward the "unconditional and immediate release of hostages held in Gaza." The post US says anti-Iran strikes in Syria hit ammunition depots appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»