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Israel bombards Gaza’s Rafah as ground offensive looms

Israel bombards Gaza’s Rafah as ground offensive looms

The Israeli military has launched air raids on Rafah in southern Gaza after warning of an imminent ground offensive in the border city where an estimated 1.4 million Palestinians have sought shelter since fleeing attacks across the enclave. More than four months of relentless attacks by land, air and sea have flattened much of the Gaza Strip, pushing its population of 2.3 million to the brink of famine, according to the United Nations. International concern has in recent weeks centred on Rafah, where a ground invasion could displace hundreds of thousands of Palestinians across the frontier with Egypt. The last city untouched by Israeli ground troops, Rafah also serves as the main entry point of humanitarian aid via neighbouring Egypt for desperately needed relief supplies. Israel has warned it will expand its ground operations into Rafah if Palestinian armed group Hamas does not free the remaining captives held in Gaza by the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in March. The Ministry of Health in Gaza said on Thursday that 99 people had been killed across the strip overnight, most of them women, children and elderly people. The death toll from Israel’s war on Gaza has increased to 29,410 since October 7, the ministry said, adding that at least 69,465 people have been wounded. Brett McGurk, the White House coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, was expected to arrive in Israel on Thursday – his second stop in the region after Egypt as part of efforts by the United States to advance a deal that would see the captives exchanged for Palestinian prisoners and to broker a truce. Matthew Miller, spokesperson of the US Department of State, said Washington was hoping for an “agreement that secures a temporary ceasefire where we can get the hostages out and get humanitarian assistance”, but declined to give details on the ongoing negotiations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted the army will keep fighting until it has destroyed Hamas and freed the remaining captives. Adblock test (Why?)

‘They could have done more’: Zimbabweans slam gov’t anti-cholera campaign

‘They could have done more’: Zimbabweans slam gov’t anti-cholera campaign

Harare, Zimbabwe – When Priscilla Moyo’s husband Brian returned home to Harare from Mvurwi, about 100km north of the capital on Sunday night, he seemed well. By 11pm, he was battling diarrhoea. When his situation was still the same on Tuesday morning, 39-year-old Moyo took him to a nearby clinic in Budiriro, the city suburb where they live. On arrival, she was told that her husband had cholera. “He is being treated right now in there,” she said dejectedly pointing in the direction of a grey tent, a makeshift treatment ward at the clinic. “He is on an intravenous drip and they say he might go home today.” Across Zimbabwe’s 10 provinces, a deluge of cases of cholera infections is crippling health facilities in the Southern African country. Some patients like Brian, have recovered. Others have not been as lucky. Jessica Muzambezi, a young mother in the same suburb, lost her two-year-old son to cholera. “A burst sewer in my area caused the death of my son. The authorities did not attend to the sewer for two weeks,” she told Al Jazeera. As of Tuesday, 25,780 cases of cholera have been recorded in Zimbabwe since the epidemic began last year. While the official government death toll stands at 470, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which is coordinating the mobilisation of resources for the anti-cholera campaign in conjunction with Zimbabwean authorities, put the number at 528. Children remain the most vulnerable, with a third of all cases affecting youngsters aged 15 and below. And many Zimbabweans say the government is to blame. A persistent problem Zimbabwe’s sewage system, part of its inherited colonial infrastructure, has been overwhelmed as the population grew from about 3.7 million in 1960 to 17 million today. And potable water remains unavailable in many parts of the country, as the struggling economy is yet to update that infrastructure. That, experts say, has made it easy for cholera, an infectious disease primarily transmitted through contaminated water or food, to spread rapidly. In 2008, as many as 4,000 people died from cholera in the country during what is regarded as one of the worst episodes of the epidemic on the continent. Then, like now, the public health crisis was caused by poor sanitation and a lack of clean water. It was worsened by a crumbling healthcare system that deteriorated as the world’s worst hyperinflation crisis  – peaking at 79.6 billion percent on a month-to-month basis – surged in Zimbabwe, rendering the local currency useless. The government of then-president Robert Mugabe blamed Western governments for the disease outbreak. Senior officials in his administration said the cholera epidemic was the outcome of a “serious biological chemical war” and a “calculated racist terrorist attack” being waged against Zimbabweans. More than 15 years later, the city is facing another public health crisis, with the capital being the hot spot again. While infections are rising nationwide, Harare, the country’s most populous province, has the highest concentration of new cases, accounting for a third of the total. A quick drive around southern suburbs of the city like Budiriro, Glen View, and Highfield reveals dozens of tents donated by the World Health Organization (WHO) being manned by local health professionals. Zimbabwean authorities have also been distributing vaccines to minimise the impact of the epidemic. The country has received 97 per cent of the 2.3 million doses approved by the International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision( ICG) as of February 12, with more to come later in the month. According to UNICEF, 1.5 million people (67 percent of the target population) had received an oral cholera vaccine (OCV) dose as of February 14. In January, the health ministry launched Operation Chenesa Harare – a campaign named after the Shona word for “clean up” – after residents resorted to using undesignated dumping sites to cope with piling rubbish. Some say the garbage was left to pile up in the first place because not enough resources had been allocated on time. ‘It’s only fiction’ But there are fears that the mitigation efforts are coming too late and just as importantly, do not tackle the root of the problem. Some experts and activists also argue that the authorities have yet to learn lessons from the past. Joyleen Nyachuru, a resident of Glen View and a community water alliance leader, is one of them. She blames local and central governments for the latest epidemic. “They could have done more to minimise the impact of cholera on residents by coming together to contain raw sewer leaks and should have worked together to upgrade the old sewer infrastructure that continues to break down,” Nyachuru told Al Jazeera. “In Glen View, we have 12,800 houses and each house has four to five households. This means each house houses 15 to 20 people using the same house and the same toilet,” she said, adding that the authorities need to provide clean potable water to every resident of the city to curb cholera. For years, the city has not pumped water to many Harare households. Now, water flows through the taps once a week in most southern suburbs. Rubbish is still a common presence on street corners in the city despite government intervention. This, according to Nyachuru, has also compounded the cholera situation. Precious Shumba, director of the nonprofit Harare Residents’ Trust agrees. “The major problem is that underground water and sewerage pipes are aged and sand blocked, resulting in numerous leakages along the water and sewerage infrastructure network,” Shumba told Al Jazeera, adding that sewer bursts in industrial areas of the city also stay unfixed for long periods. But Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume said in addition to the vaccination programme, city authorities have intensified sewer repairs and are working on improving potable water supply to the city. Things would change for the better soon, he told Al Jazeera. “The numbers have gone down significantly and we are confident we will turn the cholera tide,” Mafume said. But his comments have not pacified most residents

Teen charged in 2023 break-in of Secret Service SUV parked outside Naomi Biden’s DC home

Teen charged in 2023 break-in of Secret Service SUV parked outside Naomi Biden’s DC home

An arrest has been made in connection with the break-in of a Secret Service vehicle parked outside of Naomi Biden’s home in Washington, D.C., in November 2023. Robert Kemp, 19, was taken into custody on Feb. 7 following an investigation into the Nov. 12 incident outside the home occupied by President Biden’s granddaughter in the Georgetown area, according to court documents initially obtained by FOX 5 DC on Wednesday. He was released on Feb. 8, the New York Post reported. The arrest affidavit, dated Feb. 6, shows Kemp is charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle and first-degree theft. Kemp is accused of stealing the following items, worth over $1,000, from the unmarked black Ford Expedition: a velocity system police vest, night vision goggles, a Mifi portable router, a red trauma cube filled with first aid equipment, a battery headlamp and multiple chemical sticks. SECRET SERVICE AGENT FIRES GUN AMID CAR BREAK-IN WHILE PROTECTING BIDEN GRANDDAUGHTER The unauthorized use of a vehicle charge stems from Kemp’s alleged use of a stolen red Toyota Corolla as the getaway car during the break-in to the Secret Service vehicle, according to the affidavit. The Corolla, which had Virginia tags, was reported stolen out of Washington, D.C., and its rightful owner gave the Secret Service permission to process it when contacted. During the processing of the Corolla, several of the items reported stolen from the Expedition during the break-in were located and Kemp’s fingerprints were found on a McDonald’s bag and receipt inside the car.  Fingerprints belonging to an unidentified juvenile were also picked up on the stolen items inside the Corolla. The second person was confirmed to be on court-ordered GPS monitoring during that time and was located in Naomi Biden’s neighborhood the night of the break-in, according to the affidavit. NAOMI BIDEN SECRET SERVICE SHOOTING: CRIME PLAGUE SPREADS TO PRESIDENTIAL GRANDDAUGHTER’S NEIGHBORHOOD It’s unclear if the second suspect has been charged in the Nov. 12 incident. According to the Washington Post, the second suspect is a 14-year-old boy who was arrested and charged with three counts of armed carjacking on Feb. 15 in connection with carjackings in January and February. A media release from the Metropolitan Police Department in D.C. confirms the aforementioned arrest, but does not mention if the boy is the unidentified second suspect in the break-in outside Naomi Biden’s home. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Secret Service agents were out with Naomi Biden, the eldest daughter of Hunter Biden and his ex-wife Kathleen Buhle, late into the night on Nov. 12 when they saw people trying to break into the parked and unmarked Secret Service SUV outside her home, sources confirmed to Fox News at the time. A Secret Service agent assigned to the president’s granddaughter approached the person, who was allegedly hanging out of a broken rear window on the driver’s side of the Expedition, and identified himself as police, according to the affidavit. The suspect then entered the passenger side of the getaway car to flee. While backing away from the scene, the car almost struck the Secret Service agent, who discharged his firearm, the affidavit stated. The Secret Service said at the time it was believed that no one was hit by gunfire.

Judge in Trump Georgia case in ‘unenviable position’ as final arguments loom

Judge in Trump Georgia case in ‘unenviable position’ as final arguments loom

Both sides in Georgia’s high-profile election-interference case involving former President Trump are preparing their final arguments over whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be disqualified over her personal relationship with a special prosecutor on the case, Nathan Wade.  After a drama-filled two-day hearing on the motion to disqualify Willis, the public is now waiting for the next steps. First up is an on-camera hearing with Judge Scott McAfee and the defense’s so-called “star witness,” Terrence Bradley. A source confirmed to Fox News this hearing has been set for Monday, Feb. 26. Bradley could barely get a word out during his testimony last Friday as lawyers from the state, as well as Bradley’s own lawyer, both called out objections to nearly every question.  BIGGEST TAKEAWAYS AFTER WILD 2-DAY HEARING ON FANI WILLIS AFFAIR: ‘WHAT’S DONE IS DONE’ The arguments centered on whether Bradley’s testimony would violate attorney-client privilege, since he was Wade’s divorce lawyer for a time.  Anthony Kreis, a law professor at Georgia State University, described the little information Bradley was able to share in open court as “basically a dud.” However, what is said behind closed doors in the upcoming hearing could change that. The judge is likely to determine whether Bradley’s answers actually break attorney-client privilege and how much weight to give any testimony that ends up being admissible. After that, a final hearing is expected, during which the state and defense would summarize their evidence and present their final arguments on the issue. Multiple sources told Fox News this will likely be scheduled for sometime next week, but an exact date is still being finalized.  Kreis pointed out that there has been “no clear precedent” in this case and that it “all comes down to what standard of ethics Judge McAfee applies.”  JUDGE IN TRUMP GEORGIA CASE SAYS DA FANI WILLIS’ ALLEGED ‘IMPROPER’ AFFAIR ‘COULD RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION’ The prosecution stated that it wanted the judge to use the standard of an actual conflict needing to be proven, while the defense has argued that even an appearance of conflict is enough to disqualify Willis.  “Judge McAfee is really in a pretty, I think, unenviable position of having to wade through the law, wade through this particular case… and then make a decision accordingly,” Kreis explained.  The bottom-line questions are whether Willis’ relationship with Wade appeared to create a conflict of interest in the case, if there was an actual conflict of interest, and which legal standard the judge would believe is the right one to use.  Kreis said typically, the standard for prosecutors would be a concrete conflict of interest. He suggested that if that was what the judge were to choose in this case, “there’s an unlikely scenario the DA’s office will get kicked off the case,” considering the evidence presented in hearings so far. GEORGIA DA FANI WILLIS WILL NOT TESTIFY FOR SECOND DAY ON ‘IMPROPER’ AFFAIR WITH NATHAN WADE Regardless of the outcome, it is very likely an appeal will be filed immediately, according to Kreis.  Under Georgia law, defense attorneys could file what is called a “certificate of review.” This is essentially a court filing asking the judge if they could appeal his decision. If the judge were to say yes, it would go to the Georgia Court of Appeals. If the judge were to decline, then the defense would have to wait until after the entire trial is over before they could bring it to the state appeals court. LETITIA JAMES ‘PREPARED’ TO SEIZE TRUMP’S ASSETS IF HE IS UNABLE TO PAY $354 MILLION FRAUD FINE Still, Kreis noted, “The appeals court here in Georgia doesn’t necessarily have to take it up, so it’s discretionary on their part, as well.” He said he believed, though, that McAfee would grant any appeal because of his “by-the-books” approach to the case so far. “He seems to understand that this case is so important and that everything should be followed methodically.” It is unlikely McAfee will rule from the bench, Kreis said. He anticipated a more detailed ruling filled with supporting legal memorandum, rather than a definitive decision from the bench.