Israeli air strike targets Nasser Hospital in Gaza kills Hamas official
NewsFeed An Israeli air strike on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza has killed at least five Palestinians, including senior Hamas official Ismail Barhoum. Several others were injured. The attack targeted the surgical building of the hospital, destroying the second floor. Published On 24 Mar 202524 Mar 2025 Adblock test (Why?)
Mapping the human toll of the conflict in DR Congo
Ongoing violence and instability, including fighting by M23 rebels, has forced millions to flee their homes in Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is facing one of the world’s largest displacement and humanitarian crises. Ongoing violence and instability have forced millions to flee their homes, with at least 7,000 people killed in recent months and many more injured. The violence this year has largely been driven by armed groups, particularly M23 rebels, who have intensified their offensive in eastern DRC. In January, M23 seized control of Goma, the capital of mineral-rich North Kivu province, before capturing Bukavu, the capital of neighbouring South Kivu, in February. They have since continued to advance west. Who are the M23? The M23 rebel group was formed in 2012 by former Congolese soldiers, mainly from the Tutsi ethnic group. The group takes its name from the March 23 Movement, referring to the date peace accords were signed in 2009 between the DRC’s government and the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) that aimed to integrate its fighters into the Congolese army. Advertisement However, M23 later accused the government of failing to fully implement the agreement, leading them to launch their rebellion. M23 briefly seized control of Goma in November 2012 but was defeated and forced into exile in 2013. After nearly a decade of dormancy, the group resurfaced in late 2021 and has since intensified its military campaign in eastern DRC. According to United Nations experts, Rwanda backs M23 with troops and ammunition. Kigali, however, denies the accusations. M23 rebels’ rapid advance The latest round of conflict escalated in December 2024 after peace talks in Angola between the presidents of DRC and Rwanda were cancelled over disagreements about M23. Rwanda had insisted on direct dialogue between DRC and M23, which the Congolese government at the time refused. January 27, 2025 – M23 captures Goma: In the worst escalation in a decade or more, M23 fighters took control of eastern DRC’s largest city, Goma – a crucial humanitarian hub near the Rwandan border, home to more than 2 million people. February 16, 2025 – M23 captures Bukavu: The rebels advanced into Bukavu’s city centre with little resistance, as DRC accused Rwanda of ignoring ceasefire calls. March 19, 2025 – M23 captures Walikale: The rebels seized the mining hub Walikale in North Kivu, the farthest west they have ever reached, dismissing ceasefire calls from DRC and Rwanda. They later said they would withdraw from the town in a peace gesture. More than seven million people displaced The DRC is home to one of the largest populations of displaced people around the world. Advertisement More than 7 million people are displaced, including 3.8 million in North and South Kivu provinces in the east of the country. Nearly 780,000 people were forced to flee their homes between November 2024 and January 2025 alone. According to the UN Refugee Agency, since January 1, more than 100,000 refugees have crossed into neighbouring countries, with 69,000 seeking refuge in Burundi, 29,000 in Uganda, and about 1,000 in Rwanda and Tanzania. A quarter of the country faces food shortage The security situation in Goma, a key humanitarian hub, remains highly volatile, with movement restrictions hindering aid delivery to those in urgent need. The DRC has a population of some 112 million. Before the latest escalation, 21 million people across the country already needed humanitarian aid – the highest figure globally, according to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). By the end of 2024, armed conflicts, rising food prices and epidemics had pushed 25.6 million people – nearly a quarter of the population – into acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or worse). (Al Jazeera) According to OCHA, 2.7 million people in North Kivu, South Kivu, and Ituri were already facing severe food shortage before the latest escalation. Looting of humanitarian infrastructure and warehouses has further crippled relief efforts, with large quantities of food, medicine, and medical supplies lost in targeted attacks on humanitarian organisations. Adblock test (Why?)
Venezuela accepts US deportation flight with 199 people
NewsFeed A US deportation flight carrying 199 people has landed in Venezuela. The resumption of flights comes after Donald Trump accused Nicolas Maduro of not accepting deportees at a sufficiently “rapid pace” and sent over 200 Venezuelans to a Salvadoran mega prison. Published On 24 Mar 202524 Mar 2025 Adblock test (Why?)
Who is jailed Turkish opposition leader Ekrem Imamoglu?
The embattled mayor of Istanbul is the opposition party’s candidate for the next presidential election, scheduled to take place in 2028. The embattled mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem Imamoglu, has been chosen as the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) candidate for the next presidential election, scheduled to take place in 2028. Imamoglu, who was detained on Wednesday, is widely seen as the top challenger of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. His arrest has prompted widespread protests, which have been ongoing for several days, primarily centred in major cities such as Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir. Below is a brief timeline of Imamoglu’s political career. (Al Jazeera) Early life and education Imamoglu was born on June 4, 1970 in Trabzon, northeastern Turkiye. He received a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in human resources management from Istanbul University. Elected mayor of Istanbul In 2008, he joined the Republican People’s Party (CHP), one of Turkiye’s major political parties. From 2014 to 2019 he served as mayor of Istanbul’s Beylikduzu district. In 2019, he became mayor of Istanbul, beating the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) candidate. The results were initially annulled, but he won in a rerun. In 2022, he was sentenced to two years and seven months in prison and was banned from politics for insulting the Election Council during the annulment of the 2019 Istanbul mayoral election. He appealed the ruling and the ban is pending. Advertisement University degree annulment On March 18, 2025, Istanbul University annulled Imamoglu’s bachelor’s degree, citing irregularities with the Council of Higher Education regulations. This annulment would jeopardise his presidential eligibility, as under Turkish law, a candidate must have at least a higher education degree to be eligible to run for president. Arrest and protests On March 19, 2025, Imamoglu was arrested and charged with corruption, aiding the PKK, and leading a criminal organisation. This led to widespread protests, which are still ongoing. CHP presidential candidate On March 24, 2025, Imamoglu was elected as the CHP’s presidential candidate. The next scheduled election is in 2028. But early elections are thought to be likely. Adblock test (Why?)
What poisoned Fallujah can tell us about toxic risks in Gaza and Lebanon
Over the past few months, thousands of people returned to their homes in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria, where they faced threats from unexploded ordinances and lack of access to water, food, and safe shelter. Many were forced to handle war debris, which may pose long-term health risks. Our new research from Fallujah, Iraq published today by the Costs of War project at Brown University reveals just how dangerous this debris can be. Two decades after the US-led invasion and almost a decade after the occupation of the city by ISIS, the enduring health effects of war are still evident. Our team’s X-ray fluorescence bone sampling detected uranium in the bones of 29 percent of study participants in Fallujah, while lead was detected in 100 percent of them. The levels of lead were 600 percent higher than averages from similarly aged populations in the US. Healthy adults should have no uranium present in the bone, so any presence is significant. Heavy metals such as lead and uranium can cause serious adverse effects in neurodevelopment, general neurological health, cardiovascular health, and birth outcomes. Advertisement When ISIS occupied Fallujah in 2014, one of our study participants Reina (not her real name) and her young family managed to flee north to the relative safety of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. While they were away, ISIS fighters used their house to store weapons. Iraqi and US warplanes then bombarded the entire neighbourhood, damaging the family’s house. After they returned to their home two years later, and during the first trimester of her pregnancy, Reina cleared up the rubble almost single-handedly – all the time breathing in a toxic admixture of concrete dust, munition remnants, and the burned fragments of her home’s interior. Her son was born in 2017 with a congenital anomaly. Reina and her family – among thousands of returning residents of Fallujah – faced the deferred health risks triggered by post-war clean-up activities. Though she has fully restored her home, Reina remains concerned: “I can’t tell if the house is still making us sick,” she told us. Her concerns are well-founded. More heavily bombarded areas in Fallujah still have higher levels of heavy metals in the soil than other areas. But the bombardment has not been the only source of toxicity threatening Iraqis. As the US army drew down its presence in Iraq, it burned huge amounts of military equipment and weapons in so-called burn pits, which produced toxic fumes that spread to nearby population centres. It was well-documented that these burn pits caused serious health issues among US veterans who faced only short-term exposure. Advertisement Reina’s story, and thousands of others like hers, contain lessons that are important for returnees in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria. One key observation of our recent study, spearheaded by doctors Samira Alaani and Abdulqader Alrawi in Fallujah and led by Kali Rubaii at Purdue University, is that those who were first to return and rebuild in war-damaged areas may be at a higher risk of reproductive health harms. The children of men and women who were immersed in postwar cleanup activities may have a higher rate of certain congenital anomalies and poorer birth outcomes than the children of those who returned later or who did not directly participate in rebuilding. This is likely because their parents were exposed through inhalation to toxins from detonated munitions, incinerated materials, dioxins, and other forms of dust at a much higher rate than those who returned after buildings were restored. Fallujah’s increase in birth anomalies has been attributed to exposure to the weapons of war, as are manifold other similar spikes in, for example, early onset cancers and respiratory diseases. A second observation is that in the process of being displaced, returning, and re-establishing households, families face nutritional gaps that can compound health risks, even for the next generation. Post-war clean-up often brings malnourished bodies into contact with myriad harmful materials; a decreased intake of key nutrients can undermine the body’s ability to cope with toxins and intensify reproductive health risks. Advertisement For example, during the first trimester of pregnancy, insufficient folate intake can lead to neural tube defects in the foetus. War debris contains heavy metals that can also disrupt folate pathways in pregnant women. These patterns we observed in Fallujah’s public health will likely occur in other heavily bombarded cities, where returnees will bear the double burden of military violence: Not only have they suffered death, dismemberment, displacement, and dispossession, but they are also likely to experience intergenerational health effects yet to come. Certainly, the most effective way to limit heavy metal toxicity from war is by not bombing cities in the first place. But when that happens, there are steps that can be taken to limit the compounded health effects of toxic exposure. First, populations in war zones should not be deprived of adequate nutrition and safe drinking water. Second, international NGOs, health institutions, local clinics, and regional radio outlets should disseminate information about direct measures displaced people can take to protect their own health when they return to their homes. For example, it is critical that returnees wear a mask or scarf to limit inhaling fine particles during cleaning and reconstruction activities. Burying rather than burning trash can also reduce widespread exposure to toxins. And when pregnant or seeking to conceive, women should avoid participating in dust-producing cleanup and rebuilding activities. Additionally, vitamins C and D in food or supplements can limit both the uptake and release of heavy metals accumulated in one’s bones. Women in the first trimester of pregnancy – or seeking to conceive – should have priority in their consumption of folate-rich foods – like spinach, broccoli, fortified rice, and enriched wheat – or folic acid supplements (aka vitamin B9) when they can be found. Advertisement These are some of the ways – albeit limited – to mitigate the ongoing harm of post-war exposures to better protect future generations. Meanwhile, our collective and active effort to prevent military bombardment remains the most effective
French actor Depardieu goes on trial in Paris on sexual assault charges
The trial of French actor Gerard Depardieu, who has been charged with sexually assaulting two women during a film shoot in 2021, has begun in a Paris court. It is thought to be a pivotal moment in France’s #MeToo movement. On Monday, Depardieu, 76, sat on a seat opposite the judge while the two plaintiffs were also present in the courtroom. Prosecutors alleged the assaults against the women, whose full identities have not been revealed, took place during the filming of Les Volets Verts (The Green Shutters). They accuse Depardieu of groping one of the women on the film set, pulling her towards him and trapping her with his legs before touching her waist, hips and breasts while saying obscene words. Three people witnessed the scene, prosecutors said. They said the second woman was groped by Depardieu on set and in the street. Before the trial began, Depardieu, his hand on his lawyer’s shoulder, walked calmly past reporters, looking straight at the cameras without saying a word, before entering the courtroom and chatting with a couple of actors there. Advertisement His lawyer, Jeremie Assous, told reporters that the accusations were false and based on lies. “Truth is on our side,” he said. ‘Fear because he is a cinema giant’ A towering figure of French cinema, Depardieu has faced a growing number of sexual assault allegations in recent years. Overall, about 20 women have accused Depardieu of improper behaviour, but several cases have been dropped due to the statute of limitations. French actor Charlotte Arnould was the first woman to file a criminal complaint against Depardieu in 2018. He has consistently denied any wrongdoing, and Monday’s case is the first in which he will stand trial. A lawyer for one of the women told the Reuters news agency before the proceedings that her client had been scared to come forward against Depardieu. “There’s a fear because he’s a cinema giant,” Carine Durrieu-Diebolt said. “It’s a struggle between David and Goliath, and they are afraid of retaliation as they all work in cinema but at a much lower level than Depardieu.” The second plaintiff, an assistant director, also alleged sexual violence. “What my client wants is for the trial to take place, but I am also worried about how Mr Depardieu’s defence will treat the civil parties at the hearing,” lawyer Claude Vincent told the AFP news agency. Important development for #MeToo in France On Monday, dozens of protesters stood outside the court, chanting, “We believe you,” to show their support for the two plaintiffs. If found guilty, Depardieu could face up to five years in jail and a 75,000-euro ($81,000) fine. Advertisement Depardieu’s trial is the highest profile #MeToo case in the media industry to come before the courts in France, a country where the protest movement over sexual violence has struggled to gain the same traction as in the United States. Recently, however, there have been signs of a change. Last year, Gisele Pelicot became a global feminist icon after she waived her right to anonymity during the trial of her former husband, who was convicted of drugging her and inviting dozens of men to their home to sexually abuse her over the course of nearly a decade. Last month, a French court found film director Christophe Ruggia guilty of sexually abusing actress Adele Haenel when she was underage. Adblock test (Why?)
Al Jazeera journalist killed in Israeli strikes in northern Gaza
DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY, Hossam Shabat is one of two media workers killed in Israeli attacks on Monday. An Al Jazeera journalist has been killed in Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip, one of two media workers killed in attacks. Hossam Shabat, a journalist for the Al Jazeera Mubasher channel, was killed in northern Gaza on Monday. Witnesses told the network that his car was targeted in the eastern part of Beit Lahiya. Earlier, the Israeli army killed journalist Mohammad Mansour, who worked for Palestine Today, in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. At least 208 journalists have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 2023, according to the Government Media Office in Gaza. This is a developing story. Adblock test (Why?)
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,124
These are the key developments on day 1,124 of Russia’s war on Ukraine. Here is the roundup of key events on Monday, March 24. Fighting Ukraine’s Air Force said it destroyed 97 of 147 Russian drones in an overnight attack on multiple Ukrainian regions. A further 25 drones were reportedly “lost” due to electronic warfare. Russian news agency Interfax reported Russia’s Defence Ministry as saying its forces captured the village of Sribne in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region. Russian attacks on the Donetsk region killed four people, including three who were killed in a strike on Dobropillia, a town on the front lines of the war. At least one person was killed and several injured in an explosion at a police station in the Odesa region, southern Ukraine, local media reported. Witness statements cited in the reports said the explosion was caused by a woman who walked into the building with an explosive device in a plastic bag. Russia launched its third consecutive overnight attack on Kyiv, wounding a 37-year-old man and damaging several houses, Kyiv’s regional Governor Mykola Kalashnyk said. The man sustained injuries to his upper body and head from shrapnel and was later hospitalised, Kalashnyk added. In a separate attack in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia region, a 54-year-old woman was injured and several multistorey buildings were damaged, the region’s administration said. Advertisement Politics and diplomacy Steve Witkoff, United States President Donald Trump’s special envoy for the Middle East, told Fox News that he does not believe Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to invade Europe. “I just don’t see that he wants to take all of Europe. I take him at his word in this sense,” Witkoff said. Zelenskyy said Putin should be pressured to end his three-year invasion of Ukraine. “No matter what we talk about with our partners, we need to push Putin to give a real order to stop the strikes: The one who brought this war must take it away,” he said in a social media post. Ukrainian and US officials met in Saudi Arabia to discuss a partial ceasefire amid warnings by Moscow that negotiations would be “difficult” despite Washington’s hopes for “real progress”. Ukraine’s Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said the delegations were “working through a number of complex technical issues” but described the negotiations as “productive and focused”. He also said the discussions included proposals to protect Ukraine’s energy facilities and critical infrastructure. “We addressed key points including energy,” Umerov wrote on X, reiterating that the goal was a “just and lasting peace”. The Reuters news agency reported that the US delegation plans to seek progress towards a Black Sea ceasefire and a broader halt to violence when Washington sits down with Moscow in Saudi Arabia on Monday. Adblock test (Why?)
Israeli strike on Gaza hospital kills Hamas leader, teen, officials say
An Israeli air strike on a hospital in southern Gaza has killed at least two people, including a senior Hamas official and a 16-year-old boy, Hamas and health officials have said. Ismail Barhoum, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, was killed while undergoing treatment at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis late on Sunday, Hamas said in a statement. “We condemn this latest crime, which adds to the occupation’s long record of terrorism, violating sanctities, lives and medical facilities,” the Palestinian armed group said in a statement. “It reaffirms its disregard for all international laws and conventions and its continued policy of systematic killing against our people and leadership.” Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz confirmed that Barhoum had been the target of the attack. Israel’s military said the attack had been carried out with “precise munitions in order to mitigate harm”, following an “extensive intelligence-gathering process”. “Hamas exploits civilian infrastructure while brutally endangering the Gazan population – cynically using an active hospital as a shelter for planning and executing murderous terrorist attacks in a direct violation of international law,” the military said in a statement. Advertisement Barhoum’s assassination came just hours after Hamas said Israeli forces had killed Salah al-Bardawil, another member of the group’s political bureau, along with his wife, in a strike on a tent shelter in Khan Younis. Israel has killed four members of Hamas’s political bureau since Tuesday, when its forces resumed major military operations in the enclave following a weeks-long impasse over the next stage of its ceasefire with Hamas. Footage from outside Nasser Hospital showed a fireball exploding from the building’s upper floors as an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent Rami Abu Taima was preparing to do a live broadcast at the scene. Reporting from Gaza’s Deir el-Balah, Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary said at least eight other Palestinians were wounded in the attack, all of whom had been receiving treatment for previous injuries. Khoudary said doctors at the hospital reported spending hours putting out fires in the department targeted in the attack. “Hospitals across the Gaza Strip are overwhelmed. There are no medical supplies or medicine as the Israeli forces continue to close the border crossing for 21 days now,” Khoudary said. “The situation is also escalating in different parts of the Gaza Strip, especially Beit Layhia in the north and Rafah in the southern parts of the Gaza Strip.” Feroze Sidhwa, a trauma surgeon volunteering at Nasser Hospital, said the 16-year-old boy killed in the attack was one of his patients. “I operated on him. I believe on March 18, I did an abdominal operation. He probably would have gone home tomorrow, but now he’s dead,” Sidhwa told Al Jazeera. Advertisement Sidhwa said the surgical ward for male patients had been destroyed and would need to be completely rebuilt. “The whole hospital smells like smoke now,” he said. “The [ward’s] entire electrical system was destroyed. Every door was blown off its hinges. Most of the windows were shattered. The ceiling has collapsed. It’s completely unusable. It’s going to have to be torn out and redone.” Sidhwa criticised Israeli forces for targeting the hospital. “Benjamin Netanyahu has been ill recently. Well, he stands accused of genocide. Nobody thinks Hamas can bomb a hospital because Benjamin Netanyahu happens to go there. That’s crazy,” Sidhwa said. “That’s completely insane. You don’t bomb hospitals. Everybody knows that.” Israeli forces have killed more than 600 people since resuming their assault on the enclave, including dozens within the last 24 hours, according to Palestinian health officials. On Sunday, the official death toll in Gaza since the start of the war topped 50,000, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, a figure that many experts believe is likely an undercount of the true number. Adblock test (Why?)
South Korean court reinstates impeached prime minister as acting president
Judges overturn impeachment of Han Duck-soo in latest twist in saga set off by Yoon Suk-yeol’s martial law decree. South Korea’s Constitutional Court has reinstated impeached Prime Minister Han Duck-soo as acting president, the latest twist in the meandering political saga set off by the impeachment of President Yoon Suk-yeol. The Constitutional Court of Korea ruled that Han’s impeachment should be dismissed in a 7-1 vote on Monday, restoring him to the country’s highest office, while the eight justices separately consider the fate of Yoon, who was suspended from office after briefly imposing martial law on December 3. Five of the court’s judges found that there were not sufficient grounds to impeach Han, 75, though the impeachment motion against him was valid. Two justices ruled that the legislature’s impeachment motion lacked legitimacy from the start as it had been only backed by 192 of 300 lawmakers, instead of a two-thirds majority. After being appointed acting president following Yoon’s impeachment on December 14, Han was himself suspended from his duties less than two weeks later over his refusal to appoint three more justices to the Constitutional Court. Advertisement In a televised address after the ruling, Han expressed gratitude to the court for its “wise decision” and pledged to focus on navigating the geopolitical challenges facing his country. “I believe that all citizens are clearly speaking out against the highly polarised political sphere. I think there is no place for division now. Our country’s priority is to move forward,” Han said. The decision comes as the Constitutional Court is yet to rule on whether to confirm Yoon’s impeachment or restore his presidential powers. The court has been deliberating Yoon’s fate since mid-December and a decision is widely anticipated to arrive within days. At least six of eight justices must uphold Yoon’s impeachment to permanently remove him from office. If Yoon is stripped of the presidency, an election to choose his successor must be held within 60 days. Yoon is separately facing criminal charges, including insurrection, in connection with his short-lived martial law decree. He faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment or the death penalty if convicted. Adblock test (Why?)