Several injured after car drives into crowd in Germany’s Munich
At least 20 injured, some of them seriously, after a car drove into a group of people in Munich, authorities said. At least 20 people have been injured, some of them seriously, after a car drove into a group of people in the German city of Munich, authorities said. Authorities didn’t provide details about the incident near downtown Munich which took place around 10:30am on Thursday, including whether the people were hit deliberately. Police said on social platform X that the driver was “secured” at the scene and no longer poses any danger. A damaged Mini Cooper could be seen at the scene. The fire service said at least 20 people were injured, some of them seriously, German news agency DPA reported. Mayor Dieter Reiter said he was “deeply shocked” by the incident. He said that children were among those injured. A demonstration by the service workers’ union ver.di was taking place at the time of the incident. It was not immediately clear whether demonstrators were among the injured. The incident comes a day before the three-day Munich Security Conference, an annual gathering of international foreign and security policy officials, opens on Friday. Police personnel walk past a car which drove into a crowd in Munich [Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters] Adblock test (Why?)
Kamal Adwan’s detained director alleges torture by Israeli authorities
NewsFeed Lawyers representing Kamal Adwan Hospital’s Dr. Hussam Abu Safia had their first contact with the director since he was detained by Israeli forces last year. He told them he was tortured with electric shocks and is being denied needed medication. Published On 12 Feb 202512 Feb 2025 Adblock test (Why?)
French troops to exit Senegal by end of 2025
Senegal distances itself from colonial past, following trend sweeping across West and Central Africa since 2022. France and Senegal are setting terms for a withdrawal of all French soldiers stationed in the West African country by the end of this year. The two countries said in a statement on Wednesday that they are establishing a joint commission that would oversee the “departure of French elements” from the country and “a restitution of [military] bases” by year’s end. The foreign ministries of both countries said they intend to work on “a new defence and security partnership” that would take into account “strategic priorities of all parties”. In November, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye announced that French army bases were “incompatible” with the country’s sovereignty and its 350 soldiers should leave. The move came just before Senegal marked the 80th anniversary of mass killings of West African soldiers by colonial forces in 1944. The soldiers of the Tirailleurs Senegalais unit, who fought in France’s war against Nazi Germany, had been protesting delays in salaries and poor living conditions when colonial soldiers fired on them. This photograph shows a victim of the Thiaroye massacre, in which French soldiers in Senegal gunned down African soldiers who had fought on its side in World War II after they demanded fair pay and treatment [File: Amira Karaoud/Reuters] French President Emmanuel Macron admitted in a letter to Faye last year that France had committed a “massacre”. Advertisement Senegal’s rejection of its colonial past continues a trend across West and Central Africa, where nations are downgrading ties with France. At the end of January, France completed its troop withdrawal from Chad while Ivory Coast had earlier announced the withdrawal of French forces. The tone was very different from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, whose military governments collectively ejected about 4,300 French soldiers from their countries in 2022. In all three countries, France had refused to back the coups that brought them to power. Adblock test (Why?)
Hamas delegation in Egypt as mediators push to maintain Gaza ceasefire
A Hamas delegation has arrived in Cairo to discuss the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire agreement with mediators, according to a statement by the Palestinian group. The fragile agreement reached last month between Hamas and Israel appeared strained on Wednesday, with Hamas saying it would not bow down to threats from Israel and the United States of renewed fighting and the mass displacement of Palestinians. Egyptian and Qatari mediators were working to salvage the deal, according to Egypt’s state-run Al-Qahera News TV, which is close to the country’s security agencies. Hamas has warned it will delay the next release of Israeli captives scheduled for Saturday, saying Israel has violated the truce by firing on people in Gaza and not allowing the agreed-upon number of tents, shelters and other vital aid to enter the territory. “The occupation must implement the terms of the ceasefire agreement until the prisoners are released. The occupation is required to abide by the agreed humanitarian protocol,” Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said in a statement on Wednesday. Advertisement Since the ceasefire went into effect on January 19, Israeli fire has killed at least 92 Palestinians and wounded more than 800 others, said Munir al-Bursh, director general of the Health Ministry on Tuesday. In the latest violence, a 44-year-old man was killed and another was wounded in an Israeli strike in the southern city of Rafah. The Israeli military has said it only fires on people who approach its forces or enter certain areas in violation of the truce. Threat of resumed fighting For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with the support of President Donald Trump, has warned that Israel would resume fighting if the captives are not released on Saturday. Trump has threatened that “all hell” will break out if Hamas does not release the remaining Israeli captives held in Gaza by Saturday. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz echoed the phrase in a post on X on Wednesday, saying that if Hamas does not release the Israeli captives by Saturday, “the gates of hell will open on them, just as the US president promised.” “The new Gaza war will be different in intensity from the one before the ceasefire – and will not end without the defeat of Hamas and the release of all the hostages,” he wrote. Reporting from Amman, Jordan, Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut said that the Israeli army has been discussing a plan for a renewed offensive. “However, some sources speaking to Israeli Army Radio said any military action to rescue the captives from Gaza would be ‘nearly impossible’ as Hamas is still very much active,” Salhut said. Advertisement The International Committee on the Red Cross also weighed in on Wednesday, warning that “any reversal” in the agreement “risks plunging people back into the misery and despair that defined the last 16 months”. To date, at least 48,222 Palestinians have been confirmed killed throughout Israel’s war in Gaza. At least 1,139 people were killed in the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, with more than 200 taken captive. The enclave remains on the brink of humanitarian catastrophe, with the vast majority of its residents displaced and its infrastructure destroyed throughout the war. ‘Palestinians cannot be transferred’ In his post on Wednesday, Israeli Defence Minister Katz also pointed to Trump’s plan for the US to “take over” and permanently displace the people of Gaza. He said a renewed Israeli offensive “will also allow the realisation of US President Trump’s vision for Gaza”. Trump has promised to heap pressure on both Jordan and Egypt to accept forcibly displaced Palestinians. Both countries have refused. On Wednesday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah II spoke by phone, stressing the importance of the immediate start of Gaza’s reconstruction “without the transfer of Palestinian people from their land”, according to a statement from the Egyptian presidency. The leaders also “showed their keenness” to work with Trump to achieve “permanent peace” in the region through the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, the statement said. Advertisement That came a day after Abdullah met Trump at the White House. Speaking to Al Jazeera on Wednesday, Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi again said that the kingdom will not budge in its opposition to Trump’s proposal. “There are fixed and steadfast Jordanian positions that will not change … the Palestinians cannot be transferred to Egypt, Jordan, or any Arab state,” Safadi said. The Palestinian Authority and Arab nations have all been united in their opposition to Trump’s plan. On Wednesday, Hamas called for mass demonstrations across the world “against the plans of displacement and forced deportation”. Adblock test (Why?)
Jordanian foreign minister rejects Trump’s Gaza displacement plan
NewsFeed Jordan’s foreign minister told Al Jazeera his country rejects the US president’s plan to take over Gaza and move Palestinians to neighbouring countries like Jordan and Egypt, after Donald Trump discussed the issue with the King of Jordan at the White House. Published On 12 Feb 202512 Feb 2025 Adblock test (Why?)
Children in Haiti falling prey to gruesome gang violence, Amnesty warns
Report estimates that more than a million children live in areas controlled by or under the influence of armed gangs. Gangs in Haiti are recruiting children and targeting them with violence and sexual assault, Amnesty International said in a report detailing the effects of the long-running civil unrest ravaging the Caribbean nation. A report published on Wednesday estimates that more than one million children live in areas controlled by or under the influence of armed gangs in Haiti, and condemned offences committed against young people as “human rights abuses”. Haiti has no president or parliament and is ruled by a transitional body, which is struggling to manage extreme violence linked to criminal gangs, poverty and other challenges. More than 5,600 people were killed in Haiti last year as a result of gang violence, about a thousand more than in 2023, according to the United Nations. Amnesty’s report echoes concerns voiced by the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, in November. The group reported then that gang recruitment of children in the country has risen by 70 percent, and that between 30 to 50 percent of gang members in Haiti are children. Advertisement The new report highlights 14 Haitian children recruited by gangs to spy on rival groups and police, as well as to carry out work such as making deliveries or repairing vehicles. One of the children interviewed said he was constantly pressured by a gang to fight alongside it. “They killed people in front of me and asked me to burn their bodies. But I don’t have the heart for that,” the unidentified boy was quoted as saying. If children refuse to follow a gang’s orders, they or their families would be killed, according to the report, which relied on interviews and research conducted from May to October 2024. Haitian girls are frequent victims of abductions, rape and other sexual assaults during gang attacks, Amnesty said. Haiti has no president or parliament and is ruled by a transitional body, which is struggling to manage extreme violence linked to criminal gangs, poverty and other challenges [Ralph Tedy Erol/Reuters] The violence also has led to injury and death. One girl, 14, recounted how a ricocheting bullet pierced her lip in September 2024. Three months before that, her 17-year-old brother died from a stray bullet. “I lost a huge presence in my life. Since then, I don’t know how to be happy,” the girl said. Amnesty also identified attacks on schools and hospitals, as well as the blocking of humanitarian aid, as examples of “grave violations” suffered by children. Adblock test (Why?)
Nathan Thrall confronts Israel’s occupation
Centre Stage Pulitzer Prize winning author Nathan Thrall joins Centre Stage to talk about how his experiences, working and living in Israel, Gaza, the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, drove him to write, A Day in the Life of Abed Salama. Witnessing first hand the discrimination and subjugation of Palestinians, Thrall tells Al Jazeera presenter Tom McRae about Israel’s decades-long system of apartheid and why he still has hope for the future. Published On 12 Feb 202512 Feb 2025 Adblock test (Why?)
US trade partners criticise Trump for 25-percent steel, aluminium tariffs
Allies like Canada called the tariffs ‘unacceptable’, arguing they weaken economic integration and hurt economies. Several of the United States’ main trading partners have condemned President Donald Trump’s decision to hike tariff rates on all steel and aluminium imports starting next month. Leaders from Mexico, Canada and the European Union on Tuesday described the move as reckless and counterproductive, warning that they would respond with their own measures in kind. “I deeply regret the US decision to impose tariffs on European steel and aluminum exports,” Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, reaffirmed in a social media post. “The EU will act to safeguard its economic interests.” The EU had already called the tariffs “unjustified” and warned they will “trigger firm and proportionate countermeasures”. The reactions come a day after Trump signed an executive order announcing the 25-percent tariffs as a “means of reducing imports” and “encouraging investment and expansion of production by domestic steel producers”. Trump also framed the issue as a question of national security. Advertisement “It’s 25 percent without exceptions or exemptions,” Trump told reporters. “That’s all countries, no matter where it comes from. All countries.” The tariffs will take effect on March 12 and impact millions of tonnes of imports from countries such as Canada, Brazil, Mexico and South Korea that had previously entered the US largely free of import duties. For much of his political career, Trump has railed against the effects of free trade, portraying agreements with foreign countries as “bad deals” that take advantage of the US. “We were being pummelled by both friend and foe alike,” Trump said as he signed the orders on Monday. “It’s time for our great industries to come back to America.” But his announcement has sparked anxieties about the potential economic fallout that could come with escalating measures and countermeasures between the US and its key trading partners. Mexican Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said the new tariffs were “not justified” while Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called them “unacceptable”. Trudeau added that he would work with the Trump administration to highlight the “negative impacts” of the tariffs. Canada provides nearly 80 percent of US aluminium imports. “We are the US’s closest ally. Our economies are integrated. Canadian steel and aluminum are used in a number of key US industries, whether it is defence, shipbuilding, manufacturing, energy, automotive,” Trudeau said on Tuesday. “Together we make North America more competitive.” Advertisement But the prime minister added that, if forced, Canada would respond to the tariffs with retaliation. “If it comes to that, our response, of course, will be firm and clear. We will stand up for Canadian workers. We will stand up for Canadian industries.” In Brazil, the industry lobby group Aco Brasil also said it was “surprised” by Trump’s tariffs, arguing the tax hikes would benefit neither country. Criticism of free-trade agreements in the US, from both the right and the left, is not new. For years, labour groups and environmental activists have argued that free-trade deals allow businesses to exert downward pressure on the wages of domestic workers, relocate jobs overseas, and loosen restrictions on environmental and labour protections. But experts have said that, after decades of economic integration, tariffs could upend supply chains and impose heightened costs on businesses and consumers. “Small businesses run on very small margins. And so a 25-percent increase in any product is going to hurt,” Sandra Payne, an owner of Denver Concrete Vibrator, which imports steel and other raw materials, told The Associated Press news agency. “And we can’t just raise our prices every time the cost goes up for us, so we are losing a lot of money.” Adblock test (Why?)
Palestinian father reunites with his lost baby after a year of war
NewsFeed “I had no idea if he was alive or if he was martyred.” A father was able to reunite with his lost son after a Palestinian family took him in, raised him for over a year, and ensured his survival throughout Israel’s war on Gaza. Published On 11 Feb 202511 Feb 2025 Adblock test (Why?)
Starbucks sued by US state of Missouri for using DEI policies
Missouri accused Starbucks of tying executive pay to the company’s achieving racial and gender-based hiring quotas. The US state of Missouri has sued Starbucks, accusing the coffee chain of using a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion as a pretext to systematically discriminate based on race, gender and sexual orientation. In a complaint filed in St Louis federal court on Tuesday, Missouri accused Starbucks of tying executive pay to the company’s achieving racial and gender-based hiring quotas. It also accused Starbucks of singling out preferred groups for additional training and job advancement prospects, and employing a quota system to ensure its own board of directors had a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds. “All of this is unlawful,” and violates federal and state civil rights laws, according to the complaint from Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey. Bailey, a Republican, also contended that Missouri consumers pay higher prices and wait longer for services at Starbucks than if the Seattle-based chain employed the most qualified workers. “We disagree with the attorney general and these allegations are inaccurate,” Starbucks said in a statement. “We are deeply committed to creating opportunity for every single one of our partners [employees]. Our programs and benefits are open to everyone and lawful.” Advertisement United States President Donald Trump, also a Republican, has tried to shut down policies promoting diversity, equity and inclusion inside and outside the federal government, and some companies have ended or curtailed their own programmes. For example, the Wall Street bank Goldman Sachs on Tuesday canceled a policy to take companies public only if they had two diverse board members, generally defined as people from underrepresented demographics. Last week, meanwhile, Google scrapped diversity-based hiring targets, while Amazon.com removed a reference to inclusion and diversity from its annual report. Diversity policies Tuesday’s lawsuit challenged Starbucks policies adopted since 2020, after the murder of George Floyd, a Black man, by a Minneapolis police officer triggered unrest nationwide and led many companies to rethink employment practices. Missouri said Starbucks’ alleged endorsement of quotas “should come as no surprise,” citing new Chief Executive Brian Niccol’s support of environmental, social and governance goals while leading the Chipotle burrito chain. Starbucks employs about 211,000 people in the US and 361,000 people worldwide. In August 2023, a federal judge in Spokane, Washington dismissed a shareholder lawsuit challenging Starbucks’ diversity policies, saying the case addressed public policy questions best decided by lawmakers and companies, not courts. Missouri’s lawsuit seeks to force Starbucks to end alleged discrimination based on race, gender and national origin; rehire and rescind discipline against employees affected by discrimination, and pay unspecified damages. Advertisement The case is Missouri ex rel Bailey v Starbucks Corp, US District Court, Eastern District of Missouri, No. 25-00165. Adblock test (Why?)