All deaths ‘avoidable’, finds UK inquiry into Grenfell Tower fire
DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY, The 72 deaths in the Grenfell Tower fire in London in 2017 were all “avoidable” a report into the tragedy has concluded. Delivered on Wednesday following a six-year inquiry, the final report highlights decades of failure of the United Kingdom government, indifference to safety by authorities, dishonest and incompetent manufacturers and installers of building materials, and a lack of strategy by firefighters were the main contributors to the shocking death toll. Those in the 24-storey block were “badly failed” over many years, said the inquiry chairman, Martin Moore-Bick. He added that the inquiry took longer than hoped due to its broad scope and because “many more matters of concern” had been discovered than originally expected. The long-awaited report says the elements identified contributed to varying degrees. This was largely due to incompetence, the chairman said, but in some cases due to “dishonesty and greed”. The lapses and mistakes detailed in the report could trigger criminal charges, although police have said charges will not be filed before 2026. This is a developing story. More to come… Adblock test (Why?)
Why are hundreds of thousands of people protesting across Israel?
Israel is being rocked by mass protests as popular pressure mounts on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition cabinet to secure a ceasefire deal in Gaza that would see the 90 or so remaining captives thought to remain in Gaza brought home. A general strike, called by the powerful Histadrut union, had to be halted after the government petitioned for an injunction against the action, deeming it “political”. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have packed streets across the country in the largest demonstrations since the war on Gaza began, calling for the government to strike a deal. Are these the first mass protests under the current government? Not at all. From January 2023 to the Hamas-led attack of October 7 during which 1,139 people were killed and some 240 taken captive, there were widespread demonstrations against Netanyahu’s judicial changes proposal. The proposal, if passed, would have increased his government’s power over the judiciary and, critics said, helped Netanyahu avoid corruption charges. (Al Jazeera) Despite popular opposition, in July Netanyahu’s government succeeded in passing a key reform limiting the Supreme Court’s power to overrule government decisions based on “reasonableness”. Protests by the families of those taken on October 7 have also roiled domestic Israeli politics since the outbreak of the war on Gaza with a consistent campaign to pressure the Israeli government. Are these the same protesters who were against Netanyahu before the war? In the main, yes, but there are many more. “Sure, many of the current demonstrators are the same that turned out to protest against the judicial reforms. However, there are many more this time, and they’re from a much wider group,” Israeli pollster and a former aide to several senior political figures, Mitchell Barak, told Al Jazeera from Jerusalem. “Young people are also demonstrating, because many of those taken on October 7th [from the Nova music festival or the young soldiers taken that day] were around the same age, and the responsibility for defending the country falls on their shoulders,” he said. [embedded content] What prompted these demonstrations? Grief and frustration. Many protesters suspect that Netanyahu and members of his cabinet are deliberately stalling a deal. Frustration over delays reached a tipping point on Saturday when Israeli forces operating in Gaza discovered the bodies of six captives. So far, Israel has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians and levelled much of Gaza during 11 months of war. In November of last year, negotiators succeeded in securing a temporary ceasefire for seven days, giving hope to many of the families now demonstrating. That ceasefire saw the release of 105 Israeli captives by Hamas, in return for 210 Palestinian prisoners, mainly women and children, being held by Israeli forces. (Al Jazeera) Do Palestinians feature in the demonstrators’ demands? Not really. Most of the protests are focused exclusively on having the captives returned. “The issue of returning the hostages is centre stage,” Israeli analyst Nimrod Flaschenberg said. “An understanding that a deal would also mean an end to the conflict is there, but rarely stated,” he continued, adding that while a few voices among the demonstrators were calling for an end to the conflict, “as far as the protests’ leadership goes, no, it’s all about the hostages.” Are all Israelis on the same side in this? No. The numbers protesting are enormous but while demonstrators are passionate about their cause, so, too, are Netanyahu’s supporters. Netanyahu has tried to focus on his pledge that Hamas, which appeared to admit to killing the six captives, would pay a “heavy price”, rather than acknowledge accusations of stalling on a deal. (Al Jazeera) Supporting him are the right wing and Zionist nationalists, represented in the coalition cabinet by the finance and national security ministers, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir. Smotrich opposed the general strike, claiming it helped “the interests of Hamas” and petitioned the attorney general to halt the strike action. Ben-Gvir was also critical of the protesters. Addressing a counterprotest in Jerusalem, by the families of Israeli soldiers killed in active service, he said: “We’re using our power in the government to prevent a reckless deal. “With Hamas you need to speak only between gunsights,” he added. Have the protesters been treated fairly? Alon-Lee Green, president of the group Standing Together, said the police used a “tough hand” with the demonstrators. Members of Standing Together were protesting in Jerusalem, he said, adding: “They arrested around 20 people at last night’s protest, which included many of our members. “It’s Ben-Gvir, pure and simple,” he said. “He doesn’t influence the police any more. Since he was able to appoint his own police chief in August, he controls the police.” [embedded content] Adblock test (Why?)
Why is the UK government limiting some of its arms exports to Israel?
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has attacked a move by its key ally. The United Kingdom’s government says it will stop some of its arms exports to Israel, fearing the use of certain weapons could break international law. Israel’s prime minister called the move “shameful” and said it will help Hamas, the Palestinian group that governs Gaza. But what are the implications of this decision? Presenter: Folly Bah Thibault Guests: Jeremy Corbyn – an independent member of the UK Parliament Francesca Albanese – UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories Sam Perlo-Freeman – Research coordinator at the Campaign Against Arms Trade, a UK-based organisation working to end the international arms trade Adblock test (Why?)
Journalist presses State Department for answers on arms sales to Israel
NewsFeed A journalist pressed US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller on the UK’s decision to suspend some arms sales to Israel, asking how the US has not reached similar conclusions about possible violations of international law. Published On 3 Sep 20243 Sep 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
Why South Africans and Nigerians are fighting online
NewsFeed You may have seen the scandal over South African student Chidimma Adetshina being crowned Miss Nigeria. But did you know rivalry between the two countries has flared as people seek ways to get back at each other? Here’s how a beauty queen, a taxi prank, and xenophobia are all connected. Published On 3 Sep 20243 Sep 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
Former Volkswagen boss faces trial for ‘Dieselgate’ role
Martin Winterkorn in court nine years after German auto giant admitted rigging emissions tests. After several delays, the criminal trial of former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn for his role in the “dieselgate” scandal has opened in Germany. The trial began on Tuesday, nine years after the German auto giant admitted to cheating emissions tests, triggering global chaos in the industry. Winterkorn, accused of conspiracy to commit fraud, faces up to 10 years in jail. Volkswagen said in 2015 that it had installed software to rig emissions levels readings worldwide. The case against the former CEO relates to about nine million vehicles sold in Europe and the United States, whose buyers faced financial losses running into hundreds of millions of euros, the regional court in Braunschweig city said. Winterkorn resigned as head of the VW group – whose brands range from Porsche and Audi to Skoda and Seat – shortly after the crisis began. The 77-year-old was supposed to stand trial in 2021 alongside four other VW executives, but proceedings against him were split off and postponed due to his poor health. However, the court in Braunschweig announced earlier this year that proceedings against him would finally get under way this month. Since then, there have been renewed concerns about his health, with reports saying he had to undergo an operation in mid-June, and there are now new questions about whether he will be able to endure the long-running trial. About 89 hearings have been scheduled through September 2025. False testimony, market manipulation Winterkorn has also been accused of giving false testimony to a German parliamentary committee in 2017 when it was investigating the scandal. He said he knew of the existence of the defeat devices only in September 2015 but prosecutors claim it was earlier. Winterkorn further faces a charge of market manipulation. He is alleged to have “deliberately failed to inform the capital market in good time” after finding out about the emissions-rigging software in violation of German stock market regulations. Winterkorn already agreed to a settlement with Volkswagen in 2021, under which he would pay the company 11 million euros ($12m) in relation to the controversy. In advance of the trial, Volkswagen noted it was not a party to the proceedings, although it said it would monitor them. The highest-ranking former executive to have been convicted so far in the scandal is former Audi CEO, Rupert Stadler. In June last year, he received a suspended sentence and a fine as part of a deal in exchange for admitting to fraud by negligence. The fraud has already cost VW about 30 billion euros ($33bn) in fines, legal costs and compensation to car owners, mainly in the US. Adblock test (Why?)
Ugandan Olympian hospitalised after being set on fire
Rebecca Cheptegie, who ran in last month’s Olympic marathon, has burns covering 75 percent of her body after a brutal attack by her boyfriend, police allege. A Ugandan Olympic runner has been hospitalised in Kenya after being set on fire by her partner, according to police. Rebecca Cheptegie, who competed last month in the Paris Olympic Games, suffered burns to three-quarters of her body when her partner poured petrol on her and set her ablaze, police reported late on Monday. The attack took place on Sunday afternoon at Cheptegie’s home in Kenya’s western Trans Nzoia County. The 33-year-old athlete is now in critical condition in a hospital in Eldoret, Kenya. Her Kenyan partner and alleged assailant, Dickson Ndiema Marangach, was also injured by the flames, according to police, who said he broke into Cheptegie’s home while she was at church. Cheptegie’s parents, who are reportedly on their way to see her from Uganda, said their daughter bought a home and land in the area to take advantage of its training facilities. Cheptegie, who placed 44th in the women’s marathon at the 2024 Olympics, is not the first high-profile athlete to make headlines as the victim of domestic assault in Kenya. In 2021, record-breaking Kenyan runner Agnes Tirop was found stabbed to death in her home. Tirop’s estranged husband Emmanuel Ibrahim Rotich, who denies involvement, is now being tried for her murder. Tirop’s family and fellow Kenyan athletes launched a foundation in her honour to combat gender-based violence – Tirop’s Angels – which recently opened a centre in Kenya’s western town of Iten. Adblock test (Why?)
‘Tragic childhood’: Gaza children vaccinated against polio, war continues
Deir el-Balah, Gaza – Maha Abu Shamas, 27, has been getting her four children, all under the age of 10, ready to get their polio vaccines since the early hours of the morning. Maha, a mother of five, has been living in a classroom in Deir el-Balah’s central Gaza Strip since the family was displaced from Beit Hanoon in the north last November. “When I heard about the threat of polio spreading, I was terrified for my children. When I learned of a confirmed case of paralysis, I felt like my world had collapsed,” said Maha, holding her nine-month-old boy inside the busy paediatric ward of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, the last functioning medical facility in Deir el-Balah. Gaza’s Ministry of Health last month confirmed the first case of polio – a 10-month-old boy, now paralysed in the leg – in the enclave after 25 years, following the detection of poliovirus in wastewater. The United Nations, along with Gaza health authorities, has begun a vaccination campaign to protect children against polio, which can cause irreversible paralysis of the limbs or even death. About 640,000 children under 10 years old will receive oral drops of the vaccine to protect against the virus which primarily affects children under the age of five, is highly contagious and has no cure. The threat of polio has only compounded Maha’s worries. Displaced parents like her already contend with harsh, unsanitary conditions at shelters like the school where Maha and her children live, and in Gaza’s tent camps, as they try to survive Israel’s war on Gaza which has killed more than 40,700 Palestinians. “The lack of hygiene is the main feature due to overcrowding, a collapsed infrastructure and a catastrophic health situation,” she explains. “The school I live in is full of pools of sewage and wastewater,” Maha adds. “I can’t maintain my children’s cleanliness or health in these conditions.” In addition to taking her children to Al-Aqsa Hospital to be vaccinated, Maha had to bring her youngest child to the paediatric ward after three days of having a high fever and vomiting. “This is how most of my days pass in the war – rushing my sick children to the hospital for treatment due to the spread of diseases, if it’s available,” she says. “If this is how we struggle with minor illnesses like stomach flu, how can we fight serious diseases like polio?” Maha’s life took a devastating turn last month when her husband was killed in an Israeli air strike near their shelter. “Now, I’m the sole caregiver for five children. It’s overwhelming, but like thousands of mothers in Gaza, I have no choice but to push forward.” While she welcomes the polio vaccination drive, she points out that this addresses just one threat posed by the dire living conditions. “Malnutrition, hepatitis, skin diseases, exhaustion – our children face a range of threats. The real solution lies in improving living conditions and ending the war,” she says. “We’ve endured enough.” Hanin Abdullah lives in a crowded classroom with her husband and children. She says many parents worry about the UN vaccination drive because the war has eroded their trust in the international community [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera] For 31-year-old Hanin Abdullah, the decision to vaccinate her children against polio was fraught with hesitation. Hanin, a mother of three young children, was displaced with her family from Jabalia in northern Gaza, and they now share a cramped space with 25 members of her family. “In the same classroom, about 40 others are packed in,” she says, speaking at Al-Aqsa Hospital, describing her situation as tragic. The college where she lives is crowded, sewage pools throughout and there are long queues for the toilets. The outside walls are black from the wood fires used for cooking. She says she no longer trusts any action undertaken by international organisations when it comes to the health of children in Gaza. “Our children are being killed daily by bombs and missiles, even in supposedly safe areas. Some are decapitated,” she says bitterly. “This madness is still ongoing and yet, they’re talking about fears of polio only?” Like many displaced families in her shelter, Hanin initially resisted vaccinating her children. “People here have lost faith in anything global or Western,” she explains. “Some displaced people around believe conspiracy theories that the vaccines contain substances planted by Israel and the US to weaken our children.” Despite her doubts, she ultimately felt she couldn’t risk her children’s health, especially after hearing about a confirmed polio case in Gaza, so she brought them to the hospital. “I understand the despair families feel living under war conditions. We are like the living dead, trapped in unbearable conditions,” she says, holding her baby boy. “I gave birth to my child last November and since then he has been living a tragic childhood in the shelter,” she says, frustrated. “He has no proper nutrition, no clothes, no toys. He suffers from skin rashes and constant fatigue.” For Hanin, the fight against polio is just one small part of a larger struggle. “Protecting our children from polio is important, but the real fight is against the living conditions imposed by war. These conditions are destroying their mental and psychological health and even their future,” she argues. “What is the point of vaccinating children and protecting them from disease, while the war that kills them every day continues? This is nonsense.” Adblock test (Why?)
Virus hunters: The scientists tracking deadly diseases in tough conditions
It was September 2017 at a teaching hospital in Nigeria’s southern state of Bayelsa. An 11-year-old boy came into the clinic with a fever, rash and lesions on his body. Infectious disease scientist and Chief Medical Director Dimie Ogoina examined him. At first, doctors thought it could be chickenpox, but after hearing the boy had previously had the illness, they suspected it must be something more serious. Upon further examination, Ogoina concluded that it was likely monkeypox, a highly infectious disease that causes a skin rash, mucosal lesions and other symptoms the boy was experiencing. It was a stunning finding. The last case of monkeypox – now called mpox – detected in Nigeria was nearly 40 years earlier. And even then, there were only two cases ever recorded. The country was not prepared for it. At that point, Ogoina couldn’t be certain of the diagnosis, though. He first had to notify the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, which needed to take a sample and then send it to the Institut Pasteur in Dakar, Senegal, for testing. The process took days, but when the results came in, it was as Ogoina had suspected. As alarm bells rang through Nigeria, more suspected cases started to stream into his hospital. Every one had to be tested and confirmed from Dakar. Fear, stigma and speculation grew and were palpable inside the hospital. They were aided by fake theories spreading in the media about “another Ebola” – the haemorrhagic viral disease that hit the country just three years before. The 11-year-old, on returning home healthy again, was taunted by neighbours as “monkey boy”. Other misconceptions also emerged: One man who’d been traced from an infected female sexual partner refused to report to a hospital, insisting his sickness was a “spiritual attack” and would be cured as such. Some patients could not bear the fear and waiting. “We lost [a] patient to suicide – she died even before the results came out,” said Ogoina, who is still on the front lines of detecting and treating mpox cases, seven years since he sounded that first alarm. “We had challenges telling the family, and we had to use some diplomacy to resolve that problem. Sometimes outbreaks are not just medical challenges. They are social challenges as well,” he told Al Jazeera. A health official leaves a room in which a probable case of mpox is being treated in Tshopo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, during the 2022 outbreak [File: Arlette Bashizi/Reuters] Last month, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) – its highest alert level. Ogoina sits on the global expert panel that prompted the WHO to issue the declaration. It’s the second time in two years that the mpox virus is on the move. This time, a new, faster-spreading variant is flitting across continents and sparking concerns of another serious epidemic. Cases in the new outbreak have been recorded in about 15 countries in East and West Africa, Asia and Europe. This follows dozens of countries reporting cases in a previous outbreak that started in 2022. The origins and history of mpox go back decades. It was first discovered in Denmark in 1958 in monkeys that were kept for research. The first case in humans was detected in 1978 in a nine-month-old baby in the DRC. After that, the disease steadily emerged in West and Central Africa, spreading in two distinct strains, clade 1 and clade 2. Since 2005, cases have been reported in the DRC, usually flaring in remote areas and then petering out. But since 2017, when mpox re-emerged in Nigeria, it has spread among people and travellers in the region. New medical findings As the 2017 Nigerian outbreak grew, Ogoina’s hospital was forced to improvise. The country did not have the ability to test for the disease. At the same time, there were also no isolation centres, so his team hastily turned one ward into a cordoned-off area for both male and female patients. Soon, one of the doctors caught the disease. Added to the physical challenges and limitations, Ogoina had other headaches as well. Unlike past outbreaks of the disease that were recorded in the DRC, patients were presenting with rashes and lesions on their genitals – areas that most people find sensitive to report in a hospital. Some were instead visiting small medicine kiosks that dot Nigeria so they could treat themselves, meaning more cases were likely being transmitted under the radar. It is now known that mpox spreads by close contact and skin-to-skin touch with someone who has the disease – including through kissing and sex. But when the first cases were discovered in the 1970s, mpox was thought to be contracted from animals and believed to be more dangerous and common in children. People wait at an mpox treatment site in Munigi, DRC, in August 2024 [Moses Sawasawa/AP] In 2017, Ogoina noticed that a different population appeared to be most affected. “I was like, ‘Why are we having young men between 30 and 35?’ I’ve read the literature, and it’s most common among children. … And why are they having genital ulcers?” he wondered. Many of the patients were also HIV-positive. Ogoina suspected sexual transmission, but this had never been documented before. “I wanted to explore that. I remember even developing a questionnaire to get their sexual history, but people thought I was mad. But I said, ‘This is a new type of mpox.’” Ogoina put his findings in research papers but was met with harsh pushback. One review of his work read: “It is quite reckless to speculate [about] possible sexual transmission as no epidemiological data are available in the literature.” It was during the 2022-2023 global outbreak that scientists found evidence that some variants of mpox were indeed sexually transmittable. Doctors found most cases at that time did not present in children as in the past, but largely in groups of men who have sex with
Corruption pushing African youth to emigrate: Poll
North America is their top destination, followed by the UK, France, Germany and Spain in Western Europe. Nearly 60 percent of young Africans want to leave their countries because their governments are not reining in corruption, according to a new poll of youth across 16 African nations. They cited corruption as the biggest obstacle to progress, according to the 2024 African Youth Survey published on Tuesday. The poll commissioned by the Johannesburg-based Ichikowitz Family Foundation surveyed 5,604 people between the ages of 18 and 24 in Botswana, Cameroon, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia. Eighty-three percent of them said they are concerned about corruption at home, and 62 percent believe the government is failing to address it. The poll showed nearly 58 percent of young people saying they are “very likely” or “somewhat likely” to consider emigrating to another country in the next three years. “Concern is widespread across different spheres, including national and local governments, businesses, and police forces,” said the survey, conducted via face-to-face interviews in January and February. “They want tougher sanctions against corrupt politicians, including banning them from standing for office,” the foundation said. More than half, or 55 percent, of those polled said Africa was headed in the “wrong direction”, although there was a modest rise to 37 percent in “Afro-optimism” from the 2022 survey. Young Africans looking to emigrate favoured North America as their top destination, followed by Western Europe, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Spain. Foreign influence In addition to corruption at home, 72 percent of those polled also worried about the negative effect of foreign influence. “They are concerned about their countries being exploited by foreign companies especially their natural mineral wealth being mined and exported without any further benefit to the people,” said the foundation. Nevertheless, 82 percent had positive views about the influence of China, whose Belt and Road Initiative has spawned massive infrastructure projects across the continent. Members of the Chinese honour guard walk past as Mali’s interim President Assimi Goita arrives in Beijing for the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), on September 1 [Ken Ishii/Pool via Reuters] Seventy-nine percent viewed the influence of the United States positively, with 41 percent saying it provides “important loans and economic support”. Most said a Donald Trump victory in the US presidential election in November would be a far worse outcome for Africa than a win by Democratic nominee Kamala Harris. Perceptions of Russian influence increased, notably in Malawi and South Africa, with more than half of those with a positive view of Russia citing its provision of grain and fertiliser. However, a significant number of youths – 30 percent – view Russian influence negatively, mostly due to “detrimental impacts on African countries caused by Russia’s engagement in conflicts”, said the survey. Africa is home to nearly 420 million youth aged 15-35, one-third of whom are unemployed, the African Development Bank says. It has the world’s youngest and fastest-growing population, with it expected to double to more than 830 million by 2050. Adblock test (Why?)