Israel ‘demolished’ watchtower in latest attack on UN Lebanon peacekeepers
UNIFIL says Israeli forces ‘deliberately’ damaged one of its positions in southern Lebanon. United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon have said the Israeli army “deliberately” damaged one of their positions in southern Lebanon, in the latest incident reported by the force that remains deployed in all of its positions. An Israeli “army bulldozer deliberately demolished an observation tower and perimeter fence of a UN position” in southern Lebanon, the UN Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said in a statement, adding that its forces remain in all positions “despite the pressure being exerted”. “We remind the [Israeli forces] and all actors of their obligations to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel and property and to respect the inviolability of UN premises at all times,” the statement said. It called on Israel to stop breaching UN positions, which is considered “a flagrant violation of international law”. Israel had recently claimed that the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was attacking Israel from positions located in close proximity to posts of the UN peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon – an accusation that Hezbollah denies. On Wednesday, UNIFIL said that an Israeli tank had fired on one of its watchtowers in southern Lebanon. This came after UN peacekeepers in Lebanon had come under fire several times days before, with at least four soldiers injured. Last week UNIFIL said two Israeli tanks “destroyed” the main gate at one of its positions in southern Lebanon and “forcibly entered the position”. Israel has fired on several front-line UNIFIL positions since it launched a ground incursion into southern Lebanon in early October, claiming it aims to dismantle the infrastructure of Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Lebanese group that has been trading fire with the Israeli army in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. Israel’s strikes have been widely condemned, including by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who said that attacks against UN peacekeepers were a violation of international law and “may constitute a war crime”. Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he demands Guterres get UNIFIL troops out of “combat zones”, alleging that their presence was providing a “human shield” for Hezbollah. But the UN maintains that the mission – with members from 50 countries – is not going anywhere. UNIFIL has monitored the border region between Israel and Lebanon since 1978. More than 10,000 troops from more than 50 countries have been deployed to the mission. Netanyahu has been pushing for the removal of UN peacekeepers as Israel escalates its attacks in southern Lebanon. Adblock test (Why?)
Priest shot dead in southern Mexico after leaving Sunday service
Community remembers Marcelo Perez as outspoken champion of Indigenous, labour rights in Mexican state of Chiapas. A priest known for his activism in defence of Indigenous and labour rights in Mexico has been killed after leaving church services, local authorities said. Catholic priest Marcelo Perez was returning home from church on Sunday when two men on a motorcycle pulled alongside his vehicle and shot him, prosecutors in the southern state of Chiapas said. “Father Marcelo has been a symbol of resistance and has stood alongside the communities of Chiapas for decades, defending the dignity and rights of the people and working toward true peace,” the Jesuits, Perez’s religious order, said in a statement. The killing comes amid a period of heightened violence in the southern state, which recorded about 500 murders between January and August this year. Along with the rights of Indigenous people and farmworkers, the Jesuits said Perez was also a vocal critic of organised criminal groups. “This region doesn’t just suffer from murders, but also forced recruitment (into criminal groups), kidnappings, threats and ransacking of its natural resources,” the religious order said. Mexican human rights activists and environmental defenders have long condemned violent harassment and intimidation by criminal groups and state security forces. Perez was himself a member of the Tzotzil Indigenous peoples and had served the community in Chiapas for two decades, developing a reputation as someone who could help settle disputes, especially over land. “We will collaborate with all the authorities so his death doesn’t go unpunished and those guilty face the courts,” Chipas Governor Rutilio Escandon said in a social media post, calling the assassination “cowardly”. But in Mexico, accountability for murder is the exception rather than the rule, with about 95 percent of all homicides going unsolved. Rights activists and Indigenous land defenders face high levels of violence and intimidation in Mexico. A 2023 Amnesty International report found that those groups face high levels of criminalisation and persecution as part of a “broader strategy of disincentivizing and dismantling advocacy for land, territorial and environmental rights”. The rights group also said Mexico “ranks among the countries with the highest number of murders of environmental defenders”. On Sunday, the United Nations human rights office in Mexico said “several national and international organizations had publicly warned about the growing number of threats, attacks and acts of criminalization against” Perez, the priest. It said those threats “have intensified in recent years due to his tireless work in favor of justice and the rights of Indigenous peoples”. Adblock test (Why?)
Trump visits McDonald’s as Harris speaks to churchgoers in swing state push
United States presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have spent the day rallying supporters in battleground states that will be critical in deciding who wins the White House, a little more than two weeks from Election Day. Former Republican President Trump made his push for voters in the state of Pennsylvania on Sunday while US Vice President Harris, a Democrat, spent the day in Georgia. At a McDonald’s in suburban Philadelphia, an employee showed Trump – a well-known fan of fast food – how to dunk baskets of fries in oil, salt them and put them into boxes using a scoop. “It requires great expertise, actually, to do it right and to do it fast,” Trump said, putting away his suit jacket and wearing an apron over his shirt and tie. “I like this job,” he added. The visit came as Trump has tried to counter Harris’s accounts of working at the fast-food chain while in college, an experience that Trump has claimed – without offering evidence – never happened. Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera’s Phil Lavelle said the McDonald’s stop was a “photo op” that allowed him to “needle” Harris over the issue. “It really gave him a chance to just go after her in that way,” Lavelle said. Harris looks on as Stevie Wonder sings Happy Birthday to her during a service at a church in Jonesboro, Georgia, October 20 [Elijah Nouvelage/Reuters] For her part, Harris, who marked her 60th birthday on Sunday, participated in two worship services outside of Atlanta. At Divine Faith Ministries International in Jonesboro, Georgia, music icon Stevie Wonder performed, singing his hit Higher Ground and a version of Bob Marley’s Redemption Song. He also sang Happy Birthday to Harris. Earlier, the Democratic candidate spoke at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia, where she drew a sharp contrast to the harsh and divisive rhetoric of the current political climate. “At this point across our nation, what we do see are some trying to deepen division among us, spread hate, sow fear and cause chaos,” Harris said, without mentioning Trump by name. “At this moment, our country is at a crossroads and where we go is up to us.” Democrats have long sought to portray Trump as a threat to democracy, particularly after a mob of his supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an effort to prevent Congress from certifying the results of the 2020 election. Trump and his allies have falsely claimed that the 2020 contest, which the Republican lost to Democrat Joe Biden, was marred by widespread fraud. On Sunday, the ex-president told reporters in Pennsylvania that he would respect the results of next month’s vote “if it’s a fair election”. Experts have raised concerns that Trump is laying the groundwork to contest the November election results should he lose to Harris. Recent polls suggest the two presidential candidates are neck-and-neck as Election Day nears, with the race expected to come down to how they fare in key swing states such as Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina and Arizona, among others. Later on Sunday, Trump held a town hall in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He was then expected to attend a Pittsburgh Steelers game. Harris said she would campaign on Monday with former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney – a staunch Trump critic – in the suburbs of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Adblock test (Why?)
Libyan arrested in Germany on suspicion of planning Israeli embassy attack
Prosecutors said the accused exchanged information with a member of ISIL in a messenger chat and was planning to use firearms in his assault. A Libyan national with suspected ties to the ISIL (ISIS) group who was planning an attack on the Israeli embassy in Berlin has been arrested in Germany, the authorities said. Police and other security forces arrested the man on Saturday evening in Bernau, a town just outside the capital, Berlin, and searched his home, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement on Sunday. The prosecutor’s office identified the 28-year-old man only as Omar A in keeping with Germany’s strict privacy laws. “He intended to carry out a high-profile attack with firearms on the Israeli Embassy in Berlin,” the statement said. “The accused exchanged information with a member of [ISIL] in a messenger chat.” Security forces also searched the home of another person near the city of Bonn, who was considered a witness but not a suspect, the statement said. German newspaper Bild said the Libyan man was believed to have entered Germany in November 2022 and to have made a request for asylum the following January, which was rejected in September 2023. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said German security authorities “struck in time to thwart possible plans to attack the Israeli Embassy in Berlin”. The suspect is expected to be brought before an investigating judge at the country’s highest court, the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe, on Sunday, the prosecutor’s office said. The authorities acted after receiving a tip-off from an unspecified foreign intelligence agency, local media reported, with a heavily armed elite police unit storming the suspect’s home in Bernau. “We are acting with the utmost vigilance and attention in view of the high threat posed by Islamist, anti-Semitic and anti-Israel violence,” Faeser said. Justice Minister Marco Buschmann warned on Sunday about the threat of such acts. “Israeli institutions are particularly often the target of terrorists,” he told the German news agency dpa. Tensions between supporters of Israel and those incensed at Israel’s war on Gaza over the past year have flared in Germany for months. Pro-Palestine demonstrators say they have faced repeated violence from police and counterdemonstrators. Adblock test (Why?)
Video: See the moment a seven-storey building collapses in Nairobi, Kenya
NewsFeed Video shows the moment a multi-storey building collapses in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. Local media says residents were warned to leave due to the weakened structure, but it’s unclear whether it had been fully vacated. A search and rescue mission is under way. Published On 20 Oct 202420 Oct 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
Israel releases footage of its military rounding up Palestinians in Gaza
NewsFeed The Israeli army has released footage showing dozens of Palestinians being rounded up in besieged northern Gaza, near the Indonesian Hospital where many had taken shelter. Published On 20 Oct 202420 Oct 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
Is the Western push for a post-war Gaza hasty and unrealistic?
World leaders examine the future of Gaza after Israel’s killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Western leaders say Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar’s death could open the door for a possible ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the war is not over, and Hamas has ruled out the release of Israeli captives until the war ends. So is the Western push for a post-war Gaza hasty and unrealistic? Presenter: James Bays Guests: Said Arikat – Washington bureau chief, Al Quds newspaper Brian Finucane – senior adviser, US Programme, International Crisis Group Benoit Muracciole – president, Action Securite Ethique Republicaines Adblock test (Why?)
Cuba struggles to get energy grid back online after nationwide blackout
The Cuban government has started to restore power to the millions of residents left in the dark during a nationwide power outage this week. On Saturday, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel sought to reassure the country, amid the continuing struggles with the electrical grid. “We are working hard and tirelessly to recover the electrical system, according to priority, in order to achieve stability,” he wrote on the social media platform X. He also praised community leaders during the crisis. “It’s admirable, the wisdom and poise of those who are heroes in these complicated hours, many of them young.” The president’s comments come after the entire country was plunged into darkness on Friday, in what experts called the worst blackout in two years. It was the culmination of several days of flickering power, starting on Thursday. Authorities at the time warned the electrical system was overloaded, and they called on nonessential activities to stop. Schools were closed until Monday, and certain state workers were sent home. By Friday, however, one of the primary power plants — the Antonio Guiteras plant in the western part of the island — had failed. That caused the power grid to collapse, leaving the entire country without electricity. State-run media reported on Saturday that there was a second collapse, but that crews had begun reconnecting the three major power plants. “I cannot assure you that we will be able to complete linking the system today, but we are estimating that there should be important progress today,” Lazaro Guerra, Cuba’s top electricity official, told a morning news programme, according to the Reuters news agency. The Ministry of Energy and Mining also acknowledged the Saturday morning hiccups in a statement. “Due to the technical complexity of the electrical system restoration process, disconnections of the subsystems may occur, as happened in the west,” it said. “Work is being done on their restoration.” President Diaz-Canel visited the National Electricity Office on Saturday to show his support for the recovery efforts. “We will emerge from this difficult situation,” his administration wrote on social media. Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy also offered updates about the progress. “Generation will gradually continue to increase,” he said, explaining that they “already have 500 megawatts in the system” and “various substations in the west have energy”. Cuba has long struggled with blackouts and instability in its electrical grid, as the result of ageing infrastructure, fuel shortages and a floundering economy. Officials also pointed to the recent ravages of Hurricane Milton, which struck the country with heavy winds and flooding on October 9. Critics, however, have also blamed mismanagement in the Cuban government for the energy crisis. Just this year, in March, hundreds of protesters demonstrated in the capital Havana against food and fuel shortages, as the country’s economy suffers one of its worst crises since the 1990s. United States sanctions have exacerbated the situation, as has instability in countries like Venezuela, one of Cuba’s top petrol suppliers. Adblock test (Why?)
Kamala Harris’s campaign flexes celebrity support in Detroit and Atlanta
United States Vice President Kamala Harris has deployed some of the music industry’s star power to rally voters in the final weeks before November’s presidential election. On Saturday, two of the Democratic nominee’s events were headlined by prominent musicians. At her first stop, in Detroit, Michigan, the singer and rapper Lizzo warmed up the crowd with a passionate on-stage endorsement. “I already voted early and I voted for Harris,” the musician, a Detroit native, told a cheering crowd. Michigan is one of about seven key swing states in the presidential race, which could tilt either towards the Democrat or her Republican rival, former President Donald Trump. Later in the day, Harris visited another pivotal battleground: the southern state of Georgia. There, she had also lined up another hometown hero, the musician Usher, who began his music career in Atlanta, the state’s capital. Usher sang a few bars with the crowd before starting his speech. “It’s really great to be home. I’m here, home, for my Past Present Future Tour but took a quick break from that to come here, share a few words with you about the significance of this moment,” he said. “I feel that this is a momentous opportunity for each and every one of us. It’s just 17 days away from a very important election, as we all know, and we have the opportunity to choose a new generation of leadership for our country.” Record early voting Harris’s visit to Michigan on Saturday coincided with the first day of in-person early voting in Detroit. Absentee voting by mail had already begun in the state. Michigan’s online “voting dashboard” indicated that, by Saturday morning, more than 1 million mail-in ballots had been received. It was one of several strong showings across the country, indicating a possible surge in voter enthusiasm. States like North Carolina and Georgia have notched records for early-voting turnout this week, according to officials. The chief operating officer for Georgia’s secretary of state, Gabriel Sterling, posted on social media that turnout continues to be high. Georgia’s first day of early voting was Tuesday. “Congratulations to the counties and especially our great Georgia voters. Y’all have broken another RECORD. Biggest turnout ever for a General Election Saturday,” Sterling wrote. While experts caution against extrapolating too much from the numbers, political analysts note that Democrats have traditionally seen a boost from large early turnouts. Harris sought to build on this year’s momentum during her weekend campaign stops. “Georgia started early voting, broke historic records. North Carolina started early voting, broke historic records in North Carolina. Now, who is the capital of producing records?” she told supporters in Detroit, with a winking reference to the city’s music industry. “So we are going to break some records here in Detroit today.” Addressing war in Gaza During her visit to Michigan, Harris also took the opportunity to repeat her call for a ceasefire in Gaza, where Israel has led a yearlong military campaign, killing more than 42,500 Palestinians. US support for Israel and its war has eroded support for Democrats among Arab and Muslim Americans in Michigan. The state boasts the largest concentration of Arab Americans in the country, and it also the home of a national protest movement against the administration of President Joe Biden over its stance on the war. Harris, who has also been a recipient of that criticism, voiced hope that the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza might usher in an end to hostilities. “This creates an opening that I believe we must take full advantage of — to dedicate ourselves to ending this war and bringing the hostages home,” Harris told reporters in Detroit. She added that Middle East policy has long been a difficult issue for the US. “It has never been easy,” Harris said. “But that doesn’t mean we give up.” Razzing Trump At her campaign rally in Detroit, Harris addressed supporters in front of “Detroit Votes Early” signs — and she and other speakers used their platform to slap back at Republican criticisms of the city. Earlier in the month, Trump cast Detroit in an unflattering light, telling the Detroit Economic Club that another Democratic president would render the entire country like the “Motor City”. “Our whole country will end up being like Detroit if she’s your president,” Trump said of Harris, calling Detroit “a mess”. Harris, by contrast, took the stage on Saturday in a T-shirt that read “Detroit vs Everybody”, a slogan that has adorned clothing lines and rap songs. Lizzo, meanwhile, addressed Trump’s comments more bluntly. “I’m so proud to be from this city,” she told the crowd. “You know, they say if Kamala wins, then the whole country will be like Detroit. Proud like Detroit. Resilient like Detroit.” “Put some respect on Detroit’s name,” she added. Celebrity support Analysts in general say that the Democratic Party has been more successful in rallying star power to its cause this election cycle. Harris not only enjoys the endorsement of figures like Lizzo and Usher, but celebrities like Taylor Swift, Oprah and George Clooney have also announced their support for her since she became the presidential candidate in July. It is not clear, however, if celebrity support actually makes a difference in a campaign. More than 76 percent of voters polled recently by Quinnipiac University said Swift’s endorsement would not affect their ballots. The same goes for Republicans. Two-thirds of those surveyed said entrepreneur Elon Musk’s recent support for Trump would not affect their vote either. But Democrats are nevertheless banking on the glitter of its star power. This upcoming week, for instance, former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama are hitting the campaign trail, with only two weeks to go before the election. It will be the first time Michelle has done the rally circuit. Barack, meanwhile, made his first campaign-trail appearance in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, earlier this month. Both Harris and Trump are trying to squeak ahead in the crucial last weeks of campaigning.
Russia, Ukraine each bring home 95 prisoners of war in UAE-mediated swap
The exchange was the 58th to take place since the beginning of the war, Ukraine says. Russia and Ukraine have swapped 190 prisoners of war under a deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates. The exchange late Friday saw each side release 95 prisoners. Russia’s Ministry of Defence stated that returning Russian service members were undergoing medical checks in Belarus, one of Russia’s closest allies throughout the two-and-half-year conflict. A Russian military video showed smiling soldiers boarding buses. A video posted on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Telegram account, meanwhile, showed men, some wrapped in the Ukrainian flag, getting off a bus and hugging loved ones. “Every time Ukraine rescues its people from Russian captivity, we get closer to the day when freedom will be returned to all who are in Russian captivity,” the president said. The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the exchange as “a reflection of the cooperative and friendly relations between the UAE and both countries”. It was its ninth time mediating such an exchange between Moscow and Kyiv. The Ukrainian president said the freed prisoners had served on various fronts, including those who had defended the port city of Mariupol for nearly three months in 2022. There, they defended Mariupol and the Azovstal steelworks, which was widely viewed as a stealthy instance of resistance against Russia’s war. Mariupol has since been under Russian occupation. “Ninety-five of our people are home again. These are the warriors who defended Mariupol and ‘Azovstal,’ as well as the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Kherson regions,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post on X. Ukrainian media and human rights organisations reported that Ukrainian rights activist and service member Maksym Butkevych, who was convicted by a Russian court of shooting at Russian forces, was among those freed. Forty-eight of the returnees had been handed sentences by the Russian judicial system, according to the body coordinating the affairs of prisoners of war. Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian parliament’s commissioner for human rights, said the latest exchange was the 58th since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and brought to 3,767 the total number of prisoners returned home. The swap follows the repatriation of the bodies of 501 soldiers to Ukraine earlier on Friday in what appeared to be the biggest repatriation of those killed during the conflict since the war broke out. Most of those soldiers died while in action in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War. Adblock test (Why?)