Georgia probes alleged plot to overthrow government
State intelligence agency claims ‘former officials’ also planned to assassinate governing party head Ivanishvili. Georgia’s state intelligence agency has announced the opening of an investigation into a plot to “violently overthrow” the government. In a statement posted on Facebook on Wednesday, the State Security Service of Georgia said it is “investigating criminal activities” aimed at creating unrest, including a plot to kill Bidzina Ivanishvili, the honorary chairman of the governing Georgian Dream party. The statement accused “former high officials” of being behind the plot, with local media reports suggesting links to Ukraine. The announcement came amid heightened tension in Georgia over the introduction of a “foreign influence” law that opponents say illustrates the government is moving closer to Russia. “The aim of the criminal activities is to violently overthrow the state government by destructive forces in the midst of creating unrest in the country and weakening the government,” the statement read. “Active investigations and operative-search measures are underway in which specific persons are sent to the investigative body for questioning,” it added. The security service did not name the suspects. However, Georgian media reported at least six people had been summoned for questioning, most of whom have fought against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Georgia’s authorities have repeatedly accused Ukraine-based Georgians fighting against Russia of plotting a coup. Tbilisi says it opposes Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, but has declined to impose sanctions on Russia over its aggression. Georgia also hosts significant numbers of Russians who fled their country in fear of Moscow’s mobilisation efforts. ‘Russian law’ Ivanishvili is the South Caucasus country’s richest man. Founder of Georgian Dream and retaining significant influence over the party, he refutes accusations that he is moving Georgia – which was invaded by Russian forces in 2008 – back towards Moscow. The billionaire insists that the government still hopes to move towards European Union membership. However, Brussels has said repeatedly that the foreign agent law puts that ambition at risk. Formally led by Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, the ruling coalition overrode a veto by President Salome Zourabichvili on the controversial bill in May amid huge protests, which were violently crushed by the authorities. The new law requires media, nongovernmental organisations and other nonprofit groups to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad. The government insisted that the law is needed to stem what it deems to be harmful foreign actors trying to destabilise the South Caucasus nation of 3.7 million. However, many Georgian journalists and activists argue that the bill’s true goal is to stigmatise them and restrict debate in the run-up to parliamentary elections scheduled for October. Opponents have denounced the legislation as “the Russian law” because it resembles measures pushed through by the Kremlin to crack down on independent news media and nonprofit groups. Adblock test (Why?)
The Battle for the Soul of Angkor Wat
People & Power investigates the mass evictions of thousands of residents at the famous UNESCO World Heritage Site. Cambodia’s Angkor Wat, or “City of Temples”, is the largest religious structure in the world. A truly spectacular place, it is deeply revered across Cambodia and depicted on its flag as the defining image of the nation. In 1992, UNESCO designated Angkor as a World Heritage Site. The UN agency also affirmed it as a “living” site whose traditional communities were as important as the stones. But now, locals accuse the Cambodian government of the mass forced eviction of thousands of people from those communities, while the government claims each one has voluntarily moved after settling illegally in Angkor. It also says the relocations are at UNESCO’s behest. People & Power went to Cambodia to investigate. Adblock test (Why?)
What is ‘dark oxygen’, found 13,000 feet under the sea?
For decades, scientists have floated theories about dark matter, which is believed to hold galaxies together by its gravitational pull. The enigma of dark matter continues, and now scientists have discovered what they call dark oxygen on the ocean’s floor. A recent study published in Nature Geoscience, a journal dedicated to Earth sciences research, shows oxygen emitted from mineral deposits 4,000 meters (about 13,000 feet) below the ocean’s surface on the seafloor of the Pacific Ocean’s Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ). The depth is almost half the length of the tallest peak of Mount Everest. The study by Andrew Sweetman, professor at the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) and team lead of the institution’s seafloor ecology and biogeochemistry research group, provides evidence that there’s an additional oxygen source on the planet apart from the oxygen produced from photosynthesis. Up until now, it has been well understood by scientists that the planet’s only source of oxygen is from photosynthetic organisms like plants and algae that produce oxygen for humans and other animals to breathe. So what is the significance of this newly found dark oxygen, and what questions does it raise about the origins of life on Earth? What is dark oxygen? On the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), which spans 4.5 million square kilometres (1.7 million square miles) in the Pacific Ocean, there are coal-like mineral rocks, called polymetallic nodules, which typically contain manganese and iron. Scientists have found that these nodules produce oxygen without the process of photosynthesis. Minerals that produce oxygen in the darkness of the seafloor could possibly change scientists’ view of how life began on planet Earth. “The other implication of this research is it potentially sheds light on where life began on the planet. This discovery has shown that, well, maybe there was another source of oxygen a long time ago and aerobic life or life that breathes oxygen could have persisted before the rise of photosynthesis — and if it’s happening on our planet could it be happening on other planets too,” Sweetman stated in a SAMS video. How did they find the dark oxygen? The discovery comes more than 10 years after the source of dark oxygen itself was found. The 2013 research mission was aimed at understanding how much oxygen was consumed by organisms on the CCZ seafloor. Landers, mechanical platforms that can free-fall to the bottom of the seafloor, were sent down 4,000 meters (13,000 feet) to track how oxygen levels in the water decreased over with depth. However, what researchers discovered was that oxygen levels increased at the ocean bed. This surprised Sweetman and his team. Until now, scientists believed that the oxygen available in the deep ocean comes from the upper ocean and land, produced by plants, plankton and algae using the process of photosynthesis. As a result, oxygen levels usually go down as one goes deeper. Not in this case. Thinking his measuring equipment was faulty, Sweetman got the equipment recalibrated and repeated the experiment several times over many years — with the same results. Through more experiments over the years, they discovered manganese nodules were the source of oxygen production. They brought these nodules back to the ship for testing and noticed they had an electric charge, the equivalent of an AA battery. A process known as seawater electrolysis allows a charge to split seawater into hydrogen and oxygen. They observed this in their lab experiments. What is the significance of the discovery? Science works on the principles of verification, so these findings will need to be confirmed by other, independent experiments. But the research by Sweetman and his team suggests that some minerals do produce oxygen while not using sunlight. “The fact that we’ve got another source of oxygen on the planet other than photosynthesis has consequences and implications that are utterly profound,” Nick Owens, director of SAMS, said. [embedded content] This discovery also highlights the need to protect environments that self-produce oxygen, according to the researchers behind it. “To power the green economy we need to extract metals from the ground or potentially the deep ocean,” Sweetman said. “So what we have discovered means that we’re going to have to carefully think about if deep ocean mining goes ahead, where that mining should take place because this oxygen is likely being used in whatever quantity that it’s produced by the ecosystem.” In addition, the implications of discovering another deep ocean source of oxygen production open the doors to revisiting how life began on Earth. “The fact that we’ve got another source of oxygen on the planet other than photosynthesis has consequences and implications that are utterly profound,” Owens said. Adblock test (Why?)
Oman mosque attack: What’s ISIL’s game plan?
Near Oman’s mountain-crested capital of Muscat, a rare act of violence last week shook a peaceful country largely bereft of even petty crime. Gunfire rang out, and shouts of “Oh God!” were heard on July 15 in Wadi Kabir, a district east of Muscat, as three gunmen entered the Imam Ali Mosque. Congregants were gathered for a major religious event for Shia Muslims. But the event ended with five people killed – four Pakistani nationals and a policeman – and at least 30 others wounded, according to Omani and Pakistani authorities. In a country known for “exceptional” religious tolerance and a long tradition of coexistence, the real target might have been Oman’s stability, especially given its role as a regional mediator, say analysts. Soon after, ISIL (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack – its first ever of an operation in the Gulf nation. But experts said it is unclear if the attack was actually carried out by ISIL. More than a week after the attack, the group has offered no evidence except a video of the three alleged bombers — supposedly brothers — pledging allegiance to ISIL’s leader. With the region and world focused on Israel’s brutal war on Gaza, ISIL — whether or not it was actually behind the attack — may be trying to stay relevant, heightening sectarian divisions, especially in places where virtually none exists, analysts suggest. Sowing discord to divert “It is clear that [ISIL] relies on a strategy of claiming responsibility for attacks even when it had no actual involvement, with the aim of inciting chaos and sectarian strife,” Faozi Algoidi, a research fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, told Al Jazeera. “By asserting responsibility for incidents that may originally be accidental or socially motivated, the organisation enhances the sectarian and terrorist nature of these events, bringing the issue of sectarian conflict back to the forefront.” ISIL’s goal may be to show that the organisation is still active and capable of striking anywhere, to stir fear and increase sectarian tensions in places of otherwise security and peace, like Oman, he added. This may have been why the attack occurred on the occasion of Ashura, among the holiest times of the year for Shia Muslims, according to Andreas Krieg, a professor at King’s College London and CEO of MENA analytica, a MENA-focused political risk firm. “That’s exactly what [ISIL] wanted to achieve … polarise sectarian dialogue and discourse in a very tolerant and inclusive country, and also across the region,” Krieg told Al Jazeera. “They were looking for an iconic moment where they can have an impact.” The attack also likely occurred at this time because armed groups perceive that the region’s intelligence agencies are focused more on Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, say analysts. “This timing suggests a strategic choice by [ISIL] to exploit perceived vulnerabilities,” Harley Lippman, an adviser at the USAID Partnership for Peace Fund, focused on Middle East peace efforts, told Al Jazeera. The attack in Oman follows similar acts in Russia and Iran. In March, the group said it was behind an attack that killed more than 140 people at a concert hall near Moscow, and in January it claimed responsibility for two explosions in Kerman that killed nearly 100. The number of operations claimed by ISIL this year compared with last year has doubled, further indicating a hidden agenda to divert attention in the region from the situation in Gaza, said Algoidi. Why Oman? Beyond its stability, Oman may have been singled out for the attack due to its role as a frequent regional mediator, say analysts. In the conflict in Yemen, in particular, Oman has been trying to bridge a gap between the Iran-aligned Houthi group and the Saudi-backed government. “The fact that the Omanis are trying to create cohesion, consensus in Yemen and trying to solve the conflict is something that [ISIL] disagrees with,” said Krieg. “They need conflict in Yemen to thrive.” Oman’s ties with Iran may have also embittered the group. ISIL views Tehran as an “archenemy”, Krieg added. An ISIL network existing in Oman is highly unlikely, Krieg said, and the incident rather points to the work of a cell with links to Yemen. The group’s cell structure means “lone wolf” ISIL-linked groups can launch operations even without membership within ISIL itself, he explained. He believes it is a single, isolated event and not a resurgence of the group — at least not in the Gulf region. “This can happen literally in any country. It can happen in the UK,” said Krieg. Adblock test (Why?)
Plane crash at Nepal’s Kathmandu airport kills 18; pilot only survivor
Saurya Airlines plane carrying two crew members and 17 passengers crashes shortly after takeoff and catches fire. A passenger plane has crashed and caught fire shortly after taking off from Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, killing 18 people, aviation officials say. The pilot was the only survivor of Wednesday’s crash and was being treated in hospital, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said in a statement. Nineteen people were on the test flight conducted by the domestic carrier Saurya Airlines, including technical staff members and two crew members. The incident took place right after the 11:11am (05:26 GMT) takeoff of the 50-seat Bombardier CRJ200, the aviation authority said. The plane then turned right and crashed into the eastern section of the airport, the statement said. It was on its way to the resort town of of Pokhara. The cause of the crash is being investigated. A doctor at Kathmandu Medical College Hospital told The Associated Press news agency that the pilot had suffered injuries to the eyes “but is not in any danger”. Eighteen Nepalis, including one child, and a Yemeni national were on the plane, the aviation authority confirmed. The bodies were taken to the TU Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu for autopsy. Saurya Airlines 9N-AME crash@TIACAO2 Press Release – 2 pic.twitter.com/5LzBHpqhZI — Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (@hello_CAANepal) July 24, 2024 Images of the aftermath shared by Nepal’s military showed the plane’s fuselage split apart and charred. Broadcast images showed the bodies being carried to ambulances on stretchers. Other visuals showed rescue workers rummaging through the burned remains of the plane. Poor safety record Tribhuvan International Airport, the main airport in Nepal for international and domestic flights, was closed for several hours as emergency workers and investigators began their work. The airport is located inside a valley surrounded by mountains on most sides. It is considered a challenging airport for pilots, and bigger planes have to come through an opening on a mountain to land. Nepal’s aviation industry has boomed in recent years, carrying goods and people between hard-to-reach areas as well as local and international trekkers and climbers. But the Himalayan country has a poor aviation safety record with a spate of deadly light plane and helicopter crashes over the decades. Much of this is attributed to insufficient training and maintenance, which are compounded by the country’s treacherous geography. Nepal also has some of the world’s trickiest runways to land on. Many are flanked by snow-capped peaks with approaches that pose a challenge even for accomplished pilots. The weather can change quickly in the mountains, creating dangerous flying conditions. Nepal’s last major commercial flight accident was in January 2023 when a Yeti Airlines flight crashed while landing at Pokhara, killing all 72 people on board. In 2018, at least 49 people were killed when a Bangladeshi plane carrying more than 70 people crashed and burst into flames as it landed in Kathmandu. In 1992, all 167 people on board a Pakistan International Airlines plane died when it crashed on approach at Kathmandu airport. Earlier that same year, a Thai Airways aircraft had crashed near the same airport, killing 113 people. Adblock test (Why?)
Typhoon Gaemi brings flood chaos to Philippines capital
NewsFeed Roads and neighbourhoods in Manila and across the Philippines have been left under water after heavy rain from Typhoon Gaemi, forcing many people out of their flooded homes. Published On 24 Jul 202424 Jul 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
US regulators investigate Delta as it struggles to recover from outage
The collapse at Delta is stunning for an outfit that was widely viewed as the best big US airline. United States regulators are investigating how Delta Air Lines is treating passengers affected by cancelled and delayed flights as the airline struggles to recover from a global technology outage. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced the Delta investigation on the X social media platform on Tuesday “to ensure the airline is following the law and taking care of its passengers during continued widespread disruptions”. “All airline passengers have the right to be treated fairly, and I will make sure that right is upheld,” Buttigieg said. Delta and its Delta Connection partners cancelled about 500 flights on Tuesday by midday on the East Coast, accounting for about two-thirds of all cancellations in the United States, according to tracking platform FlightAware. The outage began Thursday night into Friday morning, after a faulty software upgrade from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike to more than 8 million Microsoft computers around the world. The Atlanta-based carrier has cancelled more than 6,600 flights since the outage started, far more than any other airline, according to figures from FlightAware and travel-data provider Cirium. Delta said it was cooperating with the investigation. “We remain entirely focused on restoring our operation after cybersecurity vendor CrowdStrike’s faulty Windows update rendered IT systems across the globe inoperable,” an airline spokesperson said in a statement. “Across our operation, Delta teams are working tirelessly to care for and make it right for customers impacted by delays and cancellations as we work to restore the reliable, on-time service they have come to expect from Delta.” Delta has said upward of half its technology systems run on Microsoft Windows, including a tool the airline uses to schedule pilots and flight attendants. The systems could not keep up with the high number of changes triggered by the outage. The collapse at Delta is stunning for an outfit that was widely viewed as the best big US airline – the most profitable before and after the pandemic, and the best-run operation. Delta has almost always ranked near the top among all US carriers for on-time performance. The Department of Transportation said it launched the investigation after seeing Delta’s continued widespread flight disruptions “and reports of concerning customer service failures”. The department said the investigation will evolve as it “processes the high volume of consumer complaints we have already received against Delta”. Last week’s outage impacted air travel globally [File: Miguel J Rodriguez Carrillo/Getty Images via AFP] Senators weigh in Investigators are likely to focus on whether Delta is complying with federal rules and offering prompt refunds to passengers whose flights are cancelled or significantly delayed. In a text provided to The Associated Press, a Delta passenger whose flight was cancelled on Saturday was told, “If you prefer not to rebook your trip, your ticket value will automatically be available as an eCredit that can be used towards a future Delta ticket.” In Washington, lawmakers are beginning to weigh in. Senator Maria Cantwell, Democrat from Washington and chair of the Senate committee that oversees airlines, said in a letter to Delta CEO Ed Bastian that she is “concerned” that Delta is not complying with passenger rights contained in a law that Congress passed in May. “While the technology outage was clearly not caused by Delta or any airline, I am nevertheless concerned that Delta is failing to meet the moment and adequately protect the needs of passengers,” Cantwell wrote. Delta’s meltdown mirrors that of Southwest Airlines, which cancelled nearly 17,000 flights over 15 days in December 2022. A Transportation Department investigation ended with Southwest agreeing to pay a $35m fine as part of a $140m settlement. Southwest blamed its breakdown on a winter storm, but other airlines recovered in a couple of days while Southwest did not. Consumer advocates see the same pattern with Delta this month — the airline continues to blame the CrowdStrike outage while rivals such as American recovered quickly. Even United Airlines, the second-worst at cancellations, was back on track Monday. “It’s not about the thing that caused the problem, it’s about how you recover from the problem. That’s the test of an airline,” said William McGee, a former aircraft dispatcher who is a consumer advocate at the American Economic Liberties Project, a group critical of large corporations. Adblock test (Why?)
US Capitol Police arrest Jewish activists calling for Israel arms embargo
Washington, DC – The rotunda of an office building in the United States Capitol complex filled in minutes with hundreds of people who appeared as if from nowhere, as part of a surprise protest against Israel’s war in Gaza. “Let Gaza live,” they chanted in unison inside the Cannon House Office Building, removing their outer garments to reveal matching red T-shirts. One side of the shirt read, “Jews say stop arming Israel.” The other side: “Not in our name.” Tuesday’s coordinated protest, led by Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), took Congressional staffers and law enforcement agents aback, as it came together within minutes. But the crackdown started almost immediately after the protesters assembled. Capitol Police quickly declared the area a closed “zone” and arrested hundreds of demonstrators who refused to leave. “This is a moment in history where we have to say we stood up for Palestinian freedom. We stood up to end this genocide,” said protester Liv Kunins-Berkowitz. “For so many of us, we are the descendants who survived ethnic cleansing and genocide. Our ancestors and grandparents taught us that the worst thing to do in these moments is to be a bystander.” Police moved quickly to disperse the protest at the House office building [Ali Harb/Al Jazeera] Kunins-Berkowitz added that the protest is part of a tradition of peaceful civil disobedience. “It’s what we have to do when our government refuses to listen to the people,” she told Al Jazeera. The demonstration on Capitol Hill comes a day before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to deliver a speech to Congress at the invitation of top legislators from both major parties. Netanyahu’s government has overseen more than nine months of death and devastation in Gaza, with experts and rights advocates warning of “genocide” in the Palestinian territory. Since the war began, the Israeli offensive has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children. Nevertheless, the US government has remained uncompromising with its support for Israel. The administration of President Joe Biden has authorised more than $14bn in military aid to Israel, while also maintaining a steady flow of weapons and bombs. In addition, the US has vetoed three ceasefire United Nations Security Council resolutions that would have called for a ceasefire. Biden called for an end to the war in May as part of a deal that would see the release of Israeli captives in Gaza, but he has pressed on with support for Israel, as the country’s leaders pledge to continue to fight until “total victory”. Protesters sat on the floor of the Capitol Building in Washington, DC, as Capitol Police approached from the sidelines [Ali Harb/Al Jazeera] Abby Stein, a rabbi and activist, said that while US officials are paying “lip service” to the ceasefire, protesters are calling for an actual end to the war and an arms embargo against Israel. “I know that none of us will be safe while the US sends billions of dollars in weapons to Israel,” Stein told Al Jazeera. “This is one of the worst atrocities we are watching unfold before our eyes. We are here today to make sure that we do everything we can to stop this.” Progressive Jewish groups have been organising protests across the country, including a similar demonstration on Capitol Hill in October last year, as well as rallies on roads, inside train stations and even at political offices. Asked whether such direct action is effective, Stein was unequivocal: “Yes.” She argued that protests raise awareness about the situation in Gaza and give exposure to the demands of the demonstrators. “I think it definitely helps,” Stein added. “The action that happened in October is a good example. It really put us in the media to show that there are tens of thousands of Jews who are opposing what the Israeli government is doing.” Activist Tal Frieden said that, as the grandchild of Holocaust survivors, he grew up hearing stories about the importance of ensuring that genocide does not happen again. “I’m here today to demand that the US stop sending weapons to Israel,” he told Al Jazeera. At the protest on Tuesday, demonstrators held firm and refused to leave as their colleagues faced arrest. Law enforcement agents moved in quickly and discarded banners decrying the “genocide” in Gaza. Then, they started arresting people from the outer edges, making the circle of activists smaller, as if peeling it layer by layer. Capitol Police arrest progressive Jewish activists demonstrating at the Cannon House Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on July 23 [Ali Harb/Al Jazeera] For more than an hour, officers steadily detained the activists and led them to an elevator away from the rotunda and to the underground halls of Congress. Many zip-tied demonstrators continued to chant, “Stop arming Israel” and “Free, free Palestine”, as they were being taken away. But the chants grew fainter and fainter as the last demonstrators were taken out. “We are arresting a group that is illegally demonstrating inside the Cannon Rotunda. Demonstrations are not allowed inside the Congressional Buildings,” Capitol Police said in a statement. “We told the people, who legally entered, to stop or they would be arrested. They did not stop, so we are arresting them.” A JVP organiser told Al Jazeera that the group was told the protesters “are being processed and released on their own recognizance with a post and forfeit”, suggesting they will not face charges. JVP said 400 people were arrested, but Capitol Police has not released official figures. [Ali Harb/Al Jazeera] “For nine months, we’ve watched in horror as the Israeli government has carried out a genocide, armed and funded by the US Congress and the Biden administration have the power to end this horror today,” JVP executive director Stefanie Fox said in a statement. “Instead, our president is preparing to meet with Netanyahu and Congressional leadership has honored him with an invitation to address Congress. Enough is enough. Biden and Congress must listen to the people:
Who is Israel targeting in its attacks on the West Bank?
The Israeli army killed three Palestinian military commanders – including one from Hamas’s Qassam Brigades and two from Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades – and a mother and her child during a raid in the occupied West Bank on Monday, according to Palestinian and Israeli officials. Several army convoys and bulldozers also stormed Tulkarem refugee camp, where the five were killed, to destroy homes, markets and entire neighbourhoods during the attack. Like all of the West Bank, Tulkarem has been subjected to Israeli army raids and settler attacks that intensified following the return of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the helm of a far-right government at the end of 2022. The devastation brought on by these raids intensified further after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7. Israel claims that its nearly daily raids are necessary to capture Hamas cells and ensure Israeli security. But critics say that raids are exacerbating the root causes that fuel armed resistance – in particular, Israel’s decades-long occupation – declared last week as unlawful by the International Court of Justice. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Israel has killed 203 people in the West Bank between January and June 6 this year. That’s 75 more people killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers compared to the same period last year. Activists and experts believe that Israel is playing up the threat of what it calls “terrorism” to justify the increasing violence, which leads to mass displacement and the expansion of illegal settlements. Here is all you need to know about the uptick in violence as a result of operations in the West Bank. How many raids have there been and who are they targeting? Israel conducts military raids into the occupied West Bank on a near-daily basis, predating the current war on Gaza. Israel says the raids are in the name of upholding security, but locals say that they serve little purpose except to remind them of the realities of living under occupation. Towns such as Jenin, Tulkarem, and the Nur Shams refugee camp are frequently targeted, and firefights with Palestinian armed men are frequent. Shadi Abdullah, an activist from the Tulkarem refugee camp, told Al Jazeera that the Israeli army typically fires missiles at residential areas, bulldozes education centres and hospitals, cuts the electricity and kills or wounds civilians during nearly every raid. These same tactics have been reported widely across the West Bank and particularly in Jenin, where much of the camp has been reduced to rubble. Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh was killed in the camp during one such raid in May 2022. “The Israelis don’t distinguish between resistance fighters and civilians,” Abdullah told Al Jazeera “They are also trying to make the areas unliveable so that Palestinians migrate from one Palestinian town to another … it’s a form of forced displacement,” he added. An Israeli army bulldozer manoeuvres on a road during a raid in Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on December 12, 2023 [File: Raneen Sawafta/Reuters] Who are the Palestinian armed groups in the West Bank? Israel has long claimed to be targeting Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad factions in the West Bank, as well as new independent armed groups that have emerged in recent years. It recently arrested a number of students from Birzeit University who it said were plotting a “significant terror attack” against Israeli forces or settlers, according to Shin Bet, the Israeli security agency tasked with monitoring and foiling domestic threats. “There was word that the student movements were going to start something in the West Bank, but the Israelis don’t care if this was popular resistance or armed resistance. They are not interested in any escalation,” said Tasame Ramadan, a Palestinian activist from the West Bank city of Nablus. “[Israel] wants [Palestinians] to feel like they are controlled and they want them to feel afraid for their lives,” she added. Tahani Mustafa, senior Palestine analyst for the International Crisis Group (ICG), explained that many young men pick up arms or join armed factions to protect themselves and their communities from settler violence – which is increasing without much in the way of pushback from the military – and army raids. “Whether it is student movements or armed groups, there are pockets of resistance in the West Bank and the idea that they are Hamas affiliated or Iranian-backed is [something Israel plays up] because it fits into notions of what counts as legitimate violence,” she said. “Frankly, it doesn’t work well for the Western narrative if they learn that the majority of these fighters are just disenfranchised and disillusioned Fatah constituents.” Fatah is a major Palestinian faction that controls the Palestinian Authority (PA), the entity tasked with governing most of the West Bank. A boy walks past debris of a heavily damaged building after an Israeli forces raid in the West Bank city of Jenin, Thursday, May 23, 2024 [File: Leo Correa/AP Photo] Are settlers involved? Yes, and often. Jewish settlers consistently attack entire Palestinian villages, as they seek to expand the territory under their possession in the West Bank. Many of the hundreds of thousands of Israelis living in illegal settlements in the West Bank see the land as an integral part of the land of Israel – and the Palestinians as an obstacle in the way. While the settlers regularly conduct attacks on Palestinians with no prior justification, they take part in particularly aggressive raids if their own settlements have been attacked. In April, an Israeli teen was found slain in the occupied West Bank, triggering a wave of vigilante and armed attacks by illegal settlers. The violence led to the death of a 17-year-old Palestinian boy and scores of injuries. “The settlers are always protected by the army,” said Abdullah. He added that the security forces and settlers invoke ‘terrorism’ as a justification to attack Palestinians, displace them from their villages and steal their land. Why is the PA not protecting its constituents? Because
All to know about the Paris Olympics 2024: Schedule, sports, venues, dates
The Summer Olympics start July 26. Here’s Al Jazeera’s concise viewer guide to the world’s largest multisport event. Paris is gearing up to host the Summer Olympics this year. The Olympics take place every four years, and the last games in Tokyo were delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and held largely without spectators. From venues to sporting events, here is all to know about the much-anticipated Paris Olympics 2024: When are the Paris Olympics? The Olympic games this year will run from July 26 to August 11. Some sports will begin before the official opening ceremony, including football and rugby sevens which start on July 24, and archery and handball, which begin on July 25. Overall, the multisport event will take place over a 19-day period. What time is the Olympics opening ceremony? The opening ceremony is on Friday, July 26 at 7:30pm local time (17:30 GMT). How many athletes are competing in the Olympics? A total of 10,500 athletes representing 206 countries are competing in this year’s Olympics. What sports are in the Olympics 2024? Athletes will be competing for 329 gold medals across 32 sports. Where to find the schedule and results for the Olympics 2024? An overview of the Paris Olympics schedule and results can be found on a dedicated page on the official Olympics website. What are the Olympic venues? The games will open on July 26 at the Seine, where dozens of boats will carry athletes across a 6km (3.7-mile) route in the river. The Olympic Games will take place in 35 venues overall. While most of these venues are in or around Paris, a handful of games will take place in venues in other cities including Lyon Stadium, where some football games will take place, and the Marseille Marina, where sailing events will be staged. Surfing will take place in French Polynesia’s Tahiti, in a French overseas territory nearly 16,000km (10,000 miles) from the rest of the venues. Here are more details about the different Olympic venues this year. What do French politics have to do with the elections? Legislative elections in France concluded earlier this month, with no party winning a clear majority. Soon after the election results, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal of President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance party announced that he would resign. While Macron accepted Attal’s resignation, Attal’s government will stay in a caretaker capacity to ensure the Olympic Games run smoothly. French President Emmanuel Macron said on July 22: “We are ready and we will be ready throughout the Games [to host the event].” How to watch the Olympics 2024? The Paris Olympics 2024 will be broadcast globally. You can follow the summer games on Al Jazeera’s dedicated Paris 2024 Olympics tournament page with all the news and features, as well as event build-up and live text commentary on selected football, basketball, tennis and boxing fixtures. The Stade De France will hold the track and field events for the Paris Olympics 2024 [Richard Heathcote/Getty Images] Olympic competition dates – sport by sport: Opening ceremony: July 26, River Seine Archery: July 25 to August 4, Invalides Artistic gymnastics: July 25 to August 4, Bercy Arena Artistic swimming: August 5-10, Bercy Arena Athletics: August 1-11, Stade de France (track and field), Trocadero (race walks), Invalides (marathons) Badminton: July 27 to August 5, La Chapelle Arena 3×3 Basketball: July 30 to August 5, La Concorde Basketball: July 27 to August 11, Pierre Mauroy Stadium (group phase) and Bercy Arena (finals) Beach volleyball: July 27 to August 10, Eiffel Tower Stadium Boxing: July 27 to August 10, North Paris Arena and Roland-Garros Stadium Breaking: August 9-10, La Concorde Canoe slalom: July 27 to August 5, Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium – Whitewater Canoe sprint: August 6-10, Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium – Flatwater Cycling BMX: July 30 to August 2, La Concorde (freestyle), BMX Stadium (racing) Cycling mountain bike: July 28-29, Elancourt Hill Cycling road: July 27 to August 4, Pont Alexandre III (time trials), Trocadero (road races) Cycling track: August 5-11, National Velodrome Diving: July 27 to August 10, Aquatics Centre Equestrian: July 27 to August 6, Chateau de Versailles Fencing: July 27 to August 4, Grand Palais Football: July 24 to August 10, Bordeaux Stadium, Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium, La Beaujoire Stadium, Lyon Stadium, Marseille Stadium, Nice Stadium and Parc de Princes (finals) Golf: August 1-10, Le Golf National Handball: July 25 to August 11, South Paris Arena (group stage), Pierre Mauroy Stadium (knockout phase) Hockey: July 27 to August 9, Yves-du-Manoir Stadium Judo: July 27 to August 3, Champ-de-Mars Arena Marathon swimming: August 8-9, Pont Alexandre III Modern pentathlon: August 8-11, North Paris Arena (ranking round), Chateau de Versailles Rhythmic gymnastics: August 8-10, La Chapelle Arena Rowing: July 27 to August 3, Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium – Flatwater Rugby sevens: July 24-30, Stade de France Sailing: July 28 to August 8, Marseille Marina Shooting: July 27 to August 5, Chateauroux Shooting Centre Skateboarding: July 27 to August 7, La Concorde Sport climbing: August 5-10, Le Bourget Climbing Venue Surfing: July 27 to August 4, Teahupo’o, Tahiti Swimming: July 27 to August 4, Paris La Defense Arena Table tennis: July 27 to August 10, South Paris Arena Taekwondo: August 7-10, Grand Palais Tennis: July 27 to August 4, Roland Garros Trampoline gymnastics: August 2, Bercy Arena Triathlon: July 30 to August 5, Pont Alexandre III Volleyball: July 27 to August 11, South Paris Arena Water polo: July 27 to August 11, Aquatics Centre, Paris La Defense Arena Weightlifting: August 7-11, South Paris Arena Wrestling: August 5-11, Champ-de-Mars Arena Closing ceremony: August 11, Stade de France Adblock test (Why?)