Israel’s war on Gaza: List of key events, day 158
Children in Gaza have suffered ‘relentless mental harm’ during five months of war, says Save the Children. Here’s how things stand on Tuesday, March 12, 2024: Fighting and humanitarian crisis On Tuesday, Israeli forces reportedly attacked Palestinians waiting for aid trucks at the Kuwait Roundabout south of Gaza City, killing seven people, the Wafa news agency reported. Separately, Israel was checking on Monday whether it had killed Hamas’s deputy military leader in an air strike in Gaza, the Israeli military said, as prospects faded for a ceasefire to coincide with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. If his death is confirmed, Marwan Issa will be the highest-ranking official from the group killed by Israel in five months of a war that has pulverised the besieged enclave and killed more than 31,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children. More than five months of fighting have caused a humanitarian crisis, with children starving to death due to malnutrition and dehydration as Israel has imposed restrictions on aid deliveries to Gaza. Five months of conflict on top of more than a decade and a half of blockade have caused relentless mental harm to children in Gaza, according to a report released by Save the Children on Tuesday. Charity ship Open Arms has set sail for Gaza from Cyprus, carrying almost 200 tonnes of food. The mission, part of a pilot project attempting to open sea routes for aid to be delivered to Gaza’s starving population, is being organised by US charity World Central Kitchen (WCK) and funded by the UAE. Regional tensions The US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) has confirmed that the Houthis fired two antiship ballistic missiles at a Singaporean-owned and Liberian-flagged ship called “Pinocchio”. Palestinian Minister of Women’s Affairs Amal Hamad called on “all the women of the world to stand by Palestinian women” as she spoke to journalists during a session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York on Monday. Meanwhile, Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz slammed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for holding “a distressing bias” against Israeli victims of sexual assault. Tariq Ahmad, the UK minister of state responsible for relations with the Middle East, North Africa and the UN, on Monday urged Israel to “allow unhindered access” to Jerusalem’s holy sites during Ramadan. US President Joe Biden also said he did not have any plans “at this moment” to address the Israeli parliament as earlier reported by some media. Violence in the occupied West Bank A large public march was held in the town of Arraba, south of Jenin in the occupied West Bank on Monday, in response to the killing of Palestinian man Muhammad Jaber. Israeli forces had killed Jaber, who was from Arraba, alongside another Palestinian man in a shooting north of Tulkarem. They claimed Jaber was armed and planning to carry out an attack. The Israeli military has shot and killed two Palestinian men near the town of Attil, north of Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank, the Wafa news agency reported on Tuesday. More than 400 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank by Israeli forces since October 7, when Israel launched its military offensive in Gaza in the wake of the deadly Hamas-led attack. Adblock test (Why?)
‘Dark day’: India on edge over religion-based citizenship law before polls
New Delhi, India — Protests have erupted in parts of India over the Narendra Modi government’s implementation of a controversial citizenship law ahead of national elections, as security forces rushed to areas of the national capital that had previously been epicentres of large demonstrations against the legislation. The notification of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) on Monday introduces the country’s first religion-based citizenship test after decades of a constitutional setup that swears — at least officially — by secularism. Critics say the law discriminates against Muslim asylum seekers. The amendment expedites citizenship for refugees from India’s neighbouring nations who are Hindu, Sikh, Christian or from other religious minorities — but not if they are Muslim. As a result, the benefits do not extend to the Rohingya from Myanmar, persecuted Ahmadiyya from Pakistan, or the Hazara from Afghanistan, for instance. “The CAA has always been about creating two tiers of citizenships in India: non-Muslims and Muslims,” said Yogendra Yadav, a political scientist and activist who was closely associated with the anti-CAA protests. “It is voter polarisation [by the BJP] before elections but are we surprised?” Parliament passed the CAA in 2019, but Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has since delayed its implementation. Months-long protests against the law brought parts of New Delhi to a standstill, as the capital was hit by sectarian violence in early 2020. More than 100 people were killed in the violence, mostly Muslims. On Monday, after the government announced the notification of the law, protests broke out at the Jamia Millia Islamia university in New Delhi, students told Al Jazeera. Soon, police forces arrived as tensions rose. Police were also rushed to northeast Delhi, which had witnessed some of the worst violence after the passage of the 2019 law. Security forces also conducted flag marches in areas near Shaheen Bagh, which became a hub of protests against the CAA in 2019 and 2020. Separately, in the northeastern state of Assam, activists from several organisations, including the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), burned copies of the law and called for a statewide shutdown on Tuesday. Similar protests are also lined up in other regional states, including Meghalaya and Tripura, by various student groups. Many of these groups are critical of the law not because of allegations that it discriminates against Muslims — but because they oppose any influx of refugees from other nations. ‘Timed to polarise’ Lawyers and critics of the government have also questioned the timing of the implementation of the law — on the eve of Ramadan, which began in India on Tuesday, and weeks before national elections, which are expected to be held in April and May. Different groups have filed more than 200 petitions challenging the law that are still pending before courts. “The CAA is unconstitutional and discriminatory on several grounds, including exclusion based on religion,” said Prashant Bhushan, a senior Supreme Court lawyer. “The timing of the notification is meant to polarise the electorate upon the Hindu-Muslim divide.” The Modi government has previously linked the CAA to another controversial initiative, the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) that could lead to the deportation of millions who have lived in India for generations but do not have identity papers proving the legal status of their ancestors. Muslim groups and rights activists say the combination of the CAA and the NRC could be used to target members of India’s 200 million-strong Muslim population. “You will use NRC to exclude people, then use CAA to only selectively include people,” said Bhushan. Asaduddin Owaisi, a member of parliament from Hyderabad and leader of the opposition All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen party, said the “divisive” law is “meant to target only Muslims”, adding that people will have no choice but to oppose it again. The Indian government has repeatedly denied these accusations, saying the CAA is meant to grant citizenship, not to take it away from anyone. It called the earlier protests politically motivated. ‘Divide and distract’ The introduction of the CAA law comes at a time when the Modi government is facing scrutiny over an electoral bonds scheme that allowed corporate groups to donate millions of dollars to political parties without any transparency over who was giving whom how much. In February, India’s Supreme Court struck down the scheme, calling it unconstitutional, and ordering the public sector State Bank of India (SBI) — which implemented the electoral bonds initiative — to reveal details of donors. The top court told the SBI to release the details by Tuesday, in a setback for the government, which had attempted to shield that information from public scrutiny. Hours later, the Modi administration announced the CAA implementation. “It is a diabolic attempt to divide and distract,” said Yadav. “Divide along the communal lines and distract from the issue of electoral bonds.” The publication of the notification on Monday evening “appears to be an attempt to manage the headlines after the Supreme Court’s severe strictures on the Electoral Bonds Scandal”, said Jairam Ramesh, a senior leader of the opposition Congress party. For millions of Muslims in India, though, the moment brings back memories of a tumultuous period four years ago. ‘Fight for identity’ Ahad was 18 when he skipped his college in New Delhi to join hundreds of women in Shaheen Bagh, a Muslim working-class neighbourhood, to block a crucial road between the capital and Noida, a suburb, as part of anti-CAA protests. “It was a fight for our identity, our existence,” recalled Ahad, who requested he only be identified by his first name. Four years later, the law was notified at a time when he and his friends were busy with Ramadan preparations. “The government timed it like an ace,” he said, heading out of home for tarawih prayers. “Everyone around us is busy planning for Ramadan, and the news came out of nowhere.” After the violence broke out in New Delhi in February 2020, the government clamped down on the activists and student leaders organising protests. Nearly 750 cases were
Haiti’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry has resigned: Guyana president
DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY, Announcement comes amid emergency CARICOM summit on the crisis in Haiti. Haiti’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry has resigned, according to Mohamed Irfaan Ali, Guyana’s president and the current chair of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). 74-year-old Henry tendered his resignation after CARICOM leaders held an emergency summit on the situation in Haiti where gang-led violence amid repeatedly postponed elections has caused chaos. “We acknowledge his resignation upon the establishment of a transitional presidential council and naming of an interim prime minister,” Ali said, thanking Henry for his service. The alliance of gangs, led by Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, had warned of civil war if Henry, who became prime minister after the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise, did not step down. Cherizier’s gangs went on the rampage when Henry was out of the country last week, seeking to rally support for a Kenya-led foreign police intervention his government had argued was necessary to restore order so that elections could be held. gangs went on the rampage in Port-au-Prince last week amid wider frustration at Henry’s refusal to leave office as agreed [File: Odelyn Joseph/AP Photo] Henry, who was supposed to step down in February, has since been effectively locked out of the country and landed in Puerto Rico last week after being denied entry into the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti. CARICOM’s Ali said the emergency talks, which took place in Jamaica, were seeking to bring “stability and normalcy” to Haiti, the poorest country in the region. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was also at the summit and promised an additional $100m for a United Nations-backed force to stabilise the country, as well as $30m in humanitarian assistance. Blinken said the meeting was “critical” for Haiti and the region. The US backed “a proposal developed in partnership with CARICOM and Haitian stakeholders to expedite a political transition through a creation of a broad based, independent presidential college,” the State Department said in a statement. The body would be tasked with meeting the “immediate needs” of Haitian people, enabling the security mission’s deployment and creating security conditions necessary for free elections, Blinken said. The breakthrough came after a meeting of regional leaders of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in Jamaica [Gilbert Bellamy/Reuters] Adblock test (Why?)
Russia detains South Korean in country’s east on suspicion of spying
Baek Won-soon was detained in Vladivostok earlier this year – the latest foreign national to be imprisoned in Russia. Russia has detained a South Korean in the country’s east, accusing him of spying. Citing the authorities, the Russian state-run TASS news agency identified the man as Baek Won-soon and said he had been detained in the city of Vladivostok “at the start of the year”, before being transferred to Moscow for “investigative actions” at the end of last month. Baek, whose case has been classified as “top secret”, is being held in Lefortovo Prison, where a court on Monday ordered his detention to be extended until June 15, TASS said. The agency cited an unnamed law enforcement official as saying Baek had passed on information “constituting state secrets to foreign intelligence services.” No further details were made public. South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement its consulate had been providing assistance since it became aware that Baek had been detained. It declined to give more details on the matter citing the ongoing investigation. The Yonhap news agency’s Korean service said Baek was a missionary who had been involved in rescuing North Korean defectors and providing humanitarian aid. He was detained in January a few days after arriving in Vladivostok by land from China, the agency added. The incident marks the first time a South Korean has been detained in Russia on spying charges. Russia labelled South Korea an “unfriendly” country in 2022 because of its support for Western sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. Russia has also deepened relations with North Korea after leader Kim Jong Un travelled to Russia last September and met Russian President Vladimir Putin. The United States and others have accused North Korea of providing weapons to Russia for use in its war in Ukraine in exchange for technological know-how to advance Pyongyang’s military modernisation programme. Both countries have denied the allegations. Over the past year, Russia has detained multiple foreign nationals and accused them of committing various offences. US journalist Evan Gershkovich was detained for alleged espionage in March 2023 and is also being held at Lefortovo prison, which is notorious for its harsh conditions and keeping detainees in near-total isolation. His detention has been extended until the end of March with court proceedings held behind closed doors. In October, Russian-US journalist Alsu Kurmasheva was detained for failing to register as a foreign agent and later charged with spreading “false information” about the Russian military. Her detention has been extended until April. Espionage carries a maximum jail term of 20 years in Russia. Gershkovich and Kurmasheva both deny the charges against them. Adblock test (Why?)
3 in 4 US teens say they are happy or peaceful without their smartphone
Survey by the Pew Research Centre comes amid growing push to regulate children’s access to digital platforms. Nearly three out of four teenagers in the United States say they feel happy or peaceful when they do not have their smartphone with them, a survey has found, underscoring concerns about the effects of digital media on minors. But despite their positive associations with putting their smartphone away, only 36 percent of teens reported cutting back on using their devices, the survey by the Pew Research Centre showed on Monday. Overall, 38 percent of teens reported spending too much time on their smartphone, compared with 51 percent who said their time spent was “about right,” with girls more likely than boys to consider their use excessive. Teens reported similar experiences with social media, with 39 percent saying they had reduced their exposure and 27 percent reporting their use was excessive. When it came to learning social skills, 42 percent said that smartphones had made it harder, compared with 30 percent who said they helped. The survey also found that a significant portion of teens experience negative emotions when they are without their device. About four in 10 teens said not having their smartphone made them feel anxious, upset or lonely at least sometimes. The findings come amid a growing push by policymakers in the US and elsewhere to regulate the use of digital platforms by minors. More than 40 US states last year announced a lawsuit against Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, accusing the tech giant of harming children’s mental health by building addictive features into its platforms. During an appearance before the US Senate in January, Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg offered an apology to families who said their children had been negatively affected by the company’s platforms. US states, including Texas and Florida, the United Kingdom and the European Union have passed legislation aimed at reducing children’s exposure to harmful content online. Last month, Canada became the latest country to move towards greater regulation of tech companies with the unveiling of the Online Harms Act, which would require platforms to introduce features to protect children, such as parental controls and safe search settings. Adblock test (Why?)
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 748
As the war enters its 748th day, these are the main developments. Here is the situation on Tuesday, March 12, 2024. Fighting Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the situation along the front line in the east was “much better” and that Ukraine had “recovered” its strategic position with Russian troops no longer advancing after their capture last month of the eastern city of Avdiivka. The Kremlin declined to comment on Russian media reports that it had sacked Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, the commander-in-chief of its navy, after losing a string of warships to Ukrainian attacks in the Black Sea. Several news outlets including the pro-Kremlin Izvestia newspaper reported over the weekend that Yevmenov had been replaced by Northern Fleet commander Alexander Moiseyev. Ukraine said its air defences shot down 15 out of 25 Russian drones launched in an overnight attack on the southern Odesa region but an infrastructure facility and some commercial buildings were hit. Ten of the Shahed drones were destroyed in the skies above the Black Sea port of Odesa. The United Nations educational, scientific and cultural organisation (UNESCO) said more than 1,400 buildings belonging to scientific institutions in Ukraine had been damaged in Russia’s invasion and their restoration would cost $1.26bn. Politics and diplomacy Pope Francis’s call for Ukraine to “show the courage of the white flag” and begin talks to end the war continued to create ructions. Russia, which began its full-scale invasion in February 2022, said the call was “quite understandable” while NATO, a Ukraine ally, said it was not the time to talk about “surrender”. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, summoned the Vatican ambassador, known as the papal nuncio. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said that former US President Donald Trump had told him he would “not give a penny” to the war in Ukraine. Orban met Trump, who is running to become US president again, in Florida. He added that it was “hard not to agree with” Trump’s position. 20 Days in Mariupol took home the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. Associated Press journalist Mstyslav Chernov captured the brutal siege and fight for the Black Sea city in the early days of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Hailing the win, the first ever for Ukraine, Zelenskyy said the documentary showed “the truth about Russian terrorism”. Russian lawmakers submitted a draft bill to the State Duma that would rewrite a chapter of history by nullifying the 1954 Soviet decision to transfer Crimea from Russia to Ukraine. The draft describes the handover as arbitrary and illegal. Weapons The US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines urged lawmakers to approve more military assistance for Ukraine, telling a key Senate committee it was “hard to imagine how Ukraine” could hold territory it has recaptured from Russia without more assistance from Washington. Adblock test (Why?)
Boeing whistleblower John Barnett found dead
Coroner’s office in US state of South Carolina says 62-year-old former Boeing employee died on Saturday. A former Boeing employee who blew the whistle on alleged safety problems at the aircraft manufacturing giant has been found dead. John Barnett, 62, died on Saturday from an apparent “self-inflicted” wound, a coroner in South Carolina in the United States said on Monday. “Charleston City Police Department is the investigating agency. No further details are available at this time,” the office of Charleston County Coroner Bobbi Jo O’Neal told Al Jazeera in a statement. Boeing, where Barnett worked for more than three decades until his retirement in 2017, expressed condolences at the news of his death. “We are saddened by Mr. Barnett’s passing, and our thoughts are with his family and friends,” the Seattle-based aircraft manufacturer told Al Jazeera in a statement. The BBC, which first reported the news of Barnett’s death, said the former employee had been giving evidence in a whistleblower lawsuit against the company in recent days. In 2019, Barnett was quoted by the BBC alleging that Boeing had deliberately fitted planes with faulty parts and that passengers on its 787 Dreamliner could be left without oxygen in the event of a sudden decompression. Boeing denied Barnett’s claims at the time, insisting that it adhered to the highest safety standards. Boeing, which dominates the market for commercial aircraft along with Netherlands-based Airbus, has been under intense scrutiny over its safety record since two fatal crashes involving the Boeing 737 MAX in 2018 and 2019. On Monday, dozens of people suffered injuries, most of them minor, when their Boeing aircraft en route to New Zealand from Australia experienced what airline officials described as a “strong movement” caused by a “technical event”. The incident was the latest in a series of safety-related events since the beginning of March, including an engine fire that forced a Boeing 737 to make an emergency landing in Houston, Texas shortly after takeoff. On Saturday, US media outlets reported that prosecutors had opened a criminal investigation into January’s mid-flight blowout of a Boeing 737 MAX operated by Alaska Airlines. A preliminary report by the US National Transportation Safety Board into the incident found evidence suggesting that four key bolts designed to hold the door in place had been missing. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said last week it had given Boeing 90 days to come up with a plan to correct problems in its production and shortage procedures following an audit that identified “non-compliance issues”. A separate FAA report released last month found serious problems with Boeing’s safety culture, including fears of retaliation among employees with safety concerns. If you or someone you know is at risk of suicide, these organisations may be able to help. Adblock test (Why?)
Should Ukraine start talks to end Russia’s war – or fight on?
Kyiv rebuffs Pope Francis’s call for negotiations and suggestion Ukraine should raise ‘white flag’. Pope Francis says Ukraine should consider raising the “white flag” and talks should begin to bring an end to Russia’s war – in comments rejected by Kyiv but welcomed in Moscow. The war, which has cost thousands of lives, continues with little movement on the battlefield by either side. Should Ukraine talk – or fight on? Presenter: Jonah Hull Guests: Volodymyr Yermolenko – chief editor of Ukraine World Pavel Felgenhauer – independent Russian foreign policy analyst in Moscow Patrick Bury – defence and security analyst, senior lecturer at the University of Bath Adblock test (Why?)
Russia, NATO at odds over pope’s call for Ukraine to show ‘white flag’
Moscow said the pope’s comment was ‘quite understandable’ while NATO said ‘it’s not the time to talk about surrender’. The Kremlin has said Pope Francis’s call for talks to end the war in Ukraine was “quite understandable”, while NATO’s secretary general said now was not the time to talk about “surrender”. Pope Francis said in an interview recorded last month that Ukraine should have “the courage of the white flag” to negotiate an end to a war that is now in its third year. As Russia makes gains on the battlefield, the West grapples with how to support Ukraine and the prospect of a dramatic change in United States policy if Donald Trump wins November’s presidential election. “It is quite understandable that he [the pope] spoke in favour of negotiations,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday. He said Russian President Vladimir Putin had repeatedly said his country was open to peace talks. “Unfortunately, both the statements of the pope and the repeated statements of other parties, including ours, have recently received absolutely harsh refusals,” he said. Moscow’s offers to negotiate have invariably been predicated on Kyiv giving up the territory that Moscow has seized and declared to be part of Russia, amounting to more than a sixth of Ukraine. Peskov said Western hopes of inflicting a “strategic defeat” on Russia were “the deepest misconception”, adding: “The course of events, primarily on the battlefield, is the clearest evidence of this.” ‘Not the time to talk about surrender’: Stoltenberg NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said negotiations that would preserve Ukraine as a sovereign and independent nation would only come when Putin realised he would not win on the battlefield. “If we want a negotiated, peaceful, lasting solution, the way to get there is to provide military support to Ukraine,” he told the Reuters news agency at NATO headquarters in Brussels. Asked if this meant now was not the time to talk about a white flag, he said: “It’s not the time to talk about surrender by the Ukrainians. That will be a tragedy for the Ukrainians.” “It will also be dangerous for all of us. Because then the lesson learned in Moscow is that when they use military force, when they kill thousands of people, when they invade another country, they get what they want,” he said. Pope Francis with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at the Vatican, May 13, 2023 [Vatican Media/Handout via Reuters] On Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed Pope Francis’s call for talks with Russia as “virtual mediation” from a distance. In his nightly video address, Zelenskyy did not directly refer to Francis or his remarks, but said the pope’s ideas had nothing to do with efforts by religious figures in Ukraine to help the country. “They support us with prayer, with their discussion and with deeds. This is indeed what a church with the people is,” Zelenskyy said. “Not 2,500km [1,550 miles] away, somewhere, virtual mediation between someone who wants to live and someone who wants to destroy you.” Zelenskyy, who signed a decree in 2022 ruling out talks with Putin, said last week that Russia will not be invited to a peace summit due to be held in Switzerland. Adblock test (Why?)
Hungary’s Orban claims Trump said he won’t ‘give a penny’ to Ukraine
PM Viktor Orban tells Hungarian state broadcaster that Trump has a ‘clear vision’ after meeting former US president in Florida. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban says former US President Donald Trump has told him that he would “not give a penny” to the war in Ukraine. Orban related the comments by Trump, who is running in November’s presidential election, during an interview with state broadcaster M1 late on Sunday after he travelled to Florida to meet Trump. “He has a very clear vision, which is hard not to agree with. He says the following: First of all, he will not give a penny in the Ukraine-Russia war,” Orban said in the interview. There was no immediate response from Trump’s team on these comments from Orban. Orban often calls for a ceasefire and peace talks in the Russia-Ukraine war, which recently entered its third year. He also argues Trump is best qualified to end the conflict, having expressed hope for his return to power. “That is why the war will end because it is obvious that Ukraine cannot stand on its own feet. … If the Americans do not give money, the Europeans alone will not be able to finance this war. And then the war is over,” he said. A statement from Trump’s campaign did not mention Ukraine but said the pair on Friday discussed issues affecting both nations, including their respective border security. Orban angered fellow European Union leaders by meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in October and has maintained ties with the Kremlin since Russia invaded Ukraine. He has also spoken out against Western sanctions on Moscow. US President Joe Biden criticised the Trump-Orban meeting, saying the Hungarian leader was “looking for dictatorship”. European leaders have long been nervous that another Trump presidency would mean waning US support for both Ukraine and NATO. Adblock test (Why?)