GENEVA – The World Health Organisation (WHO) said Yesterday that at least a quarter of those injured in the war raging in Gaza have suffered “life-changing injuries”, many requiring amputations and other “huge” rehabilitation needs. At least 22 500 of the people injured in Gaza in the 11 months since the war erupted will “require...
PARIS – The United Nations (UN) cultural agency yesterday raised the alarm over reports of armed groups looting several museums and heritage institutions in war-wracked Sudan.“The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) is deeply concerned about the recent reports of possible looting and damage of several museums and heritage institutions in Sudan, including the...
NAIROBI – Hundreds of passengers were left stranded at Kenya’s main airport yesterday as staff went on strike over a planned takeover by an Indian company. The walk-out by the Kenyan Aviation Workers Union began at midnight, severely disrupting flights at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA). Long queues of passengers were outside the airport...
LONDON – Thousands of prisoners in British jails were due to be released early yesterday, as part of government moves to ease overcrowding. Recently released figures showed that the prison population in England and Wales was at its highest-ever level. But with concern about released prisoners reoffending, the government insisted that no violent offenders or...
LAGOS – The leader of one of Nigeria’s top labour unions has been released from custody by a domestic security agency a day after he was detained at Abuja airport, his union said yesterday. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) said Joe Ajaero was detained by the Department of State Services or DSS on Monday as...
KHAN YUNIS – Gaza’s civil defence agency said a strike on a humanitarian zone in the southern city of Khan Yunis killed 40 people yesterday, with the Israeli army reporting that it hit a Hamas command centre. Civil defence official Mohammed al-Mughair said that “40 martyrs and 60 injured” were recovered and taken to nearby...
BEIJING – China will train thousands of law enforcement officers from different countries over the next 12 months, its police chief said yesterday, as it seeks to cement its role as a global security provider. Police from China have trained 2 700 officers in the past year and are planning to coach 3 000 more...
TEL AVIV – Major Israeli operations across the occupied West Bank are seriously worsening an already “calamitous” situation there that has been deepened by serious settler violence, the United Nations (UN) rights chief said yesterday. Opening a session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Volker Turk, decried soaring violence in the West Bank...
TEHRAN – The European Union (UN) yesterday said its allies had shared intelligence that Iran had supplied Russia with ballistic missiles, and warned of new sanctions on Tehran if the deliveries were confirmed. “We are aware of credible information provided by allies on the delivery of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia,” EU spokesman Peter Stano...
Sudan has rejected a call by UN experts for the deployment of an “independent and impartial force” to protect millions of civilians driven from their homes by more than a year of war.The conflict since April last year, pitting the army against paramilitary forces, has killed tens of thousands of people and triggered one of...