STOCKHOLM – Israel’s refusal to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza and its targeting of aid distribution points is causing civilians to starve, which constitutes a war crime, Sweden’s foreign minister said yesterday. In early June, UN human rights chief Volker Turk said deadly attacks on civilians around aid distribution sites in the Gaza Strip constituted...
TEHRAN – Iran yesterday threatened to target United States military bases in the region if conflict breaks out, while president Donald Trump said he was “less confident” about reaching a nuclear deal. Iran and the United States have held five rounds of talks since April to thrash out a new nuclear deal to replace the...
BRUSSELS – The European Union (EU) yesterday urged Israel to undo a move by a far-right minister that threatens to paralyse Palestinian financial institutions. Finance minister Bezalel Smotrich announced Tuesday that Israel had cancelled a waiver allowing its banks to work with Palestinian ones. “The EU is deeply concerned by the instruction by Israel’s finance...
NAIROBI – A year on from landmark protests over taxes and corruption, Kenya’s youth remains undeterred by a violent police response but faces conflicting ideas on where to go next. “It was spontaneous, leaderless and unlike anything our country had ever seen,” said Hanifa Adan (28), who became one of the most high-profile figures of...
NAIROBI – Doctors Without Borders (MSF) yesterday said it was forced to shut a hospital in South Sudan after violent looting, leaving a remote and conflict-plagued county without a major health facility. MSF said its hospital in Ulang, Upper Nile State, was “completely destroyed” after armed individuals stormed the facility in April, threatened staff and...
LOME – More than 50 people detained during anti-government protests in Togo last week have been released, while others remain in custody, the public prosecutor said. Dozens of protesters were dispersed with tear gas overnight from 5-6 June in several parts of the capital Lome, including near the presidential palace. They had gathered in response...
LOS ANGELES – President Donald Trump ordered active-duty US Marines and 2 000 more National Guard troops into Los Angeles yesterday vowing those protesting immigration arrests would be “hit harder” than ever. Trump’s extraordinary mobilisation of 700 full-time professional military personnel — and thousands of National Guard troops — came on the fourth day of...
TEHRAN – Iran has executed nine men convicted of plotting to carry out attacks inside the country in 2018 on behalf of the Islamic State group, the judiciary said. “The death sentences of nine members of the terrorist group Daesh were carried out after confirmation by Iran’s Supreme Court,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online news outlet...
JERUSALEM – Israeli forces intercepted a Gaza-bound aid boat yesterday preventing the activists on board – including Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg — from reaching the blockaded Palestinian territory. The Madleen set sail from Italy on June 1 to raise awareness of food shortages in Gaza, which the United Nations has called the “hungriest place on...
TEHRAN – Iranian authorities have expanded a ban on walking dogs in public to multiple cities nationwide, citing public health, social order and safety concerns, domestic media reported yesterday. The ban – which echoes a 2019 police directive that barred walking dogs in Tehran – was expanded to Ilam city in the west yesterday, according...