Foreign News
Al Jazeera office raided as Israel takes channel off air
Israel’s government has moved to shut down the operations of the Al Jazeera television network in the country, branding it a mouthpiece for Hamas.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the cabinet agreed to the closure while the war in Gaza is ongoing.
Police raided the Qatari broadcaster’s office at the Ambassador hotel in Jerusalem on Sunday.
Al Jazeera called claims it was a threat to Israeli security a “dangerous and ridiculous lie”. The channel said it reserved the right to “pursue every legal step”.
Israel’s Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi said equipment had been taken in the raid. A video posted by the minister on X shows police officers and inspectors from the ministry entering a hotel room.
A BBC team visited the scene, but was prevented from filming or going into the hotel by police.
According to Reuters news agency, the Israeli satellite service Yes displayed a message that read: “In accordance with the government decision, the Al Jazeera station’s broadcasts have been stopped in Israel.”
The blockage is effectively only partial, however, as the channel is still accessible through Facebook in Israel.
The shut down of Al Jazeera in Israel has been criticised by a number of human rights and press groups.
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) said they had filed a request to the country’s Supreme Court to issue an interim order to overturn the ban.
The group said that claims that the broadcaster was a propaganda tool for Hamas were “unfounded”, and that Sunday’s ban was less about security concerns and more to “serve a more politically motivated agenda, aimed at silencing critical voices and targeting Arab media”.
The Foreign Press Association (FPA) urged the Israeli government to reconsider its decision, saying the shut down of Al Jazeera in the country should be “a cause for concern for all supporters of a free press”. The FPA said in a statement that Israel now joins “a dubious club of authoritarian governments to ban the station”, and warned that Mr Netanyahu has the authority to target other foreign outlets that he considers to be “acting against the state”.
The Committee to Protect Journalists’ (CPJ) Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna echoed the same concerns, saying: “The Israeli cabinet must allow Al Jazeera and all international media outlets to operate freely in Israel, especially during wartime.”
The UN’s Human Rights office also called the Israeli government to reverse the ban, posting on X: “A free & independent media is essential to ensuring transparency & accountability. Now, even more so given tight restrictions on reporting from Gaza.”
Al Jazeera, which is headquartered in Qatar (pictured here), has condemned Israel’s decision to shut its operations in Israel (BBC)
Foreign journalists are banned from entering Gaza, and Al Jazeera staff there have been some of the only reporters on the ground.
For years, Israeli officials have accused the network of anti-Israeli bias.
Their criticisms of the broadcaster have intensified since the 7 October Hamas attacks on southern Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 were taken hostage. Some 128 of those hostages are still unaccounted for, with at least 34 presumed dead.
At least 34,683 Palestinians have been killed and 78,018 injured in Israel’s subsequent military campaign in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Last month, the Israeli parliament passed a law giving the government power to temporarily close foreign broadcasters considered a threat to national security during the war against Hamas.
Qatar, where Al Jazeera is headquartered, is mediating talks between Israel and Hamas over the now almost seven-month-long conflict.
Previous negotiations mediated by Qatar led to a temporary ceasefire and the release of 105 Israeli hostages in November.
Al Jazeera has accused Israel of deliberately targeting its staff.
Journalists including Hamza al-Dahodouh, the son of Al Jazeera Gaza bureau chief Wael al-Dahdouh, have been killed by Israeli strikes. Israel denies targeting journalists.
“Israel’s suppression of free press to cover up its crimes by killing and arresting journalists has not deterred us from performing our duty,” the network said in its response to Sunday’s ban.
(BBC)
Actress Michelle Trachtenberg, who rose to fame as a child star in the 1990s and 2000s, has died aged 39.
Police in Manhattan said they responded to an emergency call on Wednesday morning and found Trachtenberg “unconscious and unresponsive”. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
The US actress was best known for playing Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s younger sister Dawn Summers, and later took on the role of manipulative socialite Georgina Sparks in Gossip Girl as an adult.
Trachtenberg made her film debut in Harriet the Spy in 1996, and also appeared in several Nickelodeon productions.
Co-stars paid tribute to her, describing her as a “fiercely intelligent” person who “cared deeply” about her work.
Her family’s representatives confirmed her death in a statement.
“It is with great sadness to confirm that Michelle Trachtenberg has passed away. The family requests privacy for their loss,” it said.
Authorities said her death was not being treated as suspicious.
“Criminality is not suspected. The medical examiner will determine the cause of death. The investigation remains ongoing,” the NYPD said in a statement.
Trachtenberg got her start in acting at age nine on the Nickelodeon television series The Adventures of Pete & Pete.
In the early 2000s, she was nominated for several acting awards – including a Daytime Emmy Award – for her role in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
She also starred in films including EuroTrip, Ice Princess, Killing Kennedy, and Sister Cities.
Blake Lively, a Gossip Girl co-star, said everything Trachtenberg did “she did 200%”.
“She laughed the fullest at someone’s joke… she cared deeply about her work, she was fiercely loyal to her friends and brave for those she loved, she was big and bold and distinctly herself,” she wrote on social media.
“The real tragedies in life are the ones that blindside you on an idle Tuesday. Hold those you love and have loved dear.”
US comedian Rosie O’Donnell, who starred alongside Trachtenberg in her Harriet the Spy debut, said her death was “heartbreaking”.
“I loved her very much. She struggled the last few years. I wish I could have helped.”
Josh Safran, a writer and producer on Gossip Girl, said it was “an honour and joy to write for Michelle for so many years”, as she had a “clear voice” as an actor.
“You heard her as you typed,” he wrote. “You knew she’d make each line rougher, more real, much funnier – and that made the writing better.
Former castmates also paid tribute.
Buffy cast member James Marsters said on social media that the actress was “fiercely intelligent, howlingly funny, and a very talented person”.
“She died much too young, and leaves behind scores of people who knew and loved her,” Marsters said.
How I Met Your Mother actress Alyson Hannigan, who played Willow Rosenberg in Buffy, shared a series of photos on social media, including images of the two sharing scenes, and said Trachtenberg “brought a loving energy to the set of Buffy”.
Trachtenberg first appeared in Gossip Girl – which ran from 2007 to 2012 – in 2008. She returned to the role for two episodes of the second season of HBO Max’s reboot in 2023.
Her last major acting role was in 2021 as the host of a true-crime docuseries Meet, Marry, Murder, which appeared on digital streamer Tubi.
In 2021, Trachtenberg accused Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon of inappropriate behaviour on set, after her co-star Charisma Carpenter said she had been left traumatised due to the treatment she received from Whedon.
[BBC]
At least 40 Uyghurs have been deported to China, the Thai authorities have confirmed, despite warnings from rights groups that they face possible torture and even death.
The group is thought to have been flown back to China’s Xinjiang region on Thursday, after being held for 10 years in a Bangkok detention centre.
China has been accused of committing crimes against humanity and possibly genocide against the Uyghur population and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups in the north-western region of Xinjiang. Beijing denies all of the allegations.
It is the first time Thailand has deported Uyghurs since 2015.
The deportation has been shrouded in secrecy after serious concerns were raised by the United States and United Nations.
Thai media reported that several trucks, some with windows blocked with sheets of black plastic, left Bangkok’s main immigration detention centre in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Hours later, tracker Flightrader24 showed an unscheduled China Southern Airlines flight leaving Bangkok, eventually arriving in Xinjiang. It was not immediately clear how many people had been deported.
The Thai defence minister told Reuters news agency that Beijing had given assurances the deportees would be looked after.
Beijing said that 40 Chinese illegal immigrants were repatriated from Thailand, but refused to confirm that the group were Uyghurs.
“The repatriation was carried out in accordance with the laws of China and Thailand, international law and international practice,” the foreign ministry said.
Chinese state media said the group had been bewitched by criminal organisations and were stranded in Thailand after illegally leaving the country.
Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra did not initially confirm any deportations had taken place when asked by reporters.
“In any country in the world actions must adhere to the principles of law, international processes, and human rights,” she said.
The group is thought to be the last of more than 300 Uyghurs who were detained at the Thai border in 2014 after fleeing repression in Xinjiang.
Many were sent to Turkey, which usually offers Uyghurs asylum, while others were deported back to China in 2015 – prompting a storm of protest from governments and human rights groups.
“What is the Thai government doing?” asked opposition lawmaker Kannavee Suebsang on social media on Thursday.
“There must not be Uyghur deportation to face persecution. They were jailed for 11 years. We violated their human rights for too long.”
The detention centre where the Uyghurs – who had been charged with no crime, apart from entering Thailand without a visa – were kept was known to be unsanitary and overcrowded. Five Uyghurs died in custody.
In a statement on Thursday, Human Rights Watch said the group now face a high risk of torture, enforced disappearance and long-term imprisonment.
“Thailand’s transfer of Uyghur detainees to China constitutes a blatant violation of Thailand’s obligations under domestic and international laws,” said the organisation’s Asia director, Elaine Pearson.
“Until yesterday [Wednesday], senior Thai officials had made multiple public assurances that these men would not be transferred, including to allies and UN officials.”
Phil Robertson, director of the Asia Human Rights and Labour Advocates (AHRLA) group, said that the deportations “totally destroyed” the “charade” that the current Thai government was different to the previous one “when it comes to transnational repression and cooperating with authoritarian neighbours”.
Amnesty International described the deportations as “unimaginably cruel”.
Bipartisan members of the US House China Committee on Wednesday issued a statement warning that the deportations “would constitute a clear violation of international human rights norms to which the Kingdom of Thailand is obligated under international law”.
The UN said that it “deeply regrets” the deportations.
There are about 12 million Uyghurs, mostly Muslim, living in Xinjiang, which is officially known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).
The Uyghurs speak their own language, which is similar to Turkish, and see themselves as culturally and ethnically close to Central Asian nations. They make up less than half of the Xinjiang population.
Recent decades have seen a mass migration of Han Chinese (China’s ethnic majority) into Xinjiang, allegedly orchestrated by the state to dilute the minority population there.
China has also been accused of targeting Muslim religious figures and banning religious practices in the region, as well as destroying mosques and tombs.
[BBC]
Oscar-winning US actor Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy Arakawa have been found dead at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
In a career that spanned more than six decades, he received two Academy Awards, two Baftas, four Golden Globes and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
A statement from the Santa Fe County Sheriff in New Mexico said: “We can confirm that both Gene Hackman and his wife were found deceased Wednesday afternoon at their residence on Sunset Trail.
“This is an active investigation – however, at this time we do not believe that foul play was a factor.”
Hackman won the best actor Oscar for his role as Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle in William Friedkin’s 1971 thriller The French Connection, and another for best supporting actor for playing Little Bill Daggett in Clint Eastwood’s Western film Unforgiven in 1992.
His other Oscar-nominated roles were in 1967 movie Bonnie and Clyde – as Buck Barrow in his breakthrough role – and 1970’s I Never Sang for My Father, as well as playing the agent in Mississippi Burning (1988).
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza confirmed the news to local media just after midnight on Wednesday that the couple had died, along with their dog.
The news was later confirmed to the Press Association news agency. Hackman was 95 and his wife 63.
Mr Mendoza said there was no immediate indication of foul play.
But he did not provide a cause of death or say when the couple might have died.
“All I can say is that we’re in the middle of a preliminary death investigation, waiting on approval of a search warrant.”
Much celebrated actor Hackman played more than 100 roles including Lex Luthor in Superman movies in the 1970s and 1980s.
He also starred in the hit movies Runaway Jury and The Conversation, as well as Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums.
His last big screen appearance came as Monroe Cole in Welcome to Mooseport in 2004.
Born in California in 1930, Hackman had enlisted in the army after lying about his age at 16, serving for four-and-a-half years.
Following his military service, after briefly living in New York he decided to pursue acting.
In order to pursue his chosen career, Hackman joined the Pasadena Playhouse in California, where he befriended a young Dustin Hoffman.
“I was trained to be an actor, not a star. I was trained to play roles, not to deal with fame and agents and lawyers and the press,” he once said.
“It really costs me a lot emotionally to watch myself on-screen. I think of myself, and feel like I’m quite young, and then I look at this old man with the baggy chins and the tired eyes and the receding hairline and all that.”
[BBC]
Michelle Trachtenberg, Gossip Girl and Buffy actress, dies aged 39
President Disanayake, Japanese Ambassador discuss bilateral cooperation
Thailand deports dozens of Uyghurs to China
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