Foreign News
UN world court calls for prevention of genocidal acts in Gaza
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday declared that Palestinians had a right to be protected from acts of genocide, calling on Israel to “take all measures within its power” to prevent such actions and allow the entry of desperately needed humanitarian aid into the war-shattered enclave.
Reading out the order at the Peace Palace in The Hague – in response to allegations of genocide against Israel by South Africa, which Israel denies –ICJ President Joan Donoghue also called for the release of all remaining hostages taken from Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on Israeli communities in which some 1,200 people were massacred on 7 October.
There was no explicit call for an immediate halt to Israel’s full-scale military operation in the Strip, which is believed to have left more than 26,000 dead, according to Gaza health authorities.
Highlighting that the ICJ was “acutely aware of the extent of the human tragedy unfolding in the region” since war erupted in Gaza, Judge Donoghue said that the court remained “deeply concerned about the continuing loss of life and human suffering”.
The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres noted in a statement the measures pertaining to the Israeli military laid out in the provisional ruling and stressed that “decisions of the Court are binding” and trusts that all parties will duly comply with the order from the Court.
“In accordance with the Statue of the Court, the Secretary-General will promptly transmit the notice of the provisional measures ordered by the court to the Security Council,” UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said.
In its case, which began earlier this month in The Hague, South Africa asked the court – a principal organ of the UN – to indicate provisional measures in order to “protect against further severe and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people under the Genocide Convention“.
Among the measures South Africa asked for was the immediate suspension of military operations by Israel in the Strip and that its forces take “all reasonable measures” to prevent genocide.
South Africa also asked the world court to order Israel to prevent forced displacement, allow adequate food and water to reach civilians and ensure that evidence of any potential genocide is preserved.
Provisional measures are a type of temporary injunction ahead of a final decision on the dispute. It is likely to take years before a judgement is reached.
The measures are considered “mandatory for implementation”, but the Court has no means of enforcing them.
Israel argued in presenting its case that the war on Hamas was one purely of defence and “not against the Palestinian people”.
Lawyers for Israel said that provisional measures, if granted, would amount to “an attempt to deny Israel its ability to meet its obligations to the defence of its citizens, to the hostages and to over 110,000 displaced Israelis”.
Detailing the provisional measures that Israel should implement, the ICJ judge noted that both South Africa and Israel were States parties to Genocide Convention and therefore had agreed “to prevent and to punish the crime of genocide”.
Quoting article 2 of the key international treaty signed in the aftermath of the Second World War, Judge Donoghue explained that genocide was defined as “acts committed with an intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group”.
The two-million-strong Palestinian population did indeed constitute a distinct group in the court’s view, she said.
Turning to the article 3 of the Genocide Convention, which prohibits “conspiracy to commit genocide” and public incitement to commit genocide, the judge said that the ICJ had taken note of a number of statements made by senior Israeli officials.
These included comments by Yoav Galant, Defense Minister of Israel, who reportedly told troops on the border with the enclave that they were fighting “human animals” who were the “ISIS of Gaza”.
With Israel’s and South Africa’s legal teams looking on, Judge Donoghue noted the international community’s longstanding concerns about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza which had formed part of its deliberations.
This included the UN Secretary-General’s written warning to the Security Council on 6 December 2023 in which he said that “nowhere is safe in Gaza amid constant bombarding by the Israeli Defense Forces” and that the situation was “fast-deteriorating into a catastrophe with potentially irreversible implications for Palestinians as a whole and for peace and security in the region”.
Summaries on the dire situation in Gaza from UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths, reports from the World Health Organization (WHO) and UN Palestine relief agency chief Phillipe Lazzarini were also quoted directly in the court’s decision.
In addition to the provisional measures delivered on Friday, the UN’s top court also asked Israel to submit a report within a month “on all measures taken to give effect to this order”.
(UN News)
King Charles has hosted a spectacular state banquet for the president and first lady of Nigeria, praising the strengths of Nigeria’s partnership with the UK.
After greeting the 160 guests in the Yoruba language, the King spoke of the “living bridge” of the Nigerian community in the UK, in a speech in St George’s Hall at Windsor Castle.
Famous figures at the banquet included England rugby union captain, Maro Itoje, Olympic athlete Christine Ohuruogu and poet Sir Ben Okri, alongside senior royals including Queen Camilla and the Prince and Princess of Wales.
There were special adaptations for Muslims, with the banquet taking place in the fasting month of Ramadan.
A prayer room was set aside in Windsor Castle and the usual lunch hosted by the King on such state visits did not take place.
It’s become a tradition to invent a cocktail for state visits – and in this case the “crimson bloom” was made from non-alcoholic ingredients, combining the Nigerian drink Zobo with English rose soda and hibiscus and ginger syrup.
There were also alcoholic drinks available for guests in St George’s Hall, including fine red and white wines, port and whisky.
The King’s speech reflected on the importance of religious tolerance, in which “people of different faiths can, do, and must live alongside one another in peace”.
He also told President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and First Lady Oluremi Tinubu of the importance of partners such as Nigeria and the UK standing together in difficult times “when rain clouds gather”.
As well as diplomatic ties, King Charles spoke of “Afrobeats filling our concert halls and Nollywood captivating our screens”.
There was also a reflection by the King on the “painful marks” of a shared history, in a reference to colonialism.
“I do not seek to offer words that dissolve the past, for no words can,” said the King, but he hoped for a more optimistic future “worthy of those who bore the pains of the past”.
The banquet, on an elaborately decorated table filled with spring flowers, saw a meat-free menu.
It included:
- Soft boiled quail egg tartlet with watercress and kale and a basil sabayon
- Fillet of turbot, lobster mousse wrapped in spinach, beurre blanc sauce, sprouting broccoli with hollandaise sauce, fricassee of peas and broad beans, Jersey Royal potatoes
- Iced blackcurrant souffle with red fruit coulis
The two-day state visit began on Wednesday morning with a ceremonial welcome at Windsor.
In warm spring sunshine, the president and first lady – wearing traditional robes – were given the ceremonial grandeur of a royal welcome.
There was a carriage procession, bringing the Nigerian visitors into the quadrangle inside Windsor Castle, where a military band, with careful symmetry, paraded on the chequerboard lawn.
There was a gun salute, national anthems were played, guards were inspected and the Household Cavalry kicked up dust as they paraded inside the castle, in front of a viewing stand for the King and Queen and their visitors.
Official gifts were exchanged. The president and Mrs Tinubu were given hand-crafted pottery, a silver photo frame containing a picture of the King and Queen and a silver and enamel bowl.
In return, the King and Queen were given a traditional Yoruba statuette and a jewellery box featuring the faces of important Nigerian women.
President Tinubu is a Muslim and his wife is a Christian and the couple attended an interfaith event at Windsor Castle, designed to build bridges between religions.
It’s at a time of tensions within Nigeria, with a series of suspected suicide bombings this week in the north-eastern state of Borno, in which at least 23 people were killed and 108 injured in attacks blamed on hard-line Islamist militants from the Boko Haram group.
This is Nigeria’s first state visit to the UK for 37 years and such visits are a way of building relationships with international partners.
The Nigeria visit will see a strengthening of business links, including financial services. And there are personal and family connections, with more than 270,000 Nigerian-born people living in the UK.
“This state visit is about turning a historic relationship into a modern economic partnership – transforming trust into opportunity,” said Nigeria’s government spokesman Mohammed Idris.
“Nigeria’s economic reforms are unlocking the potential of Africa’s largest consumer market. The United Kingdom is a natural partner in what comes next.”
Iran’s intelligence minister Esmail Khatib has been killed, the country’s president has confirmed.
Masoud Pezeshkian said the “cowardly assassination” had left Iran “in deep mourning”, after Israel said on Wednesday it had killed Khatib in an air strike.
It comes a day after Israel announced it had killed Iran’s top security official, Ali Larijani, and head of the paramilitary Basij force, Gholamreza Soleimani, in strikes.
Since the assassination of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the first day of the war on 28 February, multiple senior Iranian officials and commanders have been killed in efforts by Israel and the US to weaken the regime’s leadership.
In a post on X, Pezeshkian extended his condolences to the Iranian people over the officials’ deaths, adding he was “certain their path will continue more steadfastly than before”.
Speaking to the BBC, a woman from Tehran said the “killing of Khatib might help the people since he was among the leadership”.
“It might be that when people come out after a call to protest, the likelihood of them being killed is lower now,” she said. “Even though they all have replacements, these were the main figures.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz announced that Khatib had been “eliminated” in an Israeli strike on Tehran.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have authorised the IDF to eliminate any senior Iranian official for whom the intelligence and operational circle has been closed, without the need for additional approval,” he said.
[BBC]
Ten people have been killed after a fire broke out in the trauma centre of a government hospital in the eastern Indian state of Odisha.
All the victims were patients, while 11 hospital staff are being treated for burns suffered while trying to rescue patients, state Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said.
The fire – suspected to have been caused by an electrical short circuit – started in the trauma care ICU of SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack city around 02:30 local time on Monday (21:00 GMT Sunday).
Hospital fires are often reported in India, with many blamed on electrical faults. Last October, six critically ill patients were killed in an ICU fire in Rajasthan state.
In 2024, a blaze in the neonatal ICU of a medical college in northern Jhansi city killed at least 10 new born babies. In 2021, a fire in the ICU of Vijay Vallabh hospital in the western city of Virar killed 13 patients receiving treatment for Covid-19. Another fire in 2021 at a newborn care unit in Bhandara district in western state Maharashtra killed 10 infants.
In Odisha, the blaze was brought under control after fire service personnel rushed to the hospital. Patients were moved to other departments inside the same hospital, officials said.
SCB Medical College and Hospital is one of the largest government-run medical facilities in Odisha.
Speaking to reporters after visiting the hospital, Majhi said the fire affected the trauma care ICU as well as an adjoining ICU and wards.
Majhi said medical staff and security personnel “risked their lives” during the rescue operation and some of them were injured, adding that the government had directed officials to ensure proper treatment for those hurt in the incident.
The state government has announced financial compensation for the families of the victims. Majhi said he has ordered a judicial inquiry into the incident and said strict action would be taken against anyone found responsible.
Short circuits are among the most common causes of hospital fires in India. Hospitals are particularly vulnerable to fires because they contain a lot of electrical equipment, oxygen systems and patients who often cannot be moved quickly during emergencies.
[BBC]
King Charles praises ‘living bridge’ with Nigeria at glitzy banquet
Our objective is to ensure that the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption operates as an independent institution, free from any external influence – PM
Showers above 50 mm can be expected at some places in the Central, Sabaragamuwa and Uva provinces and in Ampara district.
Oil nears $110 a barrel after gas field strike
Iran’s intelligence minister Esmail Khatib killed in air strike
Heat Index at ‘Caution Level’ in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, North-central, Southern and North-western provinces and in Monaragala, Mannar, Vavuniya and Mullaitivu districts
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
Sunday Island 27 December – Headlines
#SundayIsland 17th December – Headlines
Sunday Island – 28th March
Sunday Island Headlines – 21 March
Sunday Island – 21st February – Headlines
-
Business4 days agoBrowns EV launches fast-charging BAW E7 Pro at Rs. 5.8 million
-
Life style5 days agoFrom culture to empowerment: Indonesia’s vision for Sri Lanka
-
News2 days agoCIABOC questions Ex-President GR on house for CJ’s maid
-
Business6 days agoSri Lanka Institute of Information Technology raises the bar for academic excellence
-
Opinion7 days agoM. D. Banda: Memories of Appachchi – II
-
Life style5 days agoRanjith Fernando celebrates cricketing journey with Hob Nails to Spikes
-
Latest News5 days agoQR code system will be implemented for fuel with effect from 06.00 a.m. today (15th)
-
News3 days agoAustralian HC debunks misleading travel risk claims for Sri Lanka