Foreign News
Palestinian PM Shtayyeh hands resignation to Abbas over Gaza ‘genocide’
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh has announced the resignation of his government, which rules parts of the occupied West Bank, due to the escalating violence in the occupied territory and the war on Gaza.
“The decision to resign came in light of the unprecedented escalation in the West Bank and Jerusalem and the war, genocide and starvation in the Gaza Strip,” said Shtayyeh, who submitted his resignation to Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday.
“I see that the next stage and its challenges require new governmental and political arrangements that take into account the new reality in Gaza and the need for a Palestinian-Palestinian consensus based on Palestinian unity and the extension of unity of authority over the land of Palestine,” he said.
Shtayyeh’s comments come as US pressure grows on Abbas to shake up the PA and begin work on a political structure that can govern a Palestinian state following the war.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has on numerous occasions rejected calls for the PA under Abbas to take control of a Palestinian state and govern Gaza.
Last week, Israeli lawmakers backed Netanyahu’s rejection of any ‘unilateral’ recognition of a Palestinian state. “The Knesset came together in an overwhelming majority against the attempt to impose on us the establishment of a Palestinian state, which would not only fail to bring peace but would endanger the state of Israel,” said Netanyahu.
But the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs slammed the vote and accused Israel of holding the rights of Palestinians hostage due to the occupation of Palestinian territories. “The ministry reaffirms that the State of Palestine’s full membership in the United Nations and its recognition by other nations does not require permission from Netanyahu,” it said in a statement.
Since the signing of the Oslo Accords in the early 1990s, little progress has been made towards achieving a two-state solution.
As the International Court of Justice (ICJ) hears from about 50 countries on the legal implications of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, the far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Thursday announced plans to build more than 3,300 new homes in response to a shooting that killed one Israeli civilian. Smotrich said the decision would begin an approval process for 300 new homes in the Kedar settlement and 2,350 in Maale Adumim, where the attack occurred.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he was “disappointed” to hear of the Israeli announcement of the new settlements. “It’s been longstanding US policy under Republican and Democratic administrations alike that new settlements are counter-productive to reaching an enduring peace,” he said in Buenos Aires. “They’re also inconsistent with international law. Our administration maintains a firm opposition to settlement expansion and in our judgement this only weakens, it doesn’t strengthen, Israel’s security.”
Violence in the occupied West Bank has escalated significantly after the October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel that killed 1,139 people. Israel’s retaliatory bombardments on Gaza have killed more than 29,000 Palestinian civilians, according to the strip’s Ministry of Health. Palestinian health officials also say at least 401 people have been killed by Israeli fire in the occupied West Bank during the same period.
(Aljazeera)
Authorities in the Dominican Republican say cocaine discovered in the country’s largest-ever seizure was headed to Europe.
Hidden in a banana shipment, officials found 9,500kg of the drug at a port in the capital, Santo Domingo.
The cocaine was hidden in 320 bags with an estimated street value of $250 million (£196 million).
At least 10 people linked to the port are under investigation with early investigations showing the bananas had arrived from Guatemala, according to the National Drug Control Directorate.
Communications chief Carlos Denvers said: “Many unknown individuals tried to transfer the drugs to another container that would be shipped on a vessel to Belgium.”
The haul far exceeds the 2,580kg seizure made by Dominican authorities at the same port in 2006.
Monitoring agencies have reported that the Caribbean is resurfacing as a major drug trafficking route from Colombia to Europe.
A report last year found the use of cocaine is increasing in several western European countries including the UK, Belgium, France and Spain.
Europe accounted for 21% of the world’s cocaine users in 2020, according to a United Nations report
Evidence suggests use of the drug is bringing dire health consequences, with recent data showing drug-poisoning deaths in England and Wales hit the highest level in 30 years, fuelled by a 30% rise in fatalities involving cocaine.
[BBC]
Afghanistan’s top cricket stars Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi have urged the Taliban to reconsider their ban on women’s access to medical education and training, terming the move “deeply unjust”.
“Education holds a central place in Islamic teachings, emphasising the pursuit of knowledge for both men and women,” Afghanistan’s T20 captain Rashid wrote in a social media post on Wednesday.
“The Quran highlights the importance of learning and acknowledges the equal spiritual worth of both genders,” he added.
Earlier this week the Taliban announced their decision to forbid older girls and women from receiving medical education and training, closing all avenues for them to become doctors, nurses or midwives.
Rashid, who said he was speaking out in support of his Afghan “sisters and mothers”, believes the decision will profoundly affect Afghan women’s future as well as “the broader fabric of society”.
The 26-year-old global icon of the sport said the country “desperately needs professionals in every field, especially the medical sector”
(Aljazeera).
A Kenyan court has convicted a photographer for the murder of LGBT activist Edwin Kiprotich Kipruto, popularly known as Edwin Chiloba, whose body was found dumped in a metal box nearly two years ago.
The court in the western city of Eldoret ruled that the prosecution had proved that Jacktone Odhiambo, who was living with Chiloba, had killed him. Chiloba’s body had been found dumped on the roadside in Eldoret, where he was a university student.
The murder sparked global condemnation, with human rights groups saying it was because of his sexuality.
Kenya is a relatively conservative society and gay sex is illegal, punishable by up to 14 years in prison, although it is not clear whether there has been any convictions.
However the Supreme Court last year affirmed a ruling allowing LGBT people the right to associate and register a rights organisation.
Judge Reuben Nyakundi ruled that the evidence, which included DNA tests, had linked the accused to the murder. The evidence also indicated that the suspect had sexually assaulted Chiloba before killing him.
The judge said the prosecution had proved the suspect’s deliberate intention and deep hatred against the deceased.
“He was a young man whom you strangled until he lost his life at the peak of his life. You were close friends, and you should have protected his life,” said the judge.
The court did not make any finding about the motive for the killing.
Chiloba’s body was found in early January last year with socks stuffed into his mouth and a piece of denim from jeans tied around his face. A post-mortem indicated that he had died from lack of oxygen, caused by smothering.
Odhiambo, who was believed to have been in a relationship with the deceased, was accused of killing Chiloba between 31 December 2022 and 3 January 2023. He had denied the charges.
On Wednesday, the prosecution said in a post on X that it had presented evidence from 23 witnesses “detailing the events leading to Chiloba’s death and proving beyond reasonable doubt that Odhiambo intentionally caused the unlawful death”.
The National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission said the “landmark ruling” was a “significant step toward justice for Edwin and all LGBTQ residents of Kenya, Africa and beyond”.
Odhiambo is due to be sentenced on 16 December.
[BBC]
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