The UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic (CAR) has expanded its presence in the country’s southeast to prevent further violence in areas heavily affected by conflict and systemic issues. © MINUSCA/Herve Serefio | MINUSCA peacekeepers on patrol in rural Central African Republic. 27 June 2024 Briefing ambassadors at the Security Council on the situation in the country, head of the UN mission Valentine Rugwabiza stated that the additional deployment also facilitated the delivery of humanitarian aid in the restive and hard-to-access Haut Mbomou region. Bordering South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the region – which is larger than Switzerland – has been a hotspot of conflict due to its strategic importance and limited accessibility. “Within a very short time, working closely with national and local authorities, local communities and humanitarian partners, the mission is making tangible and transformative progress on the security, humanitarian and peacebuilding fronts in Haut Mbomou,” she said. The expansion MINUSCA’s footprint there also paved the way for the extension of civilian authorities and CAR security forces through the ongoing rehabilitation of the Bangassou-Obo-Bambouti axis. Mission background The UN mission was established in September 2014 following a deadly flare up of inter-communal violence between the mainly Muslim Séléka groups and the mainly Christian anti-Balaka movement. Its mandate includes protection of civilians as the “utmost priority” alongside supporting humanitarian operations, protecting and promoting human rights and the disarmament, demobilisation, reintegration and repatriation of fighters from neighbouring countries. Farmer-herder conflict Recurrent political and security crises in the Central African Republic have made transhumance (seasonal changes in grazing patterns for animal herding communities) a trigger for violence. Ms. Rugwabiza referred to the recent killing of 16 civilians in Limé village in the west of the country due to conflict over land between local farmers and cattle owners. The incident, she stressed, was a “stark reminder” of the urgent need to reverse the dynamics of violence and to reposition livestock farming and transhumance to help forge peaceful coexistence, stabilisation and economic development. Upcoming elections Ms. Rugwabiza further updated ambassadors on preparations for local elections, scheduled to take place in October for the first time in over 36 years. She emphasised that MINUSCA will continue to provide multifaceted support to election preparations, a key provision of the Political Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in the CAR. This includes through awareness-raising to mobilise broad and safe participation, particularly of women, she stated. Fighting misinformation In her briefing, Ms. Rugwabiza voiced deep concern over the “continuous campaign” of misinformation and disinformation which are a threat to MINUSCA personnel and the mission’s objectives. This, she said, “further complicates” an already challenging environment for peacekeepers. “I call on the government to hold accountable identified individuals, including public servants, channelling and echoing such campaigns which…constrain the mission’s ability to implement tasks mandated by the [Security] Council and requested by CAR national authorities,” she added. © United Nations

Omar had published several cartoons lampooning Egypt's electricity crisis and economic policies July 22 2024: Egyptian security forces have arrested Ashraf Omar, a cartoonist for the independent news outlet Al-Manassa, at his home in Cairo early on Monday. According to Omar’s wife, Nada Mougheeth, Omar was led away blindfolded into a vehicle by security forces, who also confiscated a large sum of money and his computer. “The cartoons of our colleague Ashraf Omar did not violate any law nor attack anyone, and therefore Al-Manassa considers it unacceptable that he was taken away blindfolded at dawn,” Al-Manassa editor-in-chief, Nora Younis, wrote in a letter to Khaled El-Balshy, the chair of the Journalists Syndicate, calling on him to intervene in the case. El-Balshy issued a statement condemning Omar’s arrest, demanding his release and calling on the authorities to reveal where he was being kept. He declared the union’s “full solidarity” with Omar and affirmed his “fundamental right as a journalist to express citizens' suffering through his drawings". Al-Manassa also called on the public prosecutor, Mohamed Shawky Ayyad, to “clarify the journalist’s situation, announce his place of detention and the charges against him, and facilitate a meeting with his lawyer.” Omar had published several cartoons satirising Egypt’s electricity crisis, economic policies and its sale of state assets to Gulf countries. According to Reporters without Borders, 18 journalists remain in Egypt’s prisons. The media watchdog ranks Egypt 170 out of 180 countries in its World Press Freedom Index. Copyright © 2014 - 2023. Middle East Eye. All rights reserved. Only England and Wales jurisdiction apply in all legal matters.

Brazilian Forum on Public Safety finds every indicator of gender-based violence increased in 2023, including murder, harassment and stalking Tiago Rogero in Rio de Janeiro, 18 JUL 2024 Women protest in São Paulo against a bill that would equate an abortion carried out after 22 weeks of pregnancy with the crime of murder. Photograph: Amanda Perobelli/Reuters Brazil has recorded unprecedented levels of rape and other forms of gender-based violence for the second year running , amid growing concerns over rightwing efforts to criminalize rape victims who have an abortion. The data, released on Thursday in the annual report by the Brazilian Forum on Public Safety, showed that reported cases of rape rose by 6.5% from the previous year to a new historic high of 83,988 – or one every six minutes. Experts say the figures are “even more alarming” against a backdrop of far-right activism, which includes a bill currently before the lower house of Congress that seeks to penalize rape survivors who seek a termination. Every single indicator of gender-based violence increased in 2023 compared with the previous year, including murder (0.8%), sexual harassment (48.7%) and stalking (34.5%). In contrast, the total number of homicides (against men and women) fell for the sixth consecutive year, dropping 3.4% from 47,963 in 2022 to 46,328 last year. One possible explanation for the continued increase in gender-based violence may be the lingering after-effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, said the forum’s executive director, Samira Bueno. “Since 2021, the figures for violence against women have been increasing at an accelerated rate, and they’re much higher than in the pre-pandemic period,” she said. “Brazil has always been a very violent country … but it seems that the pandemic changed something. The tensions that arose in the domestic environment potentially exacerbated all these forms of violence,” she said. Many states do not record details of the racial background of rape victims, but the data where available suggested that at least 52% of them were black. Children continued to be dramatically overrepresented among rape survivors, with 61.6% aged 13 or younger – most of whom who were assaulted by family members or acquaintances (84.7%), a profile that remained unchanged. Activists warn that they risk further victimisation under proposed legislation in the chamber of deputies which would penalise women who undergo an abortion after 22 weeks, even in cases of rape. Abortion is illegal in Brazil, but there is an exception for rape. The new legislation, backed by supporters of the rightwing former president Jair Bolsonaro, would impose prison sentences of up to 20 years for a termination – equal to that for homicide and longer than that for rape (up to 15 years). After an outcry from feminist and human rights movements, the legislation is now dormant in the lower house, but activists fear it could be revived – and warn that it would inevitably penalise victims of child sexual abuse. “These are children who don’t have the maturity to understand that they’re being victims of rape,” said Bueno, who added that many young victims do not even realise they are pregnant. “So criminalising the victim for a supposed ‘delay’ in having an abortion is yet another form of violence against these girls,” she said. “Our Congress is completely disconnected from what is happening to the population, especially to girls and women,” said Bueno. “Shouldn’t we be discussing how to support these victims?” For the first time, the report also ranked rape rates in cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants. The highest rate was record in in Sorriso in Mato Grosso state. There were 77,000 cases of stalking reported in 2023, an increase of 34%. “This data is particularly relevant because stalking is a crime that often precedes other forms of violence – such as murder,” said Bueno. Stalking was recognised as a crime in Brazil only in 2021, so the rates are expected to increase yearly as more people become aware of the law. Despite a new decrease in the total number of homicides, Brazil still accounts for 10% of the world’s murders from just 3% of the global population. “Brazil was able to reduce murders for another year, but it has also become much more unsafe for girls and women,” said Bueno. © 2024 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies.

The Turkish president accuses Greece of wanting to establish a naval base of its own in Cyprus. 21 Jul 2024 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends a military parade to mark the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus [Yiannis Kourtoglou/Reuters] President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey is ready to build a naval base in Cyprus, half a century after its forces invaded the now-divided island. “If necessary, we can construct a base and naval structures in the north” of Cyprus, Turkey’s official Anadolu news agency quoted the leader as saying on Sunday. Erdogan said he flew back to Turkey after visiting Northern Cyprus on Saturday to mark 50 years since Turkey’s invasion. He also accused rival Greece of wanting to establish a naval base of its own in Cyprus, on whose future both sides remain as divided as ever. Cyprus gained independence from Britain in 1960, but a shared administration between Greek and Turkish Cypriots quickly fell apart following violence that saw Turkish Cypriots withdraw into enclaves and the dispatch of a United Nations peacekeeping force. In 1974, Turkey captured more than a third of the island and expelled more than 160,000 Greek Cypriots to the south. Cyprus has since been split by ethnicity, with Greek and Turkish Cypriots living on either side of a UN-patrolled border. In 1983, Turkey installed what it calls the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus – a breakaway state recognised only by Turkey. On Saturday, Erdogan attended a military parade in north Nicosia to mark the day in 1974 when Turkey launched its offensive. As Greek Cypriots mourned those killed and still missing since their expulsion in 1974, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides on Saturday said reunification was the only option. A divided Cyprus joined the European Union in 2004 as Greek Cypriots overwhelmingly rejected a UN plan to end their differences with Turkish Cypriots. But on the other side of the UN-patrolled buffer zone that separates the two communities, Erdogan on Saturday rejected the federal model championed by the UN, saying he saw no point in relaunching talks on such a plan. “Frankly, we do not think it is possible to start a new negotiation process without establishing an equation whereby both parties sit down as equals and leave the table as equals,” he said. The last round of UN-backed talks to reunify the island collapsed in 2017. “We are constructing on the island the building of the presidency of Northern Cyprus and the parliament building. They are constructing a military base, we are building a political base,” Erdogan said. He also hailed the “precious” presence during Saturday’s visit of the leader of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Ozgur Ozel, saying it demonstrated the “unity” of Turkey’s population with regards to Cyprus. SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES © 2024 Al Jazeera Media Network

By Abel Alvarado and Osmary Hernández, CNN, July 17, 2024 Supporters of Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado at the Central University of Venezuela UCV in Caracas on July 14, 2024. (Pedro Rances Mattey/Anadolu/Getty Images) Seventy-one “arbitrary detentions” have been reported within days of the start of campaigning for Venezuela’s presidential election, according to a human rights NGO. A report by Laboratorio de Paz released Monday said that 48 of those detentions involved people who had provided some type of service to the campaign command of the opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, of the Democratic Unitary Platform. The arrests all took place between July 4 and 14 and most were in the state of Táchira, according to the report. The NGO also reported 26 cases of harassment, 11 obstructions to free movement, two closures of premises and three raids. The NGO said the figures were part of a “recurring pattern” of Venezuelans being “systematically” targeted for political reasons “at the national level” and warned of concerns that such actions would increase as the election drew nearer. CNN has contacted Venezuela’s Public Ministry and the National Electoral Council for comment. Critics of President Nicolas Maduro’s government have long  accused it  of rigging votes and silencing the opposition, with the 2018 election that returned Maduro to office described as illegitimate by an alliance of 14 Latin American nations, Canada and the United States. This time around, two opposition candidates – Maria Corina Machado and Corina Yoris – have been barred from running despite Maduro’s pledge to the United States that he would hold free and fair elections in exchange for sanctions relief. Two days after Laboratorio’s report came out, Machado said in a post on X that her security chief had been arrested on Wednesday. Machado said her security chief Milciades Ávila was “kidnapped by the Maduro regime and accused of gender violence against some women.” The opposition leader said the women who accuse Ávila of gender violence tried to “attack” her and opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia in a restaurant last Saturday. “There are dozens of witnesses and videos that demonstrate that this was a planned provocation to leave us without protection 11 days before July 28,” Machado wrote. CNN has reached out to Venezuela’s Attorney General’s Office for comment on Ávila’s arrest and to determine whether he has legal representation. The election is scheduled to take place on July 28. Ten candidates are in the running, including the incumbent Maduro, who aspires to re-election for six more years after 11 years in power. Maduro’s main opponent is González Urrutia, who represents an alliance bringing together the main opposition parties and leaders in Venezuela. The legal adviser to the opposition campaign, Perkins Rocha, said Sunday that at least 11 people linked to the campaign command had been arrested over the weekend. © 2024 Cable News Network. A Warner Bros. Discovery Company.

La vocera de la dictadura en Nicaragua lleva días lanzando ataques y amenazas contra nicaragüenses opositores y desterrados Por la Prensa, 18 JUL 2024 La vocera del régimen, Rosario Murillo. Foto: Cortesía La vicepresidenta, vocera y esposa del dictador Daniel Ortega, Rosario Murillo, lanzó este jueves 18 de julio una advertencia a los opositores desterrados que intenten regresar a Nicaragua, después de días de estarlos ofendiendo y descalificando en su comunicación diaria por los medios oficiales. "Hemos dicho siempre: no pasarán y lo sostenemos. Y menos, menos que se atrevan a tocar nuestro suelo sagrado, nuestra sagrada geografía, con odio, con maldad. No, con odio nunca más. Siempre hemos dicho y decimos: luchamos contra los enemigos de la humanidad y entre esos enemigos de la humanidad están los traidores y cobardes, los que le fallaron a su pueblo, los que vendieron su pueblo, los que vendieron su patria, los que la siguen vendiendo", dijo Murillo. En febrero de 2023, la dictadura de Ortega y Murillo desterró y desnacionalizó a más de 222 opositores que estaban presos en Nicaragua por haber expresado su opinión en contra del régimen. También les quitó todos los bienes que tenían en el país. Luego, otros 94 opositores fueron desnacionalizados, aunque la mayoría ya estaban en el exilio. Además, una larga lista de personas han sido impedidas de regresar a Nicaragua por ser familiares de críticos u opositores. El último caso fue el de una hermana de los Mejía Godoy, a quien le fue negado su retorno a Nicaragua. Discursos de odio Los intensos discursos de odio de Murillo de los últimos días han estado acompañados de una nueva ola de represión y hostigamiento a opositores y periodistas que aún se mantienen en el país, algunos alejados totalmente de la política o de su profesión periodística. Murillo los ha llamado "cobardes, hipócritas, falsos, estúpidos, minúsculos, inexistentes, mentecatos..." Particularmente el lunes 15 de julio, Murillo dijo que quienes se oponen al progreso del país "son cachivaches caducos", "desalmados", "diablos de zacate", "virecos de alma", "chuecos", "ciegos", "sordos", "cacrecos del corazón", "derrotados", "llenos de maldad", "avinagrados por el odio", "decrépitos", "fracasados", "tragamonedas del imperio", "mendrugos" y otros insultos en un solo día. Translation by Genocide Watch: The spokesperson for the Nicaraguan dictatorship has been issuing attacks and threats against exiled Nicaraguans who oppose the regime. Rosario Murillo, vice president, spokesperson, and wife of dictator Daniel Ortega, warned exiled opponents on Thursday, July 18, against attempting to return to Nicaragua. This warning comes after several days of insults and disqualifications directed at them in her daily communications through official media channels. "We have always said: they will not pass, and we stand by it. They must never dare to touch our sacred soil, our sacred geography, with hatred and malice. No, never again with hatred. We have always said, and continue to say: we fight against the enemies of humanity. Among those enemies are the traitors and cowards who failed their people, who sold out their people, who sold out their homeland, and who continue to betray it," said Murillo. In February 2023, the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship expelled and stripped the nationality of over 222 opponents imprisoned for expressing dissent against the regime, seizing all their assets in the country. Later, another 94 opponents, mostly already in exile, were also denationalized. Additionally, numerous individuals have been barred from returning to Nicaragua due to their familial ties to critics or opponents. The most recent case involved a member of the Mejia Godoy family, who was denied reentry into Nicaragua. Hate speech Murillo's recent hate speeches have been accompanied by a new wave of repression and harassment against opponents and journalists still in the country, some of whom are completely removed from politics or their journalistic professions. Murillo has labeled them “cowards, hypocrites, fakes, stupid, minuscule, non-existent, mindless...” On Monday, July 15, Murillo said that those who oppose the country's progress "are outdated junk," "heartless," "grass devils," "soulless creeps," "crooked," "blind," "deaf," "heartless wretches," "defeated," "full of malice," "soured by hatred," "decrepit," "failures," "imperial puppets," "crumbs," among other insults, all in a single day. © Editorial La Prensa S.A.

Two women pass through a secure entrance to a bazaar in Xinjiang in 2019. Life for Uyghur Muslims in the region is strictly controlled, with increasing surveillance and militarisation. Photograph: Greg Baker/AFP/Getty Images Human Rights Watch Report finds that religious, historical and cultural references have been removed in crackdown by Beijing. Hundreds of Uyghur villages and towns have been renamed by Chinese authorities to remove religious or cultural references, with many replaced by names reflecting Communist party ideology, a report has found. Research published on Wednesday by Human Rights Watch and the Norway-based organisation Uyghur Hjelp documents about 630 communities that have been renamed in this way by the government, mostly during the height of a crackdown on Uyghurs that several governments and human rights bodies have called a genocide. The new names removing religious, historical or cultural references are among thousands of otherwise benign name changes between 2009 and 2023. According to the two organisations that conducted the research, the apparently political changes, which mostly occurred in 2017-19, targeted three broad categories. Any mentions of religion or Uyghur cultural practices were removed, including terms such as hoja, a title for a Sufi religious teacher, which was removed from at least 25 village names; haniqa, a type of Sufi religious building taken from 10 village names; and mazar, meaning shrine, which was removed from at least 41 village names. The authorities also changed names that referenced Uyghur kingdoms, republics or leaders from before 1949 when the People’s Republic of China was founded. The report said there were no longer any villages in Xinjiang with the word “xelpe” or “khalifa” (ruler), or “meschit” (mosque) in their names. Uyghurs are a Turkic ethnic group mainly found in Xinjiang. They have long had a fractious relationship with Beijing, which accuses many of them of wanting to break away from Chinese rule. The report said the new village names were typically in Mandarin Chinese and expressed a “positive sentiment, which the government wants Uyghurs to embrace and express under the Chinese leadership”. In 2018, Aq Meschit (White Mosque) village, in Akto County, was renamed Unity village, the report said. In 2022 the Karakax County village of Dutar – named for a Uyghur traditional instrument – was renamed Red Flag village. “This is part of the broader efforts by the Chinese government to conflate Islam with terrorism,” said Elaine Pearson, the director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division. “They see anything Islamic or Arabic sounding as threatening, so they renamed these things to be more in mind with [Chinese Communist party] ideology. “We’ve seen this also in the way mosques have been demolished, changed, altered. We’ve seen many different examples in the way the Chinese government uses this to violate aspects of free expression and cultural identity and religious freedom.” Rayhan Asat, a Uyghur human rights lawyer and senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, whose brother disappeared into the Xinjiang detention regime in 2016, told the Guardian the changes were part of Beijing’s “overarching objective to eradicate the Uyghur culture and people entirely and create a system of apartheid”. “The names of their villages serve not only as historical records but also embody the community’s ties, distinct town culture, and values. The state-imposed erasure and replacement policy aimed to sever Uyghurs from our history, culture, and civilisation.” This picture taken in July 2023 shows a view of an alleged former detention centre known as Yengisheher-2, in China’s north-western Xinjiang region. Photograph: Pedro Pardo/AFP/Getty The practice of renaming locations – like many of the policies imposed in Xinjiang – was first done in Tibet. In 2023 the Chinese government began referring to Tibet as “Xizang” on official documents. Since 2017 it has also issued official Chinese names for locations in Arunachal Pradesh, the disputed Himalayan region where China claims territory. In Tibet and Xinjiang the increasingly militarised and surveilled environment makes it extremely difficult for information to come out about human rights abuses, and the Chinese government rarely responds to requests for information. Pearson said: “Part of the reason we know this is happening is that in one case a woman released from a re-education facility tried to get a bus ticket home but found her village didn’t exist any more.” Since launching its “strike hard” campaign against Uyghur and other Turkic Muslims in 2014 in the name of counter-terrorism, the Chinese government has arbitrarily detained millions of people, in re-education camps and jails, criminalising religious acts such as growing beards or reading the Qur’an. Others have been persecuted for having contact with the international diaspora or travelling overseas. There is evidence of enforced mass labour transfer programmes, enforced social re-education, torture and enforced disappearances, and coercive reproductive control. In 2021, Human Rights Watch said the Chinese government had committed crimes against humanity. In 2022 the UN high commissioner for human rights determined that the Chinese government had been committing long-running human rights abuses, probably to the level of crimes against humanity. Some governments have designated its acts as genocide. China denies the charges, claiming that its policies in Xinjiang are related to counter-terrorism and extremist threats. Copyright 2024 Human Rights Watch

Beirut: Asharq Al Awsat 08:05-21 July 2024 AD ـ 15 Muharram 1446 AH Syrian refugees at one of the crossings between Türkiye and Syria (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights) Türkiye has forcibly deported early in July, 3,540 Syrians with temporary protection identity cards to northern Syria, in addition to 840 refugees in the past 7 days, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday “Turkish authorities forcibly detained more than 125 Syrian families, including children and women, in deportation centers in the province of Kayseri, as Ankara is preparing to send them back to Syria,” SOHR said. It added that on Friday, 120 Syrians were already deported through the Turkish border crossings towards northern Syria. According to the Observatory, “Türkiye is forcibly deporting more than 100 Syrians every day, most of them holding temporary protection ID card (Kimlik), with the aim of settling them in areas under its control in the Euphrates Shield, the Olive Branch and the Peace Spring. SOHR condemned the “humiliating way and inhumane treatment” by Turkish authorities towards Syrian refugees forcibly being deported back to their country. It also called on the international community to “assume its responsibilities towards protecting Syrian refugees in Türkiye and prevent their deportation under the pretext of sending them to a safe zone.” The Turkish government said on Friday it was deporting at least seven Syrians for “provocatively” sharing their images while eating bananas on social media after a Turkish citizen complained that he cannot afford bananas while the refugees can, according to Bloomberg. Three weeks ago, tensions rose between Turks and Syrian refugees after the arrest of a Syrian man who had been accused of harassing a child. Turkish police then arrested 474 of people during anti-Syrian riots in several cities, damaging businesses and properties belonging to the Syrians. © Copyright 2017 Asharq Al Awsat

July 21 2024: For the first time, Israel has struck inside Yemen, following a deadly drone attack launched by Houthi rebels on Tel Aviv. Since the October 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel, the Houthis have been targeting shipping in the Red Sea in solidarity - they say - with Gaza. After Israel struck back on Saturday, the Houthis said they launched a fresh barrage of missiles towards Israel, promising a response that will be “huge and great.” Direct attacks on each other’s soil between the Israeli military and the Iran-backed rebel group now risk creating a new front in a conflict that already threatened to spill over into the region, with Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam on Sunday describing the situation as “open war.” Here’s what we know. Who Are the Houthis and What is their Role in the Gaza Conflict? The Houthis are an Iran-backed Islamist group based in Yemen. The Houthi movement, also known as Ansar Allah (Supporters of God), is one side in a civil war that has raged in Yemen for nearly a decade. It emerged in the 1990s, when its leader, Hussein al-Houthi, launched “Believing Youth,” a religious revival movement for a centuries-old subsect of Shia Islam called Zaidism. Since a ceasefire, the Houthis have consolidated their control over most of northern Yemen. They have also sought an agreement with Saudi Arabia, a major rival of Iran, that would bring the war to a permanent end and cement their role as the country’s rulers. The Houthis are believed to have been armed and trained by Iran. Since Hamas’s attacks on October 7 attacks and Israel’s subsequent ground and air offenses in Gaza, the Houthis say they have been seeking revenge against Israel for its military campaign by targeting Red Sea shipping. The US and UK have responded to those attacks by carrying out strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen. However, Israel has not taken part in those responses. In addition, Israel’s army spokesman says the militant group has targeted “Israeli civilians and civilian infrastructure” about 200 times in the same period. Most of those launches were intercepted by US Central Command, the spokesman said, but Israel’s air defenses have also intercepted Houthi drones and missiles inside and outside Israel’s airspace. What Happened in Tel Aviv? A tipping point for Israel appears to have come on Friday, when a drone attack was launched on Tel Aviv, killing one Israeli citizen and injuring several others. The attack was claimed by the Houthis, with spokesperson Yahya Sare’e saying the operation was performed by a new drone capable of “bypassing the enemy’s interception systems.” “We will continue to strike these targets in response to the enemy’s massacres and daily crimes against our brothers in the Gaza Strip,” Sare’e said. “Our operations will only cease when the aggression stops and the siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is lifted.” The attack marked the first time Tel Aviv, Israel’s commercial center, has been struck by a drone in an attack claimed by the Houthis. Israel authorities are investigating the circumstances and potential security failures around the deadly drone blast. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari said that the military suspects the drone was an Iranian-made Samad-3 model, launched from Yemen, which had been upgraded to extend its range. A second drone was intercepted outside of Israeli airspace to the east at the same time as the attack, he said, adding that Israel is now upgrading its air defenses and increasing aerial patrols of its borders. How Did Israel Respond? Israel’s response came a day later, when Israeli aircraft hit the Yemeni port of Hodeidah. The attack, which marked the first time Israel has struck Yemen, killed at least six people and injured scores more, Yemeni officials said. The Houthi-run Al Masirah TV said the strikes targeted oil facilities in the port on Yemen’s west coast. Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam said the strikes had also hit civilian targets and a power station. He slammed what he said was “brutal Israeli aggression” aimed at increasing the “suffering of the people of Yemen” and pressuring the group to stop its support of Gaza. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the port was used by Iran to bring arms into Yemen. “The port we attacked is not an innocent port. It was used for military purposes, it was used as an entry point for deadly weapons supplied to the Houthis by Iran,” he said in a statement on Saturday. Netanyahu also said the operation, which hit targets 1,800 km (1,118 miles) from Israel’s borders, showed Israel was serious about responding to threats. “It makes it clear to our enemies that there is no place that the long arm of the State of Israel will not reach,” Netanyahu said. How Big an Escalation is This? Neither side have suggested they are ready to back down. “It’s not in the Houthi ‘DNA’ to de-escalate with Israel,” Charles Lister of the Middle East Institute wrote on X. Houthi army spokesperson Yehya Saree said the Houthis have “prepared for a long war” with Israel and that Tel Aviv is still not safe. Israel’s Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, warned that the “blood of Israeli citizens has a price,” and that if Israelis are attacked, the “result will be identical” to that which has been seen in Lebanon and Gaza. On Sunday, Israeli military said it had intercepted a missile approaching Israeli territory from Yemen while the Houthis said they launched a “number of ballistic missiles.” The war in Gaza has already been accompanied by significantly heightened tensions between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The two sides have been trading cross-border fire since October 8, when Hezbollah fired at three Israeli border posts “in solidarity” with Palestinians. Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said on Sunday in a televised address on Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV that the group intended to continue “the fifth stage of escalation in support of Gaza.” Friday’s drone attack on Tel Aviv signaled the beginning of that stage, he also said. But while rising tensions with the Houthis undoubtedly creates fresh challenges for Israel, Hezbollah remains the bigger threat given its extensive arsenal and proximity to Israel. Yoel Guzansky, a senior fellow at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) who has served on Israel’s National Security Council, told CNN he believes Israel has until now been restrained in its response. He believes Israel was trying to send a signal to the US and the international community that “enough is enough,” and deliberately chose a target with high visibility. “You have to signal to a rogue actor that is attacking you that there is a price to pay, and I think this is what Israel tried to do.” Like the Houthis, Hezbollah is also heavily backed by Iran, which makes no secret of its animosity towards Israel. Any increase in hostilities between Israel and Iran’s proxies is seen as deeply destabilizing in the region because it could push the two countries closer towards open warfare. Israel and Iran have already traded one direct exchange since October 7. Few in the international community want to see it happen again. © 2024 Cable News Network. 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Smoke billows after a hit from a rocket fired from southern Lebanon over the Upper Galilee region in northern Israel on July 21, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Lebanon's Hezbollah fighters. BEIRUT — The Israeli military on Sunday said it struck Hezbollah weapons storage facilities overnight, after Lebanese state media reported an Israeli strike on an ammunition depot deep in the south. Hezbollah has traded near-daily cross-border fire with Israeli forces in support of Hamas since the Palestinian militant group's October 7 attack on southern Israel triggered war in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli air force "struck two Hezbollah weapons storage facilities in southern Lebanon, containing rockets and additional weaponry," the military said in a statement. Late Saturday, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said "the Israeli enemy launched a raid" on the town of Adloun, about 30 kilometers from the border with Israel, later saying the target was "an ammunition depot." "Six civilians sustained moderate injuries," the NNA said on Sunday, revising the figure up from three the night before. Rockets were still exploding about an hour after the strike was first reported, the NNA said, with videos circulating online showing several large explosions in Adloun. "Shrapnel from the explosions flew to surrounding villages," the NNA said. Earlier on Saturday, Hezbollah and its Palestinian ally Hamas had fired rocket salvos and explosive-laden drones at Israeli positions. Hezbollah said it had launched "dozens of Katyusha rockets" on northern Israel "in response" to a strike blamed on Israel that injured civilians. Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said they also fired a rocket salvo from south Lebanon towards an Israeli military position in the Upper Galilee. The violence since October has killed at least 515 people in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally. Most of the dead have been fighters, but they have included at least 104 civilians. On the Israeli side, 18 soldiers and 13 civilians have been killed, according to Israeli authorities. © Voice of America 2024

30/05/2024 Photo by the Namibia Economist Political parties and traditional leaders believe the recently-proclaimed Genocide Remembrance Day will fundamentally change the attitude and dialogue of the Namibian government with its German counterparts in the ongoing 1904-08 genocide negotiations. On Tuesday, Cabinet announced the proclamation of 28 May as the official national Genocide Remembrance Day, and it will be formally commemorated from next year. The Ovaherero and Nama genocide was a campaign of ethnic extermination by the German colonial government. It was the first genocide of the 20th century, and occurred between 1904 and 1908. Over 100 000 Ovaherero and Namas died in the genocide. The first phase of the genocide was characterised by widespread death from starvation and dehydration due to the prevention of the Ovaherero from leaving the Namib Desert by German forces. Once defeated, thousands of Ovahereros and Namas were imprisoned in concentration camps, where the majority died from diseases, abuse and exhaustion. Despite the latest proclamation, calls for government to declare and eventually promulgate a Genocide Remembrance Day are not new as it first started with late Ovaherero paramount chief Kuaima Riruako, who in September 2006 moved a motion in Parliament, seeking for Germany to acknowledge, apologise and pay reparations for the genocide it committed. Riruako then called for affected communities to be part and parcel of the negotiations. In 2016, former Swanu president Usutuaije Maamberua tabled a similar motion in the National Assembly for the government to proclaim an annual Genocide Remembrance Day, and proposed 28 May as the perfect date. At the time, he said the purpose of his motion was for Parliament to discuss, debate – and through a standing committee – consult the affected communities and relevant authorities to determine and bring about the enactment or declaration of such a day. Last year, proposals for a Genocide Remembrance Day received widespread support from various quarters of society, including lawmakers from both the ruling party, the opposition and numerous traditional leaders. This week’s decision by Cabinet was warmly welcomed by Maamberua, who said the decision was long-overdue and necessary for the sake of unity, and the nation’s quest for restorative justice. “I wholeheartedly welcome this decision by our government, as many Namibians have been waiting for this day to come. It is a great gesture by government. All Namibians with a truly genuine interest in the genocide issue should be happy with the decision. By coming up with 28 May as the official commemoration date, it shows that the nationwide consultations which were carried out by the parliamentary committee were well-conducted, and all Namibians agreed on one date. It also shows that the inputs of everyone were considered,” said the veteran lawmaker. “Even in our Parliament, the unity was there, and no party opposed or proposed a different date from the one that has just been proclaimed by Cabinet. Those political parties in Parliament are representatives of all Namibians, and their unity was an indication that Namibians were united on this matter”, he continued. Not only will the latest proclamation add much-needed impetus to the protracted genocide deliberations, but Maamberua is adamant that the eventual gazetting will bring new oomph and a change of attitude to the ongoing negotiations between the two governments. “With Namibians now officially having a national Genocide Remembrance Day, it means that our government will no longer talk about atrocities, development aid and compensation for historical injustices with the Germans, but will now firmly talk about a genocide, apology and reparations to the affected communities of this country. It will bring about a new shift in attitude and posture from our side, and I hope our government will bring that to the table when engaging the Germans. Our attitude at the negotiating table will change, that is for sure,” he added. Hoze Riruako, the paramount chief of one of the Ovaherero factions, equally welcomed the latest proclamation. He said it is a move that reassures all Namibians of government’s commitment to the genocide question, and to the future of her people. “Of course, it is a huge and bold move. The first genocide of the 20th century will finally be put on our calendars for the whole world to see. Not just that, it also speaks to our government’s acceptance of the issue, and that it is ready to stand with her own people. I think that sends a strong message to the Germans. It’s a good start, and a right step to bigger things that are yet to come,” he observed. Meanwhile, Nudo president Utjiua Muinjangue, who has been one of the sternest advocates for a Genocide Remembrance Day and for Germany to acknowledge the atrocious deeds it committed, likewise hailed government’s decision. “This is a decision that is most welcome. In terms of national unity, inclusivity and bringing hope to the affected communities, it is a great move, and one that we have been calling for since 2006. I’m happy that our government was bold enough to make this decision, as it has always been the right thing to do. Now, let’s get to the real work of bringing this matter to a close with the Germans, and the discussions should be around nothing but genocide that was committed here in this country,” said the politician, who agreed with Maamberua that the dynamics at the negotiation table will definitely change as the newly-proclaimed Genocide Remembrance Day removes all ambiguities from the dialogue. In May last year, United Nations’ special rapporteurs criticised both Namibia and Germany for allegedly violating the rights of Ovaherero and Nama ethnic minorities by excluding them from talks over reparations for colonial crimes against their ancestors. The UN representatives called on Germany to take full responsibility for all its colonial crimes in Namibia, including mass murder. Meanwhile, talks between the two governments have seemingly hit a stalemate. At the moment, Germany has offered 1.1 billion euros (or N$18 billion) for developmental projects in seven identified regions as reparations for genocide, which is a far cry from Namibia’s N$1.1 trillion demand. The latter figure takes into account loss of life, and dispossession of land and displacement. Another issue which does not sit well with affected communities, the Namibian government and opposition parties, is that the proposed N$18 billion is to be paid over 30 years. Meanwhile, Nama Traditional Leaders Association (NTLA) secretary general (SG) Deodat Dirkse said they are both opposing and rejecting 28 May to be declared a public holiday in remembrance of the genocide agenda. “When choosing that day to be declared a public holiday, you are betraying our ancestors and lying to future generations,” he emphasised. “That day was indeed the day the Germans closed all concentration camps, but genocide was carried out afterwards. It will thus not have significance because most of the Nama and Ovaherero people were already killed by 28 May 1924”, he added. Dirkse then referred to the Jews who remember their day every year on 27 January. “On this day, the concentration camps where the Jews were kept were closed by a foreign army, namely the Red Force, and Jews enjoyed their freedom since then, “he informed New Era. The SG said the NTLA is rather proposing 12 April to be declared a public holiday, as the genocide of Namas and Ovahereros started on 12 April 1893. © New Era Namibia 2024

July 19, 2024 By Iliya Jazaeri A Peshmerga member affiliated with the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan holds a Kurdish flag ahead of the Kurdistan region's independence referendum in 2017. Tehran is upping the ante in its effort to go after Iranian Kurds abroad it deems "terrorists," demanding that Baghdad extradite leaders and members of Iranian-Kurdish opposition groups based in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region. "A list of nearly 120 terrorists who identify themselves as noble Kurds has been sent to Iraq for extradition and their trial will be held soon," Iranian judiciary official Kazem Gharibabadi said on July 13. Gharibabadi did not reveal the names on the list. But he said that preparations had been made for the trial of "leaders and members" of a "terrorist group." Kurdish and Iraqi media have reported that the list contains the names of some 120 leaders and members of Iranian-Kurdish groups opposed to Tehran. Many of these groups were armed, with some demanding autonomy within Iran and others fighting for secession from the Islamic republic. Kurds make up around 10 percent of Iran's population of some 88 million and primarily live in the country's west along the border with Iraq. Gharibabadi cast the move as part of a broader effort to fight terrorism, saying that similar extradition requests would be sent to "relevant foreign countries." But the move follows backlash to Iran's strong-armed approach in Iraqi Kurdistan, including deadly air strikes that have targeted Iranian-Kurdish opposition groups as well as alleged Israeli targets. Members of Kurdish opposition parties cast the pressure by Iran, which follows the signing last year of a security pact between Tehran and Baghdad, as misguided cover for undermining the Kurdish independence movement. Many Iranian-Kurdish political parties and factions opposed to the Islamic Republic of Iran are based in Iraq's Kurdistan region. That includes the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), the most prominent exile opposition faction; Komala, a leftist group; and Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK), the Iranian offshoot of Turkey's Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and designated by Washington as a terrorist group. Tehran has long accused unspecified Kurdish opposition groups, without providing evidence, of coordinating with Israel, its archfoe, to stage attacks on Iran from Iraqi Kurdistan. Kurdish opposition groups deny the allegation. Cross-Border Strikes In a security pact agreed between Tehran and Iraq's central government in March 2023, Baghdad agreed to secure Iraqi Kurdistan's lengthy eastern border with Iran, as well as to disarm and relocate Iranian-Kurdish opposition groups based in the region. Many offices of Kurdish parties that oppose Tehran have since been shut down. Baghdad's dealings with Iran have been fraught with controversy. Multiple strikes have been carried out by Iran in the Kurdistan region, including a missile attack on the headquarters of the PDKI in the Kuisanjaq district in 2018 that killed 15 members of the party's leadership as well as Peshmerga forces. In 2022, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps again targeted the PDKI, as well as Komala, with missile and drone strikes in the regional capital, Irbil, and the city of Sulaymaniyah in the east of the Kurdistan region. Last year, protests broke out in Iraqi Kurdistan over the construction of a security fence along the region's border with Iran. And tensions rose significantly between Iraq's central government and Tehran after Iran carried out missile strikes in January against what it said were Israeli targets, killing four people in Irbil. After Tehran reached out to resolve its differences with Baghdad, the head of the semiautonomous region, Nechirvan Barzani, visited Iran in May and met with top officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Barzani gave a commitment in writing that Irbil would work to disarm "terrorist groups" and ensure their removal from the Kurdistan region. While Iran claims the alleged anti-Iranian activities of such groups to be a key security challenge, representatives of Iranian-Kurdish factions who spoke to RFE/RL's Radio Farda denied that assertion and suggested that Tehran had ulterior motives. Reza Kaabi, secretary-general of Komala, said that Iran had focused its pressure on Kurdish parties by targeting them with "missiles, drones, and long-range weapons." But in reality, he said, "the Islamic republic has actually targeted the Kurdish people's liberation movement." Fears Of Kurdish Independence Iraq's Kurdistan region held an independence referendum in 2017 that was overwhelmingly approved by voters with more than 92 percent in favor. Kurdish leaders suggested the vote, which was opposed by Baghdad, would not lead immediately to independence. But neighboring states like Iran, Syria, and Turkey -- which have large ethnic Kurdish populations -- saw the referendum as a troubling sign of possible secession. After the referendum, the Iraqi military took control of Irbil and the oil-rich city of Kirkuk from Peshmerga forces, prompting the government in Iraqi Kurdistan to renounce the referendum and to negotiate with Baghdad. The regional government later announced that it was "committed to responsible behavior in order to prevent further violence and conflicts." Sami Rikani, an independent political activist who resides in the Kurdistan region, says that in the aftermath, pressure from Iran and Turkey increased. "Especially after the referendum on the independence of the Kurdistan region of Iraq in 2017, Iran and Turkey came to the conclusion that they should start the process of confronting the Kurdish groups," Rikani said. The recent demand by Tehran for Baghdad to expel leaders and members of Iranian-Kurdish groups is in keeping with this strategy as well as a security agreement signed between Iraq and Turkey in 2016, Rikani adds. Turkey has also recently increased its military measures and operations in the Kurdistan region of Iraq with the aim of "combating the Kurdish groups opposed to the Ankara government," according to Ankara. The question now, considering Iraq's subsequent security pact inked with Iran last year, is whether Baghdad will acquiesce to Tehran's demand. Neither Iraq's central government nor the government of the Kurdistan region immediately responded to the extradition request. Written by Michael Scollon based on reporting by Iliya Jazaeri of RFE/RL's Radio Farda Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty © 2024 RFE/RL, Inc. All Rights Reserved.