Opposition asks Modi to look into Foxconn hiring practices

India’s opposition Congress has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to question Foxconn about its hiring practices after Reuters reported that the Apple supplier rejects married women from iPhone assembly jobs in the country.The government has sought a detailed report from the state of Tamil Nadu, site of a major iPhone factory where Reuters uncovered Foxconn’s hiring practices.The story has sparked debates on TV channels, newspaper editorials and calls from women groups, including within Modi’s party, to investigate the matter.Congress lawmaker Karti P Chidambaram wrote in a letter to Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya that Foxconn receives “substantial incentives” from the federal government and the company should be asked to explain its practices to ensure it complies with “Indian laws and values”.“While foreign investment is crucial, it should not come at the cost of disregarding our cultural values,” Chidambaram wrote in the letter, posted on X.Apple, Taiwan-based Foxconn and the ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Congress letter.The Reuters investigation found Foxconn has systematically excluded married women from jobs at its main India iPhone plant on the grounds they have more family responsibilities than their unmarried counterparts.Foxconn hiring agents and HR sources cited family duties, pregnancy and higher absenteeism as reasons for not hiring married women.Responding to the investigation, published on Tuesday, Apple and Foxconn acknowledged to Reuters lapses in hiring practices in 2022 and said they had worked to address the issues.All the discriminatory practices documented by Reuters at the Sriperumbudur plant, however, took place in 2023 and 2024.Foxconn said it “vigorously refutes allegations of employment discrimination based on marital status, gender, religion or any other form”.Apple said all its suppliers, including Foxconn, hire married women and “when concerns about hiring practices were first raised in 2022 we immediately took action and worked with our supplier to conduct monthly audits to identify issues and ensure that our high standards are upheld”.The Foxconn positions in India offer food and accommodation and a monthly paycheque of about $200.In China, six online job ads reviewed by Reuters showed workers engaged in iPhone assembly at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant can earn $400-800 a month.The ads did not mention marital status or gender requirements.“While they don’t discriminate in China, can they do whatever in India?” Vasuki Umanath of the Communist Party Of India (Marxist), another Modi opponent, told Reuters on Thursday. “Labour unions, women’s welfare organisations and democratic forces should raise their voice against this discrimination.”The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation party said this week that action must be taken against what it said were “exploitative and discriminatory (hiring) practice”.On Friday the women’s wing of Modi’s ruling party urged the National Commission for Women to launch an investigation.“It is imperative to conduct a thorough investigation into these claims and ensure that the rights of women employees at Foxconn Hon Hai are protected,” Vanathi Srinivasan, national president of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s women’s wing wrote in a letter to the Commission, posted on X.In response to the letter, chairperson of the National Commission for Women, Rekha Sharma, wrote on X: “We are doing the needful.”She did not elaborate.The National Commission for Women has the authority to investigate all matters relating to the safeguards provided for women under the Constitution and other legislation, its website says.It also has powers of a civil court to summon any person.In the letter, Srinivasan referred to the reported hiring practices of Foxconn as a “grave issue”.“It has come to our notice through various media sources that Foxconn has adopted discriminatory practices against married women,” Srinivasan wrote.The letter also stated that it had come to the knowledge of the BJP’s women’s wing that women employees at Foxconn are not even allowed to use the washroom during working hours, and those who stay in hostels are not permitted to take leave.Srinivasan’s letter did not elaborate on these points.Earlier this week, Modi’s labour ministry said it has requested a report from the Labour Department of Tamil Nadu on the matter.The hiring curbs at the iPhone plant show the challenge for both Apple and Foxconn in upholding their stated global standards of inclusion while expanding their supply chains in this fast-growing but largely conservative country.Modi has previously called for removal of societal impediments that prevent many Indian women from getting jobs.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685690/international/opposition-asks-modi-to-look-into-foxconn-hiring-practices

Crossbow attacker killed outside Israeli embassy in Belgrade

A Serbian police officer killed a man who shot him in the neck with a crossbow in front of the Israeli embassy in Belgrade yesterday, in what the prime minister called a “terrorist act”.Police identified the assailant as being a “convert” to Islam, who was born in 1999 in the town of Mladenovac, some 50km from Belgrade.The attack happened around 11am last morning in the Serbian capital, when the attacker shot the officer who was on duty outside the Israeli embassy.The wounded policeman shot the attacker “who died as a result of his injuries”, said Interior Minister Ivica Dacic.Authorities said some arrests had been made and a number of people known to the security services were suspected of being linked to the attack.Police also said they were carrying out searches in a number of locations.“There are several more persons that we are looking for, certainly for one who is on the territory of Serbia,” President Aleksandar Vucic told reporters after visiting the wounded officer.The attacker and his associates had been tracked by authorities before yesterday’s attack but there was not enough evidence to arrest them, he added.The officer, who underwent surgery in hospital, was in his guard booth when the attack happened.According to authorities, the assailant had moved to live in Novi Pazar, which is a historical and political centre of the Bosniak Muslim minority in Serbia, and a centre of Islam in the country.He said several people had been arrested for “prevention reasons” and that overall security had been stepped up in Belgrade. Special prosecutors had taken over the case, added Dacic.Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic strongly condemned what he labelled a “heinous terrorist act”.“This was an act of insanity, which cannot be attributed to any religion and any nation. It is a crime of an individual,” he said, according to quotes from the Beta news agency.The prime minister said his country would firmly respond to the threat of terrorism and stressed Serbian citizens could “feel safe”.The Israeli foreign ministry called it an “attempted terrorist attack in the vicinity” of the country’s embassy in Serbia.“The embassy is closed and no employee of the embassy was injured”, it said in a statement, saying the circumstances are still being investigated.Israeli ambassador to Serbia Yahel Vilan on X voiced his gratitude to the wounded officer, “who courageously prevented the attack”.“I am convinced that the investigation by the competent authorities of this shameful attack will identify all responsible persons and further contribute to the preservation of Serbia as a safe country.”Meanwhile, Serbia’s top Islamic cleric Senad Halitovic strongly condemned the attack and wished the wounded officer a quick recovery.“Such crimes are against all religious teachings, especially the teachings of Islam. Today’s crime is the work of a mindless individual,” he said in a statement.The Balkan nation has continued arms sales to Israel. Israel’s offensive has killed at least 37,834 people, also mostly civilians, according to data from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685688/international/crossbow-attacker-killed-outside-israeli-embassy-in-belgrade

US apex court upholds ban on homeless camps

The US Supreme Court upheld on Friday anti-camping laws used by authorities in an Oregon city to stop homeless people from sleeping in public parks and public streets – a ruling that gives local and state governments a freer hand in confronting a national homelessness crisis.The justices ruled 6-3 to overturn a lower court’s decision that found that enforcing the ordinances in the city of Grants Pass when no shelter space is available for the homeless violates the US Constitution’s Eighth Amendment prohibition on “cruel and unusual” punishments.Various jurisdictions employ similar laws.The court’s conservative justices were in the majority, while its three liberal members dissented.Justice Neil Gorsuch, who authored the ruling, wrote: “Homelessness is complex. Its causes are many. So may be the public policy responses required to address it. At bottom, the question this case presents is whether the Eighth Amendment grants federal judges primary responsibility for assessing those causes and devising those responses. It does not.”Homelessness remains a multifaceted problem for public officials in the United States as many municipalities experience chronic shortages of affordable housing.On any given night, more than 600,000 people are homeless, according to US government estimates.“Yes, people will disagree over which policy responses are best; they may experiment with one set of approaches only to find later another set works better; they may find certain responses more appropriate for some communities than others. But in our democracy, that is their right,” Gorsuch wrote.The case focused on three ordinances in Grants Pass, a city of roughly 38,000 people in southwestern Oregon, that together prohibit sleeping in public streets, alleyways and parks while using a blanket or bedding.Violators are fined $295. Repeat offenders can be criminally prosecuted for trespass, punishable by up to 30 days in jail.Proponents including various government officials have called such laws a necessary tool for maintaining public safety.“Sleep is a biological necessity, not a crime,” liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote for the dissenting justices. “The city of Grants Pass jails and fines those people for sleeping anywhere in public at any time, including in their cars, if they use as little as a blanket to keep warm or a rolled-up shirt as a pillow. For people with no access to shelter, that punishes them for being homeless. That is unconscionable and unconstitutional.”Advocates for the homeless, various liberal legal groups and other critics had said laws like these criminalise people simply for being homeless and for actions they cannot avoid, such as sleeping in public.The case, which began in 2018, involved three homeless people who filed a class-action lawsuit seeking to block the measures impacting them in Grants Pass. One of the plaintiffs has since died.US Magistrate Judge Mark Clarke ruled that the city’s “policy and practice of punishing homelessness” violates the Eighth Amendment and barred it from enforcing the anti-camping ordinances.The San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Clarke’s injunction against the ordinances.The city had defended itself in the case in part by noting that homeless people have alternatives outside the city, including nearby undeveloped federal land, county campsites or state rest stops.The judge said that argument “sheds light on the city’s attitude towards its homeless citizens” by seeking to drive them out or punish them if they stay.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685659/international/us-apex-court-upholds-ban-on-homeless-camps

Roof collapse at Delhi airport kills one, heavy rain disrupts capital

Heavy rainfall and winds brought down a roof at the main airport in New Delhi on Friday, killing one person and shutting down a busy domestic terminal, while flooded streets and traffic snarls caused widespread disruption in the Indian capital.About 5.85 inches of rain fell over three hours on the airport area in the early morning, more than the average for all of June, according to the national weather office.Delhi’s main Safdarjung weather station recorded nine inches of rainfall in the 24 hours ending 8.30am (0300GMT), its highest 24-hour rainfall in June in 88 years.The city of 20mn people had faced searing heatwaves earlier this month. A wall at a building site in southwest Delhi collapsed in the downpour, with three labourers feared trapped in 12 feet of deep water and mud, a fire service spokesperson said.At the airport, a portion of roof, the canopy, a column and its supporting beams at Terminal 1’s departure area collapsed, crushing four vehicles, airport authorities said in a statement.The entire terminal complex was shut down and flight operations at the terminal were suspended indefinitely, they added.Eight injured people were taken to hospital, Atul Garg, director of the Delhi Fire Service, said, adding rescue operations were now complete.Images from ANI news agency showed a taxi crushed under a wrecked metal pillar at the entrance area of the terminal with puddles all around. A column and its supporting beams collapsed on other vehicles.At least 26 flights were cancelled and more than 180 were delayed, according to data from flight tracking platform Flightaware.Domestic carrier Spicejet said it had cancelled eight flights while IndiGo said all flights from the terminal have been cancelled until midnight. From 2pm (0830GMT) flight arrivals and departures at Terminal 1 were diverted to the airport’s other two terminals, Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu said. He added that an inquiry has been ordered into the collapse.Terminal 1, one of three at the country’s biggest and busiest airport, was recently refurbished with its area more than tripled.Many other parts of Delhi were flooded, including a tunnel opposite the venue that was the site of last September’s G20 summit.Some cars were trapped in thigh-deep water in chaotic scenes across the city.Metro services were affected, people had to navigate through waterlogged roads and traffic snarls were reported. Electricity supply was switched off in some waterlogged and low-lying areas as a precautionary measure, one of Delhi’s power suppliers said.The chaos prompted complaints on social media about the capital’s creaking infrastructure.Ahead of the April-May general election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated or laid the foundation stone of new terminal buildings at 15 airports. Both Delhi’s Terminal 1 and the terminal at Jabalpur were part of the projects.Opposition parties said projects were inaugurated in a hurry before the election.“Corruption and criminal negligence is responsible for the collapse of shoddy infrastructure falling like a deck of cards, in the past 10 years of Modi Govt,” Mallikarjun Kharge, president of the main opposition Congress party, said on X.Aviation Minister Naidu defended the government, saying the roof collapse at Delhi’s airport was part of an old building that was opened in 2009 and not the one Modi inaugurated in March.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685658/international/roof-collapse-at-delhi-airport-kills-one-heavy-rain-disrupts-capital

US drone flights in Black Sea risk direct clash with NATO: Russia

Russia said Friday it had observed an increase in US drone flights over the Black Sea and vowed to respond, warning of 'direct confrontation' with NATO.Defence Minister Andrei Belousov had instructed the army 'to submit proposals on measures for an operational response to the provocations', Russia's defence ministry said.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685617/international/us-drone-flights-in-black-sea-risk-direct-clash-with-nato-russia

Biden in Georgia for debate with Trump

US President Joe Biden arrived in Georgia yesterday for his first debate of the 2024 election cycle with his predecessor Donald Trump – a high-stakes event for both candidates. Air Force One touched down at a military base about an hour’s drive from the capital Atlanta, where the debate will take place at CNN’s headquarters beginning at 9pm (0100 GMT Friday.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685613/international/biden-in-georgia-for-debate-with-trump

Kenya police face off against protesters day after president’s tax bill climbdown

Kenyan police fired teargas at dozens of protesters in Nairobi and blocked off roads to the presidential palace yesterday as crowds took to the streets again nationwide, even after the president bowed to pressure to withdraw a tax hike bill.Crowds called for President William Ruto to go further and step down in the capital, Mombasa, Kisumu and other centres, though the turnout was well down from the height of the mass rallies sparked by the tax measures over the past week.Ruto withdrew the legislation including new taxes and hikes on Wednesday, a day after at least 23 people were killed in clashes at protests sparked by his plans, and parliament was briefly stormed and set alight. He is grappling with the most serious crisis of his two-year-old presidency as the youth-led protest movement has grown rapidly from online condemnations of the tax hikes into mass rallies demanding a political overhaul.Dropping the bill has also hit plans to reduce the budget deficit and borrowing, as demanded by lenders including the International Monetary Fund. Seven people were rushed to hospital with gunshot wounds in the town of Homa Bay in western Kenya yesterday, Citizen TV reported, without going into further detail. Police commander Hassan Barua said he had sent officers to check on the report.In Nairobi, police and soldiers patrolled the streets and blocked access to State House. Police fired teargas to disperse several dozen people who had gathered in the centre of the city. Doctors volunteer group Medics for Kenya said its staff at the Jamia Mosque/Crescent hospital had been hit by teargas, and that it condemned in “the strongest terms possible violence meted out on our volunteer medical teams”.Reuters reporters saw army vehicles on the streets after the government deployed the military to help police. Elsewhere, hundreds of protesters gathered in the port city of Mombasa and in the western city of Kisumu, local television footage showed, although those gatherings appeared peaceful.“We are only coming here so that our voice can be heard, us as Gen Z, us as Kenyans, we are one,” said Berryl Nelima in Mombasa. “So the police should stop killing us, we are just peaceful protesters, we are unarmed.”The protest movement has no formal leadership structure and has largely responded to messages, banners and slogans on social media. Posts yesterday suggested protest supporters were divided on how far to carry the demonstrations.“Let’s not be foolish as we fight for a better Kenya,” Boniface Mwangi, a prominent social justice activist, said in an Instagram post. He voiced support for demonstrations on Thursday but opposed calls to invade State House, the president’s formal offices and residence, a move that he said could spur more violence and be used to justify a crackdown.While some protest supporters said they would not demonstrate on Thursday as the finance bill had been scrapped, others pledged to press on, saying only Ruto’s resignation would satisfy them. “Right now is not about just the finance bill but about #RutoMustGo,” political activist and protester Davis Tafari told Reuters in a text message.“We have to make sure that Ruto and his MPs have resigned and fresh elections are held ... We occupy State House for dignity and justice.”Eli Owuor, 34, from Kibera, an informal settlement and a traditional hotbed of protests, also said he was prepared to join a push on to State House.“We may just need to visit Zakayo today in his house to prove that after parliament we can occupy State House,” he said, using a nickname protesters have given to Ruto that references a biblical tax collector viewed as corrupt.In a speech on Wednesday, Ruto defended his push to raise taxes on items such as bread, cooking oil and diapers, saying it was justified by the need to cut Kenya’s high debt, which has made borrowing difficult and squeezed the currency.But he acknowledged that the public had overwhelmingly rejected the finance bill. He said he would now start a dialogue with Kenyan youth and work on austerity measures, beginning with cuts to the budget of the presidency.The International Monetary Fund, which has been urging the government to cut its deficit to obtain more funding, said it was closely monitoring the situation in Kenya.“We are deeply concerned about the tragic events in Kenya in recent days,” the IMF said in a statement. “Our main goal in supporting Kenya is to help it overcome the difficult economic challenges it faces and improve its economic prospects and the well-being of its people.”Ratings agency Moody’s said the shift in focus to cutting spending rather than boosting revenue will complicate the disbursement of future IMF funding and slow the pace of fiscal consolidation.Analysts at JPMorgan said they had maintained their forecasts for a deficit of 4.5% of GDP in FY2024/2025, but acknowledged the government and IMF targets could be revised in light of recent developments. They said the Central Bank of Kenya was unlikely to begin cutting rates until the final quarter of this year.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685598/international/kenya-police-face-off-against-protesters-day-after-presidents-tax-bill-climbdown

Biden, Trump lock horns in high stakes debate

Joe Biden and Donald Trump were due to square off early today in a crucial US presidential debate that carries enormous stakes for both candidates as they battle for the approval of undecided voters and any slim advantage in their tight race for the White House.Millions of Americans were expected to tune in to the highly anticipated clash – the opening salvo in what promises to be a bruising summer of campaigning in a deeply polarised country still scarred by the chaos and violence that accompanied the 2020 election.The 90-minute televised debate would be the first between a sitting president and a former one.A record 84mn watched Trump’s first debate in 2016 against Hillary Clinton.The debate takes place far earlier than normal – more than four months before the November 5 Election Day.With only two debates this election cycle and national polls showing the pair locked in the tightest of contests, the event at CNN headquarters in Atlanta – starting at 9pm (0100 GMT today, 4am Qatar time) – takes on heightened significance.For many voters, the choice between the 81-year-old Biden, the oldest ever incumbent, and the 78-year-old Trump, now a convicted felon, is an uninspiring one – a dynamic both candidates need to counter as they go head-to-head.For Trump, an instinctive political pugilist, the challenge will be to rein in the aggressive tendencies he unleashed – to his detriment – in their first chaotic debate four years ago.Biden – who arrived in Georgia about six hours before the event – will be desperate to avoid any major gaffes that could underline concerns about his age.He also will focus on his key campaign message that Trump poses an existential threat to US democracy.There is certainly no love lost between the two candidates, and both sides have agreed to a series of debate rules aimed at minimising the prospect of a shouting match.There will be no studio audience, depriving candidates of the momentum that comes from ginning up supporters, and microphones will cut out when a candidate’s speaking time is over.To coincide with the debate, both camps unleashed a series of fresh attack ads, with Trump’s team taking out TV spots accusing Biden of mismanaging the economy and encouraging illegal immigration.In a morning post on his Truth Social platform, Trump argued that Biden was the real threat to democracy, “and a threat to the survival and existence of our country itself”.The Democratic Party, meanwhile, paid for five massive billboards in Atlanta trolling Trump over his legal woes.“Donald, welcome to Atlanta for the first time since becoming a convicted felon. Congrats – or whatever...” the signs said.Trump enjoys a slight advantage in the all-important swing states, but the overall polling looks extremely close in an election likely to be decided by a few photo finishes in a handful of battlegrounds.The latest Quinnipiac University poll shows Trump edging ahead of Biden nationally, 49% to 45%.The rivals both step onstage for the 90-minute debate seeking to allay fears about serious political liabilities.Biden faces the most concern about his mental sharpness, with voters much more likely to bring up his age than Trump’s, despite the Republican being just three years younger.Ahead of the debate, both Trump and Biden have had missteps, stumbling over words or appearing muddled.Trump is also engulfed in controversy over his inflammatory rhetoric, his recent conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records, and fears that he would weaponise the presidency to settle personal scores.Two-thirds of voters said in a May Reuters/Ipsos poll that they were concerned violence could follow the election, nearly four years after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol.Biden has spent the last week off the radar at the Camp David retreat near Washington, fine-tuning his attack lines in mock debates under real TV lighting.Trump’s preparation has been more relaxed, eschewing dress rehearsals in favour of informal policy roundtables and workshopping debate strategy with rally crowds.Aides have encouraged him to focus on his perceived strength on the economy and crime, while Biden will seek to paint Trump as unhinged and unfit for office.The Trump campaign has repeatedly characterised Biden as feeble and incompetent, but changed tack in recent days following warnings that setting low expectations for the Democratic president would only help him.“We know that Joe Biden, after taking an entire week off, will be ready for this,” senior Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller told reporters.One of Biden’s biggest vulnerabilities is border security, with Trump promising to combat an influx of undocumented migrants from Mexico with mass deportations and repeatedly bringing up killings by migrants.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685592/international/biden-trump-lock-horns-in-high-stakes-debate

Erdogan accuses West of backing Israeli ‘plans to spread war’

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday accused Western powers of backing what he said were Israeli plans to attack Lebanon and “spread war” throughout the region.“Israel is now setting its sights on Lebanon and we see that Western powers behind the scenes are patting Israel on the back and even supporting them,” he told lawmakers from his ruling AKP party.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Netanyahu’s plans to spread the war to the region will lead to a great disaster,” he said.“It is ... pathetic that states that talk about freedom, human rights and justice are captives of a mentally-ill person like Netanyahu.”His remarks came as concern soared over escalating threats and ongoing cross-border exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, fuelling fears it could descend into fully-fledged war.The Lebanon border violence erupted after Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel, triggering a massive Israeli retaliatory operation, which is ongoing.Netanyahu has said Israeli forces are now winding up the most intense part of the Gaza war and will redeploy to the northern border, casting the move as defensive.Last week, Israel said its plans for an offensive in Lebanon were “approved and validated”.The Turkish leader’s remarks came two days after Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan warned Greece and Cyprus about getting involved in the ongoing Middle East conflict.Speaking to Haberturk TV late on Monday, Fidan alleged there was “serious militarisation in southern Cyprus” which was being used as a base for “intelligence and military flights” towards Gaza, citing intelligence reports.Turkiye, he said, had warned them against getting involved in the conflict.“When you get involved in the ongoing wars in the Middle East, when you take sides, this fire will come and find you too,” he said.Last week, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah warned Cyprus against opening its airports and bases to Israel “to target Lebanon”, saying it would face retaliation.But the Cypriot government in Nicosia swiftly denied any part in Israel’s Gaza war and said it would not “become involved in any military conflicts”.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685529/international/erdogan-accuses-west-of-backing-israeli-plans-to-spread-war

Kenya president backs down on tax hikes after deadly unrest

Kenyan President William Ruto yesterady withdrew planned tax hikes, bowing to pressure from protesters who had stormed parliament, launched demonstrations across the country and threatened more action this week.The move will be seen as a major victory for a week-old, youth-led protest movement that grew from online condemnations of tax rises into mass rallies demanding a political overhaul, in the most serious crisis of Ruto’s two-year-old presidency. But some demonstrators said on social media that despite Ruto’s climbdown they would go ahead with a rally planned for today, with many reiterating demands that he resign.Ruto announced he would not sign a finance bill including the tax increases, a day after clashes between police and protesters at the assembly and nationwide left at least 23 people dead and scores wounded, according to medics.“Listening keenly to the people of Kenya who have said loudly that they want nothing to do with this finance bill 2024, I concede. And therefore, I will not sign the 2024 finance bill, and it shall subsequently be withdrawn,” he said in a televised address with lawmakers, some clapping, seated behind him. Vice-President Rigathi Gachagua asked young people to call off the protests to avoid any further loss of life and destruction of property, and blamed the intelligence services for giving the government poor advice.“There would have been no mayhem, but they slept on the job,” Gachagua said in a speech, calling on the head of the National Intelligence Service to resign. Protesters were defiant, repeating calls for Ruto to step down and vowing further action in the streets.Boniface Mwangi, a prominent social justice activist involved in the protests, called for a “1-million-people march”.“The arrogance is gone, but the lies are still there,” he said on social media platform X. “Yesterday they unleashed goons and police to kill peaceful protesters. That will not stop us.” Other members of the protest movement continued to post on social media using the hashtag #tupatanethursday, or “see you on Thursday” in a mix of Swahili and English.Kalonzo Musyoka, a senior opposition leader and former vice-president, wrote on X that pulling the bill did not go far enough and he called on Ruto to quit.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685527/international/kenya-president-backs-down-on-tax-hikes-after-deadly-unrest

Israel pounds several areas across Gaza

Israeli forces pounded several areas across Gaza on Wednesday, and residents reported fierce fighting overnight in Rafah in the south of the Palestinian enclave.Residents said fighting intensified in the Tel Al-Sultan neighbourhood in western Rafah, where tanks were also trying to force their way north amid heavy clashes. The armed wings of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad said fighters attacked Israeli forces with anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs.Since early May, ground fighting has focused on Rafah, abutting Egypt on Gaza's southern edge, where around half of the enclave's 2.3mn people had been sheltering after fleeing other areas. Most have since had to flee again.Medics said two Palestinians were killed in one Israeli missile strike in Rafah.Later on Wednesday, an Israeli strike killed three Palestinians and wounded others near the northern Jabalia camp, one of the Gaza Strip's eight historic refugee camps, medics said.In Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, tank shells struck an apartment, killing at least five people and wounding others, medics said.The Israeli offensive has so far killed 37,658 people, of them 60 in the past 24 hours, the Gaza health ministry said, and has left the tiny, heavily built-up Gaza Strip in ruins.More than eight months into the war, international mediation backed by the US has failed to yield a ceasefire agreement. Hamas says any deal must bring an end to the war and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, while Israel says it will accept only temporary pauses in fighting.In the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinians complained of a severe lack of food and soaring prices, and health officials said thousands of children were suffering from malnutrition that has already killed at least 30 since Oct. 7.'There is only flour and canned food, there is nothing else to eat, no vegetables, no meat, and no milk,' said Abu Mustafa, who lives in Gaza City, with his family.Gaza remains at high risk of famine, though delivery of some aid has limited the projected spread of extreme hunger in northern areas, a global monitor said.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/685520/international/israel-pounds-several-areas-across-gaza