Trump suspect, staunch Ukraine backer, charged with gun crimes

A man suspected of plotting to assassinate former US president Donald Trump was charged with federal gun crimes Monday.Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was charged with possession of a firearm as a convicted felon and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number at his initial court appearance.Routh, who was arrested on Sunday after an alleged abortive bid to shoot the Republican presidential candidate at his West Palm Beach golf course, is expected to face further charges at a later date.Routh appeared calm during the brief court hearing before Magistrate Judge Ryon McCabe of the Southern District of Florida, answering 'yes' to several questions.A detention hearing was scheduled for September 23 and an arraignment on further potential charges was set for September 30.Routh was arrested on Sunday after a Secret Service agent on the former president's security detail saw what appeared to be the barrel of a rifle pointing out of a tree line on the perimeter of the Trump International Golf Course, according to a criminal complaint filed by an FBI special agent.'The Agent fired his/her service weapon in the direction of the rifle,' the complaint said.Trump was several hundred yards away when the golf course shooting occurred and was unharmed.A man later identified as Routh was seen by a witness fleeing the area in a Nissan sport utility vehicle at high speed, the complaint said.Routh was arrested by local police about 45 minutes later on I-95, a major north-south highway, and replied in the 'affirmative' when asked if he knew why he was being stopped, it said.Video footage of the arrest showed Routh, who was wearing sunglasses and dressed in a peach-colored shirt, being taken into custody by the roadside without incident by heavily armed police officers.According to the complaint, a 'loaded SKS-style, 7.62x39 caliber rifle with a scope,' a digital camera, a backpack and a black plastic bag containing food were recovered from the tree line.Gunman spent nearly 12 hrs near golf courseRouth appears to have spent nearly 12 hours on the perimeter of the Trump golf course.'Routh's mobile phone was located in the vicinity of the area along the tree line... from approximately 1:59 am until approximately 1:31 pm on September 15,' the complaint said.Routh is reported to be a self-employed builder based in Hawaii, with an arrest record spanning decades.He regularly posted about politics and current events on social media, including criticism of Trump, according to US media.According to the criminal complaint, he was convicted in North Carolina in December 2002 of 'possession of a weapon of mass death and destruction.'He was convicted in 2010 in the same state of multiple counts of possession of stolen goods, it said.Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. Possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number carries a maximum five-year sentence.Ukraine denies linksKyiv Monday denied links to a man accused of trying to assassinate former US President Donald Trump, after it emerged that the suspect was a supporter of Ukraine who had said he wanted to recruit foreign volunteers to fight there. Media interviews and social media posts showed that the reported suspect was a staunch supporter of Ukraine who had traveled there after Russia's 2022 invasion.Ukrainian officials said they had nothing to do with him. The Kremlin, for its part, implied there was a link.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/690798/international/uslatin-america/trump-suspect-staunch-ukraine-backer-charged-with-gun-crimes

Trump safe after shots fired near him

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was safe after multiple shots were fired near his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, Sunday.The shots originated outside the fence line of the course. The Associated Press reported that US Secret Service agents opened fire after seeing a person with a firearm near Trump's golf club, adding that no injuries were reported.The Secret Service said it was investigating the incident, which occurred shortly before 2 pm (1800 GMT).Trump was injured in an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania on July 13.The White House said in a statement that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris had been briefed about the incident and were relieved to know that he is safe.'Violence has no place in America,' Harris said in an X social media post.Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., cited local law enforcement as saying an AK-47 automatic weapon had been discovered in bushes and a suspect has been apprehended, according to a post on X.The Washington Post said Trump had been golfing at the course when the incident occurred. Secret Service agents took him to a holding room at the club, it said.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/690743/international/uslatin-america/trump-safe-after-shots-fired-near-him

Death toll rises as storm lashes central, eastern Europe

One person has drowned in Poland and an Austrian fireman has died responding to floods, authorities said yesterday, as Storm Boris lashed central and eastern Europe with torrential rains.Since Thursday, swathes of Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia have been hit by high winds and unusually heavy rainfall.The rains have flooded streets and submerged entire neighbourhoods in some places, while shutting down public transport and electricity in others.Romanians waded through armpit-high water to safety, Poles sought shelter in schools and Czechs hurriedly put up sand dykes in an effort to keep the water at bay.Yesterday’s deaths bring the overall toll from the storm to eight, with thousands evacuated across the continent.In Romania, two bodies were found yesterday, after four people were reported killed earlier, and one person was declared missing.Four people were reported missing in the Czech Republic.“The water came into the house, it destroyed the walls, everything,” Sofia Basalic, 60, a resident of Romania’s village of Pechea, in the hard-hit region of Galati, told AFP.“It took the chickens, the rabbits, everything. It took the oven, the washing machine, the refrigerator. I have nothing left,” she said.“Heartfelt solidarity with all affected by the devastating floods in Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia”, EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X, formerly Twitter, adding that the EU was ready to offer support.Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said yesterday morning that “we have the first confirmed death by drowning, in the Klodzko region” on the Polish-Czech border in the southwest of the country, which has been hit hardest by the floods.Around 1,600 people have been evacuated in Klodzko and Polish authorities have called in the army to support firefighters.Separately, a fireman in northeastern Austria died in floods in the Lower Austria region, which has been classified as a natural disaster zone, regional governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner told reporters yesterday.“For many residents, the upcoming hours will be the worst of their lives,” she said.Emergency services had made nearly 5,000 interventions overnight in the state of Lower Austria, where flooding had trapped many residents in their homes.A highway from western Austria to Vienna was shut just outside the capital and four of Vienna’s five metro lines had been shut in the city, where the Wien river was threatening to overflow its banks, according to local news reports.In Poland, authorities shut the Golkowice border crossing with the Czech Republic after a river flooded its banks on Saturday, as well as closing several roads and halting trains on the line linking the towns of Prudnik and Nysa.Tusk said that Ukraine, which is fending off a Russian invasion in its third year, has offered to send some 100 rescuers specially equipped to deal with floods to help as an expression of solidarity with Poland, which has steadfastly backed Kyiv during the war.“It’s very touching”, Tusk said of the offer.In the Czech Republic, a dam in the south of the country burst its banks, flooding towns and villages downstream.In the village of Velke Hostice, residents put up a wall of sandbags 500 metres long in an effort to hold back the rising waters of the River Opava.“If we don’t stop the wave, it will flood the lower part of the village,” local hunter Jaroslav Lexa told AFP. In southeastern Romania, another body was found yesterday in the worst-affected Galati region, where four people had died on Saturday.“We are again facing the effects of climate change, which are increasingly present on the European continent, with dramatic consequences,” Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis said.Hundreds of people have been rescued across 19 parts of the country, emergency services said, releasing a video of flooded homes in a village by the Danube river.“This is a catastrophe of epic proportions,” said Emil Dragomir, mayor of Slobozia Conachi, a village in Galati, where he said 700 homes had been flooded.Romania’s interior minister said more than 6,000 households and 15,000 people were affected in the region.In Austria, some areas of the Tyrol region were blanketed by up to a metre (three feet) of snow — an exceptional situation for mid-September, which saw temperatures of up to 30 degrees Celsius last week.Rail services were suspended in the country’s east early yesterday.In neighbouring Slovakia, a state of emergency has been declared in the capital Bratislava.Heavy rains are expected to continue until at least today in the Czech Republic and Poland.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/690742/international/death-toll-rises-as-storm-lashes-central-eastern-europe

Stricken Red Sea tanker salvage makes ‘slow’ progress

The towing of an abandoned tanker struck by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in August, threatening environmental disaster, is proceeding slowly for a second day, a Greek military source told AFP yesterday.The operation to tow the Greek-flagged Sounion which began Saturday “is proceeding at a very slow pace”, the source said, adding that it was “initially headed north” without revealing a destination.The tanker was hit on August 21 by Iran-backed Houthis with missiles off the coast of Hodeida while carrying 150,000 tonnes of crude oil.After the initial strike, the Houthis returned and detonated charges on the ship’s deck, setting off new fires.Damage to the vessel had threatened a Red Sea oil spill four times the size of the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster off Alaska.The operation is being overseen by the European Union’s Red Sea naval mission, Aspides, which yesterday said the tanker was being towed to a “safe location”.“The salvage of the MV SOUNION is a complex operation and consists of various phases,” the mission said on X, formerly Twitter.It added aerial shots of the tanker escorted by two warships, one dated Sunday, in which it is still emitting smoke.Greek state news agency ANA said the tugboat was escorted by three frigates, helicopters and a special forces team, without disclosing the states of origin.Fires were still visible on board in Aspides pictures on X dated Saturday.“When it reaches safe mooring there will be an attempt to put out the fire and preliminary steps will be taken to secure the cargo from leaking,” the Greek source said yesterday.The ships’ radars have been turned off for security reasons.The tanker had been anchored west of the rebel-held port city of Hodeida, midway between Yemen and Eritrea.The Sounion’s crew — made up of 23 Filipinos and two Russians — was rescued the day after the attack by a French frigate serving with the EU mission.The EU naval force was formed in February to protect merchant vessels in the Red Sea from attacks by the Houthi rebels, who have waged a campaign against international shipping that they say is intended to show solidarity with Hamas.Since November, the Houthi attacks have caused the sinking of two ships and deaths of at least four crew members.The Houthis have been firing drones and missiles at ships in the vital commercial route, saying they are targeting vessels linked to Israel, the US and Britain in solidarity with Palestinians over Israeli war actions in Gaza.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/690741/international/stricken-red-sea-tanker-salvage-makes-slow-progress

4 dead in Romania floods as rain batters central Europe

At least four people died and thousands of homes were damaged by flooding in eastern Romania on Saturday, officials said, as surging river levels put authorities on alert in much of central and eastern Europe following days of torrential rain.Tens of thousands of households were left without power in Romania and the Czech Republic, where more rainfall is forecast in the coming days. Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, southern Germany and parts of Austria are also expected to see more heavy rain.Residents of some towns along the Czech-Polish border were evacuated as rivers rose past alert levels while the Czech capital, Prague, which suffered catastrophic floods in 2002, put preventative anti-flood measures in place.In Romania, flooding affected eight counties, the country’s emergency unit said, and Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu visited hard-hit Galati county, where the four people were found dead, about 5,000 homes were damaged and 25,000 were without power.Television images from the area showed streets flooded with muddy water, silt and debris as rescuers led residents to safety.“The priority is obviously to save lives. At this moment we have all the necessary logistics to intervene quickly,” Ciolacu said.In the Czech Republic, northern and northeastern areas bore the brunt of the deluge and 51,000 households had their electricity supply cut off, the CTK news agency said.Forecasters warned that some parts of the country could see more than a third of average annual rainfall by Sunday, with Environment Minister Petr Hladik urging people in the worst-hit areas to prepare to leave their homes.In the village of Visnova, 140km north of Prague, local resident Roman Christof said his cottage had escaped damage because it was built on higher land. Others were less fortunate, he added.“I feel sorry for the neighbours,” he said as he surveyed the floodwaters.In Prague, a city of more than 1.3mn people that sits on the banks of the Vltava river spanned by the picturesque 14th century Charles Bridge, flood barriers were put in place.The city heavily invested into preventive measures after the 2002 floods, which swept into the subway system and forced tens of thousands of people from their homes. Prague Zoo, which is located along the Vltava, was closed to visitors and Czech Railways said services on dozens of routes were disrupted. In the country’s second-biggest city, Brno, a hospital evacuated patients as a precaution.In Glucholazy, a historic town in southwestern Poland near the Czech border, firefighters piled hundreds of sandbags alongside a swollen river and some residents were evacuated.Polish Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said weather forecasts looked unfavourable, with very heavy rainfall to fall around the Czech border area over the next 24 hours, feeding rivers into Poland.“We are facing a critical night, full mobilisation is required,” Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on the X platform.Officials in neighbouring Slovakia warned of the threat of flooding in the capital, Bratislava, from the swollen Danube, while Hungary expects the river to near record-high levels in the coming days.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/690689/international/4-dead-in-romania-floods-as-rain-batters-central-europe

Russia, Ukraine swap 206 war prisoners in UAE-brokered deal

Moscow and Kyiv swapped 103 prisoners of war each on Saturday in a deal brokered by the United Arab Emirates, a rare moment of coordination between the two warring sides as Russia pushes ahead in east Ukraine.The Russians released in the swap were captured during Ukraine’s incursion into the Kursk region, Moscow said, while some of the Ukrainians freed had been held prisoner since Moscow seized the Azovstal steel plant in May 2022.“Another 103 soldiers were returned to Ukraine from Russian captivity,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram.Among the freed were 82 privates and sergeants as well as 21 officers, Zelensky said.“The defenders of Kyiv, Donetsk, Mariupol and Azovstal, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and the Kharkiv regions,” he added.Russia confirmed it had “handed over” 103 Ukrainian army prisoners, and received 103 Russian servicemen captured by Kyiv in its Kursk offensive in return.“At present, all Russian servicemen are on the territory of the Republic of Belarus, where they are being provided with the necessary psychological and medical assistance, as well as an opportunity to contact their relatives,” the Russian defence ministry said.Despite ongoing hostilities, Russia and Ukraine have managed to swap hundreds of prisoners throughout the two-and-half-year conflict — often in deals brokered by the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia or Turkiye.The announcement comes a day after Zelensky said 49 Ukrainian POWs had been returned from Russia, and three weeks ago both sides swapped 115 prisoners each in a deal also mediated by the UAE.The UAE’s foreign ministry hailed the deal as a “success” and thanked both sides for their co-operation on Saturday.The prisoner swap came as Russia pushed ahead in east Ukraine, where it claims to have captured a string of villages in recent weeks.The Russian defence ministry said in a daily briefing it had “liberated” the village of Zhelanne Pershe, less than 30km from the key Ukrainian-held logistics hub of Pokrovsk.Pokrovsk lies on the intersection of a key road that supplies Ukrainian troops and towns across the eastern front and has long been a target for Moscow’s army.More than half of the city’s 60,000 residents have fled since the invasion began in February 2022, with evacuations ramping up in recent weeks as Moscow’s army closes in.Ukraine had hoped its major cross-border incursion into the Kursk region last month would slow down Russia’s advances in the east.On Friday, Zelensky said Moscow had been slowed down somewhat but conceded the situation on the eastern front was “very difficult”. Russia meanwhile claimed this week to have clawed back a swath of territory in the Kursk region, as it mounted what appeared to be a counter-offensive.Tensions between Russia and the West over the conflict reached dire levels this week over UK and US discussions about letting Ukraine use longer-range weapons to strike targets inside Russia.The discussions came after a visit to Kyiv by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British counterpart David Lammy.President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Thursday that green-lighting the use of the long-range weapons deep inside Russia would put the Nato military alliance “at war” with Moscow. “This would in a significant way change the very nature of the conflict,” Putin told a state television reporter.“It would mean that Nato countries, the US, European countries, are at war with Russia,” he added.British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Joe Biden on Friday delayed a decision on the move.US officials believe the missiles would make a limited difference to Ukraine’s campaign and also want to ensure that Washington’s own stocks of the munitions are not depleted.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/690687/international/russia-ukraine-swap-206-war-prisoners-in-uae-brokered-deal

Uganda holds funeral for murdered Olympian Cheptegei

Ugandans on Saturday paid tributes to Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei, who died after her partner set her on fire in Kenya, ahead of her funeral in her family village.The 33-year-old, who debuted this summer in the women's marathon at the Paris Olympics, succumbed to severe burns last week after being attacked by Kenyan Dickson Ndiema Marangach.The brutal assault shocked the East African region and prompted a global outpouring of tributes, with activists condemning another act of gender-based violence in Kenya.On Saturday morning, residents, officials and relatives waited in the cold morning light to pay their respects in the village of Bukwo, some 380 kilometres northeast of Uganda's capital Kampala.'We are extremely saddened,' said her estranged husband Simon Ayeko, with whom she had two daughters.'As a father it has been very difficult,' he told AFP, explaining he had not been able to break the news to their children.'Slowly we will tell them the truth.'The service to honour Cheptegei, a sergeant in the Uganda Peoples' Defence Forces (UPDF), started around 10am, with officials and relatives gathering at the local council office.The coffin, swathed in the Ugandan flag, was saluted by officers from the UPDF who carried her body into the room overlooking the remote rolling hills of her childhood.The athlete was a 'heroine', local presidential representative Bessie Modest Ajilong told AFP, describing her as 'out of ordinary.''As leaders, we saw Cheptegei as an inspiration.'Her body was moved from the local council headquarters to a nearby sports stadium where hundreds gathered to pay their respects.Scores of athletes, among them Kenyan athletes Mary Keitany and Daniel Komen, travelled to the small village to attend the ceremonies.'She greatly contributed to the promotion of athletics until her last days,' coach Alex Malinga, who trained her as a teenager, told AFP.'Cheptegei was one of those who inspired the talented young that one day they will be like her.'Police said Marangach sneaked into her home to hide while she was at church with her children.The couple had argued over ownership of the property where she lived with her sister Dorcas Cherop and daughters, according to her family.'I think at that time, their relationship had become sour,' Cheptegei's brother-in-law, Moses Kipsiro, told AFP.'I didn't know then something was wrong,' said Kipsiro, who previously trained with Cheptegei and also hails from Bukwo.Her attacker later died from injuries sustained in the assault.The vicious assault has thrown yet another spotlight on what activists have called a femicide epidemic.Kenya reported 725 femicide cases in 2022 alone, according to the latest UN figures.A report the following year by Kenya's National Bureau of Statistics found 34 percent of women had experienced physical violence since the age of 15.At least two other athletes, Agnes Tirop and Damaris Mutua, have lost their lives in domestic violence incidents since 2021.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/690645/international/africa/uganda-holds-funeral-for-murdered-olympian-cheptegei

Zimbabwe to cull 200 elephants amid food shortages

Zimbabwe will cull 200 elephants as it faces an unprecedented drought that has led to food shortages, a move that will also allow it to tackle a ballooning population of the animals, the country's wildlife authority said Friday.The country has 'more elephants than it needed', Zimbabwe's environment minister said in parliament on Wednesday, adding that the government had instructed the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority (ZimParks) to begin the culling process.The 200 elephants will be hunted in areas where they have clashed with humans, including Hwange, home of Zimbabwe's largest natural reserve, ZimParks director general Fulton Mangwanya told AFP.Zimbabwe is home to an estimated 100,000 elephants, and has the second-biggest elephant population in the world after Botswana.Thanks to conservation efforts, Hwange is home to 65,000 of the animals, more than four times its capacity, according to ZimParks. Zimbabwe last culled elephants in 1988.Neighbouring Namibia said this month that it had already killed 160 wildlife in a planned cull of more than 700 animals, including 83 elephants, to cope with its worst drought in decades.Zimbabwe and Namibia are among a swathe of countries in southern Africa that have declared a state of emergency because of drought.About 42 percent of Zimbabweans live in poverty, according to UN estimates, and authorities say about six million will require food assistance during the November to March lean season, when food is scarcest.The move to hunt the elephants for food was criticised by some, not least because the animals are a major draw for tourists.'Government must have more sustainable eco-friendly methods to dealing with drought without affecting tourism,' said Farai Maguwu, director of the nonprofit Centre for Natural Resource Governance.'They risk turning away tourists on ethical grounds. The elephants are more profitable alive than dead,' he said.'We have shown that we are poor custodians of natural resources and our appetite for ill-gotten wealth knows no bounds, so this must be stopped because it is unethical.'But Chris Brown, a conservationist and CEO of the Namibian Chamber of Environment, said that 'elephants have a devastating effect on habitat if they are allowed to increase continually, exponentially'.'They really damage ecosystems and habitats, and they have a huge impact on other species which are less iconic and therefore matter less in the eyes of the eurocentric, urban armchair conservation people,' he said.'Those species matter as much as elephants.'Namibia's cull of elephants has been condemned by conservationists and the animal rights group PETA as short-sighted, cruel and ineffective.But the government said the 83 to be culled would be only a small fraction of the estimated 20,000 elephants in the arid country, and would relieve pressure on grazing and water supplies.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/690621/international/africa/zimbabwe-to-cull-200-elephants-amid-food-shortages

Spain hosts conference on two-state solution to Israeli-Palestinian conflict

AFP/MadridMinisters from Muslim and European countries along with the European Union’s foreign affairs chief gathered yesterday in Madrid to discuss how to advance a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “Together, we want to identify the concrete actions that will enable us to make progress towards this objective,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote on social network X.“The international community must take a decisive step towards a just and lasting peace in the Middle East,” the Socialist premier added. Sanchez welcomed participants at his official residence before the start of the meeting at the foreign ministry in central Madrid, hosted by his top diplomat Jose Manuel Albares.In attendance were Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa and the foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye – all members of the Arab-Islamic Contact Group for Gaza – as well as the heads of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation.The European Union was represented by its foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell as well as the foreign ministers of Ireland, Norway and Slovenia in addition to Spain. “The implementation of the two-state solution is the only way to ensure a just and lasting peace in the region through the peaceful and secure coexistence of the state of Palestine and the state of Israel,” Albares told a news conference.Asked about Israel’s absence from the meeting, he said the country had not been invited because it belonged “neither to the group of Europeans nor to the Arab-Islamic contact group” but stressed he would be “delighted” if Israel took part in discussions on the two-state solution. Calls for the solution have grown since the outbreak of the war in Gaza.Israel has launched an offensive that has killed at least 41,118 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. The UN rights office says most of the dead are women and children. Sanchez has been one of the staunchest critics in Europe of Israel’s Gaza offensive since the start of the conflict.Under his watch, Spain on May 28 along with Ireland and Norway formally recognised a Palestinian state comprising the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Earlier this month he announced that the first “bilateral summit between Spain and Palestine” would be held before the end of the year. He said he expected “several collaboration agreements between the two states” to be signed.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/690615/international/spain-hosts-conference-on-two-state-solution-to-israeli-palestinian-conflict

Gaza polio vaccination drive a 'massive success': WHO Chief

The WHO chief hailed Friday the success of the first phase of a giant polio vaccination campaign in war-ravaged Gaza after more than 560,000 children received a first dose.'This is a massive success amidst a tragic daily reality of life across the Gaza Strip,' Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X, formerly Twitter.Disease has spread with Gaza lying in ruins and the majority of its 2.4 million residents forced to flee their homes due to Israel's military assault -- often taking refuge in cramped and unsanitary conditions.After the first confirmed polio case in 25 years, a massive vaccination effort began on September 1 targeting at least 90 percent of children under 10, aided by localised 'humanitarian pauses' in fighting.The first phase of the campaign, which first brought vaccines to children in central Gaza, then the south, and finally to the hardest-to reach north of the territory, wrapped up Thursday.A fresh campaign to provide a needed second dose is due to begin in about four weeks in Gaza, besieged for over 11 months.'We admire all the health teams, who conducted this complex operation,' Tedros said, also voicing gratitude to the families for turning out in droves to get their children vaccinated against polio.Poliovirus, most often spread through sewage and contaminated water, is highly infectious. It can cause deformities and paralysis, and is potentially fatal. It mainly affects children under the age of five.WHO has hailed that area-specific humanitarian pauses were respected, allowing the campaign to go ahead, and has urged a broader halt in fighting to help establish humanitarian corridors and the delivery of desperately-needed throughout the war-torn territory.'Imagine what could be achieved with a ceasefire!' Tedros said.The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas's October 7 attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. The count includes hostages killed in captivity.Israel's retaliation has killed at least 41,118 people in Gaza, according to the territory's health ministry. The UN human rights office says most of the dead have been women or children.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/690582/international/gaza-polio-vaccination-drive-a-massive-success-who-chief

Jordan FM, Norwegian counterpart, EU Foreign Affairs representatives discuss halting Israeli aggression on Gaza

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi discussed with his Norwegian counterpart Espen Barth Eide, and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell the developments in the region and the efforts being made to stop the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip and the dangerous escalation in the occupied West Bank.The meeting, held on the sidelines of a gathering in Madrid focused on implementing the two-state solution, also explored ways to enhance bilateral relations between Jordan and Norway on one hand, and with the European Union on the other.Safadi emphasized the need to finalize a prisoner exchange deal that would lead to a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, halt the dangerous escalation in the West Bank, ensure the protection of civilians, and deliver sufficient and sustainable humanitarian aid to all parts of the Gaza Strip.The Jordanian Foreign Minister also warned of the potential explosion of the situation in the region if Israel's illegal actions in the West Bank continue, along with violations of Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem and the failure to respect the city's legal and historical status.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/690581/international/jordan-fm-norwegian-counterpart-eu-foreign-affairs-representatives-discuss-halting-israeli-aggression-on-gaza