Thousands stage pro-Palestinian protests worldwide, on first anniversary of Gaza war

Protests held in cities from Jakarta to Istanbul to RabatIsrael's military actions in Gaza and Lebanon face international condemnationThousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators protested in cities around the world on Sunday on the eve of the first anniversary of the war in Gaza.Demonstrations were held in major cities from Jakarta to Istanbul to Rabat, and followed protests on Saturday in major European capitals as well as Washington and New York.'We are here to support the Palestinian resistance,' said protester Ahmet Unal in Istanbul, where thousands assembled.On October 7 last year, Hamas attacked southern Israeli communities, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.Israel's subsequent military campaign against Hamas in Gaza has killed nearly 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, and laid waste to the enclave.Israel launched air attacks on Beirut's southern suburbs overnight and early on Sunday, the most intense bombardment of the Lebanese capital since Israel sharply escalated its campaign against Iranian-backed group Hezbollah last month.In Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia at least 1,000 pro-Palestinian protesters gathered on Sunday morning near the US embassy demanding that Washington stop supplying weapons to Israel.In Sydney, thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered ahead of the Oct. 7 anniversary, chanting and waving Lebanese and Palestinian flags amid a heavy police presence.One person was arrested for waving an Israeli flag with a swastika in the middle of it instead of the Star of David.In Rabat, thousands of Moroccans marched, calling for a halt to the violence in Gaza and Lebanon, in one of the largest protests in the country since the beginning of the war in Gaza.Protesters demanded an end to Morocco's diplomatic ties with Israel, chanting 'no to normalisation, Palestine is not for sale,' referring to Morocco's establishing of diplomatic relations with Israel.Over the past year, the scale of the killing and destruction in Gaza has prompted some of the biggest global demonstrations in years, including in the US, which saw weeks of pro-Palestinian college campus encampments.Israel has faced wide international condemnation over its actions in Gaza, and now over its bombarding of Lebanon.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/692058/region/thousands-stage-pro-palestinian-protests-worldwide-on-first-anniversary-of-gaza-war

Thousands around the world demand end to Gaza war on anniversary

Protests against Israel's actions in Gaza, worries about spread of conflict in the regionInternational diplomacy has failed to secure a ceasefire deal in GazaThousands of protesters took to the streets in several major cities around the world on Saturday to demand an end to bloodshed in Gaza, as the conflict in the Palestinian enclave approaches its first anniversary and spreads in the wider region.About 40,000 pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through central London while thousands also gathered in Paris, Rome, Manila and Cape Town.Protesters marched through central London on Saturday calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon as the war in the Palestinian territory neared the one-year mark.Pro-Palestinian supporters from across the country began the march from Russell Square to Downing Street demanding an end to the conflict, which has killed nearly 42,000 people in Gaza.At Saturday's 20th 'National March for Palestine' in London, familiar chants -- 'ceasefire now', 'stop bombing hospitals, stop bombing civilians' and 'from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free' -- were joined by shouts of 'hands off Lebanon'.Several protesters carried posters reading 'Starmer has blood on his hands'.UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages held by Hamas, as well as suspended some arms licences to Israel.However, many at the rally said it was not enough.Sophia Thomson, 27, found the Labour government's stance 'hypocritical'.According to Thomson, the size of the protests 'goes to show the government doesn't speak for the people'.'It's not good enough. It's not good enough,' added Bakir, calling for the government to 'stop giving a carte blanche of support to the Israeli government'.The war was triggered when militant Palestinian group Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 in a raid that killed 1,200 people and in which about 250 were taken as hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's subsequent assault on Gaza has killed nearly 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, and displaced nearly all of the enclave's population of 2.3 million.'Unfortunately, in spite of all our good will, the Israeli government does not take any notice, and they just go ahead and continue their atrocities in Gaza, now also in Lebanon and in Yemen, and also probably in Iran,' said protestor Agmes Koury in London.'And our government, our British government, unfortunately is just paying lip service and carries on supplying weapons to Israel,' she added.In Berlin, Israel supporters protested against rising antisemitism and scuffles broke out between police and pro-Palestinian counter-protestors.Over the past year, the scale of the killing and destruction in Gaza has drawn some of the biggest global protests in years, in a wave of anger that defenders of Israel say has created an antisemitic climate in which protestors question Israel's right to exist as a nation.The war in Gaza has spread to the region, drawing in Iran-backed groups in Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq. Israel has sharply escalated a campaign against Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah in recent weeks and Iran launched a barrage of missiles against Israel this week.In Paris, Lebanese-French protestor Houssam Houssein said:'We fear a regional war, because there are tensions with Iran at the moment, and perhaps with Iraq and Yemen'.'We really need to stop the war because it's now become unbearable,' he added.In Rome, around 6,000 protestors waved Palestinian and Lebanese flags, defying a ban to march in the city centre ahead of the Oct. 7 anniversary.While its allies such as the United States support Israel's right to defend itself, Israel has faced wide international condemnation over its actions in Gaza, and now over its bombarding of Lebanon.International diplomacy led by the United States has so far failed to clinch a ceasefire deal in Gaza. Hamas wants an agreement that ends the war while Israel says fighting can end only when Hamas is eradicated.In Manila, activists clashed with anti-riot police after they were blocked from holding a demonstration in front of the US embassy in the Philippine capital in protest at the United States supplying Israel with weapons.Demonstrations to mark the first anniversary were due to take place later on Saturday in other cities across the world, including the United States and Chile. Some demonstrations in support of Israel are also planned over the weekend.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/691976/international/thousands-around-the-world-demand-end-to-gaza-war-on-anniversary

Spoon scratching: Kenya’s DIY DJ

A spoon, some towel hooks, a piece of kettle and a plastic cap — that’s all you’ll need to make a mixing deck if you have the technical and musical skills of DJ Boboss.The 27-year-old — real name Paul Mwangi — has been building up a fanbase online and on the streets of Kenya with the one-of-a-kind deck that he put together himself.It has even earned him slots at Uganda’s Nyege Nyege festival, the largest in east Africa, and on the world-renowned club website Boiler Room.But his favourite venue is Nairobi’s bustling business district, where he set up on a recent Saturday among the stands of miraa (khat) vendors, the smell of grilled corn and the horns of matatus, the colourful minibuses of the Kenyan capital.In a few minutes, dozens of curious onlookers had gathered, taking out their phones to film the amazing machine that spits out reggae hits.The mixing desk consists of a spray-painted wooden board on which are screwed towel racks, switches and printed circuits connected in a tangle of cables — all connected to an amp, speaker, and car battery.He scratches using a slider made from a magnetised spoon between two towel hooks, and his fader is cobbled together from a plastic bottle cap.Fixes are done without breaking the flow — at one point, DJ Boboss whips out a screwdriver, strips a wire with his teeth and repairs a fault while the music keeps playing.“I’ve never seen anything like that in the world,” smiled David Meshack, who works in a nearby electronics store that sells professional turntables.“One day, a customer came in with a photo of it. He wanted the same one but I didn’t know what it was,” he said. “Today, I see it!” Boboss is an acronym for “Be your own boss” and Mwangi got his start repairing radios.“My dad bought me a radio. After some time it stopped ‘talking’ and he said he wouldn’t buy another one. I was stressed because I was addicted to music and listening to radio, so I just opened it using a knife,” he said.Soon he was repairing electronic devices in his village near Meru in central Kenya.Then one day he saw a DJ in a bar and was inspired.“I loved how he played music and the way the crowd reacted. I didn’t have the money to buy real equipment but I said I could make my own with the available resources.” Mwangi moved to the capital and now makes a living from his DJing and occasionally selling specially-commissioned turntables.His favourite venue is the street, especially in the business district or at Gikomba, the largest second-hand clothing market in the country.“Street shows is a special feeling, you have a contact with the people. Many people have never seen a DJ mixing live,” he said.Among the onlookers, 48-year-old ex-soldier Zachary Mibei said he loved how Mwangi illustrates the situation for young people in Kenya.“He has no training, it’s all homemade, he is showing that he has something in him. He is telling us: ‘I can do it by myself’,” said Mibei.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/691956/international/spoon-scratching-kenyas-diy-dj

Thailand rushes to rescue animals from flash floods

Authorities and conservationists are rushing to rescue elephants and buffaloes from flash flooding in Thailand’s northern Chiang Mai province, a senior official said on Friday.Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said 117 elephants had been saved but nine more needed help.“An operation is underway,” he told reporters.One village that buffaloes had been moved to earlier was now completed flooded, conservationist Saengduan Chailert said.“We don’t know how many elephants will survive, we are going back to help them,” she said.A herd of elephants were seen running through water, trumpeting loudly in a video posted on social media by Saengduan, founder of the Chiang Mai-based Elephant Nature Park.One ran slower than the herd because she was blind in both eyes, Saengduan said.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/691955/international/thailand-rushes-to-rescue-animals-from-flash-floods

Trump ‘resorted to crimes’ to overturn 2020 election: special counsel

Donald Trump launched a “private criminal effort” to subvert the 2020 US election and should not be shielded by presidential immunity, Special Counsel Jack Smith said in a court filing unsealed on Wednesday.Smith, in a 165-page motion arguing for the historic case against Trump to move forward, also provided new evidence of the former president’s efforts to overturn the results of the election won by Democrat Joe Biden.Trump, 78, the Republican candidate in November’s White House election, was to go on trial in March but the case was frozen while his lawyers argued that a former president should be immune from criminal prosecution.The Supreme Court ruled in July that an ex-president has immunity from prosecution for official acts while in office, but can be pursued for unofficial acts.Smith, in the filing unsealed by District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is hearing the case, said that Trump should not escape prosecution because “at its core, the defendant’s scheme was a private criminal effort”.“The defendant asserts that he is immune from prosecution for his criminal scheme to overturn the 2020 presidential election because, he claims, it entailed official conduct,” Smith said. “Not so.”“Although the defendant was the incumbent President during the charged conspiracies, his scheme was fundamentally a private one.”Trump, acting as a candidate and not in his official capacity, “resorted to crimes to try to stay in office”, the special counsel said.“With private co-conspirators, the defendant launched a series of increasingly desperate plans to overturn the legitimate election results in seven states that he had lost,” he said.Trump’s efforts allegedly included lying to state officials, manufacturing fraudulent electoral votes and seeking to get then-Vice-President Mike Pence to obstruct congressional certification of Biden’s victory.“When all else had failed,” the special counsel said, Trump directed an “angry crowd” of supporters to the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, to disrupt the certification.According to Smith’s filing, a White House staffer told Trump during the January 6 rioting at the Capitol that Pence had been taken to a secure location, to which the president replied “So what?”Smith said there was abundant evidence that Trump knew his claims of electoral fraud were false because advisers had told him so.Trump, in a post on Truth Social after the filing was unsealed, said: “Democrats are Weaponizing the Justice Department against me because they know I am WINNING.”Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung blasted the disclosures, saying: “This entire case is a partisan, Unconstitutional Witch Hunt that should be dismissed entirely, together with ALL of the remaining Democrat hoaxes.”Chutkan has not set a date for a trial but it will not be held before the November 5 election between Trump and Vice-President Kamala Harris.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/691898/international/trump-resorted-to-crimes-to-overturn-2020-election-special-counsel

Deputy Amir sends congratulations to President of Germany

His Highness the Deputy Amir Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al-Thani sent on Thursday a cable of congratulations to President of the Federal Republic of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier on the occasion of the German Unity Day.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/691868/international/deputy-amir-sendscongratulationsto-president-ofgermany

China urges actions to deescalate situation in Middle East

China on Wednesday called on the UN Security Council to take urgent actions to deescalate the situation in the Middle East after Israel carried out new airstrikes on Lebanon.'The Security Council bears the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security,' Chinese (Xinhua) news agency quoted China's permanent representative to the United Nations Fu Cong as saying.He pointed out that parties concerned must return to the track of political and diplomatic solutions.Warning that the current situation is 'hanging by a thread', Fu said any passive procrastination would be irresponsible, and any rhetoric of condoning further military adventurism would send a wrong message.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/691862/international/china-urges-actions-to-deescalate-situation-in-middle-east

UN Security Council to hold emergency Middle East meeting wednesday, UN and EU call for ceasefire

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss the escalation of conflict in the Middle East, the Swiss presidency of the Council announced.'We have scheduled a meeting' at 10:00 am New York time (1400 GMT), a spokesperson for the Swiss mission told reporters.Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement 'I condemn the broadening of the Middle East conflict, with escalation after escalation.''This must stop. We absolutely need a ceasefire,' he said.Similarly, the European Union called for an immediate ceasefire across the region.'The dangerous cycle of attacks and retaliation risks ... spiralling out of control,' EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell posted on X.'An immediate ceasefire across the region is needed,' he added.On Tuesday evening, Iran's Revolutionary Guard announced that it had launched a missile attack on sites inside the Israeli entity.In a statement, it said the attack was carried out with the support of the army and the Ministry of Defense, and the operation was approved by the Supreme National Security Council, noting that it targeted 'the heart of the occupied territories

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/691783/international/un-security-council-to-hold-emergency-middle-east-meeting-wednesdayun-and-eu-call-for-ceasefire

Mexico’s first woman president takes office

Claudia Sheinbaum (pictured) was sworn in as Mexico’s first woman president yesterday, taking the reins at a time the country is struggling with violence from organised crime and a hefty deficit in Latin America’s No 2 economy.Sheinbaum, the 62-year-old scientist and former mayor of Mexico City, was inaugurated in a ceremony in Mexico’s Congress for a six-year term lasting until 2030.Her supporters chanted “President! President!” and “Long live Mexico!” after Sheinbaum took the oath of office in front of lawmakers.She will later attend a celebration in Mexico City’s main square as leader of the world’s most populous Spanish-speaking country, home to 129mn people, which has had 65 male presidents since independence.Supporters began gathering from dawn on inauguration day, which authorities declared a national holiday.“We arrived at five in the morning,” said Marta Ramirez, a housewife who came by bus from the central city of Leon.A woman president “understands the people better”, she said.Sheinbaum has said on several occasions that “it’s time for women and transformation” in Mexico, a nation with a history of gender-based discrimination and violence, with around 10 women or girls murdered every day.Political watchers and analysts predict Sheinbaum will urgently look to calm investors following the passing of a controversial judicial reform pushed by her predecessor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.Markets will be looking to Sheinbaum for “a predictable and investment-friendly policy and regulatory framework”, said Alberto Ramos, head of Goldman Sachs Latin American economic research.“Disciplined management of the budget and of state-owned enterprises, progress on public security, and safe-guarding the integrity of key institutions will be key to preserving market sentiment and sovereign debt ratings,” Ramos said, emphasising the importance of state energy firm Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex).The November presidential elections in the United States, Mexico’s largest trading partner, could add to market volatility, especially if former president Donald Trump, who has vowed to increase tariffs on Mexican goods, wins.Sheinbaum’s government will present its first budget before November 15, which is expected to be highly scrutinised for clues on whether Sheinbaum will make good on commitments to reduce the fiscal deficit to 3.5% of gross domestic product from 5.9%, where it is predicted to close the year.Lopez Obrador, whose six-year term began in 2018, managed to double Mexico’s minimum wage, reduce poverty and unemployment, broaden the base of social programmes and oversee a previous strengthening of the peso.Touting these successes boosted his popularity and helped usher Sheinbaum, his protégée, to a landslide victory in the June elections.Sheinbaum, however, who has promised “continuity with change”, will inherit the largest budget deficit since the 1980s and lagging economic growth.Experts have said Mexico’s economy will require a tax reform to increase revenues, though Sheinbaum has said publicly she does not plan a sweeping tax overhaul.Instead, she has said she will pursue other options, including improving the efficiency of tax collection at customs.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/691776/international/mexicos-first-woman-president-takes-office

At least 23 killed in Thai bus inferno

A devastating fire on a Thai school bus killed at least 23 people, police said yesterday after rescuers pulled children’s bodies from the charred wreckage of the vehicle.The inferno engulfed the coach on a highway in a northern Bangkok suburb as it carried 38 children – ranging from kindergarten age to young teenagers – and six teachers on a school trip.It is believed to be the deadliest road accident in a decade in Thailand, which has one of the world’s worst traffic safety records with around 20,000 fatalities a year.“We found 23 bodies inside the bus,” Trairong Phiwpan, head of the police forensic science office, told reporters.The victims’ bodies were so badly burned that Trairong said it was not yet possible to confirm how many were adults and how many children.DNA testing would be needed to identify the remains, police said.Rescue workers put up screens around the wreckage to shield firefighters and investigators as they recovered bodies from the blackened shell of the bus.“Some of the bodies we rescued were very, very small. They must have been very young in age,” Piyalak Thinkaew, who led the search, told reporters at the scene, adding that the fire started at the front of the bus.“The kids’ instinct was to escape to the back so the bodies were there,” he said.Police are hunting the coach driver after he fled the scene, acting national police chief Kitrat Phanphet told reporters.“We are investigating all individuals, including the bus company to see if this was a case of negligence,” he said. “The driver is on the run, we will not wait for him to turn himself in – we will send a team to find him.”Some of the children who survived suffered horrific burns to their faces, mouths and eyes, doctors treating them told local media.The bus was one of three carrying children from Wat Khao Phraya Sangkharam school in the northern province of Uthai Thani on a field trip to a science museum in northern Bangkok.A video posted on the school’s Facebook page just hours before the tragedy shows the group of youngsters in orange uniform shirts stopping off at the ancient Thai capital of Ayutthaya.The disaster is believed to have begun when one of the bus tyres burst on the highway around 12.30pm (0530 GMT), sending it crashing into a barrier and triggering the inferno, officials said.Video footage from the scene showed flames engulfing the bus as it burned under an overpass, huge clouds of dense black smoke billowing into the sky.The bus was a natural gas vehicle (NGV), according to Transport Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit.Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra visited survivors in hospital and said that the government would pay for medical treatment and compensate the victims’ families.“As a mother, I would like to express my deepest condolences to the families of the injured and deceased,” she wrote on social media platform X.Meechai Sa-ard, a motorbike taxi driver, heard the noise of the incident from a kilometre away.“There was smoke everywhere. Poor children, I heard they were very little,” he told AFP. “I was hoping that god would be kind so that the rain could put the fire out and the kids would survive.”Thailand has one of the worst road safety records in the world, with unsafe vehicles and poor driving contributing to the high annual death toll.Around 20,000 people are killed every year on the kingdom’s roads, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) – more than 50 a day on average.A similar bus fire killed 20 Myanmar migrant workers in March 2018, while at least 30 people died when a bus careered off a mountain road into a ravine four years earlier.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/691774/international/at-least-23-killed-in-thai-bus-inferno

Germany begins evacuating its citizens from Beirut

The German Foreign Ministry has announced the evacuation of its employees working at the German embassy in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, in addition to their family members and members of German organizations operating there.A statement by the German Foreign Ministry said that a German Air Force plane took off from Beirut today with 110 passengers on board, some of whom do not hold German citizenship.The German Foreign and Defense Ministries had previously stated that there were 'German citizens who are particularly at risk due to medical conditions and were also transported on board the armed forces plane.'The German government announced that its crisis cell had decided to raise the level of alert again at the diplomatic representation headquarters in Beirut and Ramallah, provided that these embassies remain able to operate, with the evacuation of non-essential employees.The German Foreign Ministry said earlier Monday that it estimates that there are still 1,800 Germans in Lebanon who have registered themselves on the crisis preparedness list.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/691710/international/germany-begins-evacuating-itscitizens-from-beirut