Canada says Ukraine can use donated tanks in Russia

CANADA INVADED RUSSIA IN WWI

 Ukraine's armed forces are now authorized to use donated Canadian military equipment like the Leopard tank (German version pictured) inside Russian territory, Canada’s Department of National Defence confirmed.

File Photo by Filip Singer/EPA-EFE

Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Ukraine's armed forces are now authorized to use donated Canadian military equipment inside Russian territory, Canada's Department of National Defence confirmed.

Canadian officials made the comments Thursday, joining several other countries that have already given Ukraine the green light to use donated weapons inside Russia's territorial border.

Canada donated eight Leopard 2A4 tanks, several dozen armored combat support vehicles, hundreds of armored patrol vehicles and 4,200 M72A5-C1 rocket launchers. It has also provided ammunition and air defense systems.

"Ukrainians know best how to defend their homeland, and we're committed to supporting their capacity," Canadian Department of National Defense spokesperson Andrée-Anne Poulin told POLITICO Friday.

"Canada steadfastly supports Ukraine's right to defend itself against Russia's illegal and unjustifiable war -- and that is why we have committed over $4 billion in military assistance to Ukraine."

Overall, Canada has provided around $4.5 billion in military assistance to Ukraine since 2022. The Canadian government has pledged to continue military support until at least 2029.

British officials on Thursday gave Ukraine permission to use its donated weapons in Russian territory as long as international laws are respected.

The news came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed Britain's Cabinet in July, calling for a reduction of weapon use restrictions on arms supplied by Western countries for use in Ukraine's war with Russia.

Germany has also previously said Ukraine has permission to use donated Western weapons inside Russian territory.

Zelensky on Thursday said his troops have now captured the town of Sudzha as they continue their incursion into Russian territory.

A ground invasion into Russia's western Kursk Oblast has been progressing for a week. The region shares a border with Ukraine and is where Russian officials have declared a state of emergency and evacuated thousands of residents in response.

It wasn't immediately clear if any of the Western donated military hardware was being used in the offensive.

DESANTISLAND

Backlash arises after Florida school accused of throwing out LGBTQ-themed books


A story about administrators at the New College of Florida throwing out hundreds of library books, many reportedly containing LGBTQ+ themes, has ignited a new controversy over the conservative takeover of the public liberal arts school. 

File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

Aug. 16 (UPI) -- A report about hundreds of library books, including "many on LGBTQ+ topics and religious studies," being tossed by administrators at the New College of Florida sparked angry reactions from civil liberties groups on Friday.

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune on Thursday reported that the New College of Florida, a small, public liberal arts school whose governance was restructured last year by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, had hauled hundreds of library books to a landfill, "many of which contained LGBTQ+ themes."

Published images showed a dumpster in the parking lot of the school's Jane Bancroft Cook Library overflowing with books and collections, reportedly from the school's now-shuttered Gender and Diversity Center.

The New College has been at the center of a national controversy over academic freedom after DeSantis, a former Republican presidential candidate, appointed six new conservative members to its board of trustees with the stated goal of transforming the institution from an enclave of nonconformist "free thinkers" into a bastion of conservative thought.




Chosen to lead newly reshaped board was Christopher Rufo, an outspoken critic of "critical race theory in American institutions" and an activist claiming to have inspired legislation in 15 states.

The school denied the Herald-Tribune report, issuing a statement claiming it was carrying out a routine maintenance of its campus library and removing materials due to the scrapping of the gender studies program.

"A library needs to regularly review and renew its collection to ensure its materials are meeting the current needs of students and faculty," the school said. "The images seen online of a dumpster of library materials is related to the standard weeding process."

Nevertheless, the story created a backlash from civil liberties and academic freedom advocates.

"It's appalling to see books treated like common trash, and disposing of them by the truckload is nothing short of an attack on education itself and an attempt at all-out erasure," People For the American Way President Sante Myrick said in a statement.
Advertisement



"These books could have helped people learn about each other, appreciate each other, and come together in common knowledge; instead, they'll likely rot in a landfill, and the people of Florida will be worse off for it," he added.

Myrick termed pictures of the mounds of trashed books "a shocking preview of what we could see during a second Trump administration, and we cannot let it happen. We cannot allow knowledge to become a casualty of hate."

"Politicians and school boards are making moves to ban books -- predominately those by Black and LGBTQ authors -- from public schools and libraries across the nation," added the American Civil Liberties Union. "But we'll keep fighting for our right to learn."

"Ron DeSantis' extremist college makeover continues with the destruction and disposal of hundreds of books from the gender and diversity collection at New College of Florida," said Jonathan Webber, Florida policy director for the Southern Poverty Law Center.

"The destruction of books for political gain is completely outside the mainstream of American values and is only embraced by a few fringe elements. Students and parents believe that educational decisions should remain in the hands of educators. They do not want Tallahassee politicians using their classrooms to advance their own ideological agendas," he said.

British union ASLEF announces 22-day weekend strike for LNER rail line workers


Britain's ASLEF union Friday announced strike actions by train drivers on the LNER line every weekend from Sept. 1-Nov. 10.

File Photo by Neil Hall/ EPA-EFE

Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Uunion train drivers at London North Eastern Railway Friday announced 22 days of strike actions over staffing issues.

From Sept. 1 through Nov. 10, train drivers represented by the Associated Society of Engineers and Firemen union will take strike action every weekend.

"The bottom line is that LNER does not employ enough drivers to deliver the services it has promised passengers, and the government, it will run," ASLEF lead negotiator Nigel Roebuck said.

LNER said the rail line would continue to work with the union to find a way to resolve the labor issues.

Related

Driver strike brings train services across large parts of England to standstill
British health secretary enters into talks with nurses to resolve pay dispute
British ambulance workers, nurses strike; union leaders call for fresh pay talks

"Our priority focus will be on minimizing disruption to customers during the forthcoming Aslef strikes, which sadly will continue to cause disruption and delays," LNER said in a statement.

ASLEF General Secretary Mick Whelan said the union was forced into the strike by LNER allegedly repeatedly breaking labor agreements and acting in bad faith with bullying tactics.

"The continued failure of the company to resolve longstanding industrial relations issues has forced us into this position," Whelan said. "We would much rather not be here. But the company has brutally, and repeatedly, broken diagramming and roster agreements, failed to adhere to the agreed bargaining machinery, and totally acted in bad faith."

According to Roebuck, union drivers complained of being "badgered for favors" by managers

LNER operates British trains on the east coast mainline as well as from London to other cities including York, Leeds and Newcastle.

Widespread disruption is expected during the strike actions.

ASLEF said the announced LNER strike actions are not related to a national rail labor dispute with 16 companies.

The government has proposed a deal with ASLEF leaders to settle that dispute and worker approval of the deal is pending. The deal offers train drivers a 14% pay increase over three years with no changes to work terms or conditions.

That pay hike will be retroactive covering the 2021-2024 period.

FDA approves first at-home, over-the-counter test for syphilis

NIETZSCHE COULD HAVE USED THIS

 (aacad.org)
The First to Know test for syphilis, manufactured by NOWDiagnostics, is the first at-home, over-the-counter test for the sexually transmitted disease to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Photo courtesy NOWDiagnostics

Aug. 16 (UPI) -- The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the first over-the-counter, at-home test for syphilis in response to surging levels of the sexually transmitted disease nationwide.

Regulators issued the green light for the release of the First To Know Syphilis Test, made by NOWDiagnostics of Springdale, Ariz., noting its status as the first at-home test to detect Treponema pallidum, or syphilis, antibodies in human blood.

They cautioned that results from the home test alone are not sufficient to accurately diagnose a syphilis infection and should be followed by additional testing by medical professionals.

Even so, the approval marks a significant milestone in the detection and treatment of STDs as cases soar across the United States, health officials said.

Related

Studies show daily antibiotic use may prevent STDs in high-risk groups
Half of people would reveal STD to new sex partner
Chlamydia vaccine triggers immune response in early trial

"Access to home tests may help increase initial screening for syphilis, including in individuals who may be reluctant to see their health care provider about possible sexually transmitted infection exposure," said Dr. Michelle Tarver, acting director of the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health. "This can lead to increased lab testing to confirm diagnosis, which can result in increased treatment and reduction in the spread of infection."

Syphilis can seriously damage the heart and brain and can cause blindness, deafness and paralysis if left untreated, and when transmitted during pregnancy, can cause miscarriage, lifelong medical issues and infant death.

It's one of most serious of the sexually transmitted diseases and is now seeing a major resurgence. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported syphilis cases increased 80% between 2018 and 2022, jumping from 115,000 to more than 207,000, reaching their highest levels since the 1950s.

The situation has become so concerning that the Department of Health and Human Services in January established the National Syphilis and Congenital Syphilis Syndemic Federal Task Force to tackle the problem.

"The syphilis crisis in our country is unacceptable," said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. "The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to addressing this urgent issue and using all available means to eliminate disparities in our health care system."

Today in History: August 18, 1920

19th Amendment gives women the vote

2024: ERA STILL NOT PASSED



FILE - In this August 1920 file photo, Alice Paul, seated second from left, sews the 36th star on a banner, celebrating the ratification of the women’s suffrage amendment. The banner flew in front of headquarters of the Women’s Party in Washington of which Miss Paul was national chairperson. The 36th star represented Tennessee, whose ratification completed the number of states needed to put the amendment in the Constitution.

BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Today in history:
On Aug. 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, guaranteeing American women’s right to vote, was ratified as Tennessee became the 36th state to approve it.

UPI Archives

August 26, 1920

Women's right to vote now official in United States

WASHINGTON, Aug. 26, 1920 (UP) - The right of women to the ballot was formally made a part of the Constitution of the United States today when Secretary of State Colby proclaimed ratification of the nineteenth amendment.

Colby announced the proclamation when he arrived at his office today, having signed it shortly before at his home here.

The official certification that Tennessee had become the 36th state to ratify the amendment was taken to his home early today.

A group of suffrage leaders who had waited until a late hour last night for the arrival of the Tennessee certification were hurriedly summoned to the State Department and met Colby.

They cheered when he told them the last step to make the amendment operative had been taken.

Among those in the party were Miss Alice Paul, chairman of the National Women's Party; Mrs. Abby Scott Baker; Miss Julia Emorty, Baltimore; Dr. Lydia Allen Devilbis of Georgia; Miss Mary Moore Forrest, Scituate, Mass.; Mrs. Anne Calvert Neely, Vicksburg, Miss.; Mrs. Walb, Houston, Tex.; Mrs. Cyrus Meade, Dayton, Ohio; Miss Emilie Grace Kay, St. Paul, Minn.; and Miss Emma Wold, Portland, Ore.

The Tennessee certification was taken to Colby's home by Charles L. Cooke, master of ceremonies of the State Department, and Colby and Frederick Nielson, State Department solicitor, went over it for possible legal flaws. They found none, it was stated.

Suffragists had expected to make the ceremony of proclaiming the amendment a public one and evidently were disappointed.

They requested him to go through the ceremony again for their benefit and for moving picture men.

Colby said he would consider going over the ceremony again and went into his office.

The women, however, left the State Department without waiting for Colby's decision.

They held a jubilation at their own headquarters a short distance away.

Miss Alice Paul declared that the suffragists will not relax their vigilance until they are sure that no further attempts will be made to take from the women what they have won.

Miss Paul will go to New York immediately to attend a conference where the date of the National Women's Party convention will be decided.

WORKERS CAPITAL

Aging Europe: Rising costs threaten EU pensions

Nik Martin

DW

August 16, 2024

Europe's population is aging fast, forcing EU states to spend more on pension benefits. While governments want to raise the retirement age, savers are calling for a more flexible approach.

Eurobarometer data showed only 23% of EU residents have an occupational pension scheme

 Pond5 Images/IMAGO

Europe's demographic time bomb has been ticking for decades, with societies of European Union countries growing older and people living longer. More than a fifth of the European Union's population is now aged 65 or older. That figure is expected to reach a third by 2050. The World Health Organization warned last year that 2024 would mark the first time that over-65s would outnumber Europe's under-15 population.

Despite large increases in immigration over the past two decades, the continent still needs to attract enough workers whose taxes can help cover the growing cost of public pensions. Economists predict that by 2050, there will be less than two workers in Europe for every retiree, compared to three now.

Meanwhile, the annual public pension bill has reached more than 10% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 17 of the EU's 27 states — all but one of them in Western Europe. In Italy and Greece, pensions cost public finances more than 16% of GDP.

Raising retirement age irks workers

To help address the exorbitant and rising costs, several EU states have tinkered with their public pension systems, including by raising their retirement age. France, for example, faced months of angry protests last year over plans to force older workers to retire at 64, up from the current age of 62.

Other European countries have gone further, including the United Kingdom, which plans to keep people working until 68 from the mid-2040s onward. Women in Britain used to retire 5 to 7 years earlier than men, but a move to equalize the pension age sparked compensation demands for the affected women.

"The Dutch have recently reformed their pension system, but it's not achieving the set goals," Hans van Meerten, a European pension law professor at Utrecht University, told DW. "Also, in Germany, Belgium and many other European countries, I don't see the necessary reforms. They are digging their own graves."

Some EU states are raising retirement ages, so workers will have to wait longer for pensions

Andrey Popov/Depositphotos/IMAGO

Added to the strain on Europe's public finances, millions of people are still not saving enough in private or occupational pensions meant to complement their state pensions. Data from the Eurobarometer last year showed that only 23% of EU residents have an occupational pension scheme and just 19% own a personal pension product. The figures vary hugely between EU states.

A separate survey by the Insurance Europe trade body found that 39% of respondents are not saving for retirement — the figure was even higher among women and workers over 50. Many of those that do are frustrated with their investment outcomes.
Low returns, inflation hurt savers

"Over the past decade, Europe's pension crisis has significantly worsened due to persistently low real returns that have not been sufficient to outpace inflation," Arnaud Houdmont, director of communication at the Brussels-based investors' body Better Finance, told DW. "That has resulted in a substantial loss of purchasing power for savers."

Wealthy country, poor pensioners: Old age poverty in Germany  12:33

Analysis by the Finnish Centre for Pensions found that nominal returns on pensions worldwide averaged 8% last year. But after the decades-high inflation that followed the COVID-19 pandemic was taken into account, the returns were just 2%. Eurozone inflation peaked at 10.6% year on year in October 2022.

Houdmont said high fees, poor asset allocation and a lack of transparency in pension products were also to blame for lower returns.

Slow rollout of portable EU pension

To help address the savings shortfall, in March 2022, the EU introduced the Pan-European Personal Pension Product (PEPP). The scheme allows workers to build up an additional pension, which is fully portable when moving to other EU states. However, only one country — Slovakia — has rolled out the scheme.

"PEPP has been in force for two and a half years," van Meerten said. "But the big investment funds say they don't have the expertise to roll out PEPP products alone and are seeking other partners."

The problem, say some pension experts, is that PEPP is also overcomplicated and restrictive. PEPP is also seen as unwanted competition for investment funds like BlackRock or Fidelity, whose largest clients are large Dutch, Norwegian and German pension funds representing tens of millions of European savers.

The arrival of neobrokers like Trade Republic have helped more Europeans to save

Michael Bihlmayer/Chromorange/picture alliance

Van Meerten is advocating for PEPP to be simplified and more flexible as some EU countries don't give the new pension scheme the same tax advantages as other retirement savings products.

Several industries in EU states — from Germany's chemical and metal sectors to France's national railway operator — have their own occupational pension schemes. Almost 60% of German workers who pay social insurance contributions belong to such plans. These schemes often give savers, especially those with physically demanding jobs, the option of retiring early, among other perks.

Workers demand more pension flexibility

Consumers are demanding more flexibility in their investments and retirement age. The rise of neobrokers like Robinhood, eToro and Germany's Trade Republic, which give users the ability to manage their investments on smartphone apps, has somewhat usurped Europe's many cumbersome and overcomplicated pensions systems.

Traditional finance providers argue that mobile investment apps encourage users to take uninformed and unnecessary risks that could hurt their long-term returns, while advocates say they have made investing simple, cheaper and more transparent.

In the future, more EU governments could allow workers to put some of their state pension savings directly into the stock market, like Sweden, whose private pension funds have collectively negotiated lower fees that have helped retirement funds to grow.

Van Meerten thinks workers would be more motivated to save if they were given more say in how their investments are managed and when they retire.

"Do you want your savings to be green? Do you want to invest in Israel or not? Let the individual decide. Why should social partners or trade unions decide this for you?" he questioned, referring to union-run pension schemes.

Houdmont from Better Finance warned of a day of reckoning in the mid-term due to the "shifting burden" from public to private pension savings, which he said savers weren't ready for.

"There is a good chance that the next generation of Europeans will retire considerably poorer and later than their older peers," he said.

Edited by: Ashutosh Pandey

ANOTHER NATO SUCCESS

Is Libya on the brink of a new civil war?

Cathrin Schaer

DW

August 16, 2024

With two rival governments at either end of the country, ongoing political ruptures and, now, fresh military mobilization, there are fears Libya could be heading toward more violence and fighting.

Forces loyal to the Libyan government in the east were seen moving toward rival territory in the west last week, sparking fears of renewed fighting 

(2022 file photo)Image: Yousef Murad/AP Photo/picture alliance

Over the past week, various international bodies have sent out the alarm.

In a statement, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya said it was monitoring "with concern the recent mobilization of forces in various parts of Libya."

The organization, known as UNSMIL, urged "all parties to exercise maximum restraint and avoid any provocative military actions that could be perceived as offensive."

On Thursday, the Delegation of the European Union to Libya expressed similar concerns. "The use of force would harm stability in Libya and lead to human suffering. It should be avoided at all cost," it said in a statement.

Longtime Libya watchers were more direct, suggesting that, after around four years of relative calm in the country, civil war might be about to break out once again.

The warnings came in response to last week's large mobilization of militias affiliated with one of Libya's two rival administrations.

Since 2014, Libya has been split in two, with opposing governments located in the east and west of the country. A UN-backed administration known as the Government of National Unity, or GNU, is based in Tripoli in the west, and its rival, known as the House of Representatives, is based in the east, in Tobruk.

At various times over the last decade, each government has tried — and failed — to wrest control from the other.

The government in eastern Libya is supported by former warlord-turned-politician Khalifa Haftar, who controls various armed groups in his area. It was Haftar's forces that appeared to be moving toward Tripoli late last week. In 2019, Haftar attacked the city but was eventually forced to sign a cease-fire in 2020.

Haftar said troops under the command of his son, Saddam, were marching in order to secure Libyan borders, to fight drug and human trafficking and to combat terrorism. However, military analysts suspected other plans.

The government in western Libya is headed by Prime Minister Abdul-Hamid Dbeibah, although recent political ruptures have endangered his position

Image: Yousef Murad/AP Photo/picture alliance

Haftar's forces have wanted control of Ghadames airport and its surroundings for some time, Jalel Harchaoui, a North Africa expert with UK-based think tank the Royal United Services Institute, told French newspaper Le Monde. Controlling Ghadames "would significantly enhance his territorial stature in relation to Algeria, Tunisia and Niger," said Harchaoui, and would also block access for the rival GNU.

If Haftar's troops seize Ghadames, it "would officially mark the collapse of the 2020 cease-fire," Tarek Megerisi, a Libya expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations, wrote in a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter).

In response to the troop movements, a range of other militias that support the Tripoli government in the west were told to increase their combat readiness.
Will there be another Libyan civil war?

The day after Haftar's mobilization was sighted, a clash between two militias in Tajoura, on the coastal outskirts of Tripoli, left at least nine dead. However, local media later reported this had been motivated by an assassination attempt on one of the militia leaders.

And this week, the situation in Libya seems to have calmed again. But the danger remains, experts told DW.

Libya has experienced political instability since the end of the 42-year dictatorship headed by Moammar Gadhafi (pictured) in 2011

Image: Abdel Magid Al Fergany/AP Photo/picture alliance

Emadeddin Badi, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council who focuses on Libya, sees Haftar's latest moves as a kind of ongoing "brinkmanship."

"Many of the actors [in Libya] are engaging in this, to see how far they could go in kind of taunting, or sidelining, or undermining their opponents," he said. "A zero-sum mentality still prevails," he added, referring to the fact that opposing factions in Libya believe that one of them must eventually run the country, as opposed to working together for unity.

"Libya continues to unravel quietly, with indications mounting that rival governments are regrouping for something big," Hafed al-Ghwell, executive director of the North Africa Initiative at Johns Hopkins University's Foreign Policy Institute in Washington, wrote in an op-ed for the website Euronews last week. With all of the different militias, Libya is in danger of becoming a "mafia state," he said.

Foreign interference keeping Libya from the brink?

Both Libyan governments are also supported by an array of foreign powers. The government in the west is backed by Turkey; the administration to the east by Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Russia. Previously, the UN and others have pushed for various international backers of the two sides in Libya and their soldiers to leave the country.

There have been regular clashes between militias competing for power since 2020, but the situation has mostly been calmer

Image: AA/picture alliance

However, as Badi explained, their presence is probably preventing further violence in Libya right now. "Ironically, the only thing that has really prevented a relapse into all-out war is foreign influence in the country," Badi told DW. "A balance of forces exists between the Turks and the Russians and others, and there's a loose geopolitical understanding about not engaging in full-scale conflict again."

Attempts to unite the two halves of the country by, for example, holding a national election, unifying security forces, administrative functions or a national budget, or setting up an interim unity government, have come to nothing. In fact, the international community has become accustomed to dealing with two administrations when working with Libya on oil supply or migration issues.

But analysts like Badi, al-Ghwell and Megerisi have all argued that simply accepting the status quo in Libya — where there are two separate governments supported by increasingly mafia-like militias — no longer works.

"Actors [in Libya] have been emboldened through the impunity that they have been afforded by the international community," said Badi.

"Libya has largely been neglected by the international community since 2021 and many have deluded themselves into thinking that Libya could remain stable in the long run, either with this status quo or through facilitating deals between the factions that have carved the country up for themselves. But this policy of pretending that conflict can be contained, is not working," he said.

"And that mirage — that Libya is fine, it's stable — is slowly collapsing right now."

Edited by: Martin Kuebler

Fire contained at historic London arts centre

London (AFP) – Priceless artworks housed in London's Somerset House, including paintings by Van Gogh and Monet, were unaffected by a fire that erupted at the historic building on Saturday, according to the gallery.


Issued on: 17/08/2024 - 

Smoke rises from a fire located in the roof of Somerset House beside the River Thames 

© James RYBACKI / AFP

Around 125 firefighters and 20 engines worked to tamp out the flames that ripped through the roof of the western wing, bringing the blaze at the more than 450-year-old site under control before 7:00 pm (1800 GMT).

"The fire at #SomersetHouse is now under control and investigations into the cause will begin," the London Fire Brigade posted on social media site X.

The neoclassical cultural complex stretching along the Thames River was meant to be hosting a breakdancing competition on Saturday when a column of smoke began wafting above the centre, prompting dozens of calls to the fire department.

"The fire was located in part of the building's roof space," London Fire Brigade's Assistant Commissioner Keeley Foster told reporters from outside the landmark, according to a statement.

"The age and design of the building proved a challenge for crews as they initially responded."

There were no reports of injuries as staff and visitors had left the building by the time fire crews arrived, the brigade added.

Home to Queen Elizabeth I before she was crowned in 1558 and to Anne of Denmark, Somerset House said in a notice on its website that it "will remain closed until further notice".

The landmark cultural complex in the heart of London hosts a range of creative businesses and arts spaces, including the Courtauld Gallery, which counts Vincent van Gogh's "Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear" among the masterpieces in its collection.

"The Courtauld Gallery has not been directly impacted by the fire and it will remain open," the Somerset House statement said.

Footage taken from central London showed thick plumes of smoke rising above the building, which stretches for around 180 metres along the banks of the River Thames.

The courtyard of the grand building hosts music gigs in the summer and a popular ice rink in the winter, appearing in the 2003 film "Love Actually".

It also appeared in the 2008 movie "The Duchess", starring Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes, as well as Tim Burton's 1999 horror movie "Sleepy Hollow" and two James Bond films.

"Crews have been working incredibly hard through the very hot weather and heat of the fire to protect Somerset House from further damage," Assistant Commissioner Foster said.

"Crews will remain on scene into tomorrow, carrying out further operations."

© 2024 AFP

ZIONIST IMPERIALISM DECLARES WAR 

Palestinians say two dead in Israel West Bank drone strike

Nablus (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Palestinian officials said two people were killed in an Israeli air strike in the occupied West Bank on Saturday that the Israeli military said targeted a "terrorist cell" in the Jenin area.

Issued on: 17/08/2024 - 

First responders gather around a car hit by an Israeli drone strike in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin 

© MOHAMMAD MANSOUR / AFP

"Two bodies were transferred to Jenin public hospital after the occupiers (Israeli forces) bombed a car in the centre of the city," the Palestinian health ministry said in a statement.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that the strike was carried out by an "Israeli drone".

The military said in a statement that it had carried out an "air strike on a terrorist cell in the Jenin area".

Video footage posted online showed a vehicle on fire in the middle of a street, while some images showed a crowd around a charred car, trying to open the doors.

"There are dead people in the car," shouts a man as a stretcher is brought by rescue workers.

The Palestinian health ministry said two people were killed in the strike, which the Israeli military said targeted a "terrorist cell"

 © MOHAMMAD MANSOUR / AFP

Since Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, violence has flared in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967 and separated geographically from Gaza by Israeli territory.

Since October 7, at least 635 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli troops or settlers, according to an AFP count based on Palestinian official figures.

During the same period, at least 18 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks, according to Israeli official figures.

Israeli strike on Gaza leaves 18 members of same family dead

Issued on: 17/08/2024 

Video by:|FRANCE 24

An Israeli airstrike Saturday killed at least 18 people, all from the same family, in the Gaza Strip. The attack came days after the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza announced the death toll surpassed 40,000 in the 10-month-old Israel-Hamas war, and just hours after officials from the United States, Egypt and Qatar wrapped up two days of cease-fire talks with a message of hope that a deal could be reached.

Gaza war elevates danger of a polio outbreak

By Mike Heuer

More than 640,000 children in Gaza need two doses of the polio vaccine to prevent an outbreak in the war-torn area, the United Nations says. 

File Photo by Marshall Wolfe/EPA-EFE

Aug. 17 (UPI) -- The war in Gaza has prevented Hamas from vaccinating local children against the disease as displaced Palestinians crowd into tent encampments 10 months after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7.

Wastewater tests in July revealed the existence of the virus that causes polio in Khan Younis and Deir Al-Balah.

One person has tested positive for the disease that the Mayo Clinic said is an illness caused by a virus and primarily affects the nerves in the brain stem and spinal cord.

The World Health Organization said vaccinations eradicated polio in Gaza but the war has created a breeding ground for the virus that causes polio.

Related

Rebuilding Gaza was 'Herculean' task before war; crises will outlive bombing

Gaza cease-fire talks resume as health ministry says 40,000 Palestinians dead

U.S., Egypt, Qatar call on Israel and Hamas to resume cease-fire talks

"The impact on the health system, insecurity, inaccessibility, population displacement and shortages of medical supplies have contributed to reduced immunization rates," the U.N. agencies reported.

"Coupled with poor quality of water and destruction of sanitation, there is a heightened risk of vaccine-preventable diseases, including polio and other outbreaks."

The WHO and UNICEF said the war needs to be paused to effectively vaccinate more than 640,000 children under 10 in Gaza. Each would need two doses of the polio vaccine type 2 to effectively protect children against polio.

Polio can cause partial paralysis and might lead to troubled breathing and death for those afflicted with it, according to the Mayo Clinic.

The United Nations said the vaccinations only could be done when the "safe and sustained access of protection of health workers" is assured.

U.N. agencies say only 16 of Gaza's 36 hospitals are "partially functional" while 48 out of 109 primary healthcare facilities are operational.

Before the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, about 99% of Gazans were vaccinated against polio, but that percentage dropped to less than 90% during the first quarter of 2024, the WHO and UNICEF reported.

Polio cases decreased from 350,000 globally in 1988 to only 12 in 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

Before polio vaccines became available in the 1950s, polio paralyzed more than 15,000 people each year in the United States.

Shock, grief as Israeli Lebanon strike kills 10 Syrians

Wadi al-Kafur (Lebanon) (AFP) – Sobbing relatives thronged Sheikh Ragheb Hospital Saturday after an Israeli air strike killed 10 Syrians, including two children, who had escaped war at home only to die in south Lebanon.


Issued on: 17/08/2024 - 

Relatives mourn over the bodies of four members of one family killed in the air strike © Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP


The early morning strike hit a building in the Wadi al-Kafur area of Nabatieh, killing the 10 including a mother and her two children, Lebanon's health ministry said.

Israel's military said aircraft had struck a Hezbollah weapons storage facility.

At the hospital, relatives and friends of the victims expressed shock and anger at their sudden deaths, with women dressed in black weeping and wailing.

"Two of my sister's children were killed, another is in intensive care, and my other nephew is also in intensive care," said Hussein Al-Hussein, holding back tears as he listed relatives killed or wounded in the strike.

"They were sleeping, they didn't know anything. They were young labourers, and the Israeli air force targeted them."

The civilian toll from the strike was one of the highest in southern Lebanon since Hezbollah and Israel began exchanging near daily cross-border fire during the Gaza war.

The official Lebanese National News Agency reported that the casualties were Syrian refugees and labourers working at the factory that had been hit.

Inspecting the damage after the deadly air strike © Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP

Israel's military, on its Telegram channel, said its air force had struck a Hezbollah weapons storage facility overnight "in the area of Nabatieh", about 12 kilometres (seven miles) from the border with Israel.

Omar al-Shahud, who works in the factory, said he was lucky to escape death because he did not live in the targeted annexe.

"Six of my relatives were killed. They had nothing to do with" the war, he said in an angry voice.

"They were workers who came here to earn a living."
In red shrouds

In a nearby room, crying relatives mourned a family of four: the factory building's concierge, his wife and two children aged four and one and a half, a family member told AFP.

Their bodies were shrouded in red cloth and adorned with flowers.

Lebanon has long heavily relied on Syrians for manual labour, especially in agriculture and construction.

A medic treats a man wounded in the air strike © Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP

Beirut says it currently hosts around two million Syrians -- with almost 785,000 registered with the United Nations.

Earlier in August, the health ministry said four Syrians were killed in an Israeli strike on the south.

The cross-border violence between Lebanon and Israel has killed 581 people in Lebanon, mostly Hezbollah fighters but including at least 128 civilians, according to an AFP tally.

On the Israeli side, including in the annexed Golan Heights, 22 soldiers and 26 civilians have been killed, according to army figures.

At the site of Saturday's strike, concrete rubble, metal wreckage and a few items of children's clothing and shoes was all that was left of the building that was targeted.

Standing beside his bombed-out factory, Hussein Tahmaz insisted the facility was "100 percent civilian".

He pointed to the wreckage of a red truck.

"Here we used to park and load our goods," Tahmaz said.

The building that was hit was an annexe to a two-storey factory warehouse where the concierge, his small family, and workers lived, mayor Khodr Saad told AFP.

"What did these children do to deserve this? They fled their country to escape death, only to find it here," he said.

© 2024 AFP

Israeli strike kills 10 Syrians in southern Lebanon, health ministry says


Issued on: 17/08/2024 


Lebanon's health ministry said an Israeli air strike on Saturday in southern Lebanon killed 10 Syrian civilians, as the Israeli military reported hitting weapons stores of the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement. "The significance of this [attack] is that you're seeing a similar number of civilians and what that lets you know is there’s going to be an escalation and indeed that have been dozens of rockets that have been fired into Israel in the hour since we’ve learnt that news”, FRANCE 24’s Irris Makler said, reporting from Jerusalem.

© 2024 AFP

FINALLY THE TRUTH BE TOLD 

Hamas official dismisses US optimism over ceasefire deal

(AFP) – A senior Hamas official on Saturday dismissed optimistic talk by US President Joe Biden that a Gaza truce is nearer after negotiations in the Gulf emirate of Qatar.


Issued on: 17/08/2024 - 

Palestinians inspect the site of a deadly Israeli strike in Al-Zawaida in the central Gaza Strip © Eyad BABA / AFP


"To say that we are getting close to a deal is an illusion," Hamas political bureau member Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP. "We are not facing a deal or real negotiations, but rather the imposing of American diktats."

He was responding to Biden's comment Friday that "We are closer than we have ever been."

Biden spoke after two days of talks in Qatar where Washington tried to bridge differences between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas which have been at war for more than 10 months in the Gaza Strip.

Previous optimism during months of on-off truce talks has proven unfounded.

But the stakes have risen significantly since the late July killings in quick succession of Fuad Shukr, a top operations chief of Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, and Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh.

Their deaths prompted promises of retaliation from Iran and Hezbollah and fears of a wider Middle East war.

Trying to avert a broader conflict, Western and Arab diplomats have been shuttling around the region to push for a Gaza deal which they say could help avert a wider conflagration.

Children sit in the back of a small vehicle piled high with belongings as their family flees fighting in the Deir el-Balah district of the central Gaza Strip © Eyad BABA / AFP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is headed back to the region this weekend in a bid to help seal a deal.

Hamas officials have objected to "new conditions" from Israel in the latest proposal drawn up by Washington.

Israel's delegation expressed "cautious optimism" about the prospects for an agreement after returning from Doha, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Saturday.

"There is hope that the heavy pressure on Hamas from the United States and mediators will lead to the removal of their opposition to the American proposal, potentially allowing a breakthrough in the negotiations," it said.

In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Britain, France, Germany and Italy urged all parties to "engage positively and flexibly" in the negotiations.

"We underline the importance of avoiding any escalatory action in the region which would undermine the prospect for peace," they added.

"There is too much at stake."

Strikes in Lebanon, Gaza

As efforts towards a truce continued, so did the killing in Gaza and Lebanon.

Lebanon's health ministry said an Israeli air strike in the southern Nabatieh area killed 10 Syrians, including a woman and her two children.

A man inspects the damage after an Israeli strike, which Lebanese authorities said killed 10 Syrian refugees in the Nabatieh area of the south © Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP

The strike was among the deadliest in south Lebanon since the onset of near-daily exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah following the start of the Gaza war.

Israel's military said it struck a Hezbollah weapons storage facility.

In Hamas-run Gaza, the civil defence authority said an Israeli air strike killed 15 people from a single Palestinian family. The deaths in Al-Zawaida helped push the Gaza health ministry's war death toll to 40,074.

"We are in the morgue seeing indescribable scenes of limbs and severed heads and children who are dismembered," said Omar al-Dreemli, a relative.

Israel's military told AFP that overnight its forces had struck "terrorist infrastructure" in central Gaza from which rockets were being fired.

Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike in Al-Zawaida, central Gaza, which the civil defence agency said killed 15 people from a Palestinian family © Eyad BABA / AFP

"Reports were received that as a result of the strike, civilians in an adjacent structure were killed. The incident is under review," it said.

The war has destroyed much of Gaza's housing and healthcare infrastructure, leaving children vulnerable to preventable diseases.

The United Nations appealed Friday for seven-day pauses in the fighting so it could vaccinate children against polio, as the Palestinian health ministry reported Gaza's first polio case in 25 years.

'Bring them home'

Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,198 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Militants also seized 251 hostages, 111 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 39 the military says are dead. More than 100 were freed during a one-week truce in November.

The Israeli military says 332 soldiers have been killed in the Gaza campaign since the ground offensive began on October 27.

In Israel, Blinken will seek to "conclude the agreement for a ceasefire and release of hostages and detainees", the State Department said.

Egyptian, Qatari and US mediators are working to finalise details of a framework agreement initially outlined by Biden in May. He said Israel had proposed it.

Israelis in the northern port city of Haifa demonstrate in support of a deal that will bring Israeli hostages home © AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP

Thousands rallied in Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities on Saturday demanding a deal that would bring home the remaining Gaza hostages.

"We all know there's a real possibility for a deal," said Mor Korngold, hostage Tal Shoham's brother.

"These are crucial hours for my brother, for the hostages, for the soldiers, for those displaced from their homes, for the entire country."

In a joint statement after two days of talks in Qatar, the mediators said they would meet in Cairo "before the end of next week", hoping to seal an agreement.
Gazans on the move again

As truce talks took place, thousands of civilians were on the move again after the Israeli military issued fresh evacuation orders ahead of imminent action in central-southern Gaza.

"During each round of negotiations, they exert pressure by forcing evacuations and committing massacres," said Issa Murad, a Palestinian displaced to Deir el-Balah.

Over the past day, troops expanded operations around Gaza's main southern city of Khan Yunis including by "eliminating" militants who had fired munitions toward Nirim, just outside Gaza, Israel's military said Saturday.

Witnesses told AFP air strikes hit the Hamad residential towers in the city's northwest.

In the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials said two people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a car in the northern city of Jenin that Israel's military said targeted a "terrorist cell".

burs-lb-it/kir/srm

Blinken returns to Israel in Gaza truce push as Hamas rejects US ‘diktats’

By AFP
August 18, 2024


Smoke billows over the Hamad residential towers in Gaza's main southern city of Khan Yunis after an Israeli bombardment on Saturday © Bashar TALEB / AFP


US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due in Israel on Sunday as mediators seek to cement a Gaza ceasefire deal, while a senior Hamas official dismissed “American diktats” in negotiations.

Making his ninth trip to the Middle East since the Gaza war broke out with the Palestinian militant group’s October 7 attack, Blinken is expected to meet Israeli leaders before truce talks resume in Cairo in the coming days.

US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators have said negotiations to clinch a ceasefire in the more than 10-month-old war were making progress, and US President Joe Biden said “we are closer than we have ever been”.

But Hamas political bureau member Sami Abu Zuhri undercut the cautious optimism, telling AFP that signs of progress after two days of talks in Doha were “an illusion”.

“We are not facing a deal or real negotiations, but rather the imposing of American diktats,” he said.

Previous optimism during months of on-off truce talks has proven unfounded.

But the stakes have risen since the late July killings in quick succession of Iran-backed militant leaders, including Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh, and as the humanitarian crisis in the besieged Gaza Strip has deepened with a feared polio outbreak.

After mediators announced they had put forward a “bridging proposal” to close remaining gaps between the warring sides, Hamas said it rejected “new conditions” from Israel and called for a plan outlined by Biden in late May to be implemented.

Before Blinken departed for Tel Aviv on Saturday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office called for “heavy pressure” on Hamas to reach a breakthrough.

The Palestinian group as well as some analysts and Israeli protesters have accused Netanyahu of hamstringing a deal to safeguard his hard-right ruling coalition.

“We have a prime minister that is not so much willing to release the hostages, to finish the war, because he has he own interests,” Yossi, a 53-year-old protester, said as thousands rallied in Tel Aviv demanding a deal to bring home the captives still held in Gaza.


– Strikes in Lebanon, Gaza –


As efforts towards a long-sought truce continued, so has the violence in Gaza but also in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in Lebanon, where Hamas ally Hezbollah has traded near-daily fire with Israeli forces throughout the war.

Lebanon’s health ministry said an Israeli air strike on Saturday in the Nabatieh area killed 10 Syrians, including a woman and her two children, one of the deadliest attacks on south Lebanon since October.

Israel’s military said it struck a Hezbollah weapons storage facility.

In Hamas-run Gaza, the civil defence agency said an Israeli air strike killed 15 people from a single Palestinian family.

“We are in the morgue seeing indescribable scenes of limbs and severed heads and children who are dismembered,” said Omar al-Dreemli, a relative.

The Israeli military told AFP its forces had targeted rocket launchers in central Gaza and that it was looking into “reports… that as a result of the strike, civilians in an adjacent structure were killed”.

The deaths in Al-Zawaida helped push the Gaza health ministry’s war death toll to 40,074.

Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,198 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

The war has destroyed much of Gaza’s housing and healthcare infrastructure, leaving children vulnerable to preventable diseases.

The United Nations appealed Friday for seven-day pauses in the fighting so it could vaccinate children against polio, as the Palestinian health ministry reported Gaza’s first polio case in 25 years.

– ‘Conclude the agreement’ –

Iran and its regional allies have vowed retaliation for Haniyeh’s death in Tehran, an attack which Israel has not claimed responsibility for, and for an Israeli strike in Beirut that killed a top Hezbollah commander.

Western and Arab diplomats have been shuttling around the region to push for a Gaza deal which they see as the best way to avert a wider conflagration following the high-profile killings.

In Israel, Blinken will seek to “conclude the agreement for a ceasefire and release of hostages and detainees”, the State Department said.

The proposed deal, which Biden outlined on May 31 but attributed to Israel, would freeze fighting for an initial six weeks and lead to the release of hostages and prisoners.

During Hamas’s October 7 attack, militants seized 251 hostages, 111 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 39 the military says are dead. More than 100 were freed during a one-week truce in November.

In Gaza, civilians have been on the move again after the Israeli military issued fresh evacuation orders.

“During each round of negotiations, they exert pressure by forcing evacuations and committing massacres,” said Issa Murad, a Palestinian displaced to cental Gaza’s Deir al-Balah.

Israeli troops have also expanded operations around Gaza’s main southern city of Khan Yunis, Israel’s military said Saturday.

In the West Bank, Israel said late Saturday it had killed “two senior Hamas officials” in Jenin.

Hamas’s armed wing confirmed the deaths of Ahmad Abu Ara and Raafat Dawasi, saying they had been responsible “for planning and executing several qualitative operations”.

burs-lb/ami