KARMA IS A BITCH

War crimes tribunal set up by ex-Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina initiates probe against her into ‘mass murder’ charges

By HT News Desk
Aug 20, 2024

International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), established by Sheikh Hasina in 2010, investigates atrocities from the country's liberation war against Pakistan.


A tribunal established by ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to investigate war crimes in Bangladesh has initiated three probes into alleged mass murder charges against her, AFP reported on Monday.

Former Bangladesh premier Sheikh Hasina (File Photo)



More than 450 people were killed many by police fire during a month of student-led protests against Hasina's 15-year rule. She stepped down as prime minister and fled to India on August 5.
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According to the tribunal's investigator, these investigations centre on the unrest that prompted Hasina's departure from the country.

Ataur Rahman, deputy director of the tribunal's investigation cell said that they were collecting preliminary evidence at this stage and added that the cases were related to “mass murder.”

He said that all three cases were initiated by private individuals and several of Hasina's former top aides have also been named.

The cases involve violence in areas surrounding the capital Dhaka, including Mirpur, Munshiganj and Savar.

Local police units nationwide have filed at least 15 cases against Hasina, according to local media reports. Some of these cases predate the recent unrest and include charges of murder and "crimes against humanity.

Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), established by Hasina in 2010, investigates atrocities from the country's liberation war against Pakistan. Under Hasina's leadership, the ICT has sentenced over 100 individuals to death, including several political opponents.

The ICT has faced criticism from rights groups for not adhering to international conventions. Hasina's government has been accused of widespread human rights abuses, including the extrajudicial killing of thousands of political opponents.

On Friday, the United Nations reported strong indications that Bangladeshi security forces used excessive force in responding to the student-led uprising.

“There are strong indications, warranting further independent investigation, that the security forces used unnecessary and disproportionate force in their response,” the UN human rights office stated in a preliminary report.

The report also highlighted alleged violations, including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and detentions, enforced disappearances, torture, and ill-treatment.

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PA chief 'Mahmoud Abbas' to visit Gaza after 17 years

TEHRAN, Aug. 19 (MNA) – Head of the Palestinian Authority (PA) Mahmoud Abbas wants to visit Gaza Strip after 17 years following the movements and contacts in the regional and international levels.

"Preparations are taking place for the Palestinian Authority head’s planned visit to Gaza [...] Palestinian officials are communicating with countries to get their support.”

Palestinian news agency “WAFA” on Sunday reported that Head of the Palestinian Authority (PA) Mahmoud Abbas has started his visit to the besieged Gaza Strip.

The visit of Mahmoud Abbas and members of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza Strip is done with the aim of accompanying the Palestinians in Gaza who are exposed to a "genocidal" war, the report added.

MNA

Palestinian authority requests Israeli permission for Mahmoud Abbas's visit to Gaza

2024-08-19 10:04

Shafaq News/ On Monday, the Palestinian Authority sent a letter to the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday, requesting permission for President Mahmoud Abbas to visit Gaza.

According to Axios correspondent Barak Ravid, citing Israeli officials, Netanyahu will need to decide whether to approve Abbas's visit to Gaza.

The Palestinian Authority announced, on Sunday, that it has been making international contacts and preparations for Abbas and other Palestinian leaders to visit the Gaza Strip. This visit aims to show solidarity with the people of Gaza, who have been enduring ongoing Israeli military actions for over 10 months, and to reaffirm the Palestinian Liberation Organization's (PLO) authority and responsibility, as well as to work towards restoring national unity, as reported by the Palestinian news agency WAFA.

WAFA reported that the Palestinian Authority is coordinating with the United Nations, permanent members of the Security Council, Arab and Islamic countries, the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the European Union, and the African Union to ensure the success of this initiative and to provide support and participation where possible. Israel has also been notified of this plan.

In a speech before the Turkish Parliament last Thursday, Abbas announced his intention to visit Gaza along with all members of the Palestinian leadership, calling for secure access to the region.

 

Netanyahu's cabinet should be tried for genocide in Gaza

TEHRAN, Aug. 19 (MNA) – The Turkish Foreign Ministry called for an international tribunal for the Zionist regime's cabinet for the continuation of the genocidal war in Gaza.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry announced in a statement on Monday that the Zionist regime martyred more than 40,000 Palestinians (in the Gaza Strip) and still continues to commit heinous crimes against humanity and massacre the rescuers and aid workers.

Netanyahu's cabinet should be held to account for its crimes in the Gaza Strip as soon as possible, the statement further read.

Over the past 10 month since the Israeli onslaught on Gaza Strip began, nearly 40,100 people, mostly women and children, have been killed and over 92,500 have been injured, according to local health authorities.

Based on the announcement of the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, 40,139 Palestinian people have been martyred in the Zionist regime’s attacks on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023.

Also, the Palestinian medical body stated that the total number of the wounded in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the war has reached 92,743 people.

More than 10 months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

MA/6201044

CPJ, 44 groups urge UK judge to quit after upholding Jimmy Lai’s conviction

 Media publisher Jimmy Lai poses next to dry runs of a soon-to-be-launched Taiwanese newspaper taped to his office wall on April 7, 2003, in Taipei. (Photo: AP/Jerome Favre)

Letters

August 19, 2024 

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British judge David Neuberger, who was part of a Hong Kong court panel that denied an appeal from media publisher Jimmy Lai and six pro-democracy campaigners, should “do the right thing and reconsider” his position in the Chinese-ruled city, the Committee to Protect Journalists and 44 groups said in a Monday letter.

The letter said Neuberger’s role in the Hong Kong ruling, as a non-permanent overseas judge on Hong Kong’s top court, contradicts his previous efforts in advocating free speech and press freedom. Neuberger’s continued involvement would be, in effect, “sponsoring a systematic repression of human rights against peaceful activists and journalists in the city.”

Neuberger, a former head of Britain’s Supreme Court, resigned as chair of an advisory panel to the Media Freedom Coalition on August 14, two days after the conviction of Lai and six pro-democracy campaigners was upheld. Lai has been behind bars since December 2020.

The MFC is a group of 50 countries that pledge to promote press freedom at home and abroad. CPJ is a longstanding member of the MFC’s consultative network of nongovernmental organizations.

Read the joint statement here.

Burundi: RSF relieved by the release of Radio Igicaniro journalist Floriane Irangabiye

Organisation:
RSF_en

After nearly two years in prison, Floriane Irangabiye is about to be released. Pardoned by Burundi's President on 14 August, the journalist was serving a 10-year prison sentence for ‘undermining the integrity of national territory’. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) welcomes her release, but points out that Floriane Irangabiye should never have been arrested and locked up for doing her job as a journalist.

This is a huge relief in Burundi and for journalists around the world. Floriane Irangabiye, host of the radio station Igicaniro, has been granted full remission of the sentences handed down against her, according to a presidential decree signed on 14 August. She had been sentenced in January 2023 to 10 years‘ imprisonment for ‘undermining the integrity of national territory’. RSF has repeatedly denounced this harsh and arbitrary decision, based on spurious charges.

“Our joy is inexpressible”, Floriane Irangabiye's sister told RSF. The female journalist has been living in Rwanda since 2015. A reputed critic of the Burundian authorities, she was arrested on 30 August 2022 by the intelligence services while visiting the country.

We are relieved, as are all the journalists and press freedom activists who stood up on her behalf, to know that Floriane Irangabiye, who was serving a 10-year prison sentence for doing her job, will soon be able to see her family and loved ones again, and plan to resume her work. Floriane should never have been arrested or spent nearly two years behind bars. We reiterate our call to the authorities in Burundi, to protect press freedom and ensure that journalists can freely carry out their work without fear of reprisals. Another woman journalist is still in prison: Sandra Muhoza, who is facing life imprisonment, must now also be released and the charges against her dropped.

Sadibou Marong
Director of RSF's Sub-Saharan Africa office
Sandra Muhoza, a journalist with the online media La Nova Burundi, was arrested on 13 April and was remanded in custody five days later. She faces life imprisonment after sharing information implicating government figures. RSF continues to call for her release and for the charges against her to be dropped. While Floriane Irangabiye's release is a positive sign for press freedom, RSF has documented an increase in attacks and intimidation against journalists in recent months.

What is microdosing? An introduction to the psychedelic wellness trend and why it’s so popular

Microdosing with drugs like psilocybin has become so popular that advocates want to bring it above ground

A jar of freeze-dried Jack Frost mushrooms at the combined booth of Fruity Spores and Sacred Three Mushrooms during the inaugural Shroom Fest Sunday, June 9, 2024 at ReelWorks Denver. (Photo by Daniel Brenner/Special to The Denver Post)

By Tiney Ricciardi | cricciardi@denverpost.com | The Denver Post
UPDATED: August 19, 2024 

In late 2023, Crystal Peterson was feeling desperate.

The 44-year-old Cortez resident had long suffered from panic attacks that awoke her in the middle of the night. As the nights grew longer with the onset of winter, her mental anguish worsened.

Peterson had tried taking medication to help her sleep. She also experimented with mindfulness techniques like meditation and yoga. She even tried equine therapy, exercising more and changing her diet – nothing alleviated the feelings of overwhelm and distress.

Last December, Peterson decided to try microdosing psychedelic mushrooms after attending an informational session about the practice. She began working with a coach to determine a regimen that suited her needs, and within days, Peterson said she noticed improvement.

“The mushrooms helped me compartmentalize my stresses,” she said. “The things that are usually overwhelming and, ‘Oh my god!’ in my head are like, ‘No, you got this. We’re going to do this one step at a time.’ … I’ve really, really liked having less stress.”

As research into psychedelics has expanded, many Americans have turned to microdosing as a holistic alternative to improve their mental health. The practice involves taking a small dose of psychedelics as a supplement to enhance mood and cognitive function. While there’s limited scientific data to support how well – or if – microdosing works, anecdotal reports like Peterson’s number in the tens of thousands of people who say it’s helped them manage a wide variety of conditions, from chronic pain to creativity.

Psilocybin, one of the most commonly used drugs for microdosing, is now decriminalized in Colorado, though it remains a federally scheduled substance. Fueled by their personal experiences, advocates aim to bring microdosing above ground and make it more accessible. That includes one biotechnology company in Colorado that’s developing a full-spectrum psilocybin formula it hopes to put through clinical trials and get approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (The company, AJNA BioSciences, has a license from the Drug Enforcement Administration to conduct research.)

“When it’s used correctly with the right education and support, it can have a massive impact in people’s lives,” said Alli Schaper, co-founder of the advocacy organization Microdosing Collective. “We estimate there’s thousands of illicit market brands shipping microdosing supplements across the U.S. We might as well legalize it and make it safer.”

Displays illustrating psychedelic mushrooms are seen at the MAPS conference at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver on June 21, 2023. MAPS stands for Multidisciplinary Association For Psychedelic Studies.

 (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)

Guidelines for getting started

Because microdosing isn’t standardized like traditional medicine, there are few hard and fast rules about how to do it. Over time, however, the underground community has developed general guidelines.

For example, a microdose is supposed to be “sub-perceptual,” meaning an amount small enough that the drug does not cause a trip or significant impairment. Most say the sweet spot is between .1 and .4 grams of dried psilocybin mushrooms. But exactly how much requires personal experimentation since no two mushrooms are identical and each individual’s sensitivity to the substance is unique.

People often grind up dried mushrooms and put them in capsules for consumption, and sometimes they add non-psychoactive fungi like lion’s mane or reishi. There is an abundance of illegal microdosing products available to buy online, but because they are unregulated it’s impossible to know if the dosages and ingredients are as advertised without lab testing.

A widely cited rule of thumb: Start low and go slow.

Jayme Ely, a microdosing mentor based near Telluride, advises trying your first dose on a day with few or no obligations. Start at the low end of the spectrum – somewhere around .1 or .2 grams of mushrooms – to get a baseline understanding of the effects.

“Do it on Sunday when you’re just at home, see if you feel anything,” Ely suggested. “With microdosing you don’t feel anything. The effects are so subtle you don’t even notice it.”

If you want to up the dosage, do so incrementally, Ely said, or you could become nauseous or experience a mild trip, which are both common effects of ingesting psilocybin. The goal is to find a threshold, but not cross it to the point of hallucinating or impairment.

“If you take a microdose and you find you’re going through your day and everything is wonderful, fine. Drive yourself to work the next day, or lunch or whatever. If you go beyond the recommendations, you might have some experiences… like not feeling in control or not feeling comfortable, feeling nauseous or out of my zone a little bit,” she said.

After determining a dosage, it’s time to decide how often to microdose. Regimens vary widely, though once again there are some templates.

Famed mycologist Paul Stamets has advocated for microdosing four days in a row and then abstaining for the rest of the week. The Fadiman Protocol, named for researcher James Fadiman, calls for microdosing once every three days. Still, some people do it every other day or even just as needed.

For those just starting out, Ely recommends following Stamets’ schedule – four days on, three days off – to set a baseline.

“I always tell people, stick with the four days, even if you think you’re healed and the world has changed the next day. Stay consistent for four days at least,” she said.
Surge in popularity

Even though psilocybin was decriminalized in Colorado in 2022, there are no prescription formulas approved by the FDA that doctors can prescribe to patients who want to try microdosing. Complicating matters further is the fact psilocybin remains a federally scheduled substance alongside LSD or acid, another popular microdosing drug.

Without guidance from healthcare professionals, people have turned to online communities to fill in the information gaps. According to a recent study, internet searches for microdosing have skyrocketed by 1,240% since 2015. About 275,000 people share and seek advice about it in the /microdosing subreddit.

Tracey Tee, founder of Moms on Mushrooms, in the woods near her home in Franktown, Colorado on July 16, 2024. Moms on Mushrooms is a virtual community where women can go to learn about microdosing with psychedelics and connect over their experiences as parents. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)

Coloradan Tracey Tee recognized the need for a safe space where women could learn about microdosing and connect over their shared experiences as parents. In 2022, she founded a virtual group called Moms on Mushrooms, which has grown to about 3,000 members. Tee said the popularity of microdosing reflects the need for alternative avenues to address mental health in an increasingly stressful world.

“Moms feel all of that, not only for themselves but also the humans they’re raising,” she said. “We’ve reached a point where we need a reset and I think a lot of people are discovering taking more and more pills passively over any number of years isn’t solving the problem.”

To that end, Tee said microdosing is unlike conventional medicine: “It’s not Advil, you don’t swallow it back and wait for it to change your life.”

It often requires introspection, reflection and a commitment to working through challenges that may arise, a process commonly called “integration.” For Montrose mom Bri Taylor, that included a lifestyle change. She stopped drinking alcohol and said microdosing makes her a more present parent for her two young sons.

For Monique Alvarez in Cortez, many of the benefits appeared in retrospect. After several months of microdosing consistently, she said she was able to tap into new sources of creativity.

“It’s easier to access better ideas, better solutions, and more innovative ideas. I’m able to see things from different perspectives. The dots are connecting in ways they haven’t before,” Alvarez said.
Up from the underground

Given the interest in microdosing, advocates see one important issue that still needs to be addressed: access.

When Colorado rolls out a legal industry around psychedelic therapy in 2025, microdosing won’t fit into that model, which focuses on giving people large quantities of psilocybin mushrooms for a guided trip. So right now and for the foreseeable future, the only legal ways to source microdoses are to grow your own mushrooms or find someone willing to share their stash.

Sharing and gifting have become more commonplace in Colorado since certain psychedelics were decriminalized. Ely, for example, frequently hosts informational sessions for small groups and sends attendees home with complimentary microdosing starter kits. She grows the mushrooms and makes microdosing capsules herself under the moniker Love On Telluride. She also offers mentorship to people who want it throughout their microdosing practice.

Denver was a leader in 2019 when the city effectively decriminalized “magic mushrooms,” inspiring a wave of similar efforts around the country. Oregon and Colorado are the only states to legalize psychedelic-assisted therapy so far, though several others are considering following suit.

As legalization has become a political talking point, Schaper at Microdosing Collective said regulators often fail to recognize the full scope of psychedelics’ potential by focusing on healing through large, so-called “macro-doses,” which have also attracted the bulk of research.

The organization, launched in 2022, is now concentrated on finding a way to offer more Americans safe access to microdosing. It’s starting in California, where lawmakers have attempted – and so far failed – multiple times to approve regulated psychedelic-assisted therapy programs.

Schaper said while models like those in Oregon and Colorado represent important progress, they are cost-prohibitive and do not reflect how Americans currently use or want to use psychedelics. The Microdosing Collective recently hired a lobbyist intent on educating policymakers in hopes one day anyone can buy microdoses like they would any other supplement.

“There’s a huge opportunity to help people with their mental health with microdosing psychedelics and making sure it’s not trapped in big pharma and also not trapped at the service centers,” she said.

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Originally Published: August 19, 2024 

 Open trade between regime and rebel areas in Syria hints at warming Assad-Erdogan ties

ANTI-PKK/YJP ALLIANCE

A mortar bomb attack disrupted flow of goods at a crossing in the dividend Aleppo governorate

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Khaled Yacoub Oweis

Amman

19 August, 2024

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Fruit and canned goods flowed between areas held by the Turkish-backed Syrian opposition and territories under the authority of Damascus on Monday, a freight company manager said, a month after the crossing was closed.

The reopening of the Abu Al Zanadin crossing indicated commercial exchange between the two sides has resumed after anger at Ankara's moves towards rapprochement with Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.

Sources close to Ankara said the passing of goods between the rebel-held city of Al Bab and the provincial capital of Aleppo in northern Syria was helped by a Russian-supervised drive to end hostilities between Ankara and Damascus.

But hours after the first shipments started moving through the crossing, mortar rounds hit the opposition side of the border, forcing a halt to the lorries. Turkish proxies formed a security cordon around the crossing, the manager said by phone from the area. The perpetrators might have been Turkish allies opposed to the detente or "simply smugglers set to lose money from the opening of the crossing", he said.

There were no reported casualties and no one claimed responsibility for the attack.

Smuggling has been rife throughout the Syrian civil war but this was the first time an exchange took place in the open, with Syrian officials on duty on the other side.

The detente became a Russian objective shortly after Moscow intervened in the Syrian civil war in late 2015, restoring large parts of the country to regime control but falling short of overrunning a Turkish zone in the north-west, as well as a US zone in the north-east.

Earlier this year, Turkey instructed its opposition allies to set up the crossing, in co-operation with troops and the pro-Assad paramilitary units that control the other side, opposition figures in Istanbul said.

The crossing opened in late June but the flow of goods lasted for only a few days before crowds stormed the area, angry at the possibility of Turkey and the Syrian government mending ties.

On Monday, several lorries had managed to pass through before the mortar attack, according to the manager, who had sent a shipment of canned goods made by factories in the Al Bab area – part of the Turkish zone just inside Syria.

Fruit from regime areas also came into rebel-held territory, he said.

“Regime areas are hungry for cheap, decent-quality goods,” he said. He also revealed he has been in talks with Turkish exporters to ship manufactured goods from inside Turkey through the crossing.

In the last decade of the Syrian civil war, the country has fragmented into zones supervised separately by Turkey, Iran and Russia, as well as the US. In turn, Ankara, Moscow and Tehran have been increasing co-operation in efforts to end American presence.

The US area, which is mainly in the north-east, comprises the centre of Syria's oil and wheat production. It is administered by Kurdish militias who are perceived as a threat by both Damascus and Ankara.

In 2015, Turkey created a network of Syrian proxy forces which it employed to help its troops overrun areas in north-western Syria that had been captured by the Kurdish militias, without advancing into the oil and gas producing areas.

But a perceived weakening of the US's influence in Syria, as well as strong ties between Ankara and Moscow, have given an impetus to Mr Erdogan to seek accommodation with Mr Assad.

Ties between the two presidents deteriorated after Syrian authorities used force to suppress the 2011 revolt against the President. The crackdown killed mainly Sunni civilians, prompting the emergence of an armed Sunni movement, which Turkey supported.

Mr Erdogan was widely seen as championing the cause of Syria’s Sunnis against the Alawite dominated ruling system but he began taking a pro-Russian line in 2015.

The Russian drive appeared to have suffered a setback when Mr Assad announced last month that he would meet Mr Erdogan only if they were to focus on what he called Ankara's support for terrorism and the withdrawal of Turkish forces.

But an opposition figure in contact with Turkish officials said Damascus is adopting a maximalist position.

Syrian and Turkish security officials met this month at the behest of Russia to smooth the way for a meeting between the two presidents, he said.

“The crossing shows how strongly the Russians are pushing the Turks.," the opposition figure said. "Assad and Erdogan are expected to meet soon."

German pharmaceutical industry  warns of possible drug shortages  from China

Copyright Virginia Mayo/Copyright 2020 

The AP. All rights reserved

By Tamsin Paternoster

Published on 19/08/2024 -

Several German states have suspended trips by their quality-control inspectors to Chinese pharmaceutical companies over tightened espionage laws.

The German pharmaceutical industry has warning of possible drug shortages after China tightened its espionage laws.

Four out of Germany's 16 states have now cancelled routine quality control trips to China by their inspectors as they're concerned they could fall foul of the law.

The states say they can no longer guarantee the safety of their inspectors on visits to Chinese pharmaceutical factories.

"Some active ingredient certificates have already expired or are threatening to expire in the next few months, which will lead to a standstill in the supply chain for various drugs," the German Pharmaceutical Industry Association warned in an article in Germany's Pharmaceutical Newspaper.

Europe imports a high number of active pharmaceutical ingredients and antibiotics from China, which is one of the world's largest suppliers.

In Germany, almost 90 percent of all antibiotics come from China, according to the German Pharmaceutical Industry Association (BPI).

All drugs made in China must meet EU quality control standards, and European inspectors have to issue certificates to confirm that the manufacturing process meets EU standards.

"No one can afford additional drug shortages," BPI spokesman Andreas Aumann told Pharmaceutical Newspaper.

The decision to cancel trips by auditors has been supported by the German pharmaceutical industry.

"They go into the companies and look around, they take notes, they collect data and they are simply afraid of reprisals or, in the worst case, of arrests if they travel there and inspect the factories," Dorothee Brakmann, CEO of the country's largest pharmaceutical associations Pharma Germany, told German broadcaster Tagesschau.

The BPI has appealed to the German government for confirmation that China's anti-espionage law would not impact the work of German pharmaceutical auditors.

But Germany's Ministry of Health has minimised concerns for inspectors on behalf of the pharmaceutical industry, saying that even before the espionage law was tightened there had always been an element of risk due to the "unpredictable actions" of the Chinese authorities.

"The Federal Ministry of Health is in close contact with the Foreign Office and the states in order to minimise possible concerns and risks in future inspection trips," said a spokeswoman for the BMG" the Pharmaceutical Newspaper reported.

Beijing downplays risk

China has also downplayed the pharmaceutical industry's fears, insisting that the law only targets a handful of espionage activities and won't interfere with normal business activities.

"As long as the relevant companies and personnel can act in accordance with the law, there is nothing to worry about,” Mao Ning, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said.

First introduced in 2014, China's anti-espionage bill intends to "prevent, frustrate and punish" acts of espionage, giving the country a broad mandate to crack down on activities perceived to be a threat to China's national interests.

Changes to the law enacted last year included a ban on the transfer of information related to national security.

Additional changes in February broadened the scope of the law to include "work secrets", a vague term that may not relate to state secrets but could still cause "adverse effects" if revealed.

Several foreign business organisations have called for greater clarity over Beijing's revisions to the law, particularly on what data is safe for foreign businesses to collect.

In 2023, a senior employee of a Japanese pharmaceutical manufacturer Astellas Pharma was arrested in China on charges of espionage.

Al Jazeera Digital wins top Edward R Murrow Awards for Gaza war coverage

The Al Jazeera English website wins in the breaking news coverage, excellence in video and hard news categories.

The recognition of Al Jazeera's coverage of the Gaza war came as the number of deaths of Palestinians in the enclave surpassed the grim milestone of 40,000 [Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP]

Published On 19 Aug 2024

The Al Jazeera English website has won several Edward R Murrow Awards, bestowed by the Radio Television Digital News Association in the United States and recognising its extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza.

The website won the top prize in the breaking news category for its coverage of the conflict, which has killed more than 40,000 people, many of them women and children.

It also received two honours for its documentary One Day in Gaza – Close Up in the categories of excellence in video and hard news.

The film is a compilation of videos by 10 people in Gaza asked to record moments throughout their day, helping viewers understand the hardships and constant danger faced by Palestinians in the strip.

“I am deeply proud of how hard our teams have worked to deliver accurate coverage of the war in Gaza and shift the global conversation around one of the most devastating conflicts of the modern century,” said Soraya Salam, manager of the website.

“This would not be possible without the bravery of our reporters on the ground, and the more than 160 fellow journalists who have been killed by Israeli forces while simply doing their jobs.”




Additionally, AJ+ English won an award in the news series category for It’s Bisan from Gaza.

Owda and AJ+ also won a Peabody Award for their work in Gaza in May.

Moeed Ahmed, manager of AJ+ English, said the recognition “reaffirms our commitment to professional journalism”.

“Despite constant threats and attempts to silence our journalists, we remain dedicated to telling the stories that matter and shedding light on the human cost of war.”

Several Al Jazeera correspondents have been killed by Israeli forces since the war began.

They include Al Jazeera Arabic journalist Ismail al-Ghoul and his cameraman Rami al-Rifi, who were killed in an Israeli strike on the Shati refugee camp in Gaza City on July 31, and Al Jazeera Arabic journalist Samer Abudaqa, who was killed in an Israeli strike on Khan Younis in December.

Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief, Wael Dahdouh, was also wounded in that attack, and his wife, son, daughter and grandson were killed in an Israeli air raid on the Nuseirat refugee camp in October. Dahdouh’s son Hamza, also an Al Jazeera journalist, was targeted and killed by an Israeli missile strike in Khan Younis in January.

Al Jazeera Media Network has condemned those attacks as part of a “systematic targeting campaign against the network’s journalists and their families”.

The Gaza war has been the deadliest in modern history for journalists.

Keep reading

Al Jazeera Digital wins three Edward R Murrow Awards

Bisan Owda and AJ+ win Peabody Award for Gaza war coverage

Al Jazeera Digital scoops up nine Shorty Awards

Source: Al Jazeera