ReportWire

Tag: Middle East

  • Trafficking in the Sahel: Killer cough syrup and fake medicine

    Trafficking in the Sahel: Killer cough syrup and fake medicine

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    This feature, which focuses on the illegal trade in substandard and fake medicines, is part of a UN News series exploring the fight against trafficking in the Sahel.

    From ineffective hand sanitizer to fake antimalarial pills, an illicit trade that grew during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 is being meticulously dismantled by the UN and partner countries in Africa’s Sahel region.

    Substandard or fake medicines, like contraband baby cough syrup, are killing almost half a million sub-Saharan Africans every year, according to a threat assessment report from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

    The report explains how nations in the Sahel, a 6,000-kilometre-wide swath stretching from the Red Sea to the Atlantic, which is home to 300 million people, are joining forces to stop fake medicines at their borders and hold the perpetrators accountable.

    This fight is taking place as Sahelians face unprecedented strife: more than 2.9 million people have been displaced by conflict and violence, with armed groups launching attacks that have already shuttered 11,000 schools and 7,000 health centres.

    Deadly supply meets desperate demand

    Health care is scarce in the region, which has among the world’s highest incidence of malaria and where infectious diseases are one of the leading causes of death.

    “This disparity between the supply of and demand for medical care is at least partly filled by medicines supplied from the illegal market to treat self-diagnosed diseases or symptoms,” the report says, explaining that street markets and unauthorized sellers, especially in rural or conflict-affected areas, are sometimes the only sources of medicines and pharmaceutical products.

    Fake treatments with fatal results

    The study shows that the cost of the illegal medicine trade is high, in terms of health care and human lives.

    Fake or substandard antimalarial medicines kill as many as 267,000 sub-Saharan Africans every year. Nearly 170,000 sub-Saharan African children die every year from unauthorized antibiotics used to treat severe pneumonia.

    Caring for people who have used falsified or substandard medical products for malaria treatment in sub-Saharan Africa costs up to $44.7 million every year, according to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates.

    Motley trafficking

    Corruption is one of the main reasons that the trade is allowed to flourish.

    About 40 per cent of substandard and falsified medical products reported in Sahelian countries between 2013 and 2021 land in the regulated supply chain, the report showed. Products diverted from the legal supply chain typically come from such exporting nations as Belgium, China, France, and India. Some end up on pharmacy shelves.

    The perpetrators are employees of pharmaceutical companies, public officials, law enforcement officers, health agency workers and street vendors, all motivated by potential financial gain, the report found.

    Traffickers are finding ever more sophisticated routes, from working with pharmacists to taking their crimes online, according to a UNODC research brief on the issue.

    While terrorist groups and non-State armed groups are commonly associated with trafficking in medical products in the Sahel, this mainly revolves around consuming medicines or levying “taxes” on shipments in areas under their control.

    Snip supply, meet demand

    Efforts are under way to adopt a regional approach to the problem, involving every nation in the region. For example, all Sahel countries except Mauritania have ratified a treaty to establish an African medicines agency, and the African Medicines Regulatory Harmonization initiative, launched by the African Union in 2009, aims at improving access to safe, affordable medicine.

    All the Sahel countries have legal provisions in place relating to trafficking in medical products, but some laws are outdated, UNODC findings showed. The agency recommended, among other things, revised legislation alongside enhanced coordination among stakeholders.

    © UNODC

    Custom and law enforcement officers prevent huge quantities of contraband from entering the markets of destination countries.

    States taking action

    Law enforcement and judicial efforts that safeguard the legal supply chain should be a priority, said UNODC, pointing to the seizure of some 605 tonnes of fake medicines between 2017 to 2021 by authorities in the region.

    Operation Pangea, for example, coordinated by UN partner INTERPOL in 90 countries, targeted online sales of pharmaceutical products. Results saw seizures of unauthorized antivirals rise by 18 per cent and unauthorized chloroquine, to treat malaria, by 100 per cent.

    “Transnational organized crime groups take advantage of gaps in national regulation and oversight to peddle substandard and falsified medical products,” UNODC Executive Director Ghada Waly said. “We need to help countries increase cooperation to close gaps, build law enforcement and criminal justice capacity, and drive public awareness to keep people safe.”

    Following the death of 70 children in The Gambia in 2022, the World Health Organization identified four contaminated paediatric medicines in the West African nation.

    © WHO

    Following the death of 70 children in The Gambia in 2022, the World Health Organization identified four contaminated paediatric medicines in the West African nation.

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  • How will defunct ‘kingmaker’ alliance affect Turkey’s election?

    How will defunct ‘kingmaker’ alliance affect Turkey’s election?

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    The first round of Turkey’s key presidential elections saw a third nationalist candidate and his alliance potentially emerge as a determining force on the fate of the run-off vote that takes place on Sunday.

    In the May 14 polls, incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdogan scored 49.5 percent of the ballots, while the candidate of the main opposition alliance, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, acquired 44.8 percent.

    The third candidate, Sinan Ogan, who was a not familiar figure to the Turkish public before the polls, took 5.2 percent in the election with the backing of the newly established ultranationalist ATA Alliance led by the Victory Party of Umit Ozdag, a seasoned far-right politician. The alliance secured 2.4 percent of the votes in the May 14 parliamentary election.

    With such an outcome, the nationalist nominee and the alliance emerged as possible kingmakers in the aftermath of the first round – until their recent fallout, that is.

    Analysts say some of their votes came from the backers of a fourth candidate, Muharrem Ince, who withdrew from the race days before the first round, as well as some younger people who dislike both Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu.

    Mesut Yegen, a professor of sociology at Istanbul’s Sehir University, said there is a voter bloc that wants to see neither main contender as president and is unimpressed with the mainstream political parties in Turkey today.

    “Many of them have secular sensitivities and, therefore, they are against the religion-based conservative politics Erdogan and his People’s Alliance pursue,” Yegen told Al Jazeera.

    He added this group is also disturbed by the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party’s support for Kilicdaroglu and cooperation between the two sides.

    Ogan, an academic of international relations, entered parliament in 2011 with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) – the closest ally of Erdogan and his party today – before launching an unsuccessful bid for its leadership in 2015, after which he was expelled.

    He had been away from politics since then until he was named a presidential candidate through a deal he reached with Ozdag.

    Meanwhile, Ozdag, a professor of international relations, is a former deputy leader of the MHP who later took the same position in the IYI Party, which is in Kilicdaroglu’s alliance, before being expelled and establishing the Victory Party in 2021.

    The party has grown public support using ultranationalist rhetoric in a country hit hard by its worst economic crisis in decades, and embracing anti-refugee sentiment rapidly spreading among struggling Turks.

    Ultranationalist platform

    According to Etyen Mahcupyan, a political analyst and writer, Ogan was without a significant voter base before the polls, and if he did not agree with Ozdag on his candidacy, the latter would have found another contender to side with.

    “The name of Ogan might mean something only to people in narrow nationalistic political and academic circles, but Ozdag and the Victory Party have actually established a voter base,” Mahcupyan told Al Jazeera.

    Ogan and Ozdag’s election campaign platform was strongly opposed to Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AK Party).

    Their agenda revolved around a promise to send millions of refugees in the country back to their homelands and used harsh language towards “terror” groups – as well as, what they allege, are corruption and nepotism in the government.

    However, in an unexpected twist on May 22, Ogan endorsed Erdogan in the run-off vote, which led to the end of the ATA Alliance the same day.

    Ogan told a televised news conference that “stability” played a large role in making his decision, noting Erdogan’s alliance secured a parliamentary majority in the polls on May 14. The politician did not reveal any possible promises made by Erdogan for siding with him.

    “It is important for stability of the country that the majority of the parliament and the president are from the same alliance,” Ogan said, asking people who voted for him to support the incumbent in the second round.

    Ozdag disagreed and said Ogan’s stance was his own. Two days later, Ozdag threw his weight behind Kilicdaroglu in a joint press conference after the two politicians signed a memorandum of understanding.

    The deal includes strong statements on the repatriation of refugees in Turkey within a year, the fight against corruption, nepotism and “terror”, as well as protection of the unitary nature of the Turkish state.

    Different paths

    Mahcupyan said the ATA Alliance, which existed a mere two months, could have played a key role in the vote but individual agendas led to its downfall.

    “Ogan looks like he thought about his own individual career without worrying about any future voter support while deciding, aiming to return to the MHP and continue politics there. Perhaps he sees himself as the next leader of the party,” he said.

    “However, the Victory Party has grown its organisation and gathered a voter base as an opposition party,” the analyst continued.

    “Umit Ozdag has goals for his party and wants it to stay afloat after the polls so he has to stand with the opposition, in the same line the party has established itself up until today.”

    The big question a day before the key vote is what effect this division in the potential “kingmaker” coalition will have on the outcome of the run-off.

    Yegen said the vast majority of the Zafer Party voters will back Kilicdaroglu following the deal between himself and Ozdag, and after the main opposition candidate adopted a stance appealing to them over the last two weeks.

    He added the rest of Ogan’s voters may respond in three different ways in the second round. “Some will lean towards Erdogan, others will move in the direction of Kilicdaroglu, while the remaining will not go to the ballot box,” said Yegen.

    Mahcupyan noted most of those voting for Ogan have no emotional connection to him. “They voted for him because they wanted a third path separate from the other two candidates,” he said.

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  • Ukraine: UN delivers aid to millions, as civilian suffering continues

    Ukraine: UN delivers aid to millions, as civilian suffering continues

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    “The escalating war is taking a heavy toll on civilians who live close to the front lines, people who cannot go back to their homes, and people across the country living under almost daily threats of attacks,” said Jens Laerke, from the UN’s humanitarian affairs office, OCHA.

    More than a year since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, mine contamination and lack of access to Russia-controlled areas remain obstacles to reaching those in need, he said.

    Delivering emergency assistance

    Assistance has included cash to more than 2.1 million people and food for 3.5 million people, while nearly 3 million gained access to health services and medicines, Mr. Laerke said.

    The assistance also included support for survivors of gender-based violence, he said, adding that more than 60 per cent of those reached with aid are women and girls.

    Other types of assistance include access to clean water and hygiene products, emergency shelter, education services for children, and protection services, including prevention of gender-based violence and support to survivors, he said.

    Volunteers play vital role

    “Hundreds of humanitarian organizations are involved in this effort working with local groups and community-based volunteers who play a vital role in getting the assistance delivered on the last mile,” he said.

    However, assistance to areas under Russian military control remains extremely limited, he said.

    This year, because of the worsening security situation and shifts in the front lines, humanitarian partners have lost access to almost 60,000 people in around 40 towns and villages close to the front lines in the Donetsk, Kharkiv and Luhansk regions, he said.

    Mine action casualties

    At the same time, mines and explosive remnants of war in Ukraine have left 263 killed or injured in 2023. That is more than 50 per month on average, according to the UN human rights office, OHCHR, which believes that the actual figures are considerably higher.

    The agency’s latest report indicates that from 1 to 21 May, 46 civilians were killed or injured by mines, 44 in April, 102 in March, 36 in February and 35 in January.

    Mine contamination remains a deadly threat to farmers and humanitarians delivering assistance. In the agricultural regions of Kharkiv, Mykolaiv and Kherson, dozens of mine-related accidents are being reported every month, Mr. Laerke said.

    Denise Brown, UN resident and humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, said recovery work hinges on demining.

    “Ukraine is considered as one of the most mine-contaminated countries in the world,” she said. “Demining agricultural land is one of the Government’s priorities so that farmers can get back to work, and the UN, through WFP World Food Programme] and FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization], working with the Ministry of Agriculture, are contributing to this.”

    Learn more about what the UN is doing to help the people of Ukraine here.

    UNDP Ukraine/Oleksandr Simonenko

    A deminer for the State Emergency Service of Ukraine sweeps the ground for unexploded ordnance and landmines.

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  • Despite ‘slightly’ improved food security in Yemen, hunger stalks millions

    Despite ‘slightly’ improved food security in Yemen, hunger stalks millions

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    “The United Nations and its partners made strides in rolling back the worst food insecurity last year, but these gains remain fragile, and 17 million people are still food insecure in Yemen,” said David Gressly, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for the country.

    Compared to the same period in 2022, the levels of acutely malnourished people rose in 2023, indicating a need for more funding to stave off extreme hunger, according to the latest findings of a new report by three UN agencies that are closely monitoring the situation, following eight years of intense warfare.

    Drivers of hunger

    Yemen remains one of the most food insecure countries globally, mainly driven by the impact of conflict and economic decline, according to the report from the UN food agency, FAO, the World Food Programme (WFP), and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

    The integrated phase classification (IPC) analysis provides an outlook for the period between now until the end of this year, indicating the need for more programme investments, as the modest improvements may be eroded, the agencies said.

    Their report showed that the people of Yemen continue to require attention, with hunger stalking millions. The agencies cautioned that the situation could worsen if nothing is done to address the key drivers of food insecurity.

    The new report showed that between January and May 2023, about 3.2 million people experienced high levels of acute food insecurity in government-controlled areas, representing a 23 per cent reduction from the period between October and December 2022.

    During the June to December 2023 period, the report estimated that the number of people likely to experience high levels of acute food insecurity could increase to 3.9 million, out of which 2.8 million people are projected to reach crisis levels of hunger.

    Life-saving interventions

    FAO Yemen representative Hussein Gadain, said the agency is focused, through various interventions, on improving household food security and income by strengthening agricultural production practices, increasing labour opportunities, and diversifying livelihoods in a sustainable way that fosters peaceful coexistence.

    We are working directly with farmers on the ground to enable them to maintain their livelihoods,” he said. “We make sure that smallholder farmers in Yemen will withstand any shocks which impact food security.”

    UNICEF and partners reached around 420,000 children suffering from severe and acute malnutrition with life-saving interventions in 2022, said the agency’s Yemen representative, Peter Hawkins.

    “This is the highest ever reached in Yemen, thanks to the scale-up of nutrition services,” he said, adding that despite this, malnutrition levels remain critical in many areas of the southern governorates.

    “A multisectoral approach to address all forms of malnutrition is essential and together with partners UNICEF is strengthening the provision of primary health care, including early detection and treatment of severe acute malnutrition”, he said.

    Averting famine

    The UN food agency’s assistance is critical for getting people to firmer ground, for averting crisis and famine, said WFP Country Director, Richard Ragan. Yemen’s food insecurity situation remains fragile, and the hard-won gains of the past 12 months will be lost without continued and urgent support, he said.

    “There are women, men, and children behind these IPC statistics, whose lives straddle the fine line between hope and utter devastation,” he said, urging donors to renew their commitment to supporting the most vulnerable Yemenis. “We simply cannot take our foot off the gas now.”

    Learn more about what the UN is doing to help the people of Yemen here.

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  • Stop tobacco farming, grow food instead, says WHO

    Stop tobacco farming, grow food instead, says WHO

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    Ahead of World No Tobacco Day on Wednesday 31 May, WHO deplored that 3.2 million hectares of fertile land across 124 countries are being used to grow deadly tobacco – even in places where people are starving.

    WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that governments across the world “spend millions supporting tobacco farms”, and that choosing to grow food instead of tobacco would allow the world to “prioritize health, preserve ecosystems, and strengthen food security for all”.

    Disaster for food, environmental security

    The agency’s new report, “Grow food, not tobacco”, recalls that a record 349 million people are facing acute food insecurity, many of them in some 30 countries on the African continent, where tobacco cultivation has increased by 15 per cent in the last decade.

    According to WHO, nine of the 10 largest tobacco cultivators are low and middle-income countries. Tobacco farming compounds these countries’ food security challenges by taking up arable land. The environment and the communities which rely on it also suffer, as the crop’s expansion drives deforestation, contamination of water sources and soil degradation.

    Vicious cycle of dependence

    The report also exposes the tobacco industry for trapping farmers in a vicious cycle of dependence and exaggerating the economic benefits of tobacco as a cash crop.

    Speaking to reporters in Geneva on Friday, Dr. Rüdiger Krech, WHO’s Director for Health Promotion, warned that tobacco’s economic importance is a “myth that we urgently need to dispel”.

    He said that the crop contributes less than 1 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in most tobacco-growing countries, and that the profits go to the world’s major cigarette-makers, while farmers struggle under the burden of debt contracted with the tobacco companies.

    ‘Smokers, think twice’

    Dr. Krech also explained that tobacco farmers find themselves exposed to nicotine poisoning and dangerous pesticides. The broader impact on communities and whole societies is devastating, as some 1.3 million child labourers are estimated to be working on tobacco farms instead of going to school, he said.

    “The message to smokers is, think twice”, Dr. Krech said, as consuming tobacco came down to supporting an iniquitous situation in which farmers and their families were suffering.

    © ILO/Marcel Crozet

    Workers at a tobacco factory in Malawi fill processing machinery with coal. (file)

    Breaking the cycle

    WHO, along with the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) have joined forces around the Tobacco Free Farms initiative, to help thousands of farmers in countries like Kenya and Zambia to grow sustainable food crops instead of tobacco.

    The programme provides farmers with microcredit lending to pay off their debts with tobacco companies, as well as knowledge and training to grow alternative crops, and a market for their harvest, thanks to WFP’s local procurement initiatives.

    Dr. Krech said that the programme was a “proof of concept” of the power of the UN system to enable farmers to break free from harmful tobacco cultivation. He outlined ambitious plans to expand the programme, as countries in Asia and South America were already requesting support.

    “We can help every farmer in the world to get out of tobacco farming if they wish,” he said.

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  • ‘Safe digital public square’ never more important, says Türk

    ‘Safe digital public square’ never more important, says Türk

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    Volker Türk was issuing a clarion call to protect and expand civic space, arguing that it’s the only way to enable us all “to play a role in political, economic, and social life, at all levels, from local to global.”

    Hate speech going unchecked

    He said with more and more decision-making migrating online, “with private companies playing an outsized role, having an open, safe digital public square has never been more important”.

    And yet, States are struggling and “often failing” to protect online space for the common good, “swinging between a laissez-faire approach that has allowed violence and dangerous hate speech to go unchecked, and overbroad regulations used as a cudgel against those exercising their free speech rights, including journalists and human rights defenders,” he added.

    Invest in multilingual markets

    He called on big business to step up and increase investment in preventing and responding to online harms, especially in the non-English language environment, stressing that “doing business in any location requires making sure you can do so safely, in line with the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.”

    The UN rights chief said that carving out civic space was key to human rights, to peace, development, and for “sustainable and resilient societies”, but coming under more and more pressure from undue restrictions, and laws.

    This includes crackdowns on peaceful assembly, internet shutdowns and bullying and harassment online.

    Expand space as a ‘precondition’

    “States must step up efforts to protect and expand civic space as the precondition for people to be able to sustainably enjoy all other entitlements enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, from access to healthcare and clean water and quality education to social protection and labour rights”, Mr. Türk argued.

    Pressure on civil space continues despite the inspiring commitment of civil society groups, he continued.

    “Civil society is a key enabler of trust between governments and the populations they serve and is often the bridge between the two. For governments to reduce barriers to public participation, they must protect this space, for the benefit of all – both online and offline”.

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  • Iran, Belgium agree to swap prisoners

    Iran, Belgium agree to swap prisoners

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    BREAKING,

    Statement by Omani foreign ministry does not identify freed individuals, but Belgium says deal involved aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele.

    Iran and Belgium have agreed to free individuals detained in each other’s countries, in a deal facilitated by Oman.

    In a statement on Friday, the Omani foreign ministry said the people were transported from Tehran and Brussels to Muscat in preparation for their return to their respective countries. It did not identify the prisoners being swapped.

    However, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said in a statement that aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele had been freed.

    Iranian state media repeated Oman’s announcement, without offering further details. Iran has been wanting Belgium to return a diplomat convicted of planning a bombing in France.

    This is a breaking story. More to follow.

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  • What about those who can’t flee fighting in Sudan? Many face danger and despair

    What about those who can’t flee fighting in Sudan? Many face danger and despair

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    LONDON (AP) — Mahmoud almost never leaves his small apartment in east Khartoum. Electricity has been out for most of the past month, so he swelters in the summer heat. When he does venture out to find food, he leaves his mobile phone behind because of looters in the street. Otherwise, he hunkers down in fear, worried that an artillery shell could burst into his home.

    Exhausted, confused and unable to escape the conflict-ravaged Sudanese capital, the young research technician tries blocking out the reality of his surroundings.

    “I am reading my book collection for a second time,” he said. One work helping him get by: “Models of the Mind,” a 2021 neuroscience book about how mathematics help explain the workings of the brain.

    Since the conflict broke out last month, more than 1.3 million people have fled their homes to escape Sudan’s fighting, going elsewhere in the country or across the borders. But Mahmoud and millions of others remain trapped in Khartoum and its sister cities of Bahri and Omdurman, unable to leave the central battleground between Sudan’s military and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary.

    For them, every day is a struggle to find food, get water and charge their phones when electricity is cut off. All the while, they must avoid the fighters and criminals in the streets who rob and brutalize pedestrians, loot shops and storm into homes to steal whatever of value they can find.

    Dollars have become hard to find and dangerous to hold, a target for looters. Amazingly, Bankak, the banking app of the Bank of Khartoum, continues to function most of the time. It has become a lifeline for many, allowing users to transfer money and make payments electronically.

    Mahmoud uses the app to pay the one shop owner he visits to stock up on canned goods. During weeks when electricity was out, the shop owner still gave him what he needed and let him pay later. A technology company that Mahmoud worked for before the fighting puts 30,000 Sudanese pounds — around $50 — on his app account every few weeks.

    That transfer allows him to keep eating. “If I have money in my bank account and Bankak is operating, everything will be good,” he said. Like others who spoke to The Associated Press, Mahmoud asked to be identified only by his first name for fear of reprisals.

    Since April 15, the Sudanese army, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the RSF, commanded by Gen. Mohamed Hamden Dagalo, have been locked in a violent power struggle that has turned the once sleepy Khartoum into an urban battlefield. More than 800 civilians have been killed, according to the Sudan Doctor’s Union.

    On Monday a week-long cease-fire began, the conflict’s seventh, with fighting easing across parts of the city. But gunbattles and bombardments still continue despite the pledge made by both forces in Saudi Arabia. Residential areas and hospitals have been pounded by army airstrikes, while RSF troops have commandeered homes and turned them into bases.

    The more immediate danger is often the armed men and looters in the streets. Waleed, another resident of east Khartoum, said he has had several terrifying encounters. In one case, he saw around 30 RSF fighters, some who looked no older than 15, tormenting a passerby, waving their weapons at him and demanding he lie on the ground, then shouting at him to stand up.

    “They were playing with him like a puppet,” Waleed said.

    Many can’t afford to leave. Mahmoud wants to get to Ethiopia, then to Portugal where he been offered a position as a research technician. But he doesn’t have the $2,500 he estimates the trip will cost him. Waleed said he can’t leave for medical reasons.

    Others say they have no choice but to stay and work. One of the many women who sell tea in the streets of Khartoum, Tana Tusafi, a single mother from Ethiopia, says her four children depend on her. “I have no one to provide for me, so I have to work,” she said.

    The dangers are unpredictable. Mahmoud said that last week RSF fighters in a neighboring building started shooting at his apartment block, believing an army sniper could be there after seeing lights inside. Mahmoud said he had to confront the troops and convince them his block was only filled with civilians.

    Another resident, Fatima, said her brother disappeared after having coffee with friends on May 13. That first evening when he didn’t come home, “I thought he might have stayed over at his friend’s house,” Fatima said.

    On Monday, Khalid finally returned. For eight days, he had been detained and interrogated by the RSF, Fatima said.

    The Missing Person Initiative, an online tracker where people can report missing loved ones, said it has reports of at least 200 people unaccounted for in the capital region. It said it has received multiple reports of individuals being detained by the paramilitary.

    Darker still is the growing number of rape and sexual assault allegations. According to Hadhreen, a community-led health and crisis group, there have been at least 10 confirmed rape cases in the capital area. Seven were committed by RSF soldiers, it said, while the three others were by unknown attackers within RSF-held areas.

    The reports of sexual violence harken back to the Darfur conflict of the early 2000s, during which the Janjaweed militia was accused of widespread rapes and other atrocities. Many of its fighters were later folded into the RSF. They were again accused of raping dozens of women when they broke up a pro-democracy protest camp in Khartoum in 2019.

    In this landscape of fear, those who remain in the city find ways to get by. Some store owners operate out of their homes, hoping to hide from the looters.

    Waleed said only one remaining bakery serves his neighborhood and two others. Each customer registers their name beforehand

    “If you were lucky and registered your name at 7 o’clock in the morning you might get your bread at 12 noon,” Waleed said. He too survives because of Bankak, on money that his family in Saudi Arabia puts into his account.

    During the first weeks of May, there was no electricity in his neighborhood, so Waleed relied on a nearby mosque with a generator to charge his phone. But no electricity meant no running water.

    “We roamed around with buckets to trying to find people who have electric generators who can activate their water pumps,” he said. Last week, the electric company restored power in his area.

    Most of the city’s hospitals have also shut down, many of them damaged in bombardments or ground fighting. Since May 11 alone, there have been 11 attacks on humanitarian facilities in the capital, the World Health Organization reported. Community action groups, led in part by a grassroots pro-democracy network known as the Resistance Committees, have banded together to help treat Khartoum’s sick and deliver medicines.

    Hadeel Abdelsayed, a trainee doctor at one community clinic, said patients have died because they did not have enough oxygen. The clinic was eventually evacuated due to intense shelling.

    Mahmoud, the researcher, said that if he can somehow secure the funding, he will try to make his escape to Ethiopia. But time is against him.

    “My passport will expire in 10 weeks, so I will have to leave before then.”

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  • NGO in ‘race against time’ to rescue 500 onboard boat in distress

    NGO in ‘race against time’ to rescue 500 onboard boat in distress

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    About 500 refugees and migrants are onboard a boat in distress in the Mediterranean Sea after departing Libya for Europe, humanitarian organisations say.

    Italian NGO Emergency said on Wednesday that the vessel – which has 45 women and 56 children on it, including a baby born overnight at sea – was taking on water.

    It said its rescue vessel Life Support was heading towards the boat but needed another 10 hours to reach the location in Maltese waters.

    The nationalities of those onboard remain unknown.

    “It’s a race against time in an attempt to save as many lives as possible,” Albert Mayordomo, head of mission on the Life Support, said in a statement sent to Al Jazeera. “The absence of coordination on the part of the authorities is a grave violation of the law of the sea.”

    Emergency said it had contacted Maltese authorities, in line with maritime procedures, but had received no response since Tuesday when the vessel was flagged by Alarm Phone, a non-governmental organisation that relays distress calls from the Mediterranean to emergency services.

    Emergency said it also had forwarded a request for assistance to the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Center, which responded by saying that the case falls under the mandate of Maltese authorities.

    The Maltese coastguard did not respond to Al Jazeera’s requests for comment while Italian authorities declined to comment.

    Paolo Fusarini, captain of Life Support, said his crew was preparing for a difficult night-time rescue.

    “Weather conditions are not favourable,” he said in a statement sent to Al Jazeera. “We are going towards waves of 1.5 meters that will make the operation more difficult.”

    Fusarini said he was not too hopeful of reaching the location in time and feared that many people would drown before Life Support gets there.

    On Tuesday, Alarm Phone said local authorities had been informed of the boat’s presence without specifying whether they were Maltese or Italian officials.

    Shortly after, German NGO Sea-Watch said it had sent its light observation aircraft, Sea Bird, to locate the vessel.

    On Wednesday, Alarm Phone said it had lost contact with the boat.

    “We lost contact this morning, after we continuously alerted & updated the authorities in #Malta and #Italy,” it said. “500 people cannot simply disappear!”

    Sea-Watch was unable to locate the boat and said in a tweet, “The fact that the Maltese sea rescue coordination center ignored our calls is unacceptable. We demand immediate clarification.”

    More than 45,000 migrants and refugees have arrived in Italy over the Mediterranean so far this year, the highest number since 2017.

    About 1,090 people are estimated to have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean since January, according to the International Organization for Migration.

    ‘Italy delays, Malta ignores’

    This month, the European Council on Refugees and Exiles, a European network of 105 NGOs in 39 European countries, summed up the situation at play in the Mediterranean: “Italy delays, Malta ignores, Tunisia and Libya pull back and abuse.”

    “The Italian authorities continue the policy of assigning distant ports to NGO rescue vessels for the disembarkation of survivors,” it said. “Malta failed to rescue more than 7,000 people in distress in the country’s SAR [search and rescue] zone in 2022 and reports of non-response tactics continue to mount.”

    On January 2, the Italian government passed legislation requiring captains of rescue ships to request a port immediately after a rescue rather than continuing at sea and assisting with multiple distress calls.

    Authorities have increasingly been assigning distant ports for disembarkation, which NGOs say is raising costs and decreasing efficiency.

    An estimated 1,090 people have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean since January [Faras Ghani/Al Jazeera]

    Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has rejected claims that government policies to discourage migration played a role in a shipwreck off the nation’s southern coast in March, in which at least 72 people died.

    Almost two weeks after the shipwreck, Italy’s coastguard conducted a large rescue operation, bringing more than 1,000 people stranded on three boats in distress to safety.

    The Maltese government has also faced criticism. A report published in March this year by the Civil Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, a network of non-governmental actors engaging in search and rescue activities in the Mediterranean, concluded that “at sea, Maltese authorities regularly abandon those in need of rescue”.

    The report said that in 2022, Maltese authorities ignored more than 20,000 people in distress, 413 boats with people needing help were not assisted and only three boats were rescued by Malta’s armed forces.

    “Non-assistance is now a routine part of a suite of deadly measures aimed at reducing arrivals in Malta,” the report said.

    So far in 2023, only 92 people have been rescued by Maltese authorities.

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  • Dubai’s next big thing? Perhaps a $5 billion man-made ‘moon’ as the city’s real estate market booms

    Dubai’s next big thing? Perhaps a $5 billion man-made ‘moon’ as the city’s real estate market booms

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    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Who says you cannot reach for the moon? A proposed $5 billion real estate project wants to take skyscraper-studded Dubai to new heights — by bringing a symbol of the heavens down to Earth.

    Canadian entrepreneur Michael Henderson envisions building a 274-meter (900-foot) replica of the moon atop a 30-meter (100-foot) building in Dubai, already home to the world’s tallest building and other architectural wonders.

    Henderson’s project, dubbed MOON, may sound out of this world, but it could easily fit in this futuristic city-state. Dubai already has a red-hot real estate market, fueled by the wealthy who fled restrictions imposed in their home countries during the coronavirus pandemic and Russians seeking refuge amid Moscow’s war on Ukraine.

    And even though a previous booms-and-bust cycle saw many grand projects collapse, Henderson and others suggest his vision, funded by Moon World Resorts Inc., where he is the co-founder, might not be that far-fetched.

    “We have the biggest ‘brand’ in the world,” Henderson told The Associated Press, alluding that the moon itself — the heavenly body — was his brand. “Eight billion people know our brand, and we haven’t even started yet.”

    The project Henderson proposes includes a destination resort inside the spherical structure, complete with a 4,000-room hotel, an arena capable of hosting 10,000 people and a “lunar colony” that would give guests the sensation of actually walking on the moon.

    The MOON would sit on a pedestal-like circular building beneath it and would glow at night. Henderson discussed the project at the Arabian Travel Market earlier in May in Dubai.

    Already, artist renderings commissioned by Moon World Resorts have played with the location for his MOON — including at the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building at a height of 828 meters (2,710 feet). Others have placed it at the Dubai Pearl, a long-dormant project now being destroyed near the man-made Palm Jumeirah archipelago, and on its unfinished sister, the Palm Jebel Ali.

    The Pearl and the Palm Jebel Ali represent two “white elephant” projects left over from the 2009 financial crisis that rocked the sheikhdom and forced Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, to provide Dubai with a $20 billion bailout.

    Now nearly 15 years later, Dubai largely has turned around. Rents on average across Dubai are up 26.9% year-on-year, even with anti-price-gouging protections. Dubai saw 86,849 residential sales last year, beating a previous record of 80,831 from 2009.

    “Dubai is in a completely different world compared to” 2009, said Lewis Allsopp, the CEO of the prominent Dubai real estate agency Allsopp & Allsopp. Launched products are “selling out on the spot.”

    Inflation and interest rate hikes around the world have led to fears of a global recession. The UAE’s currency, the dirham, is pegged to the dollar, meaning it has followed lock-step the hikes imposed by the Federal Reserve.

    But cash still remains king for Dubai buyers, with fourth-fifths of transactions paid in currency without financing in 2022, said Faisal Durrani, the head of Middle East research at real estate agency Knight Frank.

    “You could argue that the interest rate hikes that are taking place, to an extent the market is a little bit shielded from that given the fact that so much of the transactional activity has been driven by cash,” Durrani said.

    Other major projects are moving ahead.

    Nakheel, the state-owned developer behind the Palm Jebel Ali, has relaunched development plans for it. The developer also unveiled a multibillion-dollar plan to build 80 resorts and hotels on the man-made Dubai Islands, though it remains largely empty and under the flight path of the nearby Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international travel.

    The MOON project also includes space for a possible casino as well. Gambling remains illegal in the UAE, a federation of seven hereditarily ruled sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula. However, major brands like Caesar’s Palace already exist or hope to build in Dubai. Wynn Resorts plans to build a $3.9 resort in Ras al-Khaimah north of Dubai with gambling to open in 2027 — meaning a change to the law is likely to come.

    Like other high-profile, eye-catching marvels, the MOON could fit well into “the legitimacy formula of Dubai’s ruling elite,” said Christopher Davidson, a Middle East expert who wrote the recent book “From Sheikhs to Sultanism.” Dubai also hosts the UAE’s space center, which has sent a probe to Mars and unsuccessfully tried to put a rover on the moon.

    “They can be seen as a non-democratic elite but nonetheless believe strongly in science and progress — and that’s ultimately very legitimizing and a megaproject like this would seem to tick all of those boxes,” Davidson said.

    Henderson’s plan would go a step further than other globe-shaped projects, such as the MSG Sphere, a $2.3 billion dome blanketed by LED screens, that is set to open in Las Vegas later this year.

    His structure would be fully spherical, and could be illuminated alternatively as a full, half or crescent moon.

    The brightness may not go down well with potential neighbors — plans to build another MSG Sphere in London were halted after residents protested the significant light pollution and disruption the structure would cause.

    “It’s hard to please everybody,” Henderson acknowledged. “You might need dark curtains.”

    ___

    Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.

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  • US bombs unlikely to reach underground Iran nuclear site: Report

    US bombs unlikely to reach underground Iran nuclear site: Report

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    Near a peak of the Zagros Mountains in central Iran, workers are building a nuclear facility so deep in the earth that it is likely beyond the range of a last-ditch United States weapon designed to destroy such sites, according to experts and satellite imagery analysed by The Associated Press news agency.

    The photos and videos from Planet Labs PBC show Iran has been digging tunnels in the mountain near the Natanz nuclear site, which has come under repeated sabotage attacks amid Tehran’s standoff with the West over its atomic programme.

    With the country now producing uranium close to weapons-grade levels after the collapse of its nuclear deal with world powers, the installation complicates the West’s efforts to halt Tehran from potentially developing an atomic bomb, which Iran denies seeking.

    The report on Monday comes amid a spike in Iran-US tensions and stalled diplomacy between the two countries.

    Completion of such a facility “would be a nightmare scenario that risks igniting a new escalatory spiral,” warned Kelsey Davenport, the director of nonproliferation policy at the Washington-based Arms Control Association.

    “Given how close Iran is to a bomb, it has very little room to ratchet up its programme without tripping US and Israeli red lines. So at this point, any further escalation increases the risk of conflict,” Davenport told AP.

     

    This month marked five years since former President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from a multilateral nuclear deal that saw Iran scale back its nuclear programme in exchange for a lifting of international sanctions against its economy.

    The administration of US President Joe Biden has continued to impose and enforce a strict sanctions regime against Iran and its oil and petrochemicals industries. Meanwhile, Tehran has been advancing its nuclear programme.

    Biden, who was vice president to Barack Obama when the 2015 agreement was signed, had promised to revive the pact, but numerous rounds of indirect talks over the past two years have failed to restore it.

    Since the demise of the nuclear accord, Iran has said it is enriching uranium up to 60 percent – up from the 3.67 percent limit it observed under the deal. Inspectors also recently discovered the country had produced uranium particles that were 83.7 percent pure, just a short step from reaching the 90 percent threshold of weapons-grade uranium.

    As of February, international inspectors estimated Iran’s stockpile was more than 10 times what it was under the Obama-era deal, with enough enriched uranium to allow Tehran to make “several” nuclear bombs, according to the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

    The US and Israel – which is widely believed to have its own covert nuclear arsenal – have said they won’t allow Iran to build a nuclear weapon. “We believe diplomacy is the best way to achieve that goal, but the president has also been clear that we have not removed any option from the table,” the White House said in a statement to the AP.

    Iran’s mission to the United Nations, in response to questions from the AP regarding the construction, said that “Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities are transparent and under the International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards.”

    Iran says the new construction will replace an above-ground centrifuge manufacturing centre at Natanz struck by an explosion and fire in July 2020. Tehran labelled the attack at that time as “nuclear terrorism” and blamed it on Israel.

    Tehran has not acknowledged any other plans for the facility, though it would have to declare the site to the IAEA if authorities planned to introduce uranium into it. The Vienna-based IAEA did not respond to questions about the new underground facility.

    The new project is being constructed next to Natanz, about 225km (140 miles) south of Tehran. Natanz has been a point of international concern since its existence became known two decades ago.

    Protected by anti-aircraft batteries, fencing and Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, the facility sprawls across 2.7sq km (1sq mile) in the country’s arid central plateau.

    Satellite photos taken in April by Planet Labs PBC and analysed by the AP show Iran burrowing into the Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La, or “Pickaxe Mountain”, which is just beyond Natanz’s southern fencing.

    A different set of images analysed by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies reveals that four entrances have been dug into the mountainside, two to the east and another two to the west. Each is 6m (20 ft) wide and 8m (26 ft) tall.

    The scale of the work can be measured in large dirt mounds, two to the west and one to the east. Based on the size of the spoil piles and other satellite data, experts at the centre told AP that Iran is likely building a facility at a depth of between 80m (260 ft) and 100m (328 ft). The centre’s analysis, which it provided exclusively to AP, is the first to estimate the tunnel system’s depth based on satellite imagery.

    “So the depth of the facility is a concern because it would be much harder for us. It would be much harder to destroy using conventional weapons, such as… a typical bunker buster bomb,” said Steven De La Fuente, a research associate at the centre who led the analysis of the tunnel work.

    The new Natanz facility is likely to be even deeper underground than Iran’s Fordow facility, another enrichment site that was exposed in 2009 by the US and others. That facility sparked fears in the West that Iran was hardening its programme from air attacks

    Such underground facilities led the US to create the GBU-57 bomb, which can plow through at least 60m (200 ft) of earth before detonating, according to the US military.

    US officials reportedly have discussed using two such bombs in succession to ensure a site is destroyed, according to AP. It is not clear that such a one-two punch would damage a facility as deep as the one at Natanz.

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  • Three Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in raid on Nablus

    Three Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in raid on Nablus

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    The three were killed in the early hours of Monday morning amid a blockade of the Balata refugee camp.

    The Israeli army has killed three Palestinian men during a large-scale raid on the Balata refugee camp in the city of Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank.

    The Palestinian health ministry identified the three men killed on Monday morning as Muhammad Abu Zaytoun, 32, Fathi Abu Rizk, 30, and Abdullah Abu Hamdan, 24.

    At least seven other Palestinians were injured, including four with live ammunition, and dozens of others suffered tear gas inhalation, according to the ministry.

    Hundreds of Israeli soldiers and special forces participated in the raid that began at about 1am local time (22:00GMT) and persisted until 5:00am (2:00GMT).

    Israeli forces blockaded the camp’s entrances with bulldozers, and demolished and damaged several homes including with anti-tank grenades, according to residents. 

    Reporting from Balata refugee camp, Al Jazeera’s Givara Budeiri said at least seven homes inside the camp were demolished or damaged.

    “The families here are remembering the 2002 invasion of Nablus. They felt the bullets had penetrated everything tonight,” said Budeiri, adding that ambulance crews were also targeted as they attempted to access the wounded.

    The Israeli army said in a statement it arrested three Palestinian men “suspected of involvement” in armed activity and confiscated weapons, but did not comment on the killings. It also said it found an “explosives laboratory” in one of the apartments in the camp.

    Monday’s raid took place after a car ramming attack near Nablus on Sunday in which an Israeli soldier was injured.

    The Balata refugee camp is the largest in terms of population in the occupied West Bank, where some 30,000 Palestinians live in high population density on a quarter of a square kilometer.

    Israeli forces also raided the Jenin refugee camp north of Nablus on Monday and arrested at least three Palestinian men.

    Israel has been conducting near-daily raids and killings of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since June 2021 in an attempt to crackdown on a phenomenon of growing armed resistance.

    In 2022, Israeli forces killed more than 170 Palestinians, including at least 30 children, in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, in what was described as the deadliest year for Palestinians living in those areas since 2006.

    Since the start of 2023, Israeli forces have killed at least 156 Palestinians, including 26 children. The death toll includes 36 Palestinians killed by the Israeli army during a four-day assault on the besieged Gaza Strip between May 9 and 13.

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  • Khartoum’s outskirts attacked as Sudan war enters sixth week

    Khartoum’s outskirts attacked as Sudan war enters sixth week

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    Bombing hammers southern Omdurman and Khartoum North as sporadic gunfire reverberates, witnesses say.

    Artillery fire has pounded the outer areas of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, as fighting that trapped civilians in a humanitarian crisis and displaced more than one million people entered its sixth week.

    Air attacks were also reported on Saturday by witnesses in southern Omdurman and Khartoum North, the two cities that lie across the Nile from Khartoum, forming Sudan’s “triple capital”. Some of the attacks took place near the state broadcaster in Omdurman, witnesses said.

    “We faced heavy artillery fire early this morning, the whole house was shaking,” said Sanaa Hassan, 33, who lives in the al-Salha neighbourhood of Omdurman. “It was terrifying, everyone was lying under their beds. What’s happening is a nightmare.”

    In Khartoum, the situation was relatively calm, although sporadic gunshots could be heard.

    The conflict, which began on April 15, has displaced almost 1.1 million people internally and into neighbouring countries. Some 705 people have been killed and at least 5,287 wounded, according to the World Health Organization.

    The battle between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has led to a collapse in law and order with looting that both sides blame on the other. Stocks of food, cash and essentials are rapidly dwindling.

    Talks sponsored by the United States and Saudi Arabia in Jeddah have not been fruitful, and the two sides have accused each other of violating multiple ceasefire agreements.

    The RSF is embedded in residential districts, drawing almost continual air attacks by the regular armed forces. In recent days ground fighting flared again in the Darfur region in the cities of Nyala and Zalenjei.

    Both sides blamed each other in statements late on Friday for sparking the fighting in Nyala, one of the country’s largest cities, which had for weeks been relatively calm after a locally brokered truce.

    Sporadic gun clashes near the city’s main market close to army headquarters took place on Saturday morning. Almost 30 people have died in the two previous days of fighting, according to activists.

    The war broke out in Khartoum after disputes over plans for the RSF to be integrated into the army and over the future chain of command under an internationally backed deal to shift Sudan towards democracy following decades of authoritarian rule by ex-leader Omar al-Bashir.

    The US Agency for International Development announced late on Friday more than $100m will be earmarked for Sudan and countries receiving fleeing Sudanese, including for much-needed food and medical aid.

    “It’s hard to convey the extent of the suffering occurring right now in Sudan,” said agency head Samantha Power.

    Qatar on Saturday denounced the vandalising of its embassy in Khartoum by “the irregular armed forces”, noting its diplomats and consular staff had already been evacuated. The ministry of foreign affairs in a statement called for the prosecution of the perpetrators.

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  • Syrians protest al-Assad’s participation in Arab League summit

    Syrians protest al-Assad’s participation in Arab League summit

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    Idlib, Syria – Thousands of Syrians have protested across the country against some Arab countries’ normalisation of relations with President Bashar al-Assad’s government and the country’s return to the Arab League.

    The protests on Friday coincided with al-Assad’s participation in the Arab League summit taking place in Saudi Arabia, marking the Syrian president’s return to the summit after 12 years.

    Thousands protested in Idlib, al-Bab, Azaz, Jarabulus, and Afrin, among other cities, under the slogan, “Criminal al-Assad Never Represents Syria”.

    Demonstrations also took place in six cities outside Syria: Vienna, Amsterdam, London, Vaile, Stockholm and Lyon.

    In the northwestern Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, hundreds participated in the protests.

    “We demonstrated today to remind those who are seeking to normalise their relations with the al-Assad regime that the Great Syrian Revolution started spontaneously as a response to the internal suffocation we endured under the Assad regime,” Ibrahim Aboud, one of the participants in the demonstration and a displaced civilian from Maarat al-Numan in northern Idlib, told Al Jazeera.

    “When we first protested in 2011, we didn’t ask permission from anyone, and we didn’t take into considering the regional and international environment surrounding Syria.”

    Protesters held banners that read: ‘Syria is not represented by the criminal al-Assad’ and ‘No to normalisation with the regime’ in rebel-held Idlib [Ali Haj Suleiman/Al Jazeera]

    Aboud said he could not accept the Arab countries’ move, whether it was political, diplomatic, military, or economic, considering that the government has killed, displaced and imprisoned millions of Syrians for 12 years.

    “We are determined to achieve the goals of the revolution and liberate Syria from the Assad regime and its thugs,” Aboud said.

    ‘Held him accountable’

    The Arab League suspended Syria’s membership in May 2011 following the brutal way al-Assad handled the protests, as well as the civilians who started the Syrian revolution that year.

    “Today, we send a message to the Arab and international community rejecting the return of the criminal Bashar al-Assad to the Arab League. They should have held him accountable instead of shaking his hands, which are stained with the blood of the Syrian people,” said Naif Shaban, a human rights activist and displaced civilian from Wadi Barada in the Damascus countryside.

    “The normalisation will not change anything for us because this has been taking place under the table for the last 12 years. Today, it is happening publicly,” Shaban said

    Syria’s war broke out after al-Assad’s repression of peaceful anti-government demonstrations in 2011 escalated into a deadly conflict that pulled in foreign powers and various armed groups.

    More than half a million people have been killed and about half of the country’s pre-war population has been forced from their homes.

    Idlib is home to about three million people, half of them displaced by the war.

    idlib - Ali Haj Suleiman
    Rebel-held Idlib is home to about three million people, half of them displaced by the war [Ali Haj Suleiman/Al Jazeera]

    ‘Our revolution will continue’

    In the Syrian city of Al-Bab, about 1,000 people staged a similar protest.

    Jalal Talawi, one of the protest organisers in the city, said demonstrators were showing their firm rejection of al-Assad’s presence at the summit and normalisation with this “malicious regime”.

    “Many people today were displaced by al-Assad’s regime and its supporters,” Talawi told Al Jazeera.

    “Our message is crystal clear: Our revolution will continue until we achieve its goal and that’s freedom and liberation from this regime.

    “Al-Assad doesn’t represent us as Syrians and we sent a clear message today to everyone supporting or opposing the revolution, that we will not accept this regime and are continuing until it falls and until we get all of our detainees back. We will continue despite the entire world standing in our way.”

    In Azaz, a refuge for Syrians who fled from other parts of the country amid the war, 700 people gathered to protest.

    ‘We greatly appreciate Qatar’s stance’

    Nor was Syria’s return to the Arab League universally embraced in the Saudi city of Jeddah where the meeting took place.

    Qatar’s emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani departed the city after leading the Qatari delegation at the summit. While there was no confirmation, the Reuters news agency quoted an unnamed Arab official as saying that Sheikh Tamim left the summit before the start of al-Assad’s speech.

    Qatar had previously opposed Syria’s return to the Arab League. Following its return to the Arab League, Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said the country’s position “on normalisation with the regime had not changed”.

    The spokesperson added that Qatar will still support the “Arab consensus and will not be an obstacle to that”.

    Shaban, a protester in Idlib, added that people “appreciated Qatar’s stance against normalisation and their support for the rights of the Syrian people”.

    “We wish other countries had a similar stance,” Shaban added.

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  • Social media lights up over pro-Erdogan quake-zone voters

    Social media lights up over pro-Erdogan quake-zone voters

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    As the results of Turkey’s presidential election trickled in, many opposition supporters took to social media to express their anger, directing much of it at voters living in areas devastated by February’s earthquakes.

    Sunday’s election ended with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan taking 49.5 percent of the vote and his main challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, getting 44.9 percent.

    The majority of voters in eight of 11 cities affected by the earthquakes cast their ballots for Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AK Party) while the other three cities favoured Kilicdaroglu’s Republican People’s Party (CHP).

    In the wake of the quakes, Erdogan’s government was criticised for its slow initial response to the disaster and lax enforcement of building codes. Three months later, the president’s critics could not understand why earthquake survivors would support Erdogan at the ballot box. Many used Twitter to lob insults at these voters.

    Translation: “I am not saying anything to those who left, but to those who stayed in the earthquake zone, may God damn you … We are embarrassed of our humanity in their place.”

    Translation: “We suffered from so much embarrassment after the earthquake. I said they could not have given it, they wouldn’t have done this, but they did. May you drown in the cries of the dead who are still under the rubble.”

    Thousands tweeted comments filled with verbal assaults and threats towards voters living in the earthquake zone.

    Translation: “71 percent votes to Erdogan from the earthquake zone ..?

    “You burn Urfa, I’ll burn Antep”

    “Ok”

    Some users stated because of the election results, they would no longer send aid to earthquake survivors.

    Translation: “I’m sorry but this was the last. No matter what, after this I will not help during any disaster. I cried for days. If they forgot that the government came 3 days later, that Kizilay sold tents and still trust AKP, I’m done.”

    Translation: “I really cannot believe this. I will not be sad for most of them any more. I have strained myself so much since the earthquake so that I could do something, I became sick from sadness. They can go ask the AKP for help, there is nothing to say.”

    Government’s response

    The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office announced it has begun an investigation into individuals who have made “provocative posts” and “created inhumane rhetoric” towards earthquake survivors, the Anadolu news agency reported.

    The promises to no longer send help to the earthquake zone have already turned into action. According to Melike Hatipoglu, who said she has been personally organising relief efforts from the first day of the earthquakes, many people have cancelled their financial support for the victims.

    “I don’t think my heart can take all that I have experienced in the past three days. The help for 174 orphans has been cut off. Almost 2,000 boxes of supplies have been cancelled. People asked [for me to give] back the furniture they had donated to those left homeless. They forbade the help given to kids, disabled and elderly people. I leave you all to comment.”

    The backlash has carried over into government as well. On Tuesday, the Tekirdag Metropolitan Municipality announced it was terminating its temporary accommodation services to earthquake survivors.

     

    Translation: “The CHP Tekirdag Municipality punished the earthquake victims because Kemal Kilicdaroglu could not get enough votes from the earthquake zone.

    “They tried to evict citizens who were relocated to hotels in Kumbag.

    “The earthquake victims said, ‘This is what you think we are worthy of because the earthquake zone voted for AK Party?’”

    After the public outcry, the Tekirdag governor and Disaster and Emergency Management Authority  intervened and said they will continue providing shelter to the earthquake victims.

    In response to the barrage of insults from opposition supporters on social media, videos and pictures of survivors from the earthquake zone giving back aid they received from CHP municipalities have been circulating on social media.

    In one video, a victim from Elbistan in Kahramanmaras province, the earthquakes’ epicentre, said he is returning the free fertilizer he received from the CHP-run Ankara Metropolitan Municipality.

    Translation: “The Nation Alliance has not made any statements condemning [the insults]. We are not without pride or dishonourable enough to use this fertilizer.”

    Another victim shared with Murat Kurum, minister of environment and urbanisation, that during the earthquake he had taken a free bottle of water from an Ankara Metropolitan Municipality stand.

    Translation: “I sent the money for [the water] back to Kemal Kilicdaroglu’s bank account. It was 2.50 liras [13 cents].” 

    Many social media users have condemned the backlash against earthquake survivors and called on others to continue donating and providing support.

    Translation: “A request, the best answer is to give to those who lost their humanity. Whichever one you trust…”

    Translation: “If the result of democracy did not please us, the action to take is to increase constructive criticism, to improve the opposition. However, it is not threatening those who were affected by tragedy. Just as this country raised us, we will continue to help its children unconditionally.

    “We will. Because we know that human life is above political decisions. We convey our constant support to earthquake survivors and young people who have lost their mothers. In the second round, whether my heart is fulfilled or not, I will personally organise a new aid programme.”

    Erdogan’s response

    Prior to the general election, both Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu campaigned in the earthquake-devastated cities. Members and leaders from their coalitions also held rallies and visited the area.

    In a tweet, Erdogan denounced the negative reactions on social media.

    “We are witnessing attacks that are incompatible with human values due to this mentality because they could not get votes from our citizens. These circles display all kinds of unscrupulousness, from cutting off the aid they send to the earthquake area to kicking earthquake victims out of hotels.”

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  • Iran condemned after executing three men over recent protests | CNN

    Iran condemned after executing three men over recent protests | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Iran has been condemned by international watchdogs after it executed three more men over recent protests that rocked the country.

    Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaqoubi were executed in Isfahan, judiciary news outlet Mizan News said on Friday. The three were accused of carrying out an attack that killed three security officers in Isfahan in November 2022 during anti-government protests.

    The US State Department on Thursday urged Iran to refrain from carrying out the executions, calling the proceedings “sham trials.”

    And Amnesty International said the men were “fast-tracked through Iran’s judicial system” without due process being observed.

    “These executions are meant to prolong the Islamic Republic’s rule and only a high political cost can stop more protester executions,” Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the director of the non-governmental organization Iran Human Rights, wrote on Twitter.

    “Unless the Iranian authorities are met with serious consequences by the international community, hundreds of protester lives will be taken by their killing machine,” he said.

    Iran executed at least 582 people last year, a 75% increase on the previous year, according to human rights groups who say the rise reflects an effort by Tehran to “instill fear” among anti-regime protesters.

    It was the highest number of executions in the Islamic republic since 2015, according to a report released last month by the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) and the France-based Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM) groups.

    More than half of the executions last year took place after the protests erupted in September.

    The US State Department condemned the latest planned executions of Kazemi, Mirhashemi and Yaqoubi on Thursday.

    “The execution of these men, after what have been widely regarded as sham trials, would be an affront to human rights and basic dignity in Iran and everywhere,” said State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel at a press briefing.

    “It is clear from this episode that the Iranian regime has learned nothing from the protests that began with another death, the death of Mahsa Amini in September of last year,” Patel added.

    The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, another NGO that monitors human rights violations in Iran, said on Twitter that the three men “had the minimal defense rights of an accused.” The group decried what it called an “unfathomable wave of executions in Iran.”

    Nationwide protests rocked Iran last fall, as decades of bitterness over the regime’s treatment of women and other issues boiled over after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the country’s so-called morality police.

    Authorities violently repressed the months-long movement, which had posed one of the biggest domestic threats to Iran’s ruling clerical regime in more than a decade.

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  • Far-right Israelis shut down Jerusalem’s Old City with flag march

    Far-right Israelis shut down Jerusalem’s Old City with flag march

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    Occupied East Jerusalem – “We need an annual day to remind the Arabs that we control the [Old City’s Muslim Quarter] … If we marched some other route, they would grow to think that they rule over this area.”

    The speaker, a teenager who did not give his name, was one of the thousands of young marchers who had made the trip to occupied East Jerusalem’s Old City on Thursday for the annual far-right “flag march”, together with his Yeshiva (Jewish religious high school).

    The event, held on “Jerusalem Day”, which marks the 1967 capture and annexation of East Jerusalem, a move considered illegal under international law, has led to violence in recent years, as far-right Israelis shout provocative slogans and insults, as well as physically attack Palestinians and even journalists.

    Among those attending, there is an unmistakable sense of Jewish supremacy and a passionate religious calling underlying the march.

    Before the procession gathered at the Damascus Gate and then snaked through the Old City, hundreds of ultranationalists entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, even as ultra-Orthodox Jews dispersed pamphlets explaining that it was forbidden under Jewish law to ascend.

    The religious Zionist Jews, some wearing shirts with inflammatory messages, however, have not adhered to that prohibition, leading to the tense situations that often greet their arrival at Al-Aqsa, the third-holiest site in Islam and a Palestinian national symbol.

    Palestinian Muslims sitting at the Qibli Mosque in the compound chanted at the far-right Israelis, while others sat quietly reading the Qur’an.

    By the time the main event began, at about 4pm (13:00 GMT) in the afternoon, many streets in the normally bustling Old City were empty, with Palestinian storeowners largely listening to Israeli police recommendations that they close their businesses for the day to avoid any confrontation with the marchers.

    And yet, despite attempts by the estimated 2,500 police officers to stop any incidents, some scuffles did inevitably take place.

    One man, an Italian supporter of the Palestinian cause wearing a keffiyeh scarf around his neck, was harassed by Israeli marchers, one of whom threatened to kill him.

    The police, however, were able to mostly prevent any more serious fights from taking place, largely by keeping the far-right marchers away from everyone else.

    A policeman pushes an Israeli man while Israelis gather at Damascus gate to Jerusalem’s Old City marking Jerusalem Day, in Jerusalem, May 18, 2023 [Ammar Awad/Reuters]

    Jewish power

    People attending the march appeared eager to flaunt the tolerance, and even active encouragement, of their position from the Israeli government, particularly with the presence of Israeli government ministers and politicians throughout the day, including far-right Itamar Ben-Gvir, who became the first cabinet minister to ever attend the march. The far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also later attended.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the march “a splendid day on which to celebrate our return to our eternal capital”.

    But Eliyahu, a marcher from Gush Etzion who came as part of a group called Jewish Truth – formed by a group who consider themselves even more to the far-right than Ben-Gvir, said the minister should resign.

    “Ben-Gvir left the truth,” Eliyahu said. “He should leave the government.”

    For Eliyahu, the event was an opportunity to openly display his far-right position and chant in support of the deportation of Palestinians from their homeland.

    “I am feeling joy because we occupied a lot of our country, [but] I feel very sad [we cannot go to Al-Aqsa],” Eliyahu said, before adding that his favourite chant was “Kahane was right”, a reference to the late ultranationalist Rabbi Meir Kahane, who inspired the Jewish gunman who killed 29 Palestinians in Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque massacre in 1994, and established Kach, a party that was later declared a “terrorist” organisation in Israel.

    “We need to transfer out the Arabs,” Eliyahu said. “We should have flattened Gaza last week.”

    “Kahane was right”, along with “Death to the Arabs” was a common refrain from many, but not all, of the marchers, hoisting thousands of Israeli flags and shouting through loudspeakers, throughout the day.

    A security personnel pushes away an Israeli man as Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir passes by Damascus gate to Jerusalem's Old city marking Jerusalem Day in Jerusalem May 18, 2023.
    Security personnel push away an Israeli man as Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir passes by Damascus gate to Jerusalem’s Old City marking Jerusalem Day in Jerusalem, May 18, 2023 [Ronen Zvulun/Reuters]

    Palestinians kept away

    Across the street from the Damascus Gate, where thousands of Jewish Israelis sang euphorically, dozens of Palestinian shops, markets and restaurants were closed off to public access, resembling the situation in the Old City itself.

    One Palestinian Christian shopkeeper told Al Jazeera that the shops had been closed to avoid any vandalisation from march attendees.

    There have been fears in the lead-up to the event that they could lead wider violence, with the situation in the occupied West Bank and Gaza already tense, following more than a year of almost-daily Israeli raids that have killed hundreds of Palestinians, and a four-day conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza that left at least 33 Palestinians and one Israeli dead.

    For Palestinians, events like the flag march serve as a reminder of the continuing occupation, and the treatment that many now refer to as “apartheid”.

    “We Palestinians receive the message that this is the day they celebrate on our account,” said Fakhri Abu Diab, a community leader in East Jerusalem whose al-Bustan community faced demolition by the Israeli authorities.

    Abu Diab had earlier on Thursday been detained in Al-Aqsa while he was being interviewed by an Israeli media outlet.

    He said that he was later released, but not before being told he was banned from the Old City for the rest of the day.

    “They don’t want me to talk on this day of their celebration – even to Israeli media,” Abu Diab said. “They prefer we stay in our homes and don’t disturb their celebration of conquering us.”

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  • Emirati-Turkish man extradited to UAE from Jordan: State media

    Emirati-Turkish man extradited to UAE from Jordan: State media

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    Khalaf al-Rumaithi had been sentenced in absentia in 2013 on charges of ‘establishing’ a secret organisation the banned Muslim Brotherhood.

    An Emirati-Turkish man sentenced in absentia 10 years ago by the United Arab Emirates government has been extradited from Jordan, state media has reported.

    Khalaf al-Rumaithi, an Emirati Turkish citizen according to rights groups, was described as a “terrorist” by the UAE official WAM news agency, which said he was facing a retrial.

    In 2013, al-Rumaithi was sentenced to 15 years in jail by the UAE’s Federal Supreme Court for “establishing a secret organisation affiliated with the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood”, WAM said.

    “According to the UAE Criminal Procedural Law, Khalaf Al-Rumaithi will be retried again, in accordance with the legal provisions, which stipulate that if an accused person is arrested against whom a judgment was passed in absentia or he turns himself in, he will be retried on the same charges against him,” WAM added.

    His case has drawn concern from rights groups, with Human Rights Watch and the Gulf Centre for Human Rights saying he is among 94 critics of the UAE government who faced an “unfair” mass trial that led to the conviction of 69 people.

    Al-Rumaithi’s “co-defendants have been unjustly languishing in Emirati prisons for over a decade”, said Joey Shea, UAE researcher at HRW.

    HRW said Jordan had detained al-Rumaithi, 58, at Amman’s international airport on May 7 when he arrived from Turkey, where he had been living in exile.

    Jordanian authorities temporarily detained him before releasing him on bail, HRW said. They detained him again on May 8 before he was extradited to the UAE.

    The UAE “will not hesitate to go after those wanted for justice and prosecute them in fair judicial process”, WAM said.

    The Muslim Brotherhood, which was formed in the last century to champion political Islam as an opposition group in Egypt and other countries in the region, is considered to be a terrorist group by the UAE and most Gulf Arab states.

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  • As Turkey heads to a presidential election run-off, what’s next?

    As Turkey heads to a presidential election run-off, what’s next?

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    After a hotly-contested first round of elections on Sunday, Turkey will have a run-off vote on May 28.

    Here’s what we may see happen next:

    What can we expect from the run-off?

    Analysts predict that incumbent candidate Recep Tayyip Erdogan is more likely to win in a second round as he garnered a five-percentage point advantage from Sunday’s first-round vote against his main contender, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

    With more than 99 percent of votes counted, Erdogan had received 49.51 percent of the vote, electoral chief Ahmet Yener said. Kilicdaroglu had secured 44.89 percent, according to Yener, citing results from the Supreme Election Council.

    Overall, Erdogan performed better than expected, with his alliance also managing to secure a majority in the 600-seat parliament.

    Political analyst Ali Carkoglu said Erdogan has “the momentum behind him” following those polls.

    “Erdogan maintained his base of support in the heartland of Anatolia, although he lost some support in the southeast … He also maintained some credible level of support in the big cities,” Carkoglu told Al Jazeera.

    “He was very successful also in the earthquake-hit regions. Some people find it surprising, but he apparently delivered what they expected of him and promises that he will deliver even better in the aftermath of the election,” the analyst added.

    Meanwhile, there are some members of the opposition who are disappointed with Kilicdaroglu and consider him the wrong candidate as he was not able to chip away the conservative votes, Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr said.

    As for the third-place candidate, Sinan Ogan, he did better than expected, making him the “kingmaker” because he could play a pivotal role in the outcome of a second round if he endorses one of the two candidates facing off in the second round.

    Ogan has yet to make any such endorsement. Onur Erim, an analyst at Dragoman Strategies, told Al Jazeera that he will want ministries or vice presidencies in exchange for an endorsement.

    What are the opposition’s challenges?

    The opposition alliance will have its work cut out for it in reassuring its supporters that it is the alliance that can take Erdogan out, given how dismayed they are about the results of the first round.

    Dozens of opposition officials were shocked at the poor result and are scrambling to rethink strategy, they told Reuters news agency.

    The opposition will have to appeal to factions of the population who are questioning Kilicdaroglu’s alliance with the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which the Turkish government considers to be a political wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The PKK has been fighting the Turkish state since the 1980s, during which time tens of thousands have died.

    But that may be a challenge, as Erdogan has linked the opposition to the PKK. At a rally before Sunday’s vote, he showed his supporters a fake video of a PKK commander singing an opposition campaign song.

    “We have two weeks. We need a quick recovery,” one official told Reuters.

    What would an Erdogan victory mean?

    An Erdogan win would grant him a third term, extending his two-decade rule and in continuation of him being the longest-serving leader the country has known.

    Under him, Turkey would see a continuation of the presidential system that was adopted in 2018.

    To relieve rising living costs, he has promised to introduce subsidised energy bills and hikes to pensions, public workers’ salaries and the minimum wage. Additionally, he will lower interest rates to tackle the country’s economic crisis.

    Erdogan also said he will wage an independent foreign policy that will continue to influence the region and elsewhere in Africa and Central Asia.

    Still, his critics say he has stifled dissent in the last decade of his rule, especially by cracking down on opposition groups.

    What would a Kilicdaroglu victory mean?

    A Kilicdaroglu win would symbolise the yearning of large parts of the electorate for change and would change Erdogan’s reputation as the country’s most electorally successful politician.

    The centrist leader is promising a return to a “strong parliamentary system”, a solution to the “Kurdish issue”, a return of Syrian refugees back home, and closer relations with the European Union and the United States under a more muted foreign policy.

    While promising further democratisation, the opposition has also said it will return to more conventional economic policies in a manifesto under the banner: “I promise you, spring will come again.”

    Still, Erdogan’s parliamentary majority will mean that the opposition will have a tough time passing legislation in the Grand National Assembly.

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  • Israeli forces shoot, kill Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials say

    Israeli forces shoot, kill Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials say

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    RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank on Monday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, the latest death in a spiral of violence that has rocked the region.

    The Health Ministry said 22-year-old Saleh Sabra was killed after being shot in the chest in the flashpoint West Bank city of Nablus, a frequent site of Israeli operations.

    The Israeli military said that troops preparing to demolish the home of a Palestinian attacker came under fire and shot back. Israel demolishes the homes of attackers in an attempt to deter others, a tactic critics say amounts to collective punishment.

    The death comes after more than a year of relentless violence in the West Bank, where the Israeli military has been conducting near-nightly raids in response to Palestinian attacks against Israelis. It also follows a deadly five-day burst of fighting between Israel and militants in the Gaza Strip.

    More than 250 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched the West Bank raids in March of last year, with 112 of those killed just this year according to a tally by The Associated Press. Israel says most of the dead were militants, but youths protesting the incursions and others not involved in the confrontations have also been killed. During the Gaza fighting last week, 33 Palestinians were killed, with 18 of them identified as militants.

    Since the violence erupted last year, 51 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks against Israelis.

    Tensions are expected to surge again later this week, when Israeli nationalists hold an annual march through the main Palestinian thoroughfare in Jerusalem’s Old City. The march, which marks the Israeli capture of east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, often gets rowdy, with participants chanting slurs against Arabs. The Palestinians see the gathering as provocative.

    In 2021, after weeks of Israeli-Palestinian unrest in Jerusalem, authorities changed the route of the march at the last minute to avoid the Palestinian area. But it was too late by then, and Hamas militants in Gaza fired a barrage of rockets toward Jerusalem as the procession was getting underway. That set off 11 days of heavy fighting in Gaza.

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