Hamas says US airman ‘immortal’ for self-immolation Gaza protest

Hamas says US airman ‘immortal’ for self-immolation Gaza protest
People participate in a memorial during a vigil for US Airman Aaron Bushnell, who died after setting himself on fire in front of the Israeli Embassy in Washington on Feb. 25 in an apparent act of protest against the war in Gaza, in Washington, on Feb. 26, 2024. (Reuters)
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Updated 27 February 2024
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Hamas says US airman ‘immortal’ for self-immolation Gaza protest

Hamas says US airman ‘immortal’ for self-immolation Gaza protest
  • The militant group said it was “an expression of the growing state of anger among the American people” over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza
  • The airman “will remain immortal in the memory of our Palestinian people and the free people of the world,” Hamas said

JERUSALEM: Hamas on Tuesday said a US airman who died after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington would “remain immortal” for his shocking anti-war protest.
Footage of the self-immolation was widely shared online, and the militant group said it was “an expression of the growing state of anger among the American people” over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
The war was sparked by the Palestinian militant group’s surprise October 7 attack on southern Israel that resulted in the death of 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.
Israel’s military launched a devastating response, aimed at destroying Hamas, that in less than five months has killed nearly 30,000 people in the Gaza Strip, most of them women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
The airman “will remain immortal in the memory of our Palestinian people and the free people of the world, and a symbol of the spirit of global human solidarity with our people and their just cause,” Hamas said in a statement issued in English.
In the footage of Sunday’s protest, the military fatigues-wearing man declares he will “not be complicit in genocide” before dousing himself in liquid, lighting himself on fire and yelling “Free Palestine!” until he collapses.
His death was announced on Monday.
Some members of US President Joe Biden’s Democratic Party are attempting to press him on his support for Israel, with Arab American voters in Michigan pledging to vote “uncommitted” or write in “Free Palestine” on their ballots in the state’s primary on Tuesday.
The White House has tried to assuage Arab and Muslim voters’ concerns in part by portraying the president as frustrated with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.


Ukraine, Middle East conflicts eating into US air defense stocks, US admiral says

Ukraine, Middle East conflicts eating into US air defense stocks, US admiral says
Updated 6 sec ago
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Ukraine, Middle East conflicts eating into US air defense stocks, US admiral says

Ukraine, Middle East conflicts eating into US air defense stocks, US admiral says
  • Paparo said the expenditure of US air defenses “imposes costs on the readiness” of the United States to respond in the Asia-Pacific, particularly given that China is the most capable adversary in the world

WASHINGTON: Conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East are eating into US stockpiles of air defenses, the top US admiral overseeing American forces in the Asia-Pacific region said on Tuesday.
The admission by Admiral Sam Paparo could draw the attention of members of President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration, who are more skeptical of the war in Ukraine and who argue that President Joe Biden has failed to prepare for a potential conflict with China.
“With some of the Patriots that have been employed, some of the air-to-air missiles that have been employed, it’s now eating into stocks and to say otherwise would be dishonest,” Paparo, head of the US Indo-Pacific Command, said during an event.
Paparo said the expenditure of US air defenses “imposes costs on the readiness” of the United States to respond in the Asia-Pacific, particularly given that China is the most capable adversary in the world.
Biden’s administration has been steadily arming Ukraine and Israel with its most sophisticated air defenses. The US Navy has been directly defending shipping in the Red Sea in the face of missile and drone attacks from Houthi rebels in Yemen.
In the case of Ukraine, Biden has given Kyiv a full array of defenses, including Patriot missiles and National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile systems.
The United States last month deployed to Israel a THAAD, or the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, and about 100 US troops to operate it. The THAAD is a critical part of the US military’s layered air defense systems.


Progressive senators call to block US arms sales to Israel

Progressive senators call to block US arms sales to Israel
Updated 43 min 49 sec ago
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Progressive senators call to block US arms sales to Israel

Progressive senators call to block US arms sales to Israel
  • The Vermont representative told reporters that “what is happening in Gaza today is unspeakable,” pointing in particular to the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians in the Palestinian territory, as well as large-scale destruction of buildings
  • The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says the death toll from the ongoing war has reached 43,972 people, the majority civilians

WASHINGTON: A handful of left-leaning senators on Tuesday called on the Biden administration to halt arms sales to Israel, accusing the United States of playing a key role in the “atrocities” of the war in Gaza.
The four senators gave the media conference ahead of a Wednesday vote on resolutions condemning the US weapons sales — measures that are expected to fail given the large number of lawmakers who support Israel, a historic American ally.
The resolutions were put forth by progressive Senator Bernie Sanders, alongside several other Democrats.

A Palestinian man bids carries the remains of a person killed in an Israeli strike, at the al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on November 17, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas militant group. (AFP)

The Vermont representative told reporters that “what is happening in Gaza today is unspeakable,” pointing in particular to the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians in the Palestinian territory, as well as large-scale destruction of buildings and infrastructure.
“What makes it even more painful is that much of what is happening there has been done with US weapons and with American taxpayer support,” he said.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says the death toll from the ongoing war has reached 43,972 people, the majority civilians. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.
The war began first began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
The administration of President Joe Biden has steadfastly backed Israel while counseling restraint for more than a year.
“The United States of America is complicit in these atrocities,” Sanders said. “That complicity must end and that is what these resolutions are about.”
Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen, also speaking at the media conference, questioned whether America’s foreign policy and commitment to Israel had forced the United States to “be blind to the suffering before our very eyes?“
 

 


French president urges Putin to ‘listen to reason’ on Ukraine

French president urges Putin to ‘listen to reason’ on Ukraine
Updated 19 min 28 sec ago
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French president urges Putin to ‘listen to reason’ on Ukraine

French president urges Putin to ‘listen to reason’ on Ukraine
  • Emmanuel Macron said he had asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to "use all his influence" with Putin to try to achieve a de-escalation.

RIO DE JANEIRO: French President Emmanuel Macron urged his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to “listen to reason” on Ukraine, accusing Moscow of becoming “a force of global destabilization” after it loosened its rules on using nuclear arms.
Speaking to journalists after the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, the French leader said: “I want truly to call here on Russia to listen to reason. As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council it has responsibilities.”
He said he had asked Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting at the G20 to “use all his influence” with Putin to try to achieve a de-escalation.
Macron said Russia ally China had “the capacity to negotiate with President Putin so that he halts his attacks” on Ukraine.
Macron also cited the alleged involvement of another China ally, North Korea, which has reportedly deployed thousands of troops to fight alongside Russia, as a reason for Beijing to intercede.
Russia has reacted furiously to a decision by US President Joe Biden to change policy on Ukraine and allow Kyiv to use US-supplied long-range missiles to strike Russian territory for the first time.
The tensions spiralled further on Tuesday after Russia said Ukraine used the missiles against a facility in Russia’s Bryansk region.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who was at the G20, said the escalation had brought the United States and Russia to “the brink of direct military conflict.”


’You will die in lies!’: daughter clashes with father at French rape trial

’You will die in lies!’: daughter clashes with father at French rape trial
Updated 35 min 12 sec ago
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’You will die in lies!’: daughter clashes with father at French rape trial

’You will die in lies!’: daughter clashes with father at French rape trial
  • A total of 51 men, including Dominique Pelicot, are on trial, with one defendant still at large

AVIGNON, France: The daughter of the French man standing trial for enlisting dozens of strangers to rape his heavily-sedated wife on Tuesday clashed with her father at his trial, shouting in the courtroom that he would “die in lies.”
Since early September, Dominique Pelicot has been in the dock along with 49 other men for organizing the rapes and sexual abuse of his now ex-wife Gisele Pelicot.
In a closing statement, Dominique Pelicot again admitted to the accusations, saying that his “motive” was wanting to satisfy a “fantasy.”
“I came to do what I did through people who willingly accepted what I proposed,” he told the court.
Dominique Pelicot, as in previous statements, went back to his past, saying that he was affected throughout his life by a rape he said he suffered at the age of nine in hospital, and then at the age of 14 being forced to witness the gang-rape of a young girl at a building site.
“I don’t know when I’ll get out, but if I do get out (of prison), I don’t have any plans. What saddens me the most is that people think I’m capable of certain things that I’m not capable of doing,” he added.
Family lawyer Antoine Camus then interjected that Dominique Pelicot’s daughter Caroline Darian, joined in court by her brothers David and Florian, needed an “audible and human response” to the actions she says she is “convinced” she suffered at his hands.
Caroline Darian, a pen name, in 2022, wrote a book “Et j’ai cesse de t’appeler papa” (“And I stopped calling you dad“). She believes she was also assaulted by her father who took intimate photographs of her.
“I am not going to try to convince her with perverse answers,” Dominique Pelicot replied.
“I don’t remember taking these photos. I tell her straight in the eyes that I never touched her.”
He then turned to her directly and said: “Caroline, I have never done anything to you.”
But she interrupted, saying: “You lie, you don’t have the courage to tell the truth! Even about your ex-wife!“
“You will die in lies! Alone, alone in lies Dominique Pelicot!,” she continued before being interrupted by judge Roger Arata.
Nude photos taken without her knowledge and photomontages of Caroline Darian with lewd titles were found on her father’s hard drive. In some, she appears asleep, sometimes wearing her mother’s underwear.
A total of 51 men, including Dominique Pelicot, are on trial, with one defendant still at large.
 

 


Third Russian strike in 3 days kills more Ukrainian civilians

Third Russian strike in 3 days kills more Ukrainian civilians
Updated 19 November 2024
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Third Russian strike in 3 days kills more Ukrainian civilians

Third Russian strike in 3 days kills more Ukrainian civilians

KYIV: A third Russian strike in three days on a civilian residential area in Ukraine killed at least 12 people, including a child, officials said Tuesday, as the war reached its 1,000th day.

The strike by a Shahed drone in the northern Sumy region injured 11 others, including two children, Ukraine’s Rescue Services said, adding that more people could be trapped under the rubble.

The attack late Monday night hit a dormitory of an educational facility in the town of Hlukhiv, the regional administration said.

Ukraine has repeatedly been clobbered by Russian drones and missiles, while on the battlefield it is under severe Russian pressure at places on the about 1,000-kilometer front line where its army is stretched thin against a bigger adversary.

On Sunday, a Russian ballistic missile with cluster munitions struck a residential area of Sumy in northern Ukraine, killing 11 people and injuring 84 others.

On Monday, a Russian missile barrage sparked apartment fires in the southern port of Odesa, killing at least 10 people and injuring 43.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the series of aerial strikes proved that Russian President Vladimir Putin was not interest in ending the war.

“Each new attack by Russia only confirms Putin’s true intentions. He wants the war to continue. Talks about peace are not interesting to him. We must force Russia to a just peace by force,” Zelenskyy said.