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CAIRO: Qatari, Egyptian and US leaders called on Israel and Hamas to resume urgent talks on Aug. 15 either in Doha or Cairo to bridge all remaining gaps in the proposed Gaza ceasefire agreement and start implementing it without any delay, the three countries said in a joint statement on Thursday.
“It is the time to conclude a ceasefire agreement and release hostages and prisoners,” the statement added.
SAO PAULO: Supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro began flooding Sao Paulo’s main boulevard for an Independence Day rally Saturday, buoyed by the government’s blocking of tech billionaire Elon Musk’s X platform, a ban they say is proof of their political persecution.
A few thousand demonstrators, clad in the yellow-and-green colors of Brazil’s flag, poured onto Av. Paulista. References to the ban on X and images of Musk abounded.
“Thank you for defending our freedom,” read one banner praising the tech entrepreneur.
Saturday’s march is a test of Bolsonaro’s capacity to mobilize turnout ahead of the October municipal elections, even though Brazil’s electoral court has barred him from running for office until 2030. It’s also something of a referendum on X, whose suspension has raised eyebrows even among some of Bolsonaro’s opponents all the while stoking the flames of Brazil’s deep-seated political polarization.
“A country without liberty can’t celebrate anything this day,” Bolsonaro wrote on his Instagram account Sept 4., urging Brazilians to stay away from official independence day parades and instead join him in Sao Paulo.
Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered X’s nationwide ban on Aug. 30 after months of feuding with Musk over the limits of free speech. The powerful judge has spearheaded efforts to ban far-right users from spreading misinformation on social media, and he ramped up his clampdown after die-hard Bolsonaro supporters ransacked Congress and the presidential palace on Jan. 8, 2023, in an attempt to overturn Bolsonaro’s defeat in the presidential election.
The ban is red meat to Bolsonaro’s allies, who have accused the judiciary and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s government of colluding to silence their movement.
“Elon Musk has been a warrior for freedom of speech,” staunch Bolsonaro ally and lawmaker Bia Kicis said in an interview. “The right is being oppressed, massacred, because the left doesn’t want the right to exist.”
“Our liberties are in danger, we need to make our voices heard. De Moraes is a tyrant, he should be impeached, and people on the streets is the only thing that will convince politicians to do it,” added retiree Amaro Santos as he walked down the thoroughfare Saturday,
Musk, a self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist,” has also urged Brazilians to turn out in droves for the rally, resharing someone else’s post claiming that X’s ban had awakened people “to the fact that freedom isn’t free and needs to be fought for.” He’s also created an X account, named for the controversial jurist, to publish sealed court orders directing X to shut down accounts deemed unlawful.
But De Moraes’ decision to ban X was far from arbitrary, having been upheld by fellow Supreme Court justices. And while expression, online and elsewhere, is more easily censored under Brazil’s laws than it is in the US, Musk has emerged as both a cause célèbre and a mouthpiece for unrestricted free speech.
Since 2019, X has shut down 226 accounts of far-right activities accused of undermining Brazil’s democracy, including those of lawmakers affiliated with Bolsonaro’s party, according to court records.
But when it refused to take action on some accounts, de Moraes warned last month that its legal representative could be arrested, prompting X to disband its local office. The US-based company refused to name a new representative — as required in order to receive court notices — and de Moraes ordered its nationwide suspension until it did so.
A Supreme Court panel unanimously upheld de Moraes’ decision to block X days later, undermining Musk’s efforts to cast him as an authoritarian bent on censoring political speech.
The more controversial component of his ruling was the levy of a whopping $9,000 daily fine for regular Brazilians using virtual private networks (VPNs) to access X.
“Some of these measures that have been adopted by the Supreme Court appear to be quite onerous and abusive,” said Andrei Roman, CEO of Brazil-based pollster Atlas Intel.
In the lead-up to Saturday’s protest, some right-wing politicians defied de Moraes’ ban and brazenly used a VPN to publish posts on X, calling for people to partake in the protests.
The march in Sao Paulo is organized in parallel to official events to celebrate Brazil’s anniversary of independence from Portugal. Commemorations have been fraught with tension in recent years, as Bolsonaro used them while in office to rally supporters and show political strength.
Three years ago, he threatened to plunge the country into a constitutional crisis when he declared he would no longer abide de Moraes’ rulings. He has since toned down the attacks — a reflection of his own delicate legal situation.
Bolsonaro has been indicted twice since his term ended in 2022, most recently for alleged money laundering in connection with undeclared diamonds from Saudi Arabia. De Moraes is overseeing an investigation into the Jan. 8 riot, including whether Bolsonaro had a role in inciting it.
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Huge numbers of Israelis again poured into the streets to protest the government’s failure to secure the return of remaining hostages in Gaza, while hospital and local authorities said Israeli air raids in the territory killed more than a dozen people overnight into Saturday.
The new protest came a week after one of the largest demonstrations of the war following the discovery of another six dead hostages in Gaza, and after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back against pressure for a ceasefire deal and declared that “no one will preach to me.”
“I think even those who were maybe reluctant to go out, who are not used to protest, who are sad but prefer to be in private space within their sadness, understood our voice must join together to one huge scream: Bring the hostages with a deal. Do not risk their lives,” said one protester in Tel Aviv, Efrat Machikawa, niece of hostage Gadi Moses.
Israel has been under increasing pressure from the United States and other allies to reach a ceasefire deal, but Netanyahu insists on continued Israeli control of the Philadelphi corridor, a narrow band along Gaza’s border with Egypt where Israel contends Hamas smuggles weapons. Egypt and Hamas deny it.
Inside Gaza, health workers wrapped up the second phase of an urgent polio vaccination campaign designed to prevent a large-scale outbreak. The drive, launched after the first polio case in the Palestinian enclave in 25 years, aims to vaccinate 640,000 children during a war that has destroyed the health care system. The third phase of vaccinations will be in the north.
Israel kept up its military offensive. In central Gaza’s urban refugee camp of Nuseirat, Al-Awda Hospital said it received the bodies of nine people killed in two air raids. One hit a residential building, killing four people and wounding at least 10, while five people were killed in a strike on a house in western Nuseirat.
Separately, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, central Gaza’s main hospital, said a woman and her two children were killed in a strike on a house in the nearby urban refugee camp of Bureij.
In northern Gaza, an airstrike on a school-turned-shelter for displaced people in the town of Jabaliya killed at least four people and wounded about two dozen others, according to Gaza’s Civil Defense authority, which operates under the territory’s Hamas-run government. Israel’s military said it struck a Hamas command post embedded in a former school compound.
The war began when Hamas and other militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people, primarily civilians. Hamas is believed to still be holding more than 100 hostages. Israeli authorities estimate about a third are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. The ministry says more than 94,000 people have been wounded.
Violence has also spiked in the occupied West Bank. A dayslong military operation in Jenin left dozens of dead.
A day after an American protester was shot and killed in the West Bank, her family urged President Joe Biden to order an independent investigation, saying that “given the circumstances of (her) killing, an Israeli investigation is not adequate.” Their statement called the 26-year-old recent university graduate a “ray of sunshine” and an advocate for human dignity.
Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, who also holds Turkish nationality, was shot in the head, two Palestinian doctors said. She had been demonstrating against Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Witnesses said she was shot during a moment of calm following earlier clashes.
The White House has said it was “deeply disturbed” and called on Israel to investigate. The Israeli military said it was looking into reports that troops had killed a foreign national while firing at an “instigator of violent activity.”
More than 500,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, a territory captured by Israel in 1967. Israeli raids, attacks by Palestinian militants on Israelis and attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians have left more than 690 Palestinians dead since the Israel-Hamas war began in October, according to Palestinian health officials.
In Gaza, Hamas has accused Israel of dragging out ceasefire negotiations by issuing new demands. Hamas has offered to release all hostages in return for an end to the war, the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces and the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners, including high-profile militants — broadly the terms called for under an outline for a deal put forward by Biden in July.
Along the border with Lebanon, near-daily clashes continued between Israeli forces and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
An Israeli drone strike hit a Lebanese Civil Defense team fighting a fire in the town of Froun, killing three volunteers and wounding two others, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said. The blaze was sparked by a previous Israeli strike, the statement said. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
Israel’s military said some 45 rockets were fired at northern Israel in several barrages, many targeting the Mount Meron area but falling in open areas. Several rockets fell in Shlomi and around the city of Safed. There were no injuries. The military later said its jets struck Hezbollah military infrastructure and a rocket launcher in the area of Qabrikha in southern Lebanon.
MISANO ADRIATICO: Jorge Martin claimed a statement victory in Saturday’s sprint race at the San Marino and Rimini Riviera MotoGP, extending his overall lead over reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia with a stunning performance.
Pramac rider Martin is 26 points in front of pole-sitter Bagnaia ahead of the main event Grand Prix on Sunday after charging to an unexpected second sprint win of the season.
The Spaniard, who won at Misano Adriatico last year, started in fourth on the grid but got away like lightning and was ahead of Bagnaia by the first turn.
He comfortably held off Ducati’s Bagnaia for the rest of the 13-lap sprint and crossed the finish line 1.495 seconds in front of his Italian rival, improving his position at the top of the standings.
“Today I expected maybe to be fighting with Pecco (Bagnaia) but I didn’t expect to do that start,” said Martin.
“I even had a gap to keep for the last two laps so super happy. For tomorrow it’s another story but I feel confident that we are in a good way, super good and super fast.”
Martin has not won a GP since the French back in May but his consistency has helped him accumulate a decent advantage as he searches for his first MotoGP title. The 27-year-old had finished second in both the sprint and GP at four of the previous five events and his display on Saturday means he cannot be overtaken in the standings this weekend by Bagnaia, regardless of what happens in Sunday’s race.
It was a big blow for Bagnaia, who was favorite to cut the gap separating him from Martin after claiming pole position with a record-breaking fastest lap at the “Marco Simoncelli” circuit earlier on Saturday.
Two-time champion Bagnaia is riding with injuries to his shoulder, neck and collarbone after crashing out of last weekend’s Aragon MotoGP but looked in great form before Martin left him for dust.
“I’m absolutely not happy ... The start was a disaster, I lost first position and from that moment it was very difficult,” said Bagnaia.
“In any case, second position after what happened last week is OK. We will work to improve the start because it was a disaster and try to be in a better shape tomorrow.”
Bagnaia is at least helped by this weekend being the first of two in a row at the Misano, as the same circuit is being used later in September for the Emilia Romagna GP which replaces the canceled race in Kazakhstan.
Marc Marquez, a double winner at Alcaniz last weekend, had a harder time in Italy and lost ground on Martin, dropping to 77 points off the summit in third after finishing the sprint in sixth place.
Six-time champion Marquez battled up the rankings from his starting position of ninth on the grid, but has been caught on 234 points by Enea Bastianini.
PARIS: A Paris court in May detained and charged a couple on accusations that they were involved in Iranian plots to kill Jews in Germany and France, police sources told AFP.
Authorities charged Abdelkrim S., 34, and his partner Sabrina B., 33, on May 4 with conspiring with a criminal terrorist organization and placed them in pre-trial detention.
The case, known as “Marco Polo” and revealed Thursday by French news website Mediapart, signals a revival in Iranian state-sponsored terrorism in Europe, according to a report by France’s General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI) consulted by AFP.
“Since 2015, the Iranian (secret) services have resumed a targeted killing policy,” the French security agency wrote, adding that “the threat has worsened again in the context of the Israel-Hamas war.”
The alleged objective for Iranian intelligence was to target civilians and sow fear in Europe among the country’s political opposition as well as among Jews and Israelis.
Iran is accused of recruiting criminals, including drug lords, to conduct such operations.
Abdelkrim S. was previously sentenced to 10 years behind bars over a killing in Marseille and released on probation in July 2023.
He is accused of being the main France-based operative for an Iran-sponsored terrorist cell that planned acts of violence in France and Germany.
A former fellow inmate is believed to have connected the suspect with the cell’s coordinator, a major drug trafficker from the Lyon area who likely visited Iran in May, according to the DGSI.
The group intended to attack a Paris-based former employee at an Israeli security firm and three of his colleagues residing in the Paris suburbs.
Three Israeli-German citizens in Munich and Berlin were also among the targets.
Investigators believe that Abdelkrim S. despite his probation made multiple trips to Germany for scouting purposes, including travels to Berlin with his wife.
He denied the accusations and said he simply had purchases to make.
French authorities are also crediting the cell with plots to set fire to four Israeli-owned companies in the south of France between late December 2023 and early January 2024, said a police source.
Abdelkrim S. while in detention rejected the claims, the source added, saying he had acted as a go-between on Telegram for the mastermind and other individuals involved in a planned insurance scam.
SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq: An Iranian Kurdish activist was extradited from Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region back to Iran, the opposition group he belongs to said on Saturday, an account disputed by local authorities.
Behzad Khosrawi was arrested last week by security forces in the northern city of Sulaimaniyah and handed over to “Iranian intelligence,” said the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), one of several Iranian Kurdish groups exiled for decades in northern Iraq.
“He is a member of an opposition political party... and enjoys the right to asylum as a political refugee,” said the group, condemning his extradition.
Local security forces, called Asayesh, said Khosrawi was arrested “because he did not have residency” in the Kurdish region, denying he had any connection to “political activism.”
Khosrawi “asked to return to the Islamic Republic of Iran” and signed a document stating this, the Asayesh added in a statement.
The KDPI said Khosrawi, a member of their party, “had been living with his mother and sister in Sulaimaniyah for more than 10 years... and their residency was in order.”
He had been given refugee status by the UN refugee agency UNHCR, the KDPI said.
Iran considers the KDPI a “terrorist” organization.
Iranian Kurdish groups, whose members are made up of Iran’s long-marginalized Kurdish minority, have trained to use weapons from their outposts in northern Iraq for decades.
After several Iranian strikes on the groups, Iraqi authorities in late 2023 pledged to disarm these factions and move them from bases near the Iranian border to camps.
Tehran has accused the Kurdish opposition groups of inciting mass protest in Iran in 2022, after the death of Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police.
