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Trump warns ‘hell to pay’ if Gaza hostages not freed before his inauguration

Trump warns ‘hell to pay’ if Gaza hostages not freed before his inauguration
US President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with House Republicans at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Washington on Nov. 13, 2024. (Reuters/File)
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Updated 03 December 2024
AFP
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Trump warns ‘hell to pay’ if Gaza hostages not freed before his inauguration

Trump warns ‘hell to pay’ if Gaza hostages not freed before his inauguration
  • Trump has vowed staunch support for Israel and to dispense with Biden’s occasional criticism
  • Israel’s retaliatory campaign post Oct. 7 has killed more than 44,000 people in Gaza
Updated 03 December 2024
AFP
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WASHINGTON: US President-elect Donald Trump on Monday warned Gaza militants of massive repercussions if hostages are not released by the time he takes office.
The threat comes after exhaustive diplomacy by outgoing President Joe Biden’s administration that has so far failed to secure a deal that would both end Israel’s war in Gaza and free hostages seized 14 months ago.
“If the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!“
Trump has vowed staunch support for Israel and to dispense with Biden’s occasional criticism, but has also spoken of his desire to secure deals on the world stage.
Hamas staged the deadliest ever attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. The assault resulted in 1,208 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Militants seized 251 hostages during the attack, some of whom were already dead. Of those, 97 are still held in Gaza, including 35 the army says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed 44,429 people in Gaza, according to figures from the territory’s health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.

Fighting resumes in eastern Congo despite ceasefire between army and rebels

Fighting resumes in eastern Congo despite ceasefire between army and rebels
Updated 54 min 18 sec ago
AP
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Fighting resumes in eastern Congo despite ceasefire between army and rebels

Fighting resumes in eastern Congo despite ceasefire between army and rebels
  • M23 is one of a 100 armed groups that have been vying for a foothold in eastern Congo near the border with Rwanda
  • The conflict has created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, with more than 7 million people displaced
Updated 54 min 18 sec ago
AP

GOMA, Congo: Fighting between the Congolese army and the M23 rebel group resumed in eastern Congo in yet another ceasefire violation ahead of potential mediation talks, both groups said.
The army said in a statement it inflicted heavy losses on the rebels in the Lubero territory of North Kivu province Monday, including several dead and wounded. An M23 spokesperson said on X the group also was attacked by the army early Tuesday.
M23 is one of a 100 armed groups that have been vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo near the border with Rwanda, in a conflict that has created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises. More than 7 million people have been displaced.
Congo and the United Nations accuse Rwanda of backing M23. Rwanda denies the claim, but in February admitted that it has troops and missile systems in eastern Congo to safeguard its security, pointing to a buildup of Congolese forces near the border. UN experts estimate there are up to 4,000 Rwandan forces in Congo.
Last week, Congo and Rwanda’s foreign ministers agreed on the terms and conditions of the disengagement of Rwandan forces in eastern Congo.
In July, Congo signed a ceasefire with M23, which came into effect in August, but fighting has resumed since. Earlier this month, the United States said it was “gravely concerned” by ceasefire violations by M23 rebels.
The resumption of fighting comes as Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame are set to meet on Dec. 15, according to the state news agency of Angola, which has been mediating the conflict. It would be their first official meeting since last year.

Topics: Congo

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Cambodian court jails 13 pregnant Filipino surrogates

Cambodian court jails 13 pregnant Filipino surrogates
Updated 03 December 2024
AFP
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Cambodian court jails 13 pregnant Filipino surrogates

Cambodian court jails 13 pregnant Filipino surrogates
  • The 13 were among 24 foreign women detained by Cambodian police in Kandal province in September
  • A Cambodian woman, who cooked meals for the Filipino women, was also jailed for two months and one day
Updated 03 December 2024
AFP

Phnom Penh: A Cambodian court has sentenced 13 pregnant Filipino women to four years in jail for acting as surrogate mothers, in the latest crackdown on the outlawed practice.
The 13 were among 24 foreign women detained by Cambodian police in Kandal province in September and charged with attempted cross-border human trafficking, according to a statement from the Kandal court.
Following a trial, the court on Monday sentenced the 13 to “four years in prison,” although two years of the sentence would be suspended, the statement said.
The court said it had strong evidence showing that the 13 “have the intention... to have babies to sell to a third person in exchange for money, which is an act of human trafficking.”
The court statement did not give details on what would happen to the babies of the 13 when they were born.
A Cambodian woman, who cooked meals for the Filipino women, was also jailed for two months and one day for being an accomplice, the court said.
Seven other Filipino and four Vietnamese women, who were not pregnant, have been deported from Cambodia, Chou Bun Eng, vice-chair of Cambodia’s National Committee for Counter Trafficking, told AFP on Tuesday.
In 2016, Cambodia issued a snap ban on commercial surrogacy after neighboring Thailand pulled the plug on the trade the previous year — putting an abrupt end to a thriving industry for hopeful parents, many from Australia and the United States.
But demand for commercial surrogacy remains high after China eased its one-child policy and agencies in Cambodia continue to offer the service.
Sources in the kingdom have previously told AFP that couples — mostly from China — are willing to pay between $40,000 to $100,000 to surrogacy agents to find a Cambodian woman who can carry their child.
In 2018, an Australian nurse who ran a surrogacy clinic was jailed for 18 months in Cambodia.
Dozens of Cambodian women paid to carry babies for Chinese clients were also arrested in recent years but they were released on bail after agreeing to keep the children.

Topics: Philippines

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Indian police arrest seven from Hindu group for breaking into Bangladesh consulate

Indian police arrest seven from Hindu group for breaking into Bangladesh consulate
Updated 03 December 2024
Reuters
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Indian police arrest seven from Hindu group for breaking into Bangladesh consulate

Indian police arrest seven from Hindu group for breaking into Bangladesh consulate
  • Attack comes after Bangladesh arrested a Hindu religious leader, Chinmoy Krishna Das, last week
  • Das, charged with sedition, is associated with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
Updated 03 December 2024
Reuters

GUWAHATI, India: Police in India’s northeastern state of Tripura arrested seven members of a Hindu group and charged them with breaking into the Bangladesh consulate and vandalising property, a police officer said on Tuesday.
The move came hours after after Muslim-majority Bangladesh called for immediate action against protesters who broke into the consulate, saying they tore down its main gate, damaged property and desecrated the national flag.
Those arrested were part of demonstrations organized by the Hindu Sangharsha Samiti, a group that says it protects Hindu interests, after Bangladesh arrested a Hindu religious leader, Chinmoy Krishna Das, last week.
“Around 50 of them broke into the property’s main gate, and brought down the Bangladeshi flag post,” said district police officer Kiran Kumar K. in west Tripura.
Among the 4,000 protesters were more people involved in the break-in and police were investigating, he said, adding that disciplinary action had been taken against four police officers in charge of consulate security.
In a statement on Monday, India’s foreign ministry called the incident deeply regrettable, adding that diplomatic and consular properties should not be targeted under any circumstances.
In a post on X, Tarique Rahman, the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and the acting president of her Bangladesh Nationalist Party, criticized the attack, saying such incidents caused division and discord among neighbors.
Das, arrested last week at the airport in Dhaka, the capital, on charges of sedition, among others, is associated with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.
His arrest sparked protests in Dhaka and the southern port city of Chittagong, where his supporters clashed with security forces.
Hindu-majority India had also condemned the arrest and expressed concern over attacks on Hindus and other minorities in Muslim-majority Bangladesh.

Death toll in Thailand flooding jumps to 25

Death toll in Thailand flooding jumps to 25
Updated 03 December 2024
AFP
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Death toll in Thailand flooding jumps to 25

Death toll in Thailand flooding jumps to 25
  • Flooding since November 22 has affected more than 660,000 homes in the kingdom’s south
  • Heavy monsoon rains lash Southeast Asia every year, but human-made climate change is causing more intense weather patterns
Updated 03 December 2024
AFP

BANGKOK: Thousands of people have been displaced by torrential floodwaters that slammed into southern Thailand, where the death toll has risen to 25, officials said on Tuesday.
Flooding since November 22 has affected more than 660,000 homes in the kingdom’s south, the country’s disaster agency said on its Facebook page.
Suwas Bin-Uma, a chicken farm owner in Songkhla province, told state broadcaster Thai PBS that the floods had wiped out his entire flock of more than 10,000 chickens.
“I’ve lost at least three million baht ($87,000),” he said.
More than 22,000 people have been displaced from their homes due to flooding in Pattani, Narathiwat, Songkhla and Yala provinces, the Thai government’s public relations department said on Monday.
Footage on social media showed residents in Songkhla province stacking up sandbags in front of their homes on Monday in an attempt to block the swelling floodwater.
The head of a village in Yala province, Abdullah Abu, told local media that flooding in his area had reached up to seven meters (23 feet).
People were receiving one meal a day from a rescue team, he told Channel 7.
In neighboring Malaysia’s Kelantan state, AFP images showed houses surrounded by inundated land and residents scooping water out of their homes.
Malaysian disaster officials said on Tuesday that more than 94,000 people were yet to return to their homes after being evacuated due to the floods, with five people reported dead.
Heavy monsoon rains lash Southeast Asia every year, but human-made climate change is causing more intense weather patterns that can make destructive floods more likely.
Climate change is causing typhoons to form closer to the coast, intensify faster and stay longer over land, according to a study published in July.
Thailand’s weather agency forecast more heavy rain for the south until December 5.
On Tuesday, the Thai cabinet approved a 9,000 baht payment per family to support those affected.
Thailand’s northern provinces were hit by heavy floods in early September as Typhoon Yagi swept in from the South China Sea over Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar.
The storm triggered flooding and landslides across the region and killed hundreds.
One Thai district reported its heaviest inundation in 80 years while the UN’s World Food Programme said the floods wrought by Yagi in Myanmar were the worst in the country’s recent history.

Topics: Thailand

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Indonesia minister says hopeful of deal soon on transfer of Bali nine members to Australia

Indonesia minister says hopeful of deal soon on transfer of Bali nine members to Australia
Updated 03 December 2024
Reuters
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Indonesia minister says hopeful of deal soon on transfer of Bali nine members to Australia

Indonesia minister says hopeful of deal soon on transfer of Bali nine members to Australia
Updated 03 December 2024
Reuters
JAKARTA: There were still many things to discuss on repatriating the five remaining members of the ‘Bali Nine’ drug ring to Australia and hopefully an understanding can be reached soon, Indonesia’s senior minister on legal affairs Yusril Ihza Mahendra said.
The announcement was made after the minister met with Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke in Jakarta on Tuesday.
“Hopefully we could find an understanding,” Yusril said, adding that he hoped to resolve the matter this month.
Indonesia has no regulations regarding transfer of prisoners, but the deal was initiated by President Prabowo Subianto’s good intentions, Yusril said.
Yusril said Indonesia would respect any decision taken by the country of origin of the prisoners, including an amnesty, adding that this was a transfer of prisoners and not an exchange.
Last month, Law Minister Supratman Andi Agtas said Indonesia had agreed in principle to transfer the five prisoners, who are currently serving life sentences, after Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese raised the issue with Prabowo.
Supratman had said Jakarta was seeking the repatriation of Indonesian prisoners held in Australia as part of the deal.
The Bali Nine were arrested in 2005 as they attempted to smuggle heroin out of the Indonesian resort island.
Two of the group’s ringleaders, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, were executed in 2015, and Australia recalled its ambassador in protest.
One of the members was released from prison in 2018, and another died of cancer the same year.
Indonesia last month agreed to repatriate Mary Jane Veloso, a Philippine woman on death row for drug trafficking, to serve the rest of her sentence in her home country.
France has also asked for the repatriation of a prisoner from Indonesia, Supratman said last month.

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