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GENEVA: The United Nations warned Saturday that dire fuel shortages in the Gaza Strip had reached “critical levels,” threatening to dramatically increase the suffering in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.
“After almost two years of war, people in Gaza are facing extreme hardships, including widespread food insecurity. When fuel runs out, it places an unbearable new burden on a population teetering on the edge of starvation,” seven UN agencies cautioned in a joint statement.
NAIROBI: South Sudan’s opposition said Saturday it had misidentified a prisoner in a photograph as a bodyguard of its leader who died in custody amid widespread arrests of their supporters.
In a statement, the opposition said the leader’s office had been given an old photo and wrongly believed it showed the death in custody of Luka Gathok Nyuon.
The opposition had previously identified Nyuon as a bodyguard to the opposition leader and ex-vice president Riek Machar.
“It has come to my attention that this photo was in fact taken few years back in Rumbek prison and does not... (show) our fallen comrade,” opposition SPLA-IO party spokesman Lam Paul Gabriel said in a statement, without giving details on the bodyguard’s current circumstances.
The statement on X said Nyuon “passed on in detention in Juba.”
The government of President Salva Kiir has locked up dozens of opposition members in recent months, accusing them of fomenting violence.
The opposition says Kiir is seeking to consolidate power and has effectively destroyed a 2018 power-sharing deal that ended a devastating five-year civil war in which some 400,000 people died.
Machar, Kiir’s long-time rival, has been stripped of his position as vice president in the unity government and will appear in court from Monday on charges of treason and crimes against humanity.
He is accused of coordinating an attack on a military base by the White Army, a militia group from his ethnic Nuer community, which his party denies.
His supporters accused the government of locking up more than 100 “officials and officers” from Machar’s entourage “under very harsh conditions including torture, starvation and denial of medical care.”
South Sudan, one of the poorest countries in the world, has suffered chronic instability since it became independent from Sudan in 2011.
A Ukrainian drone attack on a resort area of the Crimea peninsula killed three people and injured 16, the area’s top official said, in an attack denounced by Moscow.
Sergei Aksyonov, the Moscow-appointed head of Crimea, seized and annexed from Ukraine by Russia in 2014, gave the toll from the town of Faros in a Telegram post.
The Russian Defense Ministry said: “At about 19:30 Moscow time (1630 GMT) in the resort area of Crimea where there are no military targets whatsoever, the Ukrainian armed forces launched a terrorist strike using strike drones equipped with high-explosive payloads.”
The ministry described the incident as a “premeditated terrorist attack on a civilian target.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova denounced the incident as “yet another act of terrorism by the Kyiv regime.
“And NATO and the European Union, when seeking the aggressor on the European continent, need to look into the mirror to see this,” she told the TASS news agency.
“They are the ones driving destabilization and the spread of terrorism in Europe by virtue of their sponsorship of the Kyiv regime and as supplier of arms to it.”
Ukrainian officials issued no comment on the incident and Reuters could not independently verify the report.
Aksyonov had earlier said that a school in the town was also damaged and falling drone debris sparked fires on open ground near Yalta along Crimea’s southern shore.
Mikhail Rozvozhayev, governor of Sevastopol, the home port of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, wrote on Telegram that anti-aircraft units had downed three drones in the area.
Russia annexed and incorporated Crimea into its territory in 2014 in the aftermath of a popular uprising in Kyiv that prompted a Russia-friendly president to flee Ukraine.
Subtropical Crimea has been a popular holiday area since Soviet times for both tourists and the Soviet and the elite.
Krymsky Veter, an independent website devoted to Crimean affairs, said senior officials were likely staying in the region’s guest houses.
Foros gained international notoriety in 1991 when Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev was briefly detained at a government dacha, or country house, during a shortlived attempt by hard-liners to unseat him.
LONDON: Britain, Canada and Australia all recognized a Palestinian state on Sunday, with other countries expected to follow suit this week at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
What would that mean for the Palestinians and Israel?
WHAT IS THE STATUS OF PALESTINIAN STATEHOOD NOW?
The Palestine Liberation Organization declared an independent Palestinian state in 1988, and most of the global South quickly recognized it. Today, about 150 of the 193 UN member states have done so.
Israel’s main ally, the United States, has long said it supports the goal of a Palestinian state, but only after the Palestinians agree with Israel on a two-state solution. Until recent weeks, the major European powers shared this position.
However, no such negotiations have been held since 2014, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has now said there will never be a Palestinian state.
A delegation representing the State of Palestine has observer status at the United Nations — but no voting rights. No matter how many countries recognize Palestinian independence, full UN membership would require approval by the Security Council, where Washington has a veto.
Palestinian diplomatic missions worldwide are controlled by the Palestinian Authority, which is recognized internationally as representing the Palestinian people.
The PA, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, exercises limited self-rule in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank under agreements with Israel. It issues Palestinian passports and runs the Palestinian health and education systems.
The Gaza Strip has been administered by the Hamas militant group since 2007, when it drove out Abbas’s Fatah movement after a brief civil war.
Most major powers, with the exception of the US since President Donald Trump moved its embassy to Jerusalem, have their main diplomatic missions in Tel Aviv because they do not recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
However, about 40 have consular offices in Ramallah in the West Bank, or in East Jerusalem — an area whose annexation by Israel is not internationally recognized and which the Palestinians want as their capital.
They include China, Russia, Japan, Germany, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia and South Africa.
Countries planning to recognize a Palestinian state have not said what difference that would make to their diplomatic representation.
WHAT IS THE AIM OF RECOGNISING A PALESTINIAN STATE?
Britain, Canada and Australia have recognized a Palestinian state ahead of the UN General Assembly this month. Other countries, including France and Belgium, said they would follow suit.
Countries such as Britain say recognition of a Palestinian state is intended to put pressure on Israel to end its devastating assault on Gaza, curtail the building of new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and recommit to a peace process with the Palestinians.
French President Emmanuel Macron, the first leader of a major Western power to endorse recognition, said the move would be accompanied by a commitment by the PA to enact reforms, which would improve Palestinian governance and make it a more credible partner for the post-war administration of Gaza.
WHAT HAS RECOGNITION MEANT IN PRACTICE?
Those who see recognition as a mere gesture point to the limited influence in the conflict of countries such as China, India, Russia and many Arab states that recognized Palestinian independence decades ago.
Without a full seat at the UN or control of its own borders, the PA has only limited ability to conduct bilateral relations.
Israel restricts access for goods, investment and educational or cultural exchanges. There are no Palestinian airports. The landlocked West Bank can be reached only through Israel or through the Israeli-controlled border with Jordan, and Israel controls all access to the Gaza Strip.
Still, countries planning recognition and the PA itself say it would be more than an empty gesture.
Husam Zomlot, head of the Palestinian mission to the UK, said it could lead to partnerships between entities on an equal footing.
It might also force countries to review aspects of their relationships with Israel, said Vincent Fean, a former British diplomat in Jerusalem.
In Britain’s case, this might result in banning products that come from Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories, he said, even though the practical impact on the Israeli economy would be minimal.
HOW HAVE ISRAEL AND THE UNITED STATES REACTED?
Israel, facing a global outcry over its conduct in the Gaza war, says recognition rewards Hamas for the attacks on Israel that precipitated the war in October 2023. “A Palestinian state will not be established west of the Jordan River,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
The United States opposes the recognition moves by its European allies. It has imposed sanctions on Palestinian officials, including blocking Abbas and other PA figures from attending the UN General Assembly by denying and revoking visas.
SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK: Panic, confusion and anger reigned as workers on H-1B visas from India and China were forced to abandon travel plans and rush back to the US after President Donald Trump imposed new visa fees, in line with his wide-ranging immigration crackdown.
Tech companies and banks sent urgent memos to employees, advising them to return before a deadline of 12:01 a.m. EDT on Sunday (0401 GMT), and telling them not to leave the country.
A White House official on Saturday clarified that the order applied only to new applicants and not holders of existing visas or those seeking renewals, addressing some of the confusion over who would be affected by the order.
But Trump’s proclamation a day before had already set off alarm bells in Silicon Valley.
RUSH BACK TO US
Fearing they would not be allowed back once the new rule took effect, several Indian nationals at San Francisco airport said they cut short vacations.
“It is a situation where we had to choose between family and staying here,” said an engineer at a large tech company whose wife had been on an Emirates flight from San Francisco to Dubai that was scheduled to depart at 5:05 p.m. local time on Friday (0005 GMT on Saturday)
The flight was delayed by more than three hours after several Indian passengers who received news of the order or memos from their employers demanded to deplane, said the person who spoke on condition of anonymity. At least five passengers were eventually allowed off, the engineer said.
A video of the incident was circulating on social media, showing a few people leaving the plane. Reuters could not independently verify the veracity of the video.
The engineer’s wife, also an H-1B visa holder, chose to head to India to care for her sick mother.
“It’s quite tragic. We have built a life here,” he told Reuters.
On the popular Chinese social media app Rednote, people on H-1B visas shared their experiences of having to rush back to the US — in some cases just hours after landing in China or another country.
“My feelings are a mix of disappointment, sadness, and frustration,” said one woman in a post with a user handle “Emily’s Life in NY.”
The woman said she had boarded a United Airlines flight from New York to Paris, and it started taxiing, but after some back-and-forth with the airline the captain agreed to return to the gate to let her off the aircraft.
Feeling what she described to Reuters as “shaken,” she canceled her trip to France, abandoning plans with friends, including some who were flying in from China, after she received a letter from her company’s lawyers asking employees abroad to return to the US
Companies including Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet and Goldman Sachs were among those that sent urgent emails to their employees with travel adviseries.
Amazon gave guidance to staff on Saturday, after clarity emerged on who would be impacted, that no action was required for staff currently holding H-1B visas, according to a source who had viewed an internal portal. Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside business hours.
As of Sunday, some of the panic had dissipated, said IBM Vice Chairman Gary Cohn, on CBS’s “Face the Nation” program.
“I think it caused a panic over the weekend because people weren’t sure what was going on with the existing H-1B visas,” said Cohn. “It’s been cleaned up over the weekend, so at this point, there’s not a panic in the system.”
Cohn praised the move as ultimately good for the economy.
“I actually think this is a good idea, if you understand the H-1B visa program in the United States,” Cohn said. “Historically, it has been a lottery system.”
TRUMP’S U-TURN ON H-1B
Since taking office in January, Trump has kicked off a wide-ranging immigration crackdown, including moves to limit some forms of legal immigration.
This step to reshape the H-1B visa program represents his administration’s most visible effort yet to rework temporary employment visas and underscores what critics have said is a protectionist agenda. It is a U-turn from Trump’s earlier stance when he sided with one-time ally and Tesla CEO Elon Musk in a public dispute over the use of the H-1B visa, saying he fully backed the program for foreign tech workers even though it was opposed by some of his supporters.
Trump administration officials say the visa allows companies to suppress wages, and curbing it opens more jobs for US tech workers. Supporters of the program argue that it brings in highly skilled workers essential to filling talent gaps and keeping firms competitive.
In the hours following Trump’s proclamation, social media was flooded with debate on the scope of the order and dismay at what many saw as a move that dimmed the United States’ allure as a work destination.
An anonymous user on Rednote said that their life was like that of an “H-1B slave.” The person cut short a holiday in Tokyo to rush back to the US, describing it as “a real-life ‘Fast & Furious’ return to the US,” a reference to the hit Hollywood film series about street racing.
Trump’s H-1B proclamation read: “Some employers, using practices now widely adopted by entire sectors, have abused the H-1B statute and its regulations to artificially suppress wages, resulting in a disadvantageous labor market for American citizens.”
The secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, could exempt petitioners from the fee at her discretion, the proclamation said.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Friday that companies would have to pay $100,000 per year for H-1B worker visas.
However, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X on Saturday that this was not an annual fee, only a one-time fee that applied to each petition.
A Nvidia engineer, who has lived in the US for 10 years, told Reuters at the San Francisco airport that he had been vacationing in Japan with his wife and infant when he rushed to reschedule his return flight after hearing the news.
“It feels surreal,” he said. “Everything is changing in an instant.”
SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain: American actress Angelina Jolie said Sunday she no longer recognizes her country, voicing concern over threats to free expression while presenting her latest film at Spain’s San Sebastián film festival.
Her comments come as worries grow over free speech in the United States, after President Donald Trump’s crackdown on critical media and the recent suspension of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s show over comments on the killing of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.
“I love my country, but I don’t at this time recognize my country,” Jolie said when asked if she feared for freedom of speech in the United States.
“Anything, anywhere, that divides or, of course, limits personal expressions and freedoms and, from anyone, I think is very dangerous,” she added.
“These are very, very heavy times we’re all living in together.”
Jolie, 50, was in San Sebastian to promote “Couture,” directed by French filmmaker Alice Winocour, which is competing for the festival’s top prize, the Golden Shell.
She plays Maxine Walker, an American film director facing divorce and a serious illness while navigating Paris Fashion Week and embarking on a romance with a colleague, played by French actor Louis Garrel.
The Oscar-winning actress — honored in 1999 for her role in “Girl, Interrupted” — said she related personally to the struggles of her latest character.
Jolie underwent a double mastectomy in 2013 and later had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed to reduce her high genetic risk of cancer, which claimed the lives of her mother and grandmother.
Visibly moved, she said she thought often of her mother while making the film.
“I wish she was able to speak more as openly as I have been, and have people respond as graciously as you have, and not feel as alone,” Jolie said.
“There’s something very particular to women’s cancers, because obviously it affects us, you know, how we feel as women,” she added.
