Category Archives: Global Politics

Dozens more killed in Israel’s Gaza operation – Daily News Egypt

Over a dozen Palestinians were killed overnight and early Tuesday as warplanes and artillery continued targeting homes in Gaza on the fifteenth day of Israel’s offensive, Gaza residents confirmed.

The latest series of Israeli attacks brought the Palestinian death toll to over 600, according to Palestinian health officials, with over 3,500 Palestinians injured.

“Since starting our ground operation in Gaza, we have struck 1,388 terror sites and killed 183 terrorists,” an IDF spokesperson said on his Twitter account.

via Dozens more killed in Israel’s Gaza operation – Daily News Egypt.

IRIN Middle East | Gaza: Nowhere to go | Israel | OPT | Conflict | Refugees/IDPs | Security

Umm Mustafa, 50, is no stranger to the pain of leaving her home behind. Like many Gazans, the mother of eight finds herself sleeping restlessly in a UN shelter for the third time in eight years.

But this time the displacement is worse than ever. Her husband finds it hard to walk properly having suffered a heart attack shortly after the last Israeli attacks in 2012, and she herself has recently been diagnosed with cancer.

Yet as destruction returned to her hometown of Beit Lahia nine days ago, the family packed up once again. “With every war on Gaza, we are forced to leave [our homes],” she said wearily as she recalled her trip to Gaza City. “There was continuous bombing around our house and the Israelis threatened the residents in our area. We wanted at least to save our lives.” The Israeli armed forces stress that they have warned, rather than threatened, Gazans to vacate areas they intend to target.

They are now sleeping in a school run by UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. The conditions are hardly suitable for the ill. Her spacious family home has been replaced by a 30 square-metre classroom she shares with 40 members of her extended family. They have brought with them a few blankets and pillows, but there is hardly space for them all to lie down.

And every hour, more arrive. Following the start of a ground invasion by Israeli forces on 17 July, thousands more Gazans have abandoned their homes.

Five days ago, UNRWA was sheltering around 22,000 people. That number has now nearly quadrupled to over 85,000

via IRIN Middle East | Gaza: Nowhere to go | Israel | OPT | Conflict | Refugees/IDPs | Security.

Angry (Posing) Australian Prime Minister Aims to Remove Russia from G-20 Summit – The Wire

Governing Australia well and not promoting racism would be time better spent by Abbot but he is about posing, not doing! Abbott has not hidden his outrage over Russia’s handling of the crash, and specifically, their involvement with separatists who control the site. Due to the harsh control of the separatists, investigators have not been able to properly examine or transport the bodies, and much of the evidence has disappeared. There were 28 Australian citizens on board MH17.

“Right now, for all we know, bodies remain strewn over the fields of the eastern Ukraine and armed rebels are trampling the site. It is absolutely vital that an international investigation begins as soon as possible,” said Abbott, “The idea that Russia can wash its hands of responsibility because this happened in Ukrainian air space just does not stand serious scrutiny.”

via Angry Australian Prime Minister Aims to Remove Russia from G-20 Summit – The Wire.

Both Sides Report Deadliest Day in Gaza War – NYTimes.com

Taghreed Harazin, 34, sat under a gazebo with her six-month-old son, Diaa, in the car seat in which she had carried him on foot until finding a taxi. She said she had believed the evacuation order was only for the eastern part of the neighborhood, and mistakenly thought she would be safe at home. Moving was frightening, she said, because of airstrikes.

But during the night, as the family prepared their predawn Ramadan meal — only bread, since there was no electricity to cook with — heavy shelling started. They went to the basement for three hours, then ventured out at dawn.

As the family dashed through the streets to avoid crashing shells, Ms. Harazin, said, she saw the decapitated body of a boy who looked about 4, and a wounded woman in a black abaya nearby, both lying on the sidewalk. An ambulance came and took them both away.

“We are not Hamas, and we are not with the others,” Ms. Harazin said. “We just want to live in our homes. The people are not Hamas. Israel has a problem with Hamas. What’s the fault of the other people? We have nothing to do with it.”

Asked what she thought of Hamas’s handling of the current war, she said, “Sometimes it’s difficult to express your opinion.”

She faulted Israel for shelling civilian homes, but said of Hamas’s actions, “If you say any word, it’s held against you.” She said her husband had been beaten for complaining about Hamas.

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A lab technician, Ms. Harazin had brought a medical kit with her, along with her son’s diaper bag, in case anyone needed help. She had bandaged the foot of an elderly woman sitting next to her, who cut it on glass as she fled barefoot.

The woman, Wadha Abu Amr, said her family were refugees from what is now Beersheba. They fled from there in 1948 during the war over Israel’s founding.

“I’m afraid that this is another 1948,” she said, “God forbid. We were driven out in 1948 and we are being driven out again now.”

via Both Sides Report Deadliest Day in Gaza War – NYTimes.com.

MH17: rebels block access to part of site of crash as evidence against them grows | World | The Guardian

All sides have called for a thorough and impartial investigation into what caused the crash, which killed all 283 passengers and 15 crew on board MH17, en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. However, the first group of international investigators on the scene were involved in a tense standoff with the armed separatists who control the crash site at Grabovo.

A unit of heavily armed rebels blocked the 30-strong team from the OSCE, cordoning off a large part of the crash site. The inspectors retreated after an hour-long standoff, having been unable to gain access. They were sent on their way by warning shots fired by the rebel unit commander.

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“We will keep coming back tomorrow and the next day and the next day,” said spokesman Michael Bociurkiw. “Tomorrow will be a crunch day. There are a lot of experts from the Netherlands and Malaysia gathering in Kiev as well as relatives. The bodies are starting to bloat and decay. An expert team is clearly needed. There is a lot to be done in a short amount of time.”

In Washington, Obama called for a full, impartial investigation and said the tragedy should cause people to “snap their heads together” and stop playing games in Ukraine. In veiled criticism of the lack of European support for US-led economic sanctions against Russia, Obama said the loss of so many European lives should serve as a “wake-up call” for Europe.

via MH17: rebels block access to part of site of crash as evidence against them grows | World | The Guardian.

Desmond Tutu likens Gaza crisis to apartheid | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR

“It is not a Muslim or Jewish crisis. It is a human rights crisis with roots to what amounts to an apartheid system of land ownership and control,” he said.

“Yes, we condemn those who fan the flames, who launch the missiles against Israel, but missiles do not justify Israel’s excessive response,” he said.

“As an old man, my appeal to my fellow laureates and peacemakers is to step into the leadership void, to make your voices heard from all corners of the globe, to advocate or pressure your government and institutions to cajole, to persuade,” Tutu said

via Desmond Tutu likens Gaza crisis to apartheid | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR.

Chile, Home to the Largest Palestinian Community Outside the Arab World, Urges Israel to Stop Bombing Gaza · Global Voices

Israel’s bombardment of Gaza has not gone unnoticed in Chile. Representatives of Chile’s sizable Palestinian community have been urging the government to take a more active stance in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and build on President Michelle Bachelet’s condemnation last week of the shelling.

So far, 243 Palestinians, including many women and children, have been killed and more than 1,500 injured since the bombing began on July 8, according to Gaza’s health ministry. In Israel, rockets launched from Gaza that weren’t picked off by the Iron Dome missile defense system have injured several people. One Israeli civilian died after he was hit by shrapnel near the Gaza border, and an Israeli soldier was killed during ground operations that began on July 17.

Chile, which recognized Palestine as a “free, independent and sovereign state” on January 7, 2011, is home to the largest Palestinian community outside the Middle East. Estimates of the number of Palestinian descendants in Chile range from 450,000 to 500,000.

via Chile, Home to the Largest Palestinian Community Outside the Arab World, Urges Israel to Stop Bombing Gaza · Global Voices.

A bill to require notification of a Governor of a State if an unaccompanied alien child is placed in a facility or with a sponsor in the State and for other purposes. (S. 2628) – GovTrack.us

Afraid of children and wants Governors to be able to refuse to aid children in need!

S. 2628: A bill to require notification of a Governor of a State if an unaccompanied alien child is placed in a facility

via A bill to require notification of a Governor of a State if an unaccompanied alien child is placed in a facility or with a sponsor in the State and for other purposes. (S. 2628) – GovTrack.us.

Iranian commanders on front line of Iraq’s fight | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR

A powerful Iranian general has emerged as the chief tactician in Iraq’s fight against Sunni militants, working on the front lines alongside 120 advisers from his country’s Revolutionary Guard to direct Shiite militiamen and government forces in the smallest details of battle, militia commanders and government officials say.

The startlingly hands-on role of Iranian Gen. Ghasem Soleimani points to the extent of the Shiite-led Iraqi government’s reliance on its ally Tehran. It also strikes a strong contrast with the more methodical, cautious approach of the United States, Iran’s rival for influence in Iraq. Shiite fighters have come to idolize the Iranians who have moved into the heat of battle alongside them – with two Iranian advisers killed in fighting – while government officials grumble the United States has failed to come to their aid.

The Iranian role, however, risks further sharpening the sectarian rifts in the conflict. At a time when the U.S. and others are pressing Iraq’s government to reach out to Sunnis to reduce support for the insurgency, the effective Iranian command of Iraq’s defense is likely to further alienate Sunnis, who have long accused Shiite-led Iran of trying to dominate Iraq through its allies here.

Soleimani, commander of the elite Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force, is a frequent visitor to multiple battlezones in Iraq, most particularly in Samarra, a city north of Baghdad under siege by Sunni extremists in their march toward the capital. The city is vital to Baghdad’s Shiite-led government because it is the location of a revered Shiite shrine that Sunni insurgents have destroyed in the past and are targeting again now.

via Iranian commanders on front line of Iraq’s fight | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR.

Anger and bewilderment in Finland over Microsoft job cuts – FT.com

now almost a quarter of Nokia workers in the Nordic country of 5.5m people are facing the start of their summer holidays with the prospect of no job to come back to. Microsoft employs 4,700 former Nokia staff in the metropolitan area of Helsinki, and in Salo, Tampere and Oulu.

The company said it will withdraw entirely from its R&D Centre in Oulu, a city of 200,000 people on Finland’s northwest coast. The centre develops software for low-cost phones and employs 500 people. It would instead focus on the development of key technologies in Tampere and Salo, Microsoft said.

The news did not come out of the blue, senior Oulu shop steward Timo Pukinkorvaa told local media – there had long been rumours that something was afoot. What was shocking, he said, was the “massive” number of redundancies and the fact that the entire unit would close.

via Anger and bewilderment in Finland over Microsoft job cuts – FT.com.