World News

German authorities say at least 19 people were injured, four seriously, after a fireworks show went awry at a fair in the western city of Düsseldorf.

Fire squad and emergency services deployed after the incident late Friday at the Rheinkirmes event along the Rhine river, where images from the scene showed fireworks going off nearly at ground level along its banks.

Detentions without a trace: The crime of enforced disappearance in Venezuela.

• Venezuelan authorities commit enforced disappearances as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population, particularly those they consider dissidents, which amount to crimes against humanity.
• Out of the 15 cases of people forcibly disappeared that Amnesty International has documented since July 2024, 11 remain subjected to enforced disappearance, including Venezuelans and citizens of the United States, France, Spain, Ukraine, Colombia and Uruguay.
• The International Criminal Court and national courts exercising universal jurisdiction should investigate and – where sufficient evidence exists – prosecute those allegedly responsible, up to the highest authorities.

48-page report: I’ll Never Feel Secure’: Undocumented and Exploited Myanmar Nationals in Thailand.

• Thai authorities are threatening, extorting, and detaining Myanmar nationals who have fled the abusive military junta to seek safety in Thailand.
• The only way most Myanmar nationals can get legal status is as a migrant worker, who are excluded from a recent Thai government move to provide protection to some refugees.
• The Thai government should introduce a temporary protection regime for Myanmar nationals.

Republished under Creative Commons from MEMO.

Thousands of Israelis demonstrated in central Tel Aviv on Saturday to demand a prisoner exchange agreement with Palestinians, Anadolu reports.

“No victory without return of hostages,” and “There are 50 kidnapped families in Gaza,” read banners waved by protesters, Israeli Channel 13 reported.

The protest came amid reports of a deadlock in indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas delegations in Qatar.

“The negotiations have not collapsed, and the Israeli delegation continues talks in Doha despite Hamas intransigence,” the channel said, citing an unnamed political official.

A forum representing families of Israeli captives in Gaza called on the government to end the ongoing war on the Palestinian enclave.

“Missing the current momentum would be a serious failure; every day the war continues is an achievement for Hamas and a serious risk for our hostages and soldiers,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.

“All the polls and data show that an absolute majority of the nation of Israel wants an end to the war in Gaza and the return of hostages, and agrees that it is in Israel’s interest, including a decisive majority among coalition voters,” added the statement.

The families addressed a message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying, “History will remember what you chose: the hostages and fighters, or cheap political maneuvers.”

Hamas said Wednesday it has agreed to release 10 live Israeli captives as a sign of “flexibility” to reach a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner swap agreement, while Israel remains rigid on key points, including withdrawal from Gaza.

In contrast, Israel insists on a buffer zone 2 to 3 kilometers wide in the Rafah area, and 1 to 2 kilometers in other border areas.

Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, Israel has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since late October 2023, killing nearly 58,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children. The relentless bombardment has destroyed the enclave and led to food shortages and a spread of disease.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

Republished under Creative Commons from MEMO.

Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen said the Gaza Strip should remain in a state of devastation without reconstruction for decades, media reports said Saturday, Anadolu reports.

Speaking to Israel’s Channel 14 television, Cohen said Israel has no intention of assisting in rebuilding Gaza’s destroyed infrastructure.

“Gaza should remain in ruins for decades without reconstruction,” he was quoted.

Referring to the army’s two main goals in Gaza, Cohen said the first is to secure the return of hostages and the second is to force Hamas into submission.

Gaza ceasefire talks

US President Donald Trump previously announced that Israel had accepted the necessary conditions for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, with the proposal presented to Hamas by Qatari and Egyptian mediators.

Hamas responded positively and stated its readiness to proceed with negotiations to implement the ceasefire and exchange hostages.

Although Israel claimed Hamas’ amendments to the Qatari proposal were unacceptable, its delegation still traveled to Doha for talks.

Negotiations in Doha have focused on a temporary 60-day ceasefire, the release of 10 living and 18 deceased Israeli hostages, and discussions on a permanent truce.

While many issues were reportedly resolved, the main sticking point remained Israel’s insistence on maintaining occupation around Gaza’s perimeter.

Even if a ceasefire is reached, Israel has announced plans to continue its presence in Rafah and set up a “collection camp” as part of its aim to deport Palestinians to other countries.

Israelis, who had seized Palestinian lands, beat a Palestinian and fatally shot another on July 11 in the town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah.

At least 998 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers in the occupied West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Israel has since killed nearly 58,000 Palestinians in Gaza, mostly women and children.

The International Court of Justice declared Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian lands illegal last July and demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

• In 2000, Africa had no billionaires. Today it has 23 whose combined wealth has soared by 56% in just the past five years, reaching a staggering $112.6 billion.
• Africa’s richest 5% hold nearly $4 trillion in wealth – more than double the combined wealth of the rest of the continent.
• Despite soaring poverty, African governments show least commitment to reducing inequality, and that commitment has declined since 2022.
• An extra 1% tax on wealth and 10% tax on income of Africa’s richest 1% could raise $66 billion annually, more than enough to close the funding gaps for free quality education and universal access to electricity.

Full Report.

The Dinah Project experts — all women — gathered first-hand testimonies from the 15 returned hostages, one survivor of an attempted rape during the October 7, 2023 terror attacks, 17 eye and ear witnesses and 27 first responders who attended the scenes of the attacks.

These testimonies, coupled with forensic reports and photographs and videos from the attacks, led them to conclude that Hamas used sexual violence in a widespread, systematic and “tactical” way as a “weapon of war.”

The report, published on Tuesday, describes some of the survivors’ experiences.

One female hostage was beaten and sexually assaulted at gunpoint while in captivity, according to the report. She said she was chained by an iron ankle chain for three weeks and was repeatedly asked about the timing of her menstrual cycle. The report details that many of the 15 former hostages were threatened with rape in the form of forced marriage. Almost all of them reported verbal sexual harassment and some physical sexual harassment, including unwanted touching of private parts, it said.

Israel’s genocide against Palestinians is being sustained by a system of exploitative occupation and profit, a UN expert warned today in a new report to the Human Rights Council that reveals how corporate profiteering and monetary gain has enabled and legitimised Israel’s illegal presence and actions.