Hamas ready for 'complete agreement' if Israel stops war

GAZA, May 31: Hamas said on Thursday that they "are ready to reach a complete agreement", including a hostage exchange deal, if Israel stopped its war against people in Gaza.

They were quoted as saying in a statement that they are ready to reach a "complete agreement" if Israel "stops its war and aggression against people in Gaza".

The latest Hamas statement came as Israel pressed on with an offensive on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, despite an order by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the top UN court, to halt the attacks.

"Hamas and the Palestinian factions will not accept to be part of this policy by continuing (ceasefire) negotiations in light of the aggression, siege, starvation and genocide of our people", the Hamas statement read.

"Today, we informed the mediators of our clear position that if the occupation stops its war and aggression against our people in Gaza, our readiness (is) to reach a complete agreement that includes a comprehensive exchange deal," it added.

Israel has rejected past Hamas offers as insufficient and said it is determined to wipe out a group bent on its destruction. It says its Rafah offensive is focused on rescuing hostages and rooting out Hamas fighters.

Israel had said on Tuesday that its war on Hamas in Gaza would continue all year, after Washington said the Rafah assault did not amount to a major ground operation that would trigger a change in US policy.

Israeli tanks moved into the heart of Rafah in Gaza for the first time on Tuesday despite an order from the International Court of Justice to end its attacks on the city, where many Palestinians had taken refuge from bombardment elsewhere.

India calls killings in Rafah ‘heartbreaking’, reaffirms Palestinian statehood amid European moves

NEW DELHI, May 30: India on Thursday reaffirmed its long-standing position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict following the recent recognition of Palestine by Ireland, Norway, and Spain. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal highlighted India's historical support for Palestinian statehood and a two-state solution.

When asked about the coordinated decision by Spain, Ireland, and Norway to formally recognise Palestine, Jaiswal, at a weekly press briefing, said, “As you are aware, India was one of the first countries to recognise the state of Palestine in the late 1980s, and we have long supported a two-state solution which entails the establishment of a sovereign, viable, and independent state of Palestine within recognised and mutually agreed borders, living side by side with Israel in peace.”

The European nations hope their recognition of Palestine will galvanise international efforts towards peace.

India also expressed deep concern over the recent loss of civilian lives in the displacement camp in Rafah.

"The heartbreaking loss of civilian lives in the displacement camp in Rafah is a matter of deep concern. We have consistently called for the protection of the civilian population and respect for international humanitarian law in the ongoing conflict," Jaiswal said, noting that the Israeli side has already accepted responsibility and announced an investigation into the incident.

The Israeli strikes on Rafah, a city in southern Gaza, have sparked widespread condemnation. Local health officials reported that the strikes killed at least 45 Palestinians, including many displaced individuals living in tents that were set ablaze on Sunday.

The incident has led to a surge of outrage and solidarity on social media, with the hashtag "All eyes on Rafah" gaining traction and being shared by tens of millions worldwide.

Nikki Haley signs Israeli missile with ‘Finish Them’ message

TEL AVIV, May 29: Nikki Haley, the former Republican presidential nominee and ex-governor of South Carolina, sparked a controversy during her visit to Israel. While touring Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, Haley signed Israeli artillery shells with the inscription “Finish Them!”

The former White House hopeful was accompanied by Danny Danon, a former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations.

Her actions come amid a devastating military offensive in Gaza that has resulted in the deaths of over 36,000 Palestinians, including an estimated 15,000 children.

Israel’s recent bombardment of a camp in Rafah housing displaced Palestinians drew global condemnation.

Despite the grim toll, Haley voiced her support for Israel and criticised US President Joe Biden’s administration for temporarily withholding weapons to discourage an Israeli attack on the southern Gaza city of Rafah. She also condemned the international criminal court (ICC) and the international court of justice (ICJ), which are respectively seeking Netanyahu’s arrest and considering charges of genocide against Israel.

“The sure way to not help Israel is to withhold weapons. The sure way to not help Israel is to praise the ICC, the ICJ or any of those that are condemning Israel instead of condemning what happens,” Nikki Haley was quoted as saying by The Guardian.

“America needs to do whatever Israel needs and stop telling them how to fight this war. You are either a friend or not a friend,” she added.

Her visit also included a trip to southern Israel, where she met with survivors of the October 7 Hamas attack, which resulted in the deaths of approximately 1,200 people and the kidnapping of another 253.

The photo of Nikki Haley signing the missile and the inscription on the artillery was shared by several people on social media platforms. Users online slammed the former Republican presidential nominee, calling her out for signing a weapon that would be used to bring out death and destruction.

Taiwan Detects 28 Chinese Aircraft Around Island In Less Than Three Hours

TAIPEI, May 29: Taiwan's defence ministry said Wednesday it had detected 28 Chinese aircraft around the self-ruled island in a window of less than three hours.

Wednesday's sorties come about a week after China encircled Taiwan with warplanes and navy vessels during military drills it said was a test of its ability to seize control of the island, which Beijing claims as part of its territory.

"Since 3:20 pm (0720 GMT), we have successively detected a total of 28 aircraft... including 18 that crossed the median line," the defence ministry said, referring to a line bisecting the Taiwan Strait that separates the island from China.

The ministry statement, issued at 5:50 pm, said that the aircraft -- which included fighter jets, transport aircraft and drones -- had coordinated with Chinese warships.

The ministry added that it was "closely monitoring the situation".

Beijing kicked off the military drills last week, three days after Taiwan's new President Lai Ching-te was sworn into office.

Lai, who China has called a "saboteur of peace and stability", had vowed in his inaugural speech to defend the island's sovereignty.

The two-day "Joint Sword-2024A" drills were a "punishment" for his "confession of Taiwan independence", Beijing said.

China has said it would never renounce the use of force to take control of Taiwan, and maintains a near-daily military presence around the island.

Israel Army Says Gained 'Operational Control' Of Key Egypt-Gaza Corridor

RAFAH, May 29: The Israeli army said on Wednesday it had gained "operational control" over the strategic Philadelphi corridor along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.

"We have established operational control" over the 14-kilometre (8.5-mile) corridor, a military official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

The seizure of the Philadelphi corridor comes just weeks after Israeli forces took control of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on May 7 as their ground assault on the far-southern Gaza city began.

The corridor had served as a buffer zone between Gaza and Egypt, and Israeli troops patrolled it until 2005 when they were withdrawn as part of a broader disengagement from the Gaza Strip.

Since then, however, there were fears the corridor was being used to channel weapons to armed groups in the Palestinian territory.

Fighting raged in Gaza's far-southern city of Rafah on Wednesday, residents and officials said, a day after Israeli tanks rolled into city centre of the city.

US-built pier will be removed from Gaza coast; to be repaired after damage from rough seas

WASHINGTON, May 29: The U.S.-built temporary pier taking humanitarian aid to starving Palestinians will be removed from the coast of Gaza to be repaired after getting damaged in rough seas and weather, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

Over the next two days, the pier will be pulled out and sent to the southern Israeli city of Ashdod, where U.S. Central Command will repair it, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters. She said the fixes will take “at least over a week” and then the pier will need to be anchored back into the beach in Gaza.

The pier, used to carry in humanitarian aid arriving by sea, is one of the few ways that food, water and other supplies are getting to Palestinians who the U.N. says are on the brink of famine amid the nearly 8-month-old war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

The setback is the latest for the $320 million pier, which only began operations in the past two weeks and has already had three U.S. service members injured and had four of its vessels beached due to heavy seas. Deliveries also were halted for two days last week after crowds rushed aid trucks coming from the pier and one Palestinian man was shot dead. After that, the U.S. military worked with the U.N. and Israeli officials to select safer alternate routes for trucks, the Pentagon said Friday.

The pier was fully functional as late as Saturday when heavy seas unmoored four of the Army boats that were being used to ferry pallets of aid from commercial vessels to the pier. The system is anchored into the beach and provided a long causeway for trucks to drive that aid onto the shore.

Two of the vessels were beached on Gaza and two others on the coast of Israel near Ashkelon.

Before the weather damage and suspension, the pier had begun to pick up steam and as of Friday more than 820 metric tons of food aid had been delivered from the sea onto the Gaza beach via the pier.

U.S. officials have repeatedly emphasized that the pier cannot provide the amount of aid that starving Gazans need and said that more checkpoints for humanitarian trucks need to be opened.

At maximum capacity, the pier would bring in enough food for 500,000 of Gaza’s people. U.S. officials stressed the need for open land crossings for the remaining 1.8 million.

The U.S. has also planned to continue to provide airdrops of food, which likewise cannot meet all the needs.

A deepening Israeli offensive in the southern city of Rafah has made it impossible for aid shipments to get through the crossing there, which is a key source for fuel and food coming into Gaza. Israel says it is bringing aid in through another border crossing, Kerem Shalom, but humanitarian organizations say Israeli military operations make it difficult for them to retrieve the aid there for distribution.

Sweden announces $1.23bn military aid for Ukraine as Blinken visits Moldova

STOCKHOLM, May 29: The Swedish government says it will donate 13 billion kronor ($1.23bn) in military assistance to Ukraine as Kyiv struggles with multiple delays of vital Western military aid in the third year of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch said on Wednesday that the assistance package “consists of equipment that is at the top of Ukraine’s priority list” like air defence, artillery ammunition and armoured vehicles.

Defence Minister Pal Jonsson reiterated that Sweden for now has ruled out sending any Swedish-built JAS 39 Gripen jets to Ukraine, saying the focus on the Ukrainian side is on implementing an F-16 fighter jet programme.

The donation also includes two Swedish-made SAAB ASCC airborne early warning and control planes, which Jonsson said would have the “greatest effect on the Ukrainian air defence” because it would complement and reinforce the promised donations of American F-16s.

On Tuesday, European Union defence ministers met in Brussels to try again to raise military support for Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has already secured several pledges during his two-day tour of Spain, Belgium and Portugal this week.

Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib said her country would equip Ukraine with 30 F-16 fighter jets and the first deliveries are planned for this year.

Zelenskyy signed a similar deal with Spain, securing a pledge for additional air defence missiles.

Israeli tanks in the heart of Rafah as 21 reported killed in latest strikes

TEL AVIV, May 28: Eyewitnesses and local journalists in Rafah have reported that Israeli tanks have seized control of the al-Awda roundabout, which is a key landmark housing major banks, government institutions, businesses, and shops.

The Hamas-run health ministry says a total of 21 people have been killed and 64 injured in a strike on a displaced persons camp in west Rafah this afternoon.

The IDF denies striking the humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi today.

It comes after at least 45 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike in Rafah on Sunday.

Israel called Sunday's strike a "tragic mishap" and faced widespread international condemnation.

But the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) now say weapons stored near the camp could have been responsible for the extent of the blaze, adding that it was "too early to determine" the cause of the fire.

Pak 'Violated' Lahore Agreement Signed With India In 1999: Nawaz Sharif

LAHORE, May 28:hore: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday admitted that Islamabad had "violated" an agreement with India signed by him and ex-prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1999, in an apparent reference to the Kargil misadventure by Gen Pervez Musharraf.

"On May 28, 1998, Pakistan carried out five nuclear tests. After that Vajpayee Saheb came here and made an agreement with us. But we violated that agreement...it was our fault," Sharif told a meeting of the PML-N general council that elected him president of the ruling party six years after he was disqualified by the Supreme Court.

After a historic summit here, Nawaz Sharif and Ata Bihari Vajpayee signed the Lahore Declaration on February 21, 1999. The agreement that talked about a vision of peace and stability between the two countries signalled a breakthrough. Still, a few months later Pakistani intrusion in the Kargil district in Jammu and Kashmir led to the Kargil conflict.

"President Bill Clinton had offered Pakistan USD 5 billion to stop it from carrying out nuclear tests but I refused. Had (former prime minister) Imran Khan like a person been on my seat he would have accepted Clinton's offer," Sharif said on a day when Pakistan marked the 26th anniversary of its first nuclear tests.

Sharif, 74, talked about how he was removed from the office of the prime minister in 2017 on a false case by then Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar. He said all cases against him were false while the cases against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf founder leader Imran Khan were true.

He also talked about the role of former ISI chief Gen Zahirul Islam in toppling his government in 2017 to bring Imran Khan into power. He asked Imran Khan to deny that he was not launched by the ISI.

"I ask Imran not to blame us (of being patronised by the army) and tell whether Gen Islam had talked about bringing the PTI into power," he said and added Khan would sit at the feet of the military establishment.

The three-time premier talked about receiving a message from Gen Islam to resign from the office of prime minister (in 2014). "When I refused, he threatened to make an example of me," he said.

Sharif also praised his younger brother Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for standing by his side through thick and thin. "Efforts were made to create differences between us but Shehbaz remained loyal to me. Even Shehbaz was asked to become PM in the past and leave me but he declined," he said.

Sharif said after assuming the office of the PML-N President he would renew efforts to strengthen the party.

US Lawmaker Pledges Support For Taiwan Against Chinese Aggression

TAIPEI, May 28: A senior US lawmaker affirmed on Monday Washington's support for Taiwan against Chinese "aggression", on the first congressional visit to the self-ruled island since it swore in a new president.

Sitting down Monday morning with President Lai Ching-te, Representative Michael McCaul -- who heads the influential House Foreign Affairs Committee -- said he and his colleagues stood in "strong support of this beautiful island".

Three days after Lai was sworn in, Chinese warships and fighter jets encircled Taiwan in drills that Beijing said were a test of its ability to seize the island.

China claims democratic Taiwan as part of its territory, and says it will never renounce the use of force to bring the island under its control.

McCaul on Monday condemned those "intimidating military exercises", saying they showed China was "not interested in taking Taiwan by peaceful means".

"All democracies must stand together against aggression and tyranny," McCaul said.

"Whether it's Putin in Russia, the Ayatollah in Iran or Chairman Xi next door to us in China, an unholy alliance is eroding peace around the world," he told Lai.

"Not since World War Two... have we seen such blatant violence and naked aggression," he said.

McCaul arrived in Taipei on Sunday accompanied by both Republican and Democratic lawmakers.

The United States switched its diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979 but remains the island's most important ally and supplier of military hardware.

US President Joe Biden has said he does not support Taiwan's independence but also that he would back sending forces to defend the island. The official US position on intervention is one of strategic ambiguity.

And McCaul on Monday affirmed that the US Congress "on a bipartisan basis supports Taiwan".

"We are not here as Republicans or as Democrats, but as Americans," he said.

North Korea Fired 'Unidentified Projectile' Over Yellow Sea, Says South Korea

SEOUL, May 27: North Korea has fired an "unidentified projectile", South Korea's military said late Monday, hours after Pyongyang informed Japan that it was preparing to launch another spy satellite.

"North Korea has fired an unidentified projectile southwards," over the Yellow Sea, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, after Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo wrapped up their first trilateral summit since 2019.

Japan also confirmed the launch with the government's alert system briefly issuing an evacuation order to southern Okinawa prefecture.

"Missile launch. Missile launch. It appears a missile(s) was launched from North Korea. Please evacuate inside buildings or underground. Information received at 22:46 (1346 GMT). Target region: Okinawa."

The alert was lifted at 23:03 (1403 GMT), is said, adding "the missile(s) appears not to fly to Japan".

Earlier Monday, after a rare three-way summit of South Korea, Japan and China, the leaders of Seoul and Tokyo urged North Korea to call off the satellite launch.

Nuclear-armed North Korea successfully launched its first reconnaissance satellite last November, drawing international condemnation, with the United States calling it a "brazen violation" of UN sanctions.

South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol said another satellite launch -- North Korea's fourth attempt -- would "undermine regional and global peace and stability".

The South Korean military conducted attack formation flight and strike training on Monday to demonstrate "the strong capabilities and will of our military" after North Korea notified Japan of plans to launch a satellite by June 4.

Experts say that spy satellites could improve Pyongyang's intelligence-gathering capabilities, particularly over fierce rival South Korea, and provide crucial data in any military conflict.

Seoul has said the North received technical help from Russia for its November satellite launch, in return for sending Moscow weapons for use in the war in Ukraine.

A group of Russian engineers has entered North Korea to help with the launch preparations, Yonhap reported Sunday, citing a government official.

US to lift ban on sale of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia: Report

WASHINGTON, May 27: The United States is set to lift the ban on the sale of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia, according to a report.

The development comes at a time when the US and Saudi Arabia are warming their relationship in the midst of the Israel-Hamas War in the Gaza Strip and Iran’s continuing aggression that has destabilised the region. The removal of the ban would be the latest sign of the US-Saudi relationship’s improvement.

Historically, Saudi Arabia has been one of the biggest buyers of US arms. During 2019-23, Saudi Arabia was the top buyer of US weapons, according to the Trends In International Arms Trade 2023 report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

The Joe Biden administration of the United States could announce the lifting of the ban on the sale of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia within weeks, as per the Financial Times.

The newspaper further reported that the US has already conveyed to Saudi Arabia that the lifting of the ban is on the cards.

Hamas launches 'big missile attack' towards Tel Aviv for first time in months

TEL AVIV, May 26: Rocket sirens blared across central Israel, including in Tel Aviv, on Sunday for the first time in months as Hamas claimed to have launched a barrage of rockets from Gaza, news agency Reuters reported.

Hamas' armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, announced a "big missile attack" on Tel Aviv. According to the report, Israeli military responded by sounding sirens in the central city to warn of incoming rockets.

In a statement on its Telegram channel, al-Qassam Brigades said the rockets were launched in response to what it called "Zionist massacres against civilians".

Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV confirmed that the rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip.

This incident marked the first time in four months that rocket sirens were heard in Tel Aviv. The Israeli military did not immediately clarify the cause for the sirens.

Israeli emergency medical services said they had received no reports of casualties.

At least eight rockets were launched by Hamas from the Rafah area in southern Gaza and several were intercepted by Israeli military, a BBC report said.

The report also stated that alert sirens were sounded in various cities and towns, including Herzliya and Petah Tikva.

The missile attack on Israel came soon after a new batch of aid trucks entered Gaza from southern Israel through a new agreement to bypass the Rafah crossing which has been blocked for weeks.

The aid shipments are a result of an agreement between US and Egypt to temporarily send aid through the crossing. Israel faces mounting pressure to increase aid to Gaza after over seven months of conflict, causing extensive damage and food shortages in the territory.

Earlier in the day, Israeli airstrikes resulted in the deaths of at least five Palestinians in Rafah, as reported by local medical services. Israeli tanks have conducted operations near the city's outskirts, particularly close to the primary southern crossing into Egypt, without a significant incursion into the city itself.

Israel claims its objective is to eliminate Hamas fighters entrenched in Rafah and free hostages allegedly held in the area. However, the military action has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis for civilians and sparked international condemnation.

Gaza's health ministry claims nearly 36,000 Palestinian casualties from Israel's offensive. The operation was initiated after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, resulting in approximately 1,200 casualties and over 250 hostages, according to Israeli records.

After China's Military Drills, Taiwan President Say Ready To Work With Them

TAIPEI, May 26: Taiwan's new president said Sunday he was still ready to work with China, despite this week's military drills around the self-ruled island.

Three days after Lai Ching-te was sworn in, Chinese warships and fighter jets encircled Taiwan in drills that China said were a test of its ability to seize the island.

During the two-day drills, China vowed that "independence forces" would be left "with their heads broken and blood flowing".

Lai told reporters on Sunday that he wanted Taiwan and China to "jointly shoulder the important responsibility of regional stability".

"I also look forward to enhancing mutual understanding and reconciliation through exchanges and cooperation with China... and moving towards a position of peace and common prosperity," he said at an event in Taipei.

Communications between China and Taiwan were severed in 2016 after former president Tsai Ing-wen took office, pledging to defend Taiwan's sovereignty.

Lai, who comes from the same Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) as Tsai, has vowed to maintain her policies of building up Taiwan's defence capabilities while remaining open to dialogue with China and strengthening relations with the island's partners -- particularly the United States.

But China said Lai's inaugural speech on Monday amounted to calls for independence, "pushing our compatriots in Taiwan into a perilous situation of war and danger".

"Every time 'Taiwan independence' provokes us, we will push our countermeasures one step further, until the complete reunification of the motherland is achieved," defence ministry spokesman Wu Qian said on Friday.

On Sunday night, the United States' de facto embassy announced that Republican Congressman Michael McCaul will lead a delegation to visit Taiwan from Sunday to Thursday "to discuss US-Taiwan relations, regional security, trade and investment".

Taiwan's presidential spokesperson Wen Lii said the delegation will be meeting with Lai on Monday.

The visit "conveys an expression of support for the new administration and the people of Taiwan through concrete actions," he said.

Since 2016, China has upped military and political pressures on Taiwan, and its naval vessels, drones and warplanes maintain a near-daily presence around the island.

The dispute has long made the Taiwan Strait one of the world's most dangerous flashpoints.

The United States, which does not diplomatically recognise Taiwan but is its biggest ally and arms supplier, on Saturday urged China to "act with restraint".

Experts say Beijing is seeking to intimidate and exhaust Taiwan's military.

On Sunday, two days after the drills ended, Taiwan's defence ministry reported that seven Chinese aircraft, 14 naval vessels and four coast guard ships were "operating around" the island in a 24-hour period ending at 06:00 am (2200 GMT Saturday).

The ministry also said in a separate statement that it had found a cardboard box containing political slogans that it said was left by Beijing on a dock in Erdan, an islet part of Taiwan-controlled Kinmen next to China's Xiamen.

The defence ministry shrugged off the incident, saying it suspected it was intended to create online chatter.

Lai's first week in office also saw tens of thousands of people take to the streets of Taipei to protest bills proposed by the opposition Kuomintang -- regarded as pro-Beijing -- and the Taiwan People's Party.

DPP lawmakers have been accusing the opposition of fast-tracking the bills -- which expand parliament's powers -- without proper consultation.

With Lai's DPP no longer holding the majority in parliament, his party will likely face challenges in passing his administration's policies, such as bolstering the defence budget.

"The pressures are coming fast and early for the Lai administration," said Amanda Hsiao of the International Crisis Group.

"This is going to be a major test of their ability to manage multiple challenges, domestic and external, at the same time,"

Zelensky invites Joe Biden, Xi Jinping to attend Ukraine peace summit amid war

KIEV, May 26: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday urged US President Joe Biden and China's President Xi Jinping to attend a peace summit in Switzerland next month.

The Ukrainian leader made the request in English in an emotive video showing him standing in front of ruins in the heavily bombarded eastern city of Kharkiv.

"I am appealing to the leaders of the world who are still aside from the global efforts of the global peace summit: to President Biden, the leader of the United States, and to President Xi, the leader of China," Zelensky said.

"Please support the peace summit with your personal leadership and participation," he asked.

Zelensky said that the leaders should attend because "the efforts of the global majority are the best guarantee that all commitments will be fulfilled".

He also said he wanted the attendance of leaders "whom Russia will not be able to deceive".

The conference on the Ukraine war is to be held at a luxury resort near Lucerne from June 15-16.

The Swiss government is hosting the event at Ukraine's request.

It has said it has invited 160 delegations but Russia will not attend the event, which is expected to last just over a day.

Biden's presence has not been confirmed, while organisers say countries participating include members of the G7, the G20 and the BRICS group.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier this month "they are not inviting us", adding that Russia would not push to attend an event where it is unwelcome.

China restated its position this week, saying in a joint statement with Brazil that it supports "an international peace conference held at a proper time that is recognised by both Russia and Ukraine, with equal participation of all parties as well as fair discussion of all peace plans".

Xi is Putin's strategic ally, and the Russian leader made a trip to China after re-election this month.

US officials said last month that Beijing is helping Russia with military expansion, including joint production of drones, while stopping short of directly providing weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine.

Zelensky said "more than 80 countries confirmed they will come" to the summit and Ukraine was continuing efforts to invite leaders.

Over 670 Dead After Massive Landslide In Papua New Guinea

PORT MORESBY, May 26: More than 670 people are believed to have died after a massive landslide in Papua New Guinea, a UN official said on Sunday as aid workers and villagers braved perilous conditions in their desperate search for survivors.

"There are an estimated 150-plus houses now buried" said UN migration agency official Serhan Aktoprak, adding that "670-plus people are assumed dead".

"The situation is terrible with the land still sliding. The water is running and this is creating a massive risk for eveyrone involved," added Aktoprak, who is based in Port Moresby.

Israeli Officer Says 'Intention' To Renew Gaza Truce Talks 'This Week'

TEL AVIV, May 25: An Israeli official said Saturday the government had an "intention" to renew "this week" talks aimed at reaching a hostage release deal in Gaza, after a meeting in Paris between US and Israeli officials.

"There is an intention to renew the talks this week and there is an agreement," the official said on condition of anonymity.

The Israeli official did not elaborate on the agreement, but Israeli media reported that Mossad chief David Barnea had agreed during meetings in Paris with mediators CIA Director Bill Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani on a new framework for the stalled negotiations.

Top US diplomat Antony Blinken also spoke with Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz about new efforts to achieve a ceasefire and reopen the Rafah border crossing, Washington said.

Talks aimed at reaching a hostage release and truce deal in the Gaza Strip ground to a halt this month after Israel launched a military operation in the territory's far-southern city of Rafah.

The Gaza war broke out after Hamas's October 7 attack resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Hamas also took 252 hostages, 121 of whom remain in Gaza, including 37 the army says are dead.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 35,903 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to data from the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.

Taiwan slams China's military drills ‘blatant provocation to world order’

TAIPEI, May 25: China's two-day military drills around Taiwan were a "blatant provocation to the international order", Taipei said in a statement Saturday after the war games encircling the self-ruled island ended.

The drills were launched three days after Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te took office and made an inauguration speech that China denounced as a "confession of independence".

China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory, regards Lai as a "dangerous separatist".

By Friday evening, a presenter for state-run military news channel CCTV-7 said the Chinese army had "successfully completed" the operation dubbed "Joint Sword-2024A".

In a statement, Lai's presidential spokesperson Karen Kuo reiterated that ensuring peace and stability across the region was "related to the common interests of the international community".

"However, China's recent unilateral provocation not only undermines the status quo of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait but it is also a blatant provocation to the international order, triggering serious concern and condemnation from the international community," she said.

Kuo added that Taiwan hopes "China will take the safety and happiness of the people on both sides into consideration, pursue mutual benefit, coexistence... stop all kinds of political and military intimidations on Taiwan and the region".

Self-ruled Taiwan has its own democratically elected government, military and currency, but Beijing has said it would never renounce the potential use of force to bring the island under its control.

Chinese military analysts told state news agency Xinhua that the People's Liberation Army vessels had inched "closer than ever before" to Taiwan's shores during the two-day military drills.

The exercises involved simulating strikes targeting the island's leaders as well as its ports and airports, they said.

In regards to China's various military actions, Kuo said that "the president and the national security team have a full grasp of the situation" and called for the public to "rest assured".

Over 300 Buried In Papua New Guinea Landslide: Report

PORT MORESBY, May 25: Rescue teams arrived at the site of a massive landslide in Papua New Guinea's remote highlands Saturday, helping villagers search for hundreds of people feared dead under towering mounds of rubble and mud.

The disaster hit an isolated part of Enga province at around 3:00 am Friday, according to government officials, when many villagers were at home asleep.

"At this time, we are still searching for bodies who are buried by the massive landslide," said community leader Mark Ipuia, who feared "more than 300" villagers were entombed.

Taiwan vows to 'defend freedom' amid China's 'punishment' military drills

BEIJING, May 24: China staged mock missile strikes and dispatched fighter jets carrying live missiles along with bombers on Friday, state broadcaster CCTV said, as part of exercises Beijing has said were launched to punish Taiwan's new president, Lai Ching-te.

The bombers set up several attack formations in waters east of Taiwan, carrying out mock attacks in co-ordination with naval vessels, it added, as China tested its ability to "seize power" and control key areas of Taiwan.

The two days of drills in the Taiwan Strait and around groups of Taiwan-controlled islands near the Chinese coast, which a Taiwanese official said also included the mock bombing of foreign vessels, started just three days after Lai took office on Monday. Taiwan has condemned China's actions.

China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and denounces Lai as a "separatist". It strongly criticised his inauguration speech, in which he urged Beijing to stop its threats and said the two sides of the strait were "not subordinate to each other".

The Eastern Theatre Command of the People's Liberation Army said the exercises, dubbed "Joint Sword - 2024A", were to "test the ability to jointly seize power, launch joint attacks and occupy key areas".

"This action is completely reasonable, legal, and necessary to combat the arrogance of 'Taiwan independence' and deter the interference and intervention of external forces," said Wu Qian, a spokesperson of China's defence ministry.

A senior Taiwan security official said that several Chinese bombers conducted mock attacks on foreign vessels near the eastern end of the Bashi Channel, which separates Taiwan from the Philippines, practicing how to seize "total control" of areas west of the so-called first island chain.

The first island chain refers to the area that runs from Japan through Taiwan, the Philippines and on to Borneo, enclosing China's coastal seas.

The official, speaking anonymously given the sensitivity of the situation, said several Chinese coastguard boats also conduced "harassment" drills off Taiwan's east coast, including mock inspections of civilian ships.

China's coastguard said it had conducted "law enforcement drills" in waters east of Taiwan on Friday, focused on training on verification and identification, warning and repulsion.

Chinese vessel Nantong carried out combat readiness patrol and practical drill missions in the Taiwan Strait, with Taiwanese ship Zheng He following 0.6 nautical miles behind, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said.

A public relations officer of the U.S. Navy 7th Fleet said it was paying attention to "all of the activities" in the Indo-Pacific and takes "very seriously" the responsibility to deter aggression in the region.

Taiwan and the United States have no official diplomatic relationship, as Washington formally recognises Beijing, but is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself and is the island's most important international backer.

Speaking in Taipei, Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung said the island would not succumb to pressure.

"We will not make any concessions because of this Chinese military exercise, because it concerns the development of democracy in Taiwan," he said.

The Chinese theatre command showed an animated video on Friday on its WeChat social media account of missiles being launched at Taiwan from the ground, air and sea, which then slam into the cities of Taipei, Kaohsiung and Hualien in balls of flame. CCTV later said China staged mock missile attacks on Taiwan using dozens of missiles.

"Sacred weapons to kill independence," read words in red, written in the traditional Chinese characters Taiwan uses, at the end of animation.

Taiwan's armed forces have mobilised to monitor and shadow Chinese forces.

Taiwan's defence ministry on Friday published pictures of F-16s, armed with live missiles, patrolling the skies.

It also showed pictures of Chinese coastguard vessels and Chinese Jiangdao-class corvettes, though it did not say exactly where the images were taken.

The ministry said that as of 6 a.m. (2200 GMT) on Friday, it had detected 49 Chinese military aircraft, 19 navy and seven coastguard ships. Of the aircraft, 28 crossed the strait's median line, which once served as an unofficial barrier though China says it does not recognise it.

The closest Chinese aircraft got to Taiwan's coast was 40 nautical miles (74 km) from the northern city, and navy base, of Keelung, according to a map the ministry provided.

Lai has repeatedly offered talks with China but has been rebuffed. He says only Taiwan's people can decide their future, and rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims.

Taiwan is well-used to China's military threats, and the latest drills have caused no undue alarm on the island, with life carrying on as normal.

Taiwanese media have covered the drills, but also given a lot of time to ongoing drama about contested parliament reforms that have brought thousands of people onto the streets to protest.

On China's highly regulated Weibo social media site, "Eastern Theatre" was the top searched item, with most of the comments supporting the drills. Another hot topic was "the return of Taiwan".

Analysts, regional diplomats and senior Taiwan officials noted the scale of the drills so far were smaller than the similar exercises in 2022 and were widely anticipated by Taiwanese and foreign officials, but they still raised the risk of accidents or miscalculations.

France test-fires nuclear missile a day after Russia conducts tactical nuclear drills

PARIS, May 24: Amid the Ukraine conflict and the perceived threat from Russia, France has committed to spend around 13% of its military budget in coming years on its independent nuclear capability.

A day after Russia held tactical nuclear weapons drills, France test-fired an updated version of a nuclear missile.

French Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu said an ASMPA-R missile was fired without a warhead by a plane in a simulated nuclear aerial raid.

Even though the test-firing took place a day after the beginning of Russian nuclear drills, Lecornu said on X (formerly Twitter) that it was a “long-planned” operation. He further said the test-firing was part of enforcing French nuclear deterrence.

“This operation, planned for a long time, realises the ambition provided for in the military programming law for our nuclear deterrence, of which it demonstrates the excellence and operational credibility,” said Lecornu.

Israel's army recovers bodies of 3 more hostages from Gaza, including Shani Louk's partner

TEL AVIV, May 24: Israel’s army has recovered the bodies of three more hostages killed during the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. The deceased hostages have been identified as Hanan Yablonka, Michel Nisenbaum, and Orion Hernandez Radoux. Their families have reportedly been notified.

The army claimed that all of them were murdered on the day of the attack at the Mefalsim intersection. Their bodies were then taken to Gaza, New York Post reported.

Less than a week ago, the army recovered the bodies of three other hostages who died on October 7. Israel has said that Hamas is holding around 100 hostages in Gaza at present, as well as the bodies of 30 more people.

The army has claimed that the bodies were recovered during an operation in Jabaliya. The bodies were retrieved on “critical intelligence” that Israeli forces operating in Gaza uncovered last week, Military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari has said.

Nisenbaum, 59, a Brazilian-Israeli from the southern city of Sderot, was captured by Hamas when he tried to rescue his four-year-old granddaughter. 30-year-old Radoux, a French-Mexican citizen, was taken hostage from the Nova music festival. He was attending the event with his partner Shani Louk, whose body was found about a week back and recently laid to rest.

Yablonka was a 42-year-old father of two. He too was captured from the Nova music festival. Ever since he was taken, his family had no updates on where he was, and whether he was dead or alive.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to bring all the hostages back and eliminate Hamas. However, little progress has been made, with Netanyahu facing pressure to resign as president. The United States has warned that it would scale back its support over the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Israel's army recovers bodies of 3 more hostages from Gaza, including Shani Louk's partner

TEL AVIV, May 24: Israel’s army has recovered the bodies of three more hostages killed during the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. The deceased hostages have been identified as Hanan Yablonka, Michel Nisenbaum, and Orion Hernandez Radoux. Their families have reportedly been notified.

The army claimed that all of them were murdered on the day of the attack at the Mefalsim intersection. Their bodies were then taken to Gaza, New York Post reported.

Less than a week ago, the army recovered the bodies of three other hostages who died on October 7. Israel has said that Hamas is holding around 100 hostages in Gaza at present, as well as the bodies of 30 more people.

The army has claimed that the bodies were recovered during an operation in Jabaliya. The bodies were retrieved on “critical intelligence” that Israeli forces operating in Gaza uncovered last week, Military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari has said.

Nisenbaum, 59, a Brazilian-Israeli from the southern city of Sderot, was captured by Hamas when he tried to rescue his four-year-old granddaughter. 30-year-old Radoux, a French-Mexican citizen, was taken hostage from the Nova music festival. He was attending the event with his partner Shani Louk, whose body was found about a week back and recently laid to rest.

Yablonka was a 42-year-old father of two. He too was captured from the Nova music festival. Ever since he was taken, his family had no updates on where he was, and whether he was dead or alive.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to bring all the hostages back and eliminate Hamas. However, little progress has been made, with Netanyahu facing pressure to resign as president. The United States has warned that it would scale back its support over the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Hamas militants, a father and a son, speak about raping and killing Israeli woman in chilling video

TEL AVIV, May 24: A Hamas terrorist and his teenage son's bone-chilling video emerged in which they were seen casually speaking to Israeli interrogators about how they raped a woman and later killed her during the October 7 terror attack.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) seized 47-year-old Jamal Hussein Ahmad Radi and his 18-year-old son Abdallah in the Gaza Strip and later questioned them about the terror attack.

Jamal said that he found a woman who was “screaming” and “crying” inside her house in Kibbutz Nir Oz, a community close to the Israel-Gaza border.

“I did what I did, I raped her,” Jamal said, nonchalantly. “I threatened her with my gun to take her clothes off, I remember she was wearing jean shorts, that’s about it,” he said.

Jamal said that he was not aware of what happened to the woman after she was raped, however, his teen son informed the interrogator that the desperate victim was killed by his father.

“My father raped her, then I did and then my cousin did and then we left but my father killed the woman after we finished raping her,” said Abdallah, in his own interview tape.

In the video, Jamal was handcuffed and was wearing a grey tracksuit. “In each house where we found someone, we either killed them or kidnapped them,” Jamal said.

Among the 400 residents of Kibbutz Nir Oz, nearly 20 people were killed on October 7 and 80 of them were kidnapped.

Jamal remained unfazed while giving horrifying details about how he barged inside a home and murdered a couple who were hiding inside.

“In the first house, I found a woman and her husband, and we hit them with fire and killed them … they were in their late 40s,” he said.

Heidi Bachram, who lost her in-laws during the October 7 attack, called Jamal a “sociopath" on X.

The interviews of the father and son were released shortly after body camera footage was shared by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in which Hamas terrorists were seen gloating over five bloodied female Israeli soldiers.

The videos of the interview of Jamal and Abdallah, in which the two men discussed their atrocious activities, went viral on social media.

In the video, the terrorists are heard planning how to sexually assault the women. “Here are the girls who can get pregnant,” said one of the gunmen.

Over 100 people killed by landslide in Papua New Guinea: Report

PORT MORESBY, May 24: More than 100 people are estimated to have been killed in a landslide in remote Papua New Guinea on Friday, Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

The landslide reportedly hit Kaokalam Village in Enga Province, about 600 kilometers (370 miles) northwest of the South Pacific island nation's capital Port Moresby about 3 a.m. local time, according to reports.

Residents say current estimates of the death toll sit above 100, although authorities have not confirmed this figure. Villagers say the number of those killed could be much higher. Social media video show locals pulling out buried bodies.

Akshata Murty Shares 'I'm With You' Message For Husband Rishi Sunak As UK Poll Dates Announced

LONDON, Ma 24: Akshata Murty, the wife of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, has posted a message of support for him ahead of the July 4 general elections. Murty shared a post on Instagram with two photos of her husband and the message, "I'm with you, every step of the way."

The election comes at a time when Sunak's Tories are struggling to retain power after 14 largely chaotic years in charge. Sunak is the party's fifth prime minister since it ousted Labour in 2010 and was selected by Tory MPs in October 2022 after Liz Truss's disastrous 49-day tenure.

Murty's message for her husband struck a chord with social media users, who offered their support to him.

"The best Prime Minister. Your husband has done a fabulous job and we are proud of him. Hope I get a chance to meet him someday to let him know he has done an outstanding job," said one Instagram user.

'Undoubtedly, your husband Rishi is the best PM the country has ever had. His multifarious skills of diplomacy, prudence, financial management, international relations and innovation are unmatched. The UK has never ever seen a more iconic, highly respected and competent PM than your husband, Rishi. I wish him every success and happiness in his and your family's future," said another.

"I'll always vote for the best party that you are leading. I wish you all the best for the upcoming elections," said a third user.

Many outlets in the UK were virtually unanimous in describing his decision to hold a vote six months before he has to as a "gamble".

But Sunak attended a number of radio and television interviews on Thursday during campaigning, and insisted insist he was right to call the vote.

Israeli Forces Kill 50 Palestinians In Bombardments Across Gaza

CAIRO, May 23: Israeli forces killed at least 50 Palestinians in aerial and ground bombardments across the Gaza Strip on Thursday and battled in close combat with Hamas-led operatives in areas of the southern city of Rafah, health officials and Hamas media said.

Israeli tanks advanced in Rafah's southeast, edged towards the city's western district of Yibna and continued to operate in three eastern suburbs, residents said.

"The occupation (Israeli forces) is trying to move further to the west, they are on the edge of Yibna, which is densely populated. They didn't invade it yet," one resident said, asking not to be named.

Simultaneous Israeli assaults on the northern and southern edges of Gaza this month have caused a new exodus of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fleeing their homes, and have cut off the main access routes for aid, raising the risk of famine.

Israel says it has no choice but to attack Rafah to root out the last battalions of Hamas fighters it believes are sheltering there.

"Hamas is in Rafah, Hamas has been holding our hostages in Rafah, which is why our forces are maneuvering in Rafah. We're doing this in a targeted and precise way," Israeli chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a statement on Thursday.

"We're protecting Gazan civilians in Rafah from being a layer of protection for Hamas, by encouraging them to temporarily evacuate to humanitarian areas... So far we have eliminated dozens of Hamas terrorists, exposed dozens of terror tunnels and destroyed vast amounts of infrastructure."

Israeli forces have killed around 180 operatives in Rafah so far, Hagari said in a televised news conference.

UNRWA, the main United Nations agency in Gaza, estimated as of Monday that more than 800,000 people had fled Rafah since Israel began targeting the city in early May, despite international pleas for restraint.

Suze van Meegan, the Norwegian Refugee Council's Emergency Response Leader in Gaza, said many civilians were still stuck.

"The city of Rafah is now comprised of three entirely different worlds: the east is an archetypal war zone, the middle is a ghost town, and the west is a congested mass of people living in deplorable conditions," she said in a statement.

In parallel, Israeli forces stepped up a ground offensive in Jabalia, where the military has razed several residential areas, and struck nearby Beit Hanoun town, areas where Israel declared major operations over months ago. Israel says it has had to return to prevent Hamas from regrouping there.

Hamas media said 12 Palestinians were killed in an air strike on a store belonging to the welfare ministry east of Deir Al-Balah city in the central Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military said in a statement forces began conducting targeted raids in Beit Hanoun "to eliminate terrorists, locate and strike terror infrastructure, below and above the ground."

It said its operations had killed Hussein Fiad, the Commander of Hamas' Beit Hanoun Battalion in an underground area in Jabalia in northern Gaza.

"Fiad was responsible for launching a significant number of the anti-tank missiles that were fired at Israeli territory throughout the war, along with extensive mortar fire toward Israeli communities near the northern Gaza Strip," it said in a statement.

A senior Hamas security official, Diaa Aldeen Al-Shurafa, was also killed in an Israeli strike as he toured residential districts of Gaza City, the interior ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said.

The Israeli military said three soldiers had been killed in the fighting on Wednesday, raising the number killed since Gaza incursions began on Oct. 20 to 286 soldiers.

Ireland, Spain, Norway to formally recognise Palestine

DUBLIN, May 22: Norway, Ireland and Spain announced on May 22 that they will formally recognise the state of Palestine, even as reports emerged of Israel pushing its way further into Rafah in southern Gaza . Israel reacted furiously to the announcements by recalling its ambassadors to the thee countries. The recognition of Palestine is expected to take place on May 28.

Speaking at a press conference in Dublin, Ireland’s Prime Minister, Simon Harris, linked the recognition to Ireland’s own freedom struggle from Britain.

“Today, we use the same language to support the recognition of Palestine as a state,” Harris said.

In a separate message released online, Harris said Ireland believed that recognizing a Palestinian state would lead to peace and reconciliation in West Asia. Ireland also recognised Israel’s right to “exist securely and at peace” with its neighbours, he said.

There should be no further military incursion into Rafah (i.e., by Israel), and no further rockets fired at Israel by Hamas and Hezbollah, Harris said.

The European countries’ announcements come weeks after 143 of 193 countries in the United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly voted for full membership to the U.N. for the State of Palestine. E.U. countries had mixed reactions to the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan’s decision to seek arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for possible war crimes and crimes against humanity. Khan is also seeking warrants for Hamas leaders.

“In the midst of a war, with tens of thousands killed and injured, we must keep alive the only alternative that offers a political solution for Israelis and Palestinians alike: Two states, living side by side, in peace and security,’ Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said, adding that the recognition of Palestine could no longer wait until the conflict was resolved.

Norway has been involved in peace talks between Israel and Palestine for decades, including by hosting the beginning of the Oslo process, which culminated in the Oslo Peace Accords in the early-mid 1990s, agreements that were meant to usher in a resolution to the conflict and a two state solution.

Spain’s announcement on Wednesday that it would recognise Palestine was not against the Israelis, the country’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told parliament, but a step in favour of “peace, justice and moral consistency”.

China using ‘extreme pressure’ to relocate Tibetans: HRW Report

NEW YORK, May 22: Chinese authorities have used “extreme forms of pressure” to relocate 500 villages in the Tibet Autonomous Region with more than 140,000 residents since 2016, amounting to a widespread violation of international law, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report on Tuesday.

HRW cited official statistics gleaned from more than 1,000 reports in China’s state-run media which suggested Chinese authorities will have relocated more than 930,000 rural Tibetans between 2000 and 2025. Most of these relocations – more than 709,000 people or 76% of the relocations – occurred since 2016, the report said.

The 70-page report, titled “Educate the Masses to Change Their Minds: China’s coercive relocation of rural Tibetans”, states Chinese officials “misleadingly claim that relocation will lead to improved employment and higher incomes” and “protect the ecological environment”.

“In both whole-village and individual-household relocations, Chinese law requires those who have been relocated to demolish their former homes to deter them from returning,” it said.

Among the 709,000 people who were relocated, 140,000 were moved as part of whole village relocation drives and 567,000 as part of individual household relocations. Entire villages were moved to locations hundreds of kilometers away and the relocation of rural villagers and herders has been “dramatically accelerated” since 2016.

Chinese authorities have been accused by rights groups and the Central Tibetan Administration, or the government in exile based in Dharamsala, of a range of repressive measures, including forcible separation of children from parents and admission into boarding schools, widespread surveillance and monitoring, and trans-national harassment of Tibetan activists.

HRW contended that the “whole-village relocation” programmes in Tibet amounts to forced eviction that violates international law. The government prevents relocated people from returning to their former homes by requiring the demolition of these houses within a year of relocating.

Between 2000 and 2025, a total of 3.36 million rural Tibetans were affected by other programmes requiring them to rebuild homes and adopt a sedentary way of life if they are nomads, without necessarily being relocated, the report said.

“The Chinese government says the relocation of Tibetan villages is voluntary, but official media reports contradict this claim,” said Maya Wang, acting China director at HRW. The reports make it clear that when a village is targeted for relocation, it is impossible for residents to refuse to move without facing “serious repercussions”.

The report drew on more than 1,000 articles in China’s state-run media published between 2016 and 2023. HRW said the proliferation of digital news media within China has led to an increase in news reports in recent years, particularly from counties and townships. Though these reports follow “strict propaganda guidelines” and contain only information praising or endorsing policies of the Chinese Communist Party, they make it possible to follow the aims and practices of local officials in-charge of relocation programmes.

The report recommended the Chinese government should stop relocations in Tibet until an independent, expert review of policies and practices determines their compliance with Chinese laws and international law on forced evictions. Chinese authorities should ensure that all relocations are in line with international human rights standards, including exploring all feasible alternatives before eviction, paying compensation, and providing legal remedies to those affected.

Authorities should stop coercing or improperly pressuring people to consent to government plans for relocation and they should also end all quotas, deadlines or targets for officials to persuade people to relocate, the report said.

Chinese government policy states every household has to consent to relocation but HRW found “multiple references to initial reluctance” among Tibetans whose villages were scheduled for relocation. In one case, 200 of 262 households in a village in Nagchu municipality initially didn’t want to relocate to a site nearly 1,000 km away.

Officials make “intrusive home visits” to gain consent, or tell residents that essential services will be cut if they do not move. “They openly threaten villagers who voiced disagreements about the relocations, accusing them of ‘spreading rumors’ and ordering officials to crack down on such actions ‘swiftly and resolutely’, implying administrative and criminal penalties,” the report said.

Together with Chinese programmes to assimilate Tibetan schooling, culture and religion into those of the “Chinese nation”, the relocation of rural communities “erode or cause major damage to Tibetan culture and ways of life”, the report added.

UK General Elections To Be Held On July 4

LONDON, May 22: A UK general election is to be held on July 4, British media reported on Wednesday quoting sources, as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak met with his top ministers.

Political editors at the BBC, ITV, Sky News and The Guardian all said Rishi Sunak would name the date in a Downing Street statement after the cabinet meeting.

The poll will be the first time Sunak, 44, faces the public while in charge, after he was appointed leader of the largest party in parliament in an internal Conservative vote in October 2022.

The vote -- the third since the Brexit referendum in 2016 -- comes as Sunak seeks to capitalise on better economic data to woo voters hit by cost-of-living rises.

Halving inflation within a year from historic highs of above 11.0 percent at the end of 2022 was one of the former financier's five key pledges.

That happened last year and on Wednesday rates slowed to a near three-year low at 2.3 percent in March, prompting Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt to declare: "This is proof that the plan is working."

Political commentators have increasingly suggested that Sunak, trailing badly in the polls to the main opposition Labour party, could try to seek a bounce from the healthier outlook.

But critics point out that is more to do with changes in the global economy than government policy.

Sunak has previously batted back all efforts to name a date, saying only that he would go to the country in the second half of this year.

Russia begins nuclear drills following West's possible deepening role in Ukraine

MOSCOW, May 21: Russia’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday it began a round of drills involving tactical nuclear weapons. The exercises were announced by Russian authorities this month in response to remarks by senior Western officials about the possibility of deeper involvement in the war in Ukraine.

It was the first time Russia has publicly announced drills involving tactical nuclear weapons, although its strategic nuclear forces regularly hold exercises.

According to the ministry's statement, the first stage of the new drills envisioned “practical training in the preparation and use of non-strategic nuclear weapons,” including nuclear-capable Kinzhal and Iskander missiles.

The maneuvers are taking place in the Southern Military District, which consists of Russian regions in the south, including on the border with Ukraine; Crimea, illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014; and four Ukrainian regions that Russia illegally annexed in 2022 and partially occupies.

The drills were announced on May 6, with the Defense Ministry saying in a statement that they would come in response to “provocative statements and threats of certain Western officials regarding the Russian Federation.”

Tactical nuclear weapons include air bombs, warheads for short-range missiles and artillery munitions and are meant for use on a battlefield. They are less powerful than the strategic weapons — massive warheads that arm intercontinental ballistic missiles and are intended to obliterate entire cities.

The announcement came after French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated that he doesn’t exclude sending troops to Ukraine, and U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron said Kyiv’s forces will be able to use British long-range weapons to strike targets inside Russia. The Kremlin branded those comments as dangerous, heightening tension between Russia and NATO.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on May 6 that Macron’s statement and other remarks by British and U.S. officials had prompted the nuclear drills, calling the remarks “a new round of escalation.”

William Lai Ching-te urges peace as he becomes Taiwan’s new president

TAIPEI, May 21: William Lai Ching-te has been sworn in as president of Taiwan in a ceremony that included a 21-gun salute, as he later praised the self-governing island’s democracy and urged China to stop its “intimidation”.

Lai and Vice President Hsia Bi-khim took their oaths on Monday beneath a portrait of Sun Yat-sen, the founder of the Republic of China (ROC), the formal name for Taiwan’s government, in a ceremony at the presidential building in Taipei.

The 64-year-old was given two seals that symbolise presidential power from the parliament speaker: one the ROC seal and the other, a seal of honour. Both were brought to the island by the Nationalists in 1949 after they lost China’s civil war to the Communists.

Outgoing President Tsai Ing-wen also bid farewell during the ceremony, signing off after eight years and a maximum two terms in office.

Addressing the crowds gathered at the presidential building, Lai noted the significance of May 20 – the day in 1949 when martial law was imposed and also the day in 1997 when Taiwan’s first popularly-elected president was sworn into office – “signalling to the international community that the Republic of China, Taiwan, is a sovereign and independent nation with sovereignty resting in the people”.

He stressed Taiwan would make no concessions on its democracy and freedoms and called on Beijing to “stop its aggression against Taiwan” and strivie to “maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the region, ensuring the world is free from the fear of war.”

Beijing claims Taiwan as its own and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve its goals. Throughout Tsai’s two terms in office, it sent military aircraft and ships near the island and has continued to do so since Lai, whom it considers a “separatist” and a “troublemaker”, emerged the victor in January’s elections.

Representatives from 29 countries joined the ceremony on Monday, including those from Taiwan’s last 12 diplomatic allies in the Pacific, Central America and the Holy See.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi Dies In Chopper Crash

TEHRAN, May 20: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister died when their helicopter crashed as it was crossing mountain terrain in heavy fog.

"The servant of Iranian nation, Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi has achieved the highest level of martyrdom whilst serving the people," state television said today. The incident occurred during President Raisi's return flight to the Iranian city Tabriz after he and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev inaugurated the Qiz Qalasi Dam on their shared border.

The helicopter, carrying the 63-year-old President Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and other officials, lost contact approximately 30 minutes into the flight. This sparked immediate concerns and a massive search and rescue operation.

Initial reports from Iran's state media described the situation as an "accident." Iran's Deputy President for Executive Affairs Mohsen Mansouri said that two members of the president's entourage had contacted rescue teams, suggesting that the incident might not have been catastrophic. Mansouri added that the Ministry of Communications had managed to narrow down the potential crash site to within a two-kilometre radius.

Iranian state media reported that Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy Mehdi Safari claimed that the Tabriz Friday prayer leader had managed to speak with President Raisi, 63, via phone from the downed helicopter. "Mehdi Safari, who was present in one of the three helicopters carrying President Raisi's entourage, said the Tabriz Friday prayer leader had made a phone call to the president from inside the crashed copter," the report reads.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged calm and assured that there would be no disruption in the country's governance. "We hope that Almighty God will bring our dear president and his companions back in full health into the arms of the nation," he stated in a televised address.

The search effort was, with more than 60 rescue teams, including army, Revolutionary Guard forces, and police units, scouring the foggy, mountainous terrain. The harsh weather conditions and heavy fog had significantly hampered these efforts.

The international community had expressed concern and offered assistance. Neighbouring countries and organisations, including Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Russia, Turkey, and the European Union, have pledged support. The EU has even activated its rapid response mapping service to aid in the search efforts.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday expressed his condolences with a post on social media. "Deeply saddened and shocked by the tragic demise of Dr. Seyed Ebrahim Raisi, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. His contribution to strengthening India-Iran bilateral relationship will always be remembered. My heartfelt condolences to his family and the people of Iran. India stands with Iran in this time of sorrow," Modi posted on X.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani conveyed gratitude for the international solidarity and offers of help. US President Joe Biden has been briefed on the situation, with a State Department spokesman confirming they are closely monitoring developments.

This incident follows a period of heightened regional tensions, particularly in light of the Gaza conflict and Iran's recent escalations with Israel. President Raisi, who has been in office since 2021, has pledged Iran's steadfast support for Palestine, a stance reiterated during his recent dam inauguration speech.

Helicopter Carrying Iran's President Raisi Crashes In Mountains

DUBAI, May 19: A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his foreign minister crashed on Sunday as it was crossing mountain terrain in heavy fog on the way back from a visit to the border with Azerbaijan, said an Iranian official.

The official said the lives of Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian were "at risk following the helicopter crash".

"We are still hopeful but information coming from the crash site is very concerning," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The bad weather was complicating rescue efforts, the state news agency IRNA reported.

State TV stopped all its regular programming to show prayers being held for Raisi across the country and, in a corner of the screen, live coverage of rescue teams searching the mountainous area on foot in heavy fog.

The 63-year-old was elected president at the second attempt in 2021, and since taking office has ordered a tightening of morality laws, overseen a bloody crackdown on anti-government protests and pushed hard in nuclear talks with world powers.

In Iran's dual political system, split between the clerical establishment and the government, it is the supreme leader rather than the president who has the final say on all major policies.

But many see Raisi as a strong contender to succeed his 85-year-old mentor, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has strongly endorsed Raisi's main policies.

Interior Minister Ahmed Vahidi told state TV only that one of the helicopters in a group of three had come down hard, and that authorities were awaiting further details.

Raisi had been at the Azerbaijani border to inaugurate the Qiz-Qalaisi Dam, a joint project.

20 killed in Israeli airstrike in central Gaza

TEL AVIV, May 19: An Israeli airstrike killed 20 people in central Gaza, mostly women and children, and fighting raged across the north on Sunday as Israel's leaders aired divisions over who should govern Gaza after the war, now in its eighth month.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced criticism from his own War Cabinet, with his main political rival, Benny Gantz, threatening to leave the government if a plan is not formulated by June 8 that includes an international administration for postwar Gaza.

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan was expected to meet with top Israeli leaders on Sunday to discuss an ambitious U.S. plan for Saudi Arabia to recognize Israel and help the Palestinian Authority to govern Gaza in exchange for a path to eventual statehood.

Netanyahu, who is opposed to Palestinian statehood, has rejected those proposals, saying Israel will maintain open-ended security control over Gaza and partner with local Palestinians unaffiliated with Hamas or the Western-backed Palestinian Authority.

Gantz' withdrawal would not bring down Netanyahu's coalition government, but it would leave him more reliant on far-right allies who support the “voluntary emigration” of Palestinians from Gaza, full military occupation and the rebuilding of Jewish settlements there.

Even as the discussions of postwar planning take on new weight, the war is still raging with no end in sight. In recent weeks, Hamas has regrouped in parts of northern Gaza that were heavily bombed in the early days of the war and where Israeli ground troops had already operated.

The airstrike in Nuseirat, a built-up Palestinian refugee camp in central Gaza dating back to the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, killed 20 people, including eight women and four children, according to records at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the nearby town of Deir al-Balah, which received the bodies.

A separate strike on a street in Nuseirat killed another five people, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service. In Deir al-Balah, a strike killed Zahed al-Houli, a senior officer in the Hamas-run police, and another man, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

Palestinians reported more airstrikes and heavy fighting in northern Gaza, which has been largely isolated by Israeli troops for months and where the World Food Program says a famine is underway.

The Civil Defense says the strikes hit several homes near Kamal Adwan Hospital in the town of Beit Lahiya, killing at least 10 people. Footage released by the rescuers showed them trying to pull the body of a woman out of the rubble as explosions echo in the background and smoke rises.

In the urban Jabliya refugee camp nearby, residents reported a heavy wave of artillery and airstrikes.

IDF: Tank forces demolish 100 Hamas terror sites, finds 10 tunnel shafts in Rafah

TEL AVIV, May 18: The military provides updates on the fighting against Hamas in southern Gaza’s Rafah, where the 162nd Division is operating.

The division’s 401st Armored Brigade has been raiding sites in the area, where Hamas gunmen opened fire, the military says.

The tank forces have killed more than 50 terror operatives in the area, and demolished some 100 sites, including rocket launchers, according to the IDF. The troops also located more than 10 tunnel shafts, it adds.

Meanwhile, the Givati Infantry Brigade, operating in the same area, has killed more than 80 terror operatives, the IDF says. The Givati troops also located tunnel networks in eastern Rafah, the military adds.

IDF recovers bodies of four hostages held by Hamas in Gaza

TEL AVIV, May 18: Israel Defense Forces identified a fourth hostage whose body was retrieved Friday with those of three others held by Hamas in Gaza, the IDF said in a statement.

The fourth hostage was identified as Ron Benjamin.

The operation showed many of the hostages were kidnapped after they were killed, or died while in captivity.

The bodies were found in a Hamas tunnel on Thursday during a major operation that IDF forces conducted in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza strip, an IDF spokesperson said.

IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a statement that according to "credible and verified" information, the three people were killed by Hamas militants while escaping the Nova music festival on Oct. 7 and their bodies were taken to Gaza.
According to the IDF, the Shin Bet obtained intelligence during the interrogations of Hamas members who were apprehended in the Gaza Strip and pointed to the location of the bodies.

The soldiers retrieved the body of Shani Louk, a German-Israeli dual national who was kidnapped from the festival, Hagari said. A video of her body being paraded on a pickup truck around Gaza has become one of the symbols for Hamas' atrocities.

The other two bodies were of Amit Buskila and Itzik Gelernter.

Indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas over a possible hostage deal that could lead to a temporary ceasefire in Gaza reached a deadlock last week after several days of talks in Cairo and Doha.

While the White House said last week that the current positions presented by Israel and Hamas allow the gaps in the negotiations to be closed and put a deal within reach, it later toned down its optimism.

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met on Wednesday with the ambassadors of 17 other countries with citizens held hostage by Hamas.

"The group discussed their collective call for Hamas to immediately release the hostages and ways to bring an end to the crisis," the White House said.

U.S. Military Installs Temporary Pier in Gaza for Humanitarian Aid

WASHINGTON, May 16: The U.S. military anchored a temporary pier on Gaza’s coast on Thursday, creating a point of entry for humanitarian aid for the enclave, where the flow of supplies through land borders has largely come to a halt since Israel began its incursion into Rafah last week.

The aid will be loaded onto trucks that will begin moving ashore “in the coming days,” the U.S. Central Command said in a statement Thursday morning. U.S. officials had said last week that the floating pier and causeway had been completed, but that weather conditions had delayed their installation.

Israel has long opposed a seaport for Gaza, saying it would pose a security threat. As the humanitarian crisis in the territory has spiraled in recent months, with severe shortages of food, medicine and other basic needs, the U.S. military in March announced a plan to build a temporary pier to enable aid shipments via the Mediterranean Sea.

An American ship loaded with humanitarian aid, the Sagamore, set off for Gaza from Cyprus last week, and the aid was loaded onto a smaller vessel that had been waiting for the pier to be installed. The United Nations will receive the aid and oversee its distribution in Gaza, according to Central Command, which said no U.S. troops would set foot in the territory.

Over the next two days, the U.S. military and humanitarian groups will aim to load three to five trucks from the pier and send them into Gaza as a test of the process laid out by the Pentagon, said General Charles Q. Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“It’ll probably take another 24 hours to make sure everything is set up,” he told reporters on Thursday aboard a flight to Brussels, where he was attending a NATO meeting. “We have our force protection that’s been put in place, we have contract truck drivers on the other side, and there’s fuel for those truck drivers as well.”

The Pentagon hopes the pier operation will bring in enough aid for around 90 trucks a day, a number that will increase to 150 trucks when the system reaches full operating capacity, officials say.

In a briefing on Thursday, an Israeli military spokesman, Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, said supporting the temporary pier project was a “top priority.” He said the Israeli Navy and the 99th Division were supporting the effort by sea and by land, respectively.

Aid groups say the devastation in Gaza after seven months of Israeli bombardment, strict Israeli inspections and restrictions on crossing points are limiting the amount of aid that can enter Gaza. Israel has maintained that the restrictions are necessary to ensure that neither weapons nor supplies fall into the hands of Hamas.

The United Nations’ World Food Program said on Wednesday that it had not received any aid through the Kerem Shalom border crossing with Israel in southern Gaza since May 6, as Israeli troops began a military operation in the area near the city of Rafah. The agency said in a statement that access to its warehouse in Rafah had been cut off because of the fighting, and that its stock of food and fuel would run out “in a matter of days.”

“The threat of famine in Gaza never loomed larger,” the agency said, adding that Israel’s operations in Rafah had significantly set back efforts to alleviate the humanitarian crisis for the enclave’s 2.2 million people.

In a briefing on Wednesday, Dan Dieckhaus, a director for the U.S. Agency for International Development, stressed that the maritime aid corridor was meant to supplement deliveries through land crossings, not replace them.

The Pentagon has said that the pier could help deliver as many as two million meals a day.

An aid group, World Central Kitchen, built a makeshift jetty in mid-March to deliver aid by sea to Gaza for the first time in nearly two decades. But those efforts came to an abrupt stop in early April after seven of the group’s workers were killed in an Israeli strike.

Israel defense chief says he would oppose ‘Israeli military rule’ in Gaza

TEL AVIV, May 16: Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly rule out Israeli governance over Gaza and to lay out his post-war plans, warning that he opposes Israeli rule in the Palestinian enclave.

“The ‘day after Hamas,’ will only be achieved with Palestinian entities taking control of Gaza, accompanied by international actors, establishing a governing alternative to Hamas’ rule,” Gallant said during a news conference at the Kirya, Israel’s military headquarters Wednesday.

“I call on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make a decision and declare that Israel will not establish civilian control over the Gaza Strip, that Israel will not establish military governance in the Gaza Strip, and that a governing alternative to Hamas in the Gaza Strip will be raised immediately,” he added.

Gallant’s remarks come as serious questions about Israel’s long-term strategy in Gaza are being raised both inside and outside of Israel after the Israeli military sent troops back into areas of northern Gaza it had withdrawn from months ago to battle Hamas militants who had returned amid a power vacuum.

Israeli military officials have quietly warned that the lack of a long-term strategy for post-war governance will result in this pattern repeating throughout Gaza. And top US officials are doing so publicly, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken warning Wednesday that Israel must “focus on what the future can and must be” to avoid “anarchy and a vacuum that’s likely to be filled by chaos.”

Gallant has previously said he opposes Israeli control over post-war Gaza, but his remarks Wednesday were his most direct on the topic as he warned of the consequences of a long-term Israeli military presence in Gaza and called out Netanyahu directly.

“I will not agree to the establishment of Israeli military rule in Gaza. Israel must not establish civilian rule in Gaza,” he said, warning that a military occupation of the Palestinian territory would take a heavy toll in “bloodshed and victims, as well as a heavy economic price,” he warned.

Netanyahu appeared to respond to Gallant’s remarks later on Wednesday, saying in a video statement posted to social media that neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority would be acceptable entities to govern Gaza.

“I’m not willing to replace Hamastan with Fatahstan,” he said, referring to Fatah, the Palestinian political party that dominates the Palestinian Authority.

Netanyahu also said that a complete routing of Hamas would be his prerequisite for a new civilian government in Gaza. “As long as Hamas remains in place, no other entity would enter Gaza to administer the civilian aspects, especially not the Palestinian Authority,” he said.

Gallant’s remarks set off a political firestorm in Israel, with a number of right-wing lawmakers condemning Gallant’s statement and some even urging Netanyahu to remove him from his position. War cabinet member Minister Benny Gantz meanwhile has endorsed Gallant’s stance, saying he was “speaking the truth”.

The public clash between Gallant and Netanyahu follows repeated calls by the US for Israel to produce a clear plan for post-war Gaza.

“We do not support and will not support an Israeli occupation. We also of course, do not support Hamas governance in Gaza,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told journalists at press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday, adding, “We also can’t have anarchy and a vacuum that’s likely to be filled by chaos.”

Slovakia PM Shot At Multiple Times

HANDLOVA, May 16: Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot and hospitalised after a cabinet meeting in the central town of Handlova today.

Visuals of the aftermath of the attack show his bodyguards taking him inside his armoured limousine.

The Dennik N daily, whose reporter saw the premier being lifted into a car by security guards, reported that the suspected gunman had been detained by police.

Eastern European media NEXTA in a post on X, quoting local reports, said the Prime Minister was shot multiple times.

"One to the abdomen, one to the head. He's in serious condition," NEXTA said in the post.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen denounced the "vile attack" on Robert Fico.

"I strongly condemn the vile attack on Prime Minister Robert Fico. Such acts of violence have no place in our society and undermine democracy, our most precious common good. My thoughts are with PM Fico, his family," von der Leyen said on X.

Slovak President Zuzana Caputova condemned the "brutal and reckless" attack on the Prime Minister. "I am shocked. I wish Robert Fico a lot of strength in this critical moment to recover from the attack," she said in a statement, calling it "a brutal and reckless attack".

U.S. military begins moving pieces of offshore pier to provide aid to Gaza

WASHINGTON, May 16: The U.S. military on Wednesday began moving into place the pieces of a temporary pier that will be used to transport humanitarian aid into Gaza from the Mediterranean Sea, according to defense officials.

"Earlier today, components of the temporary pier that make up our Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore capability, along with military vessels involved in its construction, began moving from the Port of Ashdod towards Gaza, where it will be anchored to the beach to assist in the delivery of international humanitarian aid," said a defense official. The Port of Ashdod in Israel is about 10 miles north of Gaza.

Construction of the two pieces, the floating platform and the causeway, was completed last week, but weather had delayed the final movement. With the pieces now moving into place, the temporary pier could be operational in the coming days and as early as Thursday, per a defense official.

Gaza's need for more food and supplies has only grown in recent weeks as Israel appears to be ready to launch an offensive against the southern city of Rafah. USAID Response Director Daniel Dieckhaus said that 450,000 Gazans have fled Rafah since May 6.

"Humanitarian actors are facing significant challenges getting aid into Rafah given the closure of critical border crossings as well as accessing warehouses and distributing aid due to the deteriorating situation," Dieckhaus told reporters on Wednesday.

The Biden administration has said the corridor will increase the amount of aid getting in, but the pier is not meant to replace the entry points by road, which are far more efficient for bringing aid in quickly.

Israel deepens offensive in Rafah and re-enters northern areas of Gaza

TEL AVIV, May 13: Israeli troops have continued their offensives across Gaza, deploying tank fire, artillery bombardment and airstrikes against Hamas militants in the most intensive round of fighting for weeks.

In the far south of the devastated territory on Monday, witnesses reported helicopter strikes and street battles in Rafah as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) consolidated their hold on neighbourhoods east of the strategic Salah al-Din road, which bisects the city.

In the north, the IDF advanced into Jabaliya and Beit Lahiya, both areas in which fierce battles were fought early in the seven-month war.

Officials estimate that as many as 500,000 people have fled Rafah since being told to evacuate by the IDF before their first attacks around and in the city a week ago. Roads heading north and west are choked with cars, trucks, trolleys and pony carts laden with people and their possessions.

The fighting has forced many big aid organisations to shut down or reduce their operations across Gaza, amid increasingly acute shortages of fuel, food and clean water. The risks to aid workers in Gaza were again made clear when a UN vehicle was hit on its way to a hospital on Gaza.

Attending a ceremony in Jerusalem on Monday to mark Israel’s fallen soldiers, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said the war against Hamas was an existential struggle.

“It’s us or them – Israel or the monsters of Hamas. It’s existence, freedom, security and prosperity, or annihilation, massacre, rape and enslavement. We are determined to win this fight. We are exacting and will continue to exact a heavy price from the enemy for their criminal actions,” Netanyahu said.

Israel has described its latest return to the north, from where it pulled out most of its troops five months ago, as part of a “mopping-up” stage of the war to prevent fighters from returning, and said such operations had always been part of its plan.

India, Iran sign 10-year agreement for Indian operations at Chabahar port

TEHRAN, May 13: India and Iran on Monday signed a long-term agreement covering Indian operations at the Chabahar port, with New Delhi offering a credit window worth $250 million for the development of infrastructure around the strategic facility in the Gulf of Oman.

The agreement was signed in Tehran in the presence of ports and shipping minister Sarbananda Sonowal and his Iranian counterpart Mehrdad Bazrpash.

Sonowal’s visit amid India’s general elections emphasises the importance attached by New Delhi to the Chabahar port and its place in ambitious plans to forge greater connectivity with Iran, Afghanistan and the landlocked central Asian states.

Sonowal said with the signing of the agreement, the two countries have laid the foundations for India’s long-term involvement in Chabahar.

“The signature of this contract will have a multiplier effect on the viability and visibility of Chabahar port,” Sonowal said. “Chabahar is not only the closest Iranian port to India, but it is also an excellent port from [a] nautical point of view.”

The long-term agreement, to be valid for 10 years and extended subsequently, was being negotiated by the two sides over the past three years and had been held up over differences on a clause related to arbitration. It replaces an initial pact inked in 2016 that covered India’s operations at the Shahid Beheshti terminal of Chabahar port and has been renewed annually.

India Ports Global Chabahar Free Zone (IPGCFZ), a subsidiary of state-run India Global Ports Limited (IGPL), currently operates the Shahid Beheshti terminal at Chabahar port.

Under the new contract between IPGL and the Ports and Maritime Organisation of Iran (PMO), the Indian state-run firm will invest about $120 million to further equip the Shahid Beheshti terminal, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity.

The Indian side will procure equipment such as mobile harbor cranes, rail mounted quay cranes, rubber tyred gantry cranes, reach stackers, forklifts and pneumatic unloaders.

India has also offered a credit window equivalent to $250 million for mutually identified projects aimed at improving Chabahar-related infrastructure, the people said.

The Indian side handed over a letter from external affairs minister S Jaishankar to his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian regarding the credit window and reiterated India’s commitment to cooperate in developing the port, the Indian embassy in Tehran said in a post on X.

Sonowal and Bazrpash discussed “furthering the shared vision of making Chabahar port a regional connectivity hub connecting India to Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Eurasia”, the embassy said in another post.

Sonowal travelled from New Delhi to Tehran on a special Indian Air Force (IAF) and his delegation included JP Singh, the joint secretary who heads the Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran desk in the external affairs ministry.

The move comes at a time when China has been showing greater interest in investments in ports and other coastal infrastructure in Iran, with Tehran pressing Beijing to take up the development of other terminals at Chabahar port.

Both India and Iran see the deep-water port in the Sistan-Baluchistan province as a hub for the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), which will allow shipping companies to use an alternative route that bypasses the sensitive and busy Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz.

Chabahar’s location in the open sea provides easy and secure access for large cargo ships and the port has benefited from a carve-out from the US sanctions on Iran.

Israel lacks 'credible plan' to safeguard Rafah civilians: Blinken

WASHINGTON, May 12: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday said Israel lacked a "credible plan" to protect some 1.4 million Palestinian civilians in Rafah and warned an Israeli attack could create an insurgency by failing to kill all Hamas fighters in the southern Gazan city.

"Israel is on a trajectory potentially to inherit an insurgency with many armed Hamas fighters left or if it leaves a vacuum filled by chaos, filled by anarchy and probably refilled by Hamas," Blinken said on NBC's Meet the Press.

Hamas fighters, he said, are returning to northern Gaza areas that Israel claimed to have cleared, and an assault on Rafah "risks doing terrible harm to civilians" without ending the Hamas presence there.

Israel's planned invasion of Rafah has helped fuel the deepest tensions in relations between Israel and its main ally in generations.

NBC and CBS News aired interviews with Blinken dominated by President Joe Biden's decision to pause a shipment to Israel of bombs over fears of massive civilian casualties in Rafah and a State Department report that Israel's use of U.S.-supplied arms may have broken international law.

The report, which was unrelated to the bomb shipment, found no specific violations justifying withholding U.S. military aid, saying the chaos of war prevented verification of alleged individual breaches.

Hamas' use of civilian infrastructure and tunnels "makes it very difficult to determine, particularly in the midst of war," what happened in specific instances, Blinken said, defending the report criticized by some lawmakers of Biden's Democratic Party and human rights groups.

Appearing after Blinken on NBC, Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders rejected the report, saying that "any observer knows Israel has broken international law" and "should not be receiving another nickel in U.S. military aid."

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, interviewed on the same program, called Biden's postponing the bombs "the worst decision in the history of the U.S. Israeli relationship."

"Give Israel the bombs they need to end the war they can't afford to lose, and work with them to minimize casualties," he said.

Defending the pause on the supply of 3,500 2,000-pound and 500-pound bombs, Blinken said Israel lacked a "credible plan" to protect some 1.4 million civilians sheltering in Rafah.

He told CBS that the shipment was the only U.S. weapons package being withheld.

But that could change, he said, if Israel launches a full-scale attack on Rafah, which Israel says it plans to invade to root out entrenched Hamas fighters.

If Israel "launches this major military operation to Rafah, then there are certain systems that we're not going to be supporting and supplying for that operation," said Blinken.

Israel needs to "have a clear, credible plan to protect civilians, which we haven't seen," he said.

Most of the 1.4 million Palestinians in Rafah were displaced from elsewhere by fighting and Israeli bombardments that have devastated the seaside enclave.

Israel also has not developed a post-war plan for Gaza's security, governance and reconstruction, Blinken said, adding on CBS that the U.S. is working on such a plan with Arab governments and others.

"We have the same objectives as Israel. We want to make sure that Hamas cannot govern Gaza again," he said, adding that the United States has been discussing with Israel "a more effective, durable way" of demilitarizing Gaza and finding Hamas' leaders.

Israel's military operation in Gaza has killed at least 35,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry.

Israeli army orders more evacuations from Rafah as it expands Gaza assault

TEL AVIV, May 11: The Israeli military has ordered residents in more areas of eastern and central Rafah to evacuate as it expands its offensive in the southernmost corner of the Gaza Strip, again displacing tens of thousands of Palestinians.

An estimated 150,000 Palestinians, many displaced multiple times, have now fled Rafah, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said on Saturday. Israel put that figure at about 300,000.

Reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum said: “Israeli authorities dropped leaflets and made phone calls for more evacuation orders. They are now ordering people to flee from central areas of Rafah, not only the eastern portions, where battles are now raging.”

Earlier on Saturday evacuation orders were issued for Shaboura and the vicinity of the Kuwait Specialty Hospital, Abu Azzoum said, adding that “people are told to flee because these areas will in the future become a military operation zone for the Israeli army. The situation is completely dire”.

Saheb al-Hams, a hospital director in Rafah, confirmed that the expanded evacuation order included the Kuwaiti Hospital in Rafah city where countless numbers of patients and injured people are being treated.

“There is no other place for patients and injured people to go to but this hospital,” al-Hams said in a video message obtained by Al Jazeera, as he pleaded for “immediate international protection” for the facility.

Earlier on Saturday, the Israeli army said in a statement that “approximately 300,000 Gazans” had moved from the eastern part of Rafah to al-Mawasi since the order was issued on Monday.

Israel claims al-Mawasi, on Gaza’s western coast, is a “safe humanitarian zone”. But humanitarian groups and displaced Palestinians say tens of thousands of people are crammed into the area, and are facing severe food and water shortages, as well as periodic bombardments.

“They told us these areas are not threatened and is safe. But it turned out that this area is dangerous,” Ahmad Abu Nahil, a displaced Gaza resident, said as his family fled Rafah.

The Israeli army has claimed what it called a “temporary evacuation” was being communicated to people through leaflets, mobile text messages, phone calls and broadcasts in Arabic. But it is unclear how many people received the order.

The military initially ordered the evacuation of eastern Rafah on Monday as it seized control of the crossing with the Egyptian border before its long-threatened ground assault in the city where about 1.4 million displaced people were sheltering.

Israeli tanks captured the main road dividing Rafah’s eastern and western sections on Friday, effectively encircling the eastern side of the city.

Gaza’s Ministry of Health said on Saturday that at least 34,971 people have been killed and 78,641 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The revised death toll in Israel from Hamas’s October 7 attacks stands at 1,139 with dozens of people still held captive.

Number of Palestinians fleeing Rafah rises above 150,000 amid Israeli strikes

RAFAH, May 10: Under a blazing summer sun, tens of thousands of Palestinians fled Israeli bombardment and clashes with Hamas militants in Rafah on Friday, choking roads with donkey carts, bicycles, pickup trucks and wheelchairs.

More than 150,000 people have now left Gaza’s southernmost city since receiving warnings on Monday from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) of an imminent military operation, with most moving after airstrikes and fighting intensified later in the week.

There had been no panic, humanitarian officials in Rafah said, just huge numbers of people packing whatever they had in preparation for yet another move. Many have been displaced many times as they have fled successive Israeli military offensives across Gaza.

A million people who sought shelter in Rafah, after fleeing fighting or after their homes were destroyed, turned the small city of 300,000 into a sprawling, overcrowded encampment.

One aid official said: “There are a lot of people on the move today and continued bombardments … It’s all orderly, with people tidying up after themselves.”

Dr Marwan al-Hams, the head of the health emergency committee of Rafah, said on Friday morning that nine people had been killed and 10 injured in the preceding 24 hours.

In recent weeks, more aid has reached Gaza through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt and the Kerem Shalom crossing as Israel eased acute shortages of food and water, with prices for some basic necessities dropping to prewar levels.

Since the IDF captured the Rafah crossing, which remains closed, prices have soared. Sugar costs between seven and 10 times more. Though the Kerem Shalom crossing is open, it is too dangerous for aid agencies to collect supplies crossing from Israel.

Aid agencies say they have reserves of fuel for 48 hours, but will then have to shut vital water pumps and bakeries that feed hundreds of thousands of people. Hospitals will be forced to turn off lights, limit the use of incubators and close operating theatres. The cost of hiring a vehicle to move a family, bags and basic supplies a few miles can be up to $400 (£320), and is therefore beyond most people’s means.

Israeli officials say Rafah is the last stronghold of Hamas militants who must be eliminated or dispersed before the Israeli offensive in Gaza can be considered successful.

The IDF has said those displaced from Rafah will receive adequate food, water, shelter and sanitation in the humanitarian zone. Aid agencies describe acute overcrowding, limited and dirty water, almost no sanitation, and inadequate food supplies.

Philippine calls for Chinese diplomats to be expelled for disinformation

MANILA, May 10: The Philippine national security council on Friday called for Chinese diplomats to be expelled from the country for what it called a malicious disinformation campaign that had breached local laws and diplomatic protocols.

In a statement, the council said the Chinese embassy’s actions “should not be allowed to pass unsanctioned without serious penalty”.

It was referring to a report of an alleged leak of a call between a Chinese diplomat and a senior military official discussing a dispute over the South China Sea.

China’s embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Rafah: UN says 80,000 have fled Gaza city as Israeli strikes intensify

More than 80,000 people have fled the southern Gaza city of Rafah since Monday, the UN says, as Israeli tanks reportedly mass close to built-up areas amid constant bombardment.

Palestinian armed groups said they were targeting Israeli troops to the east.

Israel's military has said its ground forces are conducting "targeted activity" in eastern Rafah.

The UN also warned that food and fuel were running out because it was not receiving aid through nearby crossings.

Israeli troops took control and closed the Rafah crossing with Egypt at the start of their operation, while the UN said it was too dangerous for its staff and lorries to reach the reopened Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel.

It came as Israel's prime minister rejected a threat by the US president to stop supplying some weapons if it launched a major assault on "population centres" in Rafah. Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel could "stand alone" if necessary.

After seven months of war in Gaza, Israel has insisted victory is impossible without taking the city and eliminating the last remaining Hamas battalions.

But with more than a million displaced Palestinians sheltering there, the UN and Western powers have warned that an all-out assault could lead to mass civilian casualties and a humanitarian catastrophe.

Meanwhile, Israelis reacted with alarm and anger after US President Joe Biden said he had warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he would cut off further weapons supplies in the event of a full-scale assault on Rafah.

"I've made it clear to Bibi and the war cabinet, they're not going to get our support if in fact they go into these population centres," he told CNN on Wednesday.

Last week, the Biden administration paused one arms shipment that included a batch of 2,000 pound bombs - one of the most destructive munitions in Israel's arsenal - over concerns about what was about to happen in Rafah.

On Thursday, Israel's far-right National Security Minister condemned the remarks, posting on social media that "Hamas loves Biden".

Later, Netanyahu released a video in which he reminded Israelis that their country survived an arms embargo and emerged victorious in the 1948-49 Arab-Israeli War that followed its declaration of independence.

"Today we are much stronger," he said. "If we need to stand alone, we will stand alone. I have said that if necessary - we will fight with our fingernails."

The IDF's chief spokesman also said it had the munitions required for operations in Rafah and other planned operations.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Biden did not believe "smashing into Rafah" would advance Israel's objective of defeating Hamas.

"The argument that somehow we're walking away from Israel, or we're not willing to help them defeat Hamas just doesn't comport with the facts," he told reporters.

Indirect talks in Cairo on a ceasefire and hostage release deal also appeared to once again grind to a halt on Thursday, with both the Israeli and Hamas delegations leaving.

Did Not Permit Research By Chinese Vessel In Our Waters: Maldives Minister

NEW DELHI, May 9: Emphasising that "peace and security" of the Indian Ocean is important for countries in the neighbourhood including India, Maldivian Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer on Thursday said that his government has "not permitted the Chinese vessel" for research purposes in the Maldivian waters.

The statement by the Maldivian Foreign Minister came in the wake of the Chinese marine research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 3 returning to Maldivian waters, marking its second visit to the archipelago nation within two months.

"The peace and security of the Indian Ocean is important for both India and Maldives and Sri Lanka and the rest of the countries that we have in the neighbourhood. So, we will continue to work together as I said earlier," he said.

Elaborating on the port call for Chinese vessels, he said, "Our government issued personal rotation and friendly portable permits, and diplomatic clearances came from the Chinese side, which is very common in Maldives."

"So that's how it has happened we as a peaceful country, welcome those vessels which come for peaceful purposes. But they didn't come for research in the Maldivian waters, we have not permitted the Chinese vessel for research in the Maldivian waters," Maldivian Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer said while maintaining that research vessels are not welcome in the Maldivian waters.

On April 27, Chinese marine research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 3 returned to Maldivian waters, marking its second visit to the archipelago nation within two months after Pro-China Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu's ruling People's National Congress (PNC) won the Parliamentary elections, as reported by Adhadhu news on Friday.

It is pertinent to note that Defence Minister Ghassan Maumoon last month told the Maldivian Parliament that the Chinese vessel would not conduct any research despite sailing inside and near Maldivian waters.

"There was no permission given to conduct any research in the Maldives territory. After docking in Male' and buying food, they did a crew change. People who came on an airplane went board the boat and those on the boat left via the airplane. That was the permission that was given," Adhadhu quoted Maumoon as saying on March 25.

Relations between India and the Maldives have been strained since President Muizzu took office in November, shifting the government's focus towards China.

India Confirms Withdrawal Of Military Personnel From Maldives

NEW DELHI, May 9: The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday confirmed the withdrawal of Indian military personnel from the Maldives and the "deputation of competent persons" to the archipelago nation.

"So, both Maldives and India have engaged for quite some time to see how best they can continue the operation of aviation platforms. And in that regard, you have seen developments in first and second batches of people who were providing their support there, they had come back," MEA official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a press briefing.

"Now, what I can confirm to you is that the deputation of the competent Indian technical personnel has taken place. As these platforms provide medivac services to the people of Maldives," he added.

Meanwhile, Maldives Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer on Thursday said that his country's defence relations with India go beyond military personnel and the two countries will work together to make the Indian Ocean a peaceful place.

The Maldives Minister, who arrived in India on May 8, said that the platforms which were being handled by Indian military personnel would be handled by civilians.

"I think Maldives-India defence relations go beyond military personnel. And now, those platforms which have been handled by the military personnel will be handled by civilians. We have had a joint exercise with the Maldivian military, Indian military and Sri Lanka, I think Bangladesh is an observer and we will continue to have these exercises," he said in an interview.

"Peace and security of the Indian Ocean is important for both Maldives as well as India. So we will work together to make the Indian Ocean a peaceful place," he added.

The minister was asked about his visit coming a day before the May 10 date for the withdrawal of Indian military troops from Maldives.

Indian military personnel were operating two helicopters and a Dornier aircraft in Maldives meant for providing humanitarian and medical evacuation services. They have been replaced by "competent Indian technical personnel".

On May 3, India and Maldives held the 4th meeting of the bilateral High-Level Core Group and reviewed the replacement of Indian military personnel from the Island nation by May 10.

Mohamed Muizzu-led Maldives government had formally requested India withdraw its troops from Male.

In his remarks during his meeting with the visiting Maldives Foreign Minister, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said India has been a key provider of development assistance to the Maldives.

"Our projects have benefited the lives of people of your country; and contributed directly to the quality of life. They range from infrastructure projects and social initiatives to medical evacuation and health facilities. We have also extended financial support on favourable terms in the past. India has been a First Responder on numerous occasions for Maldives. Our cooperation has also enhanced the security and well-being of your country through shared activities, equipment provisioning, capacity building and training," he said.

Jaishankar also said that as close and proximate neighbours, the development of bilateral ties is based on mutual interests and reciprocal sensitivity.

"As far as India is concerned, these are articulated in terms of our Neighbourhood First policy and SAGAR vision."

Jaishankar said the world is today passing through a volatile and uncertain period. "In such times, as we saw during Covid, during natural disasters and economic difficulties, close partnerships with neighbours are of great value," he said.

Coast guard personnel from India, Maldives and Sri Lanka did a four-day trilateral exercise 'DOSTI 16' to identify emerging maritime challenges in the Indian Ocean Region in February this year. Bangladesh had participated as an observer.

India's Sharp Response After Canada Arrests 3 In Hardeep Nijjar Killing

NEW DELHI, May 9: Days after three Indians were arrested in Canada for the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, India has said there are "political interests at work" in the matter and reiterated its position that separatists and extremists have been given political space in the country.

Responding to a question on Thursday, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India has been informed about the arrests by Canada, but not at a diplomatic level. To a poser on whether consular access had been granted, Jaiswal only said that, in some countries, access is not given until the person or people who have been arrested specifically request for it.

Diplomatic ties between India and Canada have remained tense since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed in the country's Parliament in September last year that his government had "credible allegations" linking the killing of Nijjar in June 2023 with the "agents of the Government of India".

Asked whether India had been given any evidence of involvement in the killing, Jaiswal reiterated the country's consistent stand.

Mincing no words, he said, "Let me first make it clear that no specific or relevant evidence or information has been shared by the Canadian authorities in regard to this matter till date. You will therefore understand our view that the matter is being pre-judged. Obviously, there are political interests at work. We have long maintained that separatists, extremists and those advocating violence have been given political space in Canada."

"Our diplomats have been threatened with impunity and obstructed in their performance of duties. We have also pointed to the Canadian authorities that figures associated with organised crime with links with India have been allowed entry and residency in Canada. Many of our extradition requests are pending. We are having discussions at the diplomatic level on all these matters," he added.

Karan Brar, 22, Kamalpreet Singh, 22, and Karanpreet Singh, 28, residents of Edmonton, were arrested last week on suspicion of being part of the hit squad that had killed Nijjar. They have been charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

While Trudeau had claimed after the arrests that Canada is "a rule-of-law country" and the investigation into the murder is not limited to the three Indians, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that, despite warnings from Delhi, Canada has been issuing visas to people with links to organised crime.

"Our biggest problem right now is in Canada. Because in Canada the party in power and other parties have given these kinds of extremism, separatism, and advocates of violence a certain legitimacy in the name of free speech. When you tell them something, their answer is 'no, we are a democratic country, and it is free speech'," Jaishankar had said.

Fuel running out at Rafah’s hospitals

TEL AVIV, May 8: Rafah’s largest hospital, al-Najjar, has ceased operations, and the city’s remaining healthcare facilities have only three days of fuel left, says WHO, which pleaded for the reopening of Gaza border crossings.

People are pouring into central Gaza by the thousands, mainly to Deir el-Balah city, after Israel’s seizure of the vital Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt.

A full-scale invasion of Rafah by Israeli forces would be “a strategic mistake, a political calamity, and a humanitarian nightmare”, UN secretary-general warns.

“With each day that Israeli authorities block life-saving aid, more Palestinians are at risk of dying,” Human Rights Watch says.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says a ceasefire proposal agreed to by Hamas “falls far short” of Israel’s demands, but an Israeli delegation has arrived in Cairo for further talks.

At least 34,844 people have been killed and 78,404 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The death toll in Israel from Hamas’s October 7 attacks stands at 1,139 with dozens of people still held captive.

Israeli Tanks Enter Rafah, Take Control Of Key Gaza Crossing

JERUSALEM, May 7: The Israeli army said it took "operational control" of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Tuesday and that troops were scanning the area.

"Last night, IDF (army) troops managed to establish operational control of the Gazan side of (Rafah) crossing," the main entry point for aid deliveries to the besieged territory, the military said in a briefing.

"Right now at the moment what's happening, we have operational control over the Gazan side of Rafah crossing, and we have special forces scanning the area to find additional terror infrastructure or terrorists," the military said.

"The operation is not over yet. It's ongoing."

The military said ground troops were carrying out an operation in eastern Rafah.

"Overnight, IDF ground troops began a precise counterterrorism operation based on IDF and ISA (the Israeli Security Agency, Shin Bet) intelligence to eliminate Hamas terrorists and dismantle Hamas terrorist infrastructure within specific areas of eastern Rafah," the statement said.

In the briefing, it said troops were engaged in a "very targeted operation and a very limited scope against very specific targets" in eastern Rafah.

On Monday, Israel ordered residents of eastern Rafah to evacuate and move to a "humanitarian zone" northwest of the city, a day after rocket fire by militants killed four soldiers and wounded several more at the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and the Palestinian territory.

The military said that since the start of its operation in eastern Rafah, it had killed 20 operatives.

It released video footage showing a tank rolling through the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing.

An Israeli flag is seen in the area, while drone footage showed several tanks.

"A vast amount of the organisation and the people in the area within (which) we gave the evacuation notice yesterday (Monday) moved to a safer zone," the military said.

Hamas Says Cairo Talks 'Last Chance' For Israel To Free Hostages

GAZA, May 7: A senior Hamas official said Tuesday that a delegation from the Palestinian group was due to leave for Gaza truce talks in Cairo, warning it would be Israel's "last chance" to release its hostages.

"This may be the last chance to recover the Israeli captives alive," said the official, requesting anonymity to discuss the negotiations.

The official said the Hamas negotiators had cancelled plans earlier Tuesday to travel from Doha to Cairo for negotiations after Israel's incursion across the Rafah border crossing in southern Gaza, but that they would leave "shortly" for Egypt.

The official warned that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's "decision to invade Rafah" indicated that "he and his army have made the decision to let the prisoners (hostages) die".

"This will be the last chance for Netanyahu and the families of the Zionist prisoners to return their children," the official said.

Otherwise, the hostages' "fate will be the same as the fate of pilot Ron Arad", he said of an air force navigator shot down over Lebanon in 1986. Arad was believed to have been held by Shiite groups there and is now presumed dead.

According to Israeli officials, talks were due to take place later Tuesday.

The new round of negotiations comes after Hamas announced late Monday it had accepted a ceasefire plan proposed by Egyptian and Qatari mediators, saying the ball was now in Israel's court.

Despite months of shuttle diplomacy, mediators have so far failed to broker a new truce like the week-long ceasefire that saw 105 hostages released last November, the Israelis among them in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Previous negotiation efforts had stalled in part because of Hamas's demand for a lasting ceasefire and Netanyahu's vows to crush its remaining fighters in Rafah.

3 Indian Navy Ships On Way For Operational Deployment In South China Sea

SINGAPORE, May 7: Three Indian Naval Ships have arrived in Singapore for a three-day visit as part of the operational deployment of the Navy's Eastern Fleet to the South China Sea, underscoring the strong linkages between both navies.

Led by Rear Admiral (RAdm) Rajesh Dhankhar, Indian Naval Ships Delhi, Shakti, and Kiltan reached the Changi naval base in the city-state on Monday, the Indian Navy spokesperson said in a post on X.

The three ships will leave for Malaysia on Thursday and then visit the Philippines.

The visit is part of the "Op Deployment of #IndianNavy's @IN_EasternFleet to the #SouthChinaSea," it said, amidst China flexing its muscles in the South China Sea.

Currently, the Chinese navy is involved in a standoff with the US-backed Philippines naval ships in the South China Sea.

The Philippines is trying to assert its claim over the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, which is strongly resisted by China.

As part of its expansionist plans, China claims most of the South China Sea. The Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counterclaims.

The three Indian naval ships were welcomed by personnel of the Singapore Navy and the High Commissioner of India in Singapore.

On Tuesday, R Adm Dhankhar and the Indian High Commissioner hosted a reception onboard INS Shakti for 150 guests and missions heads.

The "visit is poised to further strengthen the longstanding friendship and cooperation between the two maritime nations through a series of engagements and activities," the Ministry of Defence in New Delhi said in a statement.

During the ships' stay in the harbour, various activities are planned. These include "interactions with the High Commission of India, professional interactions with the Republic of Singapore Navy as also academia and community outreach amongst other activities, reflecting the shared values of both navies," it said.

The two countries' navies have had robust relations spanning three decades of cooperation, coordination and collaboration with regular visits, exchange of best practices, and reciprocal training arrangements.

"The current deployment underscores the strong linkages between both the navies," the statement said.

Hamas accepts ceasefire proposal for Gaza after Israel orders Rafah evacuation

GAZA, May 6: Hamas announced Monday it has accepted an Egyptian-Qatari proposal for a cease-fire to halt the seven-month-long war with Israel in Gaza, hours after Israel ordered about 100,000 Palestinians to begin evacuating from the southern city of Rafah, signaling that a long-promised ground invasion there could be imminent.

There was no immediate comment from Israel on the deal, and details of the proposal have not yet been released. In recent days, Egyptian and Hamas officials have said the cease-fire would take place in a series of stages during which Hamas would release hostages it is holding in exchange for Israeli troop pullbacks from Gaza.

It is not clear whether the deal will meet Hamas’ key demand of bringing about an end to the war and complete Israeli withdrawal.

Hamas said in a statement its top leader, Ismail Haniyeh, had delivered the news in a phone call with Qatar’s prime minister and Egypt’s intelligence minister. After the release of the statement, Palestinians erupted in cheers in the sprawling tent camps around Rafah, hoping the deal meant an Israeli attack had been averted.

Israel’s closest allies, including the United States, have repeatedly said that Israel shouldn't attack Rafah. The looming operation has raised global alarm over the fate of around 1.4 million Palestinians sheltering there.

Aid agencies have warned that an offensive will worsen Gaza's humanitarian catastrophe and bring a surge of more civilian deaths in an Israeli campaign that in nearly seven months has killed 34,000 people and devastated the territory.

US President Joe Biden spoke Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and reiterated U.S. concerns about an invasion of Rafah. Biden said that a cease-fire with Hamas is the best way to protect the lives of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, a National Security Council spokesperson said on condition of anonymity to discuss the call before an official White House statement was released.

Hamas and key mediator Qatar said that invading Rafah will derail efforts by international mediators to broker a cease-fire. Days earlier, Hamas had been discussing a U.S.-backed proposal that reportedly raised the possibility of an end to the war and a pullout of Israeli troops in return for the release of all hostages held by the group. Israeli officials have rejected that trade-off, vowing to continue their campaign until Hamas is destroyed.

Netanyahu said Monday that seizing Rafah, which Israel says is the last significant Hamas stronghold in Gaza, was vital to ensuring the militants can't rebuild their military capabilities and repeat the Oct. 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war.

Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an army spokesman, said about 100,000 people were being ordered to move from parts of Rafah to a nearby Israel-declared humanitarian zone called Muwasi, a makeshift camp on the coast. He said that Israel has expanded the size of the zone and that it included tents, food, water and field hospitals.

It wasn't immediately clear, however, if that material was already in place to accommodate the new arrivals.

Around 450,000 displaced Palestinians already are sheltering in Muwasi. The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, said it has been providing them with aid. But conditions are squalid, with few bathrooms or sanitation facilities in the largely rural area, forcing families to dig private latrines.

Russia announces nuclear weapon drills after ‘provocative’ Western threats

MOSCOW, May 6: Russia has said it will hold drills that will include practice for the use of tactical nuclear weapons, days after top European leaders voiced stronger military support for Ukraine.

The Kremlin said on Monday the military exercises ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin were in response to statements by Western and NATO-member countries about sending troops into Ukraine, which Russia invaded more than two years ago.

They will include practice for the preparation and deployment of nonstrategic nuclear weapons intended to “increase the readiness … to fulfill combat tasks” after “provocative statements and threats of certain Western officials”, the Ministry of Defence said.

Missile formations in the Southern Military District and naval forces will take part in the drills, which would take place “in the near future”, it added.

Russia’s strategic nuclear forces regularly hold exercises but the statement marked the first public announcement of drills involving tactical nuclear weapons, which are usually smaller in yield – the amount of power released during an explosion – than the strategic nuclear weapons designed to destroy entire cities.

The move marks an escalation of tensions that have risen since French President Emmanuel Macron said last week that his country would consider sending ground troops to Ukraine if Kyiv requests backup. A day later, UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron said Ukraine could use British weapons against targets inside Russia if it wanted.

Russian officials condemned both statements and warned Moscow would retaliate to what they called a “dangerous escalation trend”. Moscow has long warned that conflict with NATO would become inevitable if European members of the military alliance sent in their soldiers to fight in Ukraine.

Israeli army tells 1,00,000 civilians to temporarily evacuate parts of Rafah

TEL AVIV, May 6: Ahead of planned operation in the southern Gaza, Israel has asked 1,00,000 Palestinians to evacuate eastern parts of Rafah. Israel has described Rafah as the last significant Hamas stronghold. The development comes a day after Hamas militants carried out a deadly rocket attack from the area that killed three Israeli soldiers.

"Israel was preparing a "limited scope operation" and would not say whether this was the beginning of a broader invasion of the city," said Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an army spokesman.

Some 1,00,000 people have been ordered to move to a nearby Israel-declared humanitarian zone called Muwasi.

Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an army spokesman said that the operation is part of the endeavour to dismantle Hamas.

The Israeli military is using text messages, flyers and social media to tell people to move.

The military has expanded assistance into the area, including field hospitals, tents, food and water.

In a statement on Monday, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said that Israeli military action in Rafah is required due to Hamas' refusals of mediated proposals for a Gaza truce under which the Palestinian Islamist group would free some hostages, reported Reuters.

About 1.2 million people are currently sheltering in Rafah, according to the World Health Organization.

Posters, text messages, phone calls and media announcements would be used to “encourage ... the gradual movement of civilians in the specified area.

The military said that it was not setting a timeframe for the Rafah evacuation, however, but would make operational assessments.

Evacuations were focused on a few peripheral districts of Rafah, from which evacuees would be directed to tent cities in nearby Khan Younis and Al Muwassi, reports quoted Army Radio as saying.

The incident would have no effect on the amounts of badly needed aid entering Gaza because other crossing points remain operational, said army spokesman.

The war began after Hamas stunned Israel with a cross-border raid on October 7, 2023. According to Israeli tallies, 1,200 people were killed and 252 taken hostages.

Hamas Chief Accuses Netanyahu Of Sabotaging Gaza Truce Talk Efforts

DOHA, May 5: Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh on Sunday accused Israel's prime minister of sabotaging efforts by mediators involved in ongoing talks aimed at a truce and hostage exchange in Gaza.

Qatar-based Haniyeh said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wanted to "invent constant justifications for the continuation of aggression, expanding the circle of conflict, and sabotaging efforts made through various mediators and parties".

Qatari, Egyptian and US mediators met a Hamas delegation in Cairo on Saturday in the latest bid to halt the devastating almost seven-month-old war that has triggered worldwide protests.

A senior Hamas source close to the negotiations said there would be "a new round" of talks on Sunday.

Negotiators seeking to halt the devastating war have proposed an initial 40-day pause in the fighting and an exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners.

Haniyeh said Hamas had approached the talks with "seriousness and positivity" but questioned "the meaning of an agreement if a ceasefire is not its first result".

Earlier Netanyahu had rejected Hamas's demand to end the war.

Israel was "not ready to accept a situation in which the Hamas battalions come out of their bunkers, take control of Gaza again, rebuild their military infrastructure, and return to threaten the citizens of Israel", he said.

Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been trying to mediate an agreement between Israel and Hamas for months.

The Qatar-based leader of Hamas's political office said the United States had "provided cover for this occupation, should be the one to stop it instead of supplying it with weapons of destruction and extermination".

Haniyeh added that Hamas "remains eager to reach a comprehensive and interconnected agreement in stages, ending the aggression, ensuring withdrawal, and achieving a serious prisoner exchange deal".

Israel Cabinet Votes To Shut Down Al Jazeera Over National Security Threats

JERUSALEM, May 5: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet decided on Sunday to shut down Al Jazeera's operations in Israel for as long as the war in Gaza continues, on the grounds the Qatari television network threatens national security.

"The incitement channel Al Jazeera will be closed in Israel," Netanyahu posted on social media following the unanimous cabinet vote.

A government statement said Israel's communications minister signed orders to "act immediately," but at least one lawmaker who supported the closure said Al Jazeera could still try to block it in court.

The measure, the statement said, will include closing Al Jazeera's offices in Israel, confiscating broadcast equipment, cutting off the channel from cable and satellite companies and blocking its websites.

The network is funded by the Qatari government and has been fiercely critical of Israel's military operation in Gaza, from where it has reported around the clock throughout the war. The Israeli statement did not mention Al Jazeera's Gaza operations.

Israel's parliament last month ratified a law allowing the temporary closure in Israel of foreign broadcasters considered to be a threat to national security.

Al Jazeera made no immediate comment on Sunday, although it has previously rejected accusations that it was a threat to Israel's security and said the shutdown was an effort to silence it.

The law allows Netanyahu and his security cabinet to shut the network's offices in Israel for 45 days, a period that can be renewed, so it could stay in force until the end of July or until the end of major military operations in Gaza.

Qatar, which hosts Hamas leaders, is trying to mediate a ceasefire and hostage release deal that could halt the Gaza war.

5 Palestinian 'Terrorists' Killed In West Bank Raid, Says Israeli Army

TULKAREM, May 4: The Israeli army said troops killed five Palestinian "terrorists" barricaded in a building during a 12-hour siege in the occupied West Bank on Saturday.

A photographer saw a heavy military deployment in the village of Deir al-Ghusun, near the northern town of Tulkarem.

Troops deployed a bulldozer to flatten a building and carried at least one body out of the rubble, the photographer reported.

Israeli forces "engaged in an extensive 12-hour counterterrorism operation in the Tulkarem area," the army and the Shin Bet security service said in a joint statement.

They said troops had come under fire after entering the village to "neutralise a terrorist cell" and had "retaliated" with "live ammunition, shoulder-fired missiles and other weaponry".

An army drone registered two hits on the building before sappers moved in to "dismantle" it.

"The confrontation ended with the elimination of five terrorists, and the seizure of military gear and weapon components," the joint statement said.

A member of a counterterrorism unit of Israel's border police was wounded in the operation, it added.

Canada Arrests Suspects In Khalistani Terrorist Nijjar's Killing: Report

OTTAWA, May 3: Canadian police on Friday arrested members of an alleged hit squad linked to the murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia last year, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation said on Friday.

Sources said investigators had identified the suspects in Canada some months ago and had been keeping them under tight surveillance, the CBC said.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police were not immediately available for comment.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in September that Canadian authorities were pursuing allegations linking Indian government agents to the fatal shooting of Nijjar, a Canadian citizen. New Delhi rejected Trudeau's claim as "absurd."

Canada had been pressing India to cooperate in its investigation. The US later revealed it had foiled an assassination attempt against a Sikh separatist on its soil.

The presence of Khalistani terrorists in Canada has long frustrated New Delhi. Nijjar was labelled a "terrorist" by India.

Kim Jong Un Handpicks 25 'Pretty' Girls Every Year For His 'Pleasure Squad': Report

LONDON, May 3: Yeonmi Park, a young woman who escaped from North Korea, has revealed sensational things about the country's leader Kim Jong Un. According to a report by Mirror, Ms Park claimed that Kim Jong-un picks 25 virgin girls every year for his "pleasure squad".

Notably, the women are picked based on their looks and political loyalty. She further revealed that she was scouted twice for Kim's "pleasure squad" but was not selected due to her family status.

The defector said: "They visit every classroom and they even go to schoolyards in case they missed someone pretty. Once they find some pretty girls, the first thing they do is check into their family status and their political status. They eliminate any girls with family members that have escaped from North Korea, or have relatives in South Korea or other countries."

She claims that once the girls are selected, they are made to undergo medical examinations to ensure that they are virgins. During the test, "even the smallest defect" like a minor scar, leads to disqualification. After rigorous testing, only a few girls from across North Korea are then sent to Pyongyang where their sole purpose is to gratify the dictator's desires.

The squad is divided into three distinct groups, with one trained in massage, and the other in performing songs and dances. The third group has to be sexually intimate with the dictator and other men.

"They have to be sexually intimate with the dictator, and other men. They have to learn how to please these men that's their only goal," Ms Park said.

While the most attractive girls are selected to serve the dictator himself, others are assigned to satisfy lower-ranking generals and politicians. The report further stated that once the members of the squad reach their mid-twenties, their tenure comes to an end. Some of them are often married to the leader's bodyguards.

Ms Park explained that the origins of this "pleasure squad" date back to the 1970s era of Kim Jong-un's father, Kim Jong-II who believed that "having sexual intimacy would give him immortality." However, he died in 2011 from a massive heart attack, aged 70.

US accuses Russia of using chemical weapons in Ukraine war

WASHINGTON, May 2: The United States has accused Russia of breaching the global ban on chemical weapons by using the choking agent chloropicrin against Ukrainian soldiers and deploying riot control agents “as a method of warfare” in Ukraine.

“The use of such chemicals is not an isolated incident, and is probably driven by Russian forces’ desire to dislodge Ukrainian forces from fortified positions and achieve tactical gains on the battlefield,” the US Department of State said in a statement on Wednesday that also announced new sanctions against entities linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Chloropicrin, a nearly colourless oily liquid which causes severe irritation to the eyes, skin and lungs, was used in large quantities during World War I, according to the US’s National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety.

While it continues to be used as an agricultural pesticide, its use in war is banned under the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).

Russia has said it no longer possesses a military chemical arsenal, but the country faces pressure for more transparency over its alleged use of toxic chemicals.

On Thursday, Russia denied the US accusation. “As always, such announcements are absolutely unfounded and are not supported by anything. Russia has been and remains committed to its obligations under international law in this area,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

In addition to chloropicrin, Russian forces have used grenades loaded with CS and CN gasses, a news agency reported earlier this month, citing the Ukrainian military.

It said that at least 500 Ukrainian soldiers had been treated for exposure to toxic substances and one died after suffocating on tear gas.

Gyundoz Mamedov, the deputy prosecutor general in Ukraine until 2021, posted on social media on April 24 that the Russian army had used tear gas against Ukrainian forces at least 900 times over the previous six months, with more than 1,400 incidents since it began its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

While civilians can usually escape such gasses during protests, soldiers confined to trenches without gas masks are forced to either flee under enemy fire or risk suffocation.

After Maldives, Another Island Nation Elects Pro-China PM - Off Australia

HONIARA (Solomon Islands), May 2: The Solomon Islands' legislators have chosen Jeremiah Manele, a former foreign minister, to be their new Prime Minister.

In a secret ballot today, Manele, who has promised to uphold the Pacific nation's China-friendly foreign policy, received 31 votes.

This development in the Indo-Pacific comes months after Maldives - an island nation in the Indian Ocean - elected a strongly pro-China Prime Minister.

Whereas, his opponent, longtime opposition leader Matthew Wale, secured 18 votes.

The vote in the 50-member parliament took place amid heightened security in the capital, Honiara, with squadrons of police patrolling the parliamentary grounds to ward off potential unrest.

Manele, speaking outside the parliament, praised the fact there was no repeat of past violence.

Notably, Manele's appointment as the country's new Prime Minister comes after a national election last month failed to deliver a majority to any political party.

The election, when it took place, were closely watched by China, the United States and neighbouring Australia because of the potential impact on regional security after outgoing Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare struck a security pact with China in 2022.

Prime Minister Sogavare, during his 5-year tenure, had built close ties with China but did not seek re-election to the top political office.

However, his party had throughout maintained a strong support for Manele. The politician was foreign minister in 2019 when the Solomon Islands turned its back on Taiwan and established diplomatic relations with Beijing.