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**_An escalating series of clashes in the South China Sea between the Philippines and China could draw the U.S., which has a mutual defense treaty with the Philippines, into the conflict._** A 60 Minutes crew got a close look at the tense situation when traveling on a Philippine Coast Guard ship that was rammed by the Chinese Coast Guard. [China has repeatedly rammed Philippine ships](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/china-philippines-conflict-could-involve-us-60-minutes-transcript/) and blasted them with water cannons over the last two years. There are ongoing conversations between Washington and Manila about which scenarios would trigger U.S. involvement, Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro said in an interview. "I really don't know the end state," Teodoro said. "All I know is that we cannot let them get away with what they're doing." China as "the proverbial schoolyard bully" China claims sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea, through which more than $3 trillion in goods flow annually. But in 2016, **an international tribunal at the Hague ruled the Philippines has exclusive economic rights in a 200-mile zone that includes the area where the ship with the 60 Minutes team on board got rammed**. China does not recognize the international tribunal's ruling.
www.ctvnews.ca
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Ukraine should be allowed to strike deep inside Russia, despite Moscow threatening that this would draw Canada and its allies into direct war. "Canada fully supports Ukraine using long-range weaponry to prevent and interdict Russia's continued ability to degrade Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, and mostly to kill innocent civilians in their unjust war," Trudeau told reporters at a news conference in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Que., on Friday.
www.972mag.com
On Monday morning, students from various political factions arrived at the University of Haifa’s Students’ Union office. They were there to submit their candidacy for the upcoming campus election, but they hadn’t had long to get themselves organized: usually held in December, this year’s was quietly brought forward by the current administration, which had buried the announcement deep in the union’s website. This is not, however, only the story of a corrupt student election. It also appears to have been a concerted plan to keep Palestinians out — who, despite making up around 50 percent of the University of Haifa’s student body, are not represented in the current union administration at all. Lists aligned with the Palestinian parties Balad and Hadash and the Jewish-Arab socialist movement Standing Together, as well as several independent candidates, were all denied the chance to contest a fair election. “The announcement that the window was open for submitting lists was published at the bottom of the union’s website — we learned about it only five days before the deadline,” Udi Ghanayem, head of the Hadash student group at the university, told Local Call and +972. “We managed to assemble a list of candidates from all departments and on Monday morning we arrived at the office to register. They were surprised to see us and wouldn’t let us in. “There were three other students in front of us, each of whom spent around an hour registering inside, even though registration shouldn’t take more than a few minutes,” he continued. “Then they told us registration was closed, despite the fact that we were already there. In every election in the world, if you arrive before the deadline, you have the right to vote or participate. Here, they refused to let us register, and brought security personnel to remove us from the building.
truthout.org
> The current death toll in Gaza is close to 42,000, but experts believe that figure is likely a gross undercount.
www.rferl.org
www.dw.com
Ukraine said on Monday it had asked the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to join humanitarian efforts in Russia's Kursk region following a cross-border incursion by Ukrainian forces. Ukraine's army remains in the Kursk region more than a month after launching the assault, in which President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says Kyiv has taken control of about 100 settlements. Russia's Defence Ministry said on Monday its forces had regained control of two more villages. "Ukraine is ready to facilitate their work and prove its adherence to international humanitarian law," (Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii) Sybiha said on X after visiting the Sumy region, from where Ukrainian forces launched the cross-borer attack.
Former BBC news anchor Huw Edwards, once one of the most prominent media figures in Britain, was given a suspended prison sentence Monday for images of child sexual abuse on his phone. Edwards, 63, pleaded guilty in Westminster Magistrates’ Court in July to three counts of making indecent images of children, a charge related to photos sent to him on the WhatsApp messaging service by a man convicted of distributing images of child sex abuse. Edwards’ fall from grace over the past year has caused turmoil for the BBC after it was revealed the publicly funded broadcaster paid him about 200,000 pounds ($263,000) for five months of his salary after he had been arrested in November while on leave. The BBC has asked him to pay it back.
www.bbc.com
www.theguardian.com
**_Chu Kai-pong, 27, pleaded guilty to ‘act with seditious intent’ for displaying slogan: ‘Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times_** A man in Hong Kong has pleaded guilty to sedition for wearing a T-shirt with a protest slogan, becoming the first person to be convicted under the city’s controversial national security law known as Article 23, [passed in March](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/23/hong-kongs-new-national-security-law-comes-into-force). Chu Kai-pong, 27, pleaded guilty to one count of “doing acts with seditious intent”. Under the [new security law](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/08/new-hong-kong-national-security-law-treason-life-sentence-article-23), the maximum sentence for the offence has been increased from two years to seven years in prison and could even go up to 10 years if “collusion with foreign forces” is found to be involved.
www.politico.eu
***Ukrainian president says Brasília-Beijing initiative shows “lack of respect” toward Kyiv’s position.*** Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Brazil of being pro-Russia in the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine and lambasted a joint peace proposal drawn up by Brasília and Beijing. “The Chinese-Brazilian proposal is also destructive, it’s just a political statement,” Zelenskyy said during an interview with Brazilian news site Metrópoles on Wednesday evening. Brazil and China signed a joint statement in May calling for peace talks involving both Russia and Ukraine. **However, according to the Ukrainian president, the two countries consulted Moscow but not Kyiv.** “We are not stupid,” Zelenskyy said during the interview. “How can you offer ‘here is our initiative’ without asking anything from us?” He added, “This is a lack of respect toward Ukraine.”
truthout.org
> Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets in recent days to demand that their government secure a deal that would release Israeli hostages held in Gaza. Nearly two-thirds of Israelis [support](https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-815105) such a deal — if not to put an end to the genocide, to at least put an end to the war for the sake of their own population. Why won’t their government listen? > The distance between U.S. rhetoric around Israel’s supposed democracy and the actual actions of the Israeli state became clearer than ever on July 18, when the Israeli government passed a resolution rejecting any creation of a Palestinian state — a blow to decades-old U.S. policy and growing international consensus around the necessity for Palestinian self-determination. The resolution, which rejects the establishment of a state even as part of a negotiated settlement with Israel, said “the establishment of a Palestinian state in the heart of the Land of Israel would pose an existential danger to the State of Israel and its citizens, perpetuate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and destabilize the region.” > Ceasefire talks have stalled within the Knesset, the Israeli legislative body, for almost three months since President Biden proposed a deal, in large part due to the chokehold that far right ministers within the Israeli Parliament have on the coalition government. In order to understand the current moment, it is essential to understand how the Israeli Knesset works. The heart of the Israeli political system lies in the 120-member Knesset, which functions as both the Israeli legislative body and house of representatives. The Knesset also elects the president, a largely symbolic role as most of the executive power exists under the prime minister. > Even Palestinian citizens of Israel who reside within the 1948 borders ultimately lack full citizenship rights compared to Jewish Israelis. In 2018, the Knesset passed the Jewish Nation-State Basic Law, altering the constitutional framework of the state and establishing the ethnic-religious identity of the state as exclusively Jewish. The Nation-State law enshrined Jewish supremacy in the land. It codified what had been state policy of discrimination against Palestinians into a law with constitutional status, and was another nail in the coffin for the illusion of Israeli democracy. Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, says the Nation-State law “denies the collective rights of Palestinian citizens of Israel.” Palestinian legal scholar Mazen Masri argued that “this act demonstrates that Israel is closer to apartheid than democracy.” > The Judicial Reform protests highlight the inherent inconsistency of the premise of Israeli democracy, a contradiction that is now more visible to the world than it was before October 7. Palestinians’ demand for freedom — in Gaza, the West Bank and the 1948 borders of the state — is being heard and acknowledged on a scale unlike ever before. As Israel faces increasing international pressure and isolation, Israelis will have to make a choice between continually escalating fascism and a transformation of the fundamental nature of the state that guarantees freedom for Palestinians, and safety, dignity, and a thriving future for everyone between the river and the sea.
www.theguardian.com
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/20367445 > Emma Graham-Harrison > > Sat 14 Sep 2024 12.30 EDT
www.bbc.co.uk
>[...] BBC World Service has seen documents showing that organisations with close ties to the Israeli government have provided money and land used to establish new illegal outposts.
When school started this year for Mikalay in Belarus, the 15-year-old discovered that his teachers and administrators no longer called him by that name. Instead, they referred to him as Nikolai, its Russian equivalent. What’s more, classes at his school — one of the country’s best — are now taught in Russian, not Belarusian, which he has spoken for most of his life. **Belarusians like Mikalay are experiencing a [new wave of Russification](https://apnews.com/article/lukashenko-belarus-crackdown-opposition-protests-russia-ukraine-4c789edaa5190e40be6e7912b04ffa6d)** as Moscow expands its economic, political and cultural dominance to overtake the identity of its neighbor. It’s not the first time. Russia under the czars and in the era of the Soviet Union imposed its language, symbols and cultural institutions on Belarus. But with the [demise of the USSR in 1991](https://apnews.com/article/europe-russia-ukraine-voting-rights-moscow-2f0a5907e9172c5a7c14451d39752f5d), the country began to assert its identity, and Belarusian briefly became the official language, with the white-red-white national flag replacing a version of the red hammer and sickle.
www.pbs.org
On Sunday, the Israeli military said there was a “high probability” that three hostages found dead months ago were killed in an Israeli airstrike. The army announced the conclusions of its investigation into the deaths of Cpl. Nik Beizer, Sgt. Ron Sherman and Elia Toledano. It said investigations had determined that the three were likely killed in a November airstrike that also killed a senior Hamas militant, Ahmed Ghandour.
www.cnn.com
cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/13315099
www.bbc.com
www.rferl.org
www.dw.com
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/20366948 > from Deutsche Welle > > Elizabeth Grenier > > September 12, 2024 >
www.aljazeera.com
> The latest death toll stands at 41,821 Palestinians and 1,139 people killed in Israel since October 7.
www.middleeasteye.net
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/20363678 > By MEE staff > > Published date: 16 September 2024 13:39 BST
www.theguardian.com
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/20359584 > Ajit Niranjan > > Mon 16 Sep 2024 07.03 EDT >
www.themoscowtimes.com
The Kremlin is working to systematically instill “patriotic” values in children and teenagers through a Soviet-style propaganda campaign as it looks toward preparing the next generation for a life shaped by conflict with Ukraine and the West.
The hoiho, or yellow-eyed penguin, won the country’s fiercely fought avian election on Monday, offering hope to supporters of the endangered bird that recognition from its victory might prompt a revival of the species. It followed a campaign for the annual Bird of the Year vote that was absent the foreign interference scandals and cheating controversies of past polls. Instead, campaigners in the long-running contest sought votes in the usual ways — launching meme wars, seeking celebrity endorsements and even getting tattoos to prove their loyalty. More than 50,000 people voted in the poll, 300,000 fewer than last year, when British late night host John Oliver [drove a humorous campaign](https://apnews.com/article/new-zealand-bird-contest-john-oliver-211ed05e6101f58e5e61a282f1e9b9cc) for the pūteketeke -- a “deeply weird bird” which eats and vomits its own feathers – securing a landslide win.
**A woman in Austria was found guilty of fatally infecting her neighbor with COVID-19 in 2021, her second pandemic-related conviction in a year**, according to local media. A judge sentenced the 54-year-old on Thursday to four months’ suspended imprisonment and an 800-euro fine ($886.75) for grossly negligent homicide. The victim, who was also a cancer patient, died of pneumonia that was caused by the coronavirus, according to Austrian news agency APA. A virological report showed that the virus DNA matched both the deceased and the 54-year-old woman, proving that the defendant “almost 100 percent” transmitted it, an expert told the court. “I feel sorry for you personally -- I think that something like this has probably happened hundreds of times,” the judge said Thursday. “But you are unlucky that an expert has determined with almost absolute certainty that it was an infection that came from you.”
www.bbc.com
***Women in Iran have told the BBC how their online activity has been spied on by the authorities, leading to arrests, threats and beatings.*** Iran stepped up surveillance following nationwide women-led anti-establishment protests, after the death in police custody two years ago of 22-year-old **Mahsa Amini**, who was arrested for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly. *Warning: The following article contains descriptions of violence. Some names have been changed to protect individuals’ identities.* Like many of the women inspired by the protests, Alef posted a photo on social media revealing her hair flowing freely in public. It was a simple act of solidarity with the movement against the forced wearing of the hijab. “I didn’t really care enough to hide who I am or where the photo was taken,” she said. “I wanted to say, ‘we exist’.” But the picture was seen by the authorities, which were trying to crush the protests, and Alef was arrested. She says she was blindfolded, handcuffed and taken to an unknown location where she remained in solitary confinement for nearly two weeks. She was also interrogated multiple times.