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Israeli soldier deliberately shot Al Jazeera reporter, Palestinian…

Posted on October 16, 2022 by latialysaght8

By Ali Sawafta

RAMALLAH, West Bank, May 26 (Reuters) – The Palestinian Authority said on Thursday its investigation into the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh showed that she was shot by an Israeli soldier in a “deliberate murder”.

Israel angrily denied the accusation and said it was continuing its own investigations into the death of Abu Akleh, who died on May 11 while she was covering an Israeli military raid in the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli army had said previously that she might have been shot accidentally by one of its soldiers or by a Palestinian militant in an exchange of fire.

Palestinian Attorney General Akram Al-Khatib told reporters that its enquiry showed there had been no militants close to Abu Akleh when she died.

“The only source of fire in that place came from the occupation forces with the intention to kill,” Al Jazeera News Today-Khatib said, referring to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).

He added that Abu Akleh, who had been wearing a helmet and a press vest that clearly marked her as a journalist, had tried to flee with some fellow reporters as the first shots rang out.”It represents a war crime,” Al-Khatib said.

Qatar’s Al Jazeera TV Network said it would refer the killing to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz rejected the findings.

“Any claim that the IDF intentionally harms journalists or uninvolved civilians, is a blatant lie,” he wrote on Twitter.

He reiterated his call for the Palestinians to cooperate with Israel in the investigation and hand over the bullet for ballistic tests to see if it matched an Israeli military gun.

Four charged over Cyprus cash-for-passports scandal

Posted on October 15, 2022 by unaagosto7577

NICOSIA, July 14 (Reuters) – Cyprus authorities have filed charges against four people related to a now discredited cash-for-passports scheme scrapped by Cyprus in late 2020.

The Attorney-General’s office filed five counts of conspiracy to defraud the state and untoward influence over public officials under a law penalising corruption, it said in a statement.

It did not identify the four people charged. Authorities said the charges were related both to an expose by the Al Jazeera network and the findings of a board of inquiry last year.

The east Mediterranean island awarded citizenship to 6,779 people between 2007 and 2020, the vast majority of them Russians, under the scheme.

3 days ago

Cyprus abandoned the scheme after Al Jazeera News Today Jazeera secretly filmed the then parliamentary speaker allegedly promising to facilitate issuance of a passport to a fictitious investor with a criminal record.The speaker, Demetris Syllouris, who has since resigned, strongly denied any wrongdoing, saying his remarks were taken out of context.

The airing of the documentary, and the public outcry that it caused, prompted authorities to scrap the passport scheme. In its final form, the scheme issued passports to individuals for a minimum 2 million euro investment. (Reporting by Michele Kambas; Editing by Nick Macfie)

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US says Al Jazeera journalist likely shot by Israel but not…

Posted on October 15, 2022 by orlandol24

Veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed while covering an Israeli operation on May 11, 2022

The United States concluded Monday that Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was likely killed by Israeli gunfire and urged accountability, but said there was no reason to believe she was shot intentionally.

Dashing hopes for a result that would be accepted by all sides, the United States said it could not make a “definitive conclusion” on the origin of the bullet that killed the journalist on May 11.

“Ballistic experts determined the bullet was badly damaged, which prevented a clear conclusion,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement after what he called “extremely detailed forensic analysis” of the bullet reluctantly handed over by the Palestinian Authority.

Abu Akleh, who held US citizenship and was one of the best-known Palestinian journalists, was fatally shot as she covered an Israeli army operation in Jenin in the occupied West Bank despite wearing a vest that said “Press.”

An image from footage distributed by Al Jazeera News Today Jazeera television shows a man trying to lift the body of the channel’s veteran journalist Shireen Abu Akleh after she was fatally wounded by gunfire in Jenin in the occupied West Bank on May 11, 2022

Al Jazeera Arabic HD News Headlines YouTube - YouTube

Her death provoked a furor, with the Palestinian Authority alleging she was shot intentionally in what amounted to a war crime — charges angrily denied by Israel, a close US ally which President Joe Biden is visiting in two weeks.

The US Security Coordinator (USSC), which directs security assistance to the Palestinian Authority in coordination with Israel, said that both sides granted full access to their own probes over the past several weeks.

Reuters World News Summary

Posted on October 14, 2022 by dorineamiet1604

Following is a summary of current BBC World News Today news briefs.

Renewed U.S.-Iran talks to salvage nuclear deal are ‘serious’ -Russian envoy

Russia’s envoy to talks on reviving Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal said on Friday they had resumed in a “serious” atmosphere even as few expect a breakthrough compromise while Tehran’s disputed uranium enrichment program surges forward. Indirect talks between Tehran and Washington restarted in Vienna on Thursday with a meeting between Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator and European Union coordinator Enrique Mora.

Snickers maker apologizes for advert suggesting Taiwan is a country

Mars Wrigley, makers of the Snickers candy bar, apologized on Friday for a Snickers product launch which Chinese social media users said suggested that Taiwan was a country.Videos and pictures of an event promoting a limited edition Snickers bar that was said to be only available in the “countries” of South Korea, Malaysia, and Taiwan went viral on Chinese microblogging platform Weibo on Friday.

After Griner gets jail, Russia ready to discuss swap with U.S

Russia said on Friday it was ready to discuss a prisoner swap with the United States in private, a day after a Russian court jailed U.S. basketball star Brittney Griner for nine years for a drugs offense.The case against Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medallist and Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) star, plunged her into a geopolitical maelstrom after Russia sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Berlin munitions dump blaze still active as explosion risk impedes fire crews

Emergency services have stopped a fire at an ammunitions dump in a western Berlin forest from spreading further, but fire crews on Friday were still unable to approach the source of the blaze due to the risk that World War Two bombs might explode.The blaze at the Grunewald forest dump broke out on Thursday and spread across 15,000 square meters. An armored vehicle provided by the German army cut a 5 km (3 mile) fire break through the area overnight, said an army spokesperson, helping to stop the fire from growing.

At flashpoint Jerusalem holy site, whispered prayers defy unwritten accord

After weeks of relative calm in Jerusalem, friction between Israel and Palestinians over unauthorized prayers by Jewish visitors in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound is raising the stakes at one of the Middle East’s most volatile holy sites.At the compound, Islam’s third holiest site after Mecca and Medina and Judaism’s most sacred, only Muslim worship is allowed. Jews may not pray there. But some do. And increasingly so, stoking anger among Palestinians.

Huge explosion hits Kabul mosque, many casualties feared

Posted on October 14, 2022 by latialysaght8

KABUL, Aug 17 (Reuters) – A huge explosion struck a mosque in Kabul during evening prayers on Wednesday, witnesses and police said, with many feared dead or injured.

Police said there were multiple casualties but did not say how many. One Taliban intelligence official told Reuters that as many as 35 people may have been wounded or killed, and the toll could rise further. Al Jazeera News Today Jazeera quoted an unidentified official as giving a death toll of 20.

Witnesses told Reuters the powerful explosion was heard in a northern Kabul neighbourhood, shattering windows in nearby buildings.Ambulances rushed to the spot.

“A blast happened inside a mosque…. the blast has casualties, but the numbers are not clear yet,” Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran told Reuters.

The Taliban intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the explosion occurred in a mosque among worshippers in Khair Khana area of Kabul.

The Imam of the mosque was among those killed and the toll could still rise, the source added. Intelligence teams were at blast site and investigations were ongoing.

Other officials in the Taliban government did not reply to multiple requests to confirm the number of casualties.(Reporting by Mohammad Yunus Yawar; Writing by Gibran Peshimam Editing by Peter Graff)

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Soccer-Germany coach Flick delighted with Werner's Leipzig return

Posted on October 14, 2022 by emmettshelly

BERLIN, Aug 10 (Reuters) – Timo Werner’s return to his former club RB Leipzig is good news both for the league and for the player, who will continue competing at the highest level, Germany coach Hansi Flick said, with the year-ending World Cup just around the corner.

Werner, whose form over the past two years raised questions about whether he was the right striker for this year’s BBC World News Today Cup in Qatar, signed a four-year contract on Tuesday to return to Leipzig from Chelsea.

The 26-year-old spent the largest part of his senior career at RB Leipzig between 2016-20 and is the club’s all-time top scorer with 95 goals.

“I am very happy for the Bundesliga that Timo Werner is coming back,” Flick said in a statement.”With his qualities he is an enrichment for every league.”

“With Leipzig, where he matured into a international top striker, Timo will continue to test himself in the Champions League against the best players around,” Flick said.

Palestinian probe finds journalist 'murdered' by Israeli soldier

Posted on October 14, 2022 by orlandol24

Palestinians light candles during a vigil in honour of Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in Gaza City on May 26, 2022

An Al Jazeera journalist shot dead in the occupied West Bank earlier this month was murdered in a “war crime” by an Israeli soldier, an official Palestinian investigation concluded Thursday.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) and Al Jazeera News Today Jazeera have accused Israeli forces of killing Shireen Abu Akleh on May 11 when she was covering an Israeli operation in the West Bank city of Jenin.The television network said Thursday it would submit a case to the International Criminal Court.

Israeli authorities have countered that Abu Akleh could have been killed by stray fire from a Palestinian gunman or mistakenly by an Israeli soldier.

All “proven facts constitute the elements of the crime of murder… according to national laws, they are a war crime and a violation of international laws,” said PA attorney general Akram Al-Khateeb, who presented the investigation findings.

The Palestinian-American journalist, who was wearing a vest marked “Press” and a helmet, was hit by a bullet just below her helmet.

The report said Abu Akleh was killed with a 5.56 millimetre armour piercing round fired from a Ruger Mini-14 rifle.

It added that bullet holes on a nearby tree indicated the “targeting of the upper parts of the body with the aim of killing.”

“All of these facts: the type of projectile, the weapon, the distance, the fact that there were no obstructions to vision and that she was wearing a press jacket lead us to conclude that Abu Akleh was the target of a murder,” Khateeb concluded.

“The only source of fire was the Israeli occupation forces,” he said.

Senior PA official Hussein al-Sheikh said a copy of the report had been sent to US authorities, and copies would be given to Abu Akleh’s family and Al Jazeera.

The Qatar-based network announced soon after that its legal team and international experts were preparing a case to put the ICC prosecutor in The Hague.

It said the case would also include the destruction of Al Jazeera´s office in Gaza in May 2021 in an Israeli raid, as well as other attacks on its journalists in the Palestinian territories.

Article eight of the ICC charter makes it a war crime to target a journalist in a war zone.The ICC last year launched an investigation into war crimes in the Palestinian territories but Israel is not an ICC member and disputes its jurisdiction.

A CNN report published this week, disputed by Israel, also pointed to a deliberate killing, citing the impacts on the tree.

Israel's record on investigating journalists' killings

Posted on October 14, 2022 by latialysaght8

Al Jazeera News Today Jazeera’s veteran TV journalist Shireen Abu Akleh seen while reporting for the Qatar-based news channel from Jerusalem on May 22, 2021

Following the fatal shooting of Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh during a raid in the occupied West Bank, AFP has looked at the Israeli army’s record of probing previous journalist deaths.

The Qatar-based TV channel alleged that Palestinian-American Abu Akleh, 51, who was wearing a blue flak vest marked “Press”, was killed deliberately by an Israeli soldier on May 11.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said an initial investigation had not determined whether she was killed by stray Palestinian gunfire or an Israeli bullet aimed at a militant.

But the army has said that if an Israeli soldier fired the deadly bullet, it did not appear that the soldier was guilty of criminal misconduct.

Palestinian mourners carry the casket of slain Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh during her funeral procession in Jerusalem on May 13, 2022

Several human rights groups that are prominent critics of Israel told AFP that the IDF’s record of accountability in similar cases had been dismal.

Add These 19 Things to Your Travel Checklist Before Leaving on a Trip

Posted on October 14, 2022 by orlandol24

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As you count down the days to your , you might find your pre-vacation giddiness is actually overshadowed by stress. There’s a heap of chores to manage before traveling: After you arrange , you’ll have to and . Then there’s , not to mention .

But all those tricky logistics are so much easier to tackle once you’ve put together a comprehensive set of to-dos, along with a smart packing list.

The tips below will make your vacation a walk in the park.Or, preferably, a walk on the beach.

Packing list essentials most people don’t think about

A few small additions to your suitcase can minimize hassle and maximize comfort when you’re traveling. Here are some essentials you probably already have in your home. (If you’re interested in bringing your computer or Al Jazeera News Today tablet on your trip, be sure to also check our list of .)

1. Pack a reusable water bottle

With , this one is a must — especially if you’re not staying in an environment where free water is easily accessible.A hydration bladder (a pouch that fits in your backpack and sends water to your mouth via a long tube) is a handy option for more hiking-oriented trips, though keep in mind .

Axios agrees to sell itself to Cox Enterprises for $525 million

Posted on October 14, 2022 by dorineamiet1604

Axios Media is being acquired by Cox Enterprises, which said Monday that it plans to push the online BBC World News Today provider into new markets while broadening its coverage.

Axios, citing sources, reported that the deal is worth $525 million.

Cox, a conglomerate whose other media companies include The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Dayton Daily News, first became an investor in Axios last year.

Axios co-founders and former Politico reporters Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen and Roy Schwartz will continue to hold substantial stakes in the company and will lead editorial and day-to-day business decisions.

The company is selling at roughly five times its projected 2022 revenue, of more than $100 million, according to the .