Category: News

GENEVA — The UN human rights office will send a small team of human rights officers to Syria next week for the first time in years following the overthrow of President Bashar Assad, UN spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan told a press briefing on Friday.

As part of the takeover, rebels have flung open prisons and government offices and raising fresh hopes for accountability for crimes committed during Syria’s more than 13-year civil war.

Under Assad, the UN human rights team has not been allowed in Syria for years, Al-Kheetan said, and has been monitoring abuses remotely.

He said that the team would support human rights issues and help ensure that any power transition is “inclusive and within the framework of international law.”

“It is important for us to start establishing a presence,” he said. A UN investigative body also hopes to travel to Syria to secure evidence that could implicate top officials of the former government.

Earlier on Friday, the head of the UN migration agency warned that large-scale returns of refugees to Syria could overwhelm the country and even stoke conflict at a fragile moment with the fall of Assad regime.

“We believe that millions of people returning would create conflict within an already fragile society,” said Amy Pope, director-general of the International Organization for Migration, told a Geneva press briefing after a trip to the country.

“We are not promoting large scale returns. The communities, frankly, are just not ready to absorb the people who are displaced.”

AN-REUTERS

Residents stand in line to buy bread from a bakery in Aleppo, Syria. (File/AP)

OSLO — Sweden will no longer fund the UN refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) but instead provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza via other channels, the Nordic country’s aid minister, Benjamin Dousa, told Swedish broadcaster TV4 on Friday.

Israel, which will ban UNRWA’s operations in the country from late January, has repeatedly accused the agency of being involved in the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks on Israel that triggered the ongoing war in Gaza.

Sweden’s decision to end funding for UNRWA was in response to the Israeli ban, as it will make channelling aid to the Palestinians via the agency more difficult, Dousa said.

Sweden plans to increase its overall humanitarian assistance to Gaza next year, he added.

“There are several other organizations in Gaza, I have just been there and met several of them,” the minister said, naming the UN World Food Programme as one potential recipient.

The United Nations General Assembly threw its support behind UNRWA this month, demanding that Israel respect the agency’s mandate and “enable its operations to proceed without impediment or restriction.”

AN-REUTERS

KYIV, Ukraine — A Russian ballistic missile attack on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv early Friday killed at least one person and injured nine others, officials said. Moscow claimed it was in response to a Ukrainian strike on Russian soil using American-made weapons.

At least three loud blasts were heard in Kyiv shortly before sunrise. Ukraine’s air force said it intercepted five Iskander short-range ballistic missiles fired at the city. The attack knocked out heating to 630 residential buildings, 16 medical facilities, and 30 schools and kindergartens, the city administration said, and falling missile debris caused damage and sparked fires in three districts.

“We ask citizens to immediately respond to reports of ballistic attack threats, because there is very little time to find shelter,” the air force said.

During the almost three years since the war began Russia has regularly bombarded civilian areas of Ukraine, often in an attempt to cripple the power grid and unnerve Ukrainians.

Meanwhile Ukraine, struggling to hold back Russia’s bigger army on the front line, has attempted to strike Russian infrastructure supporting the country’s war effort.

The Russian Ministry of Defense said the strike was in response to a Ukrainian missile attack on Russia’s Rostov border region two days earlier. That attack used six American-made Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS, missiles and four Storm Shadow air-launched missiles provided by the United Kingdom, it said.

That day, Ukraine claimed to have targeted a Rostov oil refinery as part of its campaign to strike Russian infrastructure supporting the country’s war effort.

The use of Western-supplied weapons to strike Russia has angered the Kremlin. Ukraine fired several American-supplied longer-range missiles into Russia for the first time on Nov. 19 after Washington eased restrictions on their use.

That development prompted Russia to use a new hypersonic missile, called Oreshnik, for the first time. President Vladimir Putin suggested the missile could be used to target government buildings in Kyiv, though there have been no reports of an Oreshnik being used for a second time.

Answering the Ukrainian attack on Rostov on Wednesday, the Defense Ministry said it carried out a group strike with “high-precision, long-range weapons” on the command center of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency and another location where it said Ukraine’s Neptune missile systems are designed and produced.

The attack also targeted Ukrainian ground-based cruise missile systems and US-made Patriot air defense systems, the Defense Ministry said.

“The objectives of the strike have been achieved. All objects are hit,” the defense ministry said in a Telegram post.

Its claims could not immediately be verified.

AN-AP

NEW DELHI — At least five persons died and over 35 were injured after a truck carrying a chemical substance hit other vehicles in India’s western state of Rajasthan early on Friday, confirmed a local police.

The mishap occurred on the Jaipur-Ajmer highway near the Bhankrota area. There were a couple of petrol pumps in the immediate vicinity of the site of the mishap, which were fortunately safe.

The injured, many of whom were in serious condition, were rushed to a government hospital in the state capital city of Jaipur. The death toll was feared to rise.

XINHUA

WASHINGTON — The United States said Thursday it disagreed with New York-based Human Rights Watch’s accusation that Israel was carrying out “acts of genocide” in the Gaza Strip by damaging water infrastructure.

“When it comes to a determination of something like genocide, the legal standard is just incredibly high, and so the finding in this scenario we just disagree with,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.

“That does not take away from the fact that there is a dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza.”

The report released Thursday by the Human Rights Watch follows a similar accusation by London-based Amnesty International.

In a separate report on Thursday, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) accused Israel of “ethnic cleansing” in its 14-month war in Gaza launched after a massive Hamas attack.

The medical group said it documented 41 attacks on MSF staff including air strikes on health facilities and direct fire on humanitarian convoys.

Patel distanced the United States from the finding but, in contrast to Israel, stressed the value of non-governmental organizations.

“Even within their report, they make pretty clear that they don’t have the legal authority to determine intentionality” in the strikes on MSF, Patel said.

“But we continue to appreciate the important role that’s played by civil society organizations, including Doctors Without Borders, and we’re deeply concerned about the scale of civilian harm in this conflict,” he said.

AN-AFP

UNITED NATIONS — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday urged Israel to stop violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Speaking at a press conference, Guterres condemned Israel’s extensive airstrikes on Syria aimed at destroying strategic weapons and military infrastructure and its troops’ entry into a demilitarized zone between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

“They are violations of Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and they must stop,” he said. “Let me be clear: There should be no military forces in the area of separation other than UN peacekeepers. And those peacekeepers must have freedom of movement to undertake their important work.”

Guterres underscored that Israel and Syria must uphold the terms of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement, which remains fully in force.

“This is a decisive moment — a moment of hope and history, but also one of great uncertainty,” the UN chief told reporters.

“Some will try to exploit the situation for their own narrow ends. But it is the obligation of the international community to stand with the people of Syria who have suffered so much,” he said.

XINHUA

BOGOTA, Colombia — Chilean President Gabriel Boric branded Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu a war criminal for his actions in Gaza and other parts of Palestine.

Speaking at the “Palestinian Christmas: Light of Hope from Bethlehem to Chile” event, Boric on Wednesday criticized Netanyahu over Israel’s attacks on Gaza, now into their 14th straight month.

“There is no room for half-measures in the defense of humanity. We are gathered here today to defend humanity,” he said at the capital Santiago’s Palestinian Stadium.

“We are deeply pained and shaken not only by what is happening in Gaza but also by the events in the West Bank,” he added, referring to illegal Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank and Israeli soldiers attacking Palestinians there.

Boric stressed that Netanyahu’s actions constitute war crimes and “barbarity,” and added: “I choose humanity. What Benjamin Netanyahu has done is a war crime, a crime against humanity.”

Boric called for redoubling efforts toward peace.

Since October 2023, Israel’s attacks in Gaza have killed over 45,000 people and left most of the enclave an unlivable ruin, with survivors on the brink of starvation.

Chile’s Palestinian community has celebrated the “light of hope” tradition since 2021.

The country is home to some half a million people of Palestinian descent.

ANADOLU/Dec 19, 2024

MAPUTO — The death toll from Cyclone Chido in Mozambique has climbed to 73, with 543 individuals reported injured, the country’s disaster relief agency announced on Thursday.

The cyclone, which struck the provinces of Cabo Delgado and Nampula, caused widespread devastation, displacing thousands and damaging critical infrastructure.

The government has opened two emergency accommodation centers, currently housing 1,349 people in need of immediate support, according to a report issued by the National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction (INGD).

This update followed a statement by Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi on Wednesday, pledging government support for the victims of the cyclone.

The INGD said that the cyclone destroyed or partially damaged 36,207 houses, along with 48 healthcare facilities, 13 places of worship, 186 electricity poles, nine water systems and 171 fishing boats. Meanwhile, 149 schools were impacted, affecting 15,429 students and 224 teachers.

Cyclone Chido made landfall in Mecufi district in Mozambique’s northern province of Cabo Delgado on Sunday, bringing storms and heavy rains.

Humanitarian organizations have begun providing emergency aid while issuing urgent appeals for additional funding to assist about 182,000 people affected.

Chido has left Mozambique and is no longer a threat to the country. High temperatures are predicted for Mozambique over the next few days, according to the National Institute of Meteorology.

XINHUA

TAIPEI — A large fire broke out on Thursday at an incomplete warehouse in the city of Taichung in central Taiwan, killing nine people and injuring seven others, according to local media.

The bodies of the last five victims were found by firefighters at approximately 7 p.m.

Construction work was underway when the fire erupted. A total of 19 people were rescued by firefighters, with five sent to hospital.

The city’s fire department has said it will undertake criminal identification work alongside local police to determine the cause of the fire.

XINHUA

BANGKOK — A Saudi tourist swam for more than five hours to reach shore and find help for his wife after their jet ski capsized in Pattaya Bay, Thailand, local authorities said on Thursday.

On Saturday, Abdulrahman Mahdi M. Al-Amri and his wife, Atheer Saeed A. Al-Amri, were reported missing at 6:30 p.m., prompting an immediate search and rescue operation by Pattaya City authorities.

“We received a call at 6:30 p.m. from a jet ski operator that one of their jet skis and the clients were missing. So, we set out on a search operation,” Pattaya City Sea Rescue’s Nattanon Chamnankul, who led the search and rescue mission, told Arab News (AN).

The rescue team had been searching for more than five hours and was navigating the dark seas, strong winds and drizzle to no avail. But as their boat returned to Pattaya’s Jomtien beach, authorities found Abdulrahman swimming toward the shore.

“The husband had swum for five hours to reach the shore and was worried about his wife. He used the lights on the beach as a guide,” Chamnankul said, adding that the 26-year-old man was in a state of extreme fatigue when he was rescued.

The rescue boat then took him on board and continued the search for his wife.

“We found his wife at 2 a.m., six hours after the search began,” Chamnankul said. “At first the sea was dark, but we heard a small voice in the sea and it was her.”

Their jet ski had capsized in the middle of the ocean and its engine was damaged by seawater, according to Nipon, an officer at the Pattaya Tourist Police.

After the jet ski ran out of fuel, Abdulrahman decided to swim to shore to get help.

Although Atheer had a minor injury to her left leg, Nipon said the couple had no serious medical issues and had since returned to their home country after settling a damage cost with the jet ski operator for 50,000 Thai baht ($1,400).

Thailand has become an increasingly popular destination for Saudi travelers since the normalization of ties between the Southeast Asian country and Saudi Arabia in 2022.

The Gulf state is considered a high-potential market by Thai tourism experts, with about 178,000 Saudi tourists visiting in 2023, and another 188,000 between January and October this year, the highest number among visitors from that region.

The latest data shows that the number of Saudi tourists has almost doubled compared with 2022, when the number was about 96,000.

AN