The Nation Newspaper

Category: Foreign

  • Israel lays siege to Gaza

    Israel lays siege to Gaza

    Israel’s military ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip yesterday, halting deliveries of food, fuel and supplies to its 2.3 million people as it pounded the Hamas-ruled territory with waves of airstrikes in retaliation for the militants’ bloody weekend incursion.

    The death toll in the Gaza Strip rose to 560 yesterday, the health ministry in the Palestinian enclave said. No fewer than 700 people were killed in Israel.

    Dozens were killed and wounded in Israeli attack on Jabalia refugee camp, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

    Also, nine U.S. citizens were among those killed in the conflict. A U.S. National Security Council spokesperson confirmed the deaths of U.S. citizens in a statement to CNN.

    The Hamas-controlled ministry said “560 people were killed and another 2,900 injured” since Saturday’s surprised dawn attack when Hamas militants stormed Israel under a barrage of rocket fire.

    Israel’s air force is focusing its strikes on residential buildings, mosques and public administration buildings in Gaza, Alaraby TV reported. It said Israel was heavily bombarding different parts of the enclave, including Gaza City, Khan Yunis, and Jabalia.

    United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said yesterday that he is “deeply distressed” by Israel’s announcement of a complete siege on the Gaza Strip.

    “The humanitarian situation in Gaza was extremely dire before these hostilities. Now, it will only deteriorate exponentially,” Guterres said at a news conference yesterday.

    He spoke after the Israeli defence minister said he had ordered a cutoff of electricity and deliveries of food, fuel and other supplies to the territory.

    A spokesperson for the military wing of Hamas said militants will kill one civilian hostage every time Israel targets civilians in their homes in Gaza “without warning.”

    In an audio statement, Abu Obeida, spokesman of the Qassam Brigades, said intense strikes had occurred in civilian areas in Gaza, a densely populated coastal enclave that has been blockaded in the years since Hamas took power there.

    “We announce that every targeting of our people who are safe in their homes without warning, we will regretfully meet with the execution of our enemy’s civilian hostages,” Obeida said. He said the executions would be broadcast “in audio and video.”

    Obeida said the message was a “warning” after Israel issued a “full siege” of Gaza and pounded the area with airstrikes after Hamas launched its surprise attack on Saturday, shocking Israelis and many around the world.

    More than 1,000 people died after Hamas militants broke through the border fence that separates Israel from the blockaded Gaza Strip and began killing and kidnapping Israelis. At least 700 people were killed in Israel, according to the military, and more than 570 people in Gaza and the West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called for a swift end to fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian Hamas fighters on Monday during talks in Moscow with Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

    Russia and the Arab League can help halt the bloodshed in Israel and the Palestinian Territories, Lavrov added.

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    Aboul Gheit also called for an end to the fighting but said such violence would continue as long as the Palestinian problem remained unsolved.

    More than two days after Hamas launched its surprise attack, the Israeli military said it had largely gained control in its southern towns where it had been battling Hamas gunmen. Israel’s vaunted military and intelligence apparatus was caught completely off guard by Hamas, resulting in heavy battles in its streets for the first time in decades.

    Israeli tanks and drones were deployed to guard breaches in the Gaza border fence to prevent new incursions. Thousands of Israelis were evacuated from more than a dozen towns near Gaza, and the military summoned 300,000 reservists — a massive mobilisation in a short time.

    The moves, along with Israel’s formal declaration of war on Sunday, pointed to Israel increasingly shifting to the offensive against Hamas, threatening greater destruction in the densely populated, impoverished Gaza Strip.

    A major question remains whether Israel will launch a ground assault into the tiny Mediterranean coastal territory, a move that in the past has brought intensified casualties.

    Israel and Hamas have had repeated conflicts in past years, often sparked by tensions around a Jerusalem holy site. This time, the context has become potentially more explosive, and both sides talk of shattering with violence years-long Israeli-Palestinian deadlock left by the moribund peace process.

    Guterres called for UN access to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza’s 2.3 million residents. He pressed the international community to provide immediate support for the humanitarian effort.

    His comments came as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held back-to-back telephone calls with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President Isaac Herzog, according to Erdogan’s press office.

    Erdogan and Abbas discussed the ongoing conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas.

    In his call with Herzog “President Erdogan emphasised that any step that could harm the people of Gaza collectively and indiscriminately will further increase the suffering and spiral of violence in the region”.

    Erdogan also told his Israeli counterpart that it’s “necessary to act with commonsense and that establishing tranquility in the region as soon as possible is of great importance for the well-being of the entire region”.

    German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he and French President Emmanuel Macron will discuss the situation in Israel with U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

    Scholz, who was hosting Macron at a joint German-French Cabinet retreat in Hamburg, called Hamas’ attack on Israel “barbaric”.

    But he added that Germany, France, the U.S. and the UK agree that there must not be a “conflagration” in the region, and “no one should further fuel terror in this situation”.

    Macron pledged his “full support and solidarity for Israel”.

    He spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the second time in three days and spoke over the weekend to Abbas and the leaders of Lebanon, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.

    Hamas has claimed that it is not scared of the U.S. moving in an aircraft carrier strike group after the militant group’s attack on Israel.

    The U.S. is moving in the USS Gerald R. Ford, the navy’s newest and most advanced aircraft carrier, along with around 5,000 sailors and deck of warplanes, as well as naval cruisers and destroyers.

    The aircraft carrier will be able to respond to a range of possible situations, including stopping more weapons from reaching Hamas and conducting surveillance.

  • Why DTAC critical to achieving foreign policy objectives, by minister

    Why DTAC critical to achieving foreign policy objectives, by minister

    Minister of Foreign Affairs Amb. Yusuf Tuggar said yesterday that repositioning the Directorate of Technical Aid Corps (DTAC) was critical to achieving Nigeria’s foreign policy objectives.

    Tuggar stated this in Abuja at the opening ceremony of a retreat organised by DTAC, with the theme: “Repositioning of the Technical Aid Corps Scheme in Achieving the Current Administration’s 4-D Foreign Policy Initiative”.

    According to the minister, the current structure of DTAC is no longer in sync with the present realities of Nigeria’s foreign policy objectives and realities because the world is evolving.

    “Let’s tell ourselves the truth, the way and manner DTAC has been structured is no longer in sync with the realities on ground.

    “The world has changed, so also the priorities have changed, and that’s why we need to reposition the technical aid corps,” he said.

    Tuggar, who described the technical aid corps as, “perhaps the most effective foreign policy instrument,” added that the Tinubu administration’s 4-D initiative was to strengthen Nigeria’s foreign policy.

    The 4-D Foreign Policy Initiative of the Tinubu administration includes Democracy, Development, Demography, and Diaspora.

    Describing the choice of the theme of the retreat as apt, he expressed confidence in the ability of Dr. Yusuf Yakub, DTAC’s Director-General (DG) and former Chairman, House of Reps Committee on Foreign Relations to succeed in the task.

    He noted that Yakub had experienced how laws were made in the legislature and how they impacted existing Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, hence his starting with a review on DTAC was timely.

     “He has the ability to see how the laws can be reviewed and be improved upon in order to position DTAC in a way that it can perform and deliver for Nigeria, the same way President Bola Tinubu’s administration is determined to deliver for Nigerians.

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     “Beginning from the eight-point agenda namely: Security; Ending Poverty; Economic Growth and Job Creation; Access to Capital; Improving Security; improving the playing field on which people and particularly companies operate; Rule of Law; and Fighting Corruption,’ the minister said.

    Tuggar said in every “D” of the 4-D agenda of the Tinubu administration’s foreign policy, there is a role for the technical aid corps, adding that DTAC was going to be central to achieving the nation’s foreign policy objectives.

    The minister also said that strengthening institutions, such as DTAC, would go a long way to strengthen democracy, stressing that “without democracy, there will be no development.”

    “So, when we say democracy we are looking at strengthening democratic institutions, not only in our region West Africa, but Africa as a whole and to support democracy worldwide.

    “Because without democracy, there will be no development so, to strengthen these democratic institutions, you need the technical aid corps, so I will love to see the repositioning of DTAC.

    “Where a lot of emphasis is laid on support for electoral commission within our region and beyond providing assistance, sharing our experiences through the way we have transformed,’’ he said.

    Speaking earlier, DTAC DG, Yakub, said the repositioning of DTAC was necessary following Mr President’s renewed hope agenda for Nigerians adding that, he hit the ground running to achieve the agenda when he assumed office.

    He said after he assumed office on Aug. 25, he began by setting the agenda for DTAC, which included long, middle and short terms.

    The four-day retreat, which was held at DTAC’s headquarters, began on Oct. 9 and will end on Oct. 13.

  • Shiites protest in Abuja, condemn Israel attacks on Gaza

    Shiites protest in Abuja, condemn Israel attacks on Gaza

    • Hezbollah fires on Israel after members killed

    Members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), commonly referred to as Shiites, demonstrated their support for Palestinians in the wake of Israel’s retaliatory assault on the Gaza Strip and Hamas fighters.

    The Shiites protesters were observed displaying the Palestinian national flag at the well-known Banex Plaza and concluded their demonstration at the traffic light along Ahmadu Bello Way.

    They chanted anti-Israeli slogans and symbolically burned the Israeli national flag to convey their frustration. Israel had initiated the bombardment of the Gaza Strip after Hamas initiated a surprise attack, resulting in the loss of lives among Israeli civilians.

    The protesters urged Nigerians to speak out and stand in solidarity with the oppressed Palestinians while celebrating the successes achieved by the Palestinian people.

    In a statement issued by Sheikh Sidi Munir Sokoto on behalf of the movement, said, “Palestine launched Al-Aqsa Flood to respond to the recent attacks by the Israel Occupation Forces on al-Aqsa mosque and the Gaza refugee camp.

     “We are demonstrating in solidarity with Palestine for the success recorded in the Al-Aqsa Flood operation against the state of Israel. Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, located at the heart of Jerusalem’s old city, is the third holiest site in Islam. Supporting the struggle for the freedom of Palestine is not only for Muslims alone, but for all people of conscience.

    “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood was also in response to the Israeli Occupation Forces 16-year blockade of Gaza, raids inside West Bank cities over the past year, violence at al-Aqsa, increasing attacks by state of Israel on Palestinians, and the growth of settlements.

    “Israel is in breach of international law, and the Palestinians are fighting to liberate their homeland from 75 years of Israeli oppression and terrorism.”

    Lebanese armed group, Hezbollah, yesterday fired a barrage of rockets into Israel after at least three of its members were killed during an Israeli bombardment of southern Lebanon amid soaring tensions on Israel’s northern border.

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    Hezbollah in a statement yesterday said it had fired rockets and mortars on two Israeli military posts in the Galilee. The Israeli military said it identified a number of “launches” from Lebanon into Israel, without any injuries. It said it was responding with artillery fire onto Lebanon.

    Hezbollah, the most formidable member of a regional network of armed groups supported by Iran, confirmed in statements on Monday that Israeli shelling had killed at least three of its members.

    The Associated Press news agency identified those killed as Hussam Mohammad Ibrahim, Ali Raef Ftouni, and Ali Hassan Hodroj.

    Hezbollah said that those killed had been “martyred as a result of the Zionist aggression on south Lebanon Monday afternoon”.

    The Israeli military began shelling southern Lebanon after a cross-border raid claimed by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) armed group.

    The Israeli army said soldiers backed by helicopters killed at least two gunmen who crossed the frontier.

    Questions continue to loom about whether Hezbollah, a sophisticated fighting force with an arsenal of long-range missiles, will enter the war between Israel and the armed wing of the Palestinian group Hamas, which governs the besieged Gaza Strip. Doing so would elevate the current conflict into a two-front war for Israel, long considered a nightmare scenario by the country’s military establishment.

    The Reuters news outlet reported that a spokesperson for the United Nations peacekeeping mission along the Lebanon-Israel border said its head Major General Aroldo Lazaro was “in contact with the involved parties, urging them to exercise maximum restraint”.

    Hezbollah and Israel exchanged fire on Sunday, with Hezbollah firing missiles on Israeli positions in Shebaa Farms, which is claimed by Lebanon and was captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War, in “solidarity” with the Palestinians.

  • McCarthy opens to returning as House Speaker amid Israel war

    McCarthy opens to returning as House Speaker amid Israel war

    Ousted United States House Speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy yesterday said he is open to returning in a move to project unity amid the war in Israel.

    The deposed Republican leader said he would be willing to run as a consensus candidate to avoid a messy internal battle among GOP lawmakers.

    “Whatever the conference wants, I will do,” he told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.

    “I think we need to be strong. I think we need to be united.” McCarthy had previously said he would definitely not consider running for Speaker after he was ousted in a divisive fight last week.

    But he suggested that the war in Israel might force him to reconsider the idea of taking back the Speaker’s gavel.

    Read Also: Ogun Assembly screens three commissioner-nominees

    “The conference has to make that decision. I’m still a member. I’m going to continue to fight and act,” McCarthy said.

    Republican lawmakers are expected to vote tomorrow on a potential replacement for McCarthy. The leading candidates are Rep. Jim Jordan, the Judiciary Committee chair, and Rep. Steve Scalise, who was McCarthy’s top lieutenant. Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina is currently the interim Speaker. After the war broke out in Israel, a handful of Republicans floated McCarthy as a possible unity candidate.

    Some lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are concerned about the impact that a potentially protracted and bitter battle could have on assisting Israel as it battles Hamas in a full-blown war that erupted over the weekend.

    McCarthy was ousted last week in a historic vote of Congress after a small group of GOP hardliners turned on him.

    He lashed out again at the eight Republicans led by Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who voted to remove him after he compromised with Democrats to avert a government shutdown.

  • Israeli airstrikes kill 558 people in Gaza

    Israeli airstrikes kill 558 people in Gaza

    Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 558 people on the Gaza Strip, the Health Ministry in the Palestinian enclave says.

    More than 65 extra people have been counted as dead, upping the total, while more than 2,800 have been injured.

    Israel launched the counterattack after a major assault by the Palestinian organisation Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip.

    Read Also: 1,000 killed in two days of Israeli/Palestinian M’East war

    About 700 people have been killed in Israel and around 2,400 others injured in the worst civilian bloodshed in Israeli history.

    More than 100 Israelis have also been taken hostage into the Gaza Strip and Hamas says four hostages were killed by the Israeli air raids.

    Hamas is classified as a terrorist organisation by the EU, the U.S. and Israel.

    (dpa/NAN)

  • 2.4m voters for Liberia polls Tuesday

    2.4m voters for Liberia polls Tuesday

    Tomorrow, over 2.4 million Liberians will head to the polls to elect a president and members of their legislature.

    Currently, there are 19 candidates hoping to replace incumbent President George Weah of the Coalition of Democratic Change (CDC), who is seeking a second six-year term.

    The two main challengers are former vice president Joseph Nyuma Boakai and businessman Alexander Cummings.

    Both men were previously in a four-party opposition alliance, the Coalition of Political Parties (CPP). However, despite initial success, the coalition has since broken up after reported disagreements over who gets the presidential ticket in this election cycle.

    Also in the running is Liberian People’s Party’s Tiawan Gongloe, a renowned human rights lawyer and professor of law who served as the country’s solicitor general during the Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf administration.

    The former president became Africa’s first elected female leader in 2006, but inclusivity in politics is still a mirage in many parts of the continent, including her native Liberia. Only two of the 20 contenders in tomorrow’s presidential vote are women, one of whom is Sara Nyanti, a former deputy special representative in the United Nations Mission in South Sudan.

    Weah, who is running for a second term, has boasted that he will secure outright victory in the first round of elections. He has been in office since 2017.

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    CDC’s Weah has kept current vice president, Jewel Howard-Taylor, as his running mate. Howard-Taylor is the ex-wife of former president Charles Taylor, who is serving a 50-year sentence for crimes against humanity committed in neighbouring Sierra Leone, in a British prison.

    Weah, 57, has said his performance will be enough to secure re-election. He counts as achievement a free tuition scheme for undergraduates of public universities that was instituted in 2018. Weah’s government also pays the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) fees for 9th and 12th graders in public schools.

    Furthermore, the government has increased electricity access and reduced costs from 38 cents per kilowatt to an average of 15 cents per kilowatt. The administration has also embarked on several road construction projects around the country.

    Despite these, critics say corruption has been widespread under Weah. They also point to the state of the economy and rising food prices which led to protests in December last year and in June of 2019 as as indicative of government failure.

    In his manifesto, Weah has promised to reduce out-of-pocket payment for medical expenses through a compulsory social health insurance scheme and has also promised to provide off-the-grid solar energy for public hospitals and secondary schools.

    The streets of Monrovia were yesterday filled with supporters of Weah.

    Defying the rain which started in the early hours of yesterday, supporters of the “dynamic black president”, as Agnes Mahm likes to describe him, marched out of different corners of Montserrado county with Weah’s face printed on their blue shirts headed for the party headquarters where the grand finale of the campaign rally held.

    As stipulated by the National Elections Commission (NEC) Liberia’s election management body, campaigns for general elections end at midnight yesterday.

  • 300 killed in Israel, Palestine’s Hamas’ war

    300 killed in Israel, Palestine’s Hamas’ war

    • US, EU condemn ‘terror attacks’
    • Oman, Bahrain call for restraint
    • UN Security Council summons emergency session today to proffer solution

    At least 300 people, many of them civilians, were killed yesterday after the Palestine militant group, Hamas, launched a fusillade of rockets into Israel, catching Jerusalem totally unawares.

    The Israelis responded immediately, deploying fighter jets against the Palestine.

    Israel’s allies – the US, United Kingdom, France and Germany – condemned the ‘terror attacks’.

    Hamas drew encouragement from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, both of which blamed Israel for the attacks, while Oman and Bahrain called for restraints.

    The United Nations Security Council has summoned an emergency meeting of the organisation’s Security Council for today  to review the situation.

    The Hamas attack came 50 years after the October 6, 1973 Yom Kippur when Arab states led by Syria and Egypt launched surprise attacks on Israel on a day the Jews were observing the holiest day in Judaism.

    Yesterday’s attack came amidst the festival of Simchat Torah, a day when Jews finish the annual cycle of reading the Torah.

    Multiple agency reports from the battle fronts yesterday said Hamas struck from the Gaza Strip at dawn, firing about 5,000 rockets into Israel.

    Palestine tore down the security barriers at the border with Israel before moving in, attacking military installations and seizing weapons.

    Dozens of videos surfaced on the internet  showingHamas fighters paragliding into or riding on motorcycles.   Israeli womenand soldiers werepurportedly taken hostage by the group.

    By  10:00 am (local time) the Hamas militants had attacked three military installations around  the Erez border crossing, the Zikim base and the Gaza division headquarters at Reim.

      Hamasalsoreleased footage of its men capturing Israeli soldiers.

    In a statement on its action yesterday, Hamas said: “We are opening a battle that will expand, escalate, and deepen, and its goal is the freedom of our people and their sanctities, and our right to be free and secure in a free and independent homeland.

    “If the whole world were silent, we would not remain silent about the desecration of our sanctities, the attempts to desecrate Al-Aqsa, and the attacks on Al-Aqsa.

    Read Also: Israel declares war on Hamas after surprise attack

    “We will do everything necessary to preserve the dignity, existence and freedom of our people.

    “There will be no talk even about the details of the dead and captured Israelis, and our prisoners in prisons whose freedom is at hand.”

    The Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed on X (formerly Twitter) that “at least 100 Israelis were murdered and more than 900 wounded in terror attacks by Hamas.”

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was swift in issuing a response.

    “Citizens of Israel, we are at war. And we will win,” Netanyahu vowed in a video address.

    “The enemy will pay a price like they have never known before,” he said.

    Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, taking a cue from Netanyahu, said: “The IDF has declared a state of war. We are in a state of war.”

    More than 2,000 rockets “have been fired,” he said, adding:  “Terrorists infiltrated, and some are still in Israel.

    “The IDF is flooding the area with troops. We are focusing the fighting on the Gaza border.

     “We have begun a widespread call-up in all parts of the IDF. The Air Force is also striking in Gaza.”

     Israel called its action ‘Operation Iron Swords’ while Hamas branded its own ‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’.

    Israel asked its citizens to remain indoors.

    Air raid sirens rang round Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

    Israel declared that Hamas would  “face the consequences and responsibility for these events.”

    Its air force struck targets in Gaza in response, and deployed countermeasures to repel further air attacks – prompting further rocket launches from inside the blockaded territory.

    Hundreds of residents in the Gaza Strip fled their homes to move away from the border with Israel after the counter-attacks began.

    The Ministry of Health in Palestine said no fewer than 198 people were killed by the Israelis

    Hamas called on “the resistance fighters in the West Bank” as well as “our Arab and Islamic nations” to join the battle.

    Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif said: “If you have a gun, get it out. This is the time to use it – get out with trucks, cars, axes. Today, the best and most honorable history starts.

    “Today the people are regaining their revolution.”

     Saudi Arabia, Qatar blame Israel for war

     The Foreign Affairs ministries of both countries in separate statements called for the protection of innocent people.

    The Riyahd authorities called for an “immediate halt to the escalation”  and reiterated the Kingdom’s previous warnings of the risk of the situation boiling over in the territories given what it called  Israeli occupation and deprivation of the Palestinian people of their legitimate rights.

    It had also warned against the ongoing systematic provocations against sanctities.

    Saudi Arabia asked the international community to assume its responsibilities and activate a credible peaceful process that would end with the implementation of the two-state solution to achieve security and peace in the region and protect civilians.

    Qatar said that Israel alone was responsible for the ongoing escalation of violence with the Palestinian people.

    It called on both sides to exercise utmost restraint and calls on the international community to prevent Israel from using these events as an excuse to launch a disproportionate war against Palestinian civilians in Gaza. 

    Oman asked Israel and the Palestinians to exercise maximum self-restraint, the state news agency reported quoting an official statement.

    The statement asked the international community and international parties to “intervene immediately to stop the ongoing escalation and resort to the rules of international law”.

    Bahrain called for self-restraint in the Gaza Strip, saying that continued fighting had negative consequences on the region’s peace and stability.

    It stressed “the need for de-escalation among all parties to preserve the lives of people” in a statement from the foreign ministry.

    “The continuation of violence will impede efforts aiming at achieving a just and lasting peace in the Middle East,” it said, adding that it called upon the international community to help end the armed conflict and to protect civilians.

    US, UK, France others condemn ‘terror attacks’

    US President Joe Biden put a call through to Netanyahu to express complete support of Israel’s right to self-defense.

    The United Kingdom (UK), France, Italy, Germany and the Czech Republic were similarly disposed to Israel.

    Netanyahu said he thanked Biden during their telephone conversation for the unwavering support of the U.S., adding that a prolonged and powerful campaign will be required, in which Israel will prevail.

    The White House in a separate statement yesterday condemned the Hamas attacks against Israeli civilians.

  • Powerful earthquakes kill over 100 in Afghanistan

    Powerful earthquakes kill over 100 in Afghanistan

    Two 6.3 magnitude earthquakes killed dozens of people in western Afghanistan yesterday, the country’s national disaster authority said.

    The United Nations gave a preliminary figure of 320 dead, but later said the figure was still being verified. Local authorities gave an estimate of 100 people killed and 500 injured, according to the same update from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

    Mohammad Abdullah Jan said four villages in the Zenda Jan district in Herat province bore the brunt of the quakes and aftershocks. Dozens of houses have been damaged.

    The United States Geological Survey reported the 6.3 magnitude tremblors. It said the epicenter was 40 kilometers (24.8 miles) northwest of Herat city. There was an aftershock with a 5.5 magnitude.

    A map on the USGS website indicates seven earthquakes in the area. At least five powerful earthquakes struck the city around noon, Herat city resident Abdul Shakor Samadi said.

    “All people are out of their homes,” Samadi said. “Houses, offices and shops are all empty and there are fears of more earthquakes. My family and I were inside our home, I felt the quake.” His family began shouting and ran outside, afraid to return indoors.

    The World Health Organization in Afghanistan said it dispatched 12 ambulance cars to Zenda Jan to evacuate casualties to hospitals.

    Read Also: UN considers halting Afghanistan mission after  ban for working women

    “As deaths & casualties from the earthquake continue to be reported, teams are in hospitals assisting treatment of wounded & assessing additional needs,” the U.N. agency said on X, formerly known as Twitter. “WHO-supported ambulances are transporting those affected, most of them women and children.”

    Telephone connections went down in Herat, making it hard to get details from affected areas. Videos on social media showed hundreds of people in the streets outside their homes and offices in Herat city.

    Herat province borders Iran. The quake also was felt in the nearby Afghan provinces of Farah and Badghis, according to local media reports.

    Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban-appointed deputy prime minister for economic affairs, expressed his condolences to the dead and injured in Herat and Badghis.

    The Taliban urged local organizations to reach earthquake-hit areas as soon as possible to help take the injured to hospital, provide shelter for the homeless, and deliver food to survivors. They said security agencies should use all their resources and facilities to rescue people trapped under debris.

    “We ask our wealthy compatriots to give any possible cooperation and help to our afflicted brothers,” the Taliban said on X.

    In June 2022, a powerful earthquake struck a rugged, mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan, flattening stone and mud-brick homes. The quake was Afghanistan’s deadliest in two decades, killing at least 1,000 people and injuring about 1,500.

  • Israel declares war on Hamas after surprise attack

    Israel declares war on Hamas after surprise attack

    Palestinian Islamist group Hamas launched the biggest attack on Israel in years on Saturday in a surprise assault that combined gunmen crossing into several Israeli towns with a heavy barrage of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip.

    As warning sirens wailed across southern and central Israel, including in Jerusalem, Israel’s military said it was on a war footing and the defense minister said the Iran-backed Hamas had made a “grave mistake” by declaring war on Israel.

    The Israeli military said it had launched air strikes into Gaza, where witnesses reported hearing heavy explosions.

    The attack marked an unprecedented infiltration by an unknown number of Hamas gunmen into Israel from Gaza, and one of the most serious escalations in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in years. At least two Israelis were killed, Israel public broadcaster Kan reported. Medical officials said there were dozens of wounded.

    Israeli media reported gunbattles between bands of Palestinian fighters and security forces in towns in southern Israel. Israel’s police chief said there “21 active scenes” in southern Israel, indicating the extent of the attack.

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    In Gaza, people rushed to buy supplies in anticipation of days of conflict ahead. Some evacuated their homes and headed for shelters.

    Hamas military commander Mohammad Deif announced the start of the operation in a broadcast on Hamas media, calling on Palestinians everywhere to fight.

    “This is the day of the greatest battle to end the last occupation on earth,” he said, adding that 5,000 rockets had been launched.

    The last major flare-up between Israel and Hamas was a 10-day war in 2021.

    NBC

  • New York fraud case: Judge hits Trump with ‘gag order’

    New York fraud case: Judge hits Trump with ‘gag order’

    The judge overseeing Donald Trump‘s civil fraud trial on Tuesday imposed a gag order – promising sanctions for any violations – on the former United States president and others in the case after Trump took to social media to lash out at the judge’s top law clerk.

    Justice Arthur Engoron of the New York state court in Manhattan told lawyers for Trump and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought the fraud case, that such comments aimed at his staff were “unacceptable, inappropriate and will not be tolerated under any circumstances.”

    Acting during the trial’s second day of testimony, the judge forbade both sides from speaking about his staff, and threatened “serious sanctions” if anyone did. The judge did not specify the nature of these sanctions but they could include a finding of contempt of court, which can carry fines and in rare cases jail time.

    James has accused Trump, his two adult sons, the Trump Organisation and others of inflating asset values over a decade to secure favourable bank loans and insurance terms, and exaggerating Trump’s own riches by more than $2 billion. The trial could lead to the dismantling of Trump’s business empire as he seeks to regain the presidency in 2024.

    Engoron spoke after Trump shared a social media post by the clerk, who was identified by name, posing with Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer of New York, who is not involved in the case. Trump referred to the clerk as “Schumer’s girlfriend.”

    “How disgraceful!” added Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination to face Democratic President Joe Biden in the 2024 election. “This case should be dismissed immediately!!”

    Trump’s post was later deleted.

    Read Also: Trump fraud case trial begins

    James is seeking at least $250 million in fines, a permanent ban against Trump and his sons – Donald Jr. and Eric – from running businesses in New York, and a five-year commercial real estate ban against Trump and the Trump Organisation.

    Trump, in the courtroom for a second straight day, wore his familiar blue suit, red tie and American flag pin as he sat hunched over a table with his lawyers. Trump told reporters he plans to testify.

    The government’s first witness, Trump’s former accountant Donald Bender, testified again on Tuesday as the attorney general’s office tries to show that Trump and his family business deceived even the people reviewing his financials.

    Under questioning from Kevin Wallace, a lawyer in James’ office, Bender said financial statements he prepared for the Trump Organization were largely based on self-reported figures.

    Jesus Suarez, a lawyer for Trump, questioned Bender on the accuracy of the financial reports and said the accountant “screwed up” by failing to notice major changes in the value of Trump’s assets.