IRAQ
Death toll hits 40 in 24 hours
Officials said that five anti-government protesters were killed by security forces in Najaf, amid tensions following the burning of an Iranian consulate, bringing the death toll to 40 in more than 24 hours. Security and medical officials said that five protesters were killed and 32 wounded late on Thursday when security forces fired live rounds to repel them from setting alight a mosque. One demonstrator was killed when security forces tried to prevent them from storming the consulate. Thirty-five protesters were killed by security forces since Wednesday in separate demonstrations in Nasiriyah and Baghdad.
SUDAN
Ruling party to be dissolved
Transitional authorities on Thursday approved a law to dissolve the former ruling party and repealed a public order law used to regulate women’s behavior under former president Omar al-Bashir, the Minister of Justice said. “It is an important step on the path to building a democratic civilian state,” said the Sudanese Professionals Association, which spearheaded the protests against al-Bashir. The public order law imposed conservative Islamic social codes, restricting women’s freedom of dress, movement, association, work and study. Those found to have contravened the law could be punished with flogging. “The decision to abolish the public order law is a culmination of the courageous struggles of women for 30 years,” women’s rights advocate Hadia Hasaballah said.
ZIMBABWE
Starvation menaces 60%
The country is facing “man-made” starvation, with 60 percent of the people failing to meet basic food needs, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food Hilal Elver said on Thursday after an 11-day tour. Elver ranked the country among the four top countries facing severe food shortages outside nations in conflict zones. “Today, Zimbabwe counts among the four highest food-insecure states,” she said, adding that poor harvests were compounded by 490 percent hyperinflation. “A staggering 5.5 million people are currently facing food insecurity.”
UNITED STATES
Climber dies in Mexico fall
Civil defense officials in northern Mexico on Thursday reported that Californian mountain climber Brad Gobright died in a fall. The fall occurred on Wednesday at an almost sheer rock face known as Sendero Luminoso on El Potrero Chico peak near the city of Monterrey. The Nuevo Leon State civil defense office said that Gobright fell about 300m. The publication Rock and Ice described Gobright, 31, as a native of Orange County, California, who was “one of the most accomplished free solo climbers in the world.”
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
IN PURSUIT: Israel’s defense minister said the revenge attacks by Israeli settlers would make it difficult for security forces to find those responsible for the 14-year-old’s death Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday condemned the “heinous murder” of an Israeli teenager in the occupied West Bank as attacks on Palestinian villages intensified following news of his death. After Benjamin Achimeir, 14, was reported missing near Ramallah on Friday, hundreds of Jewish settlers backed by Israeli forces raided nearby Palestinian villages, torching vehicles and homes, leaving at least one villager dead and dozens wounded. The attacks escalated in several villages on Saturday after Achimeir’s body was found near the Malachi Hashalom outpost. Agence France-Presse correspondents saw smoke rising from burned houses and fields. Mayor Amin Abu Alyah, of the