North Korea Works to Prevent Flood Damages amid COVID Crisis

Concerns about the downpour come as North Korea is battling its first domestic coronavirus outbreak. (File/AFP)
Concerns about the downpour come as North Korea is battling its first domestic coronavirus outbreak. (File/AFP)
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North Korea Works to Prevent Flood Damages amid COVID Crisis

Concerns about the downpour come as North Korea is battling its first domestic coronavirus outbreak. (File/AFP)
Concerns about the downpour come as North Korea is battling its first domestic coronavirus outbreak. (File/AFP)

North Koreans were working to protect crops and equipment from potential damage after days of heavy rainfall, state media said, as outside observers worry any flooding could aggravate the country’s economic hardships amid its COVID-19 outbreak.

Summer floods in North Korea, one of the poorest countries in Asia, often cause serious damage to its agricultural and other sectors because of its troubled drainage and deforestation, The Associated Press said.

Typhoons and torrential rains in 2020 were among the difficulties leader Kim Jong Un said had created “multiple crises” at home, along with strict pandemic-related restrictions and UN sanctions over his nuclear weapons program.

North Korea’s weather authorities predicted this year’s rainy season would start in late June and issued alerts for torrential downpours in most of its regions from Monday through Wednesday.

The official Korean Central News Agency said Tuesday that authorities in the North’s central and southwestern regions are mobilizing all available resources to cope with possible flood-related damage.

Officials and workers were working to protect crops, factory equipment, power plant facilities and fishing boats from heavy rains, KCNA reported. It said the country’s anti-disaster agency was reviewing readiness of emergency workers and medical staff.

KCNA said North Korean officials are urging residents and laborers to abide by pandemic-related restrictions during the country’s monsoon season. It said medical workers were ready to deal with any potential major health issues and officials were working to ensure epidemic control measures at shelters for people evacuated from flood-damaged areas.

South Korea’s weather agency said most of North Korea has been receiving heavy rains since Sunday.

South Korea’s Unification Ministry said in a statement later Tuesday it wants North Korea to inform the South in advance if it plans to release dammed water along the rivals’ border. Some of the North’s previous sudden, unnotified discharge of dam water caused deaths in frontline South Korean towns.

The South Korean ministry said North Korea was unresponsive to South Korean calls via some cross-border communication channels on Tuesday likely due to technical problems caused by floods.

Concerns about the heavy rains come after North Korea admitted last month to a domestic coronavirus outbreak. It has said about 4.7 million out of the country’s 26 million people became ill and only 73 died, but experts question whether North Korea's propaganda has given a true picture of the outbreak.



Report: Nearly 100 People Still Missing after Moscow Attack

Cadets of the Fire and Rescue College stand in front of at a makeshift memorial near the Crocus City Hall following a deadly attack on the concert venue in the Moscow Region, Russia, March 27, 2024. (Reuters)
Cadets of the Fire and Rescue College stand in front of at a makeshift memorial near the Crocus City Hall following a deadly attack on the concert venue in the Moscow Region, Russia, March 27, 2024. (Reuters)
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Report: Nearly 100 People Still Missing after Moscow Attack

Cadets of the Fire and Rescue College stand in front of at a makeshift memorial near the Crocus City Hall following a deadly attack on the concert venue in the Moscow Region, Russia, March 27, 2024. (Reuters)
Cadets of the Fire and Rescue College stand in front of at a makeshift memorial near the Crocus City Hall following a deadly attack on the concert venue in the Moscow Region, Russia, March 27, 2024. (Reuters)

As many as 95 people are still missing after last week's attack near Moscow when gunmen sprayed concertgoers with automatic weapons and set the venue on fire, a Russian news outlet reported on Wednesday.

The official toll from the attack on Crocus City Hall now stands at 140 dead and 182 wounded. But the Baza news service, which has good contacts in Russian security and law enforcement, said 95 more people appeared in lists compiled by the emergency services based on appeals from people about missing relatives.

"These lists include people with whom relatives have not been able to get in touch since the terrorist attack, but who are not on the lists of wounded and dead," Baza said. "Some of these people died, but have not yet been identified."

Russian investigators said the attack was carried out by four shooters using Kalashnikov automatic weapons. More than 500 rounds were found at the scene.

The shooting began shortly before the Soviet-era rock group "Picnic" was set to play to a full house of 6,200 people. More than 200 people could have been in the blazing building moments before the roof collapsed, Baza reported on Saturday, citing emergency service sources who reviewed surveillance footage.

Russian social media channels have been flooded in the days since the shooting with appeals to help find victims.

Gathering in a Telegram chat called "Crocus. Help Center," friends and relatives shared names of missing concertgoers and offered support.

"Was there anyone on the list named Igor Valentinovich Klimenchenko?," one user wrote on Saturday night. "Can someone send the list of victims?"

The name Klimenchenko was not on the list of confirmed dead published by Russia's emergencies ministry.

'Very worried'

Another person wrote in the same chat that their uncle worked not far from Crocus and hadn't been in touch since the attack. "I'm very worried," the nephew wrote on Saturday night.

Local media in the Bryansk region, southwestern Russia, reported on Wednesday that a woman was still searching for her son, Dmitry Bashlykov, a schoolteacher in Moscow who went to the "Picnic" concert with a friend who managed to escape.

Bashlykov's name was not on the emergencies ministry list.

Several missing persons have since been confirmed dead, like 15-year-old Arseny, who went to the concert with his mother, Irina Vedeneyeva.

The SHOT Telegram channel on Sunday published a photo of Arseny that it said he sent his grandmother shortly before the concert began, along with appeals from the "grief-stricken pensioner" to help find him. His mother had already been confirmed dead, SHOT said.

In the photo, Arseny stands in a black hooded sweatshirt in front of a poster for Picnic, which SHOT said was his favorite band. On Monday, the channel wrote that Arseny's body had been found and identified by his relatives.

The names of both mother and son are on the list of confirmed dead published by Russia's emergencies ministry.


Turkish Relief Agency Presents Two Ships to Take Aid Direct to Gaza

Palestinians sit amid debris following overnight Israeli bombardment in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on March 27, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
Palestinians sit amid debris following overnight Israeli bombardment in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on March 27, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
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Turkish Relief Agency Presents Two Ships to Take Aid Direct to Gaza

Palestinians sit amid debris following overnight Israeli bombardment in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on March 27, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
Palestinians sit amid debris following overnight Israeli bombardment in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on March 27, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)

Turkish aid agency Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) presented two new vessels on Wednesday meant to take aid directly to Gaza where Palestinians face famine almost six months into Israel's devastating military campaign.

Türkiye, which has denounced Israel for its offensive in densely populated Gaza and called for an immediate ceasefire, has sent tens of thousands of tons of humanitarian aid there since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, and aims to increase it during the current Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

IHH Chairman Bulent Yildirim inspected the new ships, purchased for a Gaza aid project dubbed "International Freedom Flotilla", in Istanbul's port and said that one of the vessels, the Anadolu (Anatolia), had a capacity of 5,500 tons.

The Anadolu is to be loaded with aid items while the other vessel will carry humanitarian personnel including doctors.

It was not immediately known when the ships would depart for Gaza or where or how they would deliver aid once there. Türkiye has so far sent its aid to Gaza through neighboring Egypt.

In 2010, the IHH sent an aid vessel to Gaza in an attempt to breach an Israeli blockade, but it was intercepted by the Israeli military in a deadly offshore raid which touched off a diplomatic crisis between the two countries.

Currently, aid agencies say only about a fifth of needed supplies are entering Gaza as Israel persists with an air and ground offensive that has shattered the coastal Hamas-ruled enclave, pushing parts to the verge of famine.

They say that deliveries by air drop or by sea directly onto Gaza's beaches are no substitute for increased supplies coming in by land via Israel or Egypt.

Israel says it puts no limit on the amount of humanitarian aid entering Gaza and blames problems in it reaching civilians within the enclave on UN agencies, which it says are inefficient. Aid groups blame Israel's blockade and red tape.

In the 2010 incident, nine pro-Palestinian activists aboard the aid ship were killed and a tenth died in 2014 after years in a coma.

Turkish-Israeli relations have historically been rocky due to disputes over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.


Ireland to Intervene in South Africa Genocide Case against Israel

 A man walks with a bicycle loaded with blankets and cushions past destroyed buildings along a street in Gaza City on March 27, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
A man walks with a bicycle loaded with blankets and cushions past destroyed buildings along a street in Gaza City on March 27, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
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Ireland to Intervene in South Africa Genocide Case against Israel

 A man walks with a bicycle loaded with blankets and cushions past destroyed buildings along a street in Gaza City on March 27, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
A man walks with a bicycle loaded with blankets and cushions past destroyed buildings along a street in Gaza City on March 27, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)

Ireland said on Wednesday it would intervene in South Africa's genocide case against Israel, in the strongest signal to date of Dublin's concern about Israeli operations in Gaza since Oct. 7.

Announcing the move, Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said that while it was for the World Court to decide whether genocide is being committed, he wanted to be clear that Hamas' Oct. 7 attack and what is happening in Gaza now "represents the blatant violation of international humanitarian law on a mass scale."

"The taking of hostages. The purposeful withholding of humanitarian assistance to civilians. The targeting of civilians and of civilian infrastructure. The indiscriminate use of explosive weapons in populated areas. The use of civilian objects for military purposes. The collective punishment of an entire population," Martin said in a statement.

"The list goes on. It has to stop. The view of the international community is clear. Enough is enough."

In January the International Court of Justice (ICJ), also known as the World Court, ordered Israel to refrain from any acts that could fall under the Genocide Convention and to ensure its troops commit no genocidal acts against Palestinians, after South Africa accused Israel of state-led genocide in Gaza.

Israel and its Western allies described the allegation as baseless. A final ruling in South Africa's ICJ case in The Hague could take years.

Martin did not say what form the intervention would take or outline any argument or proposal Ireland plans to put forward.

Martin's department said such third party interventions do not take a specific side in the dispute, but that the intervention would be an opportunity for Ireland to put forward its interpretation of one or more of the provisions of the Genocide Convention at issue in the case.

The Hamas-led attack killed 1,200 people and resulted in more than 250 being taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israel’s assault on Gaza has killed more than 32,000 people, according to Hamas-run health authorities in Gaza.

Long a champion of Palestinian rights, Ireland last week joined Spain, Malta and Slovenia in taking the first steps toward recognizing statehood declared by the Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in the Gaza Strip.

Israel told the countries that their plan constituted a "prize for terrorism" that would reduce the chances of a negotiated resolution to the conflict between the neighbors.


Russian Guided Bombs Hit Ukrainian City of Kharkiv, One Killed, Officials Say

Police secure the site of shelling near residential buildings in Kharkiv, Ukraine, 27 March 2024, amid the Russian invasion. (EPA)
Police secure the site of shelling near residential buildings in Kharkiv, Ukraine, 27 March 2024, amid the Russian invasion. (EPA)
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Russian Guided Bombs Hit Ukrainian City of Kharkiv, One Killed, Officials Say

Police secure the site of shelling near residential buildings in Kharkiv, Ukraine, 27 March 2024, amid the Russian invasion. (EPA)
Police secure the site of shelling near residential buildings in Kharkiv, Ukraine, 27 March 2024, amid the Russian invasion. (EPA)

Russia used guided bombs in airstrikes on the northern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Wednesday for the first time since 2022, killing at least one person and wounding 16, local officials said. Announcing the toll, Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov described the attack as "another act of bloody terror against Ukrainians" and said four children were among the wounded.

Three residential buildings were damaged, the interior ministry said on the Telegram messenger. Terekhov said a medical facility was also damaged and local police said a school had been hit.

Police cordoned off a five-storey residential building that had been hit, its windows blown out and balconies badly damaged, Reuters television footage showed.

Debris was strewn across the area in front of the building and a covered body lay on the bloodied ground next to an abandoned bicycle.

Kharkiv and the surrounding region have frequently been attacked with missiles and drones since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022, but the use of large-caliber guided bombs was unusual.

"Kharkiv was hit by aerial bombs - for the first time since 2022," Serhiy Bolvinov, the head of the investigative department of the regional police, said on Facebook.

Regional governor Oleh Synehubov also reported the use of guided munitions on Wednesday.

Russia denies targeting civilians although the war has killed thousands of people, uprooted millions and destroyed towns and cities.


Ukraine’s President Replaces a Top Security Official 

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attends an interview for the representatives of Ukrainian media, as Russian's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine April 4, 2022. Picture taken April 4, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attends an interview for the representatives of Ukrainian media, as Russian's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine April 4, 2022. Picture taken April 4, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)
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Ukraine’s President Replaces a Top Security Official 

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attends an interview for the representatives of Ukrainian media, as Russian's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine April 4, 2022. Picture taken April 4, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attends an interview for the representatives of Ukrainian media, as Russian's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine April 4, 2022. Picture taken April 4, 2022. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has replaced one of the country's top security officials in a reshuffle that comes as the war has dragged into a third year.

Zelenskyy dismissed Oleksii Danilov, who served as secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, thanking him for his service in a video address late Tuesday. He said without providing details that Danilov will be “reassigned to another area.”

Zelenskyy replaced Danilov with Oleksandr Lytvynenko, the former head of Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service. Zelenskyy didn't announce the reasons behind the reshuffle.

The National Security Council is a policy coordination body that includes top officials and chaired by Zelenskyy.

Danilov's dismissal comes as exhausted Ukrainian troops struggling with a shortage of personnel and ammunition are facing a growing Russian pressure along the front line that stretches over 1,000 kilometers (620 miles).

The reshuffle follows February's decision by Zelenskyy to fire the country's chief military officer, Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, replacing him Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi. Tensions between Zaluzhnyi and the president grew after Ukraine’s much-touted 2023 counteroffensive failed to reach its goals.

Earlier this month, Zaluzhnyi was named Ukraine's ambassador to the United Kingdom.


Several Dead in Coach Crash on German Motorway

Emergency vehicles and a rescue helicopter work at the scene of the accident on the A9, near Schkeuditz, Germany, Wednesday, March 27. 2024. (Jan Woitas/dpa via AP)
Emergency vehicles and a rescue helicopter work at the scene of the accident on the A9, near Schkeuditz, Germany, Wednesday, March 27. 2024. (Jan Woitas/dpa via AP)
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Several Dead in Coach Crash on German Motorway

Emergency vehicles and a rescue helicopter work at the scene of the accident on the A9, near Schkeuditz, Germany, Wednesday, March 27. 2024. (Jan Woitas/dpa via AP)
Emergency vehicles and a rescue helicopter work at the scene of the accident on the A9, near Schkeuditz, Germany, Wednesday, March 27. 2024. (Jan Woitas/dpa via AP)

Several people were killed and more injured in a coach crash on a motorway near the eastern German city of Leipzig on Wednesday, police said.

"Several people were fatally injured in the serious accident on the A9 motorway. There are numerous casualties," police in the state of Saxony said on social media platform X.

Local media reported that five people were dead after a Flixbus veered to the right of the busy A9 motorway which connects Berlin to Munich before ending up on its side.

The road in the direction of Munich was closed, said police, as pictures showed ambulances and helicopters attending the scene.

"The exact circumstances of the accident are not yet known," said Flixbus, adding it was working with emergency services to find out what happened.

Some 53 passengers and two drivers were on board the coach which was travelling from Berlin to Zurich.


Baltimore Rescuers Lose Hope for More Bridge Collapse Survivors

This handout screegrab courtesy of the National Transportation Safety Board taken on March 26, 2028, shows part of the steel frame of the Francis Scott Key Bridge sitting on top of the container ship Dali after the bridge collapsed in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 26, 2024. (Photo by National Transportation Safety Board / Youtube / AFP)
This handout screegrab courtesy of the National Transportation Safety Board taken on March 26, 2028, shows part of the steel frame of the Francis Scott Key Bridge sitting on top of the container ship Dali after the bridge collapsed in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 26, 2024. (Photo by National Transportation Safety Board / Youtube / AFP)
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Baltimore Rescuers Lose Hope for More Bridge Collapse Survivors

This handout screegrab courtesy of the National Transportation Safety Board taken on March 26, 2028, shows part of the steel frame of the Francis Scott Key Bridge sitting on top of the container ship Dali after the bridge collapsed in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 26, 2024. (Photo by National Transportation Safety Board / Youtube / AFP)
This handout screegrab courtesy of the National Transportation Safety Board taken on March 26, 2028, shows part of the steel frame of the Francis Scott Key Bridge sitting on top of the container ship Dali after the bridge collapsed in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 26, 2024. (Photo by National Transportation Safety Board / Youtube / AFP)

Rescuers have lost hope of finding more survivors of the Baltimore bridge collapse, the coast guard said, as efforts switched on Wednesday to looking for bodies of the missing.

Search divers were expected to return near dawn to the waters surrounding the twisted ruins of the bridge in Baltimore Harbor to search for six workers missing and now presumed dead.

The disaster has forced the indefinite closure of the Port of Baltimore, one of the busiest on the US Eastern Seaboard, and created a traffic quagmire for Baltimore and the surrounding region.

As the odds of their survival vanished, the search for the missing workers was suspended on Tuesday evening, 18 hours after they were thrown from the fallen Francis Scott Key Bridge into the frigid waters at the mouth of the Patapsco River.

"We do not believe that we're going to find any of these individuals alive," Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath said at a briefing.

Starting at 6 a.m. (1000 GMT) on Wednesday, "we're hoping to put divers in the water and begin a more detailed search to do our very best to recover those six missing people," state police Colonel Roland Butler told reporters late on Tuesday.
Rescuers pulled two other workers from the water alive on Tuesday, and one of them was hospitalized. The six presumed to have perished included workers from Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador, according to the Mexican Consulate in Washington.

Officials said all eight were part of a work crew repairing potholes on Key Bridge's road surface when the Singapore-flagged container vessel Dali, leaving Baltimore bound for Sri Lanka, plowed into a support pylon of the bridge at about 1:30 a.m. (0530 GMT).

A trestled section of the 1.6-mile (2.6 km) span almost immediately crumpled into the water, sending vehicles and workers into the river.

The 948-foot (289 m) ship had reported a loss of propulsion shortly before impact and dropped anchor to slow the vessel, giving transportation authorities time to halt traffic on the bridge before the crash. That move likely prevented a higher death toll, authorities said.
It was unclear whether authorities also tried to alert the work crew ahead of the impact.

Clay Diamond, executive director of the American Pilots’ Association, said he has been in close contact with officials from the Association of Maryland Pilots who described to him what happened as the ship approached the bridge. He said when the ship was a few minutes out, it lost all power, including to its engines.

Diamond said widely circulated images show the ship’s lights turning off and then back on, sparking questions about whether the vessel had regained power. But, he said, the emergency generators that kicked in turned the lights back on but not the ship’s propulsion.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore said at a Tuesday news briefing the bridge was up to code with no known structural issues. There was no evidence of foul play, officials said.

US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the path to rebuilding the collapsed bridge won’t be easy or quick.

“This is no ordinary bridge. This is one of the cathedrals of American infrastructure,” he said at a news conference in Baltimore on Tuesday afternoon. “It has been part of the skyline for this region for longer than many of us have been alive.”


Khamenei: Media Affects Enemy More than Missiles, Planes, Drones

 Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran (AFP)
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran (AFP)
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Khamenei: Media Affects Enemy More than Missiles, Planes, Drones

 Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran (AFP)
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran (AFP)

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei asserted Tuesday that using the media against enemies can be more effective than military strength.

“The media is more effective than missiles, planes and drones in forcing the enemy to retreat and to influence hearts and minds,” Khamenei said in a meeting with a group of poets.
“All war is a media war. Whichever actor has greater media influence will achieve their goals,” he said according to the state news agency (IRNA).

Khamenei also stressed the need to protect the Persian language and stressed the need for a stronger translation activity process to make Persian poetry accessible to the wider world.

After one of the attending poets read a poem about Palestine, the Supreme Leader said, “If this poem is translated in Gaza, it will spark enthusiasm. The people in Gaza and the resistance need this kind of synergy.”

Highlighting the message of Iran's steadfastness against global oppressors, particularly the US and Zionists, the Supreme Leader described it as one of the outstanding and transferable messages. He noted that Iran's resilience and unequivocal stance against arrogance are inspiring to people worldwide.

Khamenei also expressed his satisfaction with the continued progress and elevation of Persian poetry and referred to poetry as an important medium in the era of media warfare.

He emphasized the need to utilize the unique heritage of Persian poetry and literature as a powerful and influential medium.


Countries at UN Rally Behind Expert Who Accused Israel of 'Genocide'

UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese delivered her 'Anatomy of a Genocide' report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva - AFP
UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese delivered her 'Anatomy of a Genocide' report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva - AFP
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Countries at UN Rally Behind Expert Who Accused Israel of 'Genocide'

UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese delivered her 'Anatomy of a Genocide' report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva - AFP
UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese delivered her 'Anatomy of a Genocide' report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva - AFP

The UN expert who concluded Israel was committing acts of genocide in the Gaza Strip received broad support at the United Nations on Tuesday, with countries speaking up to back her and her report.

Francesca Albanese, the special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, told the UN Human Rights Council that countries should impose an arms embargo and sanctions on Israel.

Expanding in person on her report released on Monday, Albanese said Israel was characterizing the entire Gazan population as "targetable, killable and destroyable", and had ostentatiously laid bare its "genocidal intent" to "rid Palestine of Palestinians".

Dozens of diplomats, mostly representing Arab and Muslim countries but also Latin America, took the floor to defend her mandate and her work.

Pakistan, speaking for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, backed her call for sanctions and an arms embargo.

"We commend your courage in documenting... acts amounting to genocide in Gaza," Islamabad's representative said.

"The occupation force's dangerous and ruthless push for a final solution to the Palestinian question is plain for all to see, as its forces encircle Rafah like vultures and its ravenous land grab continues unabated in the West Bank."

Egypt, speaking for Arab group countries, affirmed their support for Albanese's mandate and said they were gravely concerned about Israel's "structured and systematic attack to make the Gaza Strip uninhabitable".

And Qatar, on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council, thanked Albanese for her report and demanded the international community "put an end to genocide being perpetrated by the Israeli war machinery".

In her speech, Albanese told the top UN rights body that Israel had "destroyed Gaza".

"When genocidal intent is so conspicuous, so ostentatious, as it is in Gaza, we cannot avert our eyes: we must confront genocide, we must prevent it and we must punish it," she said, AFP reported.

"The genocide in Gaza is the most extreme stage of a long-standing settler-colonial process of erasure of the native Palestinians."

Special rapporteurs are independent experts appointed by the Human Rights Council, although they do not speak on behalf of the UN.

In response, Russia said it was "horrified" by Israel's military operation that had seen "civilian infrastructure targeted" while China said it was was ready to facilitate peace talks.

The European Union called for "proper and independent investigations on all allegations" and while appalled by the civilian death toll it recognized Israel's right to self-defense.

Albanese's speech concluded to applause in the chamber. Israel was not present, nor was its chief ally the United States.

Israel has long been harshly critical of Albanese, and on Monday immediately rejected her report as an "obscene inversion of reality".

The United States called her mandate "biased against Israel".

In the rights council on Tuesday, the only firm support for such positions came from non-governmental organizations.

The World Jewish Congress said Albanese's mandate "seeks to entrench divisions and a one-sided narrative instead of pursuing a balanced and inclusive approach".

The European Union of Jewish Students said Albanese's "resignation is imperative" for the council to retain any credibility on issues concerning Israel and the Palestinian territories.


TV Detective Seeks to Woo Ankara Suburb in Turkish Vote

Besikcioglu's candidacy surprised many because he had previously never expressed any political ambitions - AFP
Besikcioglu's candidacy surprised many because he had previously never expressed any political ambitions - AFP
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TV Detective Seeks to Woo Ankara Suburb in Turkish Vote

Besikcioglu's candidacy surprised many because he had previously never expressed any political ambitions - AFP
Besikcioglu's candidacy surprised many because he had previously never expressed any political ambitions - AFP

Erdal Besikcioglu, adored in Türkiye for his TV role as troubled Ankara police detective Behzat C, will be playing a different role this Sunday when he seeks to win over a conservative suburb of the capital in local elections.

In the long-running TV series, Besikioglu plays a complex but ultimately decent man, who, despite being discredited by his superiors, continues to take on a rotten system stuffed with venal officials.

His character is so popular it is hard to tell whether the enthusiastic crowds at his campaign rallies are cheering the candidate or the commissioner.

The decision of the main center-left opposition CHP party (Republican People's Party) to make Besikcioglu its candidate for mayor of Etimesgut surprised many because he had never previously expressed any political ambition.

But the campaign novice has shown a real talent for connecting with voters in the sprawling suburb of 620,000 inhabitants that has been a bastion of the conservatives for two decades.

In the cafes of Etimesgut, he greets young locals with a cheery "La!", Ankara’s version of "Bro" and one of Detective Behzat’s stock phrases, AFP reported.

"I greet people like a family member – the one they welcomed into their homes via their TV screens for all those years," he explained as he glad-handed shopkeepers in one of Etimesgut's main streets.

Around him, an adoring crowd of young people and veiled women jostled for a selfie with their hero, who played the part of an idealistic governor in another TV series. For his fans, Besikcioglu is already "our mayor".

Some pundits compare him to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was a hugely popular actor and comedian before he took on the serious role of running his troubled country.

"On screen, I try to portray leaders as they should be. Now the time has come to put those ideas into practice," Besikcioglu told AFP.

In Etimesgut, the desire for change and fresh faces plays in his favor.

"The current mayor is clinging to power, just like Erdogan,” said 56-year-old housewife Derya Egin, in reference to the long-time president Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "We need a change."

Besikcioglu's critics say he doesn’t have a political plan.

“He's mainly proposing cultural activities. That's great but it’s not enough," said a local who asked to remain anonymous.

The election contest between Besikcioglu and incumbent mayor Enver Demirel is set to be a tough fight. But Detective Bezhat says he’s not bothered.

"I don't look at the opinion polls," he said dismissively.

"I'm an artist, first and foremost, for the people here. With God's help, I'll be their mayor too."