More than 100 foreign nationals and injured leave Gaza as border finally opens
Israeli army says 15 soldiers killed in Gaza operation
The Israeli army has announced 15 of its soldiers have been killed in Gaza since Tuesday.
It’s an increase on the previous death toll of 11 which was reported by officials this morning.
A close look at the humanitarian situation in Gaza
Hospitals: Just 13 hospitals left in the Palestinian enclave remain operational, out of 35 that existed before the conflict erupted on 7 October. The rest have either been damaged by strikes or forced to close due to a lack of supplies.
Healthcare staff: Hospitals are operating with less than one-third of their normal staffing levels, according to the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza. Meanwhile, 16 healthcare workers are estimated to have been killed while on duty and another 30 injured.
Water: Yesterday, one out of Gaza’s three water supply lines from Israel was restored for the first time since being cut off last month – though the amount being received has yet to be assessed.
Electricity: Gaza remains under a full electricity blackout, using backup generators to get by, after Israel halted both electricity and fuel on 11 October in a bid to cut off Hamas’s supplies. Humanitarian aid entering Gaza since 21 October, via the Rafah crossing with Egypt, has not been allowed to include fuel for this reason.
Aid trucks: Some 59 trucks carrying water, food and medicines entered Gaza yesterday – making it the largest convoy of aid to be delivered so far. In total, 217 trucks have entered the enclave so far but officials have consistently pointed out that Gaza used to receive around 500 of these trucks every day.
Bakeries: Just one bakery run by the World Food Programme (WFP) and eight local Gazan ones remain operational, supplying bread to Palestinians. Hours-long queues are reported in front of them as a result, where the UN says people are exposed to airstrikes.
Malaysia issues ‘kill switch’ order to cut controversial concerts
Measure to ensure foreign artists ‘adhere to the local culture’ follows incident at gig by the 1975 in Kuala Lumpur
Concert organisers in Malaysia must now have a “kill switch” to cut short performances that break official guidelines, a minister has said.
The measure follows the controversy surrounding a performance in Kuala Lumpur by the 1975, whose frontman Matty Healy criticised Malaysia’s homophobic laws in a profanity-laden speech and kissed a male bandmate on stage. The incident in July led to the cancellation of the weekend festival at which the band was performing.
The deputy communications and digital minister, Teo Nie Ching, told the parliament’s lower house that concert organisers must have “a kill switch that will cut off electricity during any performance if there is any unwanted incident”.
Ethiopia’s Tigray region stumbles towards peace
One year after the end of Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict, complete peace remains elusive and a humanitarian crisis remains. Critics accuse the government of not keeping its promises.
Before the outbreak of the war between the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (FDRE) and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) three years ago, 25-year-old Haftom Kidai had no military experience, had never carried a gun, and was instead engaged in private business.
“When the war started, Ethiopian and Eritrean forces entered Tigray and started to commit atrocities. I then took military training and joined the fight like the other young people of Tigray,” Haftom told DW.
Haftom was severely injured at the battlefront. Now, half of his body is paralyzed and he lives in an army care center in Tigray’s capital city, Mekelle.
Thousands of Afghans leave Pakistan ahead of deportation deadline
‘Grudge-holding’ gunman, 86, held after hostage crisis in Saitama
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
November 1, 2023 at 16:44 JST
An 86-year-old man upset over a traffic accident and a hospital examination set fire to his home, shot two people and held two women hostage at a post office, investigative sources said.
The gunman, Tsuneo Suzuki, was arrested after police officers wearing face guards and protective clothing stormed the Warabi Post Office around 10:20 p.m. on Oct. 31 and ended the eight-hour standoff.
Suzuki has admitted to his involvement in the shooting incident earlier in the day at the Toda Chuo General Hospital in the neighboring city of Toda, in which two people were wounded, the sources said.
Mali rebels say they have taken base vacated by UN peacekeepers
Mali’s northern Tuareg rebels said they have seized a base in Kidal vacated by the United Nations on Tuesday, potentially leading to a showdown in the strategic city where Mali’s army is hoping to wrest back control.The UN mission, known as MINUSMA, has until Dec. 31 to pack up after Mali’s military junta ordered it to leave in June. Its withdrawal from other bases has already prompted fighting between Mali’s army and the rebels, who are vying for control of areas vacated by the peacekeepers.Kidal is the eighth MINUSMA base to close in central and northern Mali and is one of the most important. It lies in a zone historically controlled by the rebels that Mali’s junta wants to take back.
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