The death toll in the Moscow concert hall attack rises to 143, while 80 others remain hospitalized
Moscow, RUSSIA (AP) — The death toll from last week’s Moscow concert hall attack rose to 143, Russian authorities said Wednesday. Around 80 other people wounded in the siege by gunmen remain hospitalized.
The Friday night massacre in Crocus City Hall, a sprawling shopping and entertainment venue on the northwestern outskirts of Moscow, was the deadliest extremist attack on Russian soil in nearly two decades. At least four gunmen toting automatic rifles shot at thousands of concertgoers and set the venue on fire.
An affiliate of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the violence, while U.S. intelligence said it had information confirming the group was responsible. French President Emmanuel Macron said France also has intelligence pointing to “an IS entity” as responsible for the attack.
The updated fatalities from Russia’s Emergencies Ministry didn’t state the number of wounded, but Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said earlier Wednesday that 80 people were in hospitals and another 205 had sought medical treatment from the attack.
In this photo taken from video released by Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, rescuers work in the burned concert hall after a terrorists attack on the building of the Crocus City Hall on the western edge of Moscow, Russia. (Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service via AP)
Russia’s Federal Security Service, or the FSB, said it had arrested 11 people the day after the attack, including four suspected gunmen. The four men, identified as Tajik nationals, appeared in a Moscow court on Sunday on terrorism charges and showed signs of severe beatings. One appeared to be barely conscious during the hearing.
Russian officials, however, have insisted that Ukraine and the West had a role, claims that Kyiv vehemently denies. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin of trying to drum up fervor as his forces fight in Ukraine.
FSB chief Alexander Bortnikov has also alleged, without providing evidence, that Western spy agencies could have been involved. He repeated Putin’s claim that the four gunmen were trying to escape to Ukraine when they were arrested, casting it as proof of Kyiv’s alleged involvement.
Toys and flowers lie in front of the Crocus City Hall on the western outskirts of Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, March 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
But that assertion was undercut by Belarus’ authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, who said Tuesday that the suspects were headed for Ukraine because they feared tight controls on the Belarus border.
The Islamic State group, which lost much of its territory following Russia’s military action in Syria after 2015, has long targeted Russia. In October 2015, a bomb planted by IS downed a Russian jetliner over the Sinai desert, killing all 224 people aboard, most of them Russian vacationers returning from Egypt.
The group, which operates mainly in Syria and Iraq but also in Afghanistan and Africa, also has claimed several attacks in Russia’s volatile Caucasus and other regions in the past years. It has recruited fighters from Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union.
The United States warned Moscow two weeks before the massacre about a possible imminent attack. Three days before the tragedy, Putin denounced the U.S. Embassy’s notice on March 7 urging Americans to avoid crowds in Moscow, including concerts, calling it an attempt to frighten Russians and “blackmail” the Kremlin before the Russian presidential election.
Bortnikov said Russia was thankful for the warning but described it as very general.
Envoys Of Five Nations Present Credentials To President Of India
New Delhi, INDIA (PTI/DT) – President Droupadi Murmu of India formally accepted the credentials of several diplomats from different countries during a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Wednesday, as confirmed by a press release from the presidential residence.
Secretary (West) Amb. Pawan Kapoor poses for a photo with envoys from five nations in New Delhi on Wednesday, March 27, 2024. Photo credit: @AmbKapoor
Among those who presented their credentials were Josel Francisco Ignacio, Ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines; Sardor Rustambaev, Ambassador of the Republic of Uzbekistan; and Mikhail Kasko, Ambassador of the Republic of Belarus.
The official statement from Rashtrapati Bhavan read, “President Droupadi Murmu received credentials from Mr Josel Francisco Ignacio, Ambassador of the Republic of the Philippines; Mr Sardor Rustambaev, Ambassador of the Republic of Uzbekistan; and Mr Mikhail Kasko, Ambassador of the Republic of Belarus at Rashtrapati Bhavan.”
President Droupadi Murmu received credentials from Mr Josel Francisco Ignacio, Ambassador of the Republic of Philippines; Mr Sardor Rustambaev, Ambassador of the Republic of Uzbekistan; and Mr Mikhail Kasko, Ambassador of the Republic of Belarus at Rashtrapati Bhavan. pic.twitter.com/HIJK88l7fS
Additionally, Peter Maina Munyiri, High Commissioner of the Republic of Kenya, and Vakhtang Jaoshvili, Ambassador of Georgia, were also among the diplomats who presented their credentials to President Murmu during the ceremony, as per the press release.
India summons US diplomat over comments on opposition leader’s arrest
New Delhi, INDIA (EFE/DT) – India on Wednesday summoned US diplomat Gloria Berbena to convey its “strong objection” to recent comments by Washington on the arrest of an opposition leader just weeks ahead of the general elections.
The comments came in the wake of the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) over accusations of financial irregularities.
Berbena, US’ Acting Deputy Chief of Mission, was summoned by the Indian authorities, Indian foreign ministry official Vasudev Ravi told EFE.
“We take strong objection to the remarks of the Spokesperson of the US State Department about certain legal proceedings in India,” said a statement by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.
In this video, Gloria Berbena, the Acting Deputy Chief of Mission for the US, can be observed entering the office of the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi.
#Watch | The Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi summoned the US' Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Gloria Berbena, today. The meeting lasted for approximately 40 minutes pic.twitter.com/qjMvtChFzp
On Tuesday, a spokesman for the US State Department stressed the need for a “fair, transparent and timely” legal process for Kejriwal, arrested last week by the ED, controlled by the federal government.
“India’s legal processes are based on an independent judiciary which is committed to objective and timely outcomes. Casting aspersions on that is unwarranted,” the statement added.
The summoning of the US official comes days after New Delhi also summoned the deputy head of the German embassy on Saturday to convey its disapproval of comments from Berlin about Kejriwal’s arrest.
Kejriwal, leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), was arrested less than four weeks before the start of the general elections over alleged irregularities in the state’s excise policy to hand over the alcohol market to private companies.
An alliance of opposition parties formed ahead of the elections, led by the grand old Indian Congress Party (INC), and of which the AAP is a part, has denounced the arrest claiming it was politically motivated. EFE
Supreme court of Indonesia hears election appeals of candidates who lost and want a revote
Jakarta, INDONESIA (AP) — Indonesia’s top court heard appeals lodged by two losing presidential candidates who are demanding a revote, alleging widespread irregularities and fraud at the polls in appearances before the judges Wednesday.
Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto won the election with an overwhelming margin: 58.6%, or more than 96 million votes, according to the General Election Commission — more than twice the runner-up’s share in the three-way race.
But the losing candidates — Former Jakarta Gov. Anies Baswedan and former Central Java Gov. Ganjar Pranowo — argue that the election was marred by irregularities throughout the campaign. They’re asking the Constitutional Court to annul the election results and order a revote, in separate lawsuits.
Both candidates presented parts of their cases in person, focusing on allegations that the court itself, as well as outgoing President Joko Widodo, bent laws and norms to support Subianto.
“We witness with deep concern a series of irregularities that have tarnished the integrity of our democracy,” Baswedan told the court.
Losing presidential candidate Anies Baswedan, right, talks to journilst as his runing mate Muhaimin Iskandar listens upon their arrival for earing appeals against the presidential election results, which were lodged by losing candidates, at the Constitutional Court in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, March 27, 2024. Photo : Achmad Ibrahim/AP
Dozens of protesters held a peaceful but noisy rally near the court building, declaring that they would oversee the trial. Authorities blocked streets leading to the court where about 400 police were deployed in and around the building.
Indonesian presidents are expected to stay neutral in races to succeed them, but Subianto, a longtime former rival of Widodo who twice lost elections to him before joining his government, ran as his successor. He even chose Widodo’s son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, as running mate, even though Raka did not meet a constitutional requirement that candidates be at least 40 years old.
Baswedan and Pranowo argue that Raka should have been disqualified, and are asking the court to bar him from a revote. Before the election, the Constitutional Court made a controversial exception to the minimum age that allowed him to run, under the leadership of then-chief justice Anwar Usman, who is Widodo’s brother in law. Usman was later forced to resign as chief justice for failing to recuse himself.
“The Constitutional Court was designed to guard the constitution and stem arbitrariness, not to legitimize fraud and crime,” said Todung Mulya Lubis, a prominent lawyer who led Pranowo’s legal team, “This election is an opportunity for the Constitutional Court to reclaim its authority and dignity.”
Losing presidential candidate Anies Baswedan, left, and his runing mate Muhaimin Iskandar wave at the media prior to the start of the First hearing of their legal challenge to the Feb.14 presidential election alleging widespread fraud, at the Constitutional Court in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, March 27, 2024. Photo : Dita Alangkara/AP
Baswedan also said that regional officials were pressured or given rewards to influence political choices, and that state social assistance was used as “a transactional tool to help one of the candidates.”
Hefty social aid from the government was disbursed in the middle of the campaign — far more than the amounts spent during the COVID-19 pandemic — and Widodo distributed funds in person in a number of provinces.
“If we do not make corrections, the practices that occurred recently will be considered normal and become habits, then become culture, and ultimately become national character,” Baswedan said before the eight-judge panel.
On Tuesday, Subianto himself twice went to the top court to challenge the results of elections he lost to Widodo, but the court rejected his claims as groundless both times. Subianto refused to accept the results of the 2019 presidential election, leading to violence that left seven dead in Jakarta.
Baswedan had the first turn before the court in the morning, while Pranowo spoke in the afternoon.
“What shocked us all, what really destroyed morale, was the abuse of power,” Pranowo told the court, “When the government uses all state resources to support certain candidates, when the security forces are used to defend personal political interests, then it is time for us to take a firm stand to reject all forms of intimidation and oppression.”
Chief Justice Suhartoyo, who like many Indonesians uses a single name, adjourned the hearing until Thursday, when Subianto and the General Election Commission will respond. The verdict, expected on April 22, cannot be appealed.
The case will be decided by eight justices instead of the full nine-member court because Usman, who is still on the court as an associate justice, is required to recuse himself.
Israel and Hamas dig in as international pressure builds for a cease-fire in Gaza
Jerusalem, ISRAEL (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday blasted a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a Gaza cease-fire that his country’s top ally, the United States, chose not to block. He said the resolution had emboldened Hamas and he vowed to press ahead with the war.
As the war grinds through a sixth month, both Israel and Hamas have rejected international cease-fire efforts, each insisting its version of victory is within reach. The passage of the U.N. resolution has also escalated tensions between the U.S. and Israel over the conduct of the war.
Netanyahu has said Israel can only achieve its aims of dismantling Hamas and returning scores of hostages if it expands its ground offensive to the southern city of Rafah, where over half of Gaza’s population has sought refuge, many in crowded tent camps. The U.S. has said a major assault on Rafah would be a mistake.
Ambassador Riyad Mansour, Permanent Representative of the State of Palestine to the United Nations addresses the Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question. Photo : UN
Hamas says it will hold onto the hostages until Israel agrees to a more permanent cease-fire, withdraws its forces from Gaza and releases hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including top militants. It said late Monday that it rejected a recent proposal that fell short of those demands — which, if fulfilled, would allow it to claim an extremely costly victory.
Netanyahu said in a statement that the announcement “proved clearly that Hamas is not interested in continuing negotiations toward a deal and served as unfortunate testimony to the damage of the Security Council decision.”
“Israel will not surrender to Hamas’ delusional demands and will continue to act to achieve all the goals of the war: releasing all the hostages, destroying Hamas’ military and governing capabilities and ensuring that Gaza will never again be a threat to Israel.”
Israel has killed over 32,000 Palestinians, around two-thirds of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally. The fighting has left much of the Gaza Strip in ruins, displaced most its residents and driven a third of its population of 2.3 million to the brink of famine.
The Israeli military announced Tuesday that an airstrike earlier this month killed Marwan Issa, the deputy leader of Hamas’ armed wing in Gaza who helped plan the Oct. 7 attack. Issa is the highest-ranking Hamas leader to have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war. Military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Issa was killed when fighter jets struck an underground compound in central Gaza between March 9 and 10.
Palestinian flee Gaza City, to the southern Gaza Strip, in Wadi Gaza, Monday, March 25, 2024. Photo : Fatima Shbair/AP
An Israeli strike late Monday on a residential building in Rafah where three displaced families were sheltering killed at least 16 people, including nine children and four women, according to hospital records and relatives of the deceased. An Associated Press reporter saw the bodies arrive at a hospital.
In the face of Hamas’ demands for a more permanent cease-fire, Netanyahu has vowed to resume Israel’s offensive after any hostage release and keep fighting until the militant group is destroyed. But he has provided few details about what would follow any such victory and has largely rejected a postwar vision outlined by the U.S.
That approach has brought him into increasingly open conflict with President Joe Biden’s administration, which has expressed mounting concern over civilian casualties — though it has continued to supply Israel with crucial military aid and back Israel’s aim of destroying Hamas.
The passage of Monday’s resolution by the U.N. Security Council resolution further deepened the divisions. The resolution called for the release of all hostages held in Gaza but did not condition the cease-fire on it. The Biden administration, which vetoed previous U.N. resolutions calling for a cease-fire, abstained in Monday’s vote, allowing it to pass.
In response, Netanyahu cancelled a planned visit by Israeli officials to Washington during which the U.S. side was set to propose alternatives to a ground assault in Rafah.
The move raised criticism in Israeli media that Netanyahu was straining Israel’s most important alliance in order to placate hard-liners in his governing coalition.
Humanitarian aid is airdropped to Palestinians over Gaza City, Gaza Strip, Monday, March 25, 2024. Photo : Mahmoud Essa/AP
“He is prepared to sacrifice Israel’s relations with the United States for a short-lived political-media coup. He has completely lost it,” Ben Caspit, a prominent columnist in the Israeli newspaper Maariv, wrote.
He said Netanyahu has been trying U.S. patience by dragging his feet on ensuring more humanitarian aid gets into Gaza and on drawing up post-war plans. “Now, instead of doing everything to placate them, he is flailing about like a baby throwing a tantrum.”
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, in Washington on a separate trip, held talks Tuesday with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and with top U.S. defense leaders.
Ahead of the meeting, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin described civilian casualties in Gaza as “far too high” and aid deliveries as “far too low.” But he also repeated the belief that Israel has the right to defend itself and the U.S. would always be there to help.
Gallant said he told Blinken “that Israel will not cease operating in Gaza until the return of all the hostages. Only a decisive victory will bring to an end of this war.”
Hamas’ top political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, said the U.N. resolution showed that Israel faces “an unprecedented (level of) political isolation” and was “losing its political cover” at the Security Council. He spoke at a press conference in Tehran after talks with officials in Iran, a key ally of Hamas.
The war began on Oct. 7, when Hamas-led militants stormed across the border and attacked communities in southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 others. It is still believed to be holding about 100 hostages and the remains of 30 others, after most of the rest were freed in November in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners.
The United States, Qatar and Egypt have spent several weeks trying to negotiate another cease-fire and hostage release, but those efforts appeared to have stalled.
Majed al-Ansari, a spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry of Qatar, which is currently hosting the talks, told reporters that the negotiations were still ongoing, without providing details.
Hamas has previously proposed a phased process in which it would release all the remaining hostages in exchange for a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, the opening of its borders for aid and reconstruction, and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including top militants serving life sentences.
Judge issues gag order barring Donald Trump from commenting on witnesses, others in hush money case
New York, USA (AP) — A New York judge issued a gag order Tuesday barring Donald Trump from making public statements about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Judge Juan M. Merchan cited the former president’s prior comments about him and others in the case, as well as a looming April 15 trial date, in granting a prosecution request for what it termed a “narrowly tailored” order barring Trump from making certain out-of-court statements.
“It is without question that the imminency of the risk of harm is now paramount,” Merchan wrote.
Prosecutors had asked for the gag order, citing what they called Trump’s “long history of making public and inflammatory remarks” about people involved in his legal cases.
The gag order does not bar comments about Merchan or Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, an elected Democrat. But it prohibits Trump from attacking key figures in the case, like his former lawyer-turned-nemesis Michael Cohen or porn star Stormy Daniels.
he prosecutors’ office declined to comment. Messages seeking comment were left for Trump’s campaign.
The gag order adds to restrictions put in place after Trump’s arraignment last April that prohibit him from using evidence in the case to attack witnesses.
After a hearing Monday where Merchan set the April 15 trial date, Trump tore into prosecutor Matthew Colangelo on social media, referring to the former Justice Department official as a “radical left from DOJ” sent to the D.A.’s office “to run the trial against Trump and that was done by Biden and his thugs.”
Merchan cited that comment in his ruling.
The Manhattan case centers on allegations that Trump falsified internal records kept by his company to hide the true nature of payments made to Cohen. The lawyer paid Daniels $130,000 as part of an effort during Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign to bury claims he’d had extramarital sexual encounters.
Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records, a felony punishable by up to four years in prison, though there is no guarantee that a conviction would result in jail time.
Trump, the Republican presidential front-runner, has lashed out about the case repeatedly on social media, warning of “potential death & destruction” before his indictment last year, posting a photo on social media of himself holding a baseball bat next to a picture of Bragg and complaining that Merchan is “a Trump-hating judge” with a family full of “Trump haters.”
Trump was already under a similar gag order in his Washington, D.C., election interference criminal case and was fined $15,000 for twice violating a gag order imposed in his New York civil fraud trial after he made a disparaging social media post about the judge’s chief law clerk. In January, a Manhattan federal judge threatened Trump with expulsion from court in a civil trial on writer E. Jean Carroll’s defamation claims against him after he was heard saying “it is a witch hunt” and “it really is a con job.”
“Self-regulation is not a viable alternative, as defendant’s recent history makes plain,” prosecutors wrote in court papers. Trump, they said, “has a longstanding and perhaps singular history” of using social media, campaign speeches and other public statements to “attack judges, jurors, lawyers, witnesses and other individuals involved in legal proceedings against him.”
The gag order mirrors portions of an order imposed on Trump in October in his separate Washington federal case, where he is charged with scheming to overturn the results of his 2020 election loss to Democratic rival Joe Biden.
A federal appeals court panel in December largely upheld Judge Tanya Chutkan’s gag order but narrowed it in an important way by freeing Trump to criticize special counsel Jack Smith, who brought the case. Manhattan prosecutors echoed that ruling by excluding Bragg from their proposed gag order.
Last May, Merchan issued what’s known as a protective order, warning Trump and his lawyers they risked being held in contempt if they disseminated evidence from the hush-money case to third parties, used it to attack witnesses or posted sensitive material to social media.
Merchan, noting Trump’s “special” status as a former president and current candidate, tried to make clear at the time that the protective order shouldn’t be construed as a gag order, saying, “It’s certainly not my intention to in any way impede Mr. Trump’s ability to campaign for the presidency of the United States.”
Baltimore Key Bridge collapses after ship collision
“Too early to tell” if reports of power outage on the ship are true, NTSB chief says
By Helen Regan, Kathleen Magramo, Antoinette Radford, Alisha Ebrahimji, Maureen Chowdhury, Rachel Ramirez, Elise Hammond, Aditi Sangal and Tori B. Powell, CNN
CNN – It’s “too early to tell” in this stage of the investigation if reports of power outage on the ship are true, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said.
“We have been made aware of those same reports about there being a power outage. I’ve also seen statements, media releases from Singapore as well. It’s something that we take in, but something that we have to verify through our investigation that that was what was part of the contributing cause here,” she told reporters on Tuesday afternoon. “So too early to tell.”
Earlier Tuesday, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said the crew of the ship notified officials that it had lost power prior to the crash. Lights on the ship flickered and a dark plume of smoke could be seen billowing from it before it veered toward a bridge pillar shortly before impact, CNN analysis of data from MarineTraffic shows.
Homendy said it will “take time” to determine whether bridge has been flagged for any safety deficiencies
From CNN’s Rachel Ramirez
National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said it will “take time to dig through” whether the Francis Scott Key Bridge has ever been flagged for any safety deficiencies.
Homendy at a news conference pointed to the agency’s recent investigation of the Fern Hollow Bridge collapse in Pittsburgh in 2022, which “took almost two years to get information” on bridge inspections and whether or not records existed, she said.
“It’s a very cumbersome process,” Homendy added. “It’s a very meticulous process where they have to dig through a lot of information, so it will not be something that we will be able to verify well on.”
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore during an earlier news conference said that the now-collapsed Baltimore bridge was “fully up to code” and had no structural issues.
Part of investigation will look into how the collapsed bridge was constructed, NTSB official says
From CNN’s Maureen Chowdhury
A National Transportation Safety Board official said that the structure of the collapsed Baltimore bridge will be looked into as part of the agency’s investigation.
“There’s some questions about the structure of the bridge,” NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said.
Homendy said that NTSB is “aware of what a structure should have” and will look into how the Francis Scott Key Bridge was built and investigate the structure itself.
“All of that will be a part of our investigation. We go very broad in our investigation,” she said.
Priority has “been on the people” as search and rescue efforts continues, NTSB chair says
More than 12 hours after a cargo ship hit a Baltimore bridge, causing it to collapse, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board said focus is still on finding people.
Chairperson Jennifer Homendy said she could not share many details about what happened yet and the priority is search and rescue operations.
The NTSB is leading the investigation into the incident at the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
At least six people are still unaccounted for, officials said previously.
NTSB plans to look into if and when the ship dropped its anchor, chair says
The cargo ship Dali sits in the water after running into and collapsing the Francis Scott Key Bridge on Tuesday in Baltimore. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
The Singapore-registered DALI container ship that struck the Baltimore bridge dropped its anchor prior to impact as part of its emergency procedure, according to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.
National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said the agency will look into if and when the ship dropped the anchor, but there is no information as of now.
NTSB investigation will look at prior safety inspections of the vessel, chair says
The National Safety Board’s investigation will look “in-depth” at safety information, anything that may have occurred before Tuesday’s incident, any safety history for the vessel and any sort of maintenance that was done, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said.
“We will look at all of that but it’s much too early for all of that,” she said.
NTSB is “standing back” to allow Coast Guard to continue search and rescue efforts
A US Coast Guard vessel secures the perimeter following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on Tuesday. Julia Nikhinson/Reuters
Danish shipping giant said it is “omitting” Baltimore on all its services following bridge collapse
The steel frame of the Francis Scott Key Bridge lies in the water after it collapsed in Baltimore on Tuesday. Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
Danish shipping giant Maersk said in a statement on Tuesday that it is dropping Baltimore on all its services for the foreseeable future following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
“Due to the damage to the bridge and resulting debris, it will not be possible to reach the Helen Delich Bentley port of Baltimore for the time being,” the company said in a statement. “In line with this, we are omitting Baltimore on all our services for the foreseeable future, until it is deemed safe for passage through this area.”
The container ship that collided with a pillar of the bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday morning, the DALI, was chartered by Maersk and carrying Maersk customers’ cargo, the company said earlier. It also said the DALI is owned by Grace Ocean and operated by Synergy Group.
No Maersk crew and personnel were onboard the vessel, the company noted.
Ships headed to Baltimore will divert to nearby ports, from which it will be possible for cargo to use other means of transportation to reach their final destinations, the company added.
For cargo set to be released in Baltimore, the company said to expect delays, as they look for other port alternatives.
UN Security Council passes resolution demanding ‘an immediate ceasefire’ during Ramadan
UN NEWS (TOI/DT) – The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution on Monday demanding an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, after the United States withheld its veto and abstained from the vote. It was the first time that the Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza since the start of the war in October.
Resolution 2728 is understood to be non-binding and is not expected to have an immediate impact on the ongoing fighting in Gaza, as has been the case with previous Security Council resolutions that have been adopted in other conflicts that were subsequently ignored.
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said she had to suffice with abstaining on the resolution, rather than voting in favor, chiefly because it did not include a condemnation of Hamas.
Israel is not expected to abide by the resolution’s call for an immediate ceasefire and Hamas is not expected to follow the demand for an immediate and unconditional release of the 134 hostages, though only the former is a party to the UN charter and failure to abide by its resolutions could lead to calls for sanctions. But with the US stressing that the resolution is not binding, it is highly unlikely that Washington would allow the council to sanction Israel for failing to abide by the measure.
Ambassador Gilad Erdan, Permanent Representative of Israel to the UN, addresses the Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question. Photo : UN
Lack of Hamas condemnation is ‘a disgrace’: Israel
Gilad Erdan, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Israel, questioned why the Security Council “discriminates” among victims, recalling that it condemned the deadly attack on a concert hall in Moscow on Friday, but failed to condemn the Nova music festival massacre of 7 October.
“Civilians, no matter where they live, deserve to enjoy music in safety and security, and the Security Council should have the moral clarity to condemn such acts of terror equally, without discrimination,” he said.
“Sadly, today as well, this Council refused to condemn the 7 October massacre; this is a disgrace,” he added.
Mr. Erdan further noted that for the past 18 years, Hamas initiated ceaseless attacks against Israelis, launching “thousands and thousands of indiscriminate rockets and missiles against civilians”.
He added that while the resolution failed to condemn Hamas, it did “state something that should have been the driving moral force”.
However, it does mark a symbolic blow to Israel’s international standing nearly six months since Hamas’s October 7 onslaught and appeared to highlight a new low in ties between the US and Israel, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announcing afterward that he was canceling plans to send a delegation to Washington at the administration’s request to discuss a potential ground invasion in Rafah.
Yemen’s Abdullah Ali Fadhel Al-Saadi Thanks 14 States for Supporting Ceasefire Resolution
The representative of Yemen Abdullah Ali Fadhel Al-Saadi, on behalf of the Arab Group, said they valued the votes of the 14 States supporting the resolution.
He said the resolution must be considered as a first step leading to a binding resolution on a permanent ceasefire.
The Arab Group also reaffirms that the efforts to reach an agreement on a ceasefire do not go against the call for freeing all hostages.
File – Palestinians line up for free food in Rafah, Gaza Strip, February 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair, File)
He said the group sought immediate compliance with the resolution and categorically rejects the double standard that is prolonging this conflict as Israeli occupation forces continue with their genocidal war, targeting women and children and even adopting a policy of starvation.
He called on the Council to impose strict sanctions on Israeli settlers who are inciting violence against Palestinians, including in Jerusalem.
The group will continue efforts towards an immediate ceasefire, the delivery of humanitarian aid, an end to the forced displacement of Gazans and greater international protection for Palestinians.
Israel must be held accountable for its crimes, he said, and it is also time that the international community accept the State of Palestine as a full member of the United Nations.
Ambassador Riyad Mansour, Permanent Representative of the State of Palestine to the United Nations addresses the Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question. Photo : UN
Gaza’s ordeal must end now: Palestine
Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer for the observer State of Palestine, said it had taken six months, with more than 100,000 Palestinians killed and maimed, to finally demand an immediate ceasefire.
The Palestinians in Gaza have shouted, cried, cursed and prayed, defying the odds time and time again. Now, they live with famine, with many buried under the rubble of their own houses.
“Their ordeal must come to an end, and it must come to an immediate end now,” he told ambassadors.
He said the rule of international law was being destroyed by Israel’s crimes. Instead of implementing a mandatory order from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Israel has doubled down on its actions.
He said Palestinians had been killed if they stayed or left, and now, Israel threatens an invasion of Rafah.
Myanmar’s military dictators General Min Aung Hlaing willing to hold elections with ifs and buts
Bangkok, THAILAND (EFE) – Myanmar’s military regime plans to hold elections but only in some regions, the junta chief has said, without specifying a date and with a precondition that there is peace and stability.
Min Aung Hlaing, the self-proclaimed prime minister, expressed his willingness to hold non-nationwide polls in an interview with the Russian state news agency Tass.
“If the state is peaceful and stable, we have a plan to hold the election in relevant sections as much as we can even if the election is not held nationwide under the law,” he said in the interview, according to a transcript by Myanmar’s state media.
The military regime, which has systematically extended the state of emergency declared since the February 2021 coup, is battling to contain a rebellion by ethnic guerrillas who have managed to wrest control of more than 20 towns from the army on multi-fronts since October last year.
During the interview last week in Myanmar, Min Aung Hlaing again defended the coup d’état due to the alleged massive fraud during the November 2020 general elections.
The party led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi swept the polls as it did in 2015.
The opposition National Unity Government and human rights bodies have described the attempts by the Myanmar military to hold elections as a “farce.”
Since the military uprising, more than 2.3 million people have been displaced by the armed conflicts plaguing the country.
Over 4,770 civilians have been killed in the alleged brutal repression by Myanmar security forces against pro-democracy activists, according to data from the Myanmar NGO Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. EFE
Israel welcomes US Congress bill banning funding for UNRWA
The approved bill also conditions aid for the Palestinian Authority if officials ‘initiate or actively support’ international probes that expose Israeli nationals to war crimes charges
International Desk, ISRAEL (EFE) – Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Saturday praised the US Congress bill passed hours earlier that bans all funding to the United Nations agency for Palestine until at least 2025, over unsubstantiated Israeli accusations that some of the agency’s employees may have ties to Hamas.
“The historic ban on US funding to UNRWA that passed today with an overwhelming bipartisan support, demonstrates what we knew all along: UNRWA is part of the problem and can not be part of the solution,” Katz wrote on social media.
The US House and Senate voted late Friday night to approve a 1.2 trillion dollar spending bill to fund more than half of the government through September, but the bill included a suspension of funding for at least a year for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which provides services to nearly 6 million Palestinians in various countries and is the main humanitarian actor in the war-torn Gaza Strip.
The legislation, which averted a government shutdown, was the subject of intense haggling between Democrats and Republicans.
People walk past the damaged Gaza City headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) on February 15, 2024. (AFP)
It includes the 3.8 billion dollars the US sends to Israel each year, but says that “funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this act or other acts (…) may not be used for a contribution, grant, or other payment” to UNRWA “until March 25, 2025.”
Republicans hailed the defunding of UNRWA as a capitulation by Democrats, and progressives in both chambers were unhappy with the move.
“Now my colleagues are pushing legislation to send more American taxpayer dollars to the apartheid government of Israel and stop funding UNRWA, the vital organization that provides desperately needed food and humanitarian aid to starving Palestinians,” Representative Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian-American in Congress, said from the House floor on Thursday when the bill containing the provision was introduced.
The US stopped funding UNRWA in late January after Israel notified the agency that 12 of its 30,000 employees had allegedly been involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.
Washington had been UNRWA’s largest donor, providing the agency with between 300 and 400 million dollars a year.
Other countries, including the agency’s other major donors, announced they were withdrawing their funds, resulting in a 450 million dollar cut from the agency’s operating budget, which amounts to about 800 million dollars a year, amid the emergency response in Gaza.
However, countries such as Canada, Sweden, Australia or the European Union – which only temporarily froze funding – have announced in recent weeks their intention to resume contributions to UNRWA in light of the inconsistency of the evidence presented by Israel to support its accusations.
Other countries, such as Spain, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait, have maintained their allocations and even announced additional funds to soften the blow.
The agency’s director, Philippe Lazzarini, said on March 4 in his first address to the UN General Assembly since the scandal that Tel Aviv has never provided conclusive evidence of its workers’ ties to Hamas, claiming that “there is a political decision here to eliminate UNRWA.
UNRWA also claimed in an unpublished report seen by many media outlets last month that Israeli forces tortured a number of its staff in Gaza to force them to admit links to Hamas.
Meanwhile, Israel has widened its accusations against UNRWA, saying Hamas’s infiltration of the agency goes much deeper.
Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said on March 4 that of the 13,000 UNRWA workers in Gaza, more than 450 are “military operatives” of Hamas and other armed groups, and that Israel has shared this information with the United Nations.
And a report by the Israeli Embassy in Spain released on Friday said that some 480 UNRWA employees in Gaza are members of armed wings of Hamas or Islamic Jihad, 1,650 belong to the political movement, and more than 2,130, about 17% of the agency’s staff in the enclave, have active links to “terrorist” groups.
An investigation by the UN’s Office of Internal Oversight Services is currently underway into Israel’s allegations that 12 UNRWA employees were involved in the October 7 attacks.
This is separate from the independent review group headed by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, which is conducting a comprehensive analysis of whether UNRWA has a significant number of mechanisms and procedures in place to ensure compliance with the humanitarian principle of neutrality. EFE
