UNITED NATIONS, United States: The United States on Monday announced a draft Security Council resolution supporting the Israel-Hamas ceasefire plan outlined by Joe Biden last week, urging Hamas to accept it.
“Numerous leaders and governments, including in the region, have endorsed this plan,” said US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
The draft text, seen by AFP, “welcomes the new deal announced on May 31, and calls upon Hamas to accept it fully and implement its terms without delay and without condition.”
Biden outlined on Friday what he called an Israeli plan that in three phases would end the bloody conflict, free all hostages and lead to the reconstruction of the devastated Palestinian territory without Hamas in power.
However fissures between the two allies emerged when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office stressed that the ongoing war in Gaza would continue until all of Israel’s “goals are achieved,” including the destruction of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities.
Israeli media have questioned to what extent Biden’s ceasefire speech and some crucial details were coordinated with Netanyahu’s team, including how long any truce would hold and how many captives would be freed and when.
Earlier Monday, the White House said Biden told the emir of mediator Qatar that he saw Hamas as “the only obstacle to a complete ceasefire” in Gaza, and urged him to press the group to accept it.
Hamas last week said it viewed Biden’s outline “positively,” but has since made no official comment on the stalled negotiations, while mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States have not announced any new talks.
Before Biden had made his Friday announcement, Algeria had last week circulated a draft resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and a halt of the Israeli offensive on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, citing the recent order to that effect from the International Court of Justice.
Washington at the time had said that the text wouldn’t be helpful, saying instead direct, on-the-ground negotiations were necessary for a truce.
No vote is scheduled for either draft resolution.
The council has struggled to find a unified voice since the war broke out with the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, followed by Israel’s retaliatory campaign.
After passing two resolutions centered on the need for humanitarian aid to people in Gaza, in March the council passed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire — an appeal that had been blocked several times before by the United States.
Washington, increasingly frustrated with the mounting civilian death toll, finally allowed that resolution to pass by abstaining from voting.
US urges UN Security Council to back Israel-Hamas ceasefire plan
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US urges UN Security Council to back Israel-Hamas ceasefire plan
- Washington, increasingly frustrated with the mounting civilian death toll, finally allowed that resolution to pass by abstaining from voting
King Charles III seen in public one day after hospitalization for cancer treatment side effects
- The king’s health has been closely watched ever since early last year when he announced that he had been diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer
- Charles waved to people as he left his residence at Clarence House in London by car on Friday morning
Charles waved to people as he left his residence at Clarence House in London by car Friday morning.
The king canceled his engagements for Thursday afternoon and Friday after his brief stay in the hospital.
The king’s health has been closely watched ever since early last year when he announced that he had been diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer.
Pro-Duterte rallies as former Philippine leader marks 80th birthday in jail
- Duterte supporter: ‘Almost all Filipinos love him and are very sad for him now’
- The former president will next appear in court on September 23
MANILA: Family and supporters of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte rallied Friday to mark his 80th birthday and protest against his detention in The Hague on a charge of crimes against humanity.
Duterte could spend the remainder of his life in jail if convicted at the International Criminal Court (ICC) of the charge tied to his “war on drugs” in which thousands were killed.
Police told AFP they had blocked a convoy of at least 100 motorcycle riders near the Philippine presidential palace, brandishing posters that read “Bring Him Home.”
In the southern city of Davao, thousands of the ex-president’s supporters massed for a candle-lit rally, one of more than 200 birthday gatherings demanding his release.
“Almost all Filipinos love him and are very sad for him now,” 44-year-old supporter Darbie Bula said.
Presidential palace spokeswoman Claire Castro said that protesters had the right to assemble, but warned against acts that “sow fear (or) promote hatred toward the government, bordering the line of inciting to sedition.”
Castro told reporters that Philippine officials wished Duterte “good health, good fortune” — adding that “he needs that.”
Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte, his eldest daughter, who has been in the Dutch city since shortly after his arrest, said the support “makes the challenges he is facing today more bearable.”
Another of the ex-president’s daughters, 20-year-old Veronica Duterte, said her father had “always been a force to be reckoned with, even in his sunset days,” in a post on social media.
Outside the detention center in The Hague, hundreds gathered with a sound system blasting music, punctuated by calls for Duterte’s release.
“We hope that he will be back in the Philippines as soon as possible,” organizer Aldwin Villarta said.
“I don’t think that he has a case to answer. I think it’s very unfair for him to be here.”
Nicholas Kaufman, Duterte’s lead defense lawyer, said his client had been made aware of the events in Davao and The Hague.
“He was touched by the huge presence of supporters on this milestone birthday and we will work to ensure that he will celebrate future birthdays in their company,” he said via email.
The ICC chief prosecutor’s application for his arrest said Duterte’s alleged crimes were “part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against the civilian population” in the Philippines.
“Potentially tens of thousands of killings were perpetrated,” the prosecutor alleged of the campaign that targeted mostly poor men, often without proof they were linked to drugs.
But Sara Duterte has said that the once wildly popular president is convinced that what the ICC did “was wrong and there is no case to begin with.”
Duterte’s arrest on March 11 and rapid handover to the international tribunal came on the heels of his family’s bitter falling out with his successor, President Ferdinand Marcos.
Cracks began to appear in their alliance soon after Marcos teamed up with Sara Duterte to sweep the presidential and vice presidential elections in May 2022.
The vice president quit her cabinet post as education secretary after being denied the defense portfolio, while Duterte himself began calling Marcos a drug addict.
Last month, Sara Duterte was impeached by a pro-Marcos House of Representatives on charges that include an alleged assassination plot against the president.
The outcome of her Senate trial will likely depend on the number of seats her allies win in May 12 mid-term elections.
The ex-president will next appear in court on September 23.
UK government warns Britons to leave South Sudan ‘now’
- The message comes after Wednesday’s arrest of First Vice President Riek Machar
- British nationals who chose to remain in the country do so ‘at your own risk’
LONDON: British citizens “should leave South Sudan now,” UK foreign minister David Lammy has warned, with fears growing the country is tipping closer to civil war as a fragile peace deal unravels.
“My message to British nationals in South Sudan is clear. If you judge it is safe to do so – leave now,” Lammy said on X late Thursday, as the foreign ministry updated its travel warning for the country.
The message comes after Wednesday’s arrest of First Vice President Riek Machar, a long-time rival to President Salva Kiir, which observers warn could throw the country back into war.
A power-sharing deal between Kiir and Machar has been gradually unraveling, risking a return of the civil war that killed around 400,000 people between 2013 and 2018.
Lammy said: “South Sudan’s leaders must make efforts to de-escalate. A descent into violence and conflict is in no-one’s interests.”
In its updated travel advice, the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said British nationals who chose to remain in the country did so “at your own risk.”
“You should have a personal emergency plan that does not rely on the UK government,” it added, warning Britons they “should not assume that the FCDO will be able to provide assistance... in the event of serious unrest.”
South Sudan – which declared independence from Sudan in 2011 – has remained plagued by poverty and insecurity since the 2018 peace deal.
Regional powers have scrambled to mediate in the latest crisis, with Kenyan President William Ruto posting that he had spoken to Kiir about Machar’s arrest.
Analysts say the aging Kiir, 73, has been seeking to ensure his succession and sideline Machar politically for months through cabinet reshuffles.
More than 20 of Machar’s political and military allies in the unity government and army have also been arrested since February, many held incommunicado.
Russia says retook border village in its Kursk region from Ukraine
- Russia’s defense ministry accuses Ukraine of attacking energy facilities
- Ministry: Ukraine attacked a gas metering station in Kursk region and power facilities in Belgorod
MOSCOW: Russia said Friday it retook a border village from Ukraine in its Kursk region, where Moscow has this month reclaimed much of the territory that Kyiv held on to since last summer.
Ukraine launched a ground assault into the Russian border region in August, capturing large swathes of territory including the town of Sudzha, but over the past three weeks Moscow has taken much of it back.
Russia’s defense ministry said its troops had taken control of the village of Gogolevka, which lies close to the Ukrainian border and west of the town of Sudzha, which Moscow claimed back control of earlier in March.
Russia has moved several hundred civilians who were previously trapped in areas under Ukraine’s control eastwards, away from the fighting.
Ukraine still controls a strip of the Kursk region along the border.
Kyiv had hoped it could use land in the Kursk region as a bargaining chip in future peace talks with Russia, which has seized parts of eastern and southern Ukraine since its offensive began in 2022.
Visiting the Kursk region earlier this month, President Vladimir Putin called on troops to reclaim the entire Russian region.
He also called on Ukrainian troops to surrender and said Moscow would treat them as “terrorists.”
Russia’s Defense Ministry on Friday accused Ukraine of attacking Russian energy facilities in the past 24 hours despite a moratorium on striking each other’s energy infrastructure.
The ministry said Ukraine attacked a gas metering station in Kursk region and power facilities in Belgorod, and tried to hit an oil refinery in the Saratov region.
King Charles III experiences side effects after receiving medical treatment and is in hospital
- Charles, 76, has been undergoing treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer for more than a year
- King has continued fulfilling state duties, such as reviewing government papers and meeting with PM
LONDON: Britain's King Charles III was hospitalized for observation on Thursday after experiencing “temporary side effects,’’ related to a scheduled cancer treatment, Buckingham Palace said in a statement.
His engagements for Thursday afternoon and Friday were canceled.
“His majesty has now returned to Clarence House and as a precautionary measure, acting on medical advice, tomorrow’s diary program will also be rescheduled,’’ the palace said. “His majesty would like to send his apologies to all those who may be inconvenienced or disappointed as a result.’’
Charles, 76, has been undergoing treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer for more than a year. The king has continued fulfilling his state duties, such as reviewing government papers and meeting with the prime minister, even though he took some time off public duties.
