Israel must prevent acts of genocide in Gaza, ICJ rules

Published

4 months ago

January 27, 2024

Israel must prevent acts of genocide in Gaza, ICJ rules

The International Court of Justice in The Hague, Friday, has delivered its ruling on the allegations of genocide on Gaza by Israel levelled by South Africa.

Following the attack on October 7, 2023, Israel launched a military campaign against Gaza, killing thousands of civilans

South Africa had dragged Israel before the court, alleging it has stood in violation of the United Nation’s Genocide Convention, signed in 1948 as the world’s response to the Holocaust.

However, the ICJ delivered its ruling on the emergency measures requested by South Africa, asking Israel to take steps to prevent acts of genocide in the Gaza Strip.

The court also asked Israel to allow humanitarian aid into the Strip.

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The ruling specified that Israel needs to take every measure in its power to prevent things that could lead to genocide.

Before the ruling, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had said he would not feel bound by ICJ order.

“No one will stop us — not The Hague, not the Axis of Evil and no one else,” he said on January 14, referring to the Iran-aligned “axis of resistance” groups in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

Reacting to Friday’s ruling, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, wrote, “Hague shmague.”

The controversial post on X seem to be a mockery of ICJ ruling.

Israel’s pounding has caught the attention of the world powers, and caused division between the West and the Arabs.

While the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany, have thrown their weight behind Israel, Iran, Lebanon, Turkey and other Arabs have shown moral support to the people of Palestine.

Israel must prevent acts of genocide in Gaza, ICJ rules

Man shoots stepmom trying to hug him during graduation ceremony

Published

9 hours ago

May 11, 2024

Trends Admin

Christian Bencomo

Man shoots stepmom trying to hug him during graduation ceremony

A woman has been shot by her stepson after she tried to hug him during a high school graduation ceremony.

The incident happened on Wednesday at Albuquerque in New Mexico, United States of America.

The man identified as Christian Bencomo, 21, is currently being held with no bail.

According to Fox News, Albuquerque Police Department (APD) said it received a call around 5 p.m. that shots were fired at the Albuquerque Convention Center.

The media outlet report that authorities said the woman was attending the Southwest Secondary Learning Center graduation for her son.

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Her stepson arrived and “as she started to hug him, he produced a handgun and shot her in the neck,” police said.

APD Communications Director, Gilbert Gallegos, told the media at the scene there was a lot of chaos at the time.

Gallegos said there were over 100 people at the charter school graduation ceremony at the time, adding that the woman was rushed to a hospital and is expected to survive.

Bencomo was held by bystanders until the police arrived, the APD said.

According to jail records at the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center, Bencomo has been charged with unlawful carrying of a weapon, aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony, aggravated battery with intent to cause great bodily harm to a family member and preventative detention

Man shoots stepmom trying to hug him during graduation ceremony

International

Binance runs into trouble in Canada, fined $4.38m

Published

9 hours ago

May 11, 2024

Trends Admin

Binance runs into trouble in Canada, fined $4.38m

Canada’s financial watchdog, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre (FINTRAC), has imposed a $6 million fine on Binance, a prominent cryptocurrency platform, for breaching the nation’s laws on money laundering and terrorist financing.

The penalty, valued in Canadian dollars, translates to approximately $4.38 million USD.

In a recent statement, FINTRAC revealed that Binance failed to register as a foreign money services business and neglected to report large virtual currency transactions exceeding $10,000, as required by law.

Sarah Paquet, director and CEO of FINTRAC, emphasized the importance of upholding Canada’s anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing regulations to safeguard the nation’s economy and citizens.

Paquet affirmed FINTRAC’s commitment to assisting businesses in understanding and fulfilling their obligations under the law while maintaining a firm stance on enforcement when necessary.

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Binance, known as the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has faced regulatory scrutiny globally. Founder Changpeng Zhao recently received a four-month prison sentence in the United States for money laundering, unlicensed money transmission, and other violations related to transactions supporting terrorism, drug trafficking, and child exploitation.

In a separate case in the US, Binance agreed to a plea deal requiring the payment of over $4.3 billion in fines and restitution.

Additionally, the company is under investigation in Nigeria for alleged tax evasion, money laundering, and illicit foreign exchange rate manipulation.

Two senior Binance officials in Nigeria, Nadeem Anjarwalla and Tigran Gambaryan, faced charges related to these accusations, with Anjarwalla escaping custody in March after being arrested in February.

Binance runs into trouble in Canada, fined $4.38m

International

US says Israel may have breached international law with American weapons in Gaza

Published

16 hours ago

May 11, 2024

Trends Admin

The US has grown increasingly concerned over mounting civilian deaths in Gaza

US says Israel may have breached international law with American weapons in Gaza

The US says Israel may have used American-supplied weapons in breach of international humanitarian law in some instances during the war in Gaza.

It is “reasonable to assess” that those arms have been used in ways “inconsistent” with Israel’s obligations, says the state department.

But it added that the US did not have complete information in its assessment and that shipments could continue.

The report was submitted to Congress on Friday after a delay.

The White House-ordered review looked into how the country, along with six others engaged in conflict, has used US-supplied arms since the start of last year.

While the report was a clear rebuke of some Israeli operations in Gaza, it stopped short of definitively saying that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) campaign had breached international law.

Israel had had to confront an “extraordinary military challenge” fighting Hamas in Gaza, it said.

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And it added that assurances it had received from Israel about adhering to the legal use of US weapons were “credible and reliable”.

The document also noted that because Hamas “uses civilian infrastructure for military purposes and civilians as human shields”, it was often “difficult to determine facts on the ground in an active war zone” of what are legitimate targets.

But it said that given Israel’s significant reliance on US-made weapons, they had probably been used “in instances inconsistent with its IHL [international humanitarian law] obligations or with established best practices for mitigating civilian harm”.

It added that “Israel has the knowledge, experience, and tools to implement best practices for mitigating civilian harm in its military operations”, but that “results on the ground, including high levels of civilian casualties, raise substantial questions as to whether the IDF is using them effectively in all cases”.

The report said the UN and humanitarian organisations had described Israeli efforts to mitigate civilian harm as “inconsistent, ineffective and inadequate”.

The state department found that Israel did not fully co-operate with US efforts to “maximise” humanitarian aid into Gaza in the initial months of the conflict. It said, however, that this situation had changed.

“We do not currently assess that the Israeli government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or delivery of US humanitarian assistance,” the report said.

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One of the contributors to the report, David Satterfield, a former US ambassador to Turkey, told the BBC that the report was the first of its kind and that the US would continue to keep Israeli actions “under review”.

“This is a conflict quite unlike any that the world has seen,” he added. “We tried to take account of all those factors in coming up with a very frank, but also credible judgement.”

The report was finally released days after US President Joe Biden publicly threatened to withhold certain bombs and artillery shells from Israel if it went ahead with an assault on Rafah, the last stronghold of Hamas in Gaza that is packed with more than a million Palestinians.

Shortly before the report’s publication, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed President Biden’s warnings that the operation in Rafah would cross a “red line” and vowed that Israel would “stand alone” if necessary.

More than 80,000 people have fled Rafah since Monday, the UN says, with Israeli tanks reportedly massed close to built-up areas amid constant bombardment.

Israeli troops took control and closed the Rafah crossing with Egypt at the start of their operation, while the UN said it was too dangerous for its staff and lorries to reach the reopened Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel.

Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza to destroy Hamas in response to the group’s attack on southern Israel on 7 October, during which about 1,200 people were killed and 252 others were taken hostage. More than 34,900 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.