International
The UN approves a resolution condemning Israel’s treatment of civilians in Gaza
The United Nations Human Rights Council approved on Friday a resolution that condemns, among other abuses, “the practice of making the civilian population suffer hunger as a method of war in Gaza,” despite the votes against from countries such as Germany, Argentina or the United States.
The resolution was approved on the last day of the 55th session of the Council, which has lasted six weeks, with 28 votes in favor, 6 against and 13 abstentions, including those of France, India, Japan or the Netherlands.
The text also expresses “great concern” about statements by Israeli officials that “equate to incitement to genocide,” and urges the international community to stop the sale and transfer of weapons to Israel “in order to avoid further violations of international humanitarian law.”
On the other hand, the Council has adopted another resolution that reaffirms the Palestinian right to self-determination, “including its right to an independent State of Palestine.”
The resolution has been sponsored by about 70 countries, including Spain.
At least 54 Palestinians have died in the Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours, a figure that brings the total number of deaths since the beginning of the war to 33,091, according to the latest count of the Ministry of Health of the enclave, controlled by Hamas.
Of the death toll, more than 73% are women and children. Specifically, 14,500 minors have died to date, which makes this war the most lethal for childhood in years.
According to the official Palestinian agency Wafa, in recent hours artillery attacks have been recorded in large areas of the province of Jan Yunis, as well as in the eastern part of the city of Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli Army has confirmed that it continues to operate in Jan Yunis to dismantle Hamas’ military capabilities and assured that it had eliminated several “terrorist cells.”
In addition, an intense air attack reached the vicinity of the city of Sheikh Zayed, in northern Gaza.
In the center of the Strip, Israeli artillery besieged several localities, including the Maghazi refugee camp, which also suffered air bombardment.
In addition, Israel attacked during the night several launch posts in the north of the enclave, from where yesterday rockets were fired at the Israeli cities of Ashkelon and Sderot and against the kibbutz Kfar Aza, which were claimed by Islamic Jihad.
The evacuation warnings issued by the Israeli Army to the Gazans before an attack are full of important errors that cause confusion, according to a BBC analysis released this Friday.
The British public broadcaster examined numerous material in brochures or transmitted through social networks corresponding to 26 different announcements issued since December 1.
In his study, he found notable inconsistencies, which meant that many people did not know exactly where to go.
“The warnings contained contradictory information and, sometimes, districts with incorrect names,” says the network, which has consulted experts who indicate that these errors “could violate Israel’s obligations under international law.”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have rejected the results of this BBC study in a statement and assure that the alerts are only a part of their “extensive efforts to encourage the evacuation of civilians.”
International humanitarian law requires that the attacking forces warn in advance and effectively of attacks that may affect the civilian population, unless circumstances do not allow it.
An internal investigation by the Israeli Army has determined that Efrat Katz, a 68-year-old Israeli, was “probably” killed by an Air Force attack on October 7 in the Nir Oz kibutz during the attack in Hamas, when militiamen took her hostage to the Strip.
Based on the evidence captured by drones and security cameras, as well as testimonies from Air Force crews and witnesses, the examination concluded that a combat helicopter opened fire on a vehicle where “terrorists” from Hamas were traveling, in which Katz was also traveling.
“As a result of the shooting, most of the terrorists traveling in the vehicle died, and apparently Efrat Katz,” the Israeli Army said.
The examination was carried out by a designated team established under the direction of the Commander-in-Chief of the Israel Air Force, in order to examine the issue, in parallel with the in-depth examinations of all the combat incidents of October 7.
The heads of the Israeli and US intelligence services will arrive in Cairo at the beginning of next week to meet with their Egyptian and Qatari counterparts in the framework of the negotiations for a truce in Gaza, an Egyptian security source told EFE.
According to this same source, who asked for anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, both the head of the Mossad, Didi Barnea, and that of the CIA, Bill Burns, will arrive in the Egyptian capital at the beginning of this week to start talks with “the Qatari Prime Minister and the head of Egyptian Intelligence.”
The objective of this meeting is “to achieve an openness in the conversations with which they seek to free the hostages held by the Islamic resistance movement Hamas in Gaza.”
On the other hand, a Palestinian source told EFE that Barnea will participate in the meeting “together with the president of Shabak, Ronen Bar, and the head of hostages and missing persons in the Israeli Army, General Nitzan Alon.”
International
85% of Haiti’s capital has fallen into the power of gangs, according to UN reports
The power of criminal gangs in Haiti continues to grow and at the moment they control about 85% of the capital, Port-au-Prince, according to “certain estimates” that this Monday were cited in the UN Security Council by Miroslav Jenca, Undersecretary General for Europe, Asia and the Americas in the UN Political Affairs Department.
The gangs have begun to attack the places of “relative security” that remained in the capital, such as the Petionville neighborhood, where UN offices, embassies and foreign personnel are located. There, an attack recorded last Tuesday left “dozens dead,” he said.
In response, spontaneous groups of neighbors have begun to organize armed patrols, to set up unofficial road controls “and to take justice into their hands,” Jenca lamented.
The number of displaced people reaches 700,000
In the vast areas where gangs have control, the security and human rights of their inhabitants are in danger, and especially those of women, since gang members resort to all forms of violence, often sexual violence, to subjugate neighbors.
This situation has caused 700,000 Haitians to flee their homes and are now in a situation of “internally displaced people.”
Despite this, neighboring countries continue to deport Haitians (170,000 so far), mainly from the Dominican Republic, although Jenca did not cite this country.
What is the situation of the Multinational Mission to contain gangs in Haiti?
The Multinational Security Mission that was supposed to train the Haitian police has so far received only 400 agents of the 2,500 that it must gather, mainly due to lack of funds, and the prospects are so pessimistic that the Government of Haiti has already asked that the MMS be transformed into a classic mission of “blue helmets”.
However, this will not be easy because so far Russia and China oppose the deployment of a peace mission in Haiti arguing that the last mission of this type left the country among very serious accusations of sexual abuse and having caused and spread in 2010 a cholera epidemic that was fatal for the country, leaving thousands dead.
International
One-week preventive detention for Princess Mette-Marit’s son of Norway for rape
An Oslo court issued this Wednesday preventive detention of one week with a ban on visits for Marius Borg Høiby, son of Princess Mette-Marit of Norway, for two cases of rape of two different women.
Høiby, 27 years old and the result of a previous relationship with the princess, had been arrested on Monday night for the third time since August for an alleged rape, but the Prosecutor’s Office revealed today at the end of the hearing, held behind closed doors, that another case had been discovered during the investigation.
The young man, who is not part of the Royal House, is also being investigated for injuries and damages against three of his ex-girlfriends and for threats to a man.
Prison for two cases of rape in Norway
The hearing began at 14:00 local time (13:00 GMT) and ended two hours later, but Judge Anne-Lene Åvangen Hødnebø did not issue her opinion until after 22:00.
According to public television NRK, the police used as evidence recordings found on Høiby’s phone.
In both cases it is sexual intercourse without penetration, reported the Prosecutor’s Office, which had requested two weeks in prison.
“The reason we asked for two weeks is that we discovered another violation last night. It is a case of sexual relationship without intercourse with a woman unable to resist the act. We are investigating two rape cases,” prosecutor Andreas Kruszewski said at the end of the hearing.
HØiby’s lawyer, Øyvind Bratlien, stated that his defendant denies the accusations and described the allegations as a “catastrophic” error of judgment.
Three arrests since August
Høiby was arrested on Monday night when he was driving with his ex-girlfriend, the protagonist of the incident that led to the first arrest and which he is forbidden to contact.
His home in Skaugum, on the same property where Crown Princes Haakon and Mette-Marit reside, was searched by police officers.
According to Norwegian media, the first alleged rape occurred at the young woman’s home in March of this year; the other, in her residence in Skaugum a few weeks ago.
It is the third arrest of Høiby, who was arrested a few hours ago in early August after an incident in his ex-girlfriend’s apartment and was accused of injuries, damage and threats, in a case that was later expanded and that also includes two of his previous partners and another person.
Høiby admitted a few days after his arrest in August in a statement part of the accusations and admitted to having problems with alcohol and other drugs and suffering from mental problems.
The Royal House is reluctant to talk about the case
The Norwegian Royal House has been reluctant to comment on the case of the young Marius Borg Høiby, which has generated a lot of media attention in this Nordic country, and only Prince Haakon has made statements.
“I think Marius faces serious accusations. The judicial system must do its job,” Haakon said today from Jamaica, where he attended an event organized by the UN.
The heir to the Norwegian throne said that as “parents” they have tried to get the young man to receive “help.”
Høiby is the result of a previous relationship of Mette-Marit and has no official commitments to the Royal House, although he attends some celebrations such as the birthdays of his stepbrothers and has always maintained the relationship with both Haakon and Kings Harald V and Sonia.
International
The next attorney general Matt Gaetz manages to stop the report on his sex scandal
The Ethics Committee of the US House of Representatives did not make public this Wednesday due to lack of agreement the report of its investigation into Matt Gaetz, nominated by President-elect Donald Trump, to be the next attorney general and investigated for inappropriate sexual behavior and drug use.
The president of that commission, Republican Michael Guest, told the press at the end of the nearly two-hour meeting at the Capitol that there was no consensus among the members when making that document public.
That body was going to put its decision to a vote last Friday, but Gaetz’s resignation from his seat two days earlier, after being appointed by Trump, delayed that scrutiny and effectively ended the investigations into him.
Although with the departure of the Florida representative of Congress, the commission was left without jurisdiction to investigate him, the publication of the conclusions of his investigation opened in 2021 for alleged inappropriate sexual conduct, irregular use of campaign funds, acceptance of bribes and drug use was still in the air.
Committee interviews
The committee interviewed two women who testified that Gaetz, nominated for attorney general, paid them for having sex at a party in Florida, where prostitution is illegal.
According to the women’s lawyer to the NBC News channel, Joel Leppard, one of them also testified that she saw Gaetz having sex with a minor, although he said that he did not think he knew that he was 17 years old at the time.
Gaetz has denied those accusations and Trump’s transition team considers them unfounded and recalls that the Department of Justice closed a parallel investigation without charges.
Review of the report
Several senators, both Republicans and Democrats, had said that they wanted to review that report before the Judicial Committee of the Upper House examines Gaetz’s nomination next year and then the plenary of that hemicycle validates or stops it.
The authorization of the positions of the future cabinet depends on the Senate, but until then Gaetz has the support of Trump, who has stated that he does not question his own decision, and also of the future vice president, JD Vance, who accompanied him to Congress this Wednesday.
Report on Gaetz next attorney general has had leaks
However, although the House Committee on the House of Representatives stopped the dissemination of the report, there have already been leaks in the national press.
The lawyer of the two women indicated that they provided that committee with numerous photos related to the time they spent with the Republican, who according to that lawyer paid 6,000 dollars to one and 4,000 to another to sleep with them.
The leader of the House of Representatives, Republican Mike Johnson, had wanted to stay out of the committee’s decision, but at the same time he did not consider it appropriate for it to disseminate his investigation: “That would open Pandora’s box and I don’t think it’s something healthy for the institution,” he said.
85% of Haiti’s capital has fallen into the power of gangs, according to UN reports
One-week preventive detention for Princess Mette-Marit’s son of Norway for rape
The next attorney general Matt Gaetz manages to stop the report on his sex scandal
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