Category Archives: SECURITY

The 102 refugees, including 25 children, were taken to Sri Lanka’s eastern port of Trincomalee. More than 100 Rohingya refugees from war-torn Myanmar have been rescued while adrift on a fishing trawler off the Indian Ocean island nation by Sri Lanka’s navy, bringing them safely to port. The 102 people, including 25 children, were taken to Sri Lanka’s eastern port of Trincomalee, a navy spokesman said on Friday. “Medical checks have to be done before they are allowed to disembark,” the spokesman said. The Muslim-majority ethnic Rohingya are heavily persecuted in Myanmar and thousands risk their lives each year on long sea journeys, the majority heading southeast to Malaysia or Indonesia. But fisherman spotted the drifting trawler off Sri Lanka’s northern coast at Mullivaikkal at dawn on Thursday. The navy spokesman said

On Sunday, as migrant workers were being celebrated across Singapore in line with International Migrants Day, a fatal accident occurred involving labourers travelling on the back of a lorry in the western end of the city state. A 40-year-old man died at the scene, two passengers were taken to hospital and the driver was arrested, the authorities said. Images of bloodied workers lying on a grass verge by the road made their rounds online, along with pictures from the back of the lorry where a large metal contraption could be seen, sparking outrage about how migrant workers continue to be transported with heavy equipment in the back of lorries in Singapore. “These are men’s lives at stake. Not simply dollars and cents. It is time we do something about workers

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States is behind the arrest of the Vanderbijlpark man. A 48-year-old Vanderbijlpark man who raped, sexually assaulted, and created and distributed pornography (porn) of his girlfriend’s minor daughter will spend Christmas behind bars. The man who has not been named, appeared in the Vanderbijlpark Magistrates Court this week. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States of America (USA) is behind the arrest of the man. Charges National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said the man is facing charges of rape, sexual assault, and creation of child pornography and distribution of a 13-year-old girl. “It is alleged that in 2020, the accused who is in a love relationship with the mother of the victim began to expose the

Katz also threatened Halevi that he would freeze all potential high command appointments until he receives the probe results. By YONAH JEREMY BOB DECEMBER 19, 2024 14:12 Israel Katz attends a replacing ceremony at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem on November 10, 2024. (photo credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90) Defense Minister Israel Katz on Thursday told IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi that all October 7 disaster probes must be finished by the end of January. Katz also threatened Halevi that he would freeze all potential high command appointments until he receives the probe results. The defense minister has blocked multiple mid-level appointments recently, saying that the officers in question could not be promoted until their role in the October 7, 2023 disaster was clarified. This latest move by

At least 50 people killed in accidents on the same highway in Ghazni province between Kabul and southern Kandahar city. Two bus crashes in central Afghanistan have killed at least 50 people and injured dozens more, according to officials. The accidents took place on the same highway in Ghazni province between the capital, Kabul, and southern Kandahar city late on Wednesday, provincial head of information and culture Hamidullah Nisar said on X on Thursday. In the first, a passenger bus collided with a fuel tanker near Shahbaz village in central Ghazni. In the other accident, a bus hit a truck in the eastern district of Andar, Nisar said. Hafiz Omar, a spokesman for the governor of Ghazni province, said 50 people were killed in the accidents. Taliban chief government spokesman

Staff Reporter PRESIDENT Nangolo Mbumba has officially commissioned two brand new medium transport aircraft, known as Y-9E, into the service of the Namibian Air Force. “The acquisition of these Medium Transport Aircraft will go a long way in improving and enhancing the Namibian Defence Force’s operational capacity and readiness to respond at short notice to any situation that might require the involvement of our soldiers, both during peacetime and wartime emergencies,” President Mbumba said. He revealed that the aircraft were built to the Namibian Defence Force’s specifications by the China Aeronautic Technology and Import Corporation (CATIC) in the People’s Republic of China, highlighting this as a symbol of the longstanding partnership and friendship between the two nations. “Namibia values its all-weather friendship with the People’s Republic of China. Therefore, the

Judicial Integrity at Stake: The Controversy Over Former President Dr. Edgar Lungu’s 2026 Eligibility By Thandiwe Ketis Ngoma The debate around former President Dr Edgar Chagwa Lungu’s eligibility to contest in the 2026 elections has reignited deep divisions within Zambia’s political and legal landscape. UPND sympathizers have repeatedly argued that it is the Constitution—and not President Hakainde Hichilema (HH)—that has barred Dr. Lungu from seeking a return to office. However, this narrative does not hold water when examined against the backdrop of the Constitutional Court’s precedents and the suspicious circumstances surrounding this latest ruling. The Constitutional Court’s Previous Rulings on Dr. Lungu’s Eligibility The Constitutional Court, Zambia’s ultimate authority on constitutional matters, had on several occasions unequivocally ruled that Dr. Lungu was eligible to run for office. These rulings were

At this stage, no suspects have been arrested, with police “continuing investigative efforts to identify suspects involved in the smuggling.” By ELI ASHKENAZI DECEMBER 15, 2024 09:32 The Lebanese hashish seized by the police in northern Israel. (photo credit: via walla!) Police seized some 7.3 kg. of Lebanese hashish in Israel’s Upper Galilee area, amounting to the sum of NIS 378,000.  At this stage, no suspects have been arrested, and the police refrained from making any accusations. Given the recent events on the northern border, there is a possibility that the smugglers may be IDF soldiers.  Amal Aazam, a police officer at the Safed police station, said that the operation came as a result of intelligence information, with police “continuing investigative efforts to identify suspects involved in the smuggling.” Lebanese

Pope Francis’ one-day visit to the French island of Corsica on Sunday, two days before his 88th birthday, will put a dual focus on the Mediterranean, highlighting local traditions of popular piety on the one hand and migrant deaths and wars on the other. The visit to Corsica’s capital Ajaccio, birthplace of Napoleon, will be one of the briefest of his papacy beyond Italy’s borders, just about nine hours on the ground, including a 40-minute visit with French President Emmanuel Macron. It is the first papal visit to the island, which Genoa ceded to France in 1768 and is located closer to the Italian mainland than France. Papa Francescu, the pope’s name in Corsican, will address more than 400 participants at the Conference on Popular Religiosity in the Mediterranean, organised

Reuters The US has made “direct contact” with the HTS rebels who now control Syria after toppling the Assad regime, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said. It is the first acknowledgement of direct American contact with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which the US currently still designates as a terrorist organisation. Blinken was speaking in Jordan after talks with representatives from several Arab countries, Turkey and Europe to discuss the future of Syria. Officials agreed to support a peaceful transition process in the country, with Jordan’s foreign minister saying that regional powers did not want to see it “descend into chaos”. A joint communique called for an inclusive Syrian government that respects the rights of minorities and does not offer a base for “terrorist groups”. The talk both inside and outside

Israeli strikes in the northern and central Gaza Strip on Wednesday killed at least 31 Palestinians, most of them in Beit Lahiya town in the north of the enclave, medics said. Health officials said an Israeli air strike on a house in Beit Lahiya killed at least 22 people, including women and children. Relatives listed the names of the dead on social media. The Palestinian news agency WAFA said at least 30 people were living in the multi-storey building before it was struck, adding that several members of the family remained missing as rescue operations continued through morning hours. The Israeli military said it was checking the report. Destroyed houses in the Nuseirat camp, central Gaza Strip. Photo: Xinhua Earlier on Wednesday, at least seven Palestinians were killed and several

The Israelis reportedly left the shop quickly but the shopkeeper was said to have followed them outside with her shovel raised. The backpackers recorded the incident. By JERUSALEM POST STAFF NOVEMBER 24, 2024 09:36 A shopkeeper at Flinders Tobacco, Queensland, Australia, calls a customer a ‘dirty f***ing Jew’ outside the shop. November 23, 2024. (Credit: Anti-Defamation Commission) Two Israeli backpackers visiting Townsville, in Queensland, Australia, were subjected to an antisemitic verbal attack on Saturday by a local tobacco shop worker, the Anti-Defemation Commission (ADC) reported on Sunday.  The ADC is an Australian civil rights organization that combats antisemitism and other forms of hate. It was established in 1979 and now works to bridge communities, collect data on antisemitism and other biases, and respond to incidents of discrimination. As the two

The NGOs want the Netherlands to ban the export and transit of weapons, weapon parts, and dual-use items to Israel. Pro-Palestinian organisations have taken the Dutch state to court, urging a halt to arms exports to Israel and accusing the government of failing to prevent what they termed a “genocide” in Gaza. They argue that the Netherlands, a staunch ally of Israel, has a legal obligation to do everything in its power to stop violations of international law and the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention, in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank. “Today, the plaintiffs are here to hold the Dutch state accountable for failing to comply with international law by failing to intervene against violations of the rights of the Palestinian people committed by the state of

Washington’s provision of advanced boat drones to Manila will act as “a force multiplier” for the Philippine Navy, analysts say, allowing the US to enhance its ally’s surveillance and operational capabilities in the South China Sea while avoiding direct provocations that could escalate Beijing’s territorial challenges. US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin announced that the US government has given the Philippine Navy an undisclosed number of unmanned surface vessels (USVs) for its operations in the West Philippine Sea – Manila’s term for the parts of the South China Sea that lie within its exclusive economic zone and the Kalayaan Island Group in the Spratlys – on Tuesday during a two-day visit to the Philippines . He promised that “many more” would be delivered before the end of the Biden administration. “We