Muslims spot Ramadan crescent moon in Saudi Arabia, meaning month of fasting starts Monday for many
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Officials saw the crescent moon Sunday night in Saudi Arabia, home to the holiest sites in Islam, marking the start of the holy fasting month of Ramadan for many of the world’s 1.8 billion Muslims.
The sacred month, which sees those observing abstain from food and water from sunrise to sunset, marks a period of religious reflection, family get-togethers and giving across the Muslim world. Seeing the moon Sunday night means Monday is the first day of the fast.
Saudi state television reported that authorities there saw the crescent moon. Soon after, multiple Gulf Arab nations, as well as Egypt, Sudan, Syria and Yemen followed the announcement to confirm they as well would start fasting on Monday. North American Muslims also will begin their fast Monday.
Leaders shared messages of congratulations the month had begun.
However, there are some Asia-Pacific countries like Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, that will begin Ramadan on Tuesday after failing to see the crescent moon. Oman, on the easternmost edge of the Arabian Peninsula, similarly announced Ramadan would begin Tuesday. Jordan will also begin Ramadan on Tuesday.
This year’s Ramadan comes as the Middle East remains inflamed by the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. That’s raised fears the conflict may spark unrest far beyond the current borders of the war.
Saudi King Salman specifically pointed to the Israel-Hamas war in remarks released to the public after the Ramadan announcement.
“As it pains us that the month of Ramadan falls this year, in light of the attacks our brothers in Palestine are suffering from, we stress the need for the international community to assume its responsibilities, to stop these brutal crimes, and provide safe humanitarian and relief corridors,” the king said.
U.S. President Joe Biden also recognized the beginning of the holy month, saying that “Jill and I extend our best wishes and prayers to Muslims across our country and around the world,” but he also turned to the conflict in Gaza.
“As Muslims gather around the world over the coming days and weeks to break their fast, the suffering of the Palestinian people will be front of mind for many. It is front of mind for me,” Biden said.
Meanwhile, inflation and high prices of food around the world since the pandemic began continue to pinch.
In Saudi Arabia, the kingdom had been urging the public to watch the skies from Sunday night in preparation for the sighting of the crescent moon. Ramadan works on a lunar calendar and moon-sighting methodologies often vary between countries, meaning some nations declare the start of the month earlier or later.
However, many Sunni-dominated nations in the Middle East follow the lead of Saudi Arabia, home to Mecca and its cube-shaped Kaaba that Muslims pray toward five times a day.
In Iran, which views itself as the worldwide leader of Islam’s minority Shiites, authorities typically begin Ramadan a day after Sunnis start. Already, the office of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced Ramadan will start on Tuesday, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
“This year, Ramadan will coincide with Nowruz,” said Tehran resident Robabeh Khodkameh, referring to the Persian New Year that begins March 20. “Since the old days, we have a custom of thoroughly cleaning homes for Nowruz, and making everything look new. This year, since it’s also Ramadan, we’ll clean our hearts too and use it as a fresh start for things.”
Only Sunnis in Iraq and Lebanon will begin fasting Monday, while Shiites will begin Tuesday.
During Ramadan, those observing typically break their fast with a date and water, following the tradition set by the Prophet Muhammad. Then they’ll enjoy an “iftar,” or a large meal. They’ll have a pre-dawn meal, or “suhoor,” to sustain themselves during the daylight hours.
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar; the month cycles through the seasons and the months in the Gregorian calendar.
Muslims try to avoid conflict and focus on acts of charity during the holy month. However, the war in the Gaza Strip is looming large over this year’s Ramadan for many Muslims.
The war began Oct. 7 with Hamas’ attack on Israel that killed around 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage. Israel responded with a grinding war targeting the Gaza Strip that so far has seen more than 30,000 Palestinians reported killed and an intense siege of the seaside enclave cutting off electricity, food and water.
Scenes of Palestinians praying before bombed-out mosques and chasing after food airdropped by foreign nations continue to anger those across the Middle East and the wider world. The U.S. has been pressuring Israel, which relies on American military hardware and support, to allow more food in as Ramadan begins. It also plans a sea corridor with other partners.
The war, as well as Israeli restrictions on Muslims praying at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third-holiest site, may further inflame militant anger. The site is also known as the Temple Mount, which Jews consider their most sacred site. The Palestinian territories will begin Ramadan on Monday as well.
The Islamic State group, which once held a self-described caliphate across territory in Iraq and Syria, has launched attacks around Ramadan as well. Though now splintered, the group has tried to capitalize on the Israel-Hamas war to raise its profile.
War also continues to rage across Sudan despite efforts to try and reach a Ramadan cease-fire.
___
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
North Korea tests more cruise missiles as leader Kim calls for war readiness
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Friday extended a provocative series of weapons tests by firing cruise missiles into the sea, as leader Kim Jong Un called for his military to step up war preparations and toured a shipyard.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the U.S. and South Korean militaries were analyzing the North Korean launches into its western sea. It said South Korea’s military detected multiple missiles but it did not immediately provide a specific number or an assessment of their flights.
The launches, which were North Korea’s fourth round of cruise missile tests in 2024, came hours after state media reported that Kim reiterated his focus on strengthening his naval forces as he inspected unspecified naval projects at a shipyard in Nampho on the west coast.
Kim in recent months has emphasized efforts to build a nuclear-armed navy to counter what he portrays as growing external threats posed by the United States, South Korea and Japan, which have stepped up their military cooperation in response to Kim’s nuclear weapons and missile program.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “increasingly concerned by everything we’ve seen in the last few weeks,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. “The secretary-general, for his part will continue to call for a de-escalation, a resumption of the diplomatic dialogue.”
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency did not specify when Kim visited Nampho. It paraphrased Kim as saying that the strengthening of the navy “presents itself as the most important issue in reliably defending the maritime sovereignty of the country and stepping up the war preparations.”
KCNA did not specify the types of warships are being built in Nampho, but said they were related to a five-year military development plan set during a ruling party congress in early 2021. During those meetings, Kim revealed an extensive wish list of advanced military assets, which included nuclear-powered submarines and nuclear missiles that can be launched from underwater.
During the inspection, Kim was briefed on the progress of his naval projects and remaining technological challenges and ordered workers to “unconditionally” complete the efforts within the timeframe of the plan that runs through 2025, KCNA said.
Kim Inae, a spokesperson for South Korea’s Unification Ministry, said it was the first time the ministry was aware of that state media reported on Kim Jong Un conducting a military inspection in Nampho. That could suggest an expansion of naval projects from the country’s eastern shipyard of Sinpo, which has been the North’s base for submarine construction. Kim didn’t provide a specific answer when asked whether Seoul believes the North is using Nampho for its efforts to build nuclear-powered submarines.
“By making military threats routine, North Korea is trying to create a sense of insecurity among South Korean people to undermine trust in their government and to attract international attention to build an atmosphere in which its demands must be accepted to resolve the crisis on the Korean Peninsula,” she said.
South Korea’s army said its special operation troops wrapped up a 10-day training with U.S. Green Berets on Friday in a region near the country’s capital, Seoul, in the allies’ latest combined military exercises. The countries in past months had staged larger drills, including trilateral exercises involving Japan.
Kim Jong Un also called for naval might on Sunday while inspecting a test of a new nuclear-capable cruise missile, the Pulhwasal-3-31, designed to be fired from submarines. The North also last month conducted tests of a long-range cruise missile, which it has described as nuclear-capable and can cover ranges of up to 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles), which would potentially put U.S. military bases in Japan within reach.
While North Korea has demonstrated quick progress in expanding its lineup of land-based nuclear-capable missiles, experts say Kim’s naval ambitions may require significant more time, resources and technology breakthroughs. Most of its aging, diesel-powered submarines can launch only torpedoes and mines, and experts say Kim’s stated pursuit of nuclear-propelled submarines is largely unfeasible without significant external assistance.
North Korean military scientists and engineers in recent months have been making progress on Kim’s 2021 list of goals, testing for the first time last year a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile, named Hwasong-18, which added to the North’s arsenal of weapons targeting the U.S. mainland.
The North on Jan. 14 also tested a new solid-fuel intermediate-range missile, which underscored its efforts to advance its weapons that could target U.S. assets in the Pacific, including the military hub of Guam.
The North also plans to launch three more military spy satellites in 2024 after sending its first one into orbit in November, as Kim has described space-based reconnaissance as crucial for monitoring U.S. and South Korean military activities and enhancing the threat of his nuclear-capable missiles.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are at their highest point in years, after Kim accelerated his weapons development to an unprecedented pace while issuing provocative nuclear threats against the United States, South Korea and Japan. The United States and its Asian allies in response have strengthened their combined military exercises and updated their deterrence strategies.
There are concerns that Kim, emboldened by the steady advancement of his nuclear arsenal and strengthened ties with Russia, would further ramp up pressure against his rivals in an election year in the United States and South Korea. Experts say Kim’s long-term goal is to force the United States to accept the idea of the North as a nuclear power and negotiate security concessions and sanctions relief from a position of strength.
While most analysts downplay Kim’s threats of war, some say there’s a possibility that he can attempt a direct military provocation he can likely contain without letting it escalate into a full-blown conflict. One of the potential crisis points is the disputed western sea boundary between the Koreas, which had been the site of several bloody naval skirmishes in past years.
The ruling-party candidate strongly opposed by China wins Taiwan's presidential election
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s incoming president is promising more of the same. The question is what that will bring, not only for Taiwan but also for its relations with China, the United States and others with an interest in the island of 23 million people that supplies many of the advanced semiconductors that keep the world running.
Lai Ching-te, the winner of Saturday’s presidential race, has pledged to continue the policies of his predecessor Tsai Ing-wen, who built up the military and strengthened ties with the United States and other sympathetic countries. He has also pledged to do a better job of addressing domestic issues such as affordable housing and economic inequality.
The new administration will have to manage relations with China, the island’s would-be ruler across the Taiwan Strait; with the United States; and with a divided legislature, as it tackles economic and other challenges at home.
CROSS-STRAIT RELATIONS
The candidate that China demonized during the campaign — a Chinese spokesperson called Lai a “destroyer of peace” — won. So what does China do now?
Analysts expect some kind of show of displeasure but say the strongest signal may not come until May, when Lai takes office. It could be military exercises around the island, restrictions on imports from Taiwan, or both.
China has done both in the past, notably holding major drills following the 2022 visit to the island of then U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. It sends fighter jets and warships into the skies and waters around Taiwan on almost a daily basis, a constant reminder of the threat of invasion if the government refuses to become part of China.
China’s stated preference is what it calls “peaceful reunification.” That outcome appears increasingly unlikely as Taiwanese reject the idea of becoming part of China, particularly after the curbs on democracy and freedoms that China imposed following massive protests in Hong Kong.
A former U.S. government official said that China’s urge to punish Taiwan will be blunted by two considerations.
“One is that Beijing wants to restrain President-elect Lai, not provoke him,” Danny Russel, who was assistant secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific in the Obama administration, said in a commentary.
“The other factor is Beijing’s reluctance to provoke Washington just as the U.S. heads into the turbulent campaign season,” said Russel, now vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute. “Xi Jinping has invested considerable effort and credibility in tamping down tensions with the West, both to lower China’s profile in an American election year and to buy space to deal with myriad problems at home.”
U.S. RELATIONS AND DIPLOMACY
President Joe Biden has sent an unofficial delegation comprised of former senior officials to Taiwan for face-to-face talks with the incoming administration, signaling continued support.
Analysts expect Lai’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), with eight consecutive years of working relations with Washington, to build upon the existing friendship to deepen relations, including on trade, investment and the military.
“The personnel on both sides know each other, these are familiar faces” says Wen-Ti Sung, a fellow with the Washington-based Atlantic Council. “A continuation of the DPP into a third term will mean that the warming-up of U.S.-Taiwan ties that we saw in the last eight years will likely continue apace under the next Lai Ching-te administration.”
While the U.S. does not have official diplomatic ties with Taiwan, it is the island’s chief source of military hardware and cooperation. U.S. law requires Washington to treat all threats to the island as matters of “grave concern.”
Lai is likely to continue to seek partners and unofficial diplomatic ties around the world despite Beijing’s efforts to isolate Taiwan.
During Tsai’s eight-year tenure, Taiwan lost 10 formal diplomatic allies to China’s sway in what some call “checkbook diplomacy.” In the latest sign of China’s pressure and influence in the Pacific Island region, Nauru on Monday said it is switching diplomatic ties from Taiwan to China. This follows Solomon Islands and Kiribati, which both switched sides in 2019.
China and Taiwan have been locked in a battle for diplomatic recognition since they split amid civil war in 1949, with Beijing spending billions — and increasing firepower — to win recognition for its “one-China” policy.
In the election campaign, Lai called for reducing reliance on China and diversifying trade with other nations. Analysts say Taiwan will likely focus on building closer ties with the U.S., Europe, Japan and Australia, among others.
DOMESTIC POLITICS
The Democratic Progressive Party party lost its majority in Taiwan’s parliament, known as the legislative Yuan, in Saturday’s election by one seat, to the opposition Kuomintang, or Nationalist Party. The DPP won 51 seats, down from the overwhelming support the party had in the 2020 elections with more than 60 seats, a comfortable majority in the 113-seated parliament.
Neither holds a majority, giving the Taiwan People’s Party — a relatively new force that won eight of the 113 seats — a possible swing vote on legislation.
“That’s going to lead to a lot more, higher transactional costs in terms of deal-making to get a lot of legislative bills through with the opposition parties,” said Sung at the Atlantic Council. “That may create some potential challenges in terms of efficiency of governance going forward.”
The incoming government is faced with a host of domestic issues, including a slowed economy since the pandemic, and longer term challenges such as inequality, housing affordability and unemployment. Among the urgent issues Lai mentioned during his victory speech include the financial sustainability of Taiwan’s labor and health insurance and energy transition.
The two major parties differ on their approach to spurring economic growth, with the Nationalists supporting closer economic ties with China. Lai pledged to build consensus during his post-election news conference, acknowledging the loss of his party’s hold on parliament.
“The elections have told us that the people expect an effective government as well as strong checks and balances,” he said.
Death toll reaches 100 as survivors are found in homes smashed by western Japan earthquakes
WAJIMA, Japan (AP) — The death toll from a major earthquake in western Japan reached 100 Saturday, as rescue workers fought aftershocks to carefully pull people from the rubble.
Deaths had reached 98 earlier in the day, but two more deaths were reported in Anamizu, while officials in Ishikawa prefecture, the hardest-hit region, held their daily meeting to discuss strategy and damages.
Some survivors who had clung to life for days were freed from collapsed homes. A man was pulled out 72 hours after a series of powerful quakes started rattling Japan’s western coast.
The number of missing was lowered to 211 as of Saturday, after it shot up two days ago.
An older man was found alive Wednesday in a collapsed home in Suzu, one of the hardest-hit cities in Ishikawa Prefecture. His daughter called out, “Dad, dad,” as a flock of firefighters got him out on a stretcher, praising him for holding on for so long after Monday’s 7.6 magnitude earthquake.
Others were forced to wait while rescuers searched for loved ones.
Ishikawa officials said 59 of those who died were in the city of Wajima and 23 were in Suzu, while the others were reported in five neighboring towns. More than 500 people have been injured, at least 27 seriously.
The Earthquake Research Institute at the University of Tokyo found that the sandy coastline in western Japan shifted by up to 250 meters (820 feet) seaward in some places.
The earthquakes set off a large fire in the town of Wajima, as well as tsunamis and landslides in the region. With some routes cut off by the destruction, worries grew about communities in which water, food, blankets and medicine had yet to arrive.
The United States announced $100,000 in aid Friday, including blankets, water and medical supplies, and promised more help would come. Dodgers major leaguer Shohei Ohtani also announced aid for the Noto area, though he did not disclose the amount.
Thousands of Japanese troops have joined the effort to reach the hardest-hit spots on the Noto Peninsula, the center of the quake, connected by a narrow land strip to the rest of the main island of Honshu.
Experts warned of disease and even death at the evacuation centers that now house about 34,000 people who lost their homes, many of them older.
Masashi Tomari, a 67-year-old oyster farmer who lives in Anamizu city in Ishikawa, said it was tough sleeping on the floor with just one blanket. There was no heating until two stoves finally arrived Thursday — three days after the 7.6 quake struck.
“This is a terrible, cold place,” he said.
Tomari felt at a loss thinking about his home, where broken glass and knocked over items littered the floor. It was pitch dark at night because the area was still out of power.
But Tomari and others were already thinking about rebuilding.
Sachiko Kato, who owns a clothing shop in Anamizu, put up a yellow notice as a warning inside her store where the walls have tipped slanted, and a red one for the shed in the back that was completely flattened.
“So many stores were on this street. Now, they’re all gone. Maybe we can work hard to rebuild,” she said.
As of Friday, running water was not fully restored in Anamizu. Kato had to get water from a nearby river to flush the toilet.
Dozens of aftershocks have rattled Ishikawa and the neighboring region in the past week. Japan, with its crisscrossing fault lines, is an extremely quake-prone nation. Weather forecasts called for rain and snow over the weekend, and experts warned of more aftershocks.
The region affected by the latest quakes is famous for its craftwork, including lacquerware, knives, ceramics, candles and kimono fabric.
Tsutomu Ishikawa, who oversees a resin company called Aras that makes fashionable plates and cups, said no lives were lost around him, but the atelier was seriously damaged.
He apologized for delayed deliveries and expressed determination to pick up and rebuild, while acknowledging the challenges. “We are feeling a deep helplessness that works we created with so much love are gone.”
Sachiko Takagi, who owns a kimono shop on a street lined with picturesque stores in Wajima, said she was lucky her 80-year-old store — inherited over generations — was still standing. Others were not so lucky.
“These people do not have the energy to start something from scratch,” she said. “I really wonder what will happen to this street.”
___
Kageyama reported from Tokyo. Haruka Nuga in Bangkok contributed.
Investigators focus on air traffic communication after a fatal Tokyo runway crash
TOKYO (AP) — A transcript of communication between traffic control and two aircraft that collided and burst into flames at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport showed that only the larger Japan Airlines passenger flight was given permission to use the runway where a coast guard plane was preparing for takeoff.
An orange fireball erupted from both aircraft on Tuesday evening as the JAL flight 516 continued down the runway covered in flames and spewing gray smoke. Within 20 minutes, all 379 passengers and crew members slid down emergency chutes and survived. The pilot of the coast guard plane — a Bombardier Dash-8 — evacuated with injuries but five crew members were killed.
The Transport Ministry on Wednesday released a transcript of air traffic control communication of about 4 minutes and 25 seconds just before the crash. It showed no clear takeoff approval was given to the coast guard plane. According to the text, the Tokyo air control gave the JAL Airbus A350 permission to land on Runway C, noting that there is a departing plane, with the JAL pilot repeating the instruction.
The coast guard plane said it was taxiing to the same runway, and the traffic control instructs it to proceed to the stop line ahead of the runway. The controller noted the coast guard gets the departure priority, and the pilot said he was moving to the stop line.
Their communication in the script ends there. Two minutes later, there was a three-second pause, apparently indicating the time of the collision.
Police began a separate probe into possible professional negligence. Tokyo police said that investigators examined the debris on the runway and were conducting interviews. They said 17 JAL passengers were slightly injured.
The JAL plane had flown from Shin Chitose airport near the northern city of Sapporo, and the coast guard Bombardier was preparing to depart for Niigata to deliver relief supplies to the central regions hit by powerful earthquakes on Monday that killed more than 60 people.
On Wednesday, six experts from the Japan Transport Safety Board examined what remained of the aircraft, the board said. TV footage showed the severely damaged A350’s wings among the charred, broken parts of fuselage. The smaller coast guard plane resembled a mound of rubble. Board investigator Takuya Fujiwara said his team recovered flight data and voice recorders from the Bombardier for analysis.
Investigators plan to interview the pilots, officials as well as air traffic control officials to find out how the two planes simultaneously ended up on the runway, JTSB said.
The two sides had different understandings of their permission to use the runway.
JAL Managing Executive Officer Tadayuki Tsutsumi told a news conference late Tuesday that the A350 was making a “normal entry and landing” on the runway and that the pilot said he did not recognize the Bombardier. Another JAL executive, Noriyuki Aoki, said the flight had received permission to land.
Air traffic officials gave the JAL airliner permission to land while telling the coast guard pilot to wait before entering the runway, the Transport Ministry transcript showed. But according to an NHK television report, the coast guard pilot said he was given permission to take off. The coast guard said officials were verifying that claim.
All passengers and crew members left their baggage and slid down the escape chutes within 20 minutes of the landing as smoke filled the cabin of the burning aircraft — an outcome praised by aviation experts. Videos posted by passengers showed people covering their mouths with handkerchiefs as they ducked down and moved toward the exits. Some passengers told news media they felt safe only after reaching a grassy area beyond the tarmac.
“The entire cabin was filled with smoke within a few minutes. We threw ourselves down on the floor. Then the emergency doors were opened and we threw ourselves at them,” Swedish passenger Anton Deibe, 17, told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet. “The smoke in the cabin stung like hell.”
Even after safely evacuating the aircraft, passengers on the tarmac were struck with new horror as flames engulfed the plane and one of the jet engines whirred to life as if it was about to take off, William Manzione, who was on the flight, said. The crew shouted for them to run away from the plane.
“The feeling was this is about to explode,” Manzione told Sky News. “That was the biggest moment of fear for me and the other passengers.”
The fire is likely to be seen as a key test case for airplane fuselages made from carbon-composite fibers — featured on the A350 and the Boeing 787 — instead of conventional aluminum skins.
“This is the most catastrophic composite-airplane fire that I can think of. On the other hand, that fuselage protected (passengers) from a really horrific fire — it did not burn through for some period of time and let everybody get out,” safety consultant John Cox said.
Haneda’s three other runways reopened late Tuesday, but about 140 flights had been canceled Wednesday alone due to the closure of the runway, transport officials said. The airport was packed Wednesday as many holidaymakers wrapped up their New Year travel, including those who who survived the fire and spent the night at the airport or at nearby hotels, trying to change their flights.
Haneda is the busier of the two major airports serving the Japanese capital, with many international flights, and is favored by business travelers due to its proximity to central parts of the city.
Tuesday’s accident was the first severe damage to an Airbus A350, among the industry’s newest large passenger planes. It entered commercial service in 2015. Airbus said in a statement it was sending specialists to help Japanese and French officials investigating the accident, and that the plane was delivered to Japan Airlines in late 2021.
JAL operates 16 of the A350-900 version aircraft, according to its website. The twin-engine, twin-aisle A350 is used by a number of long-haul international carriers. More than 570 of the aircraft are in operation, according to Airbus.
___
Yamaguchi reported from Kyoto, Japan. Associated Press writers Brian Melley in London, Adam Schreck in Osaka, Japan, Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, and David Koenig in Dallas contributed to this report.
South Korean opposition leader is stabbed in the neck. Police say attacker approached for autograph
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s tough-speaking liberal opposition leader, Lee Jae-myung, was stabbed in the neck Tuesday by an unidentified knife-wielding man who attempted to kill the politician during his visit to the southeastern city of Busan, police said.
Lee, 59, the head of the main opposition Democratic Party, was airlifted to a Seoul hospital after receiving emergency treatment in Busan. Lee’s party later said he was recovering at an intensive care unit at the Seoul National University Hospital following a two-hour operation.
The attack happened as Lee walked through a crowd of journalists and others after a tour of the proposed site of a new airport in Busan. The attacker approached Lee, saying he wanted his autograph, then stabbed him in the left side of his neck, senior Busan police officer Sohn Jae-han said in a briefing.
Sohn said Democratic Party officials quickly subdued the attacker before police officers detained him. He said 41 police officers had been deployed to the area for crowd control and traffic management.
TV footage showed Lee, his eyes closed, lying on the ground as a person pressed a handkerchief to his neck. A witness, Jin Jeong-hwa, told YTN television that Lee had bled a lot.
Videos circulated on social media showed the suspect, wearing a paper crown reading “I’m Lee Jae-myung,” in a possible attempt to pose as a supporter.
Sohn said the suspect, aged about 67, told investigators that he bought the 18-centimeter (7-inch) knife online. He said police are investigating the motive for the attack.
Other officers confirmed to The Associated Press that police are expected to request that the suspect be formally arrested for alleged attempted murder because he told investigators he intended to kill Lee.
Lee’s Democratic Party called the incident “a terrorist attack on Lee and a serious threat to democracy.” It called on police to make a thorough, swift investigation.
At the Seoul National University Hospital, party spokesperson Kwon Chil-seung told reporters that Lee’s jugular vein was damaged and that he had a medical procedure called revascularization. Kwon cited the hospital, whose public affairs office refused to disclose Lee’s status, citing privacy rules.
Police and emergency officials earlier said Lee was conscious after the attack and wasn’t in critical condition.
President Yoon Suk Yeol expressed deep concern about Lee’s health and ordered authorities to investigate the attack, saying such violence would not be tolerated, according to Yoon’s office.
Lee lost the 2022 presidential election to Yoon by 0.7 percentage points, the narrowest margin recorded in a South Korean presidential election.
Recent public surveys indicated Lee and his main conservative rival Han Dong-hoon, a former justice minister, are the two early favorites to succeed Yoon as president when his single five-year term ends in 2027.
Since his defeat, Lee has been a harsh critic of Yoon’s major policies. Last year, Lee held a 24-day hunger strike to protest what he called Yoon’s failure to oppose Japan’s release of treated radioactive wastewater from its crippled Fukushima nuclear power, his handling of the country’s post-pandemic economy and his hard-line policies on North Korea.
Lee faces an array of corruption allegations, including that he provided unlawful favors to a private investor who reaped huge profits from a dubious housing project in the city of Seongnam, where Lee was mayor for a decade until 2018. Lee has denied legal wrongdoing and accused Yoon’s government of pursuing a political vendetta.
Last September, a South Korean court denied an arrest warrant for Lee over the allegations, but Lee faces a continuing investigation by prosecutors. The court hearing was arranged after the opposition-controlled parliament voted to lift Lee’s immunity to arrest, a move that reflected growing divisions within his Democratic Party over his legal troubles.
Lee, who also served as governor of Gyeonggi province, which surrounds Seoul, is known for his outspoken style. His supporters see him as an anti-elitist hero who could reform establishment politics, eradicate corruption and solve growing economic inequality. Critics view him as a populist who relies on stoking divisions and demonizing his conservative opponents.
Other violence against high-profile figures has occurred in South Korea in recent years.
In March 2022, Song Young-gil, then the leader of the Democratic Party, was assaulted by a man wielding a hammer during a rally for Lee ahead of the presidential vote. Song was treated for stitches but avoided serious injury.
In 2015, then-U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Mark Lippert was slashed in the face and arm by an anti-American activist. The assault required 80 stitches to close the cut on Lippert’s face.
In 2006, Park Geun-hye, then a conservative opposition leader, was knifed by a man with a box cutter during an election rally. She was given 60 stitches to close an 11-centimeter (4-inch) gash on her face. Park was elected president in 2012.
Rescuers race against time in search for survivors in Japan after powerful quakes leave 73 dead
SUZU, Japan (AP) — Japanese rescuers searched urgently through rubble for survivors Wednesday ahead of predicted bitter cold and heavy rain in what the prime minister called a race against time after powerful earthquakes killed at least 73 people in western Japan.
Fifteen people were listed as officially missing and possibly trapped under collapsed buildings.
Ishikawa prefecture and nearby areas were shaken by more aftershocks on Wednesday, adding to the dozens that followed Monday’s magnitude 7.6 temblor centered near Noto, about 300 kilometers (185 miles) from Tokyo on the opposite coast. The quake set off tsunami warnings, followed by waves measuring more than 1 meter (3 feet) in some places.
The first 72 hours are especially critical for teams of rescuers and canine units searching for survivors, experts say, because the prospects for survival greatly diminish after that.
“More than 40 hours have passed. This is a race against time, and I feel that we are at a critical moment,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters. “We have received reports many people are still waiting for rescue under collapsed buildings.”
The narrow Noto Peninsula has added to the challenges in reaching some communities. Water, power and cellphone service were still down in some areas.
Naomi Gonno says she and her children got out of their house just as it came crashing down.
But her children were screaming “Granma,” and Gonno saw that her mother was trapped under the smashed house, with only her hand visible. She was able to squeeze her way out through a tiny space, Gonno said.
“I can’t believe we’re still alive,” she said. “We are living in fear.”
Relief officials handed out water, blankets, food and other supplies. Search dogs joined military personnel and firefighters trying to find missing people, although the exact number is unclear.
Weather forecasts warned of heavy rain in Ishikawa, leading to worries about landslides and further damage to half-crumbled homes. Temperatures were expected to drop to around 4 degrees Celsius (39 degrees Fahrenheit) overnight.
Of the deaths, 39 were counted in Wajima city, while 23 people died in Suzu, according to Ishikawa prefectural authorities. The other deaths were reported in five neighboring towns.
More than 300 people have been injured, at least 25 of them seriously.
Ishikawa Gov. Hiroshi Hase encouraged everyone to use masks, antiseptic and soap to guard against the spread of infectious diseases as evacuees shelter together. Ensuring adequate water supplies and toilets for those who were displaced is a priority, he said.
Nearly 33,000 people are staying at evacuation centers, and some said they were hungry and cold, unable to sleep and afraid.
When Monday’s quake hit, Yasuo Kobatake ran out of his house with just one sock on. The shaking threw him to the ground, and a concrete wall came crashing down, barely missing him, he said.
He was eating only rice balls and a few sips of water in paper cups at the elementary school where he and others have been sheltering. They slept on cushions, with no blankets.
“It was so cold. I thought I’d freeze to death,” he said.
In the aftermath of the quakes and tsunami, boats lay overturned in the sea, roads were blocked by mounds of dirt, and pillars and walls lay scattered from flattened homes. A large fire turned an entire section of Wajima city into ashes.
Officials warned that more major quakes could follow.
Japan is prone to earthquakes, with many fault lines and volcanoes. A massive quake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in 2011 caused widespread damage in northeastern Japan.
No major problems were reported at nuclear plants after Monday’s quake. The Shika nuclear plant in Ishikawa suffered a partial electricity failure, but backup power kicked in, ensuring the critical cooling process continued.
Japan is an organized, conformist and relatively crime-free society where warnings are systematically relayed as a public service. Disaster experts say that’s helping save lives.
Takako Izumi, a disaster science professor at Tohoku University, said time is needed to figure out logistics because roads are often blocked after an earthquake, and large trucks can’t get through to deliver aid.
If land routes aren’t accessible, aid may have to be dropped from the sky or brought in by boat. The winter cold adds to health risks, and some people may still have not reached an evacuation center, she added.
“We need to accurately assess the damage first. And then a proper response can come, and what’s needed can reach the right places,” Izumi said.
___
Kageyama reported from Tokyo. Haruka Nuga in Bangkok contributed.
North Korea's new reactor at nuclear site likely to be formally operational next summer, Seoul says
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A light-water reactor at North Korea’s main nuclear complex will likely be formally operational by next summer, South Korea’s defense minister said, amid suspicions that the North may use it as a new source of fissile materials for nuclear weapons.
Concerns about North Korea’s nuclear program deepened recently as the U.N. atomic agency and foreign experts said they’ve detected signs indicating that North Korea had begun operating its light-water reactor at the Yongbyon nuclear complex.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said last week that his agency had observed increased levels of activity at and near the reactor and since mid-October, a strong water outflow from its cooling system. He said the reactor is “a cause for concern” because it can produce plutonium — one of the two key ingredients used to manufacture nuclear weapons, along with highly enriched uranium.
The South Korean Defense Ministry said Friday that Defense Minister Shin Wonsik told local reporters the day before that his country had also spotted similar cooling system-related activities associated with the reactor last summer.
Shin said the reactor appears to be in the stage of a trial operation and that it’s expected to be officially operational around next summer.
North Korea has long produced weapons-grade plutonium from its widely known 5-megawatt reactor at Yongbyon. The light-water reactor would be an additional source of bomb fuels, and observers say its bigger capacity could allow it to produce more plutonium. Yongbyon has a uranium enrichment facility as well.
There are questions about the reactor’s reported operation, as light-water reactors are best-suited for electricity generation. Shin noted there has been no country that has used light-water reactors to produce weapons-grade plutonium. However, many observers say North Korea could adapt one at Yongbyon to produce weapons-grade plutonium.
“(North Korea)’s commissioning of a new light water nuclear power plant raises serious concerns, including safety,” the U.S. Mission to the U.N. in Vienna said Saturday in a message posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “(North Korea’s) unlawful nuclear & ballistic missile programs continue to pose a grave threat to international peace & security.”
Grossi also noted the North’s operation of the light-water reactor violates U.N. Security Council resolutions.
The IAEA and foreign governments rely on satellite imagery and other methods to monitor activities at Yongyon and other suspected nuclear facilities in North Korea. The North kicked out IAEA inspectors from the country in 2009.
Outside estimates on the size of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal vary, ranging from 20-60 to more than 100. Experts say North Korea can add six to 18 bombs each year. Since his diplomacy with the U.S. collapsed in 2019, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has repeatedly vowed to build more nuclear weapons and introduce high-tech weapons to cope with what he calls intensifying U.S. hostility.
Foreign experts say Kim would ultimately hope to use his expanded nuclear arsenal to win sanctions relief from the U.S. when diplomacy resumes. In response to the North’s latest intercontinental ballistic missile test last week, the U.S., South Korea and Japan urged other countries to fully implement U.N. Security Council resolutions that have imposed punishing sanctions on the North for its past banned weapons tests.
‘Pray for us’: Eyewitnesses reveal first clues about a missing boat with up to 200 Rohingya refugees
PIDIE, Indonesia (AP) — The screams were heard soon after the ailing boat emerged into view. On board were babies and children, alongside mothers and fathers begging to be saved.
The passengers were ethnic Rohingya Muslims who had fled surging gang violence and rampant hunger in the refugee camps of Bangladesh, only to find themselves adrift with a broken engine on the Andaman Sea. For a moment, it appeared their salvation had arrived in the form of another boat carrying Rohingya refugees that had pulled up alongside them.
But those on board the other boat — itself overloaded and beginning to leak — knew if they allowed the distressed passengers onto their vessel, it would sink and all would die.
They wanted to help, but they also wanted to live.
Since November, more than 1,500 Rohingya refugees fleeing Bangladesh by boat have landed in Indonesia’s northern province of Aceh — three-quarters of them women and children. On Thursday, Indonesian authorities spotted another five boats approaching Aceh’s coast.
With so many Rohingya attempting the crossing in recent weeks, nobody knows how many boats did not make it, and how many people died.
This account of two boats was told to The Associated Press by five survivors from the vessel that made it ashore. It provides the first clues into the fate of the boat carrying up to 200 Rohingya refugees that vanished weeks ago.
On Dec. 2, the United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR, put out an urgent message about the two distressed boats and urged countries to look for them.
But in the case of the boat that remains missing, it appears no one searched.
From a beach near where they staggered ashore on Dec. 10, the survivors told the AP of their harrowing journey.
“I remember feeling that together, we would be finished. Together, we would sink. Together, we would drown,” says 31-year-old Muhammed Jubair, who was among the 180 people on his boat to be rescued, along with his three children, wife and brother-in-law.
The story of the missing boat and its passengers begins the way most Rohingya boat journeys do — with tearful goodbyes in sweltering shelters in the camps of Bangladesh, where more than 750,000 Rohingya fled in 2017 following attacks by the military in their homeland of Myanmar.
In one of those shelters, Noor Fatima clutched her 14-year-old brother, Muhammed Ansar, as he began to cry.
The family hoped Ansar would get a job in Indonesia that could help support them. There were few alternatives: Bangladesh bans camp residents from working, so their survival depends on food rations, which were slashed this year.
It was Nov. 20, and Ansar would be making the trip with several relatives, including his 20-year-old cousin, Samira Khatun, and her 3-year-old son. As her brother left, Fatima told herself other boats had made it safely to Indonesia. Surely his would, too.
The next day, Samira called Fatima’s family, telling them they were aboard the boat. “We are on our way,” she said. “Pray for us.”
Meanwhile, the boat Jubair and his family were on was chugging across the sea.
Days into its journey, the passengers on Jubair’s boat spotted Ansar and Samira’s boat; its engine was broken and water was seeping in.
Those on Jubair’s boat worried if they got too close, the people on the ailing vessel would jump onto their boat, sinking them all, says one of Jubair’s fellow passengers, Rujinah, who goes by one name and was on board with five of her children.
As Jubair’s boat drew nearer, between 20 and 30 people began preparing to make the jump, says Zakir Hussain, another passenger.
The captain of Jubair’s boat shouted at those on the distressed vessel to stay put. Then he asked for a rope so he could tie the boats together, and tow their boat behind his.
Once tethered, the boats began moving through the water. Then, two or three nights later, a storm erupted. Pounding waves destroyed the engine on Jubair’s vessel.
It was then, the passengers on Jubair’s boat say, that the ropes between the two vessels were severed.
Jubair could hear the passengers on the other boat pleading for their lives.
“They were crying and shouting loudly, ‘Our ropes are broken! Our ropes are broken! Please help us!’ But how could we help?” Jubair says. “We would die with them.”
The other boat vanished from view.
For days, Jubair and his fellow passengers languished at sea, their food and water gone. Eventually, a plane spotted them, and a Navy ship arrived, delivering supplies. The vessel towed them into Indonesian waters and then left when their boat was close to land.
That’s when their captain and another crew member fled the vessel on a fishing boat, Jubair says. The abandoned passengers guided their battered boat to shore.
Though they have no idea what their future holds, at least they are alive. They hope the passengers on the other boat are, too.
“I feel very sad for them because we were in the same situation, and now we are safe,” says Hussain. “We are just praying for that boat to find land and for the passengers to stay alive.”
Ann Maymann, the UNHCR’s representative in Indonesia, urged regional governments to launch a search.
“Here you have hundreds of people that are obviously distressed at the best and, at the worst, they are not even distressed any longer,” Maymann told the AP. “Those nations in this region have fully capable and resourced search and rescue capacities.”
The governments of regional countries that the AP reached out to either did not respond to requests for comment or said they were unaware of the boat.
Meanwhile, a familiar feeling of dread has crept into Bangladesh’s camps, which last year mourned the loss of another boat carrying 180 people that an AP investigation concluded had sunk.
Fatima struggles to sleep as she waits for news of Ansar, her brother. One way or another, she says, they just want answers.
One night, she says, Ansar came to their mother in a dream and told her he was on an island.
The family believes he is alive, somewhere.
How Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea are affecting global trade
LONDON (AP) — The attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Houthi rebels have rerouted a majority of global trade away from the crucial maritime artery for consumer goods and energy supplies, a shift expected to trigger delays and rising prices.
Oil, natural gas, grain and everything from toys to electronics typically travel through the waterway separating Africa and the Arabian Peninsula en route to the Suez Canal, where 12% of the world’s trade passes.
Some of the world’s largest container shipping companies and oil giant BP are sending vessels on longer journeys that bypass the Red Sea. In response to the growing impact to global trade, the U.S. and a host of other nations have created a new force to protect ships.
Here are things to know about the recent attacks and the impact on global shipping:
WHY ARE HOUTHIS ATTACKING SHIPS?
The Houthis are Iranian-backed rebels who seized Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, in 2014, launching a grinding war against a Saudi-led coalition seeking to restore the government.
The Houthis have sporadically targeted ships in the region, but the attacks have increased since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. They have used drones and anti-ship missiles to attack vessels and in one case used a helicopter to board and seize an Israeli-owned ship and its crew.
They have threatened to attack any vessel they believe is either going to or coming from Israel. That’s now escalated to apparently any vessel, with container ships and oil tankers flagged to countries like Norway and Liberia being attacked or drawing missile fire.
The Houthis also have hailed vessels by radio to try to convince them to change course closer to the territory they control.
WHY IS THE RED SEA IMPORTANT?
The Red Sea has the Suez Canal at its northern end and the narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern end leading into the Gulf of Aden. It’s a busy waterway with ships traversing the Suez Canal to bring goods between Asia and Europe and beyond.
In fact, 40% of Asia-Europe trade normally goes through the area, including a huge amount of energy supplies like oil and diesel fuel for import-dependent Europe, said John Stawpert, senior manager of environment and trade for the International Chamber of Shipping, which represents 80% of the world’s commercial fleet.
So do food products like palm oil and grain and anything else brought over on container ships, which is most of the world’s manufactured products.
In all, about 30% of global container traffic and more than 1 million barrels of crude oil per day typically head through the Suez Canal, according to global freight booking platform Freightos Group.
HOW ARE HOUTHI ATTACKS AFFECTING TRADE?
Huge shipping container companies MSC, Maersk, CMA CGM Group and Hapag-Lloyd, among others, are avoiding the Red Sea and sending their ships around Africa and the Cape of Good Hope. That adds what analysts say could be a week to two weeks to voyages.
Shippers amounting to 62% of global capacity are opting for the longer route, according to Freightos. That’s lead the number of vessels moving through the Red Sea to drop by more than 40% in a week, said Project44, a tech company whose platform helps companies track shipments.
London-based BP also that it has “decided to temporarily pause all transits through the Red Sea,” including shipments of oil, liquid natural gas and other energy supplies.
Depending on what companies decide to do, they will have to add more ships to make up the extra time or burn more fuel for the longer journey and if they decide to go faster to meet their itineraries — both of which would release more climate-changing carbon dioxide, said Simon Heaney, senior manager of container research for Drewry, a maritime research consultancy.
“The impact will be longer transit times, more fuel spent, more ships required, potential disruption and delays — at least in the first arrivals in Europe,” he said.
That brings up the cost of shipping, but “I don’t think it’s going to go to the heights that it reached during the pandemic,” Heaney said.
Supply chain disruptions increased as people stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic ramped up orders for all sorts of products, driving up consumer prices worldwide.
Stawpert of the shipping chamber said he would expect to see some price increases for consumers in the short term but that it depends how long the security threat lasts.
Project44 foresees higher gasoline prices because if the conflict drags on, a “major disruption to oil is anticipated” and that would push up the cost of crude. Oil prices already have been rising.
The company also expects products could be missing from store shelves after the busy holiday shopping season, with new shipments taking longer to arrive.
However, “one saving grace may be the timing, as December and early January are typically slow, post-holiday season times for ocean freight,” Judah Levine, head of research for Freightos, said in a blog post.
HOW IS THE WORLD RESPONDING?
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced a security initiative to protect ships in the Red Sea that includes United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain.
Some of those countries will conduct joint patrols while others provide intelligence support in the southern Red Sea and the nearby Gulf of Aden, Austin said. The goal is to provide ships and other assets to help protect trade in the area.
It builds on the existing presence of U.S. and other coalition warships that patrol to keep the waterway open. The Houthis have no formal naval warships to use to impose a cordon, relying on harassing fire and only one helicopter-borne assault so far.
Meanwhile, ships are still moving through the Red Sea, though insurance costs have doubled, which can add hundreds of thousands of dollars to a journey for the most expensive ships, said David Osler, insurance editor for Lloyd’s List Intelligence, which provides analysis for the global maritime industry.
He expects those costs to keep rising.
Colorado Supreme Court bans Trump from the state’s ballot under Constitution’s insurrection clause
DENVER (AP) — The Colorado Supreme Court on Tuesday declared former President Donald Trump ineligible for the White House under the U.S. Constitution’s insurrection clause and removed him from the state’s presidential primary ballot, setting up a likely showdown in the nation’s highest court to decide whether the front-runner for the GOP nomination can remain in the race.
The decision from a court whose justices were all appointed by Democratic governors marks the first time in history that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment has been used to disqualify a presidential candidate.
“A majority of the court holds that Trump is disqualified from holding the office of president under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment,” the court wrote in its 4-3 decision.
Colorado’s highest court overturned a ruling from a district court judge who found that Trump incited an insurrection for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, but said he could not be barred from the ballot because it was unclear that the provision was intended to cover the presidency.
The court stayed its decision until Jan. 4, or until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the case.
“We do not reach these conclusions lightly,” wrote the court’s majority. “We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us. We are likewise mindful of our solemn duty to apply the law, without fear or favor, and without being swayed by public reaction to the decisions that the law mandates we reach.”
Trump’s attorneys had promised to appeal any disqualification immediately to the nation’s highest court, which has the final say about constitutional matters. His campaign said it was working on a response to the ruling.
Trump lost Colorado by 13 percentage points in 2020 and doesn’t need the state to win next year’s presidential election. But the danger for the former president is that more courts and election officials will follow Colorado’s lead and exclude Trump from must-win states.
Colorado officials say the issue must be settled by Jan. 5, the deadline for the state to print its presidential primary ballots.
Dozens of lawsuits have been filed nationally to disqualify Trump under Section 3, which was designed to keep former Confederates from returning to government after the Civil War. It bars from office anyone who swore an oath to “support” the Constitution and then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against it, and has been used only a handful of times since the decade after the Civil War.
The Colorado case is the first where the plaintiffs succeeded. After a weeklong hearing in November, District Judge Sarah B. Wallace found that Trump indeed had “engaged in insurrection” by inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, and her ruling that kept him on the ballot was a fairly technical one.
Trump’s attorneys convinced Wallace that, because the language in Section 3 refers to “officers of the United States” who take an oath to “support” the Constitution, it must not apply to the president, who is not included as an “officer of the United States” elsewhere in the document and whose oath is to “preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution.
The provision also says offices covered include senator, representative, electors of the president and vice president, and all others “under the United States,” but doesn’t name the presidency.
The state’s highest court didn’t agree, siding with attorneys for six Colorado Republican and unaffiliated voters who argued that it was nonsensical to imagine the framers of the amendment, fearful of former Confederates returning to power, would bar them from low-level offices but not the highest one in the land.
“You’d be saying a rebel who took up arms against the government couldn’t be a county sheriff, but could be the president,” attorney Jason Murray said in arguments before the court in early December.
In Israel, the US defense secretary is expected to press for a more targeted approach in Gaza
After France, the U.K. and Germany joined global calls for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is in Tel Aviv Monday, and is also expected to press Israel to wind down its offensive in Gaza.
The 10-week-old war has transformed much of the north of Gaza into a moonscape. Nearly 85% of Gaza’s population have fled their homes.
More than 19,400 Palestinians have been killed since Israel declared war on Hamas, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths. Israel says 116 of its soldiers have died in its ground offensive after Hamas raided southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and taking about 240 hostages.
Currently:
— In Israel’s killing of three hostages, some see the same excessive force directed at Palestinians.
— Israel finds a large tunnel adjacent to the Gaza border, raising questions about prewar intelligence.
— European nations step up calls for a Gaza cease-fire.
— Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
Here’s what’s happening in the war:
US AND ISRAELI SPY CHEIFS MEET WITH QATARI PRIME MINISTER
WASHINGTON — CIA Director William Burns was in Warsaw Monday for talks with the director of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency and Qatar’s prime minister in a renewed push to win the release of more of the hostages held by Hamas and other militant groups, a U.S. official said.
It was the first known meeting among the three since talks broke off shortly after Israel ended a dayslong cease-fire with Hamas at the start of the month.
The U.S. official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive discussions.
In all, 129 hostages are known to remain captive in the Gaza Strip, after a negotiated deal won the release of some others in exchange for an Israeli cease-fire last month. Burns was meeting with Israeli intelligence chief David Barnea and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammad al-Thani.
___
Associated Press writer Ellen Knickmeyer contributed.
HEALTH MINISTRY SAYS MORE THAN 19,400 PALESTINIANS KILLED IN GAZA
The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says 19,453 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in early October.
The announcement by ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra marked the first update since Thursday, when the toll stood at 18,787.
Internet and phone services dropped Thursday evening and were restored gradually on Sunday. It was the longest such blackout since the war began Oct. 7. The lack of connectivity meant the ministry could not compile its daily casualty count.
Al-Qidra said 52,286 Palestinians have been injured in the war, up from 50,897 on Thursday.
GAZA’S SHIFA HOSPITAL IS STRUCK BY ISRAELI FIRE, WITNESSES SAY
Witnesses say an Israeli airstrike has hit Gaza’s largest hospital, killing and wounding several people.
Al Jazeera television aired footage appearing to show the aftermath of the strike on Shifa Hospital, in Gaza City, with several people sprawled lifeless on the ground inside the medical compound, which includes several buildings. Two people sheltering at the hospital confirmed the strike to The Associated Press.
Assad Abu Radwan, who witnessed the strike, counted five dead and said he helped two wounded people take cover inside. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
Shifa was the scene of a prolonged standoff earlier in the war when Israel accused Hamas of concealing a major command center inside and beneath the medical compound, allegations denied by hospital staff and the militant group.
After raiding Shifa last month, Israel revealed what it said was a militant hideout in a tunnel underneath the hospital and other evidence that it said proved Hamas had used the facility.
Fighting outside Shifa had left hundreds of patients and tens of thousands of displaced people stranded for days with little food, water or medical supplies.
Most evacuated the hospital, which had all but stopped functioning, as Israeli forces closed in. But in the weeks since the raid the hospital has become a shelter once again.
The World Health Organization, which is working to restore services at Shifa and was able to visit on Friday, described its emergency department as a “bloodbath.” It said there were hundreds of wounded patients, some being sutured on the floor with little or no pain medicine.
The WHO said tens of thousands of people are sheltering in the medical compound despite severe shortages of food and water.
A COMMERCIAL SHIP IS ATTACKED IN THE RED SEA
A Cayman Islands-flagged tanker has been attacked in a crucial shipping route off Yemen, a U.S. military official said Monday.
The attack that targeted the Swan Atlantic, a chemical and oil products carrier, is the latest in a series of assaults on vessels in the Red Sea and its strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
The attacks have been claimed by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, who say they are targeting vessels linked to Israel in support of Palestinian militants.
The U.S. official said the vessel was attacked by multiple projectiles at about 9 a.m. local time.
The USS Carney, a U.S. warship which provides security to ships in the area, responded to the incident, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the attack.
The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which monitors Mideast shipping lanes, also reported an incident in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, off Yemen’s port of Mocha, and warned vessels in the area to exercise caution.
It reported “a possible explosion in the water” about 2 nautical miles from the vessel.
The Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility for the assault.
RIGHTS WATCHDOG ACCUSES ISRAEL OF DELIBERATELY STARVING CIVILIANS
JERUSALEM — Human Rights Watch is accusing Israel of deliberately starving Gaza’s population, a method of warfare that it described as a war crime.
The New York-based rights organization said Monday that Israeli forces were “deliberately blocking the delivery of water, food, and fuel, while wilfully impeding humanitarian assistance (and) apparently razing agricultural areas”
The United Nations’ food agency reported on Dec. 14 that 56% of Gaza’s households were experiencing “severe levels of hunger,” up from 38% two weeks earlier.
HRW said that following the Oct. 7 attack by Gaza-based militants on Israel that killed around 1,200 people, top Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, made public statements “expressing their aim to deprive civilians in Gaza of food, water and fuel.” Other Israeli officials have made statements conditioning the provision of humanitarian aid on the release of the approximately 240 hostages Palestinian militants took into Gaza, HRW said.
The starving of civilians is a war crime under international humanitarian law. For the first two months of the war, humanitarian aid was delivered to Gaza through a single border crossing from Egypt, severely restricting the amount of food and other supplies that could reach the coastal enclave’s residents. After pressure from the United States, Israel reopened a second border-crossing into Gaza last week. But the amount of aid entering the territory is still less than half of prewar imports, even as needs have soared and fighting hinders delivery in many areas.
The Israeli army’s chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said on Monday that Israel is not restricting the amount of humanitarian aid.
“We know civilians in Gaza are suffering. This is because of Hamas’ strategy and tactics and because Hamas steals the international aid meant for them,” he said.
US DEFENSE OFFICIALS ARRIVE IN ISRAEL FOR TALKS WITH NETANYAHU
TEL AVIV — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. CQ Brown Jr. have arrived in Israel to discuss Israel’s ongoing military operations against Hamas amid a growing political rift between Tel Aviv and Washington over the war.
The two defense leaders have spent decades of their military service focused on the Middle East. They are in Israel to focus on the tactical milestones of its campaign, amid hopes that the long-running military-to-military connections forged between the two allies can discuss the war’s next steps even as the political strain between President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over differences on the bombardment campaign in Gaza grows.
Austin and Brown are expected to meet with Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and the War Cabinet during their visit. They are also expected to address the media following the day-long talks.
Austin, who oversaw the drawdown of forces in Iraq as major combat operations ended there, is also expected to offer guidance on how to shift into a more targeted, lower-intensity military campaign, something the White House is eager to achieve.
Tesla recalls nearly all vehicles sold in US to fix system that monitors drivers using Autopilot
BC-US–Tesla-Autopilot Recall, 6th Ld-Writethru
DETROIT (AP) — Tesla is recalling nearly all vehicles sold in the U.S., more than 2 million, to update software and fix a defective system that’s supposed to ensure drivers are paying attention when using Autopilot.
Documents posted Wednesday by U.S. safety regulators say the update will increase warnings and alerts to drivers and even limit the areas where basic versions of Autopilot can operate.
The recall comes after a two-year investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration into a series of crashes that happened while the Autopilot partially automated driving system was in use. Some were deadly.
The agency says its investigation found Autopilot’s method of making sure that drivers are paying attention can be inadequate and can lead to “foreseeable misuse of the system.”
The added controls and alerts will “further encourage the driver to adhere to their continuous driving responsibility,” the documents said.
But safety experts said while the recall is a good step, it still makes the driver responsible and doesn’t fix the underlying problem that Tesla’s automated systems have trouble spotting and stopping for obstacles in their path.
The recall covers models Y, S, 3 and X produced between Oct. 5, 2012, and Dec. 7 of this year. The update was to be sent to certain affected vehicles on Tuesday, with the rest getting it later.
Shares of Tesla slid more than 3% Wednesday.
Autopilot includes features called Autosteer and Traffic Aware Cruise Control, with Autosteer intended for use on limited access freeways when it’s not operating with a more sophisticated feature called Autosteer on City Streets.
The software update will limit where Autosteer can be used. “If the driver attempts to engage Autosteer when conditions are not met for engagement, the feature will alert the driver it is unavailable through visual and audible alerts, and Autosteer will not engage,” the recall documents said.
Depending on a Tesla’s hardware, the added controls include “increasing prominence” of visual alerts, simplifying how Autosteer is turned on and off, and additional checks on whether Autosteer is being used outside of controlled access roads and when approaching traffic control devices. A driver could be suspended from using Autosteer if they repeatedly fail “to demonstrate continuous and sustained driving responsibility,” the documents say.
According to recall documents, agency investigators met with Tesla starting in October to explain “tentative conclusions” about the fixing the monitoring system. Tesla did not concur with NHTSA’s analysis but agreed to the recall on Dec. 5 in an effort to resolve the investigation.
Auto safety advocates for years have been calling for stronger regulation of the driver monitoring system, which mainly detects whether a driver’s hands are on the steering wheel. They have called for cameras to make sure a driver is paying attention, which are used by other automakers with similar systems.
Philip Koopman, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Carnegie Mellon University who studies autonomous vehicle safety, called the software update a compromise that doesn’t address a lack of night vision cameras to watch drivers’ eyes, as well as Teslas failing to spot and stop for obstacles.
“The compromise is disappointing because it does not fix the problem that the older cars do not have adequate hardware for driver monitoring,” Koopman said.
Koopman and Michael Brooks, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Auto Safety, contend that crashing into emergency vehicles is a safety defect that isn’t addressed. “It’s not digging at the root of what the investigation is looking at,” Brooks said. “It’s not answering the question of why are Teslas on Autopilot not detecting and responding to emergency activity?”
Koopman said NHTSA apparently decided that the software change was the most it could get from the company, “and the benefits of doing this now outweigh the costs of spending another year wrangling with Tesla.”
In its statement Wednesday, NHTSA said the investigation remains open “as we monitor the efficacy of Tesla’s remedies and continue to work with the automaker to ensure the highest level of safety.”
Autopilot can steer, accelerate and brake automatically in its lane, but is a driver-assist system and cannot drive itself despite its name. Independent tests have found that the monitoring system is easy to fool, so much that drivers have been caught while driving drunk or even sitting in the back seat.
In its defect report filed with the safety agency, Tesla said Autopilot’s controls “may not be sufficient to prevent driver misuse.”
A message was left early Wednesday seeking further comment from the Austin, Texas, company.
Tesla says on its website that Autopilot and a more sophisticated Full Self Driving system are meant to help drivers who have to be ready to intervene at all times. Full Self Driving is being tested by Tesla owners on public roads.
In a statement posted Monday on X, formerly Twitter, Tesla said safety is stronger when Autopilot is engaged.
NHTSA has dispatched investigators to 35 Tesla crashes since 2016 in which the agency suspects the vehicles were running on an automated system. At least 17 people have been killed.
The investigations are part of a larger probe by the NHTSA into multiple instances of Teslas using Autopilot crashing into emergency vehicles. NHTSA has become more aggressive in pursuing safety problems with Teslas, including a recall of Full Self Driving software.
In May, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, whose department includes NHTSA, said Tesla shouldn’t be calling the system Autopilot because it can’t drive itself.
The UN secretary-general invoked 'Article 99' to push for a Gaza cease-fire. What exactly is it?
It’s called “Article 99.” And it hasn’t been used for decades. Until this week.
With an intensifying Israeli offensive and escalating civilian casualties, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres invoked a rarely exercised power this week to warn the Security Council of an impending “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza. He urged members to demand an immediate humanitarian cease-fire.
Guterres invoked Article 99 of the U.N. Charter — last used over half a century ago — which says the secretary-general may inform the council of matters he believes threaten international peace and security.
Here, Edith M. Lederer, longtime chief U.N. correspondent for The Associated Press, breaks down what this could mean.
WHAT IS ARTICLE 99 AND WHY IS GUTERRES INVOKING IT?
It’s a provision of the United Nations Charter, the U.N. constitution. It states that the secretary-general — the U.N.’s top diplomat — may bring to the attention of the Security Council “any matter which, in his opinion, may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security.”
This gives an important additional power to the secretary-general, since the real power at the U.N. is held by its 193 member nations and especially the 15 countries that serve on the Security Council.
Article 99 is extremely rarely used. The last time it was invoked was during fighting in 1971 that led to the creation of Bangladesh and its separation from Pakistan.
Guterres invoked Article 99 because he sees the situation in Gaza at risk of a “complete collapse” of the territory’s humanitarian system and civil order. It was something he felt needed to be done.
HOW LIKELY IS THIS TO HAVE AN EFFECT, GIVEN THE U.S. VETO POWER?
Arab and Islamic nations followed up on Guterres’s letter immediately.
The United Arab Emirates, the Arab representative on the Security Council, circulated a short resolution to Security Council members late Wednesday calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. They plan to put that resolution to a vote at a Security Council meeting on Friday morning.
The United States, which is Israel’s closest ally and has veto power on resolutions, has not supported a cease-fire. On Tuesday, U.S. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood said that the role of the Security Council in the Israel-Gaza war is not to get in the way of important diplomacy that’s taking place. And he said the Security Council resolution at this time “would not be useful.”
This could signal a likely veto, but the U.S. has not said either way.
IN THAT CASE, WHY INVOKE IT?
Because Guterres believes that the humanitarian system and the humanitarian operations in Gaza are collapsing.
He also warns in his letter that in the current situation, “amid constant bombardment by the Israeli Defense Forces and without shelter or essentials to survive, I expect public order to completely break down soon due to the desperate conditions, rendering even limited humanitarian assistance impossible.”
Guterres said the situation could get even worse, pointing to possible epidemics and the mass displacement of Palestinians into neighboring countries. He sees a looming disaster.
Previous secretaries-general have brought threats that they saw to international peace and security to the Security Council without mentioning Article 99. This includes Congo in 1960, the U.S. hostage crisis in Iran that began in November 1979, the Iran-Iraq war in 1980 and more recently Myanmar in 2017.
We don’t know why they didn’t invoke Article 99, and several of the previous secretaries-general are now dead. Guterres has been very outspoken on both the Hamas attacks on Israel and the very high death toll of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
UNLV gunman had list of targets at the university and 150 rounds of ammunition, police say
UNLV gunman had list of targets at the university and 150 rounds of ammunition, police say
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The 67-year-old gunman who killed three faculty members and wounded a fourth in a roughly 10-minute rampage at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, had a list of targets at the school and more than 150 rounds of ammunition, police said Thursday.
Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill identified the suspect, who was killed in a shootout with police, as Anthony Polito, a longtime business professor who was living in nearby Henderson, Nevada. The sheriff said at a news conference that investigators were still looking into a motive but noted that Polito had applied for several jobs at various colleges and universities in Nevada but was denied the job each time.
However, Roseman University of Health Sciences in Henderson said Polito had an adjunct faculty contract and taught two courses in the school’s Master of Business Administration program from October 2018 to June 2022. He left when the program was discontinued, said Jason Roth, a spokesperson for the school.
McMahill said targets on Polito’s list also included faculty members at East Carolina University in North Carolina, where Polito was a professor at the university’s business school from 2001 to 2017.
“None of the individuals on the target list became a victim,” McMahill said, adding that police have contacted everyone on the suspect’s list, except for one person who is on a flight.
Before the shooting, Polito also mailed 22 letters to university faculty members across the U.S., according to footage reviewed by detectives from a dashcam in Polito’s vehicle, McMahill said.
Some envelopes contained an unknown white powder that was later found to be harmless, police said.
Terrified students and professors cowered in classrooms and offices as the gunman roamed the top three floors of UNLV’s five-story Lee Business School around lunchtime Wednesday.
Polito arrived at UNLV about 15 minutes before the shooting in a 2007 Lexus, McMahill said. He exited his car, placed items in his waistband and then entered the business school just after 11:30 a.m. The first reports of gunfire came about 15 minutes later, McMahill said.
The sheriff said the rampage ended around 11:55 a.m., when Polito left the business school and was confronted by police outside the building.
The suspect’s weapon, a 9 mm handgun, was purchased legally last year, McMahill said.
Police were still investigating how many rounds were fired during the attack. But the sheriff said that due to the sheer amount of ammunition in the gunman’s possession, he believed Polito may have been headed to the student union, which is next to the business school, when university police officers found him and he was killed in the shootout.
McMahill said the shooter brought 11 magazines with him to the campus, and police found nine of them on the shooter after he was killed.
It wasn’t immediately clear how many of the school’s 30,000 students were on campus at the time, but McMahill said students had been gathered outside the building and the student union to eat and play games. If police hadn’t killed the attacker, “it could have been countless additional lives taken,” he said.
UNLV President Keith E. Whitfield identified two of the victims who were killed as business school professors Patricia Navarro-Velez and Cha Jan “Jerry” Chang. Whitfield said the name of the third victim will be released after relatives have been notified of the death.
In a letter to students and staff, Whitfield said that the shooting “was the most difficult day in the history of our university.”
The wounded man, a 38-year-old visiting professor, was still hospitalized Thursday. McMahill said his condition had been “downgraded to life-threatening” from critical.
Navarro-Velez, 39, was an accounting professor who held a Ph.D. and was currently focused on research in cybersecurity disclosures and data analytics, according to the school’s website.
Chang, 64, was an associate professor in the business school’s Management, Entrepreneurship & Technology department and had been teaching at UNLV since 2001. He held degrees from Taiwan, Central Michigan University and Texas A&M University, according to his online resume. He earned a Ph.D. in management information systems from the University of Pittsburgh.
The attack at UNLV terrified a city that experienced the deadliest shooting in modern U.S. history in October 2017, when a gunman killed 60 people and wounded more than 400 after opening fire from the window of a high-rise suite at Mandalay Bay on the Las Vegas Strip, just miles from the UNLV campus.
Authorities on Thursday said Polito appeared to be struggling financially. When they arrived at his apartment Wednesday night to search the property, McMahill said, they found an eviction notice taped to his front door. Inside the apartment, detectives found a chair with an arrow pointing down to a document “similar to a last will and testament,” McMahill said, though the sheriff did not provide specifics on the contents of that document.
It wasn’t immediately clear how long Polito had been living in the Las Vegas area. He resigned from East Carolina University as a tenured associate professor, according to a statement Thursday from the university.
One of Polito’s former students at East Carolina, Paul Whittington, said Polito seemed obsessive over anonymous student reviews at the end of each semester.
Polito told Whittington’s class that he remembered the faces of students who gave him bad reviews and would express that he was sure who they were and where they sat, pointing at seats in the classroom, Whittington said.
“He always talked about the negative feedback he got,” said Whittington, now 33, who took Polito’s intro to operations management class in 2014. “He didn’t get a lot of it, but there would always be one student every semester, or at least one student every class, that would give a negative review. And he fixated on those.”
Classes at UNLV were canceled through Friday, and the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo canceled events that were scheduled Thursday night at the Thomas & Mack Center at UNLV.
Biden, Xi met for hours and agreed to 'pick up the phone' for any urgent concerns: 'That's progress'
AP-US-APEC-Biden-Xi, 12th Ld-Writethru
WOODSIDE, Calif. (AP) — U.S. President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping emerged Wednesday from their first face-to-face meeting in a year vowing to stabilize their fraught relationship and showcasing modest agreements to combat illegal fentanyl and re-establish military communications. But there were still deep differences on economic competition and global security threats.
The most assuring takeaway from the meeting for Biden was that if either man had a concern, “we should pick up the phone and call one another and we’ll take the call. That’s important progress,” he said in a news conference following the talks.
The two leaders spent four hours together at a bucolic Northern California estate – in meetings, a working lunch and a garden stroll – intent on showing the world that while they are global economic competitors they’re not locked in a winner-take-all faceoff.
“Planet Earth is big enough for the two countries to succeed,” Xi told Biden.
The U.S. president told Xi: “I think it’s paramount that you and I understand each other clearly, leader-to-leader, with no misconceptions or miscommunications. We have to ensure competition does not veer into conflict.”
Their meeting, on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference, has far-reaching implications for a world grappling with economic cross currents, conflicts in the Middle East and Europe, tensions in Taiwan and more
They reached expected agreements to curb illicit fentanyl production and to reopen military ties, Biden said. Many of the chemicals used to make synthetic fentanyl come from China to cartels that traffic the powerful narcotic into the U.S., which is facing an overdose crisis.
Top military leaders will resume talks, Biden said, an increasingly important move particularly as unsafe or unprofessional incidents between the two nations’ ships and aircraft have spiked.
Ultimately, the agreements rely on trust between the two leaders.
“I know the man I know his modus operandi,” Biden said of Xi. “We have disagreements but he’s been straight.”
But he still said Xi was a dictator … “in a sense.”
The two leaders had a significant back and forth over Taiwan, with Biden chiding China over its massive military build-up around Taiwan and Xi telling Biden he had no plans to invade the island, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to detail the private talks.
Biden, the official said, declared the U.S. was committed to continuing to help Taiwan defend itself and maintain deterrence against a potential Chinese attack, and also called on China to avoid meddling in the island’s elections next year. The official described the Taiwan portion of the talks as “clear-headed” and “not heated.”
Biden also called on Xi to use his influence with Iran to make clear that Tehran, and its proxies, should not take steps that would lead to an expansion of the Israel-Hamas war. Foreign Minister Wang Yi has assured the U.S. that the Chinese have communicated concerns to Iran on the matter. But the official said the U.S. has not been able to ascertain how seriously the Iranians are taking concerns raised by Beijing.
According to a statement released by China Central Television, the state broadcaster, Xi was most focused on Taiwan and the U.S. sanctions and restrictions against Chinese products and businesses.
Xi urged the U.S. to support China’s peaceful unification with the self-governed island, calling Taiwan “the most important and most sensitive issue” in the bilateral relations. He also raised Beijing’s concerns over export controls, investment screenings, and sanctions imposed by the U.S., which he said “have severely harmed China’s legitimate interests.”
He said, “We hope the U.S. side can seriously treat China’s concerns and take actions to remove unilateral sanctions and provide a fair, just, non-discriminatory environment for Chinese businesses.”
Xi said he and Biden also agreed to establish dialogues on artificial intelligence and stressed the urgency for the two countries to cope with the climate crisis, the state broadcaster reported.
Both leaders acknowledged the importance of their relationship and the need for better coordination. But their differences shone through: Xi indicated he wants better cooperation — but on China’s terms. And he sought to project strength to his domestic audience in the face of U.S. policies restricting imports from China and limiting technology transfers to Beijing.
Biden, meanwhile, will also spend time this week in California working to highlight new alliances in the Indo Pacific and efforts to boost trade with other regional leaders.
They sought to build back to a stable baseline after already tense relations took a nosedive following the U.S. downing of a Chinese spy balloon that had traversed the continental U.S., and amid differences over the self-ruled island of Taiwan, China’s hacking of a Biden official’s emails and other matters.
For Biden, Wednesday’s meeting was a chance for the president to do what he believes he does best: in-person diplomacy.
“As always, there’s no substitute for face-to-face discussions,” he told Xi. With his characteristic optimism, Biden sketched a vision of leaders who manage competition “responsibly,” adding, “that’s what the United States wants and what we intend to do.”
Xi, for his part, was gloomy about the state of the post-pandemic global economy. China’s economy remains in the doldrums, with prices falling due to slack demand from consumers and businesses.
“The global economy is recovering, but its momentum remains sluggish,” Xi said. “Industrial and supply chains are still under the threat of interruption and protectionism is rising. All these are grave problems.”
Biden and Xi held their talks at Filoli Estate, a country house and museum about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of San Francisco. The event was carefully staged, Biden first to arrive at the grand estate.
After a handshake and smiles, the presidents and their respective aides on trade, the economy, national security and regional diplomacy gathered across from one another at a single long table, the culmination of negotiations between the two leaders’ top aides over the past several months. It was Biden and Xi’s first conversation of any kind since they met last November in Bali.
Next came a working lunch with inner-circle members from both administrations. They ate ravioli, chicken and broccolini, with almond meringue cake and praline buttercream for dessert.
Before they parted, the two strolled the property along a red brick path through impressive topiary and knotted gothic trees. Asked by reporters how the meeting went, the president said “well” and flashed a thumbs up.
There were light moments between the two leaders who have logged much time together over the last decade. Biden asked Xi to extend his early birthday wishes to Xi’s wife, who will be celebrating next week. Xi thanked the president for reminding him. The Chinese leader said that he’s been so busy working he had forgotten the big day was nearing.
The relationship between China and the U.S. has never been smooth, Xi said. Still, it has kept moving forward. “For two large countries like China and the United States, turning their back on each other is not an option,” he said.
More pointedly, Xi also suggested it was not up to the U.S. to dictate how the Chinese manage their affairs, saying, “It is unrealistic for one side to remodel the other, and conflict and confrontation has unbearable consequences for both sides.”
Robert Moritz, global chairman for the consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, said business leaders are hoping for signs of more cooperation and a firmer commitment to free trade between the world’s two largest economies following the Biden-Xi talks.
“What we are looking for is a de-escalation and a bringing of the temperature down,” Mortiz said during a CEO summit being held in conjunction with the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum that has brought together leaders from 21 member economies.
“Discussion isn’t good enough, it’s the execution on getting things done” that will matter, he said.
The Biden-Xi meeting and broader summit events attracted protests around San Francisco, but the demonstrations were kept at distance. A large crowd loudly condemning Xi marched from the Chinese Consulate toward the summit venue at the Moscone Center nearly two miles away. Speakers implored the Biden administration to stand up to Xi and China’s human rights violations.
Late Wednesday, Xi was to address American business executives at a $2,000-per-plate dinner that will be a rare opportunity for U.S. business leaders to hear directly from the Chinese leader as they seek clarification on Beijing’s expanding security rules that may choke foreign investment.
___
Long and Tang reported from San Francisco. Associated Press journalists Zeke Miller, Sagar Meghani and Josh Boak in Washington and Michael Liedtke and Janie Har in San Francisco contributed to this report.
Israel pressured by allies over plight of civilians in Gaza as thousands flee enclave's north
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel faced pressure from some of its closest allies Wednesday over the plight of civilians in Gaza, where thousands streamed on foot out of the enclave’s north because of dwindling food and water and increased fighting in urban areas.
Over 70% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million have already left their homes, but the number making their way south has quickened recently as Israeli troops battle Hamas militants inside Gaza City and the humanitarian situation grows increasingly dire.
The Group of Seven wealthy industrial nations announced a unified stance on the Israel-Hamas war after intensive meetings in Tokyo, condemning Hamas and supporting Israel’s right to self-defense. But the group also called Wednesday for the “unimpeded” delivery of food, water, medicine and fuel, and for “humanitarian pauses” in the fighting.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has left open the possibility of small pauses to deliver humanitarian aid, but has ruled out a broader cease-fire unless all hostages are freed.
There is no end in sight to the war triggered by Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 assault inside Israel.
Israel has said the battle to end Hamas’ rule and crush its military capabilities will be long and difficult, and that it will maintain some form of control over the coastal enclave indefinitely — though how it will achieve that remains unclear.
Support for the war remains strong inside Israel, where the focus has been on the fate of the more than 240 hostages taken by Hamas and other militant groups.
THE ROAD OUT OF THE NORTH
About 15,000 people fled northern Gaza on Tuesday — triple the number that left Monday — according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
On Wednesday, thousands more made their way down Salah al-Din Street, Gaza’s main north-south highway, during a daily window set by Israel, now extended to five hours.
Families filled the road, almost all on foot, with men and women carrying young children or pushing the elderly on makeshift carts. Most had only a few belongings in backpacks. A few families rode on donkey carts, holding white flags as they approached Israeli tanks. The U.N. said some reported people arrested as they crossed Israeli checkpoints.
“We didn’t have food or drinking water … They struck the bakeries. There is no life in Gaza,” said Abeer Akila, who left her home in Gaza City with her family and neighbors after heavy bombardment overnight.
Residents reported loud explosions overnight into Wednesday across Gaza City and in the adjacent Shati refugee camp, which houses Palestinian families who fled from or were driven out of what is now Israel during the 1948 war surrounding its establishment.
The Israeli army’s chief spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said late Tuesday that ground forces had reached “the depths of Gaza City.” The army said Wednesday that it killed one of Hamas’ leading developers of rockets and other weapons, without saying where he was killed.
Hamas has denied that Israeli troops have made any significant gains or entered Gaza City. It was not possible to independently confirm battlefield claims from either side.
Israel is focusing its operations on the city, which was home to some 650,000 people before the war and where the military says Hamas has its central command and a labyrinth of tunnels.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have heeded Israeli orders in recent weeks to flee the north. But tens of thousands remain, many sheltering at hospitals or U.N. schools.
The trickle of aid entering Gaza from the south is largely barred from going north, which has been without running water for weeks. Hospitals running low on supplies are performing surgeries — including amputations — without anesthesia, the U.N. aid office said. It said the last functioning bakeries shut down Tuesday for lack of fuel, water and flour, and some of those on the road south have talked about living on only one piece of pita bread a day.
Majed Haroun, a teacher who remains in Gaza City, said women and children who lost families go door to door begging for food.
“No words can describe what we are experiencing,” he said.
CONDITIONS LITTLE BETTER IN THE SOUTH
The new arrivals from the north are squeezing into homes with extended family or in U.N. schools-turned-shelters where hundreds of thousands are taking refuge. At one, 600 people must share a single toilet, according to the U.N. office.
Israeli strikes have continued in the southern zone. One on Wednesday hit a family house in the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing at least 18 people and wounding dozens of others, according to Iyad Abu Zaher, director of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where the dead and wounded were brought. He said the toll could rise as medics and first responders searched the rubble.
Hundreds of trucks carrying aid have been allowed to enter Gaza from Egypt since Oct. 21.
But “there is an ocean of needs in Gaza right now, and what’s been getting in is a drop in the ocean. We need fuel, we need water, we need food, and we need medical supplies,” Dominic Allen of the United Nations Population Fund said, speaking from the West Bank.
In the maternity ward at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, doctors say they have seen a sharp rise in premature births that they blame on the trauma of the war.
In one bed, Shouq Hararah was recovering after giving birth to premature twins three days ago; a boy and a girl. “There were no proper birth procedures, no anesthesia, painkillers, or anything” she said.
A month of relentless bombardment in Gaza since the Hamas attack has killed more than 10,500 Palestinians — two-thirds of them women and minors, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run territory. More than 2,300 others are believed to have been buried by strikes that in some cases have demolished entire city blocks.
More than 1,400 people have died in Israel since the start of the war, most of them civilians killed by Hamas militants during their incursion. Israel says 32 of its soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the ground offensive began, and Palestinian militants have continued to fire rockets into Israel on a daily basis.
Israeli officials say thousands of Palestinian militants have been killed, and blame civilian deaths on Hamas, accusing it of operating in residential areas. Gaza’s Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its casualty reports.
The war has stoked wider tensions, with Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group trading fire along the border. More than 160 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli-occupied West Bank since the war began, mainly during violent protests and gunbattles with Israeli forces during arrest raids. Some 250,000 Israelis have been forced to evacuate from communities along the borders with Gaza and Lebanon.
___
Associated Press writers Najib Jobain in Khan Younis, Samy Magdy reported from Cairo and Amy Teibel in Jerusalem contributed to this report. Jeffery and Keath reported from Cairo.
Israel expects long Gaza ground war to crush Hamas, raising fears of grueling, open-ended conflict
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel expects to launch a long and difficult ground offensive into Gaza soon to destroy Hamas, the defense minister said Friday, describing a campaign that will require dismantling a vast network of tunnels used by the territory’s militant rulers.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s comments pointed to a potentially grueling and open-ended new phase of the war, three weeks after Hamas’ bloody incursion into southern Israel sparked relentless bombardment in Gaza. Israeli troops carried out a second ground raid into Gaza in as many days, striking the outskirts of Gaza City.
Gallant told a small group of foreign reporters that the invasion “will take a long time” and be followed by a lengthy phase of lower-intensity fighting as Israel destroys “pockets of resistance.”
Israel has said it aims to crush Hamas’ rule in Gaza and its ability to threaten Israel. But how Hamas’ defeat will be measured and an invasion’s endgame remain unclear. Israel says it does not intend to rule the tiny territory of 2.3 million Palestinians but not who it expects to govern – even as Gallant suggested a long-term insurgency could ensue.
In a sign of rising tensions in the region, U.S. warplanes struck targets in eastern Syria that the Pentagon said were linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard after a string of attacks on American forces, and two mysterious objects hit towns in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
The Palestinian death toll in Gaza has soared past 7,300, according to officials there. A blockade on Gaza has meant dwindling supplies of food, fuel, water and medicine, and the U.N. warned that its aid operation helping hundreds of thousands of people was “crumbling” amid near-depleted fuel.
Gaza’s Health Ministry on Thursday released a detailed list of names and identification numbers of those killed, including more than 3,000 minors and more than 1,500 women.
More than 1,400 people were slain in Israel during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, according to the Israeli government, and at least 229 hostages were taken into Gaza. Palestinian militants have fired thousands of rockets into Israel, including one that hit a residential building in Tel Aviv on Friday, wounding four people.
The overall number of deaths far exceeds the combined toll of all four previous Israel-Hamas wars, estimated at around 4,000. A ground invasion is expected to cause even higher casualties on both sides as Israeli forces and Hamas battle each other in dense residential areas.
Gazan hospitals have been scrounging for fuel to run emergency generators that power incubators and other life-saving equipment after Israel cut off all fuel deliveries at the start of the war, forcing its only power plant to shut down.
Gallant said Israel believes that Hamas would confiscate any fuel that enters. He said Hamas uses generators to pump air into its hundreds of kilometers (miles) of tunnels, which originate in civilian areas. He showed reporters aerial footage of what he said was a tunnel shaft built right next to a hospital.
“For air, they need oil. For oil, they need us,” he said.
Late Friday, the army released photos showing what it claimed were Hamas installations in and around Gaza’s largest hospital, al-Shifa. Israel has made such claims before, but they declined to say how they obtained the photos.
Little is known about Hamas’ tunnels and other infrastructure, and the military’s and Gallant’s claims couldn’t be verified.
Senior Hamas official Izzat al-Rishq called the Israeli reports on al-Shifa “lies” to pave the way for strikes on the hospital.
Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City has been overwhelmed by thousands of patients and wounded. Also, tens of thousands of displaced residents have crowded in and around its grounds for shelter, the U.N. says.
About 1.4 million people in Gaza have fled their homes, with nearly half of them crowding into U.N. shelters. Hundreds of thousands remain in northern Gaza, despite Israel ordering them to evacuate to the south and saying that those who remain might be considered “accomplices” of Hamas.
Over the past week, Israel has allowed more than 80 trucks with aid enter from Egypt through the Rafah crossing – including 10 trucks of food, medicine and other supplies Friday morning. The convoys meet only a tiny fraction of Gaza’s needs amid a worsening humanitarian collapse.
The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, which provides basic services to hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza, said it has been forced to ration fuel among lifesaving machines in hospitals, bakeries, and desalination plants, and only has enough for a few more days. U.N. workers say they will ensure no fuel deliveries go to Hamas.
“The siege means that food, water and fuel – basic commodities — are being used to collectively punish more than 2 million people, among them, a majority of children and women,” Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, told reporters. He said U.N. workers in Gaza report “the last remaining public services are collapsing, our aid operation is crumbling and for the first time ever, they report that people are now hungry.”
Earlier Friday, the military said ground forces backed by fighter jets and drones raided inside Gaza, striking dozens of militant targets over the past 24 hours. It said aircraft and artillery bombed targets in Shijaiyah, a neighborhood on Gaza City’s outskirts that was the scene of an urban battle in the 2014 Gaza war.
The military said the soldiers exited the territory without casualties. It reported an earlier raid into northern Gaza on Thursday.
The damage to Gaza from nearly three weeks of bombardment showed in satellite photos of several locations taken before the war and again in recent days. Entire rows of residential buildings simply disappear in the photos, reduced to smears of dust and rubble.
The Israeli military says it only targets militants and accuses Hamas of operating among civilians in an attempt to protect its fighters.
Israel captured Gaza in the 1967 Mideast war and occupied the territory until a unilateral withdrawal in 2005. It has maintained a tight blockade over the area since Hamas rose to power in 2006 parliamentary elections and subsequently seized full control the following year from the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority.
The conflict has threatened to ignite a wider war across the region.
The United States has sent two aircraft carrier strike groups to the region in part to deter Iran and its allies from entering the war. Lebanon’s Iranian-backed Hezbollah has repeatedly traded fire with Israel along the border.
Egypt’s military said a drone crashed into a building in the Red Sea town of Taba, on the border with Israel, slightly wounding six people. Also, a “strange object” landed near a power station in the nearby town of Nuweiba, state-run Al-Qahera news said. Footage showed debris and smoke rising from the side of a nearby mountain.
Last week, a U.S. Navy destroyer in the northern Red Sea shot down three cruise missiles and several drones launched toward Israel by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in northern Yemen.
___
Federman reported from Tel Aviv and Mroue from Beirut. Najib Jobain in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Jack Jeffery in Cairo, Isabel DeBre in Jerusalem, and Brian Melley in London, contributed to this report.
Mate Smith was crowned Miss Filipina International Pageant 2023. Congratulations!
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava declared July 29th as Make Us Visible Day in an exclusive interview with Mimi Chan
Mimi Chan, the State Director of Make Us Visible, played a crucial role in the drive to introduce Asian American and Pacific Islander history lessons in Florida schools. She is the chief instructor and operations manager for Wah Lum Kung Fu. Her tireless efforts paid off when Governor Ron DeSantis signed the measure into law.