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It was 19 days after his arrest by the Israeli army in Tulkarem, in the north of the occupied West Bank, on February 23, 2024. Sami Al-Sa'i, a 47-year-old Palestinian journalist, had just been transferred from a military base to Megiddo prison. "The guards told me to undress and throw my clothes in a trash bin," recounted the father of six in front of reporters on Wednesday, January 14. "They asked, 'Are you with Hamas? Are you a journalist?' The beating started. They hit every part of my body," he said. "They took me to another room. They told me to kneel down. I thought they wanted to humiliate me. They beat me again."

At that moment, according to his account, the detainee was blindfolded. The guards held him down completely. "They tried to force something hard into my anus," he said. "I resisted, I tensed my muscles with all my strength. But it was too painful, they penetrated me deeply. The pain was terrible. (…) They did it again." The man heard his guards laugh and then smoke a cigarette. They then carried him into a shared cell. For several days, he cleaned the wound with toilet paper.

Al-Sa'i spent 16 months in "administrative detention," a seemingly neutral term referring to incarceration without charge or any means of defense, a practice that Israeli authorities have used extensively against thousands of West Bank residents since October 7, 2023. "They wanted me to collaborate with them, and I refused," he explained. On top of the rape he said he suffered, he also endured regular beatings, humiliation and food deprivation. The journalist lost 30 kilos during his detention. He was released on June 10, 2025, without explanation or charge.

Al-Sa'i stressed that he had never imagined the intensity of the abuse, even though he had already been detained twice by Israel, for four months in 1997 and nine months in 2016, accused of activism in support of Palestine. In 2018, he also gave testimony to the NGO Human Rights Watch about the violence he had suffered in Palestinian prisons. That report also revealed the extent of torture carried out by Hamas in Gaza and by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.

Americans: the low interest rates, and easy borrowing which have come with having the rest of the world decide to buy US government debt may well come to an end as a result of Trump's threatening to invade a European country. This will have huge ripple effects over time, driving up the cost of housing, and making jobs scarcer.

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In a steady stream of posts on social media, Morten Messerschmidt, the head of the Danish People's Party, is trying to extricate himself from the quagmire he has created for himself. "Portraying me as someone who serves a cause other than Denmark and who would sympathize with threats to our kingdom is unhealthy. It is slander," he wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday, January 18.

And yet, how can one not be surprised by the 180-degree turnaround of that same person? After all, a year ago he was posting selfies on X from Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump's property in Palm Beach, Florida; now, he is criticizing the Danish government, accusing it of trying to maintain dialogue with the US about Greenland. This position has left Messerschmidt isolated on the Danish political scene, where there is broad consensus around the strategy adopted by the coalition led by Social Democrat Mette Frederiksen.

Messerschmidt, who is thus no stranger to contradictions, was the only one to oppose the meeting between Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and his Greenlandic counterpart, Vivian Motzfeldt, with US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington on January 14. For him, "walking into the lion's den" and "inviting oneself to meetings with a nation that threatens Denmark" was dangerous.

These statements are all the more surprising given that Messerschmidt traveled to Florida in January 2025, at a time when Trump, then newly elected president, had already made clear his intention to annex the Danish autonomous territory. The billionaire's threats did not deter him. On the contrary: In a photo posted on X on January 20, 2025, he was seen attending a reception organized by the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation in honor of Trump's inauguration, celebrating "common sense" and "wokeism" being dead.

Powerful solar activity released by the sun is heading for Earth and it’s likely to create dazzling auroral displays in unexpected areas Monday evening and early Tuesday morning. It could also disrupt satellite-based communications and GPS accuracy.

“An S4 severe solar radiation storm is now in progress - this is the largest solar radiation storm in over 20 years,” SWPC shared on X, formerly known as Twitter. “The last time S4 levels were observed was in October, 2003. Potential effects are mainly limited to space launch, aviation, and satellite operations.”

Greece and Israel plan to increase cooperation in security and defence, Greek Defence Minister Nikos Dendias and his Israeli counterpart Israel Katz said on Tuesday following talks in Athens.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/41954666

Israel demolished structures inside the UN Palestinian refugee agency's (UNRWA) East Jerusalem compound on Tuesday after seizing the site last year, in an act condemned by the agency as a violation of international law.

Surrounded by Israeli forces, ​bulldozers razed several large buildings and other smaller structures inside the United Nations Relief and Works Agency's compound, where dozens of ‍agency staff once worked.

UNRWA, which has been accused of bias by Israel, has not used the building since the start of last year after Israel ordered it to vacate all its premises ​and cease its operations.

Summary: the ceasefire did not hold, Kurds are withdrawing and doing a general mobilization, Kobani is under siege, imprisoned Islamic State fighters broke out of an abandoned prison, etc. The Syrian civil war has basically started again.

Paywall?

If issued, the invitation would mark the first time Russia has been included in a G7-format meeting since it was expelled from the former G8 following its annexation of Crimea in 2014.

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Donald Trump on Monday, January 19 threatened 200% tariffs on French wine and champagne over France's intentions to decline the US leader's invitation to join his "board of peace." The board was originally conceived to oversee the rebuilding of war-torn Gaza, but the charter does not appear to limit its role to the occupied Palestinian territory.

"I'll put a 200% tariff on his wines and champagnes. And he'll join. But he doesn't have to join," Trump said, referring to French President Emmanuel Macron. A source close to Macron told AFP on Monday that France "does not intend to answer favorably" to the invitation.

The board's charter "goes beyond the sole framework of Gaza," the source close to the French president said.

Although a ceasefire was declared yesterday between Kurdish militias and Syria's Islamist government, a senior Kurdish official told Reuters he is desperately hoping that the US and Israel will step in on the Kurds' behalf in the current confrontation with the government of Ahmed al-Sharaa.

He also emphasized Kurdish hopes regarding Israel. "Of course, we consider Israel a powerful state in the region with its own agenda," he said. "We hope that the same stance taken by other countries in the region towards certain minorities in Syria will be extended to the Kurds as well."

Asked to clarify his remarks, Hamo confirmed that he was referring to Israeli strikes in the Damascus area over the summer, which were carried out as part of assistance to the Druze community in Sweida. At the time, al-Sharaa's forces launched an assault on the southern city, during which massacres were carried out against members of the community.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/49336085

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Russia's occupation authorities in Ukraine's Kherson region are sending Ukrainian children to Russia for military-style training, according to the National Resistance Center.

The latest case involves 24 teenagers who were taken to the Russian city of Volgograd under the name of an educational program called “Pride of the Nation. The Path to Development”, reports Digi24. Officials described the trip as a learning opportunity. Ukrainian sources say the real goal was very different. [...]

Teenagers were placed in the Avangard defense and sports camp. There, they received training in drone operation, basic military roles, cyber-related activities, and tactical movement. Alongside this, the children took part in daily ideological sessions. These included staged patriotic events and museum visits focused on Russia’s war narrative. Analysts say the children were taught to see war as something normal and necessary.

According to the Center, schools in occupied areas were ordered to provide a set number of children. Principals were given quotas.

Parents were placed under pressure and were told participation was strongly recommended. Some families were warned that refusal could lead to problems with welfare payments, school records, or other basic services.

Also Happening in Other Regions

The Center also points to the role of Volodymyr Saldo, the Moscow-installed head of the Kherson region. His office is said to manage transport, lists of children, and coordination with Russian military youth groups. These programs are also used to promote his public image.

[...]

In other news, Russia launched campaigns of forced drafts in occupied Donbas targeting sick, disabled, and the untrained individuals.

According to Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD), men conscripted from occupied Donbas—including individuals with disabilities or serious medical conditions—are being thrown into frontline assaults with little regard for survival ...

Russian unit commanders have publicly acknowledged the severity of the situation, admitting that many conscripts received neither medical screening nor proper military training ...

As conditions deteriorate, unrest has reportedly begun to surface within these formations, while personnel are increasingly treated as disposable resources rather than soldiers ...

US president Donald Trump has launched a blistering attack on Britain, calling Sir Keir Starmer’s plan to cede the Chagos Islands to Mauritius one of “great stupidity”.

Writing on his Truth Social platform, the US president said the deal is “another in a very long line of National Security reasons why Greenland has to be acquired”.

The criticism comes just one day after the UK prime minister called for calm amongst the US and Nato allies, amid rising tensions over Trump’s Greenland ambitions.

Lashing out in an online rant, the US president wrote: “Shockingly, our “brilliant” NATO Ally, the United Kingdom, is currently planning to give away the Island of Diego Garcia, the site of a vital U.S. Military Base, to Mauritius, and to do so FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER.”

Trump appeared to indicate his support for the deal last year, as he told Sir Keir during his visit to the White House in February that he was “inclined to go with your country” and that he had “a feeling it’s going to work out very well”.

A surfer has been bitten by a shark, the fourth attack along Australia's New South Wales (NSW) coastline in under 48 hours.

The 39-year-old man "sustained a wound to his chest" after a shark bit his board on the Mid North Coast on Tuesday morning, police said. He has been released from hospital.

It follows three other attacks in Sydney over the past two days. All beaches in Sydney's northern area will remain closed until further notice, said police.

The attacks follow days of heavy rains, which NSW Superintendent Joseph McNulty had earlier said may have created a "perfect storm environment" for shark attacks. Rain flushes nutrients into the water, which can draw sharks closer to shore.

A Palestinian children's football club in the occupied West Bank faces imminent demolition despite an international campaign to save it. Its supporters say it provides a rare sporting opportunity for young Palestinian players.

But Israel insists it's been built without the necessary permits.

In this deeply divided land so much is contested; from the identities and faiths of the people who live here, to every inch of the ground they stand on.

Recently, that has come to include one small patch of artificial turf laid down under the shadow of the giant concrete wall that isolates Israel from much of the occupied West Bank.

A decade-long study led by Penguin Watch, at the University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes University, has uncovered a record shift in the breeding season of Antarctic penguins, likely in response to climate change.

These changes threaten to disrupt penguins' access to food and increase interspecies competition. The results have been published (20 January—World Penguin Awareness Day) in the Journal of Animal Ecology.

The researchers examined changes in the timing of penguin breeding between 2012 and 2022, specifically their "settlement" at the colony, the first date at which penguins continuously occupied a nesting zone.

The results demonstrate that the timing of the breeding season for all three species advanced at record rates. Gentoo penguins showed the greatest change, with an average advance of 13 days per decade (up to 24 days in some colonies).

This represents the fastest change in phenology recorded in any bird—and possibly any vertebrate—to date. Adélie and Chinstrap penguins also advanced their breeding by an average of 10 days.