For the second time in as many months, Israel has raided a civilian ship in international waters to stop it from reaching Gaza to deliver much-needed humanitarian aid. The Handala was sailing toward the besieged Palestinian territory with baby formula, diapers, food and medicine on board when Israeli forces boarded it on Saturday and detained 21 crew and passengers. “Their blockade is, by all international standards, unlawful,” says Palestinian American human rights attorney Huwaida Arraf, who was among the activists on board and was just released from Israeli detention. She calls on the international community to hold Israel accountable and says the Freedom Flotilla Coalition will continue organizing aid ships to break the blockade of Gaza.

“Why is it that we had to be at sea in international waters, in a small boat, going to confront one of the most brutal militaries in the world? It is because … our countries are allowing Israel to deliberately starve Palestinians as part of this genocidal campaign that it has been carrying out,” says Arraf.

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The Trump administration is intensifying its campaign against vaccinations, with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. withdrawing U.S. funding for the world’s preeminent international vaccine organization. The group — known as Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance — is the world’s largest funder of life-saving vaccinations and says it has helped vaccinate more than 1.1 billion children in 78 lower-income countries, preventing nearly 19 million future deaths. Kennedy also recently stacked an important vaccine advisory panel with unqualified appointees, many of them holding anti-vaccine views.

“Anti-vaccine activists have been shouting from the sidelines for decades. Now they’re making policy,” says Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

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Israel continues to detain eight individuals who were captured Monday when Israeli Navy commandos intercepted a Gaza-bound boat carrying humanitarian aid. Four other passengers on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla have been deported, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. We get an update from Sergio Toribio, one of the 12 on board the Madleen, who has just been deported back to his home country of Spain. He describes how Israeli commandos boarded the ship in international waters and held them on the boat for over 24 hours while towing them to Israel. “They kidnapped us,” he says.

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Eleven peace activists and one journalist on board the Gaza Freedom Flotilla ship, the Madleen, were detained by Israeli soldiers as their ship carrying vital humanitarian aid for starving Palestinians approached Gaza. The ship was intercepted by Israeli forces in the middle of the night in international waters. Its supplies were seized and communications jammed. The unarmed activists will likely be transported to Israeli detention or “immediately deported,” says Ann Wright, a U.S. military veteran who has participated in four Freedom Flotilla journeys and now serves on the steering committee of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. She calls on citizens of countries around the world to push for the activists’ release and an end to Israel’s war on Gaza.

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With just weeks left in President Joe Biden’s term, we speak with Amnesty International USA executive director Paul O’Brien, who has written to the outgoing president urging him to “change course on critical human rights” before the end of his term in office. One of his key demands is for Biden to free Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier, who has been imprisoned for decades and repeatedly denied parole. Peltier recently turned 80 and has always maintained his innocence for the 1975 killing of two FBI agents in a shootout on the Pine Ridge Reservation. His conviction was riddled with irregularities and prosecutorial misconduct. “It’s time to give him a chance to spend his last days with his family and with his community,” says O’Brien. “He’s been incarcerated as long as Joe Biden has been in national politics.”

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More than 3,000 Israelis have signed an open letter urging “global pressure on Israel to force an immediate ceasefire.” The signatories say they are motivated by patriotic duty to stop the country’s war crimes in Gaza and beyond, but say the lack of sanctions from other countries has allowed Israel to continue to pursue war, abandon the hostages still held in Gaza, ignore domestic opposition and persecute Palestinian citizens of Israel without real cost. “Unfortunately, the majority of Israelis support the continuation of the war and massacres, and a change from within is not currently feasible. The state of Israel is on a suicidal path and sows destruction and devastation that increase day by day,” reads the letter. For more, we speak with Neve Gordon, professor of international law and human rights at Queen Mary University of London, one of the signatories of the open letter, who says international powers including allies like the United States need to “put their leg down and say enough is enough.” We also speak with him about Israel’s well-documented history of using Palestinians as human shields, including in its current war on Gaza.

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Israeli forces have illegally dropped white phosphorus munitions on densely populated residential areas in southern Lebanon, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch. White phosphorus, which poses a high risk of excruciating burns and lifelong suffering, was dropped by Israel over at least 17 municipalities in Lebanon since October 2023. Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health says at least 173 people have been injured in the white phosphorus attacks, which have also caused hundreds of forest fires in Lebanon. “It can burn down to the bone and cause lifelong suffering,” says Ramzi Kaiss, a researcher at Human Rights Watch. “This widespread use is putting civilians at grave risk and also contributing to displacement.”

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The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has announced he is seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and three leaders of Hamas: Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and Mohammed Deif. The charges against Netanyahu and Gallant include starvation of civilians, extermination, intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population, among other crimes. The charges against the Hamas leaders include extermination, murder, taking hostages, rape, among other crimes. “It places Israel’s leaders of this genocidal onslaught on the Gaza Strip in the dock,” says Middle East analyst Mouin Rabbani, who explains why this will be “very significant” for Israel’s allies and signatories to the ICC. “They now have to make a choice between Israeli impunity and obligations under the Rome Statute.”

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As the death toll in Gaza soars to more than 34,700, Israeli authorities have taken Al Jazeera off the air in Israel and ordered Palestinians in eastern Rafah to evacuate ahead of an Israeli offensive. “The Israeli government is trying to conceal what’s happening in Gaza and trying to intimidate Al Jazeera … and delegitimize the whole coverage,” says Al Jazeera’s managing editor Mohamed Moawad, explaining this is “a strategy” to “try to make sure that the story doesn’t reach the world.” Over the past eight months, Al Jazeera has been one of the only international outlets with reporters on the ground inside Gaza, where at least three of its employees have been killed by Israel’s monthslong assault. Israel has been threatening to ban Al Jazeera for “incitement” via “a series of intimidations” for months, culminating in “a criminal act,” says Moawad. He calls on the international community, including the U.S. government, to condemn Israel’s suppression of a free press.

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A new report from Amnesty International finds the sale of U.S.weapons to Israel for use in its indiscriminate assault in Gaza is in violation of U.S. and international law. We speak to Budour Hassan, a Palestinian writer and contributing researcher to the report, who says the U.S. is “complicit in the commission of war crimes” and must “halt all arms transfer to Israel as long as Israel continues to fail to comply with international humanitarian law and international human rights law.” We also discuss Israel’s detention of thousands of Palestinians without charge, the inadequacy of U.S. human rights investigations into the Israeli military, and Israel’s threatened ground invasion of Rafah.

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Amnesty International has released its annual report assessing human rights in 155 countries. The report highlights Israel’s assault on Gaza with evidence of war crimes continuing to mount, as well as U.S. failures to denounce rights violations committed by Israel. It also points to Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine, and the rise of authoritarianism and massive rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar. We speak to Agnès Callamard, the organization’s secretary general, who warns “the international system is on the brink of collapse” and decries the failure of rights mechanisms and Israel’s top ally, the United States, to rein in its “unprecedented” assault on Gaza.

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Israel is facing global condemnation after killing several international aid workers in Gaza. The workers with charity group World Central Kitchen were killed by an Israeli airstrike after unloading more than 100 tons of food aid carried by ship from Cyprus into Gaza. The charity staff, including three British nationals, an Australian, a Polish national and an American-Canadian dual citizen, and their Palestinian driver were struck while traveling in a clearly marked convoy branded with the charity’s logo. World Central Kitchen said the attack occurred after the workers left a warehouse in Deir al-Balah, even though the charity had coordinated in advance about the convoy with the Israeli military. “Every single humanitarian aid worker … is already recognized by the Israeli army,” says journalist Akram al-Satarri, reporting live from Rafah. “It’s the full responsibility of the Israeli government now to clarify and … demystify the circumstances that led to that catastrophic incident.” Al-Satarri also reports on Israel’s move to ban the outlet Al Jazeera and on his experience living in Gaza right now, where food and medical supplies are scarce under Israel’s strict blockade. “The famine is not looming. The famine is already taking place.”

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A new Amnesty International report titled “The Cost of Doing Business? The Petrochemical Industry’s Toxic Pollution in the USA” documents the health and environmental impact of fossil fuel and petrochemical plants run by corporations like ExxonMobil and Shell along the Houston Ship Channel in Texas, identifying it as a “sacrifice zone” where the harms are disproportionately borne by marginalized communities. “Our findings are exemplary of broader challenges and issues in terms of poor regulations and inadequate laws at the state and federal level,” says author Marta Schaaf, who calls for a moratorium on new projects while pursuing the long-term phase-out of fossil fuels.

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Times Now Navbharat tweeted a clip of their reportage of this news. (Archive)

#EXCLUSIVE: अर्जेंटीना को फुटबॉल मैच में हराने का ‘रॉयल’ ईनाम, हर खिलाड़ी को मिलेगी रॉल्स रॉयस

देखिए, सुपर रिच सऊदी के 20 सबूत@Anant_Tyagii #MuhammadBinSalman #SaudiArabia pic.twitter.com/TICBk2y6xH

— Times Now Navbharat (@TNNavbharat) November 26, 2022

Zee MP-Chhattisgarh also tweeted an image of the Saudi Arabia team with the caption “FIFA World Cup: सऊदी अरब के सभी खिलाड़ियों को मिलेगी रॉल्स रॉयस की कार, अर्जेंटीना पर जीत के लिए मिलेगा तोहफा…” (Translation: All players of Saudi Arabia will get Rolls Royce cars, gift will be given for victory over Argentina). (Archive)

FIFA World Cup: सऊदी अरब के सभी खिलाड़ियों को मिलेगी रॉल्स रॉयस की कार, अर्जेंटीना पर जीत के लिए मिलेगा तोहफा…#FIFAWorldCupQatar2022 #FIFAWorldCup #Qatar2022 #SaudiArabia #royalross pic.twitter.com/EO23yUnNjU

— Zee MP-Chhattisgarh (@ZeeMPCG) November 26, 2022

Among international news outlets, Daily Mail in a report claimed that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud would present each of his nation’s newest heroes with a Rolls Royce after they fought back from 0-1 down to beat Lionel Messi’s side 2-1. Here is an archive of their report.

The Daily Mail report cites a Malay Mail report on the same issue. The report is headlined ‘Saudi Arabia royalty gives Rolls Royce to football players for their win in World Cup group match’. Here is an archive to the report.

Bleacher Report said in a tweet, ‘Saudi Arabia players are being rewarded after their historic win over Argentina’. (Archive)

Saudi Arabia players are being rewarded after their historic win over Argentina. pic.twitter.com/QPGe4rzvoE

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 25, 2022

Daily Mirror also reported on this in an article with the headline, ‘Saudi Arabia’s World Cup heroes to be given Rolls Royce reward after Argentina win’.

Fact Check

User @kalafaldossry, a journalist for Sabq, an electronic newspaper, tweeted a clip from a press conference where an English journalist named Andrew Dylan asked Saudi Arabia player Saleh Al-Shehri if it was true that every player on the team was being gifted a Rolls Royce Phantom car. In reply, Saleh Al-Shehri denied the claim and says “It’s not true”. He also says, “We’re here to serve our country and do the best. So that’s our biggest achievement”. (Archive)

لاعب #المنتخب_السعودي صالح الشهري يلجم صحفي انجليزي حاول الايحاء ان لاعبي السعودية يلعبون من اجل المال بعد نفيه اشاعة مكافأة الروز رايس لكل لاعب.

الصحفي: انه امر مؤسف اليس كذلك؟

الشهري: نحن هنا لخدمة وطننا وذلك هو الانجاز الاكبر
#السعوديه_بولندا
– pic.twitter.com/6uIT9fRggi

— خلف الدوسري (@kalafaldossry) November 26, 2022

Furthermore, according to a statement by team Saudi Arabia’s manager Herve Renard, the reports of the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman promising a Rolls-Royce Phantom to the players were untrue. “We have a very serious federation. We have a very serious ministry of sport. It is not time to get something at this moment. We only won a game. We still have to get very important games, and we are hoping some more. There is nothing true about this comment. We’ve only played one game at the moment,” he said.

Thus the report carried by several news media outlets that the Saudi Arabia team was being rewarded with Rolls Royce cars after winning against Argentina is untrue.

The post No Rolls Royce for Saudi Arabia players, reports by nat’l, int’l media outlets false appeared first on Alt News.

This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Shinjinee Majumder.

The United Nations is demanding an independent investigation into charges of rape and sexual assault committed by Russian soldiers in Ukraine since the start of the invasion. We speak with Pramila Patten, the U.N.’s special representative on sexual violence in conflict, who is just back from Ukraine and told the Security Council Monday about multiple shocking reports of rape and assault — all of which Russia has since denied. “We are dealing with a crime which is chronically underreported,” says Patten, who emphasized the need to establish safe spaces for victims to come forward and ensure no perpetrators be granted amnesty through a potential ceasefire or peace agreement. We also speak with Oksana Pokalchuk, executive director of Amnesty International Ukraine, whose organization is investigating the alleged war crimes.

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Ukrainian officials are accusing Russia of committing war crimes for killing civilians. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and EU leaders condemned images of dead civilians in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, where corpses were found littering the streets after Russian troops withdrew from the area, some with their hands bound behind their backs. On Friday, Amnesty International also published a report that independently verified Russia has violated international law in using banned cluster munitions and other weapons that indiscriminately kill civilians. “What’s been going on during the entire more than a month now of conflict merits serious investigation and accountability for the perpetrators,” says Joanne Mariner, crisis response director at Amnesty International, who co-authored the report. “Given this relentless bombardment of civilian neighborhoods and districts, we’re calling for the establishment of safe humanitarian corridors to allow civilians to escape.”

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As a massive Russian military convoy approaches Kyiv while Russia intensifies attacks on civilian infrastructure across Ukraine, we get an update from Andre Kamenshikov,
Ukraine director for Nonviolence International in the southern Kyiv suburbs. He says “people are holding out, and I think there is growing confidence that the Russian forces will not be able to take the city.” He also says Russian President Putin is using the threat of NATO as propaganda to increase domestic public support of the war, and discusses why he won’t be taking up arms as a nonviolent activist.

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