Category World News

Prosecutors in the United Kingdom are appealing a court decision to throw out a “terrorism” charge against Liam O’Hanna, also known as Liam Og O hAnnaidh, a member of the Irish rap group Kneecap.

O’Hanna was accused of displaying a flag of the Iran-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah during a London concert in November, but the case was dismissed in late September by a London court on account of a technical error.

“We are appealing the decision to dismiss this case as we believe there is an important point of law which needs to be clarified,” a spokesperson for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said on Tuesday.

The rapper, also known as Mo Chara (“my friend” in Gaeilge, the Irish language), was charged in May under the United Kingdom Terrorism Act, which states that it is a criminal offence to display an article in a way that arouses reasonable suspicion that someone is a supporter of a banned organisation.

On September 26, Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring told Woolwich Crown Court that the case was “unlawful” and “null” since it had been brought outside the six-month statutory limit.

There was no immediate comment from Kneecap regarding the CPS’s appeal announcement. After the charges were thrown out last month, O’Hanna said the case had more to do with Gaza and “what happens if you dare to speak up” rather than “any threat to the public”.

“As people from Ireland, we know oppression, colonialism, famine and genocide. We have suffered and still suffer under ‘your empire’,” he said. “Your attempts to silence us have failed because we are right and you are wrong. We will not be silent.”

Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill said at the time that the charges were “part of a calculated attempt to silence those who stand up and speak out against the Israeli genocide in Gaza”.

The members of Kneecap have been accused by some countries of promoting “terrorism” due to statements made in support of Palestinians during Israel’s war on Gaza.

Hungary and Canada have banned the group from entry, and some of the group’s concerts in Germany and Austria were cancelled this year.

Syria’s government has declared a ceasefire between its security forces and Kurdish fighters in the northern city of Aleppo, after at least one person was killed and four people were injured in overnight violence.

Murhaf Abu Qasra, Syria’s minister of defence, announced the ceasefire on Tuesday after meeting with Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), saying the two sides had “agreed on a comprehensive ceasefire across all fronts and military positions in northern and northeastern Syria”.

“The implementation of this agreement will begin immediately,” the government minister added.

The Syrian army and the United States-backed SDF clashed after SDF fighters reportedly targeted checkpoints in the city, according to the state-run news agency SANA.

SDF forces allegedly fired into residential areas in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Achrafieh neighbourhoods of Aleppo “with mortar shells and heavy machine guns”, SANA reported, adding there were civilian casualties.

Residents of the area told The Associated Press that two security guards in a public park were killed on Tuesday by shelling, and a woman and a child were wounded.

The SDF denied attacking the checkpoints and said its forces withdrew from the area months ago. It blamed the outbreak of violence on aggression by government forces.

It also issued a statement on Tuesday accusing government military factions of carrying out “repeated attacks” against civilians in the Aleppo neighbourhoods and imposing a siege on them.

The violence was the latest flare-up in tensions between the interim government and the SDF, which has sought to retain de facto autonomy in the northeast part of the country.

It was also another setback for the landmark deal struck in March by President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Abdi.

The agreement, brokered after the fall of ousted President Bashar al-Assad in December, was designed to integrate Kurdish-led forces into Syria’s state institutions.

It also would have seen key assets held by the SDF — including border crossings, an airport, and oil-and-gas fields — handed to Damascus by the end of the year. The SDF is estimated to control about a quarter of Syria’s land, mostly in the northeast part of the country.

The government in Damascus has hoped to consolidate its control over the country. But progress on the March plan has stalled.

Both Damascus and the SDF have accused each other of provocations that have increased tensions.

On Tuesday, the presidential office issued a statement that al-Sharaa had spoken to US envoy Tom Barrack to discuss how the plan might be implemented “in a manner that safeguards Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

They also discussed “ways to support the political process”, according to the statement.

On Monday, Syria published the results of its first parliamentary election since al-Assad was toppled, a landmark moment in the country’s fragile transition after nearly 14 years of civil war.

Israel’s World Cup qualifying match in Italy next week is expected to attract more pro-Palestinian protesters outside the football stadium in Udine than ticket-holding spectators inside the arena.

Protesters already approached the gates of Italy’s training centre in Florence last week to demand that the match not be played because of the war in Gaza — part of a national strike that saw millions of activists take to the streets.

“It’s not going to be a calm environment,” Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso acknowledged Tuesday from inside the Coverciano training centre that was targeted. “There will be 10,000 people outside the stadium and 5-6,000 inside the stadium.”

As of Monday, only 4,000 tickets were sold for next Tuesday’s match at Stadio Friuli.

While UEFA had been considering suspending Israel over the war and Udine Mayor Alberto Felice De Toni had called for the game to be postponed, with Italy desperately attempting to avoid failing to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup, the four-time champion team doesn’t plan to risk not playing.

“We have to play this match. Because if we don’t, we’ll lose it 3-0,” Gattuso said, referring to the rule for forfeited matches. “[Italian Football Federation] president [Gabriele] Gravina explained that very well.”

There was also tension on the field between the two squads after the final whistle when Italy edged Israel 5-4 in a nine-goal thriller last month in neutral Hungary — where Israel has been playing its “home” matches during the war.

The protesters in Italy and elsewhere have also been reacting to an international aid mission blocked by Israeli forces.

“It’s upsetting to see what’s happening to innocent people and children,” Gattuso said. “It hurts your heart.”

Italy and Israel are level six points behind group leader Norway, with only the first-place finisher in the group to qualify directly for next year’s tournament in North America.

The second-place finishers progress to a playoff — the stage where Italy was eliminated by Sweden and North Macedonia and ruled out of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, respectively.

“Considering that we’re trying to get to the World Cup and we need to give our absolute all, I’m sure you can understand that I would have preferred to play a home game with the enthusiasm that we saw in Bergamo a month ago,” Gattuso said, referring to a 5-0 win over Estonia.

Israel could also face protests during a visit to Norway on Saturday.

The Norwegian soccer federation pledged to give its profits from ticket sales for the game in Oslo to humanitarian work in Gaza by Doctors Without Borders (known by its French acronym, MSF).

Italy played Israel in Udine last October in the Nations League. That game went off without incident amid a heavy police presence and despite a pro-Palestinian demonstration before the game. Italy won 4-1.

A newly elected mayor in western Germany has been critically injured in a stabbing attack, according to German media reports.

Iris Stalzer, the 57-year-old mayor-elect of the North Rhine-Westphalia town of Herdecke, was stabbed in front of her home about noon (10:00 GMT) on Tuesday, leaving her with life-threatening injuries, Germany’s WDR broadcaster reported, quoting local police.

Prosecutors and police said in a joint statement their inquiry was looking into every possibility.

“Close family involvement cannot be ruled out at the present time,” they said.

DPA news agency reported that her son and daughter, aged 15 and 17, had been taken in for questioning. Stalzer was airlifted to hospital and was still in intensive care, the authorities’ statement said.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned the “heinous attack” and called for a swift investigation.

“We fear for the life of the designated mayor, Iris Stalzer, and hope for her full recovery,” he wrote in a post on X.

Stalzer’s teenage son told authorities his mother had been attacked by several men, Germany’s Bild newspaper reported.

The police and prosecution statement did not address the content of the media reports.

Stalzer, a member of the centre-left Social Democratic Party, was elected mayor of the town of 22,000 people in the eastern Ruhr area on September 28.

The attack came after a regionwide campaign that politicians in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s largest state, described as unusually hostile.

A recent study found 60 percent of politicians in Germany had experienced violence at least once, with one in five saying it had made them more reluctant to appear in public.

In 2019, a conservative district government president in the state of Hesse, Walter Luebcke, a supporter of then-Chancellor Angela Merkel’s refugee policy, was shot dead by a far-right activist on his home terrace.