We inquire as to how much climate change has caused deadly wildfires in Los Angeles.
California’s wildfire tragedy: A wake-up call
Serbia’s PM Milos Vucevic resigns as protests raise political pressure
In response to widespread protests against corruption and President Aleksandar Vucic, Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic has resigned.
Vucevic stated at a press conference on Tuesday that he had made the decision to step down in order to ease tensions. Since November’s fatal accident of a train station canopy in Novi Sad’s northern city, student-led demonstrations have been occurring.
The prime minister’s announcement came as protesters ended a 24-hour blockade at a major intersection in the capital, Belgrade. Vucic made a hint the previous evening that he was prepared to negotiate and drop his hardline stance against the demonstrations.
“To avoid further complicating things, so we do not further raise tensions in society, I made this decision”, Vucevic said on Tuesday.
Vucevic, who served as mayor of Novi Sad in 2022 when a Chinese company began the station reconstruction, stated that the attack on a female student by assailants allegedly from Vucic’s ruling Serbian Progressive Party was his immediate resignation.
“Whenever it seems there is hope to return to social dialogue, to talk, … it’s like an invisible hand creates a new incident, and tensions mount again”.
He also said the present mayor of Novi Sad, Serbia’s second largest city, will also resign.
After the Serbian Progressive Party received the most votes in tension-torn elections in April, the 50-year-old was elected prime minister.
Expanding protests
After camping overnight, protesters on Tuesday morning packed up and cleared the Autokomanda junction in Belgrade, where several major roads and motorways connect.
Following a call for a general strike on Friday, which saw small businesses and schools close, and lawyers stop their jobs.
Since November, the protests have gotten more organized, with some calling for an end to Vucic’s rule, which has been in place for more than a decade, and early elections.
Student organizers vowed to see more action, including greater transparency in the investigation into the collapse and the release of all documents related to the train station’s renovation.
Goran Vesic, a former transport minister, resigned days after the accident, among others, who has been charged with the matter.
Some documents about the roof collapse have been made public by the government, but they are incomplete, according to Belgrade-based experts from the Faculty of Civil Engineering.
Other important demands include a reduction of arrests of protesters at rallies, abolition of attacks on demonstrators, and increased government funding for education.
Snap vote?
Farmers and bikers provided protection for the largely student protesters during the blockade. As the rallies continue, there have been numerous instances of violence against the demonstrators, and at least two have been struck by cars.
Vucic addressed the audience on Monday evening, praising the nation’s response to the Novi Sad accident and promising to strike up a dialogue with the protesters.
Prior to this, he had claimed that “Western foreign agents” controlled them.
However, the focus now turns to the possibility of snap elections.
Vucevic’s resignation must now be confirmed by Serbia’s parliament, which has 30 days to choose a new government or call snap elections.
According to pro-government media, Vucic will vote on a new prime minister-designate on Tuesday night and hold early elections.
In the wake of LA’s wildfires
UK military support to Israel ‘could be breach of international law’
The United Kingdom’s military collaboration with Israel during its assault on Gaza, as well as its support through arms provisions, logistical aid, and direct military interventions in Yemen to support Israel’s objectives, could constitute a breach of international law, a new report reveals.
The British Palestinian Committee (BPC) reported that the UK government “played an influential role” through the validation of arms licenses and a wider, more extensive military collaboration with Israel, despite not directly engaging in violent acts in Gaza.
By boosting Israel’s access to the world’s stock of spare parts, F-35 parts made in the UK, are a significant part of maintaining the Israeli fighter jets for combat.
The UK is actively involved in Israel’s genocide of the Palestinians by acting in such ways, the report claimed. It is not “simply failing to uphold international law” by acting in this way.
Additionally, while the British military has supplied Israel with these critical components, it has also developed a deeper military collaboration with Israel.
The British and Israeli militaries collaborate more effectively thanks to this two-way partnership, which added that the British military bases in Cyprus are a “foundational asset” for Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
The UK’s military joined efforts to shield Israel’s military infrastructure from an anticipated Iranian response in April 2024, according to the report, along with its direct military intervention in Yemen.
This came after Israel bombed an Iranian consulate building in Syria’s capital Damascus, killing at least 13 people, including two Syrian civilians.
“UK ministers and officials know that the UK has obligations under international law”, Sara Husseini, BPC director, told Al Jazeera.
The world’s highest court has informed them that Israel’s ongoing illegal occupation is ongoing, and that its actions in Gaza constitute a genocide.
” We are, therefore, calling on the government to immediately impose a two-way arms embargo, end all forms of military collaboration, and uphold the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. If not, the British government should face appropriate legal consequences. “
The group claims that the UK’s official policy, which is set out in its Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, will not grant an arms export licence “if it determines there is a clear risk that the items may be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law.”
Six months into the Gaza war, then-foreign minister David Cameron declared that the UK would not halt British companies’ sales of arms to Israel in April 2024. He defended his decision a month later by claiming that they represent” less than 1 percent “of Israel’s arms imports.
30 out of 350 arms export licenses to Israel were suspended in September 2024 because of a “clear risk” that they might be used in grave breaches of international humanitarian law.
The British government has since issued 34 arms export permits to Israel, including three open permits that permit the export of an unlimited number and amount of goods.
The BPC argued in the 19-page report that the UK is legally required to prosecute those responsible for genocide as well as carry out international legal proceedings both within its own and, if necessary, internationally.
The group also emphasized that the need for “due diligence” in order to prevent genocide is a proactive rather than passive action and that factual evidence is required.
In 2022, the UK supplied 42 million pounds ($53m) worth of arms to Israel, according to media reports.
Ethiopia to Israel: Secret Journeys
The Mossad and the CIA’s covert transportation of thousands of Ethiopian Jews to Israel in the 1980s.
For centuries, Israel has been isolated from much of Judaism and is now a target of discrimination. The secret, politically contentious smuggling operations that brought them from Sudan to Israel in the 1980s are the subject of this tale. They are known as the Falasha Jews, who were primarily from Ethiopia. In the late 20th century, the Falasha Jews (also known as Beta Israel) faced persecution and famine, prompting significant emigration to Israel.
However, many Arab and African states did not recognize Israel, so countries like Ethiopia and Sudan were unable to publicly acknowledge their support for its growing population. In order to transport thousands of Ethiopian Jews from refugee camps in the Sudanese desert, the Mossad and the CIA conducted the covert Operation Moses. When these missions were discovered, they caused huge political fallout in Sudan. Additionally, the Falasha Jews who did enter Israel have found themselves underminaged and still have trouble integrating into contemporary Israeli society.
Russia and Ukraine forces face off in intense fighting on front lines
In eastern Ukraine, fierce fighting has reported by Ukrainian and Russian forces.
Moscow announced on Tuesday that it had taken control of a settlement in Kharkiv, furthering the slow but steady progress it has been making on the front lines over the past year while the Ukrainian military said on Tuesday that its forces were repressing Russian attacks in the Donetsk region.
In Donetsk’s troubled towns of Chasiv Yar and Toretsk, Kyiv’s forces were engaged in intense fighting, according to a report from Kyiv.
The Khortytsya troop group, which is tasked with keeping ground in key industrial regions, said in a statement posted on social media that “the enemy continues to storm our positions at the Kramatorsk and Toretsk sectors” with the support of artillery.
The organization continued, “Heavy fighting is still occurring in Chasiv Yar and Toretsk’s urban areas.”
Russian forces are advance on the flanks of Chasiv Yar, a strategic hilltop town that once hosted 12, 000 people before the war, according to Ukrainian military bloggers with connections to the Ministry of Defense.
Russian forces have been fighting for months to capture Toretsk, one of a number of mining towns in the Donetsk region.
Russian troops “liberated” the settlement of Dvorichna in Kharkiv, according to the Ministry of Defense in Moscow.
The village, which is situated across the strategic Oskil River, was seized by Russian forces when they launched an extensive invasion of Ukraine in 2022, before being overtaken by Kyiv months later in a swift counteroffensive. It had a population of more than 3, 000 before the war.
But Ukraine’s army has been pushed back over the past year, outgunned and outmanned by Russia’s forces across the 1, 000km (600-mile) front lines.
Overnight attacks
Meanwhile, both sides continue to launch drones and missiles across their shared border.
According to local authorities, Russian airstrikes on Tuesday injured eight people, ignored a private business, and damaged residential structures in Ukraine.
In addition to other locations, attacks were reported in Kharkiv and the Black Sea port of Odesa.