25/05/2025

WORLD 8 ON SUNDAY MAY 25, 2025 UN: Gaza war in cruellest phase as aid looted

Kardashian ‘grateful’ robbers convicted PARIS: A French court on Friday convicted a gang of robbers who stole US$10 million (RM42 million) in jewellery from reality TV star Kim Kardashian in a Paris hotel in 2016, although they will not return to jail. Describing the heist as “the most terrifying experience of my life”, Kardashian swiftly expressed gratitude to the French authorities for pursuing “justice” in the case. Nine men and one woman have been on trial since April and prosecutors sought the toughest jail terms, 10 years, for the four men accused of carrying out the robbery. Aomar Ait Khedache, 69, the ringleader, was handed the heaviest sentence of three years in prison plus five years suspended, but due to time served in jail will not return to detention, like all the others convicted. Two other suspects accused of handing information about the American superstar’s whereabouts were acquitted. All the sentences were substantially lower than the terms demanded by the prosecution. Kardashian, then 35, was robbed while staying at an exclusive hotel in the French capital on the night of Oct 2-3, 2016. She was threatened with a gun to the head and tied up, with her mouth taped. “The crime was the most terrifying experience of my life, leaving a lasting impact on me and my family,” she said in a statement. “While I’ll never forget what happened, I believe in the power of growth and accountability and pray for healing for all.” After the hearing adjourned, the convicted men embraced their loved ones in relief and slowly left the courtroom. “The sentences are quite lenient. I understand that you understand that you have caused harm,” presiding judge David De Pas told them as he read out the verdicts. He also said “the state of health of the main protagonists ethically prohibits incarcerating anyone. It would have been unjust to take you to prison this evening.” – AFP UK retailer suspends Labubu toy sales LONDON: A retailer in the UK has suspended store sales of Labubu toys amid concerns over safety and staff threats. The plush toys, resembling a rabbit-like monster, have surged in popularity after endorsements from celebrities such as Rihanna and Dua Lipa. Their limited availability has drawn buyers from abroad to the UK, with Pop Mart, the distributor of Labubu dolls, seeing overnight queues and chaotic scenes outside its flagship stores. “This product, it has many, many fans and in some countries, it’s not available for purchase, so there are many, many people who come to London just to buy them,” said Pop Mart supervisor Engie. “People wait for hours queuing up in front of the store and it’s so sad to see them be disappointed, because the resellers create a difficult environment for them, or they get violent ... and we have nothing left for them.” She said the store had adopted a ticketing system to manage the crowds but that tensions had escalated. Pop Mart confirmed the suspension of physical sales, citing safety risks. “It’s important to ensure a safe shopping experience for everyone,” it said. UK collector Rayy Raphael, who noted prices had reached £500 (RM2,865) for rare dolls, said: “It’s just not safe to take it outside at the moment. – AFP

GAZA CITY: UN chief Antonio Guterres said Palestinians were enduring “the cruellest phase” of the war in Gaza, after more than a dozen food trucks were looted following the partial easing of a lengthy Israeli blockade. Aid was just beginning to trickle back into the territory after Israel announced it would allow limited shipments to resume as it pressed a newly expanded offensive aimed at destroying Hamas. Gaza civil defence agency official Mohammed al-Mughayyir said at least 71 people were killed, while “dozens of injuries, and a large number of missing persons under the rubble have been reported as a result of Israeli air strikes” on Friday. At least six people were killed early yesterday. Guterres said “Palestinians in Gaza are enduring what may be the cruellest phase of this cruel conflict”, adding that Israel “must agree to allow and facilitate” humanitarian deliveries. He pointed to snags, however, noting that of the nearly 400 trucks cleared to enter Gaza in recent days, only 115 were able to be collected. “In any case, all the aid authorised until now amounts to a teaspoon of aid when a flood of assistance is required,” he said. “The Israeli military offensive is intensifying with atrocious levels of death and destruction.” The World Food Programme said on Friday that 15 of its “trucks were looted late last night in southern Gaza, while en route to WFP-supported bakeries”. “Hunger, desperation and anxiety over whether more food aid is coming, is contributing to rising insecurity,” the UN body said, calling on Israeli authorities “to get far greater volumes of food assistance into Gaza faster”. Aid shipments restarted on Monday for the first time since March 2, amid mounting condemnation of the Israeli blockade, which has resulted in severe shortages of food and medicine. ‘Atrocious levels of death and destruction’

Sepideh Farsi, film director of the documentary Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk, at a Friday news conference on Gaza and the death of Fatima Hassouna, the subject of the documentary who was killed in April, one day after it was announced that the documentary had been chosen for the Cannes festival’s ACID programme. – REUTERSPIC

He worked almost exclusively in black and white, which he saw as both an interpretation of reality and a way of conveying the dignity of humanity. Active in the left-wing student movements of the turbulent 1960s, he studied economics and in 1969, he and his wife fled to France to escape Brazil’s military dictatorship. He went on to receive French citizenship. Photography “is a way of life,” he told AFP in 2022 on a trip to Sao Paulo to present his exhibition “Amazonia”, the product of seven years shooting the world’s biggest rainforest. Salgado also founded an environmental organisation called Instituto Terra to revive disappearing forests in his home state, Minas Gerais, a successful project joined by more than 3,000 landowners. – AFP The military said on Friday afternoon that air raid sirens were activated in communities near Gaza, later reporting that “a projectile that crossed into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip was intercepted” by the air force. In Gaza’s north, Al-Awda Hospital reported on Friday that three of its staff were injured “after Israeli quadcopter drones dropped bombs” on the facility. The civil defence agency said it had contained a fire at the hospital. An AFP journalist saw large plumes of smoke billowing above destroyed buildings in southern Gaza after Israeli bombardments. Israel resumed its offensive on March 18, ending the ceasefire that began on Jan 19. Gaza’s Health Ministry said at least 3,673 people had been killed since then, taking the war’s toll to 53,822. – AFP

Cogat, the Israeli Defence Ministry body that oversees civilian affairs in the Palestinian territories, said 107 said trucks entered Gaza on Thursday. But Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said on Friday that the UN had brought in 500 to 600 per day on average during a six-week ceasefire that broke down in March. “No one should be surprised let alone shocked at scenes of precious aid looted, stolen or ‘lost’,” he said on X, adding that “the people of Gaza have been starved” for more than 11 weeks. The Israeli military said over the past day, its forces had attacked “military compounds, weapons storage facilities and sniper posts” in Gaza. “In addition, the (air force) struck over 75 terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip,” it added.

Brazilian photographer Salgado dies aged 81

world, he contracted a particular form of malaria in 2010 in Indonesia,” his family said in a statement. “Fifteen years later, the complications of this disease developed into severe leukaemia, which took his life.” Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva described his compatriot as “one of the best photographers the world has given us”.

PARIS: Brazilian photographer Sebastiao Salgado (pic) , famed for his work on wildlife, landscapes and people, died on Friday, aged 81. The French Academy of Fine Arts said it was “deeply saddened to announce the death of Sebastiao Salgado”, describing him as a “great witness to the human condition and the state of the planet”. It was his large black-and

US photographer Steve McCurry, said “his vision and humanity left an indelible mark on the world of photography”. “Alongside (his wife) Lelia (Wanick), he not only documented the human condition with unmatched depth, but also helped heal the planet through their reforestation work,” he said.

white photographs of subjects such as conflicts or the Amazon rainforest that won Salgado the greatest fame, and adorned calendars, books and the walls of his fans. Critics accused him of beautifying suffering but Salgado never veered from his aesthetic or his work. “A photographer who travelled the