27/08/2025

WEDNESDAY | AUG 27, 2025

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Five journalists killed in strikes on hospital o Netanyahu expresses regret journalists, medical staff, and all civilians,” he added. (From left) Hussam al-Masri, a contractor for Reuters; Mariam Abu Dagga, Associated Press freelancer; Moaz Abu Taha, a freelancer; Mohammed Salama, Al Jazeera journalist; and Ahmed Abu Aziz – STRINGERS/REUTERSPIC South Africa probes Russia recruitment

by the Israeli occupation forces, who have directly targeted and assassinated journalists as part of a systematic campaign to silence the truth,” the broadcaster said. The Associated Press said in a statement that it was “shocked and saddened” to learn of the death of Mariam Dagga, 33, a visual journalist who had freelanced for the agency. The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate named two other victims as Moaz Abu Taha and Ahmad Abu Aziz. Later Monday, a sixth journalist, Hassan Douhan, was killed by Israeli fire in the Al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis, according to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate and Nasser Hospital. Nasser Hospital is one of the last remaining health facilities in the Gaza Strip that is at least partially functioning. Later in the day, a crowd carried the bodies of some of the slain journalists at a funeral in Khan Younis, with the dead wrapped in white burial shrouds and their press flak jackets resting on top. “We will not stop walking this path, and the coverage will continue, God willing,” said Masri’s brother Mahmoud. The strike was condemned by a range of voices, including the UN, media outlets, rights groups and the Israel-based Foreign Press Association. – AFP The fund said it had also withdrawn from five Israeli firms for financing the construction of illegal settlements in the West Bank. They included First International Bank of Israel, FIBI Holdings, Bank Leumi Le-Israel, Mizrahi Tefahot and Bank Hapoalim. Earlier this month, the fund said it was selling out of 11 Israeli companies following reports that it had invested in an Israeli jet engine maker. – AFP was clear that they were caused by an external force”. The EstLink 2 power cable and four telco cables connecting Finland and Estonia were damaged. The three are formally charged with “aggravated criminal mischief and aggravated interference with communications”. The prosecution is seeking prison sentences of at least two years. – AFP

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa said on Monday it was investigating allegations of human trafficking after social media influencers shared recruitment campaigns promising young women jobs in a Russia-based programme accused of abuses. In videos shared to millions of followers, several South African influencers encouraged women aged 18 to 22 to join a programme called “Alabuga Start” with vague promises of international careers, flights, housing and Russian language classes in the central Russian region of Tatarstan. An investigation by the Associated Press last year revealed that some women recruited into the programme, many from African countries, were forced to work in factories assembling attack drones for Russia’s war in Ukraine. South Africa’s Foreign Affairs spokesman Chrispin Phiri said the matter was “under investigation”. The Ministry for Women and Youth expressed in a statement “grave concern over recent reports of alleged job offers circulating on social media that target young South African women aged 18 to 22 for employment opportunities in Russia”. “We urge our young people to be vigilant,” it said. In some of the videos, the female influencers were in Russia and toured what they identified as the headquarters of the programme in the Alabuga special economic zone near the town of Yelabuga. “Apparently girls are being treated fairly here – Africans, Asians, Latin Americans,” one said in a now deleted video to her more than two million followers. Officials did not say how many women might have taken up the offer. “Human trafficking syndicates are luring young people into all sorts of illegal activities under slave-like conditions,” said the Foreign Ministry’s head of public diplomacy, Clayson Monyela. The government in March repatriated 23 South Africans rescued from online scam centres in Myanmar that allegedly held thousands of people from several countries. – AFP

Reuters reported that video journalist Hussam al-Masri – a contractor who was working for the agency – was operating a live feed at the hospital, “which suddenly shut down at the moment of the initial strike”. A Reuters spokesperson said the agency was “devastated” to learn of Masri’s death “and injuries to another of our contractors, Hatem Khaled” in the strikes. “We are urgently seeking more information and have asked authorities in Gaza and Israel to help us get urgent medical assistance for Hatem,” the statement said.

GAZA CITY: Gaza’s civil defence agency said five journalists were among at least 20 people killed on Monday when Israeli strikes hit a hospital in the south, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressing regret over the “tragic mishap”. Reuters, the Associated Press and Al Jazeera all issued statements mourning their slain contributors, while the Israeli military said it would investigate the incident. The war in Gaza has been one of the deadliest for journalists, with around 200 media workers killed over the course of the nearly two-year Israeli assault. Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said “the toll so far is 20 martyrs, including five journalists and one member of the civil defence”, OSLO: Norway’s sovereign wealth fund said on Monday that it had divested from US construction equipment firm Caterpillar over purported involvement in rights violations in the Israel-Hamas war. Fuelled by Norway’s vast energy revenues, the fund is the world’s biggest, with a value of nearly US$2 trillion (RM8.43 trillion) and investments in more than 8,600 companies across the globe. The fund had held a 1.2% stake in

after strikes hit Nasser Hospital – a large medical complex that has been targeted several times by Israel. In a statement, the Israeli military said its troops had “carried out a strike in the area of Nasser Hospital”. “The Chief of the General Staff instructed to conduct an initial inquiry as soon as possible,” it said, adding it “regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and does not target journalists as such”. Bassal said an Israeli explosive drone hit a building at the hospital, followed by an airstrike as the wounded were being evacuated.

Netanyahu said in a statement on Monday evening that his country “deeply regrets the tragic mishap that occurred today at the Nasser Hospital”. “Israel values the work of Fund divests from Caterpillar over rights violations A spokesperson for Al Jazeera said one of its photojournalists and cameramen, Mohammad Salama, was also killed in the attack. “Al Jazeera Media Network condemns, in the strongest possible terms, this horrific crime committed

by Caterpillar are being used by Israeli authorities in the unlawful destruction of Palestinian property. “There is no doubt that Caterpillar’s products are being used to commit extensive and systematic violations of international humanitarian law,” the body said. It added that the company had “not implemented any measures to prevent such use”. AFP has contacted Caterpillar for comment. The prosecution maintains the crew neglected their duties intentionally. “If a ship drags an anchor for several hours for 90km, is it really possible that no one would notice?” prosecutor Mikko Larkia asked. According to the charge sheet, the defendants “neglected to investigate the reason for the drop in speed and engine revolutions, even though it

Caterpillar, valued at US$2.4 billion, as of the end of last year. The Norwegian central bank, which manages the fund, said it had decided to exclude Caterpillar as it posed “an unacceptable risk ... to serious violations of the rights of individuals in situations of war and conflict”. The fund said it had based its decision on a recommendation by its council on ethics. The council said bulldozers made

Ship crew on trial over undersea cable cuts HELSINKI: Three crew members from a ship pleaded not guilty to sabotage in a Finnish court on Monday, after they were accused of cutting Baltic Sea cables. Captain Davit Vadatchkoria of Georgia, Robert Egizaryan of Georgia and Santosh Kumar Chaurasia of India were in court when the trial opened in a Helsinki district court. The defence insisted the incident was “an accident”.

The captain and two officers of the Cook Islands-registered oil tanker Eagle S are accused of dragging the ship’s anchor on the seabed for 90km, damaging five undersea cables in the Gulf of Finland last Dec 25.

“This was a normal maritime incident, and not deliberate, not sabotage or anything else,” Chaurasia said during a pause in proceedings.