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Palestinians vote in municipal polls

Kuwait frees US journalist

RAMALLAH: Palestinians in the West Bank and a central area of Gaza began voting yesterday in municipal elections. Nearly 1.5 million people are registered to vote in the Israeli occupied West Bank, as well as 70,000 people in Gaza’s Deir el Balah area, according to the Ramallah-based Central Elections Commission. Most electoral lists are aligned with President Mahmud Abbas’s secular-nationalist Fatah party or running as independents. There are no lists affiliated with Fatah’s rival Hamas, which controls nearly half of the Gaza Strip. In most cities, Fatah-backed tickets will run against independent lists headed by candidates from factions such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Mahmud Bader, a businessman from the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem, where two nearby refugee camps have been under Israeli military control for over a year, said he would vote despite having little hope for meaningful change. “Whether candidates are independent or partisan, it has no effect and will have no effect or benefit for the city,” he said. “The (Israeli) occupation is the one that rules Tulkarem. It would only be an image shown to the international media.” In many cities, including Nablus and Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, only one list has been submitted, meaning it wins without needing a vote. Polling stations in the West Bank will close at 7pm, while polls in Deir al-Balah will close at 5pm to enable counting in daylight due to the lack of electricity in the strip, the

WASHINGTON: US journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, who was detained in Kuwait over online posts related to the Iran war, has been released. A State Department official said on Friday that Shihab-Eldin, 41, had left Kuwait. Last week, the New York based Committee to Protect Journalists said Shihab-Eldin had not been seen in public since March 2, after being detained by Kuwaiti authorities during a crackdown by Gulf nations on people filming or posting footage from the conflict. Shihab-Eldin had been visiting family in Kuwait and was arrested on March 3, according to CPJ. The media watchdog said he was charged with spreading false information, harming national security and misusing his mobile phone. A Kuwaiti court acquitted Shihab-Eldin on all charges following nearly two months of detention, CPJ said on Thursday, citing a statement from lawyers for Shihab-Eldin’s sisters. CPJ said it welcomed the acquittal. “We can confirm that Shihab-Eldin has safely departed Kuwait. While in detention, the State Department was in contact with him and provided consular assistance,” the State Department official said. The official had no further comment, citing privacy and other considerations. – Reuters OpenAI chief apologises NEW YORK: OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman apologised on Friday to a Canadian community following a school shooting in February. Police said nine people, including the alleged perpetrator, were killed in the attack in British Columbia. Another 25 people were injured. OpenAI had suspended a ChatGPT account belonging to the alleged perpetrator last June after monitoring systems detected scenarios involving the use of firearms in her conversations. However, the company did not deem it necessary to notify the authorities. Following the incident, OpenAI discovered another ChatGPT account belonging to the woman. In a letter addressed to the community of Tumbler Ridge, Altman apologised for not alerting authorities. “I am deeply sorry that we did not alert law enforcement,” Altman wrote. “While I know words can never be enough, I believe an apology is necessary to recognise the harm and loss your community has suffered.” – Bernama

First elections since Gaza war

A Palestinian man casts his ballot in the West Bank city of Al-Bireh. – AFPPIC

elections that have never taken place. Deir el-Balah was chosen as it was one of the only places in Gaza where “the population has remained largely in place and not been displaced” by more than two years of war, Fadi said. – AFP

test its own) success or failure, since there are no post-war opinion polls”, said Jamal al Fadi, a political scientist at Cairo’s Al-Azhar University. Abbas, who is now 90 and has remained in power for more than 20 years without being re elected, frequently promises

elections commission told AFP. Gaza, which has been under Hamas control since 2007, will see its first vote since the legislative elections of 2006 that the movement won. Abbas’s Palestinian Authority is holding elections only in Deir el-Balah “as an experiment (to

Nepal clears Kathmandu squatter settlements

The eviction took place peacefully, with residents carrying bags and loading furniture and belongings into small trucks. “I don’t have a place to stay,” said Puspa Kaasai, 65, who called the area home for three decades. Shah defended the demolition, writing on social media on Friday that it was important to remove citizens from “unorganised and flood-prone” areas. “This government will provide a permanent solution to this problem that has been going on for years,” he said, adding that genuine squatters will be given land. – AFP 619 drones and 47 missiles, Ukraine’s air force said on Telegram, adding that it downed 580 drones and 30 missiles. Russia has been launching smaller barrages of dozens of drones every night at Ukraine, interspersing them with large scale attacks that use drones and missiles. – Reuters

KATHMANDU: Nepali authorities began demolishing informal settlements yesterday along river banks of the capital. Squatters have been living for decades on the banks of the Bagmati river and its tributaries which crisscross the Kathmandu valley. Many live in flimsy shelters of wood and sheet metal shacks. Under a directive from Prime Minister Balendra Shah, bulldozers rolled in yesterday with police presence to clear out the area. Kathmandu Police chief Bhishnu Prasad Joshi said authorities had told residents to evacuate by Friday evening. Chernihiv, missile and drone attacks killed two people and wounded seven others, the governor there said. “Every strike like this must remind our partners that the situation needs immediate and firm action, rapid strengthening of our air defences,” Zelenskiy said. Russia attacked Ukraine with

An affected squatter catches her breath during the demolition. – AFPPIC

Russian drone, missile blitz kills four in Dnipro KYIV: A major Russian attack on Ukraine killed four people and injured more than 30 others on Friday night as Moscow launched over 660 drones and missiles in a barrage that targeted the city of Dnipro in southeastern Ukraine, and hit several other regions. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on social media. Two bodies were recovered from a damaged building in Dnipro, regional governor Oleksandr Hanzha said, adding that five other people could still be trapped in the rubble. Another 21 people were wounded, he said. In the northern region of “The Russians bombed Dnipro and other cities and communities,”