Click to expand Image Palestinians inspect a damaged building following a November 14 Israeli army raid in the city of Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank. 2023 Sipa via AP Images While global attention is focused on Israel and Gaza, Israeli authorities are tightening their repression in the West Bank and Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians are surging. That repression was already at a peak before the October 7 Hamas-led attack that killed some 1200 people, mostly civilians, in Israel, but it has gotten much worse since. Between January 1 and October 6, Israeli security forces killed more Palestinians in the West Bank - 192, including 40 children - than in any other year since 2005, when the United Nations began systematically recording fatalities. Since October 7, according to the UN, they have killed another 201 Palestinians, including 52 children; meaning they have killed more Palestinians in the West Bank in the last six weeks than in any entire year since 2005. Palestinians hav
A new narcotics law in Thailand has meant that people who use drugs are more able to access care for treatment of conditions like HIV, but the virus remains a ‘critical health concern’, according to the UN.
Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy (Anadolu photo) ANKARA - Ukraine's president reiterated late Wednesday the importance of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity amid ongoing peace talks with Russia. "My priorities in the negotiations are absolutely clear: the end of the war, security guarantees, sovereignty, restoration of territorial integrity, real guarantees for our country, real protection for our country," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video message released by Ukraine's Presidency. Zelenskyy also called on Russian soldiers to lay down their weapons to get a chance to survive. "Lay down your weapons. It's better than dying on the battlefield, on our land," he said. Underlining that Russia continues to commit war crimes in Ukraine, Zelenskyy said: "The Russian economy is still able to maintain their military machine." "The world must finally officially recognize that Russia has become a terrorist state," he said
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (Anadolu photo) KYIV - High-level Russia-Ukrainian talks set for Thursday in Turkey, largely thanks to the efforts of Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, Ukrainian media quoted the country's top diplomat as saying. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba confirmed that he will sit at the negotiation table in Antalya, Turkey with Sergey Lavrov, his Russian counterpart, Ukrainian news agency UNIAN reported. "The meeting, planned to be held on March 10, will be held primarily thanks to Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu," UNIAN quoted him as saying, referring to a meeting on the sidelines of Turkiye's Antalya Diplomacy Forum. "I do not know whether (President Recep Tayyip) Erdogan convinced (Russian President Vladimir) Putin or Lavrov, but the meeting will take place." Saying that Lavrov has been avoiding any meeting with hi