Gaza-Israel: UN passes resolution for 'prolonged humanitarian pause'

Today's news: at least one dead in Vietnam from heavy flooding; The Philippines faces China in the South China Sea; Afghans expelled from Pakistan also suffered several abuses; The Kukis in the Indian state of Manipur demanded their own local government.

GAZA – ISRAEL

The Israeli army released a video, not independently verified, showing Hamas weapons and equipment found in al-Shifa hospital in Gaza, while Hamas claims that the raid on the hospital was a war crime because hundreds of civilians had taken refuge there, along with patients and staff. Meanwhile, the UN Security Council has approved a resolution calling for "prolonged humanitarian pauses" in Gaza and the release of all hostages.

VIETNAM

Two people have died and three are still missing after days of heavy rains caused floods in central Vietnam. Among the hardest-hit cities is Hue, the former imperial capital of Vietnam, where 16,000 houses were partially submerged, according to the National Steering Committee for the Prevention and Control of Natural Disasters. In five central provinces, more than 4,000 people were evacuated from their homes, while parts of the national highway connecting the north and south of the country were blocked by landslides due to flooding.

PHILIPPINES – CHINA

The Philippine Foreign Minister called on China to take responsibility for environmental damage in the South China Sea, and remove the illegal structures it has built so far. The Department of Foreign Affairs also said that supply missions in the Philippines' exclusive economic zone are legitimate activities and it will not give prior notification to China. The communication comes after months of tensions over control of the waters between China and Southeast Asia, which Beijing claims with frequent interference.

AFGHANISTAN – PAKISTAN

The head of human rights at the United Nations, Volker Türk, on the fact that the expulsion of Afghan citizens from Pakistan was accompanied by abuses of various kinds, including ill-treatment, arrests, arbitrary detentions, destruction of property and personal effects and extortion . Between September 15 and November 11, over 327,000 people arrived in Afghanistan from Pakistan, many forced to leave for fear of arrest, the United Nations said in a statement. Even those who had regular documents and had lived in Pakistan for years were sent back, the UN added.

INDIA

Yesterday, the Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum, a frontal organization of ethnic Kukis in Manipur, said it had given the Delhi government two weeks to decide whether to grant separate administration for Kuki-dominated areas. “More than six months have passed and nothing has been done regarding our request,” the group's general secretary, Muan Tombing, told reporters. “So if our voice is not heard within a couple of weeks, we will set up our own self-governance, whether the Center recognizes it or not, we will move forward.” At the beginning of May, inter-ethnic violence broke out between the Kuki and the Meitei in the north-eastern state.

SOLOMON ISLANDS

On the highway between the airport and Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands, a giant sports stadium rises from the ground like an apparition in the tropical heat. It is a 10,000-seat stadium built for the Pacific Games, an event held every four. The competitions will begin on November 19 and residents hope they will boost the economic situation by bringing tourism and better relations between the Pacific Islands.

RUSSIA

The Chechen Sergej Khadžikurbanov, the ex-Spetsnaz agent sentenced to 20 years in prison for having participated in the assassination of Anna Politkovskaya in 2006, was pardoned for having made himself available for war in Ukraine, signing a contract with the Russian Ministry of defense, first as a prisoner and now as a volunteer and battalion commander.

UZBEKISTAN

The Prime Minister of Uzbekistan, Abdulla Aripov, speaking in Riyadh at the summit of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, made an appeal to jointly guarantee the untouchability of the Al-Aqsa mosque and other sacred places and monuments of Jerusalem, but rejected Algeria's proposal to break relations with Israel.

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