The UN considers “very worrying” the images that were leaked this Thursday of dozens of Palestinian men detained in Gaza and half-naked, while they are watched by members of the Israeli Army who surround them.

“The images are very worrying because everyone has the right to human dignity,” the spokesman for the General Secretariat, Stéphane Dujarric, said in his daily press conference.

The images are part of a video that shows around a hundred Palestinian adults in underwear and mostly bare-chested, sitting on the ground on a street that appears to be in Gaza because it has signs of having been bombed.

Some of them are getting into a truck, and in fact another later photograph shows Israeli military trucks transporting dozens of men piled up and without clothes in their trailers.

A third photograph shows what appears to be the same group, kneeling on the ground and blindfolded, with Israeli soldiers in field uniforms around them, on sandy ground that appears to have been disturbed by bulldozers.

EFE consulted the Israeli Army about these images, which promised to provide details on the matter.

Some images were commented on by local journalists from the Strip, who stated that they correspond to civilians captured in Gaza towns such as Beit Lahia.

The photographs and videos, without verification by independent sources, show, according to Israeli media, military checkpoints of the Israeli forces in search of possible “terrorists.”

The dead in Gaza exceed 17,000 and the wounded are more than 46,000, according to the Ministry of Health of France, since the start of Israel's offensive against the Islamist group Hamas, last October 7.

The war broke out after a Hamas attack on Israel that day, with more than 1,200 dead and more than 240 kidnapped in Gaza.

The internally displaced in Gaza are almost 1.9 million, around 80% of its population of about 2.3 million inhabitants, with a serious humanitarian crisis.

Five Guyanese soldiers died and two survived in an accident when they were traveling by helicopter to visit troops near the border with Venezuela, the Guyana Defense Force reported this Thursday.

The Bell 412 helicopter disappeared this Wednesday, about 48 kilometers from the border with Venezuela and its search was made difficult both this Wednesday and Thursday due to bad weather.. The device had taken off from the Ayanganna Military Base (Guyana) towards the town of Arau (Venezuelan Essequibo).

The deceased are Lieutenant Colonel Michael Charles, who piloted the device; Colonel Michael Shahoud, commander of the First Infantry Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Sean Welcome, retired Brigadier General Gary Beaton and Sergeant Jason Khan.

The survivors, whose condition has not been revealed, are Lieutenant Colonel Andio Crawford and Corporal Dwayne Jackson.

The President of Guyana, Irfaan Ali, assured that “the magnitude of this loss is immeasurable” for the country and for the Guyana Defense Force.. “My heart aches and drowns with sadness at the tragic loss of some of our best men in uniform,” he lamented in a statement.

The wreckage of the helicopter was first sighted on Thursday and search and rescue teams reported “positive signs of life at the scene,” according to a statement from the Guyana Defense Force.

Troops and specialized equipment, including doctors, were deployed, but inclement weather prevented the troops from descending to the scene of the incident.. The cause of the tragedy is yet to be determined.

According to authorities, the helicopter departed from the Ayanganna Base, in western Guyana, at 09:23 local time (14:23 GMT) this Wednesday, with three crew members and four passengers. However, at 11:20 (15:20 GMT), the ship sent an emergency alert in the Arau area, in western Guyana.

It could have been manipulated

The Chief of Staff of the Defense Force, Omar Khan, explained last night, from the Ayanganna Base, that the helicopter landed in Olive Creek to refuel, but after taking off again, communication was lost.

The officer indicated that the emergency alert allegedly indicates that the helicopter crashed, fell heavily or may have been manually altered by a crew member.

This accident coincides with an escalation of tension between Guyana and Venezuela due to the territorial dispute they maintain over the Essequibo region.

The president of Guyana assured this Wednesday that the Defense Force is “on maximum alert” and in contact with its military counterparts from other countries, including the United States Southern Command, due to the crisis with Venezuela.

A 5.8 magnitude earthquake with its epicenter in Puebla, a state in central Mexico, activated the seismic alert in Mexico City this Thursday and shook different areas of the country.

The National Seismological Service (SSN) has located the epicenter 25 kilometers south of Chiautla de Tapia, in the central state of Puebla.

“The seismic alert sounded. The epicenter is close to Mexico City. In a moment we continue reporting,” Martí Batres, head of Government of the Mexican capital, has published on his social networks.

“Is everyone okay? Right now I am communicating with @PC_Estatal (State Civil Protection) to have a detailed report of the earthquake,” the governor of Puebla, Sergio Salomón Céspedes, wrote on his X account.

Other states that perceived the movement were Morelos, Puebla and the State of Mexico, in the center of the country.

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said this Thursday that he “hated” having to close schools during the pandemic, considering them “reservoirs of risk”, and defended that his decision to have prioritized the opening of pubs and hairdressers was ” sensible.”

Johnson, in power when the pandemic broke out at the beginning of 2020, testified this Thursday for the second consecutive day in the investigation that seeks to evaluate the measures adopted by his Executive to contain the virus.

The investigation chaired by former judge Heather Hallett aims to evaluate the decisions made by the Conservative Government to confront the crisis between January 2020 and February 2022, when the last restrictions were lifted.

The former 'Tory' leader concluded his speech this Thursday by answering several questions, among which he was asked about his decision not to have reopened the country's schools on July 4, 2020, when, instead, the opening of pubs, beauty salons, non-essential goods shops and other establishments.

According to Johnson, the reopening of schools was one of his “key priorities” in the summer of 2020, when the first confinement was lifted.. Instead, these remained closed while activity resumed in bars or hair salons.

Johnson assured that he “hated” having to make that decision, but justified it by arguing that these centers were “large potential reservoirs of risk” and recalled that “young people can easily transmit the virus to the elderly and more vulnerable people.”

When asked if he considered these to be higher risk repositories than pubs or restaurants, he said: “The Government was focused on how to do things, how to sequence them.” “It seemed sensible to us, taking into account where we were in the school calendar, to resume with the normal return to schools,” he justified.

Rishi Sunak, head of the economy

The decision not to reopen educational centers and give priority, instead, to the reopening of theme parks or the hospitality sector with the program promoted by the then head of the Economy – and current Prime Minister – Rishi Sunak to promote consumption has been very criticized.

During the session, it was recalled how the closure of national schools had a negative impact on the educational progress of children.

According to Anne Longfield, former education commissioner until February 2021, the pandemic was a “disaster” for many vulnerable children or in disadvantaged family situations due to the “indifferent” and “indecisive” management of the Executive in this regard.

During the morning session, Johson also admitted that he is not sure there is concrete evidence that his plan to encourage people to eat out after lockdown in 2020 caused a rise in Covid-19 cases. “I don't think I thought that plan was a long shot at the time and it certainly wasn't presented to me as such, nor am I sure there was very substantial evidence that it did indeed increase the R (reproductive number of the virus),” he said.

Johnson recalled that “the country had made an enormous effort, we lowered the R below one, the disease was no longer spreading as before”, so “it was possible to open” the hospitality sector. When the controversial program was implemented to reactivate the economy, it made sense for restaurants “to have some customers,” he stressed.

The former Conservative leader resigned in 2022 as head of the Government following the controversy surrounding parties at the official residence at 10 Downing Street during the pandemic.

The current British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, will appear this Monday to answer questions about the measures that were adopted when he was head of the Economy in the pandemic.

The World Health Organization (WHO) today warned of the discovery in several countries of five syrups and suspensions with “unacceptable quantities” of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol, potentially toxic substances, in the seventh alert it has issued since October 2022 about similar cases in the world.

The contaminated syrups are called Alergo, Emidone, Mucorid, Ulcofin and Zincell and are produced by the Pakistani laboratory Pharmix.. The contaminated units have so far been located in Pakistan, Maldives, Belize, Fiji and Laos, according to a WHO statement.

The contamination was reported on November 8 and an inspection of the affected laboratories has been carried out, where as a precautionary measure it has been ordered that the affected products be suspended.

The WHO warns that diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol are toxic to humans and can be fatal, causing symptoms such as abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, urinary insufficiencies, headaches and kidney failure.

The first similar alert in the last 14 months occurred in October 2022, when contaminated medications of this type were found in Gambia, where they are believed to have caused at least 70 deaths.

A month later, the WHO issued another alert that affected Indonesia, where the deaths could have been around 200, and in January 2023 one was published for Cambodia and Uzbekistan, the latter country where at least 21 deaths were recorded.

In April, another alert was issued for contaminated syrups in two countries in Oceania (Micronesia and the Marshall Islands), on July 19 there was another one affecting Cameroon and in August one for Iraq.

A shooting at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, has caused “multiple victims,” the city's Metropolitan Police indicated in its initial estimates of the event, adding shortly after that a suspect had been “located and has died.” .

According to the latest information provided by Sheriff Kevin McMahill, “several victims have been transferred to area hospitals.”. In addition, the Police Chief assured that the reasons for the attack are unknown.

The Police have not yet specified the number of people affected, or whether they are dead or injured, and have only stated that “there appear to be multiple victims.”

A few minutes earlier, the Las Vegas Police urged citizens on social media to avoid the area, while the university itself warned its students that the alert received was not a drill and that they should stay safe.

The White House has indicated that it is following what happened very closely. The shootings are “an epidemic that the president (American, Joe Biden) has taken very seriously. That is why we have taken measures. “We are monitoring the situation very closely,” presidential spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said in her daily press conference.

The University of Nevada, abbreviated as UNLV, is a public institution founded in 1957 that has around 31,000 students.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had barely traveled abroad this year, addressed the situation in the Middle East on Wednesday with the leaders of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during a whirlwind tour of the Persian Gulf.

“Our meeting is, without a doubt, timely,” Putin said at the beginning of his meeting with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammad bin Salman, which took place at the Al Yamamah Royal Palace in Riyadh, the Saudi capital.

Like many Arab leaders, Putin has been highly critical of the Israeli bombings against the Gaza Strip and a delegation from the political arm of the Islamist group Hamas even visited Moscow.

“Of course, it is very important for all of us to exchange information and assessments about what is happening in the region,” Putin said in Riyadh, where Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov also traveled.

Putin, whose last visit to the region was in 2019 and who was received by a large Saudi delegation, characterized relations with the kingdom as “very good” and “stable”, both from a political and economic point of view.

A lasting ceasefire

The Kremlin advisor, Yuri Ushakov, assured the day before, regarding Gaza, that “now the most important thing is to achieve a lasting ceasefire, because these fragmented armistices are useless.”

In the morning, in the meeting in Abu Dhabi with the president of the UAE, Mohamed bin Zayed, he also expressed his willingness to discuss the situation in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine.

In this regard, Bin Zayed noted that his country “supports the solution of various conflicts in the world through dialogue and diplomatic methods, in a way that improves global peace and stability,” according to the official news agency, WAM. .

During the meeting, Bin Zayed and Putin also agreed on “the need for the international community to adopt measures to achieve a ceasefire,” as well as to protect civilians and ensure the arrival of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian enclave.

“Both sides stressed the importance of working to find a clear horizon for permanent and comprehensive peace in the region based on the two-state solution,” he said.

Putin seeks allies in the Arab world

At the bilateral level, Putin stressed that “nothing can prevent the development of our friendly relations” and highlighted that the USSR was “almost a hundred years ago” one of the first States to recognize the independence of Saudi Arabia. “In all this time a lot has happened in our relationships. But in the last seven years the relationships acquired a quality and reached a level that they never had before,” he said.

Putin did not hesitate to praise the figure and “wise policy” of Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud, who in 2017 became the first Saudi monarch to visit Moscow, which boosted relations between both countries. “The president is a special and esteemed guest in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In the name of the Government and the people, welcome,” said Bin Salmán.

The de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia also referred to the “great opportunities” for cooperation between both countries, which must “work together for the interests of our people, the region and the entire world.”

Specifically, as reported by Russian public television, Putin proposed to the Saudi authorities the creation of a large joint company in the fertilizer sector.

According to the Kremlin, the bilateral agenda included trade cooperation, investments and the North-South Transport Corridor, to which must be added cooperation within the framework of OPEC+, as in the case of the UAE.

In the last ministerial meeting of the cartel, the Russians agreed to reduce exports to 500,000 barrels per day and the Saudis will maintain the cut by one million barrels until March.

Putin also stressed that “the UAE makes a huge contribution to the stability of the situation in the world, although it is not a permanent member of the UN Security Council.”

Escorted by fighters

Fearing a possible Ukrainian attack, the Russian president's plane was escorted throughout the flight to Riyadh and Abu Dhabi by four Russian Su-35C fighters, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov.

In a gesture with few precedents, since the Kremlin does not usually report these details, Peskov specified that said combat aircraft were equipped “with weapons of different types.”

“For the air escort of the presidential plane, special permits were received from the States through whose territory the flight took place.. We are grateful to the countries for their cooperation,” he explained.

This trip abroad is Putin's third since last March the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against him for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.EF

At least four people have been injured, one of them seriously, this Wednesday in a shooting in the center of Brussels, in the Toison d'Or shopping gallery, according to police sources, who specify that for the moment the perpetrator of The events have not been stopped.

According to the mayor of the Ixelles commune, environmentalist Christos Doulkeridis, the shooting would be part of an “urban gang scenario.”. In addition, several judicial sources confirmed to the Belga agency that the possibility of a drug-related reckoning has not been ruled out.

The local police were alerted around 7:30 p.m. this Wednesday that an attack had occurred in the center of the Belgian capital, where several ambulances and members of the police were sent.

According to the local newspaper nieuwsblad.be, a group of people were in the pedestrian zone on the Gulden Vlies side of the street when suddenly a man approached them, took out a gun and shot them at point-blank range.. The pedestrians ran and the attacker chased them for a while with a loaded gun.

Three of the injured were found in three different places: one in a cafeteria, a second right in front of an Apple Store and a third a little further away.

The police officers have cordoned off the area without finding the alleged perpetrator(s) of the event, indicated the spokeswoman for the local Brussels Police.

The owner of a restaurant located inside the Toison d'Or shopping gallery told the newspaper Le Soir the story of the events transmitted to him by several people who took refuge in his premises immediately after the shooting, including a tourist wounded in a leg. According to this story, the perpetrator of the events was a man who shot several times. The owner of the restaurant assured that the shopping center's security cameras filmed the events.

The French Justice charged this Wednesday Armand Rajabpour-Miyandoab with the stabbing murder last Saturday of a German tourist of Filipino origin next to the Eiffel Tower, shouting “Allah is the greatest” and for trying to kill two other people .

The investigative court indicted this 26-year-old French-Iranian for three crimes, as requested by the French National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor's Office (PNAT), as confirmed to the French press on Wednesday by the detainee's lawyer, Safya Akorri.

The charges are terrorist murder, attempted terrorist murder and terrorist association of criminals.

The PNAT has also demanded that the imprisonment of Armand Rajabpour-Miyandoab be ordered, a decision that after the accusation corresponds to the so-called judge of liberties and detention.

This instance ordered that he remain in provisional detention and in solitary confinement, as Perros also confirmed to the media.

Rajabpour-Minyandoab, who claimed responsibility for the attack on behalf of the Islamic State, was arrested immediately after his attack near the Eiffel Tower thanks to the intervention of police officers, who subdued him with an electric pulse gun.

Hours later, his parents and an acquaintance of his were also arrested, but the three were released without charge after being questioned.

Failure in psychiatric follow-up

The attacker was under the radar of the French secret services since his release from prison in 2020, after having served a five-year terrorism sentence precisely for having prepared a violent attack in the La Defense business district in Paris.

He was also the subject of psychiatric monitoring and his mother recently warned law enforcement that she had detected changes in his behavior that she found disturbing.

But the Police did not have any element to justify his arrest and when they proposed to the mother that she request the ex officio detention of her son, she finally did not want to.

These circumstances have generated controversy in France. The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, has spoken of a failure in psychiatric monitoring and has proposed a legislative reform so that the authorities can intervene in similar cases, at least to force an evaluation of the mental state of a person who is believed to be could commit an attack.

Darmanin explained that around 30% of people booked for Islamic radicalism have psychiatric problems.

The French Prime Minister, Élisabeth Borne, has also spoken out about possible inefficiencies in the face of the terrorist threat – and in the face of criticism from the opposition – who, in an interview published this Wednesday by the newspaper Le Figaro, assured that the Government must “examine all the links in the chain” and “go further” with resources for follow-up, if necessary.

But in the face of the 2024 Paris Olympics, he promised to mobilize the necessary resources and pointed out that although we should not be “naive”, we should not be carried away by misinformation either.

“We have thwarted 43 attacks since 2017 and 1,500 people have been arrested and brought to justice on charges related to terrorism.. We are active in these issues,” stated Borne.