West Jerusalem is carrying out a “de-facto annexation” of the West Bank, the International Court of Justice has ruled
Israel’s construction of settlements on Palestinian land violates the Geneva Convention and amounts to a policy of “de-facto annexation,” the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has declared. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed the “false ruling,” insisting that the West Bank is Jewish land.
The court’s 15 justices agreed on Friday that “the transfer by Israel of settlers to the West Bank and Jerusalem as well as Israel’s maintenance of their presence, is contrary to article 49 of the fourth Geneva Convention”.
Reading out the non-binding advisory opinion, ICJ President Nawaf Salam described Israel’s building of settlements in the West Bank as a “de-facto annexation” of the territory, and stated that the Jewish state should end its “unlawful” presence in occupied Palestinian territory as “rapidly as possible.”
The ICJ has been investigating Israel’s “policies and practices” toward the occupied Palestinian territories since early 2023, at the request of the UN General Assembly. At a series of hearings in February, the Palestinian Authority’s foreign minister, Riad Malki, accused Israel of apartheid and called on the court to declare the occupation of Palestinian land illegal. Israel did not send legal....more below
https://www.rt.com/news/601359-un-israel-annexation-settlements/
US President Donald Trump confirmed on Wednesday the upcoming start of ground strikes against drug cartel targets in Latin America.
He made the remarks during Christmas greetings to the military.
Trump said the United States was "now going after the land" in its fight against drug cartel targets, noting that drug trafficking by sea was down 96 percent.
The U.S. president also extended special congratulations to the crew of the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, currently deployed in the Caribbean.
BEIJING (Sputnik) - China has begun operating the world's first intelligent ultra-large oil tanker powered by methanol, the China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Monday.
The tanker, designed to transport crude oil, was successfully put into operation in the city of Dalian in China's northeastern coastal province of Liaoning, the report said. State-owned company Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co Ltd independently designed and built the vessel, it added.
The tanker is approximately 333 meters (1,092 feet) long and can carry around 2.1 million barrels of crude oil, the CCTV reported. Designed to produce low emissions and having intelligent control capabilities, the tanker will serve the route to the Middle East, among others, according to the report.
The vessel is powered by a dual-fuel methanol engine, which reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 92% compared to conventional fuel, the CCTV reported. It is equipped with an intelligent ship platform, an intelligent liquid cargo ...
A car bomb has killed a senior General Staff member, officials have confirmed
Source: The Investigative Committee
A Russian general has been killed in a car bomb blast in Moscow, the Investigative Committee has reported.
Officials identified the victim as Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, head of operational training at the General Staff. According to the statement, an explosive device had been planted beneath the vehicle he was traveling in, and detonated on Monday morning in the southern part of the Russian capital.
The blast also damaged several other vehicles and seriously injured Sarvarov’s driver, media reports stated.
Russian officials said one line of investigation is an assassination carried out by Ukrainian intelligence services, noting that Kiev has previously used explosive devices in targeted killings of officials and public figures.
Last December, a bomb hidden in an e-scooter killed Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, commander of Russia’s Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense ...
