IAEA official to visit Iran, no nuclear sites inspection planned, media say
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The Guardian
20 minutes ago
- The Guardian
South Korean court orders arrest of impeached former president's wife
A South Korean court on Tuesday ordered the arrest of Kim Keon Hee, the wife of impeached former president Yoon Suk Yeol, making her the first former first lady to be arrested in the country's history. The Seoul central district court ruling creates an unprecedented situation where both members of a former presidential couple are simultaneously in custody. Her husband, Yoon Suk Yeol, was sent back into detention in July as prosecutors investigate his failed attempt to impose martial law in December last year. A special counsel was established after Lee Jae Myung was elected president in June to investigate 16 criminal allegations against Kim. However, Wednesday's arrest warrant covered only three charges. Prosecutors allege she earned over 800 million won (£428,000) through manipulating the stock prices of Deutsch Motors, a local BMW dealership, between 2010 and 2012, by conspiring with others to artificially inflate shares. She is also accused of receiving over 270 million won worth of illegal political funding through free opinion polling services, and using this to influence candidate selections for the conservative People Power party in the country's 2022 byelections. The third charge involves accepting luxury gifts including Chanel handbags and expensive jewellery from the Unification Church through a shaman intermediary, in exchange for favourable treatment of development projects in Cambodia. Kim was questioned for over seven hours by investigators last week before the arrest warrant was sought. On issuing the warrant, judge Jeong Jae-wook cited 'concerns about evidence destruction' as the primary reason for detention, according to Yonhap News. The decision came after Kim spent four and a half hours in court, where she denied all charges against her. During the hearing, Kim reportedly expressed frustration about her personal affairs being scrutinised, telling the judge she was 'upset that even issues from before my marriage keep being brought up'. She will be held at Nambu detention centre in south-western Seoul, separate from her husband, who has been in custody at Seoul detention centre since July. Once considered to wield enormous influence behind the scenes during her husband's presidency, the former arts exhibition company executive was embroiled in a series of issues throughout his term, including the infamous Dior bag scandal, which prosecutors are now also reinvestigating. In recent weeks, both her master's and doctoral degrees were revoked over thesis plagiarism.
The Guardian
28 minutes ago
- The Guardian
On Gaza's killing fields, journalism faces its darkest hour – but that won't stop us reporting
As the world witnesses the horrors unfolding in Gaza, a related tragedy continues with chilling regularity: the systematic targeting and killing of journalists. Just as the Gaza journalistic community thought matters could not get any worse, Benjamin Netanyahu's brutal occupying forces carried out yet another cold-blooded murder on Sunday, this time of the Al Jazeera journalists Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qraiqea, along with videographers Ibrahim Thaher, Mohammed Nofal and their colleagues. They were sheltering in a media tent near al-Shifa hospital, and were killed by a direct strike. The Israeli war machine, accelerating its stated goal of occupying Gaza, showed no restraint in targeting journalists, in violation of international conventions. So far in this war it has killed 238 of us. The war on Gaza has become the deadliest conflict for journalists and media workers in living memory, with 2024 recording the highest number of journalists killed, the vast majority at the hands of Israeli forces. The systematic targeting and elimination of journalists is not merely a local or regional tragedy; it is a catastrophic breach of international norms regarding the protection of journalists in conflict zones, signalling a global collapse of the moral responsibility in safeguarding those who risk everything to shed light on the realities of war. Gaza is not the only place where journalists are under siege. Threats, intimidation and murderous violence against journalists are on the rise. However, what differentiates Israeli crimes is the impunity with which the occupation forces murder journalists and the indifference shown by leaders of the so-called free world. What is especially shocking is when some media organisations repeat the Israeli regime's false allegations against targeted journalists without verification. By any measure, it is the most dangerous time to be a journalist in recent history. Reporters are threatened, harassed and killed merely for fulfilling their public duty of bearing witness and reporting the truth. Worldwide, the dangers faced by journalists in conflict zones have intensified. In 2023, a journalist or media worker was killed, on average, every four days. In 2024, this grim statistic worsened to once every three days, most of those by Israeli forces. The journalists in Gaza are not parachuted-in international correspondents but local journalists – those who know the land, the people and the stories best. These journalists are not just reporting on Gaza's tragedy; they are living it. This surge in violence against journalists is neither accidental nor isolated. It is part of a broader, deeply worrying trend: the systematic silencing of the media, often orchestrated by autocrats and regimes who seek to conceal their crimes in darkness. This should horrify us all. It is an assault not only on individual reporters but on the entire global public's right to know, to understand the depth of human suffering, and to hold the powerful to account. Beyond the killings of more than 230 journalists, Israel now employs starvation as a tool, with journalists pushed to the brink, collapsing from hunger while reporting. At Al Jazeera, we have lost colleagues and their family members in Gaza, with the latest killing of Anas al-Sharif and his colleagues bringing the total number of the network's journalists killed to nine. Our colleagues have been forced to report not just on the atrocities happening to civilians, but on the direct attacks against those whose only weapon is a microphone or a camera. Despite this, we insist on continuing in our professional duty. We remain committed to reporting unfolding genocide, despite Israeli efforts to blind us and the world. We will tirelessly work to strengthen the teams and to remain faithful to our global audience, who have a right to be informed. But this requires international solidarity, and the exertion of full pressure on Israel to stop targeting and killing journalists and to allow international media access and freedom of operation in the Gaza Strip. The international community must act, urgently and decisively, to safeguard journalists and to protect those who risk everything to inform the world about the continuing humanitarian catastrophe and genocide in Gaza. Journalists must be allowed to perform their duties without fear of violence. Anything less is a betrayal of the most fundamental principles of free expression. We owe it to the courageous journalists in Gaza to amplify their voices. Their work is not merely documentation; it is the first draft of history, whereby future historians will study the horrors of the 21st century's most televised genocide. Access to reliable information about wars and conflicts is not a luxury; it is essential for the wellbeing of global populations, the protection of human rights and the global effort to hold perpetrators of war crimes accountable. When journalists are silenced, we all become more vulnerable to disinformation, propaganda and the unchecked abuse of power. We are at a crossroads. If the world continues to tolerate the murder, starvation and persecution of journalists, it is not only journalism that will suffer, but also accountability, democracy and the possibility of a more just future. The international legal framework for the protection of journalists in war must be urgently strengthened and enforced, and governments must be held to account for violations. The international journalistic community, and indeed the world, bears an immense responsibility. The courage, commitment and sacrifice of journalists in Gaza demand nothing less than our full support and unrelenting advocacy. Our inaction will be recorded by history as a monumental failure to protect those who stood at the frontlines of truth. Asef Hamidi is the director of news, Al Jazeera Channel Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
Sky News
31 minutes ago
- Sky News
Inside settler violence in the West Bank
Who are the Israeli settlers forcing Palestinians from their homes? Chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay has been in the West Bank, witnessing the Israeli settlers who are forcing Palestinians from their homes. He also sees how the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) is protecting the growing number of Israelis claiming this land is theirs. Stuart meets one Palestinian man who left for work and when he returned home, he found his home had been taken over by Israeli settlers. He also meets the settlers who say this land belongs to them. To watch Stuart's film in full, click here.
