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Palestinian survivor of Israeli sexual abuse testifies at UN

Palestinian survivor of Israeli sexual abuse testifies at UN

NewsFeed The United Nations has heard testimony from Palestinians who detailed beatings, torture and sexual abuse they suffered at the hands of Israeli settlers and security agents. Mohamed Matar told the UN’s independent Commission of Inquiry on the occupied West Bank, that the abuse left him traumatised for months. Published On 12 Mar 202512 Mar 2025 Adblock test (Why?)

Russia claims more gains in Kursk as Ukraine hints at pullback

Russia claims more gains in Kursk as Ukraine hints at pullback

Putin hails advances in Kursk during a rare visit, promising to fully liberate the region from Ukrainian forces soon. Ukrainian troops appear on the point of losing their hard-won foothold inside Russia’s Kursk region as Moscow claims further advances there and military bloggers on both sides say Kyiv’s forces are withdrawing. Ukraine sprang one of the biggest shocks of the war on August 6 last year by storming across the border and seizing territory inside Russia, boosting citizens’ morale and gaining a potential bargaining chip. But after clinging for more than seven months to a gradually shrinking area, Ukraine has seen its position worsen sharply in the past week. Russia’s Ministry of Defence on Wednesday reported the capture of five more villages, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “the dynamics are good”. A video published by Russian bloggers and state media showed troops standing with a Russian tricolour flag on a square in the centre of Sudzha, a town near the Ukrainian border on a highway used by Ukraine as a supply route. In his first visit to the region since Ukraine launched its shock counteroffensive, Russian President Vladimir Putin, dressed in army camouflage, hailed the recent gains and urged his troops on. Advertisement “I am counting on the fact that all the combat tasks facing our units will be fulfilled, and the territory of the Kursk region will soon be completely liberated from the enemy,” he said. Minutes after footage of Putin’s remarks aired on Russian state TV, Ukraine’s army commander hinted his troops were pulling back to minimise losses. “In the most difficult situation, my priority has been and remains saving the lives of Ukrainian soldiers. To this end, the units of the defence forces, if necessary, manoeuvre to more favourable positions,” commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskii said in a Facebook post, in language typically used to describe a withdrawal. He added, however: “Despite the increased pressure from the Russian/North Korean army, we will hold the defence in the Kursk region as long as it is appropriate and necessary.” Active fighting continued in the outskirts of the town of Sudzha and around it, according to Syrskii. The Russian advance on the battlefield comes as the United States says it wants Russia to agree “unconditionally” to a complete 30-day ceasefire – a plan Kyiv has endorsed. The Kremlin said it was examining the US ceasefire proposal, but Putin has previously said he is not interested in a temporary truce and would rather have a full stop. Adblock test (Why?)

DRC and M23 rebels to begin direct talks next week, mediator Angola says

DRC and M23 rebels to begin direct talks next week, mediator Angola says

A spokesperson for DRC’s President Felix Tshisekedi told the Reuters news agency that they had received an invitation from Angola for the talks. The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels will hold talks next week, mediator Angola has announced. A statement from President Joao Lourenco’s office on Wednesday said the two parties would begin “direct peace negotiations” in the Angolan capital Luanda on March 18. Angola has previously acted as a mediator in the eastern DRC conflict that escalated in late January when the M23 took control of the strategic eastern Congo city of Goma. In February, M23 seized Bukavu, eastern Congo’s second-biggest city. Rwanda denies backing the M23 armed group in the conflict, which is rooted in the spread of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide into DRC, and the struggle for control of DRC’s vast mineral resources. DRC President Felix Tshisekedi was in Angola on Tuesday to discuss the possibility of talks and his spokesperson Tina Salama told the Reuters news agency on Wednesday that the government had received an invitation from Angola but did not say whether it would participate in the talks. Advertisement M23 leader Bertrand Bisimwa wrote on X that the rebels had forced Tshisekedi to the negotiating table, calling it “the only civilized option to resolve the current crisis that has lasted for decades.” The government has said at least 7,000 people have died in the conflict since January. Last week, the United Nations refugee agency reported that nearly 80,000 people have fled the country due to the armed conflict. Since January, 61,000 have arrived in neighbouring Burundi, the agency’s deputy director of international protection, Patrick Eba, said. M23 is one of about 100 armed groups vying to control resources in eastern Congo, home to vast reserves of strategic minerals such as coltan, cobalt, copper and lithium. DRC’s neighbours, including South Africa, Burundi, and Uganda, have troops stationed in east Congo, increasing fears of an all-out regional war that could resemble the Congo wars of the 1990s and early 2000s that killed millions of people. Adblock test (Why?)

Idaho becomes first state to prefer death by firing squad for executions

Idaho becomes first state to prefer death by firing squad for executions

Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed his name on a bill Wednesday making Idaho the only state in the U.S. to have a firing squad designated as the preferred execution method for capital punishment, beginning next year. The governor’s action comes less than a week after Brad Sigmon, 67, of South Carolina, was executed by way of a firing squad for killing his ex-girlfriend’s parents with a baseball bat in 2001. Sigmon was pronounced dead nearly three minutes after being shot by three volunteer prison employees last Friday – a method used for the first time in 15 years in the U.S. The Idaho Statesman reported that Idaho has nine prisoners on death row, though the death penalty has not been carried out in the state in over a dozen years. IDAHO BEEFS UP FIRING SQUAD AS BRYAN KOHBERGER TRIAL NEARS Last year, the state was unable to execute Thomas Eugene Creech, one of the longest-serving death row inmates in the U.S. Medical personnel administering the lethal injection failed to establish an IV line despite trying for roughly an hour. The bill’s tracking sheet shows that over two-thirds of the Republican-controlled legislature supported the measure, which, along with making death by firing squad the preferred method, also kept lethal injection as the state’s backup method. Fox News Digital has reached out to Little’s office for comment on the matter. IDAHO SERIAL KILLER SURVIVES LETHAL INJECTION ATTEMPT, PROMPTING RENEWED PUSH FOR FIRING SQUAD Little approved a law in 2023 to add execution by firing squad as the state’s backup execution method, though at the time he said his preferred method was by lethal injection. Idaho, then became the fifth state in the country to legalize the practice, following Utah, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Mississippi. This time around, bill sponsor Rep. Bruce Skaug, who previously pushed for legislation that restored the firing squad as a backup option to lethal injection, argued that the botched lethal injection of Creech last year highlights problems with that method. IDAHO’S MOVE TO RESURRECT FIRING SQUAD ‘MAKES SENSE’ AS ‘QUICKEST, SUREST’ DEATH PENALTY OPTION, EXPERT SAYS The newly legalized execution method could impact the state’s eight current death row inmates and possibly the future University of Idaho college murders suspect Bryan Kohberger.  Little signed the bill as prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty for Kohberger if he is convicted. His trial is scheduled for later this year, and he faces four charges of first-degree murder and another charge of felony burglary. A judge entered not-guilty pleas on his behalf at his arraignment.  Fox News Digital’s Michael Ruiz and Stepheny Price contributed to this report.

Hegseth orders review of military fitness and grooming standards: ‘Our adversaries are not growing weaker’

Hegseth orders review of military fitness and grooming standards: ‘Our adversaries are not growing weaker’

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is ordering a review of military fitness and grooming standards as the Trump administration continues to reverse policies critics say have made America’s fighting force appear weaker on the global stage.  In a memo Wednesday to senior Pentagon leadership, Hegseth ordered Darin Selnick, the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, to gather existing standards in all U.S. military branches related to physical fitness, body composition and grooming, including regulations on beards.  “We must remain vigilant in maintaining the standards that enable the men and women of our military to protect the American people and our homeland as the world’s most lethal and effective fighting force,” Hegseth said in a statement. “Our adversaries are not growing weaker, and our tasks are not growing less challenging.” SECRETARY HEGSETH SAYS THE DOD DOES NOT DO ‘CLIMATE CHANGE CRAP’ The review will “illuminate how the department has maintained the level of standards required over the recent past and the trajectory of any change in those standards,” he added.  DOGE INITIAL FINDINGS ON DEFENSE DEPARTMENT DEI SPENDING COULD SAVE $80M, AGENCY SAYS Leaders will look at how those standards have changed since Jan. 1, 2015, and provide insight into how they have evolved and the effect of those changes.   Hegseth has vowed to bring back tougher standards while reversing “woke” policies that don’t align with restoring the warrior ethos, rebuilding the military and reestablishing deterrence.    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Our standards will be high, uncompromising, and clear,” he said in a Jan. 25 memo to service members. “The strength of our military is our unity and our shared purpose.”