التصنيف: أخبار

The International Court of Justice in the Hague is best thought of as the United Nation’s court or, in simpler terms, the world’s court.

It was set up as a branch of the UN to settle disputes between states and to give advisory opinions on matters of international law.

The UN is made up of member states. If they have disagreements, it is the court’s job to resolve them and pronounce judgment.

It has 15 judges elected from member states by the UN General Assembly and UN Security Council.

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Is that the right place to bring a case about genocide?

Not necessarily, and that is part of what judges must decide.

The court is more used to considering disputes over land, boundaries, and sovereignty, between two member nations

However, it has considered allegations of genocide before.

Ukraine accused Russia of the crime in its invasion in 2022.

But this is South Africa, a third-party country bringing a case about Israel

A precedent has been set for that as well.

In 2019, Gambia brought a case against Myanmar, alleging it had committed genocidal acts against the Rohingya people.

The ICJ is expected to decide whether it does have jurisdiction in this new case being brought by South Africa.

Why is South Africa bringing this case?

South Africa says it is doing so because it is horrified by Israel’s conduct during this war and it must stop.

It hopes not least for an interim ruling that will demand a ceasefire.

But Israel says it is acting for political reasons.

The South African ruling party – the ANC – has long been a close supporter of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) and South Africa sees the Gaza conflict as a colonial war with echoes of their own past conflict.

Israel says that is misleading nonsense.

Does South Africa have a case?

The South African case is that Israel has violated the Genocide Convention, to which it is a signatory.

It cites the huge number of Palestinians killed by Israel, and the deliberate restriction on supplies of water, food, fuel and medical supplies imposed by Israel.

And most worryingly for Israel, the inflammatory statements made by senior Israeli officials during the war dehumanising Palestinians and, the South Africans believe, inciting genocide.

What does Israel say in its defence?

The Israeli legal team is not saying much for now, saving it for the court.

But supporters and legal experts say there was no explicit command or programme of action conceived and executed to carry out a genocide – namely the destruction of an entire people.

And they say they have taken measures to avoid civilian casualties, which would be perverse if they were planning to wipe them all out.

Who is likely to win?

Genocide is one of the hardest allegations to prove in a court of law.

It requires a very high bar of proof.

Destroying an entire race or people requires the resources of a state.

South Africa must show that the government of Israel planned the annihilation of the people of Gaza, ordered it, and set in motion actions to achieve it.

Joining the dots between some inflammatory rhetoric and a lot of people dying will most likely not be enough.

So Israel has nothing to worry about?

Not necessarily.

It is fair to say that even if the court decides it has the jurisdiction to consider the case, reaching a firm conclusion either way will most likely take years.

But it can also make an interim judgement, and for that, the bar is much lower.

South Africa must only prove it is “plausible” that Israel plotted genocide.

For that to stick, the official statements, supply restrictions, and the extraordinary number of dead civilians may be enough.

And what would an interim judgment against Israel mean?

The court could then order action.

That could range from a demand Israel stop its inflammatory rhetoric, to an order that it ceases all military action until the case has been fully considered.

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That would put Israel and its backers, the US, in a bind, because they believe the war must go on until Hamas is dismantled.

Would Israel have to comply?

Both America and Russia have ignored ICJ rulings against them in the past.

Israel may try to do the same.

But it would be hard for Israel to continue a war in the teeth of a ruling handed down by a universally recognised court.

And it would still have to live with a reputation tainted by allegations of one of the worst possible crimes.

For a country established in the wake of a genocide against its own people, that would be a very bitter outcome indeed.

Starbucks is being sued in the US for alleged false advertising over how ethically sourced its products are.

The lawsuit centres on accusations it is getting coffee and tea from farms that have human rights and labour abuses, when the company says it is committed to “100% ethical sourcing”.

The legal action, which has been filed in court in Washington DC, is being brought on behalf of US consumers by the National Consumers League which cites reports about alleged abuses on farms in Guatemala, Kenya and Brazil.

The advocacy group alleges the world’s biggest coffee shop chain has continued to buy from these suppliers despite the alleged violations.

Sally Greenberg, the league’s chief executive, said: “On every bag of coffee and box of K-cups that Starbucks sells, Starbucks is heralding its commitment to 100% ethical sourcing.

“But it’s pretty clear that there are significant human rights and labour abuses across Starbucks’ supply chain.”

She said the lawsuit tries to prevent Starbucks from making claims in its advertising that it is “committed to 100% ethical coffee sourcing”, unless the company raises the standard of labour practices in its supply chain.

In recent years, officials in Brazil have clamped down on several reported Starbucks suppliers over alleged abusive and unsafe practices.

These accusations include farms taking the cost of harvesting equipment out of workers’ wages, not providing clean drinking water, personal protective equipment and toilets, and employing people who are underage, according to news organisation Reporter Brasil.

It said that in 2022, 17 workers, including three people under 18, were rescued by inspectors from “modern slavery” at a coffee farm managed by a man whose coffee roaster company got Starbucks’ seal of certification a month earlier.

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Like many companies, Starbucks uses third-party certification programmes to ensure the integrity of its supply chains for tea and cocoa.

The company launched its own sourcing standards, called Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E.) Practices, in 2004 to oversee its coffee sourcing in more than 30 countries.

The verification programme holds Starbucks coffee suppliers to more than 200 environmental, labour and quality standards. Farms which fail to meet those can be barred from supplying the company until corrective action is confirmed.

But experts say there have been questions over how effective such programmes are, reported NBC News, Sky’s US partner network.

In response to the Reporter Brasil stories and reported labour abuses in Kenya and Guatemala cited in the lawsuit, Starbucks issued statements that the company was “deeply concerned,” and it would “thoroughly investigate” claims of labour violations, “take immediate action” to suspend purchases or “ensure corrective action” occurred.

A spokesperson for Starbucks did not immediately respond to a request from NBC News, for comment on its sourcing relationships with the farms and companies mentioned in the lawsuit.

But in an earlier statement to NBC News, Starbucks said: “We take allegations like these extremely seriously and are actively engaged with farms to ensure they adhere to our standards.

“Each supply chain is required to undergo reverification regularly and we remain committed to working with our business partners to meet the expectations detailed in our Global Human Rights Statement.”

The streets in Ecuador fell silent the day after hooded gunman invaded a live television broadcast, as President Daniel Noboa declared a “state of war” on drug-trafficking gangs.

Residents in the country’s capital Quito and port city of Guayaquil likened the atmosphere to a pandemic lockdown, with many businesses closed and schools shuttered.

“It’s horrible, the streets are very empty,” Rodolfo Tuaz, a 40-year-old security guard said. “It’s a very cold environment, as if there were a new COVID.”

It comes after live television images broadcast on Tuesday showed people wearing balaclavas – some waving guns – inside Ecuador’s TC Television station in Guayaquil.

Alleged gang members were seen telling TC staff to lie down on the floor and claimed that they had “bombs”, while shouting and noises similar to gunshots could be heard in the background.

The government said nearly 330 people, including 13 people in connection with the live broadcast raid, had been arrested for alleged acts of terrorism.

In an updated statement, President Noboa said: “We are in a state of war and we cannot give in.”

“We’ve taken measures that should have been taken a long time ago, and which past governments didn’t take the decision to do,” he said.

“We are living in a state practically of war against terrorism, these are not organised criminal groups, but terrorists sometimes financed by narcotraffic, sometimes human trafficking, organ trafficking, gunrunning.”

He named 22 gangs as terrorist organisations, making them official military targets.

The president warned that judges, prosecutors and officials who collaborated with the gangs would be considered part of a terrorist network.

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Unrest was triggered after the leader of one of Ecuador’s most powerful drug gangs – Los Choneros – disappeared from prison.

Adolfo Macias – also known as Fito – was serving a 34-year sentence in La Regional prison for drug trafficking and murder when he was reported missing from his cell on 6 January.

President Noboa declared a 60-day state of emergency, which he hardened after more than 130 prison guards and staff were taken hostage inside prisons and a series of explosions were reported across the South American country.

The government claimed the latest wave of violence is a reaction to the president’s plan to build new high-security prisons for gang leaders.

The country will also begin deporting foreign prisoners, especially Colombians, to reduce prison populations and spending.

Rishi Sunak suffered a small rebellion on Wednesday night as eight Tory MPs voted against a “draconian” bill to ban public bodies from boycotting Israel.

The Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill ultimately passed its third reading in the Commons, but it was attacked by senior Conservatives as an affront to free speech and in breach of international law.

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The bill, also known as the anti-BDS bill, seeks to prevent public bodies, including councils, from boycotting, disinvesting or sanctioning a particular international territory, unless endorsed by the government’s own foreign policy.

The legislation fulfils a 2019 Conservative manifesto promise but has made its way through parliament during the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East.

Former minister Kit Malthouse, one of the Tory rebels who voted against it, told the Commons: “The fact we would be seeking to legislate against non-violent protest in such an illiberal and draconian way seems to be tragic at this particular point in time.”

Mr Malthouse argued against a section of the legislation that bans public authorities from saying they would back a boycott if it was lawful, insisting the bill could stand “without those restrictions on freedom of speech”.

He also criticised the way the bill gives ministers the power to make certain countries exempt from the boycott restrictions but not Israel, and appears to include the Occupied Territories and the Occupied Golan Heights as part of its definition of Israel.

Mr Malthouse said this “contravenes international law” and means the bill could “spend a lot of time in the courts”, while “dismaying our allies in the Arab world”.

Those concerns were shared by deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner, who said that while her party “completely opposes a policy of boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel”, the bill is “deeply flawed”.

“Explicitly equating Israel with the Occupied Palestinian Territories and the Golan Heights is an unprecedented step,” she said.

“To my knowledge, this wording has never appeared in British statute before and it seriously undermines our country’s longstanding, consistent and cross-party support for a two-state solution.”

Labour had put forward an amendment calling for the bill to be stopped in its tracks but this was voted down by MPs.

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The bill passed by 282 to 235, a majority 47, and it will now make its way through the House of Lords.

Labour backbencher Andy Slaughter predicted the bill “will not see the light of day before a general election” following scrutiny in the Upper Chamber, where it is likely to face further opposition.

The division list showed there were eight Tory rebels voting against the bill in the Commons, including Alicia Kearns, the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and former ministers Mr Malthouse, Vicky Ford, David Jones, and George Eustice.

They also included Flick Drummond (Meon Valley), William Wragg (Hazel Grove), and Paul Bristow (Peterborough).

Ms Kearns told The Guardian: “This bill is flawed in four key areas: it breaks with our foreign policy; undermines freedom of speech; goes against international law; and promotes an odd exceptionalism in UK primary legislation.”

Bill ‘helps fight antisemitism’

Communities Secretary Michael Gove robustly defended the bill, saying it would prevent public bodies “taking decisions which conflict with UK Government foreign policy” and help fight antisemitism.

He added: “There is a clear intention in this bill which is to deal specifically with the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) campaign, and the BDS’s campaign attempt to use local government and other intermediate institutions and their legitimacy to undermine the UK Government’s foreign policy.”

The BDS movement aims to end international support for Israel’s “oppression of Palestinians” but it has been labelled antisemitic by Israel, Germany and the US.

Mr Gove also insisted the bill won’t stop ministers taking action “if we believe that there is activity in the Occupied Palestinian Territories that requires to be called out”, and would still allow Downing Street to establish sanctions and travel bans “against those who have been linked to blatant human rights abuses” in Israel.

The bill was debated as pro-Palestinian demonstrations continue, with huge crowds gathered outside Downing Street on Wednesday evening.

Meanwhile US secretary of state Antony Blinken travelled to the Middle East, his fourth visit in three months, to hold talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas about post-war plans for Gaza.

Against the backdrop of the visit, Israel is sending top legal minds, including a Holocaust survivor, to The Hague this week to counter allegations it is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

With no end in sight to the conflict, Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron admitted on Tuesday that he is “worried” Israel “might have” broken international law, and that two British nationals remain hostage in Gaza.

Rescue teams searching a California ski resort near Lake Tahoe following an avalanche say one person has died and another has been injured.

A major storm with snow and gusty winds moved into the region after a series of powerful winter storms swept through parts of the eastern US and Canada, claiming the lives of at least five people and leaving more than half a million people without power.

The avalanche in California took place around 9.30am at Palisades Tahoe, according to the resort.

Authorities said a man had died and another man was injured – and that no one else was missing.

The mountain was closed for the day, with weather experts recording 110mph (177kph) gusts on Tuesday afternoon at the summit of Alpine Meadows, the neighbouring sister resort of Palisades.

Sergeant David Smith, a spokesperson for the Placer County sheriff, earlier told The Associated Press there were “no confirmed reports” of people trapped in the avalanche, but search teams were assessing the area.

It comes as a storm sweeps across the country towards the west coast of the US, following a series of strong winter storms in the east of the country.

Near Cottonwood, Alabama, a small city near the Georgia and Florida borders, an 81-year-old woman was killed when her mobile home was tossed from its foundation, the Houston County coroner said.

A suspected tornado had touched down in the area.

Police in Clayton County, south of Atlanta, said a man died during heavy rain when a tree fell on his car on a state road in Jonesboro.

Another man was also crushed to death by a tree that came down in Birmingham, Alabama, on Tuesday morning, local media, citing local officials, reported.

Authorities in Missouri said a 17-year-old female driver from Rolla was killed Tuesday evening after she lost control of the car, struck a portion of the overpass, and then was hit by a tractor-trailer.

In North Carolina, one person died and two others were in critical condition after a suspected tornado struck a mobile home park in the town of Claremont, north of Charlotte, said Amy McCauley, a spokesperson for Catawba County.

Storm-related injuries were reported in Florida, but no deaths.

Meanwhile, more than 630,000 households in the eastern US, from Florida to New York State, were without electricity, as of Tuesday evening.

New Jersey governor Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency and New York City officials evacuated nearly 2,000 migrants housed at a sprawling tent complex.

In Maine, Governor Janet Mills delayed the opening of all state offices until noon on Wednesday due to the storm.

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Rain and high winds extended into the nation’s capital, forcing vice president Kamala Harris’s aircraft to divert from Joint Base Andrews to Dulles International Airport near Washington when it encountered wind shear, a sudden shift in wind direction or speed.

Many areas of Florida remained under flood watches, warnings and advisories early Wednesday morning amid concerns that streams and rivers were topping their banks.

Governor Ron DeSantis, who gave his State of the State address as tornado warnings were active outside the Capitol, issued an executive order to include 49 counties in North Florida under a state of emergency.

The storm also caused severe coastal flooding in New Hampshire, and in Bamberg, South Carolina, a possible tornado knocked down several old brick storefronts.

Another storm that began on Monday buried cities across the Midwest in snow, stranding people on roads.

Some areas saw up to a foot of snow on Monday, including Kansas, eastern Nebraska and South Dakota, western Iowa, and southwestern Minnesota.

In southeastern Wisconsin, an SUV driver died on Tuesday in a head-on collision with a semitrailer on a slushy, snowy state highway, authorities said.

In western Michigan, a 35-year-old woman died after she lost control of her minivan on a slushy road and it collided with an SUV, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said.

The ambulance taking her to a Grand Rapids hospital, where she was pronounced dead, was struck by another vehicle en route there, and a second ambulance was needed to finish the transport to the hospital.