Former BBC News Chief: Israel’s Killing of Al Jazeera Journalists Among Worst Attacks on Press in History
Jon Williams warns the deliberate targeting of 17 Palestinian reporters has left Gaza’s few remaining journalists—mostly freelancers—at extreme risk, calling British calls for probes “cheap talk”
Former BBC newsroom chief and Rory Peck Trust executive director Jon Williams has condemned Israel’s killing of several Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza on Sunday, calling it “one of the worst attacks on journalists ever.” The Israeli attack killed five Al Jazeera journalists, the network reported: the correspondents Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh; the photographers Ibrahim Zaher and Moamen Aliwa; and an assistant, Mohammed Noufal. Speaking to the BBC, he warned that silencing their voices will make it far harder for the world to know what is happening in the besieged enclave, where only a handful of reporters remain—most of them freelancers working under constant threat in an atmosphere of impunity. Responding to a British government call for an independent investigation, Williams said: “Not in a single case of the killing of a Palestinian journalist by Israel has anyone, ever be held to account. Before October 7th and after October 7. Talk is cheap - action needs to be taken. And actions speak louder than words.” The fact that 17 journalists have been been deliberately targeted and killed by Israel is “a truly shocking statistic.”
Watch the BBC interview below.
The Israeli airstrike that deliberately killed several Al Jazeera journalists has aggravated tensions between Israel and Qatar, which funds the television network and is also a central mediator in talks to end the war in Gaza. The Israeli military had accused Mr. al-Sharif of being a Hamas fighter — an allegation that he and the network had rejected — and pointedly identified Al Jazeera as “Qatari.” The government of Qatar responded with a strong condemnation. “The deliberate targeting of journalists by Israel in the Gaza Strip reveals how these crimes are beyond imagination,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, the prime minister of Qatar, said on Monday, in criticizing the international community’s inability “to stop this tragedy.” Mourners buried the journalists on Monday. The United Nations human rights office condemned the killing as a grave breach of international law, adding that at least 242 Palestinian journalists had been killed in Gaza since the war began. Despite the rising tensions, Qatar is expected to continue mediating Israel-Hamas talks - NYT
The BRICS group of nations has coalesced into a tighter alliance in the face of Washington’s tariff threats, despite US President Donald Trump arguing earlier this year that “BRICS is dead.” Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva yesterday held a call with Chinese leader Xi Jinping during which they vowed to “defend multilateralism” against Washington’s threats and agreed to increase bilateral trade. Meanwhile Russian President Vladimir Putin has held separate calls with his BRICS counterparts to brief them on his plans for Friday’s meeting with Trump in Alaska. The group has also expanded recently, adding more than a dozen nations in the last year. BRICS is “focused on people and development, not conflict,” Lula said - RFE/RL
European Union leaders are preparing to issue a joint statement underlining the bloc's support for Ukraine's territorial integrity and the need for Kyiv to be at the table of any talks on its future ahead of a the Us-Russia summit in Alaska. The seven-point draft statement, seen by RFE/RL, was circulated among EU member states after an online meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers late on August 11. The meeting was called over the weekend to compare notes and come to common positions after US envoy Steve Witkoff met with Putin last week and the subsequent briefings to various European leaders and officials by US Vice President JD Vance in England. The participants in the meeting said they recognized the need for dialogue with the United States before Putin and Trump meet so that the US side is not lured into Putin's "trap," said an EU diplomat who spoke to RFE/RL on the condition of anonymity. The diplomat added that a cease-fire and "deliverables" are needed from Russia before talks about long-term peace, territorials claims, and other matters can be addressed - RFE/RL
Russian forces have intensified their offensive in eastern Ukraine, pushing towards the Dobropillia–Kramatorsk highway in the Donetsk region, according to reports. Ukraine’s open-source intelligence project DeepState said that Moscow troops have probably seized nearby settlements to support further offensive operations as they are trying to pierce Ukrainian defences. The DeepState map now shows the grey zone touching the Dobropillia–Kramatorsk highway, which was used regularly by civilian and military traffic just weeks ago. Dobropillia lies 94 kilometres northwest of Russian-occupied Donetsk, and about 22 kilometres north of the embattled city of Pokrovsk. The offensive has gained pace in August, endangering the key Ukrainian logistics routes, which might now be threatened by the range of Russian drones. The US-based think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) says it might be premature to call the Russian advances in the Dobropillya area an operational-level breakthrough, "though Russian forces very likely seek to mature their tactical advances into an operational-level breakthrough in the coming days…Russian forces used a similar tactical penetration in mid-April 2024 to facilitate the seizure of operationally significant territory northwest of Avdiivka," ISW said. "The next several days in the Pokrovsk area of operations will likely be critical for Ukraine’s ability to prevent accelerated Russian gains north and northwest of Pokrovsk.” - Euronews
Donald Trump has announced plans to deploy members of the National Guard in Washington, D.C., and take control of the city’s police force. The dramatic move was in response to what the president claims is an “out of control” crime problem in the capital, even though data shows a recent decline. Guardsmen will also be deployed “to help re-establish Law Order of public safety,” Trump said at a press conference with top officials Monday, adding, “This is Liberation Day in D.C. and we’re going to take our capital back.” To federalize law enforcement in the city, Trump invoked section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, placing the Metropolitan Police Department under direct federal control. But the president is facing backlash over the decision. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pointed out that violent crime in D.C. is at a 30-year low, while former House speaker Nancy Pelosi accused the president of trying distract from “his incompetent mishandling of tariffs, health care, education and immigration.” And D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser branded the administration’s plans as “unsettling and unprecedented.” The president’s enemies wasted no time in denouncing his crimefighting manoeuvre yesterday, with more than one person suggesting it was an attempt to distract from the ongoing pressure on Trump to release the government’s files on the late billionaire pedophile - Independent
A Chinese warship plowed into its own coast guard vessel on Monday while the latter was chasing a Philippine vessel in the South China Sea, Manila said. Philippine coast guard officials were distributing aid to fishermen in the disputed Scarborough Shoal, Commodore Jay Tarriela said, when the Chinese coast guard "performed a risky manoeuvre" which inflicted "substantial damage" on the Chinese warship's forward deck. China confirmed that a confrontation took place and accused the Philippines of "forcibly intruding" into Chinese waters, but did not mention the collision. The South China Sea is at the centre of a territorial dispute between China, the Philippines and other countries. Tensions between Beijing and Manila have sharply escalated in recent years, with each side accusing the other of provocations and altercations at sea, including some involving weapons such as swords, spears and knives. The Scarborough Shoal, a triangular chain of reefs and rocks, has been a flashpoint between the two countries since China seized it in 2012. Video released by Manila showed a Chinese coast guard vessel firing water cannons as it chased the Philippine coast guard ship, before slamming loudly into a much larger Chinese ship after making a sudden turn. The collision rendered the Chinese warship "unseaworthy", Tarriela said. It is unclear if anyone was injured in the incident - BBC
China on Monday accused organisers of an art exhibition in Bangkok of distorting its policies on Tibet, Xinjiang and Hong Kong after the show’s co-curator said artworks were removed or altered at Beijing’s request. The exhibition, which opened on July 24, “promoted the fallacies of so-called ‘Tibetan independence’, ‘the East Turkestan Islamic Movement’ and ‘Hong Kong independence’,” distorted China’s policies and “undermined China’s core interests and political dignity”, the foreign ministry replied to Reuters questions about the show. The Bangkok Arts and Cultural Centre removed or altered artworks on Hong Kong as well as the Chinese government’s treatment of ethnic minorities in Tibet and Xinjiang at the request of the Chinese embassy. The Chinese foreign ministry neither confirmed nor denied that the embassy was behind the removal and alteration. China has been building its influence in Southeast Asia, where governments tread cautiously as they balance cooperation with the regional economic giant against concerns over political sovereignty. The Bangkok show, “Constellation of Complicity: Visualising the Global Machinery of Authoritarian Solidarity”, had a theme of authoritarian governments and featured multiple works by artists in exile. The co-curator, the gallery and the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to requests for comment - Bangkok Post
The journals….
Confirmed Hamas Terrorist whom al Jazeera gladly hired. The others the typical human shields terrorists use.