Israel-Palestine, Argentina, Jamaica.

Today's three stories you should know.

Dec 06, 2022

Israel-Palestine

The Al Jazeera news network announced today that it was taking the case of its slain correspondent, Shireen Abu Akleh, to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Abu Akleh, an iconic Palestinian-American journalist, was shot dead by Israeli forces on May 11 while covering a raid on a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. Her killing prompted an outpouring of rage and grief across the Middle East along with calls for her killers to be brought to justice. Al Jazeera has submitted a dossier based on six months of investigations that it says proves Abu Akleh was not killed by crossfire, but after being directly fired at by an Israeli soldier. Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid today pledged no Israeli soldiers would be interviewed as part of any ICC investigation. “No one will interrogate IDF soldiers and no one will preach to us about morals of combat, certainly not the Al Jazeera Network,” he said.

Argentina

Argentina’s Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, arguably the country’s most influential politician, has been sentenced to six years in prison for corruption. The 69-year-old was accused of awarding public works contracts to a friend. Though the case has rocked the political scene, Fernández is highly unlikely to serve jail time as she enjoys immunity via her current government roles. Targeted in an assassination attempt in September, she says the charges against her are politically-motivated and that she is the victim of a "judicial mafia". Fernández is one of the most significant leaders in Argentine history, having served two terms as president from 2007 to 2015.

Jamaica

Jamaica today declared a state of emergency to deal with an upsurge in gang violence that has led to a spiralling murder rate in the Caribbean nation. The emergency powers will allow security forces to arrest and search people without warrant, which drew criticism from rights groups. Despite rights abuses happening under previous states of emergency, Prime Minister Andrew Holness swatted the criticism away, saying the priority was to save lives. The island of 2.8 million people has seen 1,421 killings so far this year, according to police. The step follows similar moves in in El Salvador and Honduras, where gang violence has also surged in recent months.