Israel-Palestine, Mexico, Cameroon.
Today's three stories you should know.
Israel-Palestine
A lot of media seem unable to report this story in a journalistically sound way. Two elderly female Israeli hostages were freed by Hamas today for health reasons after negotiations brokered by Qatar and Egypt. One of them, 85-year-old Yocheved Lifschitz, spoke to the media. She said she had “been through hell” and that she was beaten with sticks while being taken to Gaza on a motorcycle. She also said she had been treated “gently” in captivity, that doctors came to see her and other hostages every two to three days, and that “they took care of all the needs” the hostages had. Some media organizations focused mostly on the “I’ve been through hell” quote, putting it in headlines, sending it as a notification to people’s phones, and then burying her comments about her treatment in captivity towards the bottom of stories. Others focused on her remarks about her good treatment in captivity and buried her negative comments. Most of these decisions appeared to be feeding into the particular biases of the journalists who wrote and reported the stories. It’s disappointing. Yocheved Lifschitz said all of those things. And all of those things can be true.
More from Al Jazeera here.
Mexico
At least 22 people, including many police officers, have been killed in just one day of violence across central and southwestern Mexico. In the worst single incident, 12 police officers and a local security secretary were killed in El Papayo on the Pacific coast. Officials in the regions where the attacks took place are finding themselves increasingly in the crosshairs of powerful drug gangs such as the Jalisco New Generation cartel. Some 341 police have been killed in Mexico so far this year.
More from AP here.
Cameroon
About 40 Chadian and Cameroonian citizens have been kidnapped in northern Cameroon, a local mayor told the BBC. Celestin Yandal said the kidnap victims were cattle traders on their way back from market. He didn’t specify a motive but criminal gangs, known locally as bandits, often kidnap people for ransom in the region.
More from BBC here.