Israel-Palestine
The international media was quick to look away once Israel’s 11-day bombardment of Gaza ended. But the situation that was the spark for it continues: protests against the forced evictions of Palestinian families in occupied East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. Two of the most prominent Sheikh Jarrah activists - twins Muna and Mohammed al-Kurd - were today briefly detained. The al-Kurds, tremendously effective activists who have both recently had interviews go viral, were taken into custody just one day after Al Jazeera Arabic’s Givara Budeiri was arrested and assaulted (sustaining a fractured arm) by Israeli forces. It’s hard not to see this as a concerted campaign to suppress news of what is happening in Sheikh Jarrah.
More from Al Jazeera here. And from Middle East Eye here.
Peru
A presidential run-off in Peru today is pitting left-wing Pedro Castillo against rightest Keiko Fujimori. It’s looking like this will be the closest presidential election for years. Castillo, new to politics, had not been expected to mount the challenge he has.
More from BBC here.
Burkina Faso
“COVID, there is a medicine for that. That, you can deal with. But this (the attacks), how are we going to do with this terrorism? There is no medicine against terrorism.”
A follow-up to Saturday’s news of a horrific attack on a village in Burkina Faso. The death toll has now risen to 160, which appears to make it the worst attack on civilians in the country’s history. Unsurprisingly, Burkinabé citizens are now asking the government to do more to protect them from such attacks. No group has yet claimed responsibility but, as mentioned yesterday, the western Sahel region has for years been at the center of a conflict between the governments of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger and armed groups with links to al-Qaeda and ISIS.
More from AfricaNews here.