September 2, 2024

Daily News Brief

*) Netanyahu responsible for truce talks' failure, lives of captives — Hamas Palestinian resistance group Hamas has accused Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the US administration for the failure of negotiations to halt the war on Gaza. In a statement, Hamas said that full responsibility for the lives of the prisoners lies with the Israeli army – which has killed several captives. The statement said Israel’s attempts to mislead public opinion through deception is done in order to evade responsibility for the current deadlock in the negotiations. *) Over 72,000 children receive vaccinations in Gaza despite Israeli war Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza has managed to vaccinate more than 72,000 children on the first day of a polio vaccination campaign. This comes despite an ongoing Israeli offensive. Hundreds of children who received vaccinations showed signs of fatigue and malnutrition, according to medical teams at centres in Deir al Balah. The vaccination drive is being conducted in collaboration with the WHO, UNICEF and UNRWA. *) Azerbaijan's ruling party dominates parliamentary election: initial results Azerbaijan’s ruling New Azerbaijan Party, or YAP, has won the parliamentary elections held over the weekend. According to the initial results, YAP, led by President Ilham Aliyev, won 68 seats out of a possible 125 seats in the National Assembly. There were 6.4 million registered voters and turnout was 37.27 percent. *) German far-right AfD wins first state election Germany's far-right AfD has won a landmark first regional vote in the erstwhile East German state of Thuringia in a blow to Chancellor Olaf Scholz ahead of national elections in 2025. The AfD took between 30.5 and 33.5 percent of the vote in Thuringia,with the conservative CDU in second place at around 24.5 percent. *) Türkiye denounces ‘Famagusta’ digital series for distorting Cyprus history Türkiye has criticised the upcoming digital series called "Famagusta" for promoting Greek Cypriot propaganda by distorting historical events. The Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the series constitutes a great disrespect to the cherished memories of the Turkish Cypriots who were massacred by the Greek Cypriot gangs between 1963-74. Turkish Cypriot President Ersin Tatar also condemned Netflix’s acquisition of the series, which he described as “black propaganda.”