SRINAGAR: He was documenting a protest by dozens of Kashmiri students confronting armed Indian government forces wearing riot gear. But when an 18-year-old was hit in the head and began bleeding profusely, the Associated Press photographer put down his camera and rushed in to help her.
"It was an instant decision, and I didn't think twice," Dar Yasin said. He explained that he was closest to the woman and so best able to help. "I gave my camera to a colleague. ... I took the injured girl in my arms."
The scene soon became chaotic. Other protesters became angry when they saw the woman bleeding and hurled stones at the police and paramilitary soldiers, who retaliated with tear gas.
Yasin carried Khushboo Jan away from the protest site in Kashmir's main city of Srinagar, and urged her anxious friends not to worry. "I told the girl protesters that I have two daughters," he said.
The effort was captured by another photographer who then helped Yasin load Jan into a car that had been pulled up by a civilian to take her to a hospital.
"When I saw Yasin helping the girl, I thought I should document it and clicked some shots," said the other photographer, Faisal Khan, from the Turkish news organization Anadolu Agency.
Yasin and Khan then resumed taking photographs of the protest. Jan received six stitches on her forehead before being sent home from the hospital later that day.
The students demonstrating Thursday had been protesting a police raid on a college less than two weeks earlier in the town of Pulwama, in the Indian-governed portion of the disputed and divided Himalayan region. Another part of Kashmir is administered by Pakistan, and both anti-India rebels and protesters often demand that the Indian portion be allowed to join Pakistan or be granted independence.
Police released a brief statement after Thursday's protest saying Jan had been hurt in a stone-throwing incident, referring to a common practice by protesters of hurling bricks and stones at police and paramilitary troops. Jan said, however, that she had been hit by a marble fired from a sling by a soldier in a nearby bunker. Marbles are often used by Indian forces as ammunition used against protesters.
"Later, my friends told me that I was rescued by some media persons," Jan told the Associated Press on Sunday, as Yasin visited her in her Srinagar home.
Tensions between Kashmiri students and Indian law enforcement have escalated since April 15, when government forces raided the college in Pulwama, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) south of Srinagar. Hundreds of students tried to resist the raid, sparking clashes that left at least 50 students injured. Authorities have not explained what they were searching for or targeting in that raid.
On April 17, students rose up again in protests across the region that left more than 100 students and an unknown number of police officers injured. Authorities responded by closing colleges, universities and some high schools, but the protests have continued.
On Monday, as authorities ordered schools and colleges open, protests and clashes again erupted in Srinagar. Police fired tear gas and used water cannons to stop rock-throwing students from marching in the main commercial area in Srinagar.
The students were chanting slogans such as "Go India, go back" and "We want freedom." Some students were reported injured in the clashes.
Protest violence is an almost daily occurrence in Kashmir, where anti-India sentiment runs deep among the mostly Muslim population after decades of military crackdown in the mountainous territory to fight armed rebellion. The region, claimed by both India and Pakistan in its entirety, has sparked two of three wars between the nuclear-armed nations since 1947.
Kashmir has also seen more than 70,000 people die since 1989 in a homegrown rebellion and the ensuing Indian crackdown, which has suppressed militant groups in recent years.
AP journalist covering Kashmir protest helps injured teen
AP journalist covering Kashmir protest helps injured teen
Thwarted by US, Palestinians look to UN General Assembly
- Observers say a resolution at the UNGA calling for full UN membership of Palestinians is likely to win broad majority support
- To succeed, the initiative needs a Security Council green light and then a two-thirds majority vote in the General Assembly
UNITED NATIONS: After a US veto foiled the Palestinians’ drive for full UN membership, the General Assembly is expected on Friday to grant them some additional rights in the global body — a symbolic win that has already irked Israel.
With the war in Gaza raging, the Palestinians in April relaunched a request dating back to 2011 to become full members of the United Nations, where their current status is a “non-member observer state.”
To succeed, the initiative needed a Security Council green light and then a two-thirds majority vote in the General Assembly.
But the United States — one of five veto-holding members on the Security Council and Israel’s closest ally — blocked it on April 18.
Now the Palestinians are turning to the General Assembly, where diplomats and observers say a resolution calling for their full UN membership is likely to win broad majority support.
The draft resolution, introduced by the United Arab Emirates, says “the State of Palestine is qualified for membership in the United Nations in accordance with article 4 of the Charter and should therefore be admitted.”
It calls on the Security Council to “reconsider the matter favorably.”
That is unlikely to occur, as the United States opposes any recognition of statehood outside of a bilateral accord between the Palestinians and Israel, whose current right-wing government is adamantly opposed to a two-state solution.
“You could have a sort of diplomatic doom loop, with the Assembly repeatedly calling for the Council to grant Palestine membership and the US vetoing it,” said Richard Gowan, an analyst with the International Crisis Group.
The draft resolution nonetheless gives the Palestinians certain “additional rights and privileges” starting in the next session of the General Assembly, in September.
The text explicitly rules out letting them be chosen to sit on the Security Council or to vote in the General Assembly.
But it would let the Palestinians submit proposals and amendments directly, without having to go through another country, as is the case now.
It would also give them the right to be seated among member states in alphabetical order.
“When you build a building, you build it one brick at a time. If some think it’s symbolic, for us it’s important as we are moving forward toward our natural and legal right to be a full member of the UN,” Palestinian ambassador Riyad Mansour told reporters Thursday.
“The symbolism is what matters,” said Gowan. “This resolution is a very clear signal to Israel and the US that it is time to take Palestinian statehood seriously.”
Israel has criticized the initiative, with ambassador Gilad Erdan saying it will “grant the Palestinian Authority the rights of a state de facto” and violates the UN Charter by “bypassing the Security Council.”
The United States also expressed reservations.
“We’re concerned about the precedent it sets,” said deputy US ambassador Robert Wood.
An earlier draft of the resolution was more vague, granting “the State of Palestine the rights and privileges” necessary to take part in the work of the assembly “on equal footing with Members States” but without specifying what rights.
The new version is in line with the UN charter, said Samuel Zbogar, the ambassador of Slovenia, which currently sits on the Security Council.
“It makes clear what additional rights will Palestine get as observer but it doesn’t touch on those elements that belong only the members,” he added.
As Israel presses on with its war in Gaza against Hamas in response to the October 7 attack, the UN vote will allow the Palestinians to see which countries support them.
It may also show that — were it not for the US veto — the Palestinians would have enough votes in the assembly for full UN membership.
In December, 153 countries out of 193 backed a call for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza war. Ten voted against, including the United States, while 23 abstained.
Chad’s military ruler declared winner of presidential election, while opposition disputes the result
Chad’s military ruler declared winner of presidential election, while opposition disputes the result
- Election body says Mahamat Deby Itno won with over 61 percent of the vote and runner-up Succès Masra got over 18.5 percent
- Deby Itno seized power after his father, who spent three decades in power, was killed fighting rebels in 2021
N’DJAMENA: Chad’s military leader, Mahamat Deby Itno, was declared the winner of this week’s presidential election, according to provisional results released Thursday. The results were contested by his main rival, Prime Minister Succès Masra.
The national agency that manages Chad’s election released results of Monday’s vote weeks earlier than planned. The figures showed Deby Itno won with just over 61 percent of the vote, with the runner-up Masra falling far behind with over 18.5 percent of the vote. Gunfire erupted in the capital following the announcement.
Preliminary results were initially expected on May 21.
Chad held its long delayed presidential election following three years of military rule, a vote that analysts widely expected the incumbent to win. Deby Itno, also known as Mahamat Idriss Deby, seized power after his father, who spent three decades in power, was killed fighting rebels in 2021.
The oil-exporting country of nearly 18 million people hasn’t had a free-and-fair transfer of power since it became independent in 1960 after decades of French colonial rule.
Hours ahead of Thursday’s announcement, Masra published a speech on Facebook accusing the authorities of planning to manipulate the outcome.
During the 11 minute speech, Masra appeared in a blue suit at a podium with the national flag in the background and claimed victory, saying the incumbent was planning to reverse the outcome of the vote. He called on Chad’s military, police and other security forces to stop following Deby Itno’s orders.
“These orders will lead you to side with the wrong side of Chad’s history, these orders will lead you to fight your brothers and sisters, these orders will lead you to commit the irreparable and unforgivable,” he said in the speech. “Refuse to obey these unjust orders!”
There was no immediate response from the president’s office.
Masra, president of The Transformers opposition party, fled Chad in October 2022. The country’s military government at the time suspended his party and six others in a clampdown on protests against Deby Itno’s decision to extend his time in power by two more years. More than 60 people were killed in the protests, which the government condemned as “an attempted coup.”
An agreement between the country’s minister of reconciliation and Masra’s political party late last year allowed the exiled politician and other opposition figures to return to Chad. He was later appointed prime minister.
Chad is seen by the US and France as one of the last remaining stable allies in the vast Sahel region following military coups in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger in recent years. The ruling juntas in all three nations have expelled French forces and turned to Russia’s mercenary units for security assistance instead.
Anti-aircraft units intercept drone south of Moscow, no damage or injuries, mayor says
Russian anti-aircraft units intercepted a drone south of Moscow and there were no injuries or damage from falling debris, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said early on Friday.
Sobyanin, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said the drone, headed for Moscow, was downed in Podolsk district, just south of the capital. Emergency crews and specialists were on the scene.
The governor of Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, said anti-aircraft units had downed three Ukrainian drones overnight with no damage or injuries.
And in Belgorod region, also on the border, two Ukrainian drones were downed, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
Ukraine has stepped up drone attacks on oil processing facilities in different regions of Russia since the start of the year, disrupting 15 percent of Russia’s oil refining capacity, according to an estimate by a NATO official at the beginning of April.
One such strike on Thursday hit a major oil processing plant in Bashkortostan region some 1,500 km (930 miles) away, a Kyiv intelligence source said, the longest-range such attack since the start of the war in February 2022.
Drone attacks targeting Moscow are rarer occurrences.
Israel qualifies for Eurovision final amid protest about its participation
- Israeli PM Netanyahu wished Golan good luck and said she had “already won” by enduring the protests
MALMÖ, Sweden: Israel qualified for this weekend’s Eurovision song contest grand finale as thousands of demonstrators marched through Sweden’s Malmo on Thursday to protest its participation over the Gaza war.
Singer Eden Golan performed her song “Hurricane” in Thursday’s second semifinal without incident in front of 9,000 spectators at the Malmo Arena and booked her place in Saturday’s final after a televote.
Earlier in the day, more than 10,000 people including climate activist Greta Thunberg gathered in Malmo’s main square before marching through the southern city’s central pedestrian shopping street, according to police estimates.
“I am a Eurovision fan and it breaks my heart, but I’m boycotting,” 30-year-old protester Hilda, who did not want to provide her surname, told AFP.
“I can’t have fun knowing that Israel is there participating when all those kids are dying. I think it’s just wrong.”
Alongside signs that read: “Liberate Palestine,” banners that said “EUR legitimizes genocide” and “colonialism cannot be washed in pink” could be seen in the crowd.
About 50 protesters made it to the front of the Malmo Arena, where the event is taking place, before being dispersed by a heavy police presence. Protesters also entered the Eurovision Village, where spectators can follow the concert on large screens.
In a different neighborhood, about 100 counter-protesters gathered under police protection to express their support for Israel.
Earlier Thursday, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Thursday wished Golan good luck and said she had “already won” by enduring the protests that he called a “horrible wave of anti-Semitism.”
The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas’ unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Militants also took about 250 hostages. Israel estimates 128 of them remain in Gaza, including 36 who officials say are dead.
Israel in response vowed to crush Hamas and launched a military offensive that has killed at least 34,904 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
Protests calling for an end to Israel’s punishing Gaza campaign have broken out on university campuses in North America, Europe and Australia.
In 2022, Russia’s state broadcaster was excluded from the European Broadcasting Union, which oversees Eurovision, in the wake of the war in Ukraine.
“I feel like if they can remove Russia why can they not do it to Israel?” said protester Marwo Mustafa.
“Hurricane” has already been partially re-written and given a new title after Eurovision organizers deemed the original version to be too political.
Since the beginning of the year, several petitions have demanded Israel’s exclusion from the 68th edition of the annual music competition, which opened with the first semifinal on Tuesday.
At the end of March, contestants from nine countries, including Swiss favorite Nemo, called for a lasting ceasefire.
Protester Cecilia Brudell told AFP: “At six and nine, my children are now at an age where they want to watch Eurovision but this year we are completely boycotting it.”
Apple apologizes for iPad ‘Crush’ ad after backlash
SAN FRANCISCO: Apple apologized on Thursday after an ad for its latest-edition iPad caused an uproar for showing an industrial press crushing objects linked to human creativity, infuriating artists.
Social media users immediately criticized the ad, which was posted on X by Apple CEO Tim Cook, as painfully tone-deaf at a time when the creative community is worried about its future with the emergence of generative AI.
“Creativity is in our DNA at Apple, and it’s incredibly important to us to design products that empower creatives all over the world,” Apple’s vice president of marketing Tor Myhren told Ad Age.
“Our goal is to always celebrate the myriad of ways users express themselves and bring their ideas to life through iPad. We missed the mark with this video, and we’re sorry.”
The company also said it won’t air the ad on television as planned.
Set to the song “All I ever need is you” by Sonny and Cher, the one-minute ad titled “Crush” sees the pile of creative artifacts — including a guitar, piano and paint cans — explode under the pressure of Apple’s press.
At the end, the press pulls back and reveals Apple’s latest tablet, the iPad Pro, touted as ultra-thin.
“The destruction of the human experience. Courtesy of Silicon Valley,” wrote actor Hugh Grant on X in response to Cook’s tweet.
Hollywood director Reed Morano urged Cook to “read the room,” calling the ad “psychotic.”
The ad harked to viral TikTok videos of industrial presses and other machines that are watched by millions on the platform.
Many critics said the ad betrayed Apple’s iconic 1984 commercial that launched the first Mac computer and depicted the company as a hammer-throwing rebel against a monolith big brother.
The ad comes as ChatGPT and Dall-E creator OpenAI, as well as other AI giants, are facing lawsuits from artists and publishers saying that their material was used to train AI models without permission.
