Seoul, May 1

 Wearing masks at hospitals in South Korea is not a must anymore as the government downgraded the infection level of Covid-19 and lifted last-remaining antivirus regulations, according to a report on Wednesday.

As per the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, the country will, effective from Wednesday, lower the four-grade Covid crisis level from the second-highest “alert” to the lowest “concern” in a move to fully return to pre-pandemic normalcy, Yonhap news agency reported.

The decision came more than four years after the country reported its first case of the new coronavirus on January 20, 2020.

Upon the move, mask mandates at hospitals and relevant facilities were completely lifted, and infection tests ahead of admission to nursing hospitals and other risk-prone facilities became a recommendation, rather than a must.

The government no longer fully supports Covid testing or hospitalisation costs, and patients need to pay for an oral antiviral pill, including Paxlovid.

The free vaccination programme continues to be available through the 2023-2024 season, which will later be limited to high-risk groups, such as senior citizens and those with immune-compromised health issues, the authorities said. AGENCIES

Cairo, May 1

 A Saudi women’s rights activist was sentenced to 11 years in prison because of her “choice of clothing and support for women’s rights,” two rights groups said, urging the kingdom to “immediately and unconditionally release” her.

In January, the counter-terrorism Specialised Criminal Court convicted Manahel al-Otaibi, more than a year after she was arrested, Amnesty International and the British-based ALQST group said.

The Saudi government confirmed al-Otaibi was found guilty of “terrorist offences,” in its formal reply to a request for information by UN special rapporteurs.

The two rights groups said in their statement that al-Otaibi’s charges related to her choice of clothing and her calls on social media for an end to the male guardianship system, which requires women to obtain the consent of a male relative for major decisions. Some rules have been eased, but the system is yet to be removed.

After her arrest in November 2022, al-Otaibi was subjected to physical and psychological abuse at the prison in Riyadh.

Last year, she forcibly disappeared for five months until April, when she contacted her family and said she was being held in solitary confinement, had a broken leg as a result of physical abuse and was denied health care, the rights groups said.

Since becoming crown prince in 2017, Mohammed bin Salman has championed economic and social reforms in the conservative kingdom. However, the kingdom continues to crack down on critics and rights activists.

Bissan Fakih, Amnesty International’s campaigner in Saudi Arabia, said the sentence “is an appalling and cruel injustice.”

“With this sentence, the Saudi authorities have exposed the hollowness of their much-touted women’s rights reforms in recent years and demonstrated their chilling commitment to silencing peaceful dissent,” said Fakih. AGENCIES

New York, May 1

 Police stormed Ivy League Columbia University, the ground zero of nationwide pro-Palestine protests, breaking up the occupation of a building by agitators and arresting scores of them.

University officials, who were under fire for inaction on the agitation, asked the police Tuesday night to clear protesters who took over the administration building after breaking windows to enter it and reinforcing the entrances with furniture and equipment to keep officials out.

The action came as the agitation in support of Palestine veered off into communalism with attacks on and threats to Jewish students based on their religion, with one of the leaders found to have called for “death to Zionists”.

Before the police action, New York Mayor Eric Adams said that “professional agitators”, who were not students, had infiltrated the protests and were behind the occupation.

Police released videos of people at the university who they said were the “outside agitators” clad in black who had been seen at other agitations in the past creating conditions for clashes with police.

CBS New York TV reported that according to city officials, the wife of a known terrorist was at the protests. (Other media identified the man as Sami Al-Arian who was charged with supporting the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and deported from the US.)

Riot police used special equipment with a ramp to dramatically climb in through windows on a higher floor of the building and used flash grenades, devices that set off spurts of bright lights and explosive sounds but without shrapnels, to stun the agitators.

Police also arrested students who had set up a tent encampment in the university quadrangle and had been ordered by the university to clear out.

Police clashed with students at the campus of local government-run City College, where agitators threw firecrackers, and arrested several people.

The pro-Palestine protests that started at Columbia, where students set up tent encampments, have spread like wildfire to scores of campuses across the country.

The students are demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, an end to US support for Israel, universities cut off ties to Israel, and dump investments in companies making weapons or have ties to that nation.

Several hundred students and faculty have been arrested during the protests coast to coast, with some of the confrontations turning violent.

Many universities have switched to remote learning, and in some cases locking out students from campuses, adversely affecting them as these are the final weeks of the academic year.

Republicans, led by Mike Johnson, the speaker of the House of Representatives, have demanded stern action by the eaderships of universities against the protestors and called for deploying the National Guard.

Johnson visited Columbia last week and demanded the resignation of its president – Nemat Minouche Shafik who took over the job last year after having led the London School of Economics.

Two weeks ago, she called in the police to oust the tent encampment, but within a day, the protesters returned.

Criticised by the faculty association for the action, she tried to hold discussions with the students for a peaceful end to the protests.

But it failed and a deadline was given for them to shut down the encampment by Monday afternoon, after which the agitators took over the administration building escalating the confrontation. AGENCIES

Ramallah, May 1

 The Palestinian presidency has said that Israel would not dare to continue its assault in Gaza without US support.

Palestinian Presidency spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh made the remarks in response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statements earlier on Tuesday that an invasion of Rafah is imminent, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA.

“The blind US bias towards Israel, and its protection from punishment and submission to international legitimacy, has proven that the US administration has become a partner in Netanyahu’s crimes and bears full responsibility for the continuation of genocide,” said Rudeineh on Tuesday as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.

He added that the US administration should intervene immediately and compel Israel “to stop its crimes, foremost of which is preventing the invasion of Rafah, which would have very serious repercussions on the region as a whole and the world”.

He also called on the international community to intervene to prevent Israel from continuing its aggression.

Earlier on Tuesday, Netanyahu pledged to launch a ground attack on Rafah “with or without” an agreement with Hamas.

During his meeting with the families of hostages held in Gaza, Netanyahu said that Israel had begun evacuating Palestinian civilians from Rafah, according to his office.

Israel considers Rafah the last major stronghold of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Located in the southernmost part of the Strip, Rafah shelters nearly 1.2 million Palestinians.

Netanyahu made these statements at a time when negotiators from Israel and Hamas are holding talks through Egyptian mediation to reach an agreement to cease hostilities in the ongoing conflict in Gaza for about seven months, which would ensure the release of hostages. AGENCIES

Gaza, May 1

 The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 34,535, the Hamas-run Health Ministry said in a press statement.

During the past 24 hours, the Israeli army killed 47 Palestinians and wounded 61 others, bringing the total death toll since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war to 34,535 and injuries to 77,704, Xinhua news agency reported.

Some victims remain under the rubble amid heavy bombardment and a lack of rescue crews, said the statement on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army reported attacking 24 targets in Gaza, including tunnel entrances and a missile launch platform, according to Israeli public radio.

The General Directorate of Civil Defence in Gaza estimated that there were more than 10,000 individuals in total still missing beneath the rubble of the demolished buildings in the Strip.

Israel launched a large-scale offensive against Hamas in Gaza to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on October 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage. AGENCIES

Cairo, May 1

 Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani have pledged to resume efforts to end the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

During a phone conversation, the two leaders discussed the latest developments and joint efforts to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the Egyptian Presidency said on Tuesday in a statement.

They also discussed efforts to exchange hostages and detainees and ensure the flow of humanitarian aid and relief in sufficient and adequate quantities into Gaza, Xinhua news agency reported.

The two leaders confirmed their commitment to continuing joint efforts and engaging with the various parties to end the war, protect the region from the ramifications of the expansion of the conflict, and restore security and stability in the region.

Egypt and Qatar, along with the US, are spearheading regional mediation talks to end the conflict and expedite humanitarian aid into the war-torn territory via Egypt.

Israel launched a large-scale offensive in Gaza to retaliate against a Hamas rampage through the southern Israeli border on October 7, 2023, during which about 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 were taken hostage.

The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza has risen to 34,535, the Hamas-run health authorities said in a press statement on Tuesday. AGENCIES

Amman, May 1

 King Abdullah II of Jordan has stressed the necessity of an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip during a meeting with visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

At the meeting, the king highlighted the need for urgent action to stop the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and called for protecting innocent civilians, the state-run Petra news agency reported on Tuesday.

He emphasised the significance of consistently providing sustainable humanitarian, relief, and medical aid to the region through all possible means, Xinhua news agency reported.

Cautioning against any military action in Rafah city in southern Gaza, the king warned that the catastrophic effects of the Gaza conflict could extend to the West Bank, Jerusalem, and the broader region.

Meanwhile, the king stressed the significance of supporting the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, considering it the lifeline for around two million Palestinians in Gaza.

The king also called upon the US to play a role in finding a political horizon to achieve a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution, viewing the solution as the only way to ensure the security of Palestinians, Israelis, and the entire region.

On Tuesday, Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and Blinken discussed efforts to de-escalate the situation in the region and prevent any Israeli attack on Rafah.

They discussed the dangerous deterioration and escalation in the West Bank and the need to start implementing a comprehensive plan to end the Israeli occupation and achieve a just and comprehensive peace within the framework of the two-state solution, Petra reported. AGENCIES

Jerusalem, May 1

 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to launch a ground attack on Rafah “with or without” a deal with Hamas.

Speaking in a meeting with families of hostages, Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel has begun the evacuation of Palestinian civilians from Rafah, according to his office as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.

“We will enter Rafah and eliminate Hamas battalions there, with or without a deal, to achieve the total victory,” he added.

Israel considers Rafah as Hamas’s last major stronghold in the Palestinian enclave.

Rafah is Gaza’s southernmost city, where about 1.2 million Palestinians have been seeking shelter.

The remarks were made as Israeli and Hamas negotiators were in Egyptian-brokered talks on a deal for a ceasefire for the nearly seven-month-long Gaza conflict, that will secure the release of hostages. AGENCIES

Cairo/Tel Aviv, May 1

 During the ongoing negotiations in Cairo on a ceasefire in the Gaza war, details have emerged about a proposal for an agreement submitted by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing Egyptian officials, that the proposal – which Israel was involved in drafting but has yet to approve – envisages two stages.

The first stage would involve the release of at least 20 hostages within three weeks in exchange for an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners. The duration could be extended by one day for each additional hostage, it said.

A second stage would include a 10-week ceasefire in which Hamas and Israel would agree to a more extensive release of hostages and a longer pause in fighting that could last up to a year.

“Israel has gone above and beyond in showing flexibility to reach a deal,” the Times of Israel newspaper quoted an Israeli official as saying on Tuesday. For example, the number of hostages to be released by Hamas in the first step has been reduced.

Israel is also open to the possibility of Palestinians who fled the fighting into the south of the sealed-off Gaza Strip returning to the north without Israeli security checks, it said.

One of the options currently being examined is for Egypt to take over the security checks, the Israeli newspaper continued.

The Israeli government is expecting a response from Hamas to the latest offer on Wednesday evening, the newspaper quoted the Israeli official as saying.

Israel is prepared to send a delegation to the indirect negotiations in Cairo in the coming days, the Wall Street Journal quoted Israeli and Egyptian officials as saying.

Israel sees the latest proposal as a “last chance.” If an agreement with Hamas is not reached soon, the planned ground offensive in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza will begin, Israeli media recently quoted senior officials as saying.

Preparations for an offensive in Rafah are continuing, one official told the Wall Street Journal.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday that Israel was negotiating in good faith and Hamas should accept the proposal.

Hamas insists on an end to the war, which Israel rejects. The two sides are not negotiating directly but via Egypt, Qatar and the US acting as mediators. AGENCIES

Tehran, May 1

 An Iranian nuclear official has said that Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, would visit Iran in the coming days, according to media reports.

Spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi said the IAEA Chief is scheduled to attend the International Conference on Nuclear Sciences and Technologies held in the central Iranian province of Isfahan from May 6 to 8 and hold talks with Iranian officials, including AEOI President Mohammad Eslami, Xinhua news agency reported.

The AEOI Chief earlier this month reaffirmed Iran’s commitment to nuclear activities that align with its cooperation with the IAEA, while addressing the agency’s concerns over “ambiguities” in the country’s nuclear programme, according to the Iranian Students’ News Agency.

Eslami also stressed Iran’s adherence to the safeguards agreement and the Non-Proliferation Treaty, the report said.

Iran signed a nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with world powers in July 2015, accepting restrictions on its nuclear programme in exchange for lifting sanctions. However, the US withdrew from the agreement in May 2018, reinstating sanctions and prompting Iran to scale back some of its nuclear commitments.

Efforts to revive the JCPOA commenced in April 2021 in Vienna, Austria, but despite multiple rounds of negotiations, no substantial progress has been reported since the last talks in August 2022. AGENCIES