Houses washed away and roads destroyed after cyclone hits north of the Indian Ocean island.
At least 11 people have been killed and hundreds of homes destroyed as Cyclone Gamane smashed into northern Madagascar, according to officials.
The storm was projected to skim the Indian Ocean island, but changed course and hit the island’s Vohemar district in the early hours of Wednesday.
Video images showed torrents of water rushing through villages and people making human chains in waist-deep water while trying to help those trapped in their houses escape the deluge. Numerous routes and bridges were flooded and cut off.
Six people drowned and five others were killed by collapsing houses or falling trees, with some 7,000 people affected overall.
“It’s rare to have a cyclone like this. Its movement is nearly stationary,” General Elack Andriakaja, director general of the BNGRC national disaster management office, said in a statement.
“When the system stops in one place, it devastates all the infrastructure. And that has serious consequences for the population. And significant flooding”, he said.
The full extent of the damage is still unclear, because many villages in the region were cut off from the rest of the country, making access difficult for rescue teams.
The cyclone moved across the island with an average wind speed of 150km/h (93mph) and heavy rainfall. In some places, winds of 210km/h (130mph) were measured.
Gamane has been reclassified as a tropical storm and was expected to leave the island on Friday afternoon, according to meteorologists.
Located off the coast of southeastern Africa, Madagascar is regularly affected by severe weather. A year ago, tropical Cyclone Freddy devastated the country as well as the neighbouring mainland countries of Mozambique and Malawi. More than 500 people lost their lives.
Kobayashi Pharma has recalled cholesterol-lowering supplements with red yeast rice over possible link to kidney disease.
A Japanese drugmaker whose dietary supplements are at the centre of a growing health scare has reported two more deaths potentially linked to a pill that lowers cholesterol.
Thursday’s announcement by Kobayashi Pharmaceuticals brings the total number of deaths under investigation by the company and health ministry to four, with more than 100 people hospitalised.
Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told parliament on Thursday that “we need to make clear the cause [of the illnesses] and consider various responses if necessary”.
He was responding to an opposition politician who urged him to revise safety frameworks that were relaxed under former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Last week, Kobayashi recalled three of its supplements, including Beni Koji Choleste Help, after about 106 customers were hospitalised because of kidney problems.
The over-the-counter products contain an ingredient called red yeast rice, or “beni koji”, which is supposed to help lower bad cholesterol.
The company said on Thursday that it was in the “process of confirming the facts and causal relationships” in the two additional fatalities and “decided to make this report public from the viewpoint of prompt disclosure”.
“Beni koji” contains Monascus purpureus, a red mould that is also used as food colouring.
Public concern
Government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a media conference that the government has urged the pharma company to take “swift and serious action toward determining the cause” and disclose relevant information as “concern among the public is spreading”, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported.
The Osaka-based drugmaker has yet to pinpoint a specific cause but said there was a possibility that the products contained “ingredients we had not intended to include”.
The fermentation process can produce a toxin called citrinin which can damage the kidneys, however, the company said its analysis did not detect any citrinin.
Medical studies describe red yeast rice as an alternative to statins for lowering high cholesterol, but also warn of a risk of organ damage depending on its chemical makeup.
In addition to the supplements, more than 40 products from other companies containing “beni koji”, including miso paste, crackers and a vinegar dressing, have been recalled, the health ministry said.
Hayashi said Japan was sharing information with the World Health Organization and relevant countries after online sales of products subject to the drugmaker’s voluntary recalls were suspended in China, while products have also been removed from circulation in Taiwan.
The company supplies red yeast rice to some 50 firms in Japan and two in Taiwan.
A Kobayashi executive said last week that the company first received complaints about kidney problems in January.
President says country will respond to South China Sea confrontations with proportionate measures after Filipino soldiers injured.
President Ferdinand Marcos says the Philippines will take countermeasures against China after confrontations in the South China Sea last week injured Filipino soldiers and damaged vessels.
“We seek no conflict with any nation, more so nations that purport and claim to be our friends but we will not be cowed into silence, submission, or subservience,” Marcos said in a statement on Thursday.
He said the Philippines would respond with a “countermeasure package that is proportionate, deliberate, and reasonable in the face of the open, unabating, and illegal, coercive, aggressive, and dangerous attacks by agents of the China Coast Guard and the Chinese Maritime Militia”.
He added: “Filipinos do not yield.”
Marcos’s remarks came as China blamed Philippine actions for recent rising tensions between the countries in the hotly contested waterway, which Beijing claims almost entirely.
The two countries have a long history of maritime territorial disputes in the South China Sea, and there have been repeated confrontations between their vessels near disputed reefs in recent months.
Chinese envoy summoned
The latest incident near Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands occurred on Saturday during a regular Philippine mission to resupply Filipino troops garrisoned on the BRP Sierra Madre, a grounded navy ship.
The Philippines said the Chinese coastguard blocked its supply vessel and damaged it with water cannon, injuring three soldiers. It summoned a Chinese envoy in response.
China’s coastguard has defended its actions, describing them as “lawful regulation, interception and expulsion” of a foreign vessel that “tried to forcefully intrude” into Chinese waters.
China has urged Manila to “pull back from the brink” and stop “provoking trouble at sea”.
In a statement on Thursday titled China Will Not Allow the Philippines to Act Wilfully, Beijing’s Ministry of National Defence blamed “the provocations by the Philippine side” for the increased tensions over the South China Sea.
“Relying on the backing of external forces … the Philippine side has frequently infringed on rights and provoked and created trouble at sea, as well as spreading false information to mislead the international community’s perception of the issue, which is, so to speak, going further and further down a dangerous road,” the statement added.
US support
The United States, a treaty ally of the Philippines, has led a chorus of support for the Southeast Asian country in response to Chinese actions.
Marcos said the international community had “offered to help us on what the Philippines requires to protect and secure our sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction while ensuring peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific”.
“I have given them our requirements and we have been assured that they will be addressed,” he said without providing details.
His statement also came after US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin repeated the “ironclad” US commitment to its longtime ally in a call with his Filipino counterpart, Gilberto Teodoro, on Wednesday.
Ukraine launched a devastating missile strike against Russian military targets in the Crimean port of Sevastopol late on Saturday, further debilitating Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.
The combination of a reported 40 Storm Shadow missiles, decoy missiles and drones damaged a communications centre, the Yamal and the Azov, two Ropucha-class landing ships, and other infrastructure, possibly including an oil depot.
The Yamal was especially badly damaged. Ukrainian military intelligence said it was listing to starboard with a large hole in its top deck two days later, and Russian crews had to keep pumping its bilges to keep the ship afloat. The damage to the Yamal and the Azov reportedly left Russia with just three of its landing ships operational, from an original fleet of 13 at the start of the war.
Ukrainian military intelligence coordinated a seaborne attack using Ukrainian Magura V5 surface drones to coincide with the aerial attack. The surface drones also struck the repair yard where the Yamal was moored, said deputy military intelligence chief Vadym Skibitskyi, and additionally damaged the Ivan Khurs reconnaissance ship.
Apart from the moral satisfaction of putting the Yamal out of action – it had taken part in the capture of Crimea in 2014 – Ukraine had a practical benefit.
Sevastopol is reportedly the only Black Sea facility capable of loading Kalibr ballistic missiles onto Russian submarines and ships, and strikes on the port have reduced the number of vessels carrying these missiles, which are particularly difficult to intercept.
Ukraine’s attack came a day after Russia launched a massive aerial attack on energy and other infrastructure in Ukraine, using 151 drones and missiles launched from both Russia and occupied Crimea.
Ukraine’s General Staff said their defences shot down 55 of the 63 Shahed drones used and 37 of the 88 missiles of various types. The remainder caused power and water outages that Ukrainian authorities said were later restored.
“Russian strikes on energy infrastructure … likely aim to collapse the energy grid in part to stall Ukrainian efforts to rapidly expand its [defence industrial base],” said the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank.
Russia falls down on security at home
Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure have also aimed to undermine Ukrainians’ sense of security and support for the war.
But on the day of Russia’s large-scale strike, it was Russian insecurity that was heightened. Four gunmen massacred at least 133 Russian civilians at the Crocus City Hall concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow. The Islamic State in Khorasan, a Taliban splinter group, later claimed responsibility.
Even so, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other public figures attempted to blame Ukraine for the attack.
“Who benefits from this?” asked Putin in a televised address on Monday. “This atrocity may be only a link in a whole series of attempts by those who have been fighting our country since 2014 at the hands of the neo-Nazi Kyiv regime. And the Nazis, as is well known, never disdained to use the most dirty and inhumane means to achieve their goals,” Putin said.
Russian authorities arrested four Tajik nationals they said were trying to escape to Ukraine in a van with a Ukrainian numberplate.
Muhammadsobir Fayzov, a suspect in the shooting attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue, sits in a medical transport chair behind a glass wall of an enclosure for defendants before a court hearing at the Basmanny District Court in Moscow [Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters]
The explanation did not travel well outside Russia.
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said the van was possibly headed for his country as they were arrested on Russian territory adjacent to Belarus.
The US embassy in Moscow had issued a warning to avoid large gatherings on March 7, and Washington said its intelligence agencies had followed a duty to warn policy, passing on intelligence directly to Russian authorities.
Putin dismissed these and other warnings as “outright blackmail” and “an attempt to intimidate and destabilise our society” three days before the attack – meaning the failure to respond to intelligence came from the top.
“The terrorists’ car was stopped near Bryansk, which is in western Russia, and so vaguely near Ukraine, which means that the four Tajiks in a Renault were intending to cross the Ukrainian border, which means that they had Ukrainian backers, which means that it was a Ukrainian operation, which means that the Americans were behind it,” wrote Yale University history professor Timothy Snyder.
“The reasoning here leaves something to be desired. And the series of associations rests on no factual basis.”
Russians gunning for Chasiv Yar
Russian forces continued to make minor advances in Ukraine’s east during the past week.
They have taken the offensive initiative this year, and have been inching forward since the fall of Avdiivka on February 17.
On March 20, Ukrainian forces said they repelled a “massive” attack at the northern end of the front in Kharkiv that thrust towards Lyman. The assault left the Russian positions marginally ahead of where they had been a day earlier.
Further south, in the Donetsk region, Russian forces seemed to fix their sights on Chasiv Yar, west of Bakhmut, which fell last May. During the week they appeared to gradually swallow two settlements, Bohdanivka and Ivanivske, which lie northeast and southeast of Chasiv Yar, respectively.
Seizing Chasiv Yar “would be more operationally significant than the Russian seizure of Avdiivka”, said the Institute for the Study of War.
For a start, it would mean Ukrainian forces could no longer harass Russian logistics convoys in occupied territory east of Bakhmut and would have to bring artillery into harm’s way to disrupt Russian logistics closer to the front lines.
More importantly, Chasiv Yar would bring Russian forces much closer to their objective of capturing the last major urban centres of Donetsk – Konstyantynivka, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk – said the ISW.
“Available imagery, which ISW will not present or describe in greater detail at this time to preserve Ukrainian operational security, shows that Ukrainian forces have established significant fortifications in a ring shape in the Chasiv Yar area, and Russian forces will likely struggle to break through these defences at their current offensive tempo in the area,” said the ISW.
Beijing imposed tariffs on Australian wine in 2020 during a diplomatic feud, raising duties from zero to above 200 percent.
China says it will lift steep tariffs on Australian wine imposed more than three years ago in the latest sign of improving relations between the two countries.
The anti-subsidy and anti-dumping levies were first imposed in 2020 along with a host of other trade barriers during a diplomatic feud over Australia’s support for a global inquiry into the origins of COVID-19. China had been Australia’s top wine export market, and Australian wine producers took a heavy hit from the duties, which were above 200 percent.
Ties have improved significantly since last year, leading China to steadily lift trade hurdles on Australian goods ranging from barley to coal and raising hopes the punishing tariffs on wine shipments would soon be removed.
“Given the situation in China’s wine market has changed, the anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tariff imposed on wine imported from Australia is no longer necessary,” the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on Thursday, adding that the decision will take effect on Friday.
Previously, Australian wines imported into China were subject to zero tariffs after the signing of a free trade agreement in 2015, giving them a 14 percent tariff advantage over wines produced in other nations.
Australian wine accounted for 27.5 percent of Chinese wine imports before the duties were imposed. In the first six months of last year, they accounted for 0.14 percent as estimates put the cost of the tariffs for Australia’s economy at 20 billion Australian dollars ($13bn).
“We welcome this outcome, which comes at a critical time for the Australian wine industry,” the Australian government said in a statement.
“Since 2020, China’s duties on Australian wine effectively made it unviable for Australian producers to export bottled wine to that market. Australia’s wine exports to China were worth $1.1 billion in 2019.”
The imposition of the tariffs had prompted the Australian government to lodge a complaint to the World Trade Organization (WTO). The removal of the Chinese duties means Australia will end its legal proceedings at the WTO, the Australian statement said.
“We are willing to work with Australia to resolve each other’s concerns through dialogue and consultation,” said He Yadong, spokesperson for the Chinese Commerce Ministry.
Australia’s top publicly listed winemaker, Treasury Wine Estates, also welcomed the announcement and said it will start partnering with customers in China to expand sales and marketing as well as brand management.
“Today’s announcement is a significant positive not only for Treasury Wine Estates, but also for the Australian wine industry and wine consumers in China,” CEO Tim Ford said in a statement.
“This is a medium-term growth opportunity that we will pursue in a deliberate and sustainable manner, focused on growing our portfolio in China.”
Istanbul, Turkey – As nationwide local elections approach on March 31, there are concerns in Turkey about the growing threat of disinformation and fake media created through artificial intelligence.
Earlier this year, a video spread across social media purportedly showing Istanbul’s opposition mayor praising President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party).
Ekrem Imamoglu, of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), is seen in the video commending the “great steps” taken in public transport projects when the AK Party controlled Istanbul.
While the video was widely discredited due to the substance of Imamoglu’s “comments”, it raised fears about media manipulation in an election where the AK Party is trying to retake cities won by the opposition in 2019.
Political scandals over “leaked” recordings are nothing new in Turkey.
In 2010, CHP leader Deniz Baykal stood down following the publication of a sex tape online.
Four years later, then-Prime Minister Erdogan condemned an audio recording that suggested his involvement in corruption, saying it was fabricated.
Deepfake vs cheap fake
Fake videos and images present a “huge threat” in the upcoming election, Emre Ilkan Saklica, director of fact-checking project Teyit (“verification” or “collaboration” in Turkish), said.
The spread of social media has seen a growth in content denounced as fake.
“It doesn’t take a long time for content to … spread on social media,” he said. “A claim made from an individual account can suddenly become widespread and find its place in the mainstream.”
Apart from the Imamoglu video, there have been several other incidents in the run-up to the elections, in which candidates are competing for positions ranging from metropolitan mayor to village representative.
The Workers’ Party of Turkey announced on Sunday that it was withdrawing the mayoral candidacy of former footballer Gokhan Zan in Hatay, one of the southern provinces hit by last year’s earthquakes.
The move came amid reports of a recording in which Zan allegedly discussed bribes and a possible job with state-run broadcaster TRT in return for running against Hatay’s incumbent CHP mayor.
Zan later filed a criminal complaint claiming he had been subjected to “threats and blackmail” and saying the recording had been created through AI.
Saklica said that “cheap fake” videos were more prevalent than sophisticated AI-created content, however.
Last week, video footage circulated of CHP officials in Istanbul counting bundles of cash, hinting at corruption within the opposition.
The party said the video was from 2019, when staff were depositing cash with a lawyer handling the purchase of the CHP’s office.
Supporters of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu wave Turkish flags at a campaign event before local elections in Istanbul on March 19, 2024 [Umit Bektas/Reuters]
“Ahead of the 2023 general elections, many people were of the opinion that deepfake, AI-generated videos were the primary threat,” Saklica said.
“However, beyond these technologies, images or videos that are called cheap fakes can be produced in just a few minutes and can become widespread much more easily in Turkey.”
‘Sticks like chewing gum’
Addressing this month’s election, Ejder Batur, deputy chairman of the AK Party in Istanbul, accused the CHP of creating “perceptions … with advertisements and disinformation” to mislead the public about its record in Istanbul over the last five years.
He added that the public would not respond to disinformation.
When the Turkish parliament passed a law in October 2022 to fight disinformation, critics said the bill, which criminalised “disseminating false information” with a prison sentence of up to three years, would stifle access to information and deepen online censorship.
The government and its supporters argued that it was essential to restrict misleading and possibly malevolent information spreading.
Muharrem Ince, shown here in Ankara, on June 25, 2018, withdrew from last year’s presidential elections [Burhan Ozbilici/AP Photo]
“We are faced with a type of disinformation that aims to influence the election results,” Oguzhan Bilgin, a TRT board member and director of the Istanbul-based Diplomacy Foundation, said.
He pointed to the withdrawal of one of four presidential candidates in last May’s election as an example of disinformation directly affecting the democratic process.
Muharrem Ince pulled out three days before the vote, citing fake sex pictures posted online as one of his reasons for quitting.
However, Bilgin conceded that the impact of disinformation was “highly debatable”.
While opposition figures have accused the AK Party of being behind fake content such as the Imamoglu video, the method by which such disinformation is spread often makes it difficult to identify its origin.
A video of the CHP presidential candidate seemingly being endorsed by Kurdish armed leaders was shown at AK Party rallies in the lead-up to last year’s presidential election – but President Erdogan acknowledged it was “the product of the quick wits of our young people”.
Amid the murk of politics, groups like Teyit face an uphill battle, according to Saklica.
“Since the spread of misinformation is faster than correct information, it is very difficult to correct misinformation that sticks to the minds of many users like chewing gum,” he said.
Deir el-Balah, Gaza – For over six years, Moath Raja Allah was known as one of the top players in Gaza’s Ramadan football tournaments.
The 19-year-old from Nuseirat collected 12 trophies and countless accolades for his skills.
This year, Raja Allah is spending Ramadan at a makeshift refugee camp at Al-Salah Football Club in Deir el-Balah, located in the central Gaza Strip, after his family was displaced during Israel’s war on Gaza.
His only wish is to be able to buy a chicken for his family for iftar and break his fast on the rubble of his home, which was destroyed by Israeli bombardment that also left a shrapnel wound on his head.
“Ramadan tournaments are not the same anymore,” Raja Allah tells Al Jazeera.
“They lack the rivalries, the passion and the celebratory atmosphere of the past years.
“What’s more, we have now been reduced to playing for a pack of food aid package instead of a trophy.”
More than 1,000 people displaced by the war have taken refuge at Al-Salah Football Club, where football matches and training sessions came to a halt five months ago.
However, in order to offer momentary distraction to the families living on its premises, the club has been running a five-a-side football tournament during Ramadan.
“By organising this tournament, we are trying to deceive ourselves and say there’s a life in Gaza,” said Nabeel Abu-Asr, the club’s director of sports activities.
“We will give awards to the top two teams, but it will probably be a very small amount of money or a food aid package,” he said with a despondent shrug.
“It feels wrong, but we want to bring them some joy.”
Two teams gather in the middle of the pitch before the start of a match during a Ramadan football tournament at Al-Salah Football Club in Gaza [Abubaker Abed/Al Jazeera]
‘We are no longer children’
Despite being a far cry from the Ramadan tournaments of old, this event offers brief moments of joy to the players and their family members.
Mothers beam with pride when their sons score a goal. Younger children cheer every move from the sidelines and those on the pitch mimic their football idols’ celebrations.
Barefoot teenagers, or some with ripped boots, showcase their skills on a futsal-sized court surrounded by residential blocks on one side and a street lined with date palm trees on the other.
The sound of Israeli drones hovering in the area is momentarily drowned by the crowd’s cheering.
Once the action is over, the realities of the ongoing war again set in.
For 12-year-old Real Madrid fan Karam Al-Hwajri, football serves as a reminder of his life before the war.
“I find solace on the football pitch,” he said after finishing a game.
He prefers playing as a goalkeeper but doesn’t mind stepping further down the field to be part of the action.
“I know I will be killed, so I want to enjoy the last moments of my childhood.”
Despite his young age, Al-Hwajri is aware of the burdens of the war and says what Gaza’s children have endured is “beyond anyone’s ability”.
“We are no longer children.”
Karam Al-Hwajri (right) reacts to a shot during a Ramadan football tournament at Al-Salah Football Club in Gaza [Abubaker Abed/Al Jazeera]
Khalil Al-Kafarneh, a 16-year-old player, has lived through several displacements since October. The 10 members of his family left their home in Beit Hanoon, located in northern Gaza, soon after the war broke out.
The camp at Al-Salah Football Club has been their home for three months, but they are struggling to survive, with limited supplies of food and clean water.
Al-Kafarneh has been playing football for 10 years; he says the war has taken away his athleticism and skills.
Khalil Al-Kafarneh (centre) in action during a Ramadan football tournament at Al-Salah Football Club in Gaza [Abubaker Abed/Al Jazeera]
“I rarely kick a ball now. I am a high school student but have not been able to continue my studies. My house is a pile of rubble. There’s nothing left.”
The aspiring footballer wanted to represent Ittihad Al-Shujaiyya, one of Gaza’s most prominent clubs. Then the war crushed his dreams and bombs hit the club’s premises.
More than 90 Palestinian footballers in Gaza, including legendary forward Mohammed Barakat, have been killed during the war with Israel.
Some of Gaza’s most famous stadiums, including Al-Yarmouk Stadium and Gaza Sport Club, have been destroyed or taken over by Israeli forces.
The United Nations has termed the Gaza Strip a “graveyard for thousands of children”.
Since October 7, Israeli attacks have killed at least 13,000 children, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Thousands more are missing under the rubble, most of them presumed dead.
A large number of those who have survived have sustained injuries and suffer from malnourishment due to scarcity of food, as well as the trauma of war.
Seven-year-old Nadeen Isa and her family moved to Al-Salah Football Club in January after their house was raided by Israeli forces in Rafah, southern Gaza.
She has been surviving on canned food since the start of the war and says she misses her favourite food: a shawarma sandwich. But Nadeen’s ambition remains unbroken.
“I dream of becoming a nurse and a striker,” she said while watching a football game from the sidelines.
“I wish I were born in a different country, so I could play and learn like any other child. I miss my school friends, my home and sitting under its roof.”
Prosecutors want Rubiales to face a year behind bars for the kiss and 18 months for the charge of coercion.
Spanish prosecutors are seeking a two-and-a-half year jail term for disgraced ex-football chief Luis Rubiales who is facing trial for kissing Spain midfielder Jenni Hermoso on the lips against her will, court documents show.
Prosecutors also want Rubiales, who has been charged with sexual assault and coercion, to pay at least 50,000 euros ($54,000) in compensation to Hermoso, they wrote in a document sent to Spain’s Audiencia Nacional court, Spanish media reported on Wednesday.
During the incident, which took place on August 20 after Spain beat England to win the Women’s World Cup final in Australia, Rubiales held Hermoso’s head in both hands and forcibly kissed her on the lips.
The kiss took place live in front of the world’s cameras, provoking widespread outrage and prompting his suspension by world football governing body FIFA.
At the time, Rubiales brushed it off as a “consensual” peck on the lips, but Hermoso, 33, said it was not.
Under Spanish law, a nonconsensual kiss can be classed as sexual assault – a criminal category that groups all types of sexual violence.
Rubiales “grabbed the player’s head with both hands, and surprisingly and without consent or the player’s acceptance, he kissed her on the lips”, the prosecutors wrote.
After realising the kiss could have “personal and professional consequences” with his suspension by FIFA on August 26, Rubiales and his entourage began to exert “constant pressure” on Hermoso so that she “publicly justify” the kiss as consensual.
The pressure caused her “anxiety and intense stress” for several months, they wrote.
Prosecutors requested that the 46-year-old face a year behind bars for the kiss, and 18 months for the charge of coercion.
Three of his former associates are also being tried for putting pressure on Hermoso: former women’s coach Jorge Vilda, men’s team director Albert Luque and Ruben Rivera, marketing boss at the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).
Hermoso filed a lawsuit against Rubiales in September, telling the judge she had come under pressure to defend him both on the flight back from Australia and on a subsequent team holiday to Ibiza in the Balearic Islands.
In addition, she requested a restraining order barring Rubiales from coming within 200 metres (656 feet) of Hermoso and from communicating with her for the next seven-and-a-half years.
If convicted and sentenced as requested by the prosecutor, Rubiales would not necessarily have to go to prison. Spain’s criminal code allows judges to “exceptionally” suspend jail terms if – as in this case – none of the sentences imposed individually exceeds two years.
Rubiales has been named in a separate corruption probe that shook the RFEF last week, when police searched the federation’s headquarters and an apartment belonging to Rubiales, arresting seven people.
A Spanish court has been investigating since June 2022 if Rubiales committed a crime of improper management when the RFEF agreed with former Barcelona player Gerard Pique’s Kosmos firm to move the Spanish Super Cup to Saudi Arabia, a judicial source told the Reuters news agency then.
Rubiales, who was in the Dominican Republic during last week’s searches, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and told El Espanol newspaper he would cooperate with the investigation.
A court source said his lawyers told the judge he would return from the Dominican Republic on April 6.
As the sun sets during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, Muslims from around the world gather to break their fast with dates and water followed by a meal known as iftar.
There are some 1.9 billion Muslims around the world, approximately 25 percent of the global population. For many however, rising food prices have meant that households have had to consider cutting back on some of their favourite Ramadan dishes.
To see just how much the prices of various ingredients have increased over the past year, Al Jazeera compared the prices of dozens of ingredients from a variety of supermarket chains from 14 countries around the world. Below are pictures of these traditional meals along with their corresponding prices, listed alphabetically.
Argentina
From South America, we have a locally inspired main dish with beef asado, featuring various cuts of grilled meat with chimichurri – a tangy parsley dipping sauce.
As a side, we have empanadas, a popular savoury pastry consisting of ground beef or vegetables, and for dessert, dulce de leche pancakes with a sweet and creamy caramel sauce, topped with fresh fruit.
To drink, Argentinians will often enjoy a traditional herbal tea made from the yerba mate plant.
Argentina has experienced one of the world’s highest levels of inflation, with the cost of food increasing 303 percent in February 2024 compared with February of the previous year.
To prepare this particular iftar meal, Al Jazeera calculated that a single serving would cost about 7,200 pesos ($8.4) today, compared with about 1,782 pesos ($2) in 2023, reflecting an increase of more than four times.
(Al Jazeera)
Australia
For the world’s largest island, Australia’s iftar experience is a reflection of the country’s multicultural landscape, blending flavours from across the globe.
At the heart of the meal is a “halal snack pack”, a popular street food turned staple dish of shaved lamb over a bed of hot chips and topped with garlic and barbeque sauce.
For the side, a hearty lentil soup with vegetables is often enjoyed and for those with a sweet tooth, there are lamingtons – sponge cake coated in chocolate, filled with jam and blanketed with desiccated coconut.
Best served chilled, cordial is a sweet and refreshing fruit concentrate to rehydrate after a summer day of fasting.
Similar to other Western countries, Australia has also struggled to curb inflation. Al Jazeera calculated that it costs about 12.5 Australian dollars ($8.1) to have this meal in 2024, up from about 11 Australian dollars ($7) the year before.
The biggest price increases came from key ingredients including meat and eggs.
(Al Jazeera)
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Among the highest Muslim populations in Europe, Bosnia and Herzegovina has a variety of traditional foods reflecting its multicultural heritage. A solid choice on a Bosnian iftar table is pita krompiruša, a baked dish consisting of layers of thin phyllo dough filled with a savoury mixture of mashed potatoes, onions and spices.
Following the hearty start, the meal transitions to topa, a slow-cooked side of melted cheese and butter. The transition to sweetness is marked by hurmašica, a syrup-soaked dessert that is both sweet and comforting.
Concluding the iftar is a glass of sok od drenjina, a popular beverage made from the fruit of the Cornelian cherry tree.
Combining all meals, Al Jazeera calculated that it costs about 2.9 BAM ($1.6) for a single serving of this meal this Ramadan. In 2023 the same meal cost 2.7 BAM ($1.5), a 7 percent increase.
The higher cost of potatoes, sugar and butter was mainly responsible for a more expensive Bosnian iftar meal in 2024.
Egypt
A country steeped in centuries-old traditions and culinary heritage, an Egyptian iftar table may include a local delicacy of grape leaves stuffed with a mixture of rice, minced meat and spices.
For a nutritious and comforting soup, chopped molokhiya (jute leaves) prepared with garlic and coriander is always a good choice, followed by kunafa, a sweet and cheesy dessert staple eaten across the Middle East and North Africa.
To quench one’s thirst, qamar al-din, a traditional apricot drink, is a crowd favourite.
Egypt is currently experiencing record levels of inflation and a depreciating currency. This has meant that the prices of many ingredients, most notably ghee and sugar, are nearly three times more expensive than they were last Ramadan.
Al Jazeera calculated that this Ramadan, it will cost roughly 68 Egyptian pounds ($1.4) to prepare a single serving of the meal above. In 2023, the same meal cost 39 Egyptian pounds ($0.8), an increase of 74 percent.
India
India has a great variety of iftar meals to choose from. Among one of the favourites is ghugni, a vegetarian curry made of peas or chickpeas and cooked with onions, tomatoes and various spices.
For sides, there’s pakora, a deep-fried vegetable fritter made with onions and green chillies. For dessert, we have suji halwa, a semolina pudding cooked with ghee and sugar and topped with nuts.
To cleanse the palate, one can reach for a glass of refreshing rose drink made from rose syrup, water and often a splash of lime or mint.
In combining these ingredients, Al Jazeera calculated that it costs roughly 149 rupees ($1.8) to prepare a serving of this meal this Ramadan. The same meal last year actually cost 162 rupees ($1.9), a decrease of 9 percent.
The main reason for this was the drop in the price of onions which were used widely in this dish. The price of all other other ingredients either increased or stayed the same.
India is the world’s largest exporter of onions. In December, the country imposed a ban on all onion exports to increase domestic availability and drive down prices which have more than halved since the ban took effect. On March 23, the ban, which was due to expire on March 31, was extended indefinitely.
(Al Jazeera)
Indonesia
In the world’s largest Muslim nation, spanning six thousand inhabited islands, Indonesia’s iftar traditions are locally inspired by the unique flavour of bubur – a traditional rice porridge topped with shredded chicken, peanuts, greens and an array of spices.
A favourite side dish is, bakwan, a crispy vegetable fritter containing a variety of vegetables such as shredded carrots, cabbage and bean sprouts. For those with a sweet tooth, there is kolak pisang, a sweet dessert made with bananas cooked in coconut milk, sugar and pandan leaves.
And to wrap up the flavourful meal, wash it down with a glass of es timun suri, a refreshing melon and coconut-infused drink.
To prepare the meal, Al Jazeera calculated that it costs about 66,600 rupiah ($4.2) for a serving this year. The cost last year was 62,600 rupiah ($3.9), about 6 percent lower.
(Al Jazeera)
Malaysia
A predominantly Muslim nation, Malaysian cuisine is locally inspired with beef rendang, a rich and spicy coconut milk-based beef dish.
As a side, Malaysians often enjoy sayur lodeh, a fragrant vegetable stew made of coconut milk, with eggplant, beans and nuts.
To complement the rich flavours, many Malaysians will reach for a glass of sirap bandung, a sweet rose syrup-infused milk.
And to top things off, a popular dessert is seri muka, a two-layered rice and pandan custard.
Combining all the necessary ingredients, Al Jazeera calculated that it costs roughly 6.9 ringgits ($1.5) to prepare a single serving of this meal in 2024. In 2023 the same meal cost about 6.4 ringgits ($1.3), an increase of 7 percent.
For Malaysia’s iftar, the largest price increases over the past year were in fresh food items, including eggs and coconut milk.
(Al Jazeera)
Nigeria
Nigerian cuisine is known for its diverse ingredients and vibrant spices. For the main course, Nigerians, like many across West Africa, will often enjoy jollof rice, a red aromatic rice, served with chicken.
To enhance the flavours, one could enjoy moi moi – a savoury pudding made from black-eyed peas or beans.
And for dessert, a good choice is a fresh fruit salad.
To top things off, a Nigerian iftar is best served with zobo, a popular beverage made from dried hibiscus flowers.
Africa’s most populous nation has seen a worsening inflation rate, aggressively increasing the price of poultry and other fresh food items.
Al Jazeera calculated that in 2024 it costs about 6,500 naira ($4.4) to prepare a serving of this meal, compared with about 3,860 naira ($2.6) the year before – an increase of about 68 percent.
(Al Jazeera)
Pakistan
Nearing Iftar time in Pakistan, the atmosphere is imbued with anticipation and warmth starting with dahi baray – lentil fritters, doused in yoghurt and topped with sweet and spicy chutneys.
On the side, we have fruit chaat, a sweet and savoury fruit salad sprinkled with chaat masala. For dessert is jalebi – a popular street food made with flour and sugar with a gooey centre.
A beautiful round-off for iftar is a rose-flavoured drink.
Totalling up the grocery cost, Al Jazeera calculated a serving of this iftar meal to be 172 rupees ($0.6). In 2023 the same meal cost 141 rupees ($0.5), about an 18 percent increase.
Pakistan’s inflation levels have remained high with food inflation reaching a record high of 48.65 percent in May 2023. Looking at our list of ingredients, we found that the largest price hikes were seen in vegetables, sugar and ghee.
Palestine
One of the most widely eaten dishes across Palestine and the Levant region is maklouba, which translates from Arabic to “upside-down”. It is a flavourful rice dish with layers of sliced eggplants, meat and other vegetables cooked together in a pot, then flipped upside-down onto a serving platter before eating.
Complementing the maklouba is dagga – a traditional spicy tomato and cucumber salad covered in olive oil.
For dessert, a great Ramadan choice is katayif, a type of semi-circular stuffed pancake often filled with walnuts or cheese and then dipped in syrup.
Tamir hindi is a popular drink made with tamarind and sugar.
Totalling up the grocery cost, Al Jazeera calculated that it costs about 31.5 shekels ($9) to prepare a serving of this iftar meal in the occupied West Bank this Ramadan. The same meal cost 28.5 shekels ($8) in 2023, an 11 percent increase.
Olive oil had the most significant price increase, nearly doubling from 30 shekels ($8.2) per litre in 2023 to 55 shekels ($15) this year. The price of meat also saw a 10 percent increase.
Observing Ramadan in Gaza amid Israel’s continuing assault has been a huge challenge for many Palestinians. Preparing a meal is a luxury that many can’t afford. According to people on the ground, a single egg now costs 6 shekels ($1.64).
Despite this, families are trying to keep their spirits and traditions alive by preparing whatever meals they can. Al Jazeera spoke to some of these displaced families who are now living in tents in Rafah.
(Al Jazeera)
South Africa
The Rainbow Nation has a variety of racial and ethnic groups. Preparing a traditional meal means bringing together various foods. For the main course, South Africans can enjoy a classic combo of pap en vleis, also known as shisa nyama – a maize meal porridge eaten with barbecued meat.
Accompanying this is chakalaka, a spicy vegetable relish made with onions, tomatoes, carrots, beans and spices. For dessert, koeksisters – braided deep-fried dough drenched in syrup – provide a crunchy treat.
To round off the meal, a “Stoney” – carbonated ginger beer – offers a refreshing end to the iftar.
Like many countries, South Africa is battling rising inflation. Al Jazeera calculated that it costs about 77 rand ($4.0) to prepare a serving of the iftar meal above. In 2023 the same meal cost 68 rand ($3.6), about a 13 percent increase.
The biggest price increases came from the price of store-bought chakalaka and pantry items such as cake flour and sugar.
Turkey
As the sun sets in Turkey, many families will feast on dolma – stuffed vegetables with a mixture of rice, meat and herbs.
On the side, is a bowl of cacik, a creamy yoghurt and cucumber dip. For dessert, one of the many choices might be a bowl of muhallebi, a milk pudding flavoured with cinnamon and nuts.
And to support digestion, salgam, a fermented turnip beverage is a good choice.
Turkey has also seen soaring levels of inflation. Setting out the table for iftar, Al Jazeera calculated that a serving of this meal costs about 60.5 lira ($1.9), compared with about 50.6 lira ($1.6) a year ago – an increase of about 20 percent.
Among the biggest price hikes came in the form of dairy products including milk and yoghurt.
(Al Jazeera)
United Kingdom
There are roughly four million Muslims in the UK. Like many other non-Muslim majority countries, the choice of iftar meals depends largely on a household’s ethnic background. A hearty British seafood iftar could comprise a slice of salmon fillet served with a side of greens and a bowl of rice.
Served after the main course could be a bowl of fruit yoghurt.
Packed with antioxidants, and aiding digestion could be a hot cup of green tea.
For this year’s iftar, Al Jazeera calculated that it costs roughly 2.2 pounds ($2.7) for a single serving of the meal above. That’s a marginal increase of about 4 percent from the previous year of 2.1 pounds ($2.6).
In 2022, the UK experienced seven months of double-digit inflation peaking at 11.1 percent in October. The rate has since settled at about 4 percent during the first few months of 2024.
(Al Jazeera)
United States
The United States has a diverse Muslim community with about three to four million members – or about one percent of the population. A popular main dish enjoyed across many American households is the culinary classic oven-roasted chicken infused with herbs and spices.
Complementing the roast, one might find the traditional Middle Eastern green salad topped with crispy pieces of toasted bread known as fattoush.
For dessert, one can’t go wrong with a piece of kunafa, a sweet and cheesy dessert topped with nuts.
To round off the evening, one can reach for a flavoured milk of your choice.
To prepare this year’s meal, Al Jazeera estimated costs are roughly $7.1 per serving this Ramadan. Last year the same meal cost about $6.7, an increase of about 5 percent.
For the most part, the prices of the ingredients needed to prepare this meal have held firm with slight increases in the price of poultry and dairy.
New Delhi, India – A Bollywood film called JNU will be released across India next week. The tagline on its publicity posters asks: “Can one educational university break the nation?”
The film is only the latest, thinly veiled attack on Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), one of India’s premier public universities that for decades has also been a cauldron of political activism, with admission criteria designed to ensure that students from some of the country’s poorest and most neglected regions get a shot at quality higher education.
The university, a traditional bastion of left-liberal politics that is named after independent India’s first prime minister, has been a central target of political attacks from the country’s Hindu majoritarian right, especially under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rule. Like in the film, the university’s critics affiliated with Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have described JNU as an “anti-national” hub over its politics. Students and ex-students have been jailed for treason. Teachers have accused the university administration, appointed by the BJP government, of weakening quality standards and processes for appointments to stock the faculty with ideologically aligned professors.
Amid a heated campaign for national elections scheduled for April and May, the university held its own vote last week for the JNU Students Union (JNUSU), which has historically been one of India’s most powerful and influential student bodies. These were the first JNUSU polls in four years, and results came out on Sunday.
Students gather to listen to the JNUSU presidential debate in New Delhi [Courtesy of Sunny Dhiman]
Nationally, the BJP is predicted to win. At JNU, it lost.
“This election was a referendum against the right wing,” Dhananjay, the new students union president, said in his victory speech. The 28-year-old student of theatre and performance studies at JNU’s School of Arts and Aesthetics is also the first Dalit to be elected JNUSU president in nearly three decades.
Located on rocky, forested slopes in southern New Delhi, JNU is often described as a bubble, and there is little evidence that the outcome of its student body elections is any reflection of the national mood. But for many in the institution best known for its pedagogy and research in the social sciences, the win on Sunday of a coalition of left-wing organisations, offered a breather from perceived efforts by the BJP and its allies to take over their oasis.
‘Solidarity and hope’
The JNUSU has been dominated by groups affiliated with India’s many communist parties for decades. However, the rise of Hindu nationalism in the early 1990s saw the emergence of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), a pan-India student organisation affiliated with the far-right Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological mentor of the BJP.
The university’s alumni include Nobel Laureates like Abhijit Banerjee, who won the economics prize in 2019, and foreign leaders such as former Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan and former Nepal Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai. Many of India’s top political leaders — from Sitaram Yechury, the leader of India’s biggest communist party, to the current BJP government’s foreign minister S Jaishankar and finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman — studied at JNU.
On Sunday, thousands of JNU students gathered outside their union office to learn the results of the elections held last week, in which the ABVP was a strong challenger. But three of the top four posts were won by Left candidates while the remaining chair went to a queer woman from the Dalit community, which sits at the bottom of India’s complex caste hierarchy.
Yet the national elections coming up could shape the future of JNU as much, if not more, than the students elected over the weekend.
Since Modi became the prime minister in 2014, his government has portrayed the university as a hub of activities designed to break India.
Students and ex-students – especially Muslims, such as Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam – have been arrested and charged with sedition and “terrorism”. Many remain behind bars. Students alleged that the university administration’s failure to hold elections since 2019 was also part of a pattern of actions aimed at stifling campus political activism.
While COVID-19 lockdowns prevented the polls in 2020 and 2021, the subsequent years saw a reluctance by the JNU administration “because it wanted elections to stop forever”, outgoing JNUSU President Aishe Ghosh told Al Jazeera.
Outgoing JNUSU President Aishe Ghosh with Dhananjay, right, and another student [Amir Malik/Al Jazeera]
“Conducting the election again seemed impossible, but the students showed solidarity and hope,” she said. Unlike other public universities, the elections at JNU are conducted by students who form an Election Commission to oversee the vote.
“The hiatus in conducting the election was a major challenge as the Election Commission consisted of many new members. But I told the varsity administration that if I begin the process once, I will finish it,” said Chief Election Commissioner Shailendra Kumar, a doctoral student in South Asian studies.
“We have done so successfully and sensitively,” he said, adding that a Braille system for visually challenged voters was introduced for the first time.
‘Punching bag for BJP’s politics’
The JNU vote came weeks before India goes to the polls in a marathon six-week exercise, starting on April 19. And the university is likely to figure into the BJP’s campaign, as is evident by the release of JNU, the film, on April 5.
The movie is part of a slew of similar films produced by a section of Bollywood filmmakers to ostensibly promote Modi’s BJP. The film’s publicity posters, split in half between shades of saffron and red, clearly show a prominent university building with two rival groups of students demonstrating in front of it.
“The Left winning in JNU is not a new thing. It has been winning for many years and has been dominant ever since JNU came into being,” Harish S Wankhede, a professor at JNU’s Centre for Political Studies, told Al Jazeera.
“The new thing is that the central government’s attempts to change JNU, both ideologically and demographically, didn’t affect the campus much. The efforts by the government to malign JNU, defame it, calling it a den of anti-nationals, didn’t bear any fruit to the right-wing student group.”
From left, newly elected JNUSU President Dhananjay, Vice President Avijit Ghosh, General Secretary Priyanshi Arya and Joint Secretary Mo Sajid [Amir Malik/Al Jazeera]
Wankhede said it was “surprising” that the ABVP, supported by a political environment for four years, did not win.
“JNU was considered a punching bag for the BJP’s politics,” Amisha Thakur, a doctoral student, told Al Jazeera. Wankhede agreed: “That’s true because no other university was giving an intellectual opposition to BJP with as much fervour as JNU was doing.”
But Govind Dangi, a 29-year-old student and an ABVP candidate in the election, described the Left as a dying force at JNU.
“The flame of a candle flickers before it ends. The Left is that dousing candle,” he said.
During an election debate held a day before the voting, ABVP’s presidential candidate, Umesh Chandra Ajmeera, made a gesture similar to what RSS members do at their meetings — a raised hand that critics of the Hindu right have compared to the Nazi salute.
While the gesture was met with angry protests, Dhananjay thinks Ajmeera may have done it unintentionally. “No one would accept Hitler in India,” he said.
Ajmeera was unavailable for a comment despite repeated efforts to reach him.
The Jawaharlal Nehru University campus in New Delhi [Courtesy: Creative Commons]
Caste assertions
Priyanshi Arya, the first Dalit queer person to be elected the JNUSU general secretary, belongs to the Birsa Ambedkar Phule Student Association (BAPSA), which derives its names from some of India’s most prominent caste and tribal leaders, including Bhaimrao Ambedkar, the country’s first law minister and the chief architect of its secular constitution.
“The entire nation has its eyes on JNU. A first win for the Ambedkarite movement after 10 years of BAPSA’s inception, has created inspiration and hope coursing through the entire nation. It’s an emotional moment for us,” Arya told Al Jazeera.
Ajay Gudavarthy, also a professor at JNU’s Centre for Political Studies, said that while the university may represent a microcosm of the national politics, the claim that its Students Union election has “an impact on the national vote is an exaggeration”.
Still, he said, “all elections are being fought on the infallibility of Modi’s image. Any loss in an election is a dent on his larger-than-life persona,” he said.
“Somehow the BJP regime does not look confident despite being in power for a decade, … so it creates a hype knowing that its survival is only there till the hype lasts. There’s nothing beyond. But the ones in power live in the fear of losing it. That’s a terrible way of living.”
And what about the JNU film? Al Jazeera asked ABVP’s Dangi if he agrees with the film’s claim that his university is a “nation-breaker”.
Dandi said the film “portrays our university in a negative way and has no truth in it”.
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![Karam Al-Hwajri (right) reacts to a shot during a Ramadan football tournament at Al-Salah Football Club in Gaza [Abubaker Abed/Al Jazeera]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Karam-Al-Hwajri-in-blue-reacts-to-a-shot-1711545333.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513)
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