������Ƶ

JOHANNESBURG: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday called on Israel to “immediately release” pro-Palestinian activists, including Nelson Mandela’s grandson, intercepted on an aid flotilla headed toward Gaza.
Mandla Mandela and at least five other South Africans were onboard the Global Sumud Flotilla of around 45 vessels aiming to break Israel’s siege of the Palestinian territory and deliver aid to Gaza, where the United Nations says famine has set in.
The Israeli navy began intercepting vessels on Wednesday after warning the activists against entering waters it says fall under its blockade.
“I call on Israel to immediately release the South Africans abducted in international waters, and to release other nationals who have tried to reach Gaza with humanitarian aid,” Ramaphosa said in a statement.
“The interception of the flotilla in international waters is contrary to international law and violates the sovereignty of every nation whose flag was flown on the dozens of vessels in the flotilla,” he said.
By Thursday, of the roughly 45 ships, more than 30 had been intercepted or were assumed to have been intercepted, according to the flotilla’s tracking system.
Flotilla spokesman Saif Abukeshek said the vessels that had not been intercepted were determined to continue.
Pretoria has been a leading critic of Israel’s actions in Gaza, bringing a case before the UN’s top court in December 2023 that argues Israel’s war in the Palestinian territory — which followed Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack — amounts to genocide, a charge Israel has denied.
Israel’s interception of the flotilla “also violates an International Court of Justice injunction that humanitarian aid must be allowed to flow unimpeded,” Ramaphosa said.
Israel’s foreign ministry said the intercepted activists, who also include Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, were being transferred to an Israeli port and would be deported to Europe.

BOGO, Philippines: Philippine authorities said on Thursday that search and rescue operations in quake-hit Cebu province have ended, as the current death toll of 72 was not expected to go much higher and missing people had been accounted for.

Attention has now turned to delivering aid to survivors of the 6.9-magnitude quake that has become the country’s deadliest in more than a decade.

Striking waters off Cebu’s central island late Tuesday, the quake has caused more than 20,000 people to be displaced, while over 300 have been injured.

On Thursday, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr visited Bogo, a city of some 90,000 that was the worst-affected, seeking to reassure evacuees and noting that relief operations have been complicated due to widespread damage to infrastructure.

“We are having some difficulty because we have nowhere to put the displaced families because we’re unsure of the integrity of the evacuation centers,” he told reporters.

“We will make sure there is food supply, water supply and electricity – a generation set if needed. Whatever the people need, we will make sure we can provide.”

Many of the victims were killed when buildings and homes collapsed – either due to the quake itself or landslides that followed after. Heavy rain and the absence of power also hampered rescue efforts.

The Philippines sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” – an earthquake-prone belt of volcanoes stretching from South America to the Russian Far East. It experiences more than 800 quakes each year.