US airman sets himself on fire outside Israeli embassy in Washington

Police are deployed outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024, after an active-duty member of the US Air Force was critically injured after setting himself ablaze outside the diplomatic compound. (AP)
Police are deployed outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024, after an active-duty member of the US Air Force was critically injured after setting himself ablaze outside the diplomatic compound. (AP)
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Updated 27 February 2024
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US airman sets himself on fire outside Israeli embassy in Washington

Police are deployed outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, Sunday, Feb. 25, 2024.
  • The man had filmed himself shouting “Free Palestine” as he lit himself on fire, according to footage shared on social media
  • In the video, the man is seen wearing military fatigues and declaring he will “not be complicit in genocide” before dousing himself in liquid

WASHINGTON: An active member of the US Air Force has died after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington over the weekend in protest of the war in Gaza, the Pentagon said Monday.
Emergency responders on Sunday had rushed to the scene just before 1:00 p.m. (1800 GMT) in response to a “call for person on fire outside the Israeli Embassy,” according to a message on X, formerly Twitter, by the capital city’s fire department.
They arrived to find that officers from the Secret Service — the US law enforcement agency tasked with protecting embassies in Washington — had already extinguished the fire.
The man had filmed himself shouting “Free Palestine” as he lit himself on fire, according to footage shared on social media.
He was initially transported to hospital with “critical life-threatening injuries,” the fire department said.
An Air Force spokeswoman told AFP Monday morning that the unnamed “individual involved in yesterday’s incident succumbed to his injuries and passed away last night.”
“We will provide additional details 24 hours after next-of-kin notifications are complete.”
A spokesperson for the Israeli embassy said no staff were injured in the incident, and that the man was “unknown” to them.
In the video shared on social media, the man is seen wearing military fatigues and declaring he will “not be complicit in genocide” before dousing himself in liquid.
He then lights himself on fire while yelling “Free Palestine!” until he falls on the ground.
The video was reportedly first shared in a livestream on the social platform Twitch.
The shocking act came as protests are increasing across the United States against Israel’s actions in Gaza, where it is waging a retaliatory war for an attack on October 7 by Hamas militants.
With the death toll in Gaza nearing 30,000, according to the Hamas-run health ministry there, international pressure has been increasing on the United States to rein in its ally Israel and call for a ceasefire.


Pakistan says over 45 million children vaccinated in first countrywide anti-polio drive of 2025

Pakistan says over 45 million children vaccinated in first countrywide anti-polio drive of 2025
Updated 12 min 5 sec ago
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Pakistan says over 45 million children vaccinated in first countrywide anti-polio drive of 2025

Pakistan says over 45 million children vaccinated in first countrywide anti-polio drive of 2025
  • Pakistani authorities conducted countrywide immunization campaign from Feb. 3-9
  • South Asian country has so far reported only one polio cases while last year it recorded 73

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s state media recently announced that over 45 million children were vaccinated against polio in the first countrywide national immunization campaign of the year conducted from Feb. 3-9, as Islamabad attempts to put a stop to rising cases of the infection. 

Polio is a paralyzing disease with no cure and to ensure immunity, health experts say it is crucial that all children under five complete the oral polio vaccine series. The South Asian country last year reported 73 polio cases in 2024, a sharp increase from just six cases in 2023. 

The Pakistan polio program runs several mass vaccination drives annually. This year’s first anti-polio drive was conducted from Feb. 3 to 9. On Jan. 22, the country reported its first case of the disease in 2025 in the Dera Ismail Khan district of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

“The Ministry of Health said more than 45 million children have been vaccinated during the National Polio Immunization Campaign,” the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said.

“During this polio campaign, more than 400,000 trained polio workers visited door to door to perform their services.”

Dr. Mukhtar Bharath, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Coordinator for Health, said it is a “national and moral” responsibility of parents to get their children under the age of five vaccinated against polio.

He said the complete eradication of polio was the government’s top priority, highlighting that the “war against polio” was being fought with “full force and consistency.”

Bharath said measures were being strengthened to improve polio immunization campaigns across the country.

Of the 73 cases recorded last year, 27 were from southwestern Balochistan, 22 from northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 22 from southern Sindh, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad. 

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the last two countries where polio remains endemic. In the early 1990s, Pakistan reported around 20,000 cases annually but in 2018 the number dropped to eight cases. 

Pakistan’s polio program began in 1994, but efforts to eradicate the virus have been hampered by vaccine misinformation, opposition from some religious hard-liners who view immunization as a foreign plot, and frequent attacks on polio vaccination teams by militant groups.


Kremlin, asked if Trump’s Gaza plan is acceptable, says it is waiting for more details

Kremlin, asked if Trump’s Gaza plan is acceptable, says it is waiting for more details
Updated 4 min 21 sec ago
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Kremlin, asked if Trump’s Gaza plan is acceptable, says it is waiting for more details

Kremlin, asked if Trump’s Gaza plan is acceptable, says it is waiting for more details
  • Asked whether Trump’s plan was acceptable for Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that 1.2 million people lived in Gaza

MOSCOW: The Kremlin said on Monday it was waiting for more details on USpresident Donald Trump’s plan to buy the Gaza Strip, an idea which has sparked condemnation from many countries.
Trump said on Sunday he was committed to buying and owning Gaza, but could allow sections of the war-ravaged land to be rebuilt by other states in the Middle East.
Asked whether Trump’s plan was acceptable for Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that 1.2 million people lived in Gaza.
“It’s worth waiting for some details here if we’re talking about a coherent plan of action. We are talking about almost 1.2 million Palestinians who live there, and this is probably the main issue,” Peskov told a conference call.
“These are the people who were promised a two-state solution to the Middle East problem by the relevant Security Council resolutions, and so on and so forth. There are a lot of questions like that. We don’t know the details yet,
so we have to be patient,” said Peskov.


Pakistan activates crisis management unit as ship carrying 65 passengers capsizes near Libyan coast

Pakistan activates crisis management unit as ship carrying 65 passengers capsizes near Libyan coast
Updated 16 min 28 sec ago
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Pakistan activates crisis management unit as ship carrying 65 passengers capsizes near Libyan coast

Pakistan activates crisis management unit as ship carrying 65 passengers capsizes near Libyan coast
  • Pakistan says Tripoli embassy trying to ascertain further details of Pakistani affectees in boat tragedy 
  • Each year thousands of Pakistanis pay large sums to traffickers to launch risky, illegal journeys to Europe

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign office said on Monday it has activated its crisis management cell and was trying to ascertain the identities of the deceased after a ship carrying 65 passengers, among them Pakistani nationals, capsized near the coast of Libya. 

Each year thousands of Pakistanis pay large sums to traffickers to launch risky and illegal journeys to Europe, where they hope to find work and send funds to support families back home.

The foreign office spokesperson said Pakistan’s embassy in Tripoli informed that the vessel capsized near the port of Marsa Dela, in the northwest of Zawiya city in Libya. It added that the Pakistan embassy in Tripoli dispatched a team to Zawiya hospital to assist local authorities in identifying the deceased. 

“The Embassy is also trying to ascertain further details of the Pakistani affectees,” the statement said. “The Crisis Management Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been activated to monitor the situation.”

The foreign office shared cell phone numbers and an email address for those seeking further information on the matter. 

The incident takes place amid Pakistan’s crackdown on human trafficking rings that arrange such perilous journeys via sea for migrants. Pakistanis are frequently among those drowned on crammed boats which sink on the Mediterranean Sea separating North Africa from Europe, considered the world’s deadliest migrant route.

A boat carrying 86 migrants to Europe, including several Pakistanis, capsized near Morocco on January 16, rights group Walking Borders said.

In 2023, hundreds of migrants, including 262 Pakistanis, drowned when an overcrowded vessel sank in international waters off the southwestern Greek town of Pylos, marking one of the deadliest boat disasters ever recorded in the Mediterranean Sea. 

More recently, five Pakistani nationals died in a shipwreck off the southern Greek island of Gavdos on Dec. 14.
 


World Governments Summit starts Tuesday with biggest billing in 12-year history

World Governments Summit starts Tuesday with biggest billing in 12-year history
Updated 16 min 53 sec ago
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World Governments Summit starts Tuesday with biggest billing in 12-year history

World Governments Summit starts Tuesday with biggest billing in 12-year history
  • This year’s summit will explore global transformations, focusing on opportunities and challenges across various sectors and key issues

DUBAI: The World Governments Summit has unveiled the theme of “Shaping Future Governments” for its 12th annual event held in Dubai from Feb. 11 to Feb. 13, state news agency WAM reported.

This year’s summit will explore global transformations, focusing on opportunities and challenges across various sectors and key issues.

The summit aims to foster the development of shared strategies and visions for enhanced global government performance and stronger international cooperation.

With more than 30 heads of states and government, delegations from 140 governments and representatives from more than 80 global institutions, this year’s summit anticipates record participation.

Attendance looks set to increase by over 50 percent compared to last year, representing the largest gathering in the Summit’s history, with delegates from every continent and a wide range of sectors.

Heads of state, including President of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto, President of Poland  Andrzej Duda, and President of Sri Lanka Kumara Dissanayake, will deliver keynote speeches.

Other speakers billed for the summit include Elon Musk, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, and Sir Tony Blair, former prime minister of the UK.

Mohammad Al-Gergawi, UAE minister of Cabinet affairs and chairman of the World Governments Summit, said that the event continued to provide exceptional support in empowering governments worldwide to navigate rapid transformations and evolving challenges across various sectors.

“The summit is committed to being the premier global platform to anticipate and explore the future, developing innovative solutions and forging international partnerships to benefit all communities based on scientifically and realistically grounded insights,” he added.

The summit’s final day will host the Climate Change Forum, the World Health Forum, and the World Government Law Making Forum.


Oil Updates — crude climbs as investors weigh new US tariffs

Oil Updates — crude climbs as investors weigh new US tariffs
Updated 48 min 26 sec ago
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Oil Updates — crude climbs as investors weigh new US tariffs

Oil Updates — crude climbs as investors weigh new US tariffs

SINGAPORE: Oil prices ticked higher on Monday even as investors weighed US President Donald Trump’s latest tariff threat, this time on all steel and aluminum imports, which could dampen global economic growth and energy demand.

Brent crude futures climbed 54 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $75.20 a barrel by 10:34 a.m. Saudi time while US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $71.50 a barrel, up 50 cents, or 0.7 percent. The market posted its third consecutive weekly decline last week on concerns about a global trade war.

Trump said he will announce on Monday 25 percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports into the US, in another major escalation of his trade policy overhaul.

Just a week ago, the president announced tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, but suspended those for the neighboring countries the next day.

In light of Trump’s temporary backdown last week, investors appeared to be shrugging off the steel and aluminum tariff threat for now, Tony Sycamore, a Sydney-based analyst at IG said.

“The market has realized tariff headlines are likely to continue in the weeks and months ahead,” he said, adding that there was an equal chance they could be walked back or even increased at some point in the near future.

“So perhaps investors are coming to the conclusion it’s not the best course of action to react to every headline negatively.”

China’s retaliatory tariffs on some US exports are due to take effect on Monday, with no sign as yet of progress between Beijing and Washington.

Oil and gas traders are seeking waivers from Beijing for US crude and liquefied natural gas imports.

Trump said on Sunday that the US is making progress with Russia to end the Ukraine war, but declined to provide details about any communications he had with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Sanctions imposed on Russian oil trade on January 10 disrupted Moscow’s supplies to its top clients China and India.

Washington also stepped up pressure on Iran last week, with the US Treasury imposing new sanctions on a few individuals and tankers that help to ship millions of barrels of Iranian crude oil per year to China.

Sanctions on Iran and failure to reach a nuclear deal are upside risks to oil prices even though Trump’s policies are aimed at driving energy prices lower, Citi analysts said in a note.

“We see oil likely trading sideways to down over the next month or so, with the fundamental downward pressure building on crude in our base case throughout the year,” they said.

Brent is forecast to average $60 to $65 a barrel in the second half of 2025 as Trump will be persistent in his desire to lower energy prices, and he will ultimately prove to be a bearish influence on the oil market, Citi said.