Connect with us

Top Stories

US denies visas to Palestinian Authority leaders for UN general assembly | United Nations

Published

on


The US has begun denying and revoking visas from members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) in advance of the UN general assembly meeting in September, the state department said on Friday.

“The Trump administration has been clear: it is in our national security interests to hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments, and for undermining the prospects for peace,” it said in a statement.

The new measure further aligns Donald Trump’s administration with Israel’s rightwing government which adamantly rejects a Palestinian state. Israeli officials have repeatedly equated the broadly secular PA, which exercises partial authority in the occupied West Bank, with its bitter Islamist rival Hamas.

Using a term favoured by Trump to deride his legal troubles while out of office, the state department accused the Palestinians of “lawfare” by raising grievances against Israel at the international criminal court and international court of justice.

It called on the PA to drop “efforts to secure the unilateral recognition of a conjectural Palestinian state”.

The Israeli foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, thanked the Trump administration “for this bold step and for standing by Israel once again” in a post on X.

Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, was included in the restrictions. Abbas had been planning to travel to New York to deliver an address to the UN general assembly.

The PA’s ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour, told reporters that they were seeking details on what the new US measure means “and how it applies to any of our delegation, and we will respond accordingly”.

Stéphane Dujarric, a UN spokesperson, said it was “important” for all states and observers, which includes the Palestinians, to be represented at a summit scheduled for the day before the general assembly begins. “We obviously hope that this will be resolved,” Dujarric said.

The US statement justifying the new measure echoed claims often repeated by Israeli officials.

“Before the PLO and PA can be considered partners for peace, they must consistently repudiate terrorism – including the 7 October massacre – and end incitement to terrorism in education,” it said.

The PLO was founded in 1964 as an umbrella organisation for Palestinian factions and recognised a decade later as the sole political representative of the Palestinian people. The PA was set up almost 20 years later as an interim body that would provide an institutional framework for a Palestinian state.

Both are likely to be integral to any future Palestinian state. Arab powers, the UK, European countries and others want the PA to take a central role in the administration of Gaza if the conflict can be ended, though they agree it needs reform.

Australia, Canada, the UK and France are to recognise a Palestinian state at the UN general assembly next month if certain conditions are met, in a move that has infuriated Israel.

Israel’s government has rejected any role for the PA in Gaza and said that recognition “rewards Hamas’s monstrous terrorism”.

Though Israel’s government is under mounting pressure at home and abroad to end its offensive in Gaza, Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, has ordered military forces to launch an assault to seize Gaza City. Once a major commercial and cultural hub, it has been reduced to ruins and is home to hundreds of thousands of destitute Palestinians after repeated rounds of fighting.

The Israeli offensive has so far killed 63,000 people, mostly civilians, injured 150,000 and displaced the vast majority of the population. The UN last week declared a famine in and around Gaza City, blaming “systematic obstruction” by Israel of humanitarian aid deliveries.

“We have begun preliminary operations and the initial stages of the attack on Gaza City, and we are currently operating with great force on the outskirts of the city,” Avichay Adraee, an Israeli military spokesperson, said on X.

The war was triggered by a surprise attack by Hamas into Israel in October 2023 which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw 251 abducted. About 50 hostages remain in Gaza, of whom less than half are thought to be still alive.

Under an agreement as host of the UN in New York, the US is not supposed to refuse visas for officials heading to the world body for the general assembly, but the state department said it was complying with the agreement by allowing the Palestinian mission to attend.

Activists each year press the US to deny visas to leaders of countries that they oppose, often over grave human rights violations, but their appeals are almost always rejected.

In a historic step in 1988, the general assembly convened in Geneva rather than New York to hear the then PLO leader, Yasser Arafat, after the US refused to allow him in New York.

Additional reporting by AFP



Source link

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Top Stories

The eBay Labor Day Sale Has the Best Deals on LG Evo C5 4K OLED TVs So Far This Year

Published

on


The eBay Labor Dale Sale has kicked off with a 20% off coupon code: “HAPPY30TH” to celebrate eBay’s 30 year anniversary. This coupon happens to work on several TVs, including the new 2025 LG OLED TVs. Right now you can pick up a 65″ LG Evo C5 4K OLED smart TV for just $1,299.19 after you apply 20% off coupon: “HAPPY30TH“. Alternatively, you can get a 77″ LG Evo C5 for $1,837.59 after the same code. These are the lowest prices I’ve seen all year and at least $200 less than other retailers’ Labor Day deals. The seller Buydig is reputable and has over half a million postive reviews. It is also an authorized LG reseller so you’re getting the manufacturer warranty.

LG Evo C5 4K OLED Smart TVs Are on Sale for Labor Day

65″ LG Evo C5 4K OLED Smart TV

77" LG Evo C5 4K OLED Smart TV

77″ LG Evo C5 4K OLED Smart TV

The LG Evo OLED TV has been our favorite TV for gaming, especially for the PlayStation 5 console for three years running thanks to its outstanding image quality, low input lag, and high refresh rate. The C5 is LG’s newest generatoin (2025) model in the lineup. The C5 uses LG’s proprietary Evo panel, which offers higher brightness level and contrast ratio compared to traditional W-OLED TVs (similar to QD OLED panels on Samsung TVs). OLED TVs offer the best image quality of any TV currently available at consumer prices thanks to near-infinite black levels, near-infinite contrast ratio, and near-instantaneous response times. This is easily the best TV for streaming 4K HDR content in its intended glory.

The LG C5 has all the features you’d want in a gaming TV as well. It has a native 120Hz panel that can be pushed to as high as 144Hz and all four HDMI ports are 2.1 spec for running games in 4K at up to 120fps on a PS5 or Xbox Series X without any tearing. The C4 also supports variable refresh rate (VRR) and auto low latency mode (ALLM). The C5 is also pretty lightweight because the rear cabinet housing is made of a composite fiber; 65″ model weighs only 36 pounds without the stand. That makes it easier to install, especially if you plan on wall mounting it.

What are the updates over the 2024 LG Evo C4 model?

The LG Evo C5 improves upon the C4 with an updated Alpha a9 Gen8 processor and a higher peak brightness level, the latter of which is the more significant upgrade. Higher peak brightness means the C5 is able to deliver slightly better contrast ratio, slightly wider color gamut, better glare and reflection handling, and greater usability in bright rooms.

The 77″ LG Evo C4 4K OLED TV is also on sale

77" LG Evo C4 4K OLED Smart TV

77″ LG Evo C4 4K OLED Smart TV

If you don’t mind stepping down to the 2024 model, you’ll save around $160 going with the 77″ LG Evo C4 4K OLED smart TV. The C4 uses a similar Evo OLED panel to the C5 for increased brightness levels. It also has four HDMI 2.1 ports and a native 120Hz refresh rate that can be pushed to 144Hz for high-fps gaming on the PlayStation 5 console.

Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn’t hunting for deals for other people at work, he’s hunting for deals for himself during his free time.



Source link

Continue Reading

Top Stories

Leafy greens and bananas could reduce risk of heart disease by 24% because they reduce sodium in the bloodstream, new study finds

Published

on


Eating leafy greens and foods such as bananas may cut the risk of heart disease, irregular heartbeats and death by up to a quarter, a new study has shown.

Potassium-rich foods, such as salmon, broccoli and spinach, can help your body eliminate more salt from your system and reduce the likelihood of heart-related illnesses by 24 per cent.

In the study, researchers investigated whether removing excess sodium from the bloodstream, which is known to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, could help lower that risk.

The study found that, overall, higher potassium levels in the blood were linked to a significantly reduced risk of heart events, hospital stays or death from any cause.

The study’s lead author, professor Henning Bundgaard from Copenhagen University hospital, said: “The human body evolved on a potassium-rich, sodium-poor diet – when we were born and raised on the savannah and eating [fruit and vegetables],” according to The Guardian.

“We 1756639219 tend to go to [a] modern diet that is processed foods and, the more processed, we see more and more sodium in the food and less potassium, meaning that the ratio between the two has changed from 10:1 to 1:2 – a dramatic change.”

Professor Henning Bundgaard said a low intake of potassium-rich foods can increase the risk of arrhythmias, heart failure and death

Professor Henning Bundgaard said a low intake of potassium-rich foods can increase the risk of arrhythmias, heart failure and death (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Potassium is vital for the functioning of the heart, he said, and a low intake can increase the risk of arrhythmias, heart failure and death.

The study trialled 1,200 patients with implantable defibrillators, assigning 600 of them to diets rich in potassium, and low in meat, which is rich in potassium, but also in sodium. The results were presented at Madrid’s European Society of Cardiology congress, the world’s largest heart conference.

Professor Bundgaard said: “With a broader view we can say that higher dietary intake of potassium may not only benefit patients with heart disease but probably all of us, so maybe we should all reduce sodium and increase potassium content in our food.”

In April, a study published in the American Journal of Physiology-Renal Physiology found that eating more potassium can also lower blood pressure.

Anita Layton, one of the study’s authors, said: “Our research suggests that adding more potassium-rich foods to your diet such as bananas or broccoli might have a greater positive impact on your blood pressure than just cutting sodium.”



Source link

Continue Reading

Top Stories

Snake Eater PC Users Can Add Lumen RT, Ray Reconstruction, and DLSS 4 FG with Simple Tweaks

Published

on


Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater launched a few days ago on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S|X. Developed by Virtuos, the remake of MGS3 is powered by Unreal Engine 5 but lacks a few features that PC gamers have come to expect lately.

For example, the game uses Software Lumen for global illumination, but there’s a way to enable Ray Traced Lumen for better visual results, albeit at a performance cost. YouTuber MxBenchmarkPC provided the guide on how to:

Go to AppData\Local\MGSDelta\Saved\Config\Windows and open the Engine.ini file. Then, add the following commands to the bottom of the Engine.ini file:
[SystemSettings]
r.Lumen.HardwareRayTracing=1
r.Lumen.Reflections.HardwareRayTracing=1
r.Lumen.ScreenProbeGather.HardwareRayTracing=1
r.LumenScene.DirectLighting.HardwareRayTracing=1
r.Lumen.Reflections.MaxRoughnessToTrace=0.6
r.Lumen.Reflections.MaxRoughnessToTraceForFoliage=0.6

For even better ray tracing fidelity, Ray Reconstruction can be enabled with:

r.NGX.DLSS.denoisermode=1

To get NVIDIA DLSS 4 Frame Generation, add these commands:

r.Streamline.DLSSG.Enable=1
t.Streamline.Reflex.Enable=1
t.Streamline.Reflex.Mode=1

    It is indeed a bit weird that all these commands just work in Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, and yet there is no way to enable them through regular settings.

    Anyway, the game does take a slight hit (around five to six frames per second on an RTX 5080) when enabling Hardware RT Lumen, though DLSS Frame Generation more than makes up for it. With DLSS set to Performance, the RTX 5080 used in the test runs around 105 FPS. Of course, having access to Multi Frame Generation would accelerate performance even further. It is likely modders will find a way to get it working soon. By the way, you will need the frame rate unlock mod, as Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is by default locked to 60 FPS on PC.

    Read our PS5 review to find out what Kai Tatsumoto thought about this remake:

    Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is the de facto perfect way to experience the rise and fall of Big Boss. Each detail has been meticulously refined and brought to modern standards while leaving nothing behind in the past. While this also means retaining both the campiness and jank, there’s no better way to experience the first Metal Gear Solid title in the timeline.



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending