DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH
Syriaʼs sexual violence survivors seek justice An analysis of Syrian survivorsʼ interviews from 2012 to date details new accusations of what authors call systematic sexual and gendered violence at state-controlled detention facilities, government checkpoints and house raids by the Syrian army. The report, entitled "Do you know what happens here?," was named after testimony from one witness who, during interrogation, was said to have been asked the question before being led into a room where a detainee was being sexually assaulted by a guard. The Washington-based Syrian Justice and Accountability Center (SJAC) penned the report as part of efforts to deliver transitional justice, including reducing shame and stigma, potential truth commissions and possible prosecutions.
Snapshot of the black hole Here it is! The very first picture of a black hole. At six press conferences simultaneously — in Brussels, Washington, Taipei, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Santiago, Chile — researchers presented the remarkable photo: a dark circle with a flaming orange ring of light. The researchers couldnʼt do this with a telescope. A telescope of this size would have to be as large as Earth. Because this is impossible, the researchers came up with a trick. They connected eight strong radio telescopes around the globe to simulate a giant telescope. Since 2017, they have collected data on data, packed it together, and proved with a picture whatAlbert Einsteinhad already calculated 100 years ago: that there must be something with such a mass that it attracts, swallows and distracts from its orbit anything close to it.
84/2019 • 11 APRIL, 2019
Israel faces old reality of Benjamin Netanyahu victory anew The vote reflects a deep societal divide. Dana Regev reports from Haifa
Israelʼs general election has put Prime Minister Netanyahu on track for a record fifth term in office, but not everybody is celebrating. The day after Israelʼs general election, itʼs hard to say the country has woken up to the dawn of a new day. In the northern port city of Haifa — known for its mixed Arab-Jewish population and left-leaning tendencies — the warm sunshine is unable to mask the storm in its residentsʼ hearts, as all signs point to a record fifth term in office for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu couldnʼt have asked for a more promising outcome after a tight race between his ruling right-wing Likud Party and the centrist Blue and White alliance of former military commander-inchief Benny Gantz. Gantz, a rising star in the political arena,tied with Netanyahu, with each of their parties earning 35 seats. But almost all the smaller right-wing parties have said they would back Netanyahu to form a coalition. This right-wing bloc has a 10-seat lead, with 65 seats as opposed to the center-leftʼs 55. Gantz conceded defeat Wednesday evening. Before voting had finished, however, promising preliminary results for Gantzʼs party triggered panic on
Likudʼs social media accounts, with Netanyahuʼs supporters launching an aggressive text message campaign meant to persuade undecided voters to head to the polls before they closed. "A dramatic update on low turnout across the Likudʼs strongholds, we have to save the Right!" some of the text messages read. "If you donʼt want to end up with a left-wing government — get out and vote Likud now!" And so the Israeli people have spoken — or the roughly six million who are eligible to vote, at least. Israeli Arabs can vote, though Palestinians cannot, and Israelis living overseas must vote in Israel. In Haifa, not everybody feels victorious. Adi Hagin, 40, is an Israeli living in Frankfurt with her German husband and their two daughters. She flew to Israel for less than 48 hours just to cast her vote. "Itʼs not that I seriously expected any other result, but I felt like I have to fight for the future of my homeland – and I failed," she shares with DW. "Iʼm not sorry I flew here. I am, however, sorry that I couldnʼt change the Israeli reality."
Could Libya be Russiaʼs new Syria? As the conflict in Libya heat up, the words out of Moscow have remained cool and rational. During a recent visit to Egypt, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia′s "task is to help the Libyan people overcome their current differences of opinion, and come up with a stable agreement" to reconcile the sides. And at the beginning of the week Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia will use every possible opportunity to call on all sides to avoid causing bloodshed and the "deaths in the civilian population." Since early April, the forces of military strongman Khalifa Haftar (above) have been pushing towards the Libyan capital Tripoli. That is where the internationally recognized government of Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj is based, which has accused Haftar of attempting a coup. Haftar heads the self-titled Libyan National Army, which is backed by a rival government in the east of the country.
USʼ Mike Pence urges UN to recognize Venezuelaʼs Guaido The UN should admit a representative ofJuan Guaidoʼs Venezuela governmentin place of the envoy appointed by Nicolas Maduro, US Vice President Mike Pence told international representatives on Wednesday. "The time has come for the United Nations to recognize interim president Juan Guaido as the legitimate president of Venezuela and seat his representative in this body," Pence added. Venezuelaʼs parliamentary speaker Juan Guaido declared himself interim president in January, claiming thathis rival Nicolas Maduro had lost legitimacy.
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