# The Non-Aligned Movement calls Israel's war in Gaza illegal and condemns attacks on Palestinians
By **RISDEL KASASIRA**
January 20, 2024. 4:00 PM EST

---

**KAMPALA, Uganda (AP)** - Heads of states of the Non-Aligned Movement Saturday called Israel's military campaign in the Gaza Strip "illegal" and strongly condemned indiscriminate attacks against Palestinian civilians, civilian infrastructure and the forced displacement of the Palestinian population.

While calling for a ceasefire desperately needed for humanitarian aid to access the Gaza Strip, the movement in a joint statement called for a two-state solution, on the basis of the borders before 1967, when Israel seized Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem in a brief war with neighboring Arab states.

The group also reiterated support for a Palestinian state to be admitted as a member of the United Nations to take its rightful place among the community of nations.

The Non-Aligned Movement, formed during the collapse of the colonial systems and at the height of the Cold War, has played a key part in decolonization processes, according to its website. Member countries aspire not to be formally aligned with or against any major power bloc.

Ninety representatives, including 30 heads of state, from the 120 countries that are members of NAM took part in the week-long conference in the Ugandan capital, Kampala. It culminated in a summit of heads of state on Friday and Saturday.

Gaza's Health Ministry says more than 24,400 Palestinians have died in the current war, and the United Nations says a quarter of the 2.3 million people trapped in Gaza are starving. In Israel, around 1,200 people were killed during the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that sparked the war and saw some 250 people taken hostage by militants.

The NAM statement said members were very concerned at the continued deterioration of the situation on ground and the humanitarian crisis. It condemned Israel's continuing settlement construction and expansion activities throughout the Palestinian territories, as well as in Syria's Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The group called for the attention of the international community, especially the U.N. Security Council.

"To this end, it is high time to end this abhorrent occupation, which continues to be imposed in flagrant violation of international law, and to ensure the implementation of the countless relevant General Assembly and Security Council resolutions," the statement said.

UN Secretary General António Guterres told the summit that the refusal to accept the two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians, and the denial of the right to statehood for the Palestinian people, were unacceptable.

He supported the NAM's position calling for reform of the Security Council.

"Your Movement has long highlighted the Council's systemic shortcomings and the need for reforms to make it truly effective and representative. How can we accept that the African continent still lacks a single Permanent Member?" he asked.

Guterres said the killing of 152 UN staff in Gaza is disheartening adding that the Hamas attack on Israel and the destruction of Gaza by the Israel army in 110 days was totally unprecedented during his mandate as UN Secretary General.


# African leaders criticize Israel's military campaign in Gaza and call for an immediate cease-fire
By **RISDEL KASASIRA**
January 19, 2024. 12:32 PM EST

---

**KAMPALA, Uganda (AP)** - African leaders on Friday criticized Israel for its military campaign in Gaza and called for an end to the fighting that continues take its toll on mostly civilians.

The African Union Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat described the war in Gaza as immoral and unacceptable. "We demand an immediate end to this unjust war against Palestinians and implementation of the two-state solution," he said.

Gaza's Health Ministry says more than 24,400 Palestinians have died, and the United Nations says a quarter of the 2.3 million people trapped in Gaza are starving. In Israel, around 1,200 people were killed during the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that sparked the war and saw some 250 people taken hostage by militants.

Mahamat was speaking at a conference in Kampala of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), a group of 120 states which aspire not to be formally aligned with or against any major power bloc.

Speaking during the meeting of heads of state at the week-long gathering, Mahamat asked the 120 member countries to demand international justice for the Palestinians.

His remarks were echoed by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who called for the release of all the hostages and "the resumption of talks on a just solution that will end the suffering of the Palestinian people."

Ramaphosa further called for unhindered and expanded humanitarian access to allow for vital aid and basic services to meet the needs of everyone living in Gaza.

South Africa has filed a case at the International Court of Justice against Israel for genocide and has asked the United Nations' top court to order an immediate halt to Israeli military operations in Gaza.

"This is necessary to protect against further, severe and irreparable harm to the rights of the Palestinian people," Ramaphosa said.

At the start of the conference on Monday, the Palestinian ambassador to the U.N. called on the members of the Non-Aligned Movement to put pressure on Israel to implement a cease-fire in Gaza after 100 days of war with Hamas.

In his opening speech, Ambassador Rayid Mansour said despite resolutions by the U.N. General Assembly and the Security Council, a cease-fire remained elusive.

The Non-Aligned Movement, formed during the collapse of the colonial systems and at the height of the Cold War, has played a key part in decolonization processes, according to its website.

Mansour compared Israel's military assault on Gaza to apartheid, the system of white minority rule in South Africa which was finally abolished in 1994. Israel rejects such allegations.


# Namibian President Hage Geingob will start treatment for cancer, his office says
January 19, 2024. 11:38 AM EST

---

**CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP)** - Namibian President Hage Geingob will start treatment for cancer after routine medical checkups and a follow-up biopsy led to the detection of cancerous cells, his office said Friday.

The Namibian Presidency said the 82-year-old had a colonoscopy and a gastroscopy on Jan. 8, followed by a biopsy. Geingob's office gave no more details on his diagnosis but said he would continue to carry out his duties.

Geingob, who has been president of the southern African nation since 2015, is due to finish his second and final term in office this year. In 2014, he said he had survived prostate cancer.

"On the advice of the medical team, President Geingob will undertake appropriate medical treatment to deal with the cancerous cells," his office said in a statement.

Namibia will hold elections to choose a new leader in November.


# 1 dead, at least 6 injured in post-election unrest in the Indian Ocean island nation of Comoros
By **NAZIR NAZI**
January 18, 2024. 2:39 PM EST

---

**MORONI, Comoros (AP)** - A second day of unrest in the Indian Ocean island nation of Comoros on Thursday left one person dead and at least six others injured, a health official said.

The protests came after incumbent President Azali Assoumani was declared the winner in an election held over the weekend that was denounced by the country's opposition parties as fraudulent.

The announcement late Tuesday that Assoumani had won a fourth term triggered violent protests that started Wednesday, when a government minister's house was set on fire and a car at the home of another minister was burned.

People also vandalized a national food depot. Several roads in and around the capital, Moroni, were barricaded by protesters who burned tires. Riot police clashed with the demonstrators.

The government ordered a curfew on Wednesday night, until 6 a.m. Thursday.

The person who died was a young man, said Dr. Djabir Ibrahim, the head of the emergency department at the El-Maarouf Hospital in Moroni. He said that the man likely died of a gunshot wound. One of the injured was in a serious condition, he said.

U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk appealed for calm and urged authorities to allow people to protest peacefully. His office said that it received reports of security forces firing tear gas at peaceful protesters, including on a march by a group of women earlier this week. Türk also said that he was concerned with repression in Comoros in recent years.

Opposition parties have claimed that Sunday's vote was fraudulent and say the national electoral commission is biased toward Assoumani, a former military officer who first came to power in a 1999 coup. The opposition has called for the election results to be canceled.

Comoros has a population of around 800,000 spread over three islands and has had a series of coups since independence from France in 1975.

Assoumani, 65, was reelected with 62.97% of the vote after changing the constitution in 2018 to allow him to sidestep term limits. He has been accused of cracking down on dissent and previously banned protests. He chairs the African Union, where his one-year largely ceremonial term will end next month.

The government said that a number of protesters were arrested, without offering specifics, and accused the opposition of finding "it difficult to accept defeat" and inciting the unrest.

"We know the instigators," government spokesperson Houmed Msaidie said. "Some of them are in the hands of law enforcement. We will continue to look for them, because there is no question of the state giving way to violence."

A coalition of opposition parties denied the accusations, saying the unrest shows that people are "fed up" with the government.

When Assoumani changed the constitution in 2018, the move triggered mass demonstrations across the nation and an armed uprising on one of the islands that was quelled by the army.

After taking power in a coup, Assoumani was first elected president in 2002. He stepped down in 2006, but returned to win a second term in 2016.


# Blinken's latest diplomatic trip will take him to Africa as crises continue to vex US foreign policy
By **MATTHEW LEE**
January 18, 2024. 12:55 PM EST

---

**WASHINGTON (AP)** - Secretary of State Antony Blinken is planning to visit four African countries as the Biden administration tries to keep its eyes on all corners of the world while being consumed by crises in Ukraine, the Mideast and the Red Sea.

The State Department announced on Thursday that Blinken will go to Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Angola starting Sunday for talks focused on regional security, conflict prevention, democracy promotion and trade. Nigeria is West Africa's regional heavyweight and plays a major role in security issues, especially those involving Islamic extremist violence in the Sahel, the vast arid expanse south of the Sahara Desert.

The trip will be his third overseas mission in the new year. He returned from a Gaza-focused, weeklong 10-nation trip to the Middle East last Thursday and a three-day trip to the World Economic Forum in Switzerland on Wednesday.

Blinken's Africa trip comes as the United States is increasingly nervous about its relationships on the continent, particularly after coups last year in Niger and Gabon, and escalating unrest in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In addition, the U.S. and China are in a battle for influence throughout Africa. That topic will likely top his the agenda in Angola, which China has targeted for significant investment.

Blinken will highlight the administration's partnership with African nation on issues such as the climate, economic investment, food and health, department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

While in Ivory Coast, Blinken may attend an Africa Cup of Nations soccer match between the host country and Equatorial Guinea.


# Senegal presidential candidate renounces French nationality to run for office
By **BABACAR DIONE**
January 18, 2024. 11:55 AM EST

---

**DAKAR, Senegal (AP)** - Karim Wade, the son of a former president of Senegal and a strong political figure in the country, has renounced his French nationality to pave the way for him to run in next month's presidential election.

Wade said Wednesday in a statement on X formerly known as Twitter, that France's interior minister confirmed his renunciation. His dual French and Senegalese nationalities have been a subject of debate because Senegal's constitution says candidates can run only if they are exclusively Senegalese.

The announcement comes days ahead of when the final list of candidates will be announced and weeks ahead of Senegal's presidential elections scheduled for the end of February.

Another candidate, Thierno Alassane Sall, launched an appeal with the Constitutional Council to invalidate Wade's candidacy.

Wade, seen as one of the main contenders, is part of the Senegalese Democratic Party. The party, under his father, former President Abdoulaye Wade, ran the country between 2000 and 2012.

In 2013 the younger Wade was charged with corruption and served three years in jail before going into exile in Qatar.


# Harsh Israeli rhetoric against Palestinians becomes central to South Africa's genocide case
By **TIA GOLDENBERG**
January 18, 2024. 5:55 AM EST

---

**TEL AVIV, Israel (AP)** - Fighting "human animals." Making Gaza a "slaughterhouse." "Erasing the Gaza Strip from the face of the earth."

Such inflammatory rhetoric is a key component of South Africa's case accusing Israel of genocide at the U.N. world court, a charge that Israel denies. South Africa says the language - in comments by Israeli leaders, soldiers and entertainers about Palestinians in Gaza since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack sparked war - is proof of Israel's intent to commit genocide.

Israeli leaders have downplayed the comments, and some in Israel say they're a result of the trauma from Hamas' attack.

Rights groups and activists say they're an inevitable byproduct of Israel's decades-old, open-ended rule over the Palestinians and that they've intensified during the war. They say such language has been left unchecked, inciting violence and dehumanizing Palestinians.

"Words lead to deeds," said Michael Sfard, a prominent Israeli lawyer. "Words that normalize or legitimize serious crimes against civilians create the social, political and moral basis for other people to do things like that."

The genocide case against Israel opened last week at the International Court of Justice at The Hague. South Africa is looking to prove that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and that Israel has specific intent to commit genocide. It is using the litany of harsh statements as part of the evidence in its case.

## THE COMMENTS
With the ground offensive getting underway in late October, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cited the Bible in a televised address: "You must remember what Amalek has done to you." Amalekites were persecutors of the biblical Israelites, and a biblical commandment says they must be destroyed.

South Africa argued that the remarks showed Israel's intent to commit genocide against Palestinians. Netanyahu denied that this week and said he was referring to Amalek as a way to describe Hamas and its attack.

Two days after the Hamas attack, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel was "fighting human animals," in announcing a complete siege on Gaza.

Deputy Knesset speaker Nissim Vaturi from the ruling Likud party wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Israelis had one common goal, "erasing the Gaza Strip from the face of the earth." Israeli Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu, from the far-right Jewish Power party, suggested that Israel drop a nuclear bomb on Gaza and said there were "no uninvolved civilians" in the territory.

Israeli soldiers caught on video made similar remarks as they sang and danced in the early days of Israel's ground offensive.

On Oct. 7, a journalist wrote on X that Gaza should become "a slaughterhouse" if the roughly 250 people taken hostage by Hamas were not returned.

Military officials and two Israeli pop singers are also cited by South Africa for making inflammatory comments.

"The language of systemic dehumanization is evident here," lawyer Tembeka Ngcukaitobi said for South Africa in remarks before the court. "Genocidal utterances are therefore not out in the fringes. They are embodied in state policy."

South Africa is asking for a series of legally binding rulings declaring that Israel is breaching "its obligations under the Genocide Convention" - a decision that could take years - and for a binding interim order that Israel cease hostilities, a ruling on which is expected in the coming weeks.

## ISRAEL'S RESPONSE
Defending Israel in court, lawyer Malcolm Shaw said the remarks were made mostly by officials with little role in determining Israeli policy, calling them "random quotes" that were misleading and had been in some cases repudiated by Netanyahu.

But Roy Schondorf, a former Israeli deputy attorney general, said in an interview that the statements still carried risk, even out of context: "It would have been better if some of these remarks had not been said."

Israel argued that its justice system would take action against unacceptable speech. But critics say statements against Palestinians have gone unpunished or undenounced. Lawyer Sfard appealed to the country's attorney general earlier this month on behalf of a group of prominent Israeli figures, demanding to know why the rhetoric hasn't been reined in.

In a statement two days before the case launched at the world court, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara said calling for intentional harm to civilians could amount to a criminal offense and that Israeli authorities were examining several such cases, without elaborating. The comments appeared to be aimed at heading off the South African accusations.

Overall, Israel vehemently denies the charges at the world court. Israel says it's fighting a war of self-defense against Hamas after it killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

Israeli officials say the country adheres to international law and does its utmost to protect civilians, blaming the high death toll on Hamas for embedding in civilian areas. More than 24,000 people have been killed in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

Israel also says it is Hamas that exhibited genocidal actions with its attack and genocidal intentions with its violent speech against Israelis, including promises to repeat the Oct. 7 assault and the group's commitment to Israel's destruction.

## THE RHETORIC'S MOVE TO THE MAINSTREAM
The war is being fought under Israel's most hardline government ever, dominated by far-right Cabinet ministers with a long record of controversial remarks well before Oct. 7.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich once called for "erasing" a Palestinian West Bank town. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir talked of the supremacy of freedom of movement  for Jewish West Bank settlers over that same right for Palestinians.

And since Oct. 7, such speech has moved further into the mainstream.

Israelis, like Palestinians, have been hardened by decades of deadly conflict and its sense of intractability. Some in Israel say the trauma of Hamas' unprecedented attack unleashed the current discourse.

"The intense collective trauma gave free rein to the expression of dark feelings of revenge that in the mainstream was less pleasant to utter until today," deputy editor-in-chief Noa Landau wrote in the daily Haaretz. She said the statements reflected "the social zeitgeist."

While little appears to have been done to confront violent rhetoric directed at Palestinians, Palestinian citizens of Israel who have shown empathy for people in Gaza are facing a crackdown, according to Adalah, a legal rights group. Police say the speech amounts to incitement, promotes violence or shows support for terror groups.

Adalah says at least 270 Palestinian citizens of Israel have had some sort of interaction with law enforcement - arrests, investigations or warnings, with at least 86 charged for speech offenses. Some Jewish Israelis who expressed sympathy for Palestinians have also faced arrest or sanction by their employers.

Aeyal Gross, a professor of international law at Tel Aviv University, said that how Israel responds to the inflammatory rhetoric matters in the case with South Africa, because Israel, as a signatory to the Genocide Convention, is prohibited not only from committing genocide but also from inciting to genocide.

Gross said that it was probably too late for Israel to take steps that show it doesn't condone such speech. Punishing such remarks could have sent a message to the court as well as to Israeli society that the state doesn't tolerate incendiary rhetoric.

"It's important because it would have said, 'It's not our intent,'" he said. "But it's also important because it would have meant we are sending the soldiers on the ground a message not to act in this way."


# 2.7 million Zimbabweans need food aid as El Nino compounds a drought crisis, UN food program says
By **FARAI MUTSAKA**
January 17, 2024. 12:30 PM EST

---

**HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP)** - The U.N. World Food Program said Wednesday that it was working with Zimbabwe's government and aid agencies to provide food to 2.7 million rural people in the country as the El Nino weather phenomenon contributes to a drought crisis in southern Africa.

Food shortages putting nearly 20% of Zimbabwe's population at risk of hunger have been caused by poor harvests in drought-ravaged areas where people rely on small-scale farming to eat. El Nino is expected to compound that by causing below-average rainfall again this year, said Francesca Erdelmann, WFP country director for Zimbabwe.

El Nino is a natural and recurring weather phenomenon that warms parts of the Pacific, affecting weather patterns around the world. It has different impacts in different regions.

When rains fail or come late, it has a significant impact, Erdelmann told a news conference.

January to March is referred to as the lean season in Zimbabwe, when rural households run out of food while waiting for the next harvest.

More than 60% of Zimbabwe's 15 million people live in rural areas. Their life is increasingly affected by a cycle of drought and floods aggravated by climate change.

Dry spells are becoming longer and more severe. For decades, Zimbabwe's rainy season reliably ran from October to March. It has become erratic in recent years, sometimes starting only in December and ending sooner.

Once an exporter of food, Zimbabwe has relied heavily on assistance from donors to feed its people in recent years. Agricultural production also fell sharply after the seizures of white-owned farms under former President Robert Mugabe starting in 2000 but had begun to recover.

The United States Agency for International Development, the U.S. government's foreign aid agency, has estimated through its Famine Early Warning Systems Network that 20 million people in southern Africa will need food relief between January and March. Many people in the areas of highest concern such as Zimbabwe, southern Malawi, parts of Mozambique and southern Madagascar will be unable to feed themselves into early 2025 due to El Nino, USAID said.

Erdelmann said WFP had received a donation of $11 million from USAID.

Zimbabwe's government says the country has grain reserves to last until October, but it has acknowledged that many people who failed to harvest enough grain and are too poor to buy food from markets are in dire need of assistance.

Staple food prices are spiking across the region, USAID said, further impacting people's ability to feed themselves.

Zimbabwe has already acknowledged feeling the effects of El Nino in other sectors after 100 elephants died in a drought-stricken wildlife park late last year.


# A cholera outbreak in Zambia has caused more than 400 deaths and infected 10,000
By **NOEL SICHALWE**
January 17, 2024. 8:49 PM EST

---

**LUSAKA, Zambia (AP)** - Zambia is reeling from a major cholera outbreak that has killed more than 400 people and infected more than 10,000, leading authorities to order schools across the country to remain shut after the end-of-year holidays.

A large soccer stadium in the capital city has been converted into a treatment facility.

The Zambian government is embarking on a mass vaccination program and says it's providing clean water - 2.4 million liters a day - to communities that are affected across the southern African nation.

The national disaster management agency has been mobilized.

Cholera is an acute diarrhea infection caused by a bacteria that is typically spread via contaminated food or water. The disease is strongly linked to poverty and inadequate access to clean water.

The outbreak in Zambia began in October and 412 people have died and 10,413 cases have been recorded, according to the latest count on Wednesday from the Zambia Public Health Institute, the government body that deals with health emergencies.

The Health Ministry says cholera has been detected in nearly half of the country's districts and nine out of 10 provinces, and the nation of about 20 million people has been recording more than 400 cases a day.

"This outbreak continues to pose a threat to the health security of the nation," Health Minister Sylvia Masebo said, outlining it was a nationwide problem.

The United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, called the fatality rate of around 4% in the three-month outbreak "a devastatingly high number." When treated, cholera typically has a death rate of less than 1%.

There have been recent cholera outbreaks in other southern African nations including Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. More than 200,000 cases and over 3,000 deaths have been reported in southern Africa since the start of 2023, UNICEF said.

Malawi had its worst cholera outbreak in decades in 2023. Last year, the World Health Organization reported that about 30 countries globally, also including Nigeria and Uganda in Africa, suffered serious outbreaks in the last few years.

Cholera barely affects countries in the developed world and can be easily treated but can be quickly fatal if not treated.

More than half - 229 - of the victims in the Zambian outbreak died before being admitted to a health facility, the public health institute said.

Zambia has had several major cholera outbreaks since the 1970s but this one is the worst for 20 years in terms of the caseload, according to Dr. Mazyanga Mazaba, the director of public health policy and communication at the public health institute.

The cholera bacteria can also survive longer in warmer weather and unusually heavy rains and storms in southern Africa have contributed to recent outbreaks, experts say.

WHO said last year that while poverty and conflict remain the main drivers for cholera, climate change has contributed to the disease's upsurge in many places across the globe since 2021 by making storms wetter and more frequent. A cyclone sparked a spiraling cholera outbreak in Mozambique last year.

Heavy rains and flash flooding in Zambia have converted some neighborhoods into soggy or waterlogged areas.

The Zambian government announced in early January that schools - which were meant to open for the year on Jan. 8 - will only open on Jan. 29. Parents and children were urged to make use of education programs on public TV and radio, a situation that had echoes of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The education minister ordered schools to be cleaned and inspected.

Zambia's Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit was mobilized and it was delivering large water tanks and trucking in clean water to some neighborhoods daily. Granulated chlorine to treat water was also being provided, it said.

The majority of cases are in the capital, Lusaka, where a 60,000-seat national soccer stadium has been converted into a treatment center and is dealing with around 500 patients at any one time, the health minister said.

She said Zambia had received around 1.4 million doses of the oral cholera vaccine from the WHO and expected more than 200,000 more to arrive soon. Zambian government officials, including Masebo, took a vaccine publicly to encourage others to also do so.

Health experts have previously warned that the numerous cholera outbreaks globally have strained the supply of vaccines, which are mostly distributed to poor countries through an international body run by the U.N. and partners. Vaccines alliance Gavi predicted that the vaccine shortage could last until 2025.


# Kenya doomsday cult leader, 30 others face charges of murdering 191 children. More charges to follow
By **TOM ODULA**
January 17, 2024. 9:11 PM EST

---

**NAIROBI, Kenya (AP)** - Doomsday cult leader Paul Mackenzie and 30 of his followers were presented in a Kenyan court in the coastal town of Malindi on Wednesday to face charges of murdering 191 children.

Mackenzie and the other suspects did not enter pleas because High Court Judge Mugure Thande granted a request from prosecutors that they undergo mental assessments and return to court on Feb. 6.

The remains of 180 of the 191 dead children have not been identified, according to the prosecution's charge sheet.

Mackenzie and some of his followers have been blamed for the deaths of 429 members of his Good News International Church, many of whom are believed to have starved themselves in the belief that by doing so they would meet Jesus Christ before the world ends.

The bodies were discovered in dozens of shallow graves on an 800-acre (320-hectare) ranch in a remote area known as Shakahola Forest in the coastal county of Kilifi. The graves were found after police rescued 15 emaciated church members who told investigators that Mackenzie had instructed them to fast to death before the world ends. Four of the 15 died after they were taken to a hospital.

Autopsies on some of the bodies found in the graves showed they died from starvation, strangulation or suffocation.

Kenya's top prosecutor said on Monday that 95 people will be charged with murder, cruelty, child torture and other crimes.

For months since the arrest of the defendants last April, prosecutors have asked a court in Kilifi for permission to keep holding them while the investigation continues. But last week, Principal Magistrate Yousuf Shikanda declined their latest request to hold the suspects for an additional 60 days, saying the prosecutors had been given enough time to complete the investigation.

Mackenzie is serving a separate one-year prison sentence after being found guilty of operating a film studio and producing movies for his preaching without a valid license.

Mackenzie allegedly encouraged church members to move to Shakahola Forest to prepare for the end of the world.

A Senate committee report said Mackenzie chose the area due to its remoteness.

"Once inside the villages established by Mackenzie, followers were not allowed to leave the area, nor interact within themselves," the report said.

"The followers were required to destroy vital documents, among them national identity cards, birth certificates, certificates of title to property, academic certificates and marriage certificates," creating problems in identifying the dead, the report said.


# 3 killed and 77 injured in a massive blast caused by explosives in a southern Nigerian city
By **CHINEDU ASADU**
January 17, 2024. 10:58 PM EST

---

**ABUJA, Nigeria (AP)** - Three people died and 77 others were injured overnight when an explosives rocked more than 20 buildings in one of Nigeria's largest cities, authorities said Wednesday, as rescue workers dug through the rubble in search of those feared trapped.

Residents in the southwestern state of Oyo's densely populated Ibadan city heard a loud blast at about 7:45 p.m. Tuesday, causing panic as many fled their homes. By Wednesday morning, security forces cordoned off the area while medical personnel and ambulances were on standby as rescue efforts intensified.

Preliminary investigations showed the blast was caused by explosives stored for use in illegal mining operations, Oyo Gov. Seyi Makinde told reporters after visiting the site in the Bodija area of Ibadan.

"We have already deployed first responders and all relevant agencies within Oyo state to carry out comprehensive search and rescue operations," Makinde said, describing the damage as "devastating."

Rescue workers combing through the collapsed structures recovered an additional body on Wednesday morning, increasing the death toll to three, Saheed Akiode, coordinator of Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency in the region, told The Associated Press.

It was not immediately clear who stored the explosives, and no arrest has been announced. "The investigations are ongoing (and) all those found culpable for this will be brought to book," Gov. Makinde said.

Most of the 77 injured had already been discharged, the governor said, promising to cover the medical bills of others still being admitted and to provide temporary accommodation for those whose houses were affected.

Dozens of residents trooped to the vicinity where some of the injured were being treated in ambulances. Surrounding the area are buildings covered in dust and either destroyed in whole or in part as a result of the blast, which left a massive crater.

Illegal mining in mineral-rich Nigeria is common and has been a major concern for authorities. However, it is mostly done in remote areas where arrests are difficult and where safety procedures are rarely followed.

The use of explosives such as dynamite by miners close to residential areas is also common and poses health hazards to residents, according to Anthony Adejuwon, who leads the Urban Alert group that advocates for accountability in the mining industry.

Adejuwon said explosive materials should be kept far away from where people live, but that "the use of these explosives is not controlled and because they are not controlled, anybody that has easy access can keep it anywhere."


# Sudan suspends ties with east African bloc for inviting paramilitary leader to summit
January 16, 2024. 4:23 PM EST

---

**CAIRO (AP)** - The Sudanese government suspended ties Tuesday with the east African regional bloc trying to mediate between the country's army and a rival powerful paramilitary force, accusing the body of violating Sudan's sovereignty by inviting the paramilitary leader to an upcoming summit.

The army, headed by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and The Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, have been fighting for control of Sudan since April. Long standing tensions erupted into street battles concentrated in the capital but also in other areas including the western Darfur region.

In a statement, The Sudanese foreign ministry - which is aligned with the army - said the move is a response to IGAD for inviting Dagalo without previous consultation, which it said was a "violation of Sudan's sovereignty." The 42nd IGAD summit is set to take place in Kampala, Uganda, on Thursday.

IGAD did not immediately respond to the foreign ministry announcement. Dagalo confirmed last week on social media that he received an invitation from IGAD.

The eight-member bloc is part of mediation efforts to end the conflict, along with Saudi Arabia and the United States which facilitated rounds of unsuccessful, indirect talks between the warring parties as recently as early November. The two military leaders are yet to meet in person since the war broke out.

Tuesday's announcement comes one week after Dagalo finished a tour of Africa, where he met with government officials in Uganda, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa and Rwanda.

Over the past two months, the RSF has appeared to take the upper hand in the conflict, with its fighters making advances eastwards and northwards across Sudan's central belt.

The United Nations says at least 12,000 have been killed in the conflict. Right groups have accused both sides of war crimes.

The countries that make up IGAD include Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda.


# Nigerian leader says 'massive education' of youth will help end kidnappings threatening the capital
By **CHINEDU ASADU** and **ABUJA**
January 16, 2024. 2:45 PM EST

---

**Associated Press (AP)** - Nigeria's leader said Tuesday that his government will embark on "massive education" of youth as one way to tackle the increasing kidnappings for ransom now threatening the capital city along with the rest of the country's conflict-hit north.

President Bola Tinubu won last year's election after promising to rid the West African nation of its security crisis. However, deadly attacks particularly in the north have persisted, with the capital of Abuja recording a spike in abductions along major roads and in homes in recent weeks.

Tinubu condemned the abductions as "disturbing, ungodly and sinister" and touted education as "the antidote to the troubles agitating the nation," according to a statement from presidential spokesman Ajuri Ngelale.

"There is no weapon against poverty that is as potent as learning," the statement said. "Security agencies are acting with dispatch to immediately address the current challenge (while) all required resources, policies and plans will be rolled out soon for the massive education of Nigerian youths."

Nigeria's security forces already are battling jihadi rebels in the northeast in addition to armed groups that often carry out mass killings and abductions in remote communities across the northwest and central regions.

Now residents on the outskirts of the capital are beginning to relocate amid a surge in abductions for ransom suspected of being carried out by gunmen from volatile neighboring states.

Analysts said Tinubu has not done much to address the security crisis.

"Nigeria is drifting towards a failing state (with) non-state armed groups challenging the state authority," said Oluwole Ojewale, a West and Central Africa researcher with the Africa-focused Institute for Security Studies.

Although Tinubu had promised that his government will "mobilize the totality" of Nigeria's assets to protect citizens, there has been "no tangible improvement in (the) security situation yet," Ojewale said.


# Rwanda says it killed a Congolese soldier who crossed the border, heightening tensions
By **IGNATIUS SSUUNA**
January 16, 2024. 7:10 PM EST

---

**KIGALI, Rwanda (AP)** - Rwanda's military on Tuesday said it had killed a Congolese soldier who crossed the border and allegedly fired at Rwandan army patrols, the latest incident in cross-border tensions between the neighbors.

The Rwanda Defense Force said in a statement it also arrested two Congolese soldiers who had been with the one killed. It said they crossed the border at Isangano village in Rubavu district, near the Congolese city of Goma in eastern Congo.

A local farmer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisals, told The Associated Press the Congolese soldiers appeared to have crossed into Rwanda unknowingly, as some border markings can be difficult to see.

Congo's military said in a statement that its soldiers were on patrol and inadvertently crossed into Rwandan territory, which is a common occurrence, but this time they were shot at instead of being repatriated.

The incident happened on the same day Rwandan President Paul Kagame met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos and discussed how to ease tensions in eastern Congo.

"The Secretary reiterated the need for all actors to take concrete steps to resolve the situation," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Tuesday in a statement.

For months, Congo's government has accused Rwanda of supporting the M23 armed rebel group that's been active in eastern Congo, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes. Rwanda has repeatedly denied the claim.

In March last year, the Rwandan army shot dead a soldier from Congo whom it alleged had crossed the border and shot at Rwanda Defense Force soldiers in Rubavu district. The incident led to an exchange of fire between soldiers from the two countries but no further casualties were reported, the force said.

Congo's President Félix Tshisekedi, while campaigning for his reelection last month, alleged that Kagame was behaving like "Hitler," which Rwanda's government described as "a loud and clear threat."

Relations between Rwanda and Congo have been fraught for decades. Rwanda alleges that Congo gave refuge to ethnic Hutus who carried out the 1994 Rwandan genocide that killed at least 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus. In the late 1990s, Rwanda twice sent its forces into Congo. The Rwandan forces were widely accused of hunting down and killing ethnic Hutu, even civilians. Rwanda denies it.

Tshisekedi has long accused Kagame and Rwanda of providing military support to M23, the latest iteration of Congolese Tutsi fighters to seize towns in parts of mineral-rich North Kivu. The U.N. and human rights groups accuse M23 of atrocities ranging from rape to mass killings and say it receives backing from Rwanda. Rwanda denies any ties with the rebels.


# Tanzania says Kenyan authorities bow to pressure and will allow Air Tanzania cargo flights
January 16, 2024. 11:05 AM EST

---

**NAIROBI, Kenya (AP)** - Kenyan authorities will allow cargo flights from Tanzania after its neighbor threatened to ban Kenya Airways passenger flights to Tanzania's commercial capital.

The Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority in a statement Tuesday said its Kenyan counterpart had given approval to operate cargo flights between the East African countries.

The issue around aviation restrictions between Kenya and Tanzania has been successfully resolved, Kenya's foreign affairs minister, Musalia Mudavadi, said in post on X, formerly Twitter.

The Tanzanian authority on Monday threatened to ban Kenya Airways passenger flights to Dar es Salaam beginning Jan. 22 over Kenya's lack of airline approvals. The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority did not say why it denied Air Tanzania the approval to operate cargo flights.

Kenya Airways has been suffering losses, and Kenya's government has injected millions of dollars into the national carrier to keep it afloat. A ban on the lucrative Tanzanian route would have been painful.


# Mauritius and Reunion assess damage from Indian Ocean cyclone that killed at least 4 people
By **GERALD IMRAY** and **LEWIS JOLY**
January 16, 2024. 12:36 PM EST

---

**SAINT-PAUL, Reunion (AP)** - Mauritius lifted its highest weather alert and eased a nationwide curfew Tuesday after a deadly cyclone battered the Indian Ocean island, causing heavy flooding and extensive damage in the capital and other parts of the country.

The nearby French island of Reunion was assessing the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Belal. French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said two more bodies had been found, bringing the death toll there to three. One person died in Mauritius.

Belal ripped through the region off the east coast of Africa on Monday and early Tuesday but was now heading further into the Indian Ocean, the Mauritius Meteorological Services said.

The Mauritius government said that the head of the meteorological services had stepped down after his institution was accused of not giving adequate warning about the storm's impact.

Roads in the Mauritius capital, Port Louis, and elsewhere turned into raging rivers on Monday as Belal brought torrential rains and high winds. Some people climbed onto the roof of their cars and clung on, according to videos published by Mauritius' L'Express newspaper.

The person killed in Mauritius was a motorcyclist who died in an accident caused by the flooding, authorities said. The three who died in Reunion all appeared to be homeless people who had not taken cover in shelters.

Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth and other members of his Cabinet visited areas that had been hardest hit, especially in the south. The government said that Belal had left "a trail of damage over the country."

Mauritius has a population of about 1.2 million people and is a popular tourist destination.

Police were still mobilized across Mauritius, the government's National Emergency Operations Command said, but people could leave their homes. Schools and many businesses were to remain closed until at least Wednesday.

Mauritius had enforced a curfew until noon Tuesday, with everyone ordered to remain at home except emergency workers, some hospital workers and security forces.

On Reunion, residents emerged from their homes Tuesday to clean up. Men in shorts trudged through ankle-high waters down a street in the town of Saint-Paul as winds buffeted the palm trees. Emergency workers scooped up branches and other debris blocking roads.

In the nearby town of Saint-Gilles-les-Bains, trees had crashed onto quays and into the picturesque marina, and several boats were damaged. The winds hit hardest on the higher, inland areas, but roads to reach them remained impassable.

Some 40% of Reunion's 860,000 people had no electricity and nearly half the island was without internet or cell phone service, the head of the local administration, Jerome Filippini, told a news conference. Schools will remain closed all week.

The French government sent some 150 rescuers and electrical workers from the mainland and the nearby French island of Mayotte to help, and Darmanin was expected on Reunion on Wednesday.

Cyclones are common between January and March in the Indian Ocean near southern Africa as seas in the southern hemisphere reach their warmest temperatures. The hotter water is fuel for cyclones.

Scientists say human-caused climate change has intensified extreme weather, making cyclones more frequent and rainier when they hit.

In 2019, Cyclone Idai ripped into Africa from the Indian Ocean, leaving more than 1,000 people dead in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe and causing a humanitarian crisis. The United Nations said it was one of the deadliest storms on record in the southern hemisphere.


# Kenya embarks on its biggest rhino relocation project. A previous attempt was a disaster
By **BRIAN INGANGA** and **GERALD IMRAY**
January 16, 2024. 12:59 PM EST

---

**NAIROBI, Kenya (AP)** - Kenya has embarked on its biggest rhino relocation project and began the difficult work Tuesday of tracking, darting and moving 21 of the critically endangered beasts, which can each weigh over a ton, to a new home.

A previous attempt at moving rhinos in the East African nation was a disaster in 2018 as all 11 of the animals died.

The latest project experienced early troubles. A rhino targeted for moving was successfully hit with a tranquilizer dart shot from a helicopter but ended up in a creek. Veterinarians and rangers held the rhino's head above water with a rope to save it while a tranquilizer reversal drug took effect, and the rhino was released.

Wildlife officials have stressed that the challenging project will take time, likely weeks.

The black rhinos are a mix of males and females and are being moved from three conservation parks to the private Loisaba Conservancy in central Kenya, the Kenya Wildlife Service said. They are being moved because there are too many in the three parks and they need more space to roam and, hopefully, to breed.

Rhinos are generally solitary animals and are at their happiest in large territories.

Kenya has had relative success in reviving its black rhino population, which dipped below 300 in the mid-1980s because of poaching, raising fears that the animals might be wiped out in a country famous for its wildlife.

Kenya now has nearly 1,000 black rhinos, according to the wildlife service. That's the third biggest black rhino population in the world behind South Africa and Namibia.

There are just 6,487 wild rhinos left in the world, according to rhino conservation charity Save The Rhino, all of them in Africa.

Kenyan authorities say they have relocated more than 150 rhinos in the last decade.

Six years ago, Kenya relocated 11 rhinos from the capital, Nairobi, to another sanctuary in the south of the country. All died soon after arriving at the sanctuary. Ten of them died from stress, dehydration and starvation intensified by salt poisoning as they struggled to adjust to saltier water in their new home, investigations found. The other rhino was attacked by a lion.

Some of the 21 rhinos in the latest relocation are being transferred from Nairobi National Park and will make a 300-kilometer (186-mile) trip in the back of a truck to Loisaba. Others will come from parks closer to Loisaba.

The moving of the rhinos to Loisaba is poignant given the region was once home to a healthy black rhino population before they were wiped out in that area 50 years ago, said Loisaba Conservancy CEO Tom Silvester.

Kenyan wildlife authorities say the country is aiming to grow its black rhino population to about 2,000, which they believe would be the ideal number considering the space available for them in national and private parks.


# Kenya doomsday cult pastor and others will face charges of murder, cruelty and more
By **TOM ODULA**
January 16, 2024. 12:07 PM EST

---

**NAIROBI, Kenya (AP)** - Kenya's top prosecutor on Tuesday ordered that 95 people from a doomsday cult be charged with murder, cruelty, child torture and other crimes in the deaths of 429 people believed to be members of the church.

The country's director of public prosecutions, Mulele Ingonga, was responding to pressure from a magistrate in the coastal county of Kilifi who told the prosecution to charge the suspects within two weeks or the court would release them.

For months since the arrests last April, prosecutors had asked the court for permission to keep holding church leader Paul Mackenzie and 28 others while they looked into the case that shocked Kenyans with the discovery of mass graves and allegations of starvation and strangulation.

Principal Magistrate Yousuf Shikanda declined the latest request to hold the suspects for an additional 60 days, saying the prosecution had been given enough time to complete investigations.

The case emerged when police rescued 15 emaciated parishioners from Mackenzie's church in Kilifi county in Kenya's southeast. Four died after the group was taken to a hospital.

Survivors told investigators the pastor had instructed them to fast to death before the world ends so they could meet Jesus.

A search of the remote, forested area found dozens of mass graves, authorities have said. Autopsies on some bodies showed starvation, strangulation or suffocation.

Other charges that the suspects will face include manslaughter, radicalization, assault causing grievous bodily harm and engaging in organized criminal activity.

Mackenzie is serving a separate one-year prison sentence after being found guilty of operating a film studio and producing films without a valid license.


# Eight dead and an estimated 100 people missing after the latest Nigeria boat accident
By **CHINEDU ASADU**
January 16, 2024. 7:13 AM EST

---

**ABUJA, Nigeria (AP)** - Eight passengers were confirmed dead and an estimated 100 were missing after their overloaded boat capsized in north-central Nigeria, the emergency services said Tuesday.

It is the latest in a series of deadly boat accidents that increasingly point to regulatory failures.

The passengers were being conveyed from Niger state's Borgu district to a market in the neighboring Kebbi state on Monday afternoon when the boat overturned in the Niger River, according to Niger State Emergency Management Agency spokesman Ibrahim Audu.

"The boat was overloaded so the strong wind affected them," Audu said.

He said the boat's capacity is 100 passengers but it was estimated to be carrying a much higher number, in addition to bags of grain, making it difficult to control when it began to sink.

Villagers were helping local divers and emergency officials to search for the missing passengers, many of whom were women, Audu said. He could not say how many people had survived.

Boat disasters have become rampant in remote communities across Nigeria, where locals desperate to get their farm products to market end up overcrowded in locally made boats in the absence of good and accessible roads.

There is no record of the total death toll in these accidents, though there have been at least five involving at least 100 passengers each in the past seven months.

Past accidents have been blamed on overloading, the condition of the boat or a hindrance of the boat's movement along the water. And intervention measures announced in response by authorities - such as the provision of life jackets or enforcing of waterways regulations - are usually not carried out.


# Palestinian ambassador to UN calls on Non-Aligned Movement to pressure Israel to enforce cease-fire
By **RISDEL KASASIRA**
January 15, 2024. 2:19 PM EST

---

**KAMPALA, Uganda (AP)** - The Palestinian ambassador to the U.N. called on the members of the Non-Aligned Movement in Kampala, Uganda, to put pressure on Israel to implement a cease-fire in Gaza after 100 days of war with militant Palestinian group Hamas.

Rayid Mansour addressed in his opening speech the 120 members, convening throughout this week, that despite the U.N. General Assembly and the Security Council's resolutions, a cease-fire remained elusive.

The Non-Aligned Movement, formed during the collapse of the colonial systems and at the height of the Cold War, has played a key part in decolonization processes, according to its website.

Mansour claimed that Israel was leading an apartheid of the Palestinians in the ongoing war that broke out on Oct.7 when Hamas suddenly attacked the south of Israel, killing some 1,200 people, and taking 250 others hostage. Israel retaliated by pounding the Gaza Strip, killing nearly 24,000 people and displacing about 80% of the population.

"We are still under this colonial occupation by Israel and we see genocide committed on our people, particularly in the Gaza Strip," he said.

He said the Palestinians were grateful to South Africa for launching a case against Israel at the International Court for Justice. "We are the last kids around the block. All of you accomplished your national independence and you put an end to colonialism."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has previously said Israel will pursue its war against Hamas until victory and will not be stopped by anyone, including the ICJ.

Israel adamantly denies allegations of genocide in Gaza, saying it makes every effort to avoid harming civilians, and rejects allegations of apartheid as an attack on its very legitimacy.

At least 30 of the movement's members are expected to attend the heads of states' meeting at the end of the weeklong deliberations. Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni will take over as president the Azerbaijan's Ilham Aliyev for the next three years.


# Indian Ocean island nation of Comoros votes for president in Africa's first election of 2024
By **GERALD IMRAY**
January 14, 2024. 7:12 AM EST

---

**CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP)** - The Indian Ocean island nation of Comoros voted Sunday for president in Africa's first national election of 2024.

Incumbent President Azali Assoumani, a former military officer, is expected to win a fourth term despite criticism he has become increasingly authoritarian and cracked down on his opponents.

Five opposition candidates stood against Assoumani while other opposition parties have called for a boycott, accusing the national electoral commission of bias. The commission denied the accusations. Provisional results are expected on Friday.

The country of around 800,000 people off East Africa has experienced a series of coups since it gained independence from France in 1975. The first coup came just a month after independence.

Assoumani, 65, took charge himself in a coup in 1999, and was first elected president in 2002. He stepped down after one term but returned to reclaim the presidency in an election in 2016, and was reelected in 2019. Presidential terms are for five years.

Assoumani succeeded in side-stepping term limits by changing the constitution in 2018. Previously, the presidency was rotated after a single term between Comoros' three main islands of Grand Comore, Anjouan, and Moheli.

The move to change the constitution caused mass protests against Assoumani and an armed uprising by rebels on the island of Anjouan, which the army quelled after days of fighting. Protests have been regularly banned since then.

Former President Ahmed Abdallah Sambi, a political rival of Assoumani, was sentenced to life in prison in 2022 on charges of high treason over the forgery and illegal selling of Comoros passports.

The Africa Center for Strategic Studies, a research institution within the U.S. Department of Defense that's funded by Congress, said Assoumani's latest presidential term has been "marked by crackdowns on dissent."

It noted curtailments on press freedom and opposition leaders being threatened and detained by police and the army.

Assoumani is coming to the end of a one-year term as chairperson of the African Union, a largely ceremonial role that moves around the continent.

Sunday's election in Comoros will be notable for France because of its island territory of Mayotte, which lies about 100 kilometers (62 miles) to the southeast. Mayotte has seen an influx of immigrants from Comoros.

Comoros is one of over 50 countries that go to the polls in 2024 to test democracy across the globe.


# Genocide case against Israel: Where does the rest of the world stand on the momentous allegations?
By **GERALD IMRAY**
January 14, 2024. 7:15 AM EST

---

**CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP)** - South Africa says more than 50 countries have expressed support for its case at the United Nations' top court accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in the war in Gaza.

Others, including the United States, have strongly rejected South Africa's allegation that Israel is violating the U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Many more have remained silent.

The world's reaction to the landmark case that was heard Thursday and Friday at the International Court of Justice in The Hague shows a predictable global split when it comes to the inextricable, 75-year-old problem of Israel and the Palestinians. Sunday marks 100 days of their bloodiest ever conflict.

The majority of countries backing South Africa's case are from the Arab world and Africa. In Europe, only the Muslim nation of Turkey has publicly stated its support.

No Western country has declared support for South Africa's allegations against Israel. The U.S., a close Israel ally, has rejected them as unfounded, the U.K. has called them unjustified, and Germany said it "explicitly rejects" them.

China and Russia have said little about one of the most momentous cases to come before an international court. The European Union also hasn't commented.

## US: 'MERITLESS' ALLEGATIONS
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on a visit to Israel a day before the court proceedings began that South Africa's allegations are "meritless" and that the case "distracts the world" from efforts to find a lasting solution to the conflict. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said genocide is "not a word that ought to be thrown around lightly, and we certainly don't believe that it applies here."

"We don't agree with what the South Africans are doing," U.K. Foreign Minister David Cameron said of the case.

Israel fiercely rejects the allegations of genocide and says it is defending its people. It says the offensive is aimed at eradicating the leaders of Hamas, the militant group that runs the territory and provoked the conflict by launching surprise attacks on southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and taking around 250 hostages.

Blinken said a genocide case against Israel was "particularly galling" given that Hamas and other groups "continue to openly call for the annihilation of Israel and the mass murder of Jews."

The U.S., the U.K., the EU and others classify Hamas as a terrorist organization.

Israel's military response in Gaza has killed more than 23,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The count doesn't distinguish between combatants and civilians. It says more than two-thirds of the dead are women and children. Much of northern Gaza has become an uninhabitable moonscape with entire neighborhoods erased by Israeli air strikes and tank fire.

South Africa has also condemned Hamas' Oct. 7 attack but argues that it did not justify Israel's response.

## GERMAN SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL
Germany's announcement of support for Israel on Friday, the day the hearings closed, has symbolic significance given its history of the Holocaust, when the Nazis killed 6 million Jews in Europe. Israel was created after World War II as a haven for Jews in the shadow of those atrocities.

"Israel has been defending itself," German government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said. His statement also invoked the Holocaust, which in large part spurred the creation of the U.N. Genocide Convention in 1948.

"In view of Germany's history ... the Federal Government sees itself as particularly committed to the Convention against Genocide," he said. He called the allegations against Israel "completely unfounded."

Germany said it intends to intervene in the case on Israel's behalf.

The EU has only said that countries have a right to bring cases to the U.N. court. Most of its member states have refrained from taking a position.

Turkey, which is in the process of joining the EU, was a lone voice in the region. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country provided documents that were being used against Israel in the case.

"With these documents, Israel will be condemned," he said.

## ARAB CONDEMNATION
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation was one of the first blocs to publicly back the case when South Africa filed it late last month. It said there was "mass genocide being perpetrated by the Israeli defense forces" and accused Israel of "indiscriminate targeting" of Gaza's civilian population.

The OIC is a bloc of 57 countries that includes Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt. Its headquarters are in Saudi Arabia. The Cairo-based Arab League, whose 22 member countries are almost all part of the OIC, also backed South Africa's case.

South Africa drew some support from outside the Arab world. Namibia and Pakistan agreed with the case at a U.N. General Assembly session this week. Malaysia also expressed support.

"No peace-loving human being can ignore the carnage waged against Palestinians in Gaza," Namibian President Hage Geingob was quoted as saying in the southern African nation's The Namibian newspaper.

Malaysia's Foreign Ministry demanded "legal accountability for Israel's atrocities in Gaza."

## CHINA AND RUSSIA: SILENCE
China, Russia - which is also facing allegations of genocide in the world court - and the emerging power of India have largely remained silent, seemingly aware that taking a stand in such an inflammatory case has little upside and could irreversibly upset their relationships in the region.

India's foreign policy has historically supported the Palestinian cause, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi was one of the first global leaders to express solidarity with Israel and call the Hamas attack terrorism.

## SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE
A handful of South American countries have spoken up, including the continent's biggest economy, Brazil, whose Foreign Ministry said President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva backed South Africa's case. However, the ministry's comments did not directly accuse Israel of genocide but focused on the need for a cease-fire in Gaza.

South Africa's case against Israel is two-fold: It wants the court to say Israel is committing genocide and to issue an interim ruling ordering an end to its military campaign in Gaza. The court said it would decide on an interim ruling soon but, reflecting the gravity of the case, it could take years for a final verdict on the genocide charge.

Brazil said it hoped the case would get Israel to "immediately cease all acts and measures that could constitute genocide."

Other countries have stopped short of agreeing with South Africa. Ireland premier Leo Varadkar said the genocide case was "far from clear cut" but that he hoped the court would order a cease-fire in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said no one - including the world court - will stop Israel's war against Hamas. Russia didn't obey the court when it told it to halt its invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago.


# At least 8 children among 22 hit by gunfire at end of Chiefs' Super Bowl parade; 1 person killed
By **HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH** and **NICK INGRAM**
February 14, 2024. 7:21 PM EST

---

**KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP)** - Eight children were among 22 people hit by gunfire in a shooting at the end of Wednesday's parade to celebrate the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl win, authorities said, as terrified fans ran for cover and yet another high-profile public event was marred by gun violence. One person was killed.

Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves detailed the shooting's toll at a news conference and said three people had been taken into custody. She said she has heard that fans may have been involved in apprehending a suspect but couldn't immediately confirm that.

"I'm angry at what happened today. The people who came to this celebration should expect a safe environment." Graves said. Police did not immediately release any details about the people taken into custody or about a possible motive for the shootings. She said firearms had been recovered, but not what kind of weapons were used.

"There's a lot of work ahead. This is just the beginning stages," she said. "All of that is being actively investigated."

It is the latest sports celebration in the U.S. marred by gun violence, following a shooting that injured several people last year in downtown Denver after the Nuggets' NBA championship, and gunfire last year at a parking lot near the Texas Rangers' World Series championship parade.

Social media users posted shocking video of police running through a crowded scene as people hurriedly scrambled for cover and fled. One video showed someone apparently performing chest compressions on a shooting victim as another person, seemingly writhing in pain, lay on the ground nearby. People screamed in the background.

Another video showed two people chase and tackle a person, holding them down until two police officers arrived.

Wednesday's shooting outside Union Station happened despite more than 800 police officers who were in the building and around the area, including on top of nearby buildings, said Mayor Quinton Lucas, who attended with his wife and mother and had to run for cover when gunfire broke out.

"I think that's something that all of us who are parents, who are just regular people living each day, have to decide what we wish to do about," Lucas said. "Parades, rallies, schools, movies. It seems like almost nothing is safe."

Kansas City has long struggled with gun violence, and in 2020 it was among nine cities targeted by the U.S. Justice Department in an effort to crack down on violent crime. In 2023 the city matched a record with 182 homicides, most of which involved guns.

Lucas has joined with mayors across the country in calling for new laws to reduce gun violence, including mandating universal background checks.

Lisa Money, a resident of the city, was trying to gather some confetti near the end of the parade when she heard somebody yell, "Down, down, everybody down!"

At first Money thought somebody might be joking until she saw the SWAT team jumping over the fence.

"I can't believe it really happened. Who in their right mind would do something like this? This is supposed to be a day of celebration for everybody in the city and the surrounding area. and then you've got some idiot that wants to come along and do something like this," she said.

Kevin Sanders, 53, of Lenexa, Kansas, said he heard what sounded like firecrackers and then people started running. After that initial flurry, calm returned, and he didn't think much of it. But 10 minutes later, ambulances started showing up.

"It sucks that someone had to ruin the celebration, but we are in a big city," Sanders said.

University Health spokeswoman Nancy Lewis said the hospital was treating eight gunshot victims. Two were in critical condition and six were in stable condition, she said. The hospital also was treating four people for other injuries resulting from the chaos after the shooting, Lewis said.

Lisa Augustine, spokesperson for Children's Mercy Kansas City, said the hospital was treating 12 patients from the rally, including 11 children, some of whom suffered gunshot wounds.

St. Luke's Hospital of Kansas City received one gunshot patient in critical condition and three walk-ins with injuries that were not life-threatening, spokesperson Laurel Gifford said.

"When you have this many casualties, it's going to get spread out among a lot of hospitals so that you don't overwhelm any single ER," she said.

Chiefs trainer Rick Burkholder said that he was with coach Andy Reid and other coaches and staff members at the time of the shooting, and that the team was on buses and returning to Arrowhead Stadium.

"We are truly saddened by the senseless act of violence that occurred outside of Union Station at the conclusion of today's parade and rally," the team said in a statement.

Missouri's Republican Gov. Mike Parson and first lady Teresa Parson were at the parade during the gunfire but were unhurt. "Thanks to the professionalism of our security officers and first responders, Teresa and I and our staff are safe and secure," Parson said in a statement.

President Joe Biden was briefed on the shooting and will continue to receive updates, a White House spokesperson said. White House officials were in touch with state and local leaders, and federal law enforcement was on the scene supporting their local counterparts.

Areas that had been filled with crowds were empty after the shooting, with police and firefighters standing and talking behind an area restricted by yellow tape.

Throngs had lined the route earlier, with fans climbing trees and street poles or standing on rooftops for a better view. Players rolled through the crowd on double-decker buses, as DJs and drummers heralded their arrival. Owner Clark Hunt was on one of the buses, holding the Lombardi Trophy.

The city and the team each chipped in around $1 million for the event commemorating Travis Kelce, Mahomes and the Chiefs becoming the first team since Tom Brady and the New England Patriots two decades ago to defend their title.

After decades without a championship, the city has gained experience with victory parades. Five seasons ago the Chiefs defeated the 49ers for the team's first Super Bowl championship in 50 years. That followed the Kansas City Royals winning the World Series in 2015, the city's first baseball championship in 30 years.

Then last year the Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 and prophetically vowed they would be back for more.


# Shooting after Chiefs' Super Bowl parade latest violence to mar sports celebrations
By **THE ASSOCIATED PRESS**
February 14, 2024. 6:21 PM EST

---

The shooting after the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl victory parade Wednesday was just the latest example of violence erupting during a championship celebration.

Here are other shootings that have taken place over the last decade either the night a team won a league championship or during the ensuing parade or rally.

## JUNE 2016: CLEVELAND CAVALIERS
Police said a person was shot twice in the leg and received injuries that weren't life-threatening during a parade and rally for the Cavaliers' NBA championship.

## JUNE 2019: TORONTO RAPTORS
Four people were shot and wounded at a downtown Toronto rally for the NBA champion Raptors. Police said others suffered minor injuries as they tried to get away from the shooting.

## OCTOBER 2020: LOS ANGELES DODGERS
Two people were shot to death in Sylmar, California, the night the Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series. Family members of Juan Carlos Guillen and Marco Antonio Vazquez said the two men were trying to stop people who were smashing car windows with baseball bats.

## JULY 2021: MILWAUKEE BUCKS
Two shootings left three people wounded in downtown Milwaukee the night the Bucks won their first NBA title in 50 years. Police said the injuries weren't life-threatening. The shootings were across the Milwaukee River from Fiserv Forum, the Bucks' home arena.

## JUNE 2022: DENVER NUGGETS
After the Nuggets' championship parade last year, a shooting took place in downtown Denver that injured two people, though police said they didn't believe the incident was associated with the celebration.

## OCTOBER 2022: TEXAS RANGERS
An argument resulted in shots being fired at a parking lot near the Rangers' World Series championship parade, though nobody was injured.


# Chiefs says all players, coaches and staffers are safe and accounted for after parade shooting
February 14, 2024. 6:53 PM EST

---

**KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP)** - The Kansas City Chiefs said all their players, coaches and staffers and their families "are safe and accounted for" after a deadly shooting occurred Wednesday at the end of the Super Bowl championship parade.

"We are truly saddened by the senseless act of violence that occurred outside of Union Station at the conclusion of today's parade and rally," the Chiefs said in a statement. "Our hearts go out to the victims, their families and all of Kansas City."

Police said one person was killed and more than 20 were injured in the shooting that occurred at the end of the parade to celebrate the Chiefs' Super Bowl victory.

Chiefs trainer Rick Burkholder said he was with coach Andy Reid and other coaches and staff members at the time of the shooting. Burkholder said the team was on buses returning to Arrowhead Stadium.

"At this time, we have confirmed that all of our players, coaches, staff and their families are safe and accounted for," the Chiefs said in their statement. "We thank the local law enforcement officers and first responders who were on scene to assist."

The NFL issued its own statement saying it was "deeply saddened" and adding that its "thoughts are with the victims and everyone affected."

Chiefs quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, "Praying for Kansas City." He included three emojis of hands in prayer.

Offensive tackle Donovan Smith, defensive tackle Mike Pennel and safety Justin Reid were among the Chiefs players offering similar statements of support on social media.

"My thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by today's incidents - a huge thank you to the first responders who ran towards the sound of danger," offensive guard Trey Smith posted on X. "You're the ones who should be celebrated today."

Defensive end Charles Omenihu called for a change in gun laws.

"Prayers for those affected at today's parade," Omenihu said in an X post. "A time of celebration ends in tragedy. When are we going to fix these gun laws? How many more people have to die to say enough is enough? It's too easy for the wrong people to obtain guns in America and that's a FACT."

The parade was a celebration of the Chiefs' 25-22 overtime victory over the San Francisco 49ers that gave them their second straight Super Bowl title.

"Please join me in prayer for all the victims in this heinous act," Chiefs linebacker Drue Tranquill said in an X post. "Pray that doctors & first responders would have steady hands & that all would experience full healing."


# Massive landslide on coastal bluff leaves Southern California mansion on the edge of a cliff
February 14, 2024. 4:00 PM EST

---

**DANA POINT, Calif. (AP)** - A massive landslide on a coastal bluff has left a Southern California mansion on the edge of a cliff, but authorities have determined that the ocean-view home and neighboring residences are not in immediate danger.

The slide occurred last week in the city of Dana Point after back-to-back drenching storms that also caused numerous mud and debris flows throughout the region.

The city's building inspector assessed the residential structures and a geotechnical engineer observed the slide site, the city said in a statement Wednesday.

"At this point, the City has deemed that no additional action is necessary, and out of an abundance of caution has recommended that the property owner contract for a professional engineering assessment of the property," the statement said.

"The house is fine, it's not threatened and it will not be red-tagged," the owner, Dr. Lewis Bruggeman, told KCAL-TV. "The city agrees that there's no major structural issue with the house."

More rain is in the Southern California forecast, arriving by late Sunday night and possibly lasting into Wednesday.


# House Intelligence Committee chair delivers cryptic warning of a serious national security threat
By **ELLEN KNICKMEYER**, **MATTHEW LEE**, and **KEVIN FREKING**
February 14, 2024. 7:17 PM EST

---

**WASHINGTON (AP)** - The Republican head of the House Intelligence Committee urged the Biden administration on Wednesday to declassify information about what he called a serious national security threat. A senior congressional aide speaking to The Associated Press pointed to concerns about Russian anti-satellite weapons.

Rep. Mike Turner gave no details about the nature of the threat, and the Biden administration also declined to address it. But several leading lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, cautioned against being overly alarmed.

The congressional aide said he understood that the threat relates to a space-deployed Russian anti-satellite weapon. Such a weapon could pose a major danger to U.S. satellites that transmit billions of bytes of data each hour.

The aide, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said it was not yet clear if the Russian weapon has nuclear capability, but said that is the fear.

The threat Turner raised concerns about is not an active capability, according to a U.S. official familiar with the intelligence. The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, added that intelligence officials consider the threat to be significant, but it should not cause panic.

Turner issued a statement urging the administration to declassify the information so the U.S. and its allies can openly discuss how to respond.

He also sent an email to members of Congress saying his committee had "identified an urgent matter with regard to a destabilizing foreign military capability" that should be known to all congressional policy makers. He encouraged them to come to a SCIF, a secure area, to review the intelligence.

Turner has been a voice for stronger U.S. national security, putting him at odds with some Republican colleagues who favor a more isolationist approach. He has called for the renewal of a key U.S. government surveillance tool while some fellow Republicans and liberal Democrats have raised privacy objections.

And he supports continuing U.S. military aid for Ukraine in its war against Russia at a time that the funding remains uncertain because of opposition in the Republican-led House.

Johnson said he was not at liberty to disclose the classified information. "But we just want to assure everyone steady hands are at the wheel. We're working on it and there's no need for alarm," he told reporters at the Capitol.

Democratic Rep. Jim Himes, the ranking member of the Intelligence Committee, said in a statement that the classified information is "significant" but "not a cause for panic."

The Senate Intelligence Committee said it has been tracking the issue.

"We continue to take this matter seriously and are discussing an appropriate response with the administration," Sen. Mark Warner, the Democratic committee chairman, and Sen. Marco Rubio, the Republican vice chairman, said in a statement. "In the meantime, we must be cautious about potentially disclosing sources and methods that may be key to preserving a range of options for U.S. action."

The rapidly evolving threat in space was one of the primary reasons that the U.S. Space Force was established in 2019. A lot of that threat has to do with new capabilities that China and Russia have already developed that can interfere with critical satellite-based U.S. communications, such as GPS and the ability to quickly detect missile launches.

In recent years the U.S. has seen both China and Russia pursue new ways to jam satellites, intercept their feeds, blind them, shoot them down and even potentially grab them with a robotic arm to pull them out of their programmed orbits. One of the key missions of the Space Force is to train troops skilled in detecting and defending against those threats.

In its 2020 Defense Space Strategy, the Pentagon said China and Russia presented the greatest strategic threat in space due to their aggressive development of counterspace abilities, and their military doctrine calling for extending conflict to space.

The White House and lawmakers expressed frustration at how Turner raised his concerns. His announcement appeared to catch the Biden administration off-guard.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters at the White House that he already had been due to brief Turner and other senior congressional leaders on Thursday. Sullivan did not disclose the topic or provide any other details related to Turner's statement.

"I'm focused on going to see him, sit with him as well as the other House members of the Gang of Eight, tomorrow," Sullivan said. "And I'm not in a position to say anything further from this podium at this time."

He acknowledged it was not standard practice to offer such a briefing.

"I'll just say that I personally reached out to the Gang of Eight. It is highly unusual, in fact, for the national security adviser to do that," Sullivan said. He said he had reached out earlier this week.

Johnson said he sent a letter last month to the White House requesting a meeting with the president to discuss "the serious national security issue that is classified." He said Sullivan's meeting was in response to his request.


# Conservative group tells judge it has no evidence to back its claims of Georgia ballot stuffing
By **RUSS BYNUM**
February 14, 2024. 4:06 PM EST

---

**SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP)** - A conservative group has told a Georgia judge that it doesn't have evidence to support its claims of illegal ballot stuffing during the the 2020 general election and a runoff two months later.

Texas-based True the Vote filed complaints with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in 2021, including one in which it said it had obtained "a detailed account of coordinated efforts to collect and deposit ballots in drop boxes across metro Atlanta" during the November 2020 election and a January 2021 runoff.

A Fulton County Superior Court judge in Atlanta signed an order last year requiring True the Vote to provide evidence it had collected, including the names of people who were sources of information, to state elections officials who were frustrated by the group's refusal to share evidence with investigators.

In their written response, attorneys for True the Vote said the group had no names or other documentary evidence to share.

"Once again, True the Vote has proven itself untrustworthy and unable to provide a shred of evidence for a single one of their fairy-tale allegations," Raffensperger spokesman Mike Hassinger said Wednesday. "Like all the lies about Georgia's 2020 election, their fabricated claims of ballot harvesting have been repeatedly debunked."

True the Vote's assertions were relied upon heavily for "2000 Mules," a widely debunked film by conservative pundit and filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza. A State Election Board investigation found that surveillance camera footage that the film claimed showed ballot stuffing actually showed people submitting ballots for themselves and family members who lived with them, which is allowed under Georgia law.

The election board subpoenaed True the Vote to provide evidence that would assist it in investigating the group's ballot trafficking allegations.

True the Vote's complaint said its investigators "spoke with several individuals regarding personal knowledge, methods, and organizations involved in ballot trafficking in Georgia." It said one person, referred to in the complaint only as John Doe, "admitted to personally participating and provided specific information about the ballot trafficking process."

Frustrated by the group's refusal to share evidence, Georgia officials took it to court last year. A judge ordered True the Vote to turn over names and contact information for anyone who had provided information, as well as any recordings, transcripts, witness statements or other documents supporting its allegations.

The group came up empty-handed despite having "made every additional reasonable effort to locate responsive items," its attorneys David Oles and Michael Wynne wrote in a Dec. 11 legal filing first reported Wednesday by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

True the Vote's founder and president, Catherine Engelbrecht, didn't immediately respond to an Associated Press email seeking comment Wednesday. She and another member of the group were briefly jailed in 2022 for contempt for not complying with a court order to provide information in a defamation lawsuit. The suit accused True the Vote of falsely claiming that an election software provider stored the personal information of U.S. election workers on an unsecured server in China.

Prior to the State Election Board's investigation, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation looked into True the Vote's assertion that it was able to use surveillance video and geospatial mobile device information to support its allegations. In a September 2021 letter, Vic Reynolds, who was then the GBI's director, said the evidence produced did not amount to proof of ballot harvesting.

State elections officials opened their own investigation after receiving True the Vote's complaint two months later. When pressed to provide names of sources and other documentation, the group last year tried to withdraw its complaint. One of its attorneys wrote that a complete response would require True the Vote to identify people to whom it had promised confidentiality.

The State Election Board refused to shelve the complaint and went to court to force True the Vote to turn over information.

In addition to names, the judge ordered True the Vote to provide copies of any confidentiality agreements it had with sources.

The group's attorneys replied: "TTV has no such documents in its possession, custody, or control."


# As Marvel reveals the new 'Fantastic Four' cast, here's a look back at all the past versions
By **LINDSEY BAHR**
February 14, 2024. 4:44 PM EST

---

Pedro Pascal is jumping from Star Wars to Marvel. The "Last of Us" and "Mandalorian" actor is set to play Reed Richards (also known as Mister Fantastic) in the newest incarnation of "The Fantastic Four," the studio announced Wednesday.

The rest of his squad was revealed, too, with Vanessa Kirby stepping up as Susan Storm (The Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn of "Stranger Things" as Johnny Storm (The Human Torch), and Ebon Moss-Bachrach of "The Bear" as Ben Grimm (The Thing). In the announcement, the gang was depicted in a retro illustrated Valentine's Day card that had fans guessing this version takes place in the 1960s.

"The Fantastic Four" is among Marvel's longest-running comics series and the titular crew is one of its most beloved groups. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the scientists-turned-superheroes are relatable and wry in their interactions as a team - even when they aren't fighting supervillains. When it debuted in November 1961, it was a refreshing revelation that helped inform the Marvel voice and set a path for Iron Man and Spider-Man.

But the so-called first family of Marvel has not had the most distinguished transition to the big screen, with false starts and bad reviews often trailing. First came a $2 million Roger Corman production in 1994 that was never ultimately released, with Alex Hyde-White as Reed Richards, Rebecca Staab as Susan Storm, Jay Underwood as Johnny Storm and Michael Bailey Smith as Ben Grimm. The shoestring production was directed by Oley Sassone.

Just a year after Corman's was shelved, 20th Century Fox acquired the rights to the characters and began developing what would become two films under director Tim Story, though that would take about 10 years and see several directors come and go (including Chris Columbus, Raja Gosnell and future "Ant-Man" helmer Peyton Reed). In 2005's "Fantastic Four" and its 2007 sequel "Rise of the Silver Surfer," Ioan Gruffudd was Reed, Jessica Alba was Susan, Chris Evans was Johnny and Michael Chiklis was Ben.

Fox tried again, with Josh Trank at the helm, and a cast led by Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Bell. But the 2015 film was panned by critics and lost the studio over $80 million. Plans for a sequel were scuttled and a few years later, Disney acquired Fox - bringing the Marvel characters back under its corporate umbrella.

The new "Fantastic Four" will mark the first time the mutant misfits will be together as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, overseen by Kevin Feige ( John Krasinski played a version of Mister Fantastic in 2022's "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" ). The film is set to be directed by "WandaVision" veteran Matt Shakman, with a planned July 25, 2025, theatrical release.


# Protesters pour red powder on US Constitution enclosure, prompting evacuation of National Archives
By **ASHRAF KHALIL**
February 14, 2024. 5:28 PM EST

---

**WASHINGTON (AP)** - The National Archives building and galleries were evacuated Wednesday afternoon after two protesters dumped red powder on the protective case around the U.S. Constitution.

The incident occurred around 2:30 p.m., according to the National Archives. There was no damage to the Constitution itself.

A video posted on the X social media platform shows two men covered in reddish-pink powder standing in front of the equally splattered horizontal glass case that houses the Constitution.

"We are determined to foment a rebellion," one man says. "We all deserve clean air, water, food and a livable climate."

Police then led the pair away.

"The National Archives Rotunda is the sanctuary for our nation's founding documents. They are here for all Americans to view and understand the principles of our nation," Archivist of the United States Colleen Shogan said in a statement. "We take such vandalism very seriously and we will insist that the perpetrators be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

The building is expected to be open Thursday.


# Tinder, Hinge and other dating apps encourage 'compulsive' use, lawsuit claims
By **BARBARA ORTUTAY**
February 14, 2024. 5:17 PM EST

---

Stuck in dating app loop with no date in sight? A lawsuit filed Wednesday against Match Group claims that is by design.

Tinder, Hinge and other Match dating apps are filled with addictive features that encourage "compulsive" use, the proposed class-action lawsuit claims.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in the Northern District of California on Wednesday - Valentine's Day - says Match intentionally designs its dating platforms with game-like features that "lock users into a perpetual pay-to-play loop" prioritizing profit over promises to help users find relationships.

This, the suit claims, turns users into "addicts" who purchase ever-more-expensive subscriptions to access special features that promise romance and matches.

"Match's business model depends on generating returns through the monopolization of users' attention, and Match has guaranteed its market success by fomenting dating app addiction that drives expensive subscriptions and perpetual use," the lawsuit says. It was filed by six dating app users and seeks class action status.

Representatives for Dallas-based Match did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Though it focuses on adults, the lawsuit comes as tech companies face increasing scrutiny over addictive features that harm young people's mental health. Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, for instance, faces a lawsuit by dozens of states accusing it of contributing to the youth mental health crisis by designing features on Instagram and Facebook that addict children to its platforms.

Match's apps, according to the lawsuit against the company, "employs recognized dopamine-manipulating product features" to turn users into "gamblers locked in a search for psychological rewards that Match makes elusive on purpose."


# House Homeland chairman announces retirement a day after leading Mayorkas' impeachment
By **KIMBERLEE KRUESI**
February 14, 2024. 7:03 PM EST

---

**NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)** - Tennessee Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Green on Wednesday announced that he won't run for a fourth term, pointing to the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas just the day before as among the reasons it is "time for me to return home."

"Our country – and our Congress – is broken beyond most means of repair," Green said in a statement. "I have come to realize our fight is not here within Washington, our fight is with Washington."

As chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, Green was a driving force behind the Mayorkas impeachment push over border security in a deeply partisan and highly unusual attack on a Cabinet official. His panel conducted a months-long investigation of Mayorkas, his policies and his management of the department, ultimately concluding Tuesday that his conduct in office amounted to "high crimes and misdemeanors" worthy of impeachment.

Green has served since 2019 in the 7th Congressional District, which was redrawn in 2022 to include a significant portion of Nashville. He previously served as an Army surgeon and in the state Senate and is from Montgomery County.

Green flirted running for governor in 2017, but suspended his campaign after he was nominated by former President Donald Trump to become the Army secretary. He later withdrew his nomination due to criticism over his remarks about Muslims and LGBTQ+ Americans, including saying that being transgender is a disease. He also urged that a stand be taken against "the indoctrination of Islam" in public schools and referred to a "Muslim horde" that invaded Constantinople hundreds of years ago.

After winning the congressional seat in 2018, Green once again made headlines after hosting a town hall where he stated, without citing evidence, that vaccines cause autism. He later walked back his comments but not before state health officials described the Republican as a " goofball."

"As I have done my entire life, I will continue serving this country -– but in a new capacity," Green said Wednesday, not disclosing if he will run again for governor in 2026, where the seat will up for grabs because Republican Gov. Bill Lee is prohibited from running under Tennessee's gubernatorial term limits.

In 2022, Green's middle Tennessee congressional seat was among seats that Republicans drastically carved up during redistricting. Those congressional maps are now facing a federal lawsuit, but that case isn't scheduled to go to trial until April 2025.

So far on the Republican side, Caleb Stack has pulled petitions to run for the now open congressional district. Former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry announced last year that she would run for the position as a Democrat.

"I expect candidates who agree with Mark Green or are even more extreme will announce campaigns, and I look forward to taking on whoever makes it through that primary," Barry said in a statement.