OCCUPIED WEST BANK  –  Israeli settlers have attacked towns in the occupied West Bank, vandalising Palestinian property and clashing with Israeli soldiers. The overnight attacks targeting Beit Furik and Huwara, both located near the city of Nablus, mark the latest escalation of violence against Palestinians as Israeli settlers race to establish new farming outposts in the West Bank as war rages in Gaza. Settlers attacked Beit Furik, located 9km (5.6 miles) southeast of Nablus, setting fire to a house under construction, a grocery store and a vehicle, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported on Wednesday.

The Israeli military said the attack started after troops arrived to dismantle an unauthorised farming outpost built nearby. Settlers responded by hurling stones, wounding two members of the paramilitary Border Police. Another group of settlers attacked the village of Huwara, 8km (5 miles) south of Nablus, setting fire to a house under construction and two vehicles, according to Wafa. They clashed with Israeli soldiers close to the nearby Palestinian village of Rujeib. The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates posted a statement on X condemning what it called “terrorist settler militias” and saying settlers had been emboldened by the “glaring and unjustifiable failure” of the global community to stop the spiralling Israeli violence.

Israeli police and the Shin Bet security agency said in a statement that they were investigating the attacks. They said they arrested eight Israelis for suspected property damage and assaulting security forces. The United Nations humanitarian office said at the end of last month that settler attacks on Palestinian farmers during the recent olive harvest had “at least tripled” in 2024 compared with the past three years.

Throughout the year, Israeli settlers have seized 23.7sq km (9.15sq miles) of Palestinian land, making 2024 the peak year for Israeli land seizures, according to Peace Now, a nonprofit organisation that monitors illegal land confiscation in the occupied territory. (Al Jazeera)

Photo: A Palestinian woman inspects her damaged house after an attack by Israeli settlers on the village of Huwara, south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank. (AFP)

The nation’s hospitals on Monday decided to put the admissions freeze that would go into effect that day on hold for now. Last week the hospitals announced that they would no longer be able to admit new patients due to the many problems that have made it impossible for  them to operate smoothly. Last Monday the Health Ministry, the National Hospital Council (NZR) and the State Health Insurance Fund (SZF) discussed these problems and in particular the delay in payments and the outdated hospital tariffs. Health Minister Amar Ramadhin reportedly asked both parties to present solutions aimed at addressing these problems. All parties are scheduled to meet again for a follow up discussion.

ZIMBABWE – A law prohibiting abortion services for women raped by their husbands and girls under the age of 18 is unconstitutional, Zimbabwe’s High Court has ruled. In his ruling handed down on Nov. 22 and made public this week, Judge Maxwell Takuva said since Zimbabwe’s laws already criminalise marital rape and sex with a minor, victims should be allowed to abort if they become pregnant.

The ruling is significant, given Zimbabwe’s restrictive abortion laws that often lead women and girls into illegal and unsafe backstreet abortions that in many cases turn fatal. Abortion is allowed in very few circumstances in Zimbabwe, including such as if the pregnancy endangers the life of a woman, or if there is a risk of a physical or mental defect “of such a nature that (the child) will permanently be seriously handicapped.” Women can also access legal abortion services in cases of unlawful sex such as incest. (Jamaica-Gleaner)

Photo: Virginia Mavhunga, a 13-year-old teenage mother, stands at the entrance of her home in Murehwa, 80 kilometres  northeast of Zimbabwe’s capital Harare. (AP)

The reports regarding child abuse in the  Maria Hoeve Children’s Home at the hands of the owner, have triggered the Ministry of Social Affairs and Housing (Sozavo) to beef up the inspections of the nation’s children’s homes. The inspector visited Maria Hoeve twice before closing this children’s home.

The spokesman of the president, Jason Saiman, pointed it that “it is alarming that children are still being treated this way in 2024”. “The children in children’s homes need lots of love and care because they are the next generation. The children from  Maria Hoeve were sent home to their parents and the children’s home has been closed until further notice. The ministry has assured that as of this moment inspections will be carried frequently in order to prevent these situations,” said  Saiman.

 Last week parliament passed a bill aimed at improving and protecting the rights of children. Meanwhile Sozavo is trying to figure out if an investigation must be launched in response to the reports of child abuse in the children’s homes that recently came to light.

NAMIBIA (South Africa)  – Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, from the governing South West Africa People’s Organisation (Swapo), looks set to become Namibia’s first female president with more than 90% of the votes from last week’s disputed election now counted. The electoral commission said she had won more than 58%, with her closest rival Panduleni Itula getting just over 25% of the vote share.

But following logistical problems and a three-day extension to polling in some parts of the country, Itula said on Saturday that his party would not recognise the results alleging electoral malpractice. Swapo has been power in the large but sparsely populated southern African country since independence in 1990.

It had led the struggle for nationhood against apartheid South Africa. Ahead of last Wednesday’s general election there had been some speculation that it would suffer the fate of other liberation parties in the region. South Africa’s African National Congress lost its outright parliamentary majority in May and the Botswana Democratic Party was kicked out of power after nearly six decades following October’s election.

A party stalwart, Nandi-Ndaitwah, who is currently the vice-president, is a trusted leader having served in high government office for a quarter of a century. Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu Hassan is currently Africa’s only female president, so Nandi-Ndaitwah would be joining an exclusive club if she is victorious. To avoid a second-round run-off, a candidate needs more than 50% of the vote to be declared the winner.

A trained dentist, Itula, of the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC), is seen as more charismatic than Nandi-Ndaitwah and managed to dent Swapo’s popularity in the last presidential election in 2019, reducing its vote share to 56% from 87% five years earlier. The IPC has said it will “pursue justice through the courts” and has encouraged people who felt that they had been unable to vote because of mismanagement by the electoral commission to go to the police to make a statement. (BBC)

Photo: Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has been serving as vice-president since February. (Reuters)

The bus fares were officially yesterday. Passengers currently have to pay an additional SRD 2 for a bus ride through the city as the bus fare for a city ride went from SRD 12.50 to SRD 14.50. The bus fares for a bus ride on other routes were raised with at least SRD 6.

Monday the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Tourism announced that the bus fare hike would go into effect immediately. Henk Sacco, chairman of the National Youth and Student Organization Suriname, expressed shock in response to the bus fare hike. “This is not the right time for a hike. Parents, pupils and students are confronted with this hike out of the blue. Many people have a tight budget and will not be able to afford it,” said Sacco who added that people who have several children and who take several buses each day will be hit the hardest. Sacco pointed out that many students called him last Monday to explain that they would most likely have to drop out of school because of the bus fare hike.

Rawien Bainath, spokesman for the Private Bus Owners’ Organization, explained that the bus fares were officially set on Monday morning and that the bus owners had been waiting for new fares since 2021.