| | | | | | | Hello. In a particularly distressing report from Israel, Middle East correspondent Lucy Williamson looks into the evidence of rape and mutilation of women during the 7 October Hamas attacks. From Rwanda, West Africa correspondent Mayeni Jones describes the opposition to the country’s deal on accepting asylum seekers from the UK. Finally, we hop over to Canada, where police have managed to catch a runaway kangaroo that had been on the loose for several days. |
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| | | | | | AT THE SCENE | Jerusalem, Israel | | Investigating sexual violence in the 7 October attacks | | | | "We see women of all ages," one of the reservists on the forensic team, Captain Maayan, told the BBC. Credit: BBC | | One of the unresolved elements of Israel’s investigation into the deadly 7 October attacks relates to the weaponisation of sexual violence, which is a war crime under international law. Hamas has denied abusing victims, but bodies retrieved from the sites of the massacres show signs of sexual assault. This excerpt contains references to rape. The article features several graphic descriptions of sexual violence and assault that readers might find distressing. | | | | Lucy Williamson, Middle East correspondent |
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| A serving soldier who asked us to use only her first name, Avigayil, says there were similarities in the violence visited on the bodies that arrived at the Shura base. “There are patterns in that groups of women from the same place were treated in a similar manner,” she said. “There might be a set of women who were raped in one way, and we’re seeing similarities in the bodies; and then a different set that were not raped but shot multiple times in the exact same pattern. So it seems that different groups of terrorists had different forms of cruelty.”
David Katz from Israel’s cyber crime unit, which is involved in the investigation, told journalists that it was too early to prove that sexual violence was planned as part of the attack, but that data extracted from the phones of the Hamas attackers suggested that “everything was systematic”. “It would be reckless to say we can already prove it […] but everything that was done there was done systematically,” he said. “Nothing happened by coincidence. Rape was systematic.” |
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| Questions Answered | | What Rwanda wants out of UK asylum treaty | | | | First announced in April 2022, the Rwanda scheme has already cost the UK an estimated £140m ($176.3m). Credit: Reuters |
| | Last month, the UK’s Supreme Court ruled that the British government’s plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda was unlawful. Far from abandoning those efforts, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sent his newly installed Home Office minister, James Cleverly, to negotiate a new treaty. Rwanda renewed its commitments, despite the unflattering light shone on the country by the court’s ruling. | | | | Mayeni Jones, West Africa correspondent |
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| | What’s in it for Rwanda? | | Rwanda is keen to project to the world the image of a modern, thriving African country, one of the continent’s fastest growing economies. | | Does everyone agree? | | The opposition stresses that this is still a developing country, and should be taking care of its own citizens before welcoming newcomers. Rights groups have also raised concerns about the country’s human rights record, saying arbitrary detentions and curbs on freedom of speech are commonplace. They’ve also questioned whether asylum seekers would get a fair chance in the country, arguing they could be sent back to their home countries where they may face danger. | | What’s the government’s response? | | The Rwandan government has rejected this, saying the country is perfectly safe. But last month’s UK Supreme Court judgement suggests they have some more convincing to do. | | | | | | |
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| | The big picture | | Inside Malaysia’s China-built ‘ghost city’ | | | | Only 15% of the entire project has been built and only an estimated 1% is occupied. Credit: BBC |
| | Forest City, a sprawling Chinese-built housing complex in Johor, on the tip of southern Malaysia, was billed as "a dream paradise for all mankind". Now, as locals refer to it as “Ghost City”, it stands as a reminder that China’s property market troubles aren’t confined to the country’s borders. | | | | |
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| | | For your downtime | | Looks familiar? | | One of the world’s most famous and scenic train routes is looking for drivers. | | |
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| | And finally... in Canada | | How do you catch a runaway kangaroo? By its tail, apparently. That is what police in Canada figured out after finally capturing the marsupial, which had been on the run for several days near Toronto, having escaped its handlers while en route to a zoo in Quebec. |
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– Sofia |
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