NewsLast night's news: President Biden defends Israel, tectonic tremors hit Naples
Last night's news: President Biden defends Israel, tectonic tremors hit Naples
What happened while you were sleeping. Here's what global agencies reported on Monday night into Tuesday morning.
5:02 AM EDT, May 21, 2024
- President Joe Biden said on Monday that Israeli forces are not committing genocide during their operation in the Gaza Strip against Hamas. "What is happening in Gaza is not genocide. We reject that. We stand with Israel," Biden assured during a meeting at the White House with representatives of the Jewish community in the USA. Biden was referring to the decision of the International Criminal Court's (ICC) prosecutor's office in The Hague, which on Monday requested an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the country's defense minister, Yoav Gallant, as well as three Hamas leaders—Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh—"in connection with reasonable suspicions of their responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed since October 2023 in Israel and the Gaza Strip."
- The United States extends its "official condolences" following the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, announced State Department spokesman Matthew Miller. In sharper words, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Raisi had blood on his hands. He added that the USA would continue to hold Iran accountable for its destabilizing actions in the region.
- Spanish police have arrested a serial killer who, after being released, murdered at least one person in Andalusia, in the southern part of the country. The criminal is also suspected of another murder. Police were led to the suspect by analyzing videos he regularly posted on TikTok. In a Monday statement, Spanish police stated that the detainee is Juan Jurado Montilla, nicknamed "El Titi," a repeat offender who had been serving 123 years in prison since the 80s for four murders.
- The Council for Sharia Research and Studies in western Libya has issued a fatwa ordering a fight against Russian forces, particularly mercenaries from the African Corps, the successor of the Wagner Group. The council, calling for the fight, which "is a religious duty of the Libyan nation," responded to the destabilizing presence of Russian mercenaries in Libya and neighboring countries. "The armed presence of Russia on Libyan soil constitutes the occupation and invasion of an aggressive infidel state," reported the Libyan portal Libyaobserver on Monday. Clerics called on everyone with money, weapons, or decision-making power to support the revolutionary brigades in expelling the occupiers and those who brought them.
- A series of tectonic tremors, the strongest of which had a magnitude of 4.4, struck the Naples area in southern Italy on Monday evening, according to the Italian Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology. It was the strongest earthquake in this region in 40 years. There are no reports of casualties. The epicenter of the tremors was in the volcanic area of the Phlegraean Fields near Pozzuoli, a few miles southwest of downtown Naples. The ANSA agency reports that the earthquake was also felt in Naples and surrounding towns. The agency added that many people took to the streets, goods fell from store shelves, and there were minor building damages.
