International
Palestinian Prime Minister chosen by hand by Abbas presents new government with 22 ministers
The Palestinian Prime Minister, economist Mohamad Mustafa, presented on Thursday to President Mahmud Abbas the composition of a new government with 22 ministers, including at least three women, and in which he himself will head the Foreign Affairs portfolio.
“The Prime Minister-designate, Muhamad Mustafa, presented the work program and the composition of the government to President Mahmud Abbas,” the official Wafa news agency reported today, “consequently, the president issued a decree law giving confidence to the nineteenth government and issued a decree approving its formation.”
The new cabinet will take an oath this Sunday, March 31, and in its program one of the priorities is the Gaza Strip, including a plan to increase access to humanitarian aid and the reconstruction of the enclave, as well as create a stable Palestinian Authority, since it has been dejured by the majority of Palestinians for years.
Mustafa will hold the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs, replacing Riyad Al Malki; while Zyad Mahmoud Mohamed will serve as Minister of the Interior and Omar Akram Al Bitar, former Middle East executive of one of the world’s major consulting firms, PricewaterhouseCoopers, will be Minister of Finance.
Sharhabel Yusef Sad Edin will serve as Minister of Justice and Majid Awni Mohamed Abu Ramadan in Health, according to the official list. Among the ministers Mona Muhamad Mahmoud al Jalili will lead the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Ahed Faeq Atef Bseiso, will be in charge of Public Works and Housing. Samah Abdel Rahim Hussein Hamad will be Minister of Social Development.
On March 14, President Abás appointed Mustafa as prime minister of the ANP, which controls the occupied territory of the West Bank in a fragmented way, and commissioned him to form a new government after the resignation two weeks before the entire cabinet along with the then prime minister, Mohamed Shtayeh.
Shatyeh’s resignation was understood as part of Abas’ efforts to reform the ANP with a technocratic government that can take control of the Gaza Strip when the war ends in the Palestinian enclave, something that is in the US future plans but not in those of the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
The ANP ruled in the Gaza Strip until 2007, when Hamas forcibly took power from the enclave after failing the attempts of a government of national unity with Fatah, after the Islamist group won in the 2006 legislative elections.
Although weakened and without any influence in Gaza – in December 2023 60% of Palestinians supported the dissolution of the ANP and 92% the resignation of Abas, according to the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research – the ANP is the only entity accepted by Israel and a large part of the international community as an interlocutor of the Palestinians.
International
Israel says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
The Israeli military announced on Sunday that 136 boxes of food aid were airdropped into Gaza by the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Germany, and Belgium.
“In recent hours, six countries conducted air drops of 136 aid packages containing food for residents in the southern and northern Gaza Strip,” read the statement, which added that the operation was coordinated by COGAT, the Israeli defense body overseeing civil affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Israeli military emphasized that they will “continue working to improve the humanitarian response alongside the international community” and reiterated their stance to “refute false allegations of deliberate famine in Gaza.”
The announcement comes as UN agencies warn Gaza faces an imminent risk of famine. More than one in three residents go days without eating, and other nutrition indicators have dropped to their worst levels since the conflict began.
The agencies also noted the difficulty of “collecting reliable data in current conditions, as Gaza’s health systems —already devastated by nearly three years of conflict— are collapsing.”
Meanwhile, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry reported on Sunday that hospitals in the enclave recorded six deaths from hunger and malnutrition on Saturday, all of them adults.
International
Seven inmates dead, 11 injured after violent riot in Veracruz prison
Seven inmates were killed and eleven others injured in a violent riot and clash inside a penitentiary in the Mexican state of Veracruz, local authorities reported on Sunday.
The disturbance began on Saturday afternoon at the Social Reintegration Center in the port city of Tuxpan, in northern Veracruz, when inmates staged a protest over extortion and assaults allegedly carried out by members of the criminal group known as Grupo Sombra.
The protesting prisoners clashed with another group of inmates and set fires inside and outside the facility, seizing control of the prison for more than 12 hours.
During the takeover, the rioters released several videos, including one showing four prisoners —believed to be members of Grupo Sombra— accusing them of being behind the violence and extortion inside the prison.
It wasn’t until Sunday morning that elements of the Mexican Army, the National Guard, and local police forces managed to enter the prison and regain control. The state’s Public Security Secretariat confirmed that around 9:00 a.m. local time a coordinated operation restored full order and reestablished control of the facility.
Authorities also reported that the fires set by inmates were fully extinguished.
Official figures confirmed the “tragic” deaths of seven inmates and injuries to eleven people, who are now receiving medical treatment in various regional hospitals.
This is the second deadliest riot in Veracruz in the past eight years. In 2018, a violent uprising at the La Toma medium-security prison left seven people dead (six police officers and one unidentified man) and at least 22 injured (15 officers and seven inmates).
The riot follows the kidnapping and killing of retired teacher and taxi driver Irma Hernández, a case that shocked the entire country and was attributed to Grupo Sombra. Images of Hernández kneeling, surrounded by armed men in the municipality of Álamo, sparked nationwide outrage. She was murdered after refusing to pay extortion demands from the criminal organization.
Despite these incidents, Veracruz has not seen a spike in the daily homicide average. In fact, there has been a 1.6% decrease in homicides in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, according to the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System.
In 2023, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) reported 3,094 incidents in Mexican prisons —an 18.5% increase from the previous year— resulting in 100 deaths and 892 injuries.
International
Study finds COVID-19 vaccines prevented 2.5 million deaths worldwide
COVID-19 vaccines prevented an estimated 2,533,000 deaths worldwide between 2020 and 2024, according to an international study led by Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Italy and Stanford University in the United States, published in the journal JAMA Health Forum. Researchers calculated that one death was prevented for every 5,400 doses administered.
The analysis also found that the vaccines saved 14.8 million years of life, equivalent to one year of life gained for every 900 doses given.
The study, coordinated by Professor Stefania Boccia, revealed that 82% of the lives saved were people vaccinated before becoming infected with the virus, and 57% of deaths avoided occurred during the Omicron wave. In addition, 90% of the beneficiaries were adults over 60 years old.
“This is the most comprehensive analysis to date, based on global data and fewer assumptions about the evolution of the pandemic,” explained Boccia and researcher Angelo Maria Pezzullo.
Israel says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
Seven inmates dead, 11 injured after violent riot in Veracruz prison
Study finds COVID-19 vaccines prevented 2.5 million deaths worldwide
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