International

A reputed surgeon from Gaza’s Al Shifa hospital dies in an Israeli prison

Adnan al Barash, a reputed 50-year-old surgeon from the Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City, has died this Thursday in an Israeli prison, bringing the deaths of the enclave’s health sector to 496 since October 7, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health in a statement.

“The murder of Dr. al Barash will not be the last crime to come to light and also the way they treat prisoners in prisons, especially those arrested in the Gaza Strip,” they denounce in the press release.

This Palestinian doctor, who was head of the Orthopedics department of the Al Shifa medical complex, now inoperative after the siege of Israeli troops, was arrested last December, while treating patients in another hospital in northern Gaza.

Hamas, in a statement, also wanted to denounce the death of this doctor who was “punished simply for fulfilling his humanitarian obligations” and adds that his loss confirms “the continuous war crimes perpetrated against the Palestinian people” by the Israeli Army.

“I am extremely alarmed by the information of Dr. Adnan’s death. How many more lives will have to be eliminated before UN member states, especially those that demonstrate genuine concern for human rights worldwide, act to protect the Palestinians?” The UN rapporteur for the Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, lamented in her X account.

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Precisely on Thursday, the Israeli authorities refused to return the body of another prisoner, Palestinian intellectual Walid Daqqa, who died of cancer on April 7 after 38 years in prison, according to the official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, reported today.

The Gazaz Ministry also asked the international community and health agencies to protect prisoners from the mistreatment they suffer in Israeli prisons. And especially, the Palestinians who are being arrested in Gaza.

It is estimated that there are at least 9,300 Palestinians in Israeli prisons, including 3,600 in “administrative detention” without charges or trial, according to data from the human rights group Adalah.

Hamas hopes to send a delegation to Cairo “as soon as possible” to resume negotiations for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, according to a statement from the Palestinian Islamist group.

The head of the political bureau of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, held a call on Thursday with the head of Egyptian Intelligence, Abás Kamel, in which he thanked him for the role of the North African country as a mediator between the Palestinian group and Israel.

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“The head of the movement thanked Egypt for the role and emphasized the positive spirit of the movement to study the ceasefire proposal,” the statement reads.

Haniyeh confirmed that a negotiating delegation will soon travel to the Egyptian capital to “complete the current discussions with the aim of maturing an agreement that meets the demands of our people and that stops the aggression.”

The political leader of Hamas then held a similar call with the Qatari Prime Minister, Mohamed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, in which he thanked him for the mediating role of the Arab country, and pledged to reach an agreement under the auspices of Qatar and Egypt.

More than a dozen Palestinians died this morning in Israeli artillery and air strikes in northern and southern areas of the Gaza Strip, with intense bombings in the Nuseirat refugee camp, 209 days of war.

At least six Gazats died last night in an Israeli bombing of the city of Al Zahraa, north of the Nuseirat camp in the center of the Gaza Strip, while rescue teams found three other lifeless bodies after bombings in the northwest of the camp, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported on Thursday.

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In the southern area of Jan Yunis, a Gazan died and an undetermined number of injuries were recorded in an Israeli bombing in the area of Qaa al Qurain, southeast of this devastated city after four months of Israeli land attacks.

“The areas of Bani Suhaila, Abasan and Khuzaa, to the east of the city, also suffered intense bombing by Israeli fighter planes,” Wafa said, without specifying victims.

The latest attacks increased the death toll to 34,596 after 209 days of war.

“The Israeli occupation committed 3 massacres against families in the Gaza Strip, causing 28 martyrs and 51 injured during the last 24 hours,” the Gaza Ministry of Health of the Government of Hamas reported on Thursday, referring to the victims recorded in hospitals.

The Ministry also said that the total number of injured reached 77,816 people, and that “several victims are still under the rubble and on the roads, (but that) the ambulance and civil defense teams cannot reach them.”

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On Thursday, the Israeli Army recovered the remains of another of the missiles from Iran’s attack on April 13, which was intercepted in the area of Nahal Ye’elim, near the southern city of Arad, according to a military statement.

“The debris was cleaned of hazardous materials and evacuated by means of a crane by the troops, along with the firefighters and rescue teams,” the Army explained.

Israel has only been able to recover so far some of the almost 120 ballistic missiles that Tehran launched on the night of Saturday, April 13. Most of these projectiles were intercepted in their neighboring countries, such as Jordan.

International

Three U.S. Executions Set for Same Day as Trump Pushes to Expand Death Penalty

The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 U.S. states, while three others —California, Oregon and Pennsylvania— currently have moratoriums in place.

The United States is set to carry out three executions on the same day, a rare occurrence that has not happened since 2010, according to the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center.

President Donald Trump has sought to expand the use of capital punishment for what he describes as “the most heinous crimes.” In April, the Department of Justice proposed expanding execution methods to include firing squads, lethal gas and electrocution.

Tennessee is scheduled to execute Anthony Darrell Dugard Hines, 66, on Thursday. He was sentenced to death for the 1985 murder of a woman, according to local media.

In Oklahoma, Carlos Cuesta-Rodríguez, 70, is scheduled to be executed for a 2003 murder.

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Meanwhile, Alabama plans to execute Jeremy Williams, 42, who was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a five-year-old girl.

The United States carried out 47 executions in 2025, the highest number since 2009, when 52 executions were recorded.

Florida conducted the largest number of executions last year, with 19, followed by Alabama, South Carolina and Texas, with five each.

Of the executions carried out in 2025, 39 were conducted by lethal injection. Three were carried out by firing squad and five through nitrogen hypoxia, a method that involves forcing nitrogen gas into a face mask, depriving the prisoner of oxygen.

The United Nations has condemned nitrogen gas as a cruel and inhumane method of capital punishment.

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International

Colombia Earthquake Death Toll Reaches 265 as Rescue Teams Race Against Time

The 7.4-magnitude earthquake that struck Colombia on Monday, the strongest to hit the country this century, has so far left 265 people dead and around 3,500 injured.

In Cali, Pereira and other cities in western Colombia, rescue teams are working around the clock as they search for survivors. The first 72 hours following the earthquake will be reached at 7:34 a.m. local time (12:34 GMT), a critical window for rescue efforts as the chances of finding survivors generally decline significantly after that point.

Among those anxiously awaiting news is Valeria Cardona, a 26-year-old student searching for two of her cousins in Cali.

“We have some suspicions about their location, but there are no signs of life,” she said. “Hope is the last thing you lose, but we are anxious about receiving news we don’t want to hear.”

A team of members from the Topos Aztecas, the renowned Mexican volunteer rescue group, has also arrived in Cali to join the search. The rescuers had been working in neighboring Venezuela, where a double earthquake on June 24 left more than 6,000 people dead.

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“We all came from Venezuela, from La Guaira. The 41 days we spent working there made us stronger because we overcame hunger, pain and sleepless nights,” said Héctor Méndez, 80, president of Topos Aztecas.

Méndez encouraged those affected by the disaster not to lose hope and emphasized the commitment required from rescue teams during an emergency.

“Do not feel like victims. This is not an office or workshop schedule. This is real life, where the best part of the human spirit emerges. These are things of nature that happen,” he said.

International

German Authorities Investigate More Than 100 New Cases Against Convicted Nurse

German authorities announced Monday that they are investigating more than 100 additional cases involving a nurse who was sentenced to life in prison in November for the murder of 10 patients.

The man, who was 44 at the time of his conviction, worked in palliative care at a hospital in Würselen, near Aachen. He was also found guilty of 27 attempted murders.

Aachen prosecutors are now examining 121 new cases, a spokesperson for the office said.

Prosecutors leading the investigation are preparing a new indictment that could be filed next year. Nearly 40 bodies have so far been exhumed as part of the investigation, which covers alleged incidents dating back to September 2022.

Meanwhile, prosecutors in the city of Cologne are investigating 18 additional cases. According to a spokesperson, the oldest case dates back to 2010.

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Before working at the Würselen hospital, the nurse is believed to have worked at a clinic in eastern Cologne, according to local media reports.

At the time of his November conviction, the court ruled that the severity of his crimes was particularly serious, a finding that would make it difficult for him to obtain early release after 15 years in prison.

Between December 2023 and May 2024, the nurse administered overdoses of sedatives or painkillers to terminally ill patients, most of them elderly, according to the indictment in the original case.

His alleged motive was to sedate patients who required care so that he could minimize his workload during night shifts, prosecutors said.

According to the indictment, the nurse worked «without enthusiasm» and «without motivation». When faced with patients requiring extensive care, he allegedly became «irritated» and showed a lack of empathy.

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The case has revived painful memories in Germany of Niels Högel, a former nurse and serial killer who was sentenced to life imprisonment in June 2019 for the murders of at least 85 patients.