Elwood Jones was convicted of aggravated murder, robbery and burglary in the 1994 beating death of 67-year-old Rhoda Nathan at a hotel in Blue Ash, a Cincinnati suburb

Elwood Jones spent 26 years behind bars

A man who languished on death row for more than 25 years over the robbery and killing of a woman at an Ohio hotel has had his case thrown out by prosecutors on Friday.

Elwood Jones has been walking free since shortly after a judge awarded him a fresh trial in December 2022, after determining that prosecutors had failed to hand over crucial evidence to his legal team years earlier.

Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich revealed the dismissal of his case came after months of thorough examination of evidence and court documents. “I did not take this extraordinary step lightly,” Pillich said in a statement.

Elwood Jones has been free since shortly after a judge granted him a new trial in December 2022

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“But after reviewing the evidence, I am not convinced that Mr. Jones killed Rhoda Nathan.”

Jones had been found guilty of aggravated murder, robbery and burglary in the 1994 fatal beating of the 67 year old from Toms River, New Jersey, in Blue Ash, a Cincinnati suburb. Under Pillich’s predecessor, Melissa Powers, the prosecutor’s office had challenged the judge’s ruling and that legal battle was still working its way through the courts.

Only last week, the Ohio Supreme Court had determined the appellate court made an error in blocking the challenge and sent it back to the lower court for fresh consideration. Supreme Court Justice Joe Deters, the former Hamilton County prosecutor who obtained the original conviction against Jones, stepped aside from that ruling.

But Pillich said proceeding with a fresh trial without evidence, witnesses or current scientific methods “would be futile.”

Among the issues addressed by her review were: the lack of physical or forensic evidence linking Jones directly to the murder, and several witness statements suggesting other potential suspects that were not adequately pursued. Furthermore, Jones’ defence was not provided with a significant amount of investigation material before the trial.

Modern medical testing has also ruled out Jones as a suspect.

Jones was an employee at the hotel where the woman was killed and was on the job that day, police said.

Police had previously stated that Nathan, a grandmother visiting town for her best friend’s grandson’s bar mitzvah over Labour Day weekend, was murdered after interrupting a robbery attempt in her room. Jones, an employee at the hotel, was working that day, according to police.

A request for comment was sent to Jones’ lawyer. In court documents, his defence team argued that the “win-at-all-cost mentality” displayed by the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office resulted in Jones, an innocent man, losing over 28 years of his life and nearly costing him his life.

Pillich announced plans to establish a Conviction Integrity Unit to investigate and review claims of wrongful conviction and unfair sentencing using nationally recognised best practices.

“Had such a unit existed years ago, this decision may have been reached much sooner,” she commented.

Jones becomes the 12th death row prisoner to be cleared in Ohio and the second from Hamilton County, according to Kevin Warner, executive director of Ohioans to Stop Executions, a group campaigning for the abolition of capital punishment.

Warner said the public is becoming increasingly fed up with wrongful convictions. He said: “We’re thinking of the Nathan family and we’re thinking of the Jones family, both… h who were irreparably harmed by Ohio’s death penalty system.”

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Cambodia’s Ministry of Defence said Thai F-16 fighter jets continued to bomb targets inside country.

Published On 13 Dec 202513 Dec 2025

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Cambodia has accused Thailand of continuing to drop bombs in its territory hours after United States President Donald Trump said Bangkok and Phnom Penh had agreed to stop fighting.

“On December 13, 2025, the Thai military used two F-16 fighter jets to drop seven bombs” on a number of targets, the Cambodian Defence Ministry said in a post on social media on Saturday.

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“Thai forces have not stopped the bombing yet and are still continuing the bombing,” the ministry said, listing aerial attacks on hotel buildings and bridges earlier in the morning.

The reports of continued bombing follow after President Trump said that Thailand and Cambodia had agreed “to cease all shooting” on Friday.

“I had a very good conversation this morning with the Prime Minister of Thailand, Anutin Charnvirakul, and the Prime Minister of Cambodia, Hun Manet, concerning the very unfortunate reawakening of their long-running War,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform on Friday.

“They have agreed to CEASE all shooting effective this evening, and go back to the original Peace Accord made with me, and them, with the help of the Great Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim,” Trump said.

With Thailand’s attacks reportedly ongoing against Cambodia, the current outbreak of violence between the two Southeast Asian neighbours has now entered a sixth day.

The latest cross-border clashes, which broke out on Monday, have so far killed at least 20 civilians and soldiers in both countries and left some 200 more wounded.

An estimated 600,000 people have also been displaced on both sides of the 800-kilometre-long (500-mile) Thai-Cambodia border, where the conflict centres on disputed ownership of centuries-old temples.

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House Oversight Committee

US President Donald Trump was among several prominent figures featured in the images released on Friday

Back-to-back batches of photos from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate have been released, revealing private details from the convicted peadophile’s life and his ties to the rich and powerful.

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released 19 photos on Friday morning and then later published nearly 80 more, which they said are part of more than 95,000 images the US congressional committee has received from Epstein’s estate after a subpoena.

The photos include never-before-seen images of Epstein on his private island and pictures of him with high-profile figures like US President Donald Trump.

The US justice department is approaching a deadline next week to release all Epstein-related documents.

Watch: Massie and Garcia on latest photos from Epstein estate

The justice department mandate is separate from the files being released by Congress, which is conducting its own investigation into the Epstein case and has been asking his estate for documents and images as part of the probe.

The justice department has until 19 December to release all documents related to the Epstein case. That deadline comes from a bill passed by Congress and signed by Trump last month following months of pressure from his Maga – Make America Great Again – base.

Despite that legal requirement for the justice department, committee Democrats said on Friday: “In the interest of transparency, we will continue to release photos from the Epstein estate.”

The release on Friday marked the second time in a month that the committee has published new images from its investigation into Epstein. These new photos include private images of Epstein, including one of him in a bathtub and another that appears to show sexual toys. They also show him with powerful people, including former President Bill Clinton and tech billionaire Bill Gates.

Epstein’s connection to so many high-profile figures, along with various unanswered questions about the case, and his 2019 suicide in a Manhattan jail as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges, has fuelled online conspiracies and accusations of a government cover-up.

No additional context or details were included with the newly released images, so it is not clear when, why or where many of the photos were taken or by whom. Merely being pictured in files related Epstein is not an indication of wrongdoing.

In the first batch of photos released on Friday, Epstein is seen with multiple high-profile figures, none of whom have yet commented. Many of them have previously denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.

In a statement, Representative Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the congressional committee, said: “It is time to end this White House cover-up and bring justice to the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and his powerful friends.”

“These disturbing photos raise even more questions about Epstein and his relationships with some of the most powerful men in the world. We will not rest until the American people get the truth. The Department of Justice must release all the files, NOW,” he added.

Republicans, who are in the majority on the committee, have accused Democrats of “cherry-picking photos and making targeted redactions to create a false narrative about President Trump”.

The White House called the release a “Democrat hoax” against Trump that has been “repeatedly debunked”. Trump had for months argued the Epstein saga was a distraction orchestrated by his critics to take attention away from his administration’s accomplishments.

Trump had been pressuring Republicans to move on but failed to keep his party from approving a measure forcing the justice department to release all files in the investigation.

Trump was friends with Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s, but has not been accused of any wrongdoing as part of the investigations into his former friend.

According to Trump, the pair fell out in the early 2000s, two years before Epstein was first arrested. The White House has also suggested that their fallout was connected to Epstein’s behaviour, and that Trump booted him from his Florida resort for “being a creep”.

Trump appeared in three of the images released on Friday. One image showed him standing next to a woman whose face has been redacted.

Another showed Trump standing next to Epstein while talking to model Ingrid Seynhaeve at a 1997 Victoria’s Secret party in New York – an image that was already publicly available.

House Oversight Committee

A third photo showed Trump smiling with several women, whose faces have also been redacted, flanked on either side of him.

An additional photo showed an illustrated likeness of the president on red packets next to a sign that reads: “Trump Condom”.

House Oversight CommitteeHouse Oversight Committee

Among the photos released on Friday were some that had already been in the public domain for several years.

One such image was a cropped section of a picture originally taken by a photographer working for Getty Images in 2018, which showed King Charles in conversation with the tech billionaire at a London summit.

The image contained in Epstein’s collection was cropped to show only Andrew and Gates. It’s unclear why Epstein had the image or why it was included in his estate.

Andrew, who has faced years of scrutiny over his past relationship with Epstein, was stripped of his “prince” title and left his Windsor mansion, Royal Lodge, earier this year. He has denied any wrongdoing.

Getty Images

Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon was also pictured in some of the images. He was shown speaking with Epstein at a desk, and in another, standing beside him in front of a mirror.

House Oversight Committee

A third image showed him speaking with filmmaker Woody Allen.

A photo featuring former US President Bill Clinton’s showed him standing next to Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted in 2021 for her role in facilitating the disgraced financier’s abuse.

Two other people the BBC has yet to identify are also in the image, which appeared to have been signed by Clinton.

Clinton has denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein. In 2019, a spokesperson said he “knows nothing about the terrible crimes” Epstein pleaded guilty to.

House Oversight Committee

Other prominent figures which appear in the images include US economist Larry Summers, lawyer Alan Dershowitz and entrepreneur Richard Branson. Not all the images show those individuals in the company of Epstein.

Also in the newly released photos are images from Epstein’s sunny estate on the US Virgin Islands, showing multiple rooms – including one with a dental chair surrounded by sculptures of moustached men on the walls.

There is an image of an orange pumpkin with a blonde wig that has been carved in the likeness of Trump. Above it, a sign reads: “Trumpkin. Make Halloween Great Again.”

On Friday, Trump was asked about the new photos and told reporters that a lot of people knew and were photographed with Epstein, calling the release “no big deal”.

Watch: “I know nothing about it”, says Trump on recent Epstein photos released

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Thousands of people took to the streets across Italy on Friday, for a national strike that was called by the country’s largest union to protest the government’s 2026 budget.

The strike comes as the budget is expected to be discussed next week and must be approved by the country’s parliament by the end of this year.

Italy’s CGIL union has estimated that some 61% of all public and private sector workers participated in the strike.

“The majority of the workers who keep this country going don’t agree with and don’t accept this government’s budget,” CGIL chief Maurizio Landini told a rally in Florence. 

“Today shows more clearly than ever that we need a change,” he added.

Unions demand greater investments in healthcare, education and housing rightsImage: Marco Di Gianvito/ZUMA/picture alliance

Demonstrations the latest in a slew of protests to have hit Italy

The demonstrations were the latest in a slew of protests that have hit Italy in recent months. Italians have taken to the streets to reject the government’s economic policies and its support for Israel.

The budget is being put forth by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her right-wing Brothers of Italy party.

Although Meloni’s party, which governs under a stable coalition, still tops opinion polls, some recent surveys have shown a decline in the government’s popularity.

What’s the problem with the budget?

CGIL, which represents 5 million workers, half of whom are pensioners, argues that the new budget would “worsen people’s living and working conditions.”

Along with other unions, CGIL has rejected planned increases in defense spending. The unions are calling on the government to invest more in healthcare and education, as well as take measures to bolster salaries and pensions.

Meloni’s government has responded to the discontent by saying the budget has been well-received by financial markets and ratings agencies, arguing that it strengthens Italy’s public finances, while lowering taxes for middle earners.

Meloni and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini responded to the strike plans when they were agreed to last month, making fun of the union for organizing the strike as usual on a Friday, implying that it was an excuse for a long weekend.

Edited by: Roshni Majumdar

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President Donald Trump scolded a female journalist taking part in a press scrum at the White House on Friday for being “very aggressive,” the latest in a string of negative comments the president has made about female reporters in recent weeks.

“You have to be nice and easy, nice and easy,” Trump told the reporter, who appeared to be NBC News’ Yamiche Alcindor. “She’s very aggressive.”

The president later called on the reporter, who asked Trump about his reaction to the latest batch of Epstein photos released Friday, which included images of Trump with a large group of women with their faces blurred out.

The Independent has contacted Alcindor for comment.

Trump has gone head-to-head with Alcindor before.

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President Trump called a female reporter ‘very aggressive’ for asking questions in the Oval Office, the latest in a string of recent dismissive remarks toward female reporters the president has made (AP)

In September, he accused the White House correspondent of being “fake news” and “second-rate” when she pressed him about an AI image he shared suggesting the administration was about to declare “war” on Chicago as part of its immigration crackdown.

In 2020, during a Covid briefing, Trump told Alcindor to “be nice” and to not “be threatening” during one exchange, inspiring an outpouring of support for the reporter and the hashtag #WeLoveYamiche.

President Trump has used harsh language to brush off multiple female reporters in recent weeks, labeling them “stupid,” “incapable,” “ugly,” and in one case last month, telling Bloomberg White House correspondent Catherine Lucey to be “quiet piggy.”

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Yamiche Alcindor is a White House correspondent for NBC News (AFP via Getty Images)

When reached for comment, the White House shared a statement it offered after past criticism of the remarks.

“President Trump has never been politically correct, never holds back, and in large part, the American people re-elected him for his transparency,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said. “This has nothing to do with gender – it has everything to do with the fact that the President’s and the public’s trust in the media is at all time lows.”

White House officials have pointed to other comments where Trump tangled with male reporters in a similar fashion, including an October comment that a male Reuters reporter was “third-rate” and earlier remarks blasting a Wall Street Journal reporter for being associated with a “rotten” outlet.

Critics argue the president reserves particular venom for female reporters, and female reporters of color even more so.

During his first term, Trump lashed out at a string of African-American female journalists in quick succession, describing questions from CNN’s Abby Phillip as “stupid” and those from Alcindor as “racist.”

Later, during his 2024 campaign, he had a memorable clash with reporters during an event at a National Association of Black Journalists conference.

Trump grew angry when asked how Black voters could trust him after making the inflammatory remark that Vice President Kamala Harris had only recently “happened to turn Black.”

“I don’t think I’ve been asked a question in such a horrible manner,” Trump told ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott. “You don’t even say hello, how are you.”

The president frequently demonizes the press at large, and has called journalists purveyors of “fake news” and the “enemy of the people.”

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If you’re still scouring the internet for the perfect holiday present, it’s time to turn your attention to TikTok-viral gifts. The app has time and again brought the best toys to center-stage, and it’s already crowned this year’s hottest find.

The Dusfan AI-Powered Flying Orb Ball is the latest toy to go viral on TikTok — this video alone has 15 million views and more than 87,000 likes. Now that the toy is on sale at Amazon for 66 percent off, it makes for a no-brainer Christmas gift. Equipped with a smart AI chip and gyroscope, the orb hovers, flies, and returns to the user like a boomerang, providing countless hours of entertainment.

Dusfan AI-Powered Flying Orb Ball Toy

Amazon

It’s designed with red, blue, and green LED lights that make it easy to spot in the dark, but are also vibrant in the day. The flying orb ball features a hidden micro-USB plug for quick recharging and, because it’s made from a fall-resistant case, it’s durable enough to withstand plenty of drops and fumbles. Perfect for playing catch and practicing your magic skills on the go, this toy is sure to be a hit this Christmas.

More than 9,000 Amazon shoppers have already purchased the orb in the past few weeks, and it’s easy to see why. One five-star reviewer said it provides “hours of laughter” and “lighthearted fun” as it “floats, spins, and bounces back like magic.” Another person called the toy “the hit of the night,” adding that “it’s surprisingly easy to control once you get the hang of it, and it’s durable — it’s been dropped multiple times and still works perfectly.”

A final shopper enthused, “Once you start playing, it’s hard to stop,” noting that it’s an excellent activity, even for little kids. “It’s fun solo or with friends — definitely a crowd pleaser,” they remarked.

Give the best gift of the season and pick up the Dusfan AI-Powered Flying Orb Ball while it’s still just $27 on Amazon. 

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By SHANNON MCGUIGAN, NEWS REPORTER

Published: 15:14 EST, 12 December 2025 | Updated: 20:24 EST, 12 December 2025

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner has urged stores to do more to help officers bring shoplifters to justice. 

Sir Mark Rowley claimed there was evidence of security staff working with gangs to help them steal from shops, as some refused to hand over CCTV or snaps of thugs caught red-handed.

He alleged other stores would not allow employees time off to attend court or to provide statements to the police. 

In the year to June, retail crime increased by 13 per cent, reaching 529,994 recorded offences, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Meanwhile, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) estimated there were 20 million cases of shoplifting, implying less than three per cent of thefts were reported. 

It comes as Labour were accused of turning Britain into a ‘soft touch for criminals’ as shoplifters continued to run rampant across the country. 

And while Sir Mark maintained retailers were right in their criticism of the police, he also insisted they also ‘need to step up more’. 

‘The retail sector, a couple of years ago, was right to be cross with policing across the country,’ he told The Telegraph.

Sir Mark Rowley (pictured) claimed there was evidence of security staff working with gangs to help them steal from shops

‘But in London, over the last year or so, we’ve really doubled down on it. We’re making a lot of progress, but I need to challenge back now to the retail sector. 

‘They now need to do better.’

Shoplifting dropped by four per cent between April and December, the Police Commissioner claimed, with the help of facial recognition technology.  

Sir Mark, a long supporter of the technology, said that in 40 per cent of incidents, the force was able to identify a criminal against databases of previous offenders.

Fines, charges and sanctions for shoplifting also rose by 82 per cent. However, the Met had the lowest rate of crimes being solved in England and Wales.

In the year to June, just nine per cent of shoplifting cases ended in a charge by the police authority. 

In one case, private security staff had been communicating with criminals and telling them when it was ‘clear’ to come in, Sir Mark revealed.

He also noted that while some stores cited costs as why they couldn’t provide statements or images, other shops were ‘very supportive’ of employees.  

Cambridgeshire Police released CCTV footage of thieves targeting the John Lewis department store in Cambridge earlier this month, amid growing concern over retail crime

The Police Commissioner explained that some shops will give staff the time and pay to attend court and provide statements, while others do not.  

‘So if they’re not prepared to roll up their sleeves as corporate victims, it’s going to be tough for us to make progress,’ he added.

Sir Mark also voiced his support for expanding facial technology, which means police would have access to the passport database.

Such access would mean they would be able to use 45 million photos to identify those suspected of committing serious crimes.  

He has also supported radical proposals to reduce the number of policing authorities from 43 to 20 – or even less – as well as reforming the ‘broken’ court system. 

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Businesses must do more to stop shoplifting, Met Police chief says

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Jerry Kerrisk, 66, from Edinburgh, collapsed while visiting his twin sons, leading to discovery of aggressive glioblastoma brain cancer with 12-18 month prognosis

Jerry in hospital

An Edinburgh father was told he ‘wouldn’t have seen Christmas’ if a seizure hadn’t led to a heartbreaking diagnosis, according to doctors. Jerry Kerrisk, 66, collapsed in June last year while visiting his twin sons, Brendan and Conor.

He was immediately taken to hospital where medics discovered a glioblastoma – an aggressive and incurable form of brain cancer. The family were informed that Jerry’s prognosis was between 12 to 18 months.

Now, the Kerrisk family are championing the Brain Tumour Research Christmas appeal, urging the public to contribute towards groundbreaking research and ‘change the story’ for patients.

Jerry Kerrisk with his wife, Janice, and sons, Brendan and Conor(Image: Supplied)

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Jerry’s wife, Janice, shared: “Jerry has always been a kind, practical man who appreciates all things in life. He loves being outdoors, walking our dog Rua, playing golf, and spending time with family and friends.

“He is an electrician by trade; hardworking, dependable, and good-humoured. His colleagues often describe him as ‘one of life’s true gentlemen’ and that could not be truer.”, reports Edinburgh Live.

On the morning of his collapse, Janice recalls Jerry being ‘quiet and distracted’. She added: “As we were heading out shopping, he suddenly said, ‘We need to write our wills and decide where we’ll put our ashes.'”.

“It was such an odd comment that it stopped me in my tracks, but I thought he was worrying about his prostate cancer, which is under control. Less than an hour later, we were visiting our sons when he suddenly roared, lifted his arm towards the sky, and collapsed face down on the grass in a violent seizure.

“By the time the paramedics arrived, Jerry had suffered two further seizures. He was unconscious, bleeding from his mouth and nose. It was absolutely horrific to watch.”

Jerry was rushed to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, where he endured a third seizure. An MRI scan uncovered the brain tumour, with medics subsequently informing the family he had a four centimetre glioblastoma.

Janice, 62, added: “The diagnosis was devastating. I had prepared myself for bad news, but Jerry hadn’t. He thought the surgery would remove it and he would recover. When the consultant said the words ‘grade 4 glioblastoma’, he was in shock. He turned to the doctor and said quietly, ‘I feel like I’m a dead man walking.'”.

“I will never forget those words. I sat taking notes while he stared at the floor in silence. We left the hospital numb.”

Jerry with his sons Brendan and Conor

Jerry underwent surgery to remove as much of the tumour as surgeons could manage. He was sent home within days, and started six weeks of radiotherapy and oral chemotherapy.

Despite persistent tiredness, Jerry still plays golf and goes out fishing. Janice said: “What I want most is a breakthrough, for Jerry and for others like him. The prognosis for glioblastoma is so cruelly short.

“I dream of the day when people no longer hear that this diagnosis is terminal. Jerry does not talk much about the future, but every so often he will say something that stops me in my tracks.

“The other night, after being out with friends for a birthday lunch, he said, ‘I don’t know if I’ll be here next year’. I told him we have to stay positive, because we do. That is how we get through. Our lives have changed completely, but our love, our humour, and our faith in one another remain.

“Jerry is still Jerry – gentle, strong, and quietly brave. I hope we can help make a difference so that, one day, families like ours will have real hope for the future.”

Ashley McWilliams, community development manager at Brain Tumour Research, commented: “Janice and her family have shown incredible strength and positivity since Jerry’s diagnosis.

“Their determination to raise awareness and fund research is truly inspiring. We are so grateful to Team Jerry for supporting our 99 Miles in November challenge and Christmas Appeal, and for helping to fund vital research such as the work taking place at our new Scottish Centre of Excellence.

“Every step they take brings us closer to finding a cure for this devastating disease.”

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The UK has sanctioned senior commanders of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) over suspected heinous violence including mass killings, systematic sexual violence and deliberate attacks on civilians.

The commanders were designated on Friday after documented atrocities committed by RSF troops in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur.

Deputy commander Abdul Rahim Hamdan Dagalo, the brother of RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo, is among four commanders of the paramilitary group that will face asset freezes and travel bans. Hemedti himself is not on the list of sanctions.

Image:
Abdulrahim Hamdan Dagalo raises his fist in Kenya, Nairobi, at a February meeting of Sudanese groups. Pic: AP

El Fasher was captured by the RSF on 26 October after an 18-month siege against the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). The RSF co-ordinated a campaign of enforced starvation, shelling and drone strikes with widespread civilian casualties.

In September, Sky News travelled to North Darfur and reported on volunteers being killed and arrested by the RSF for attempting to smuggle food and medicine into the city at the height of the siege. Food smuggling co-ordinators told us they had no choice but to try to save the city from “a slow genocide”.

Other volunteers pleaded with us to urge the world to save Darfur and condemned the “inhumanity” of the global apathy. Many of the people we met in North Darfur lost loved ones to the RSF’s violent takeover of the city.

After the capture of El Fasher, sometimes spelled Al Fashir, RSF fighters filmed themselves killing civilians in the fields around the city as they attempted to flee.

Image:
Sudanese soldiers from the Rapid Support Forces. File pic: AP

A Sky News investigation with Lighthouse Reports and Sudan War Monitor revealed that hundreds of civilians were rounded up in school yards in a town bordering the road out of the city.

A survivor told us they were forced to bury with their own hands fellow captives who were killed by the RSF on the basis of ethnicity. Satellite images analysed by Sky News found that an existing cemetery in Gurnei was extended in the days that followed 26 October, corresponding with testimony of new burials.

Yale Humanitarian Labs analysed high-resolution satellite imagery from the streets of El Fasher in the days after the RSF capture. Their analysis showed objects in the streets that correspond with corpses and large red-coloured stains likely to be blood. A civilian who escaped the slaughter told us they were stepping over bodies on their way out of the city.

An RSF insider said that at least 7,000 people were killed by their troops in the first five days of capture and that sanctioned RSF deputy commander Abdul Rahim Dagalo commanded the entire operation. Celebratory footage shared by the RSF shows him in the city only hours after it fell.

Image:
A photo released by UNICEF shows displaced children and families from El Fasher. (Mohammed Jammal/UNICEF via AP)

In a document naming the sanctioned individuals, the UK government said Dagalo was responsible for engaging in, supporting, or promoting “serious violations of international humanitarian law in Sudan”.

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These “grave breaches” comprise “the mass killings of civilians; ethnically targeted executions; sexual violence, including gang rape; abductions for ransom; widespread arbitrary detentions; and attacks on health facilities, medical staff and humanitarian workers”.

Also sanctioned was major general Osman Mohamed Hamid Mohamed, the head of the RSF’s Operations Department, as well as brigadier general Al-Fateh Abdullah Idris and field commander Tijani Ibrahim Moussa Mohamed.

Image:
A child who fled El Fasher receives treatment at a camp in Tawila. Pic: AP

The RSF has been battling the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) for control of Sudan since April 2023. The paramilitary group held the capital Khartoum for two years before it was recaptured by the army in March.

Fighting pivoted to Darfur as the RSF tightened its siege on El Fasher and massacred the nearby Zamzam displacement camp before closing in on the city.

The epicentre of the war has now shifted to three fronts in the southwest Kordofan, threatening to tear Sudan into two.

The RSF has made recent gains; seizing the key city of Babanusa in West Kordofan – a railway city that connects the west, east, south and north of the country – and the oil-rich town of Heglieg on the border with Sudan’s South Kordofan State and South Sudan.

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Dili, East Timor – On the 50th anniversary of Indonesia’s invasion of East Timor, longtime independence advocate and now the country’s President Jose Ramos-Horta reflected on the last half-century of politics and diplomacy in his country.

Ramos-Horta was serving as the foreign minister of the newly declared Democratic Republic of East Timor in the days leading up to Indonesia’s invasion in December 1975.

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Formed by the independence party Fretilin after colonial Portugal’s withdrawal from the country, the new government in East Timor’s capital Dili was under pressure from Indonesia and its threat of invasion.

As the danger intensified, Ramos-Horta flew to the United Nations in New York to plead for international recognition and protection for East Timor’s fragile independence. Despite unanimous support at the UN for Timorese self-determination, Indonesian troops launched their invasion on December 7, 1975.

Ramos-Horta’s colleagues, including Prime Minister Nicolau Lobato and other Fretilin leaders, either went into hiding or were killed in the ensuing attack. Unable to return home, Ramos-Horta became East Timor’s voice in exile for the next 24 years.

During his exile, Ramos-Horta lobbied governments, human rights organisations, and the UN to condemn Indonesia’s occupation, which resulted in the deaths of an estimated 200,000 Timorese through conflict, famine, and repression.

Silenced by a military-imposed media blackout for much of the 1980s, it was only in the 1990s that reports of Indonesian atrocities – including the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre – began to filter out and East Timor’s struggle for independence gained international attention.

Ramos-Horta’s tireless advocacy earned him a Nobel Peace Prize, along with Bishop Carlos Belo, in 1996.

A UN-sponsored referendum delivered an overwhelming vote for independence in 1999, leading to a fully independent East Timor in 2002. However, the country continues to face economic challenges and remains one of Southeast Asia’s poorest nations.

In the years overseeing his country’s transition from conflict to reconciliation, Ramos-Horta has held the roles of foreign minister, prime minister and now president.

Al Jazeera’s Ali MC sat down with Ramos-Horta on a recent trip to East Timor, where the president spoke about his country’s long road to peace and hopes for it to prosper from membership of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), increased trade with China, and development of the offshore Greater Sunrise gas field.

Al Jazeera: Reflecting on your role as an ambassador for East Timor after Indonesia’s 1975 invasion, what were some of the key challenges that you faced while advocating for your country on the international stage?

Ramos-Horta: First, we were in the midst of the Cold War with that catastrophic US engagement in the wars against North Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

Then, you can say – the US defeat, if not military defeat, it was a total political defeat at the hands of the Vietnamese. So, it was in the midst of all of this that Indonesia invaded Timor-Leste [the official Portuguese-language name for East Timor], on December 7, 1975. The day before, US President Gerald Ford and Secretary of State Kissinger were in Jakarta, and they officially gave the green light to President Soeharto to invade – immorally – with the use of American weapons.

So, it was within this context that it was very challenging for us to mobilise sympathy, support and the media. The invasion merited only one small, short column in The New York Times.

In Australia, there was more coverage. But the coverage didn’t last long, because Indonesia did a very good job, with Australian complicity, in blocking any news out of East Timor. At that time, not a single journalist came – the first foreign journalist to come here was in 1987.

The absence of [proof of] death is the worst enemy of any struggle. There were terrible massacres on the day of the invasion, hundreds of people shot and dumped into the sea, including an Australian, Roger East [a journalist killed by Indonesian forces on the day of the invasion].

Many, many countless people shot on the spot. Many were alive and dragged to the port of Dili, shot and fell into the sea. Many more killed randomly around town. And zero media coverage, not a single camera.

East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta addresses the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York City, US, in 2023 [File: Brendan McDermid/Reuters]

AJ: How did that lack of media coverage make it difficult for you, as an ambassador overseas, to describe to the international community exactly what was happening in East Timor?

Ramos-Horta: Terribly difficult.

To mobilise people who are potentially sympathetic, you can do so effectively if you have a backup for what you say, what you allege, what you report. This must be backed up with visuals.

But people were sympathetic and listened to me. I was persuasive enough for them to believe what might be going on.

AJ: Given your own personal experience in the struggle for independence in East Timor, does that influence the way that you advocate? Does that bring a more personal response to your diplomacy?

Ramos-Horta: My personal instinct as a person is not shaped by anyone, by any school, any religion. It is me, always, against injustice and abuse.

Then came our experience and the fight for independence. When we fought for independence and for freedom, I went around the world begging for support, begging for sympathy. Then, we became independent.

Well, how can I not show sympathy in a real way towards the Palestinians? Why would I not show sympathy in a real way towards the people of Myanmar? Just showing sympathy, because we cannot do much more.

What can we do? We are not even a mid-sized country. But speaking out – a voice – is very important.

AJ: What are your reflections on what has occurred in Gaza?

Ramos-Horta: It is one of the most abominable humanitarian catastrophes in modern times, in the 21st century, next to the killing fields in Cambodia during Pol Pot’s regime.

The amount of bombs dropped on Gaza is more than the combined amount of the bombs dropped on London and Dresden during World War II, and more than the bombs dropped on Cambodia by the Americans during the Vietnam War.

The suffering inflicted on civilians, women and children is just unbelievable.

How we, human beings in this 21st century, can descend so low and how Israel, a country that I always admired, first out of sympathy for what Jewish people went through, through their lives, through their history – always persecuted, always having to flee, and then culminating in the horrendous Holocaust. When you survive a Holocaust experience, like the Jews, I would think that you are a person that is the most sympathetic to anyone yearning for freedom, for peace, for dignity. Because you understand.

They [Israelis] are doing the opposite.

And you have to understand, also, the people who are on the other side. You know the Palestinians, who had 70 years of occupation and brutality, they are not going to show any sympathy to the Jews or Israelis. So, this whole situation has generated hatred and polarisation as never before.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, right, meets East Timor’s President Jose Ramos Horta in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah in 2011 [File: Mohamad Torokman/Reuters]

AJ: What can the international community learn from the experience of East Timor and people such as yourself?

Ramos-Horta: I am thoroughly disillusioned with the so-called international community, particularly the West, that enjoy entertaining themselves lecturing Third World countries on democracy, human rights, transparency, anticorruption, etc, etc.

They could never find the case to help poorer countries getting out of extreme poverty. But they found billions of dollars for the last three years to pump into the war in Ukraine.

I don’t condemn that. It is white people supporting white people being attacked. But then they are silent on Israel as it bulldozes the whole of Palestine; carpet bombing, killing tens of thousands of civilians.

And yet, with incredible, nauseating hypocrisy, when they are asked to comment on this, they say Israel has the right to defend itself!

Defend itself against children, against women, against students, against academics, against universities, that they bulldoze completely. Defend themselves against doctors and nurses in hospitals that they bulldoze.

And in an incredible contortion, you have the secretary-general of NATO say Iran presents a threat to the whole world. I know the whole world, literally, and I don’t know of anyone in the whole world that I know that considers Iran a threat to them.

I feel nauseated with such dishonesty, such inhumanity. So, I’m thoroughly disappointed. And I was always an admirer of the West.

AJ: Reflecting on many decades in politics in East Timor, is there anything that stands out to you as a personal success or something that you feel most proud about?

Ramos-Horta: I feel proud that we have been able to keep the country at peace. We have zero political violence. We have zero ethnic-based or religious-based tensions or violence. We don’t have even organised crime. We have never had a bank robbery or armed robbery in someone’s home. We don’t have that. And we are ranked among having the freest media in the world and the freest democracy in the world. I’m proud of my contribution in that.

A Pride Parade from East Timor’s capital, Dili, to the famed Cristo Rei statue of Christ, which was built by the Indonesians during the occupation. While East Timor has a large Catholic population, LGBT rights have become more accepted, with even President Ramos-Horta expressing support [Ali MC/Al Jazeera]

AJ: East Timor is set to join the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). What will be the benefits of being a part of that?

Ramos-Horta: We’ll be part of a community of 700 million people, a community whose combined GDP is at least $4 trillion.

And that means the possibility of Timor-Leste benefitting from our neighbours is greater. There will be more free movement of capital. There’ll be more people attracted to visit Timor-Leste and more embassies opening.

These are the benefits of being associated with an organisation like ASEAN. There are concrete, material benefits besides the importance of the strategic alliance, the strategic partnership, with our neighbours.

AJ: China is really emerging in the Southeast Asia and Pacific regions. Are there any tensions over East Timor’s relationship with China?

Ramos-Horta: We don’t view China as an enemy of anyone, unlike some in America.

The US is not able to digest the fact that China today is a global superpower, that China today is a major global financial and economic power. That it is no longer the US that rules this unipolar world, that it has a competitor.

But the Chinese are very modest, and they say they are not competing to be number one with the US.

Any rational, intelligent person who is informed about China – even if a leader emerged in China that would view Australia and the US with hostility – would, in his right mind, think that you can overpower the US economically and militarily.

AJ: What is the projected benefit economically for East Timor from the Greater Sunrise Gas Field?

Ramos-Horta: The existing studies point to it taking seven years for the whole project to be completed and deliver gas and revenue to Timor-Leste.

But long before that, the day we sign the agreement, within the following few months, two years, a lot of investments already start to happen. Because we have to build all the infrastructure on the south coast that will run into the tens of millions of dollars, hundreds of millions of dollars.

The pipeline will take its time to reach Timor, but the pipeline will be served by all the infrastructure built on the south coast, plus housing. Hundreds, maybe thousands of houses for workers, for people and so on. Then improvement in the agriculture sector. Farmers in the community benefitting because they will sell produce to the company, to the workers and so on.

Despite more than two decades of independence, East Timor remains one of the poorest countries in the region [Ali MC/Al Jazeera]



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