Gaza, Nicaragua, Guyana
Today's three stories you should know
Gaza
A father, his wife and their four children have been killed by an airstrike on their home in Gaza City, health officials said, in the latest Israeli violation of a ceasefire that Tel Aviv agreed with Hamas last October. The dead were named as Firas Al-Masri, his wife, Salsabeel, and their three daughters and son. Israel said it was targeting a Hamas member. Masri's father, Abu Yusuf Al-Masri, told Reuters: "We were unable to save our grandchildren and children from the flames and the devastation. Around five or six people were martyred, most of them children and women, without mercy and without any prior warning.” More than 1,150 Palestinians have been killed, most of them women and children, and more than 3,500 wounded since the ostensible ceasefire began.
More from Reuters here.
Episode 8 of the Proximities podcast, a discussion I had on the UK’s Novara Live show about the risk of the world standing by and watching another massacre unfold in Sudan, is now live on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.
Nicaragua
Nicaragua's longtime president Daniel Ortega has said the country will not hold any more elections, ruling out the chance of a challenge when his latest term ends next year and underlining efforts to cement the rule he shares with his wife. Ortega was speaking on the anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed Somoza dictatorship in 1979. “There won’t be any more elections here for them to try to seize the government and seize power,” Ortega said. “The days when parties backed by the Yankees (United States) and the Somocistas would return to power are over - never again.” Ortega has been president continuously since 2007 after a previous period as leader in the 1980s. The 80-year-old and his wife and co-president Rosario Murillo control almost every facet of government, including the military and judiciary.
More from AP here.
Guyana
Authorities in Guyana say they have now recovered 27 bodies from a ferry that capsized off the coast with 179 people on board in what the government called the country’s worst maritime disaster in decades. Officials said that 69 people had been rescued, while 83 remained missing, but it is believed that not all passengers were recorded in the ferry’s manifest, meaning the number of victims could be higher. Police said that the ferry’s captain and at least one other crew member had been taken into custody after testing positive for marijuana.
More from Al Jazeera here.