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Gazans struggle to live without power as war leaves grid in ruins

Gazans struggle to live without power as war leaves grid in ruins

Under the scorching sun near the ruins of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, 22-year-old Shorouq Abu Naji washes her children's clothes by hand outside a tent. Her fingers are red and swollen from scrubbing, reported Xinhua. "We can no longer use washing machines because of the long power cuts," she said. "My hands hurt all the time. Sometimes I cry from the pain." For Abu Naji and her three children, electricity has become a distant memory. "For more than two years, we haven't seen electricity in our area," she said. "Everything we do now depends on our physical effort." Her eldest son hands her a paper slip marked "15" -- a token for retrieving a mobile phone after charging it at a solar-powered station. "If we lose this paper, we can't get our phone back," she said, adding that the phone serves as both a crucial communication tool and an important light source at night. At night, her husband lights a small fire outside. "Before sleeping, he puts it out so the tent won't catch fire," she said. "In the tent, we have to rely on the flashlight of the phone." Across Gaza, makeshift tents remain dark after sunset, lit only by candles, small fires, or the dim glow of phone screens. Israel launched a large-scale military operation in Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, after a Hamas attack on southern Israel killed about 1,200 people and saw around 250 others taken hostage. Israel soon imposed "a complete siege" on the enclave, cutting off water, electricity, and fuel. Since then, most of Gaza's 2 million residents have lived with little or no power. In Khan Younis, Shaker Murtaja, 42, a father of four whose tailoring shop was leveled by an airstrike, speaks of the pervasive fear. "Who can live without electricity for two years?" he asked, a question heavy with disbelief. "We are human beings and have the right to live like others." He remembers a time before the conflict when his children watched television and studied under bright lights for a few hours each day. "Now they fear the dark. We heat water with fire, and every evening feels like a struggle." The power shortage has further weakened Gaza's already devastated economy. In Deir al-Balah, 53-year-old factory owner Samer Afana reopened part of his sweets factory using generators powered by fuel made from melted plastic. "Before, generators were used for short outages," he said. "Now we depend on them completely, and our expenses have tripled." Afana said he has lost about 1.5 million U.S. dollars due to the war. "The destruction of Gaza's power grid has doubled companies' losses and destroyed thousands of jobs," he said. According to the Gaza Electricity Distribution Company, the enclave has lost about 1.2 billion kilowatt-hours of power since the war began. Damage to the electricity infrastructure exceeds 728 million dollars, the company said, with thousands of networks, transformers, and meters destroyed. "Now, the power plant is almost completely out of service," company spokesman Mohammed Thabet said. With no clear timeline for repair, most Gazans continue to live without electricity, relying on candles, solar lamps, and improvised fuel sources.

Berlin commemorates 36th year of fall of Berlin Wall

Berlin commemorates 36th year of fall of Berlin Wall

Berlin, the once-divided city that epitomized the Cold War, commemorated the fall of the wall 36 years ago on Sunday with a memorial ceremony on Bernauer Strasse, a street that was split in two when the Berlin Wall was erected in 1961, reported dpa. "Courageous citizens, with their desire for freedom and unity, brought down the Berlin Wall," said Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner, joining a commemoration of the wall's fall on November 9, 1989. Axel Klausmeier, director of the Berlin Wall Foundation, said "the memory of the events in the autumn of 1989 obliges us to take responsibility." Visiting a wall memorial site marked with roses, he said it obliged people to practise tolerance, defend democracy, freedom and human rights, and to promote the dream of peaceful coexistence. The Berlin Wall divided the city into East and West for 28 years. In the autumn of 1989, mass demonstrations put the leadership of former East Germany under such pressure that on November 9 it opened the sealed borders for its citizens to travel. Tens of thousands crossed from East to West Berlin that evening. As a result, the inner-German border separating East from West Germany also fell. Berlin is now marking the anniversary for the first time with Berlin Freedom Week - some 130 conferences, cultural events and talks with eyewitnesses at 80 locations until November 15. At the opening event, called the World Liberty Congress, there were about 200 dissidents from more than 50 autocratically governed states. Wegner said at the opening that Berlin's history showed that the desire for freedom and democracy could not be suppressed.

Vakava juna­onnettomuus Slovakiassa – Kymmeniä loukkaan­tuneita

Vakava juna­onnettomuus Slovakiassa – Kymmeniä loukkaan­tuneita

Kolari tapahtui Bratislavan ja Pezinokin välillä. Slovakiassa sattuneessa kahden junan törmäyksessä on slovakialaisen iltapäivälehden mukaan loukkaantunut 30 ihmistä. Aiheesta uutisoivat Reuters, Pravda ja Sme. Kolari tapahtui Bratislavan ja Pezinokin välillä. Smen mukaan paikan päälle on matkalla kuusi pelastusryhmää ja loukkaantuneiden joukossa on useita vakavasti loukkaantuneita.

President awards 48 fathers on Father's Day

President awards 48 fathers on Father's Day

President Alexander Stubb on Sunday awarded 48 fathers with state decorations for their contributions in parenting, said the President Office in a press release. The fathers were awarded the First Class Order of the White Rose with Gold Cross for the first time in the country at a ceremony in the Presidential Palace marking the Father's Day. The role of the fathers for responsible parenting, taking care of their own families and children and contributions to family life and child welfare in the society were considered while selecting for the award. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health together with the Family Federation of Finland (Väestöliitto) prepared the list based on recommendations from municipalities, reginal state administrative agencies, parishes and different organisations. “For me, there is nothing greater than fatherhood,” said Stubb while addressing on the occasion, adding that happiness comes from seeing children to grow into adults. Minister of Social Security Sanni Grahn-Laasonen and Managing Director of Family Federation of Finland Tiina Ristikari also addressed on the occasion. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has been awarding the Father of the Year Prize since 2006 marking the Father´s Day but the state decorations were awarded by the President for the first time this year. Finland has been awarding Mother's Day medal with the White Roses since 1946.

BBC chiefs quit over Trump documentary controversy

BBC chiefs quit over Trump documentary controversy

Tim Davie , director general of the BBC, and Deborah Turness , chief executive of BBC News, have both resigned following allegations that a Panorama documentary misrepresented a speech by US President Donald Trump . The resignations were announced by BBC on Sunday, ending days of mounting pressure over claims of editorial bias and improper video editing. The documentary in question aired in 2024 and was titled Trump: A Second Chance?