The most beautiful song I've heard in a long time...
Reminiscence غروب · Yasmine Hamdan I remember I forget بنسى وبتذكر ℗ Hamdanistan Records|Kwaidan Records Released on: 2025-09-19 Lead Vocals: Yasmine Hamdan Mixing Engineer: Hugo Bracchi Producer: Yasmine Hamdan Producer: Marc Collin Composer: Yasmine Hamdan
A special treat from the 'Together for Palestine' event last night in London: Portishead recorded 'Roads' especially for the fundraiser:
KALAMANTINA / كلمنتينا
KALAMANTINA / كلمنتينا · Saint Levant · Marwan Moussa Love Letters / رسائل حب ℗ 2025 SALXCO UAM LLC Released on: 2025-02-14 Writer: Marwan Abdelhamid Writer: Marwan Moussa Producer: Ratchopper
Faraj Suleiman will be performing tonight with Palestinian artists Adnan Joubran and Nai Barghouti, as well as Palestinian Chilean singer Elyanna and Palestinian Algerian sensation Saint-Levant, at 'Together for Palestine in London's Wembley stadium.
For more, read:
https://www.newarab.com/features/together-palestine-story-behind-artist-solidarity
https://www.newarab.com/features/together-palestine-story-behind-artist-solidarity
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Lyrics
I might search for a small piece in my memory, and cut it out with a protrusion.
And if one day I find a girl to tell me a story, it ends sadly.
I dig from my heart an image that makes me resemble her in a moment.
We become mirrors for each other, and a great love shines within us.
A light-year grows within us, and we see it in a ridiculous moment, it's over...
And I go back and search through the pain until I build an idea for myself.
I dig through the hills of yesterday, planting a cactus or a rock in each hill, and I carry it.
To a house whose roof and walls I build, waiting for my fate.
And a girl knocks on my door, entering without asking me or her.
She likes me a little, without love, and a terrible fear shines within us.
It lights up all the dark stories of the past, and we decide to start over.
And I keep searching through the pain until I give myself meaning.
I weave a breeze from the threads of regret, and a winter that benefits us. And we wear
Evening and day I light the heater and try to draw my dreams with charcoal
And the green wishes within me I leave on the dam and they are forgotten
And turn to ash, affectionate, filling a pillow for the children
They wake up in the morning to colour their drawings and we hang them on the refrigerator of sorrow
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Top UN legal investigators conclude Israel is guilty of genocide in Gaza
Most authoritative report by the UN on genocide paves way for ICJ ruling, authors say
The UN’s investigative body on Palestine and Israel ruled on Tuesday that Israel is guilty of the crime of genocide in Gaza, in the most authoritative pronouncement to date.
It provided a 72-page report, prepared by the UN commission of inquiry on Palestine and Israel, which finds Israel has committed four of the five acts prohibited under the 1948 Genocide Convention, and that Israeli leaders had the intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as a group.
“For the finding on Israel's responsibility for its conduct in Gaza, the commission used the legal standard set forth by the International Court of Justice. This is therefore the most authoritative finding emanating from the United Nations to date,” the commission's chair, Navi Pillay, said.
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The finding echoes reports by Palestinian, Israeli and international rights groups that have reached the same conclusion over the past year, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
This is the first comprehensive legal probe by a UN body, serving as an indicator of a judgment by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is currently hearing a case by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide.
The ICJ case is expected to take several years to be concluded. “For the finding on Israel's responsibility for its conduct in Gaza, the commission used the legal standard set forth by the International Court of Justice.
This is therefore the most authoritative finding emanating from the United Nations to date,” Pillay said.
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UN News:
16 September 2025
Peace and Security
Senior independent rights investigators appointed by the Human Rights Council alleged on Tuesday that Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute genocide, a charge flatly rejected by Tel Aviv.
In a new report published against the backdrop of intensifying Israeli military operations in Gaza City, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, urged Israel and all countries to fulfil their obligations under international law “to end the genocide” and punish those responsible.
Details:
“The Commission finds that Israel is responsible for the commission of genocide in Gaza,” insisted Navi Pillay, Chair of the Commission. “It is clear that there is an intent to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza through acts that meet the criteria set forth in the Genocide Convention.”
Israel's Ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Danny Hanon, dismissed the Commission's "cherry-picked" findings outright, maintaining that the 70-plus page report "promotes a narrative serving Hamas and its supporters in attempting to delegitimize and demonize the state of Israel. The report falsely accuses Israel of genocidal intent, an allegation it cannot substantiate."
At a press conference in Geneva, the Commission of Inquiry's members Ms. Pillay and Chris Sidoti - who are not UN staff but instead appointed by the Human Rights Council’s 47 Member States - explained that their investigations into the war in Gaza beginning with Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel on 7 October 2023 had led to the conclusion that Israeli authorities and security forces “committed four of the five genocidal acts defined by the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide”.
These acts are:
Ms. Pillay maintained that responsibility for the atrocity crimes “lies with Israeli authorities at the highest echelons”, amid “explicit statements” denigrating Palestinians by Israeli civilian and military authorities.
The Commission also analysed conduct of Israeli authorities and the Israeli security forces in Gaza, “including imposing starvation and inhumane conditions of life for Palestinians in Gaza…genocidal intent was the only reasonable inference that could be concluded from the nature of their operations”, the panel said.
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The whole report is here:
Who doesn't like a September dramatic sky? Blue sky, white clouds and early autumn wind over the Canal, London, York St.
Coal Drop Yard
What a lovely day at Khamsa Restaurant in Brixton, London, celebrating Algerian cuisine and culture with these adorable people! Djamel, the restaurant's chef, led the couscous workshop!
More on the festival soon. Check: https://dzfest.com/
Chef Djamel with Rachida, the founder and director of DZFest
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The Ethiopian the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, along the Blue Nile, in Guba, Benishangul-Gumuz region, is expected to produce more than 5,000 megawatts, doubling Ethiopia’s current output, part of which will be exported to neighbouring countries.
The construction of the dam began in 2011 and has raised concerns from neighbouring Egypt and Sudan over the potential reduction of water levels downstream.
Tensions remain high and Egypt, have termed the move a security risk, saying it could lead to drought downstream. A joint panel to discuss the sharing of the Blue Nile water has been put into place.
For Ethiopians, the prospect of increased electricity supply to enhance development is welcome news.
Ethiopia insists that the towering dam will not only benefit its more than 100 million people, but also its neighbours, and describes it as an opportunity to become Africa’s leading electricity exporter.
Ethiopian Water Minister Habtamu Itefa said his country has no intention of harming any of the neighbouring countries.
“So the way forward is: let’s work together for more investment. Let’s join hands to propose more projects that can benefit all of us, wherever they may be. This can be scaled up to Nile Basin countries—to Uganda, to Tanzania, to Rwanda, to DRC, to South Sudan, to Kenya, to Ethiopia, to Egypt as well,” he said.
"The implementation of this project has created strong regional tensions, raising fears in Sudan and Egypt about its impact on the Blue Nile's course," Tsegay Tekleselassie, an economist at Wellesley College in the United States, told RFI. "However, there is no doubt that this is a very important moment for Ethiopians."
The Renaissance Dam was built with national resources, Tekleselassie added, as to the disagreement with Egypt, many international organisations did not want to finance it. Thus, for Ethiopians, it represents a very strong symbol of the country's independence and sovereignty.
"The dam was financed from the national budget, but also through the purchase of bonds by individuals," he said. "So everyone, every worker, bought their bonds. There was also the contribution of public companies and loans from local banks. Because of its symbolic importance, people are very proud and enthusiastic about it."
The dam is also seen as a unifying force in Ethiopia, as there are many ethnic divisions.
"So the government is using it as a unifying symbol, but also to gain credibility with the people. There will certainly be a lot of emotion among Ethiopians during this inauguration."
Nearly half of Ethiopians currently lack access to electricity.
"The country has a very large population, with 130 million inhabitants," Sonia Le Gouriellec, lecturer in political science at the Catholic University of Lille, France, told RFI. "Therefore, there is a real challenge in providing electricity and achieving the country's economic ambitions. Numerous special economic zones have been opened with the aim of providing electricity to everyone."
Water experts in downstream Egypt say the dam has reduced the amount of water the country receives, however, and the government had to come up with short-term solutions such as reducing annual consumption and recycling irrigation water.
“Egypt was able to overcome this shortage through Egypt’s High Dam, which has a water reserve that is used to replace what was lost due to the GERD. But we can’t always rely on this reserve for water supply,” said Abbas Sharaky, a professor of geology and water resources at Cairo University.
On the side of Sudan, experts say seasonal flooding has decreased during the dam’s filling, but they warn that uncoordinated water releases could lead to sudden flooding or extended dry periods.
"What is currently debated is the absence of clear and binding rules for its management in times of water stress," Le Gouriellec told RFI. "Egypt has always had a very consistent position on this issue: All possible upstream exploitations should have a legally binding written agreement, with clear rules of operation, on how these waters will be managed over time, particularly in times of drought. And that, for the moment, is absent."
So, although the Ethiopian Prime Minister invited Sudan and Egypt to come to the inauguration, for them, that is diplomacy, oral agreements, but nothing is truly fixed.
"That bothers them a lot. And what we fear is that the conflict could be exported to other areas, for example to Somalia," she said
Egypt and Sudan's greatest fear is that in the case of a drought, the Ethiopians will not release the necessary volume of water stored by this dam.
"There is a lack of clear, binding rules on the management of the Nile's waters," Le Gouriellec added.
Ethiopia is also going through a lot of crises right, because of the aftermath of the war in Tigray (2020-2022), as well clashes in the Amhara and the Oromia regions.
"So, pro-Abu Ahmed media outlets are glorifying the moment, that's very clear", according to Le Gouriellec. "But we see a little less in the media in Tigray, in Amhara country, of a clear position on this issue, since they are truly focused on the internal challenges and the conflicts that are currently taking place."
Itefa said that so far, the water levels recorded downstream during the dry season were “three to four-fold what they used to get before the dam.”
“This means, at the expense of the dam we built, they can have their irrigation land. Three to four-fold, they can increase that, because we are providing more water during the dry months. It is a blessing for them,” said the Ethiopian minister.
Yacob Arsano, who teaches hydro politics in the Nile Basin at Addis Ababa University, said Ethiopia was “very careful” with the design and planning of the dam to ensure water flows downstream throughout the year.
“Egypt continues to receive the water. Ethiopia continues to send water. So that is the remaining fact and for which how to organise such a shared use of water resources depends on the two sides. All of the upstream and downstream countries need to sit down properly and soberly,” he said.
(with newswires)
