World roundup: May 29 2024

Stories from Israel-Palestine, Ukraine, Mexico, and elsewhere

TODAY IN HISTORY

May 29, 1453: The city of Constantinople falls to the besieging Ottomans, marking the end of the Byzantine Empire and, if you prefer the longer view, the Roman Empire.

This 1932 work by Greek painter Theophilos Hatzimihail depicts the final Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI, on his white horse leading a final charge against the Ottomans (Wikimedia Commons)

May 29, 1658: At the Battle of Samugarh, not far from the Indian city of Agra, an army commanded by Mughal heir apparent Dara Shikoh is soundly defeated by forces allied with two of his brothers, Aurangzeb and Murad Baksh. The reigning emperor, Shah Jahan, was critically ill, which sparked a civil war over the succession. Dara Shikoh’s defeat was so comprehensive that he was not only removed as his father’s regent, but Aurangzeb was actually crowned the new emperor. Shah Jahan then recovered, but Aurangzeb declared that his father was incapable of ruling the empire and had him more or less placed under medical arrest. This turn of events proved fateful for the Mughal Empire. Aurangzeb expanded the empire to its greatest territorial extent, pushing deep into southern India, but he broke with his predecessors’ religious tolerance and began persecuting Hindus. This policy shift laid the groundwork for the Mughal Empire’s eventual destruction. In case you’re wondering, Shah Jahan lived for around seven and a half years after his deposition, so it seems he wasn’t all that medically infirm.

May 29, 1807: Ottoman Sultan Selim III is overthrown in a coup instigated by his own Janissary forces, fearful of his plans to create a new elite military unit meant in part to supplant them.

MIDDLE EAST

ISRAEL-PALESTINE

Stepping back a bit from the current atrocity in Gaza, a joint investigation by The Guardian, Local Call, and +972 Magazine reveals that the Israeli government has spent nearly a decade attacking the International Criminal Court:

When the chief prosecutor of the international criminal court (ICC) announced he was seeking arrest warrants against Israeli and Hamas leaders, he issued a cryptic warning: “I insist that all attempts to impede, intimidate or improperly influence the officials of this court must cease immediately.”

Karim Khan did not provide specific details of attempts to interfere in the ICC’s work, but he noted a clause in the court’s foundational treaty that made any such interference a criminal offence. If the conduct continued, he added, “my office will not hesitate to act”.

The prosecutor did not say who had attempted to intervene in the administration of justice, or how exactly they had done so.

Now, an investigation by the Guardian and the Israeli-based magazines +972 and Local Call can reveal how Israel has run an almost decade-long secret “war” against the court. The country deployed its intelligence agencies to surveil, hack, pressure, smear and allegedly threaten senior ICC staff in an effort to derail the court’s inquiries.

Israeli intelligence captured the communications of numerous ICC officials, including Khan and his predecessor as prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, intercepting phone calls, messages, emails and documents.

In other items: