In Uttarakhand Hills, Muslim Families Playing Ramlila Characters
New Age Islam News Bureau
20 January 2024
Members of
these families said they have a close bond with Ramayana and are looking
forward to the Ram temple consecration at Ayodhya on January 22
------
·
In
Uttarakhand Hills, Muslim Families Playing Ramlila Characters
·
Egypt
Urges Non-Aligned Movement Summit To Condemn Israel's Practices In Gaza
·
Islamic
Jihad: New EU Council Sanctions Politically-Motivated In Support Of Israel
·
BNP's
Polls Boycott A Conspiracy Against Country's Sovereignty: Awami League General
Secretary
·
Imran-Bushra
Nikah Case: IHC Stops Trial Court From Recording Witnesses’ Statements
-----
India
·
New Mosque
Construction In India’s Ayodhya To Begin In May, After Ramadan: Hajji Arfat
Shaikh, BJP Member And Head Of The Development Committee Of IICF
·
NIA Court
Convicts Two For Radicalisation Of Assam Youths To Join Islamic Terror Group
·
Cleaning
of Gyanvapi Mosque 'Wazu Khana' starts under strict security
·
‘Babri
Masjid Taken Away From Indian Muslims Systematically’: Owaisi On Ram Temple
‘Pran-Pratishtha’
·
Is Shri
Ram confined to one temple, asks Farooq Abdullah; sparks controversy
-----
Mideast
·
Iraq Finds
Nearly $800 Million Fraud In Funds For Islamic State Victims - State Media
·
Only 15
Thousand Palestinians Perform Friday Prayers In Al-Aqsa Mosque Due To Enemy
Measures
·
Kurdistan
Region mosques condemn IRGC Erbil attack during Friday sermon
·
UN rights
official says Gaza detainees humiliated, dressed in diapers
·
Israeli
tanks, drones target last operational hospitals in Gaza
·
Dozens of
civilians killed, wounded in Israel's latest strikes on Gaza
·
20,000
babies born into Gaza war, while 135,000 minors at 'severe risk' of
malnutrition: UNICEF
-----
Europe
·
Expanding
Middle East Conflict Would Be A 'Catastrophe’: Spanish Foreign Minister
·
UK Labour
party leader criticizes Netanyahu's rejection of Palestinian state
·
Italy
ready to send peacekeepers to Gaza if needed: Foreign minister
·
London
Primary School Considers Closure Over Bomb Threats Amid Palestine Flag Row
·
Russian FM
Stresses Formation of Inclusive Govt in Afghanistan
·
EU
ministers to meet Israeli, Palestinian top diplomats
-----
South Asia
·
Kabul
University Attack Mastermind Found In Iran, Linked To Kerman Bloodshed
·
UN Chief,
8 More Nations Congratulate Hasina
·
More than
300 Afghan refugees transferred to Canada from Pakistan
·
In First,
Pakistan Restricting 4 of 5 Crossing Areas With Afghanistan
·
Talks
ongoing to reopen Torkham crossing for trade: Mujahid
-----
Pakistan
·
IHC
disposes of plea regarding security of Baloch protesters
·
Achakzai
Claims Heirs Of Terrorists Killed In Iran Were Present In Baloch Protest Camp
In Islamabad
·
'Iran Should
Have Sought Assistance From Pakistan Instead Of Taking Action Unilaterally': JUI-F
Chief Fazlur Rehman
·
Pakistan
seeks friendly ties with all countries: Caretaker PM
·
Pakistan
faced worst economic crisis in 2023, says Human Rights Watch
-----
Southeast Asia
·
Nearly 300
Myanmar Soldiers Flee To India After Rebel Gains
·
‘JejakHarmoni’
programme to be held nationwide this year - Aaron
·
RM1,000
financial aid for B40 Muassasah pilgrims involves RM9.4 mln allocation -
MohdNa’im
----
North America
·
US
Democrats Push Biden Administration Over Civilian Toll In Israel’s Gaza
Campaign
·
Biden
speaks with Netanyahu on Gaza attacks, Palestinian state
·
CAIR
Condemns Israeli Killing of Palestinian-American Teen, Calls on Biden Admin to
Act
·
CAIR-Ohio
Harnesses MLK’s Legacy to Cultivate Young Leaders in Muslim Community
·
US Admits
Sending $40 Million Weekly to Afghanistan Amid Controversy
·
US Navy
fighter jets strike Houthi missile launchers in Yemen, officials say
·
US
conducts strikes against three Houthi anti-ship missiles
----
Arab World
·
Saudi Deputy
FM Takes Part In IGAD And NAM Summits In Uganda
·
US attacks
on Yemen aimed at guarding Israel, not world: Ansarullah
·
US-British
aggression targets two raids on Hodeidah
----
Africa
·
Ethnic
Killings In One Sudan City Left Up To 15,000 Dead: UN Report
·
Days After
Blasting Tinubu, Sharia Council Makes U-Turn After Closed-Door Meeting With
President
·
Muslim
group eulogises virtues of Sheikh Abou
·
Military
has increased surveillance in Abuja Communities – DHQ
·
Over 87
FCT residents killed, 176 kidnapped under Tinubu – Investigation
Compiled by
New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/muslim-ramlila-characters-hills/d/131557
------
In Uttarakhand Hills, Muslim Families
Playing Ramlila Characters
Members of
these families said they have a close bond with Ramayana and are looking
forward to the Ram temple consecration at Ayodhya on January 22
------
Jan 20, 2024
DEHRADUN: In Chamoli's Nandprayag,
60-year-old Ayazuddin Siddiqui, reflects on a long-standing tradition of
performing the local rendition of Ramayana during Ramlila, tracing back through
several generations of his family.
"In my father's time, there were no
microphones or loudspeakers, yet people faithfully gathered to watch him when
he portrayed Meghnath or Maarich," Siddiqui said.
"My grandfather was also involved
in Ramlila since the colonial days and I have played the role of Kumbhakaran
and Angad several times over the past 20 years," he added.
Siddiqui's is one of the many Muslim
families who have been closely associated with Ramlila in the hill town.
Members of these families said they have
a close bond with Ramayana and are looking forward to the Ram temple
consecration at Ayodhya. "There are 10-12 Muslim families here who have
been taking part in Ramlila for generations. I have been involved as well since
my childhood. And it is both an honour and duty to do my best for the entire
community," said Amjad Khan, 40, who has portrayed the role of Jamwant on
several occasions.
Local residents fondly remember another
'Ramlila stalwart' Mumtaz Farooqi, a retired forest department personnel, who
passed away last year. "He had been associated with Ramlila for 30 years
and often portrayed Maarich. I am also a fourth generation participant and our
Ramlila portrayals see equal enthusiasm from both the communities," said
Saurabh Vaishnava, president of the Nandprayag Ramlila committee.
"It's not just the Ramlila, even
the local temple pujas see equal enthusiasm from Muslim families," added
Samir Bahugana, another resident who is closely associated with the committee.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Please click the following URL to read
the text of the original story
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/dehradun/in-uttarakhand-hills-muslim-families-playing-ramlila-parts/articleshow/107001981.cms
----
Egypt urges Non-Aligned Movement summit
to condemn Israel's practices in Gaza
Egyptian
Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry
-----
Ibrahim al-Khazen
20.01.2024
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry
on Friday urged the 19th Non-Aligned Movement summit in the Ugandan capital of
Kampala to condemn Israel's practices in the Gaza Strip.
He made the statement on behalf of
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and stressed that "the Middle East
region is witnessing a widespread crisis as a result of Israel’s continued
brutal aggression on the Gaza Strip."
Shoukry urged the Movement "to
adhere to its historical positions in condemning the Israeli illegal practices
and to reject the Israeli attempts to expel the Palestinian people and to
obliterate their cause."
The 19th Non-Aligned Movement summit in
Kampala kicked off Friday and is scheduled to run until Jan. 24.
The Non-Aligned Movement was formed in
1961 under the leadership of the former Yugoslavia when the world began to
polarize between East and West. It currently has 120 member states.
Israel has launched relentless air and
ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas which Tel
Aviv said killed 1,200 people.
At least 24,762 Palestinians have since
been killed, mostly women and children, and 62,108 injured, according to
Palestinian health authorities.
The Israeli offensive has left 85% of
Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean
water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure was damaged or
destroyed, according to the UN.
Source: aa.com.tr
Please click the following URL to read
the text of the original story
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/egypt-urges-non-aligned-movement-summit-to-condemn-israels-practices-in-gaza/3114069
----
Palestinian Islamic Jihad: New EU
Council Sanctions Politically-Motivated In Support Of Israel
Photo: https://en.mehrnews.com/
------
20 January 2024
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad resistance
movement has roundly condemned the latest EU Council sanctions against a number
of individuals connected to the Gaza-based group and fellow Hamas movement,
terming the measure as “politically-motivated” and in support of Israel.
he Islamic Jihad, in a statement
released on Friday night, said the “expected and worthless” decision is
strongly indicative of the complete and unqualified support that the European
Union offers to the Zionist regime.
“This European decision is a
politically-motivated cover-up for the massacre they have launched against our
nation. This measure is far beyond the military and intelligence support that
Europeans have been providing to Zionists in their attacks against the Gaza
Strip, and disregards calls by all world nations for the immediate stoppage of
this war,” it added.
The statement noted that Palestinian
resistance groups defend the rights of a nation, whose lands have been
expropriated and has been struggling against all forms of mass killing and
genocide for the past 76 years.
“These groups will continue their duty
to defend Palestinians until final victory and [full] liberation of Palestine,”
the Islamic Jihad pointed out.
Earlier on Friday, the EU Council
targeted a number of individuals connected to Hamas and the Islamic Jihad,
subjecting those listed to asset freezes and barring them from traveling to the
European Union.
“A sanctions regime against Hamas
leaders in solidarity with Israel and in order to counter the group
The first list of sanctioned people
includes Sudan-based financier Abdelbasit Hamza Elhassan Mohamed Khair, Nabil
Chouman, the former’s son Khaled Chouman, senior Hamas financier Rida Ali
Khamis, senior Hamas operative Musa Dudin and Algeria-based financier Aiman
Ahmad Al Duwaik, according to a statement from the council.
“The new sanctions framework shall apply
until January 19, 2025. It shall be kept under constant review and renewed or
amended as appropriate,” the statement added.
A senior EU official earlier said the
first batch of sanctioned individuals was linked to providing funds to the
group.
Source: presstv.ir
Please click the following URL to read
the text of the original story
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/01/20/718544/Islamic-Jihad--New-EU-Council-sanctions-politically-motivated,-in-support-of-Israel
----
BNP's Polls Boycott A Conspiracy Against
Country's Sovereignty: Awami League General Secretary
File photo:
Collected from Facebook
------
Jan 19, 2024
Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader
today said BNP's non-participation in the 12th parliamentary election is part
of its conspiracy against the country's sovereignty.
The road transport and bridges minister
made the remark while speaking at a press conference at the AL president's
Dhanmondi political office in Dhaka this afternoon.
Quader said the election would have been
more competitive if the BNP participated in it.
"Yet, the election was not
voter-less and non-competitive even though BNP did not participate in it. The
party's election boycott is part of a conspiracy against the country's
sovereignty," he added.
He said in many countries of the world,
despite the participation of all political parties, the voter turnout is not
seen above 40 percent.
"We know that there's about 25-30
percent voter turnout in many countries, including in Europe. Sometimes it's
even less than that," the AL general secretary said.
He said the first session of the 12th
parliament will begin on January 30.
"We can claim that there is
democratic continuity in the country because of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's
bravery. Even after the elections, terrorists identified under the leadership
of BNP are hatching plots," the minister added.
AL Organising Secretaries BM Mozammel
Haque, Mirza Azam, Afzal Hossain, and Sujit Roy Nandi, Office Secretary
Barrister BiplabBarua, and Deputy Office Secretary Sayem Khan were present at
the press conference, among others.
Source: thedailystar.net
Please click the following URL to read
the text of the original story
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/politics/news/bnps-polls-boycott-conspiracy-against-countrys-sovereignty-quader-3523201
-----
Imran-Bushra Nikah Case: IHC Stops Trial
Court From Recording Witnesses’ Statements
Photo: Nation.com
----
January 20, 2024
Awais Yousafzai & Khalid Iqbal &
Sohail Khan
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court
(IHC) on Friday stopped the trial court from recording statements of witnesses
in the case against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan and his
wife Bushra Bibi for solemnizing the Nikah in an un-Islamic way.
The directives were issued by IHC Chief
Justice Aamer Farooq during the hearing of the case.
Imran, who was removed from prime
minister’s office in April 2022, and his wife have denied all the charges in
the case registered by Bushra’s former husband, Khawar Maneka, in November 2023.
At the hearing’s outset, Imran and
Bushra’s counsel Barrister Salman Akram Raja apprised the court that the entire
district judiciary was present in the Adiala Jail to record statements of
witnesses. The IHC chief justice then directed him to provide details of the
case as he would stop the trial court from recording the witnesses’ statements.
Even if the witnesses’ statements were
accepted, the nikah took place 48 days after the divorce, Raja said.
The court inquired what was the duration
of iddat (the intervening period before the next marriage). The barrister
replied usually it was 90 days but Islamic jurisprudent and noted scholar Mufti
Taqi Usmani had given a clarification for the said period. He also said a
Supreme Court verdict was available regarding iddat.
CJ Farooq said let’s suppose the SC
ruling was not available, then what was he challenging in the petition. The
counsel replied he had challenged the summon issued to Imran and Bushra in the
case.
The chief justice said as per the law,
if nikah was solemnised during iddat, then it was regularised later. He
wondered what the crime was even if the nikah was not formal. The high court
issued a notice to Bushra’s ex-husband, Khawar Maneka, and adjourned the case
till January 25.
On January 15, a local court had
indicted Imran and his wife in the case of solemnising their marriage against
Islamic laws.
Senior Civil Judge Qudratullah had read
out the charges in the court set up in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail.
Separately, Senior Civil Judge
Qudratullah adjourned hearing of Imran-Bushra nikah case on the IHC orders.
Imran’s lawyer Salman Akram Raja and complainant’s lawyer Raja Rizwan Abbasi
appeared before the court. Raja informed the court about the injunction order
of the IHC, submitted a brief judgment, and the court adjourned the hearing
till January 29.
Khawar Maneka, the ex-husband of Bushra
Bibi, and Mufti Saeed, were present in the court to record their statement.
Separately, the PTI founder Imran Khan
and his wife Bushra Bibi could not be indicted in the £190 million reference
due to change of lawyers on Friday.
Accountability Court Judge Muhammad
Bashir was hearing the case in Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi. Imran Khan and Bushra
Bibi appeared in the court. Their lawyers -- Latif Khosa, Shahbaz Khosa, Usman Gul,
and Salman Akram Raja, as well as Amjad Parvez, Deputy Prosecutor General NAB
Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi, Irfan Bhola and Sohail Arif appeared in the court.
The PTI founder filed a request for
change of lawyers in the reference. The new team of lawyers includes Barrister
Ali Zafar, Sikandar Zulqarnain and Usman Gul.
Usman Gul Advocate said Imran Khan’s
lawyer Ali Zafar was not present in the court and therefore charges could not
be filed.
The PTI founder also came to the rostrum
and said that only a lawyer could explain the legal terms, written in the
charge sheet. In the absence of a lawyer, the charge was not acceptable to him.
This is also a lie and all this is being done by the space creature ‘Colonel
Sahib’ who’s overseeing it, the PTI founder said. He also waved his hand in
front of the CCTV camera, installed in the courtroom and said in a loud voice,
‘Colonel! Imran is speaking’.
At this there was a laughter in the
courtroom. The court postponed the indictment proceedings till January 24.
Also, in the Toshakhana reference
against Imran and Bushra, which is being heard by Accountability Court Judge
Muhammad Bashir, the statement of Assistant Commissioner Secretariat,
Islamabad, was recorded on Friday.
Imran and Bushra appeared in the court,
wherein his lawyers Latif Khosa, Shehbaz Khosa and Usman Gill were also
present. Lawyer Amjad Parvez on behalf of NAB, Deputy Prosecutor General NAB
Sardar Muzaffar Abbasi, Irfan Bhola and others also appeared in the court. The
hearing was adjourned till Saturday (today) for recording more witnesses.
Meanwhile, the federal government Friday
challenged in the Supreme Court of Pakistan the IHC verdict declaring its
notification pertaining to Imran Khan’s jail trial in the cipher case unlawful.
The Federation through the secretaries,
Ministry of Law and Justice and Ministry of Interior, filed a petition with the
apex court under Article 185(3) of the Constitution, seeking leave to appeal
against the judgment dated November 21, 2023, passed by the Islamabad High
Court. It has made Imran Khan, director general FIA, chief commissioner
Islamabad, IGP Islamabad, district magistrate/deputy commissioner Islamabad,
special judge Anti-Terrorism Court, superintendent Adiala Jail Rawalpindi and
superintendent District Jail Attock respondents. The government has questioned
whether the impugned judgment passed by the IHC Divisional Bench is in
consonance with the law laid down on the subject and whether an intra-court
appeal is competent in the light of facts and circumstances of the case?
Whether the order within the meaning of Section 352 CrPC could be challenged in
the revision jurisdiction? Whether, on the other hand, the notification issued
by the petitioner for the jail trial is covered within the definition of
proceedings?
The government has further questioned
whether it is a settled law that the government is competent to issue
notifications with retrospective effect unless and until it is not injurious to
vested right of an individual? It has prayed to the apex court that leave to
appeal may please be granted from the impugned IHC judgment in the interest of
justice. It has submitted that the IHC erred in discussing grounds of revision.
“Section 14 of the Official Secrets Act
is something different from other laws and talks about secrecy of proceedings,”
the government has contended, adding that the principle of open trial has not
been rightly applied to cases pertaining to the Official Secrets Act and the
intention of the legislature in introducing Section 14 of OSA was to protect state
secrets. Source: thenews.com.pk
Please click the following URL to read
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https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1149441-imran-bushra-nikah-case-ihc-stops-trial-court-from-recording-witnesses-statements
-----
India
New Mosque Construction In India’s
Ayodhya To Begin In May, After Ramadan: Hajji Arfat Shaikh, BJP Member And Head
Of The Development Committee Of IICF
January 20, 2024
NEW DELHI: As Hindu devotees prepare to
inaugurate a grand temple to one of their holiest deities, India’s minority
Muslims plan to begin building a new mosque in the same city later this year,
hoping to make a fresh start after a bloody, decades-long dispute.
Hajji Arfat Shaikh, the head of the
development committee of the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF) that is
overseeing the mosque project, said this week that construction would begin in
May, after the holy month of Ramadan, and the mosque would take three to four
years to build.
Hindu zealots razed a 16th century
mosque in the northern Indian city of Ayodhya in 1992, saying that it was built
over an ancient temple on the site that marked the birthplace of Hindu god-king
Ram.
The dispute had scarred relations
between the communities for decades and the destruction of the mosque sparked
nationwide riots that killed 2,000 people, mostly Muslims.
India’s top court said in 2019 that the
razing of the mosque was unlawful, but ruled that evidence showed there was a
non-Islamic structure beneath it. It ordered that the site be given to Hindu
groups to build a temple and Muslim community leaders be given land elsewhere
in the city for constructing a mosque.
While construction of the $180 million
temple began within months and the first phase is set to open on Monday, Muslim
groups have struggled to raise funds and begin work at a desolate site about 25
km (15 miles) away.
“We hadn’t approached anyone ... there
was no public movement for it (funds),” said Zufar Ahmad Faruqi, the president
of the IICF. Hindu groups aligned with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) began seeking donations more than three decades back and
have collected more than 30 billion rupees ($360 million) from 40 million
people in India.
The mosque project was delayed also
because it had to be redrawn to add more traditional elements in the structure,
like minarets, said Athar Hussain, a secretary at the IICF. A 500-bed hospital
has also been planned in the complex.
A crowd-funding website is expected to
be launched in the coming weeks, said Shaikh, who is also a BJP leader.
The mosque has been named “Masjid
Muhammed bin Abdullah” after Prophet Muhammad, moving away from “Babri Masjid”
or mosque as the disputed structure was called, after the emperor Babur who
established the Mughal empire.
“Our effort has been to end and convert
enmity, hatred among people into love for each other...irrespective of whether
or not you accept the Supreme Court judgment,” said Shaikh. “All this fighting
will stop if we teach good things to our children and people.” ($1 = 83.0550
Indian rupees)
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the text of the original story
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2444936/world
----
NIA Court Convicts Two For
Radicalisation Of Assam Youths To Join Islamic Terror Group
19 January, 202
SumirKarmakar
Guwahati: A special NIA court in
Guwahati convicted two persons from Assam on Thursday for radicalisation of
Muslim youths in Goalpara district for raising a module of Ansarullah Bangla
Team (ABT), a Bangladesh-based Islamic terror group affiliated to Al Qaeda in
Indian Sub-Continent (AQIS).
A statement issued by the NIA on Friday
said Aalaluddin Sheikh and Abdus Subhan, of Goalpara district, who were
convicted, had pleaded guilty to the crime under various sections of the IPC
and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA)in the case registered initially
by Assam police in August 2022 and which was taken over by the NIA in September
that year.
The sentences against the duo are likely
to be pronounced on Saturday, said the statement.
"NIA investigations had revealed
that Jalaluddin had forged close connections with Abdus Subhan, who later
established links with the absconding handler of ABT, namely Mehboob Alom, and
went on to recruit three others into the ABT/AQIS to further the terror-related
activities of the terrorist organization. The three so recruited were
identified as Abdus Sobahan and Hafizur Rahman, also named as accused in the
case (RC- 03/2022/NIA-GUW), besides one other, namely AzmalHussain,said the
statement.
The NIA further said the accused and
other co-conspirators worked closely with the handlers of the module, namely
Abu Talha, Mehaboob alias Sultan, Jahangir Alom alias Ali Noor alias Inamul
Haque, Aminul Islam alias Mehadi Hassan and Saiful Islam alias Md. Suman, who
were based across the border in Bangladesh. "They were involved in
organising gatherings at various places in Goalpara district of Assam to
radicalise and recruit impressionable people into the fold of ABT/AQIS."
NIA had, on January 30 last year,
charge-sheeted six accused under section 120B of IPC and sections 18, 18B, 38
and 39 of UA (P) Act, 1967 in the case. The Special NIA court had framed
charges against all six accused persons under section 120B of IPC and sections
38 and 39 of UA(P) Act 1967. Further investigation in the case is ongoing, said
the statement.
Source:
Please click the following URL to read
the text of the original story
https://www.deccanherald.com/india/assam/nia-court-convicts-two-for-radicalisation-of-assam-youths-to-join-islamic-terror-group-2856825
-----
Cleaning of Gyanvapi Mosque 'Wazukhana'
starts under strict security
Jan 20, 2024
The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed an
application of Hindu women petitioners seeking direction for cleaning the
entire area of 'wazukhana.
The cleaning of the Wazukhana area of
the Gyanvapi Mosque started on Saturday under strict security arrangements by
the district officials.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed an
application of Hindu women petitioners seeking direction for cleaning the
entire area of 'wazukhana' of Gyanvapi mosque where the alleged 'Shivling' was
found and maintaining hygienic condition.
Heavy police deployment was seen in the
area. The cleaning workers were checked with their identities before entering
the Mosque.
Sudhir Tripathi, a Hindu side advocate
said "We had demanded in the Supreme Court that the Wazukhana, which had
become very dirty, should be cleaned. The order came on January 16, so today it
is being cleaned. People from both sides will be present even today. The entire
work will be done under the supervision of the District Magistrate."
Earlier, a meeting was held under the
leadership of the District Magistrate along with people of Hindu and Muslim
sides in Varanasi on Thursday regarding the cleaning.
"Cleaning of Wazukhana was ordered
by the court. Talks have been held with both parties in that regard. Its
cleaning will start from January 20," the DM said.
Subhash Nandan Chaturvedi, an Advocate
of the Hindu side in the Gyanvapi Shringar Gauri case told ANI that both sides
have talked peacefully in the meeting.
"The meeting was held regarding the
cleaning of the Wazukhana. Both sides have talked peacefully. The court has
ordered the DM to clean up. The Muslim side and we along with district
officials were also present in the meetings," he said.
A bench of Chief Justice of India DY
Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said the area of 'wazukhana'
shall be cleaned under the supervision of district administration Varanasi,
having regard to the previous orders of the apex court.
Gyanvapi mosque management committee
said it supports cleaning of the water tank, which has remained sealed on apex
court's orders for nearly two years.
'Wazukhana' is the reservoir where
devotees perform ablutions before offering namaz.
The application said fishes in the water
tank died between December 12 to 25, 2023 and due to the same, there is a
putrid smell emitting from the tank.
"Since there exists Shivlingam
which is sacred to Hindus and should be kept away from all dirt, grime, dead
animals, etc. and must be in clean condition, is currently in the midst of dead
fish which is hurtful to the sentiments to the devotees of Lord Shiva,"
the application stated.’
Source: hindustantimes.com
Please click the following URL to read
the text of the original story
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/cleaning-of-gyanvapi-mosque-wazukhana-starts-under-strict-security-101705727683173.html
-----
‘Babri Masjid taken away from Indian
Muslims systematically’: Owaisi on Ram temple ‘pran-pratishtha’
Jan 20, 2024
Asaduddin Owaisi asserted that the
temple didn't exist during the formation of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP).
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen
(AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday once again challenged the
narrative of the Ram Janmabhommi Temple Pran Pratishtha, claiming that Babri
Masjid was a systematically taken over from Indian Muslims as they used to
offer prayers there for over 500 years.
While speaking to reporters in
Karnataka's Kalaburagi, Owaisi asserted that the temple didn't exist during the
formation of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and said that had the Masjid not
been demolished in 1992, the Muslims wouldn't have to see things how they are
today.
"Muslims offered namaz in Babri
Masjid for 500 years. When Congress' GB Pant was the CM of Uttar Pradesh, idols
were placed inside the masjid... Nair was the collector of Ayodhya at that
time. He shut the masjid and started worshipping over there... Ram Mandir did
not exist when VHP was formed," news agency ANI quoted Owaisi as saying.
He further claimed that even Mahatma
Gandhi did not mention the Ram Mandir.
"Mahatma Gandhi never mentioned
anything about Ram Mandir. Very systematically, Babri Masjid has been taken
away from Indian Muslims... Had GB Pant removed those idols back then and had
the Masjid not been demolished in 1992, we wouldn't have to see things how they
are today...," he added.
Further taking a dig at the opposition
parties especially the Aam Aadmi Pary (AAP) and its leader Arvind Kejriwal over
their stand on the consecration ceremony of Ram Lalla in the Ayodhya Temple,
the AIMIM leader said that these leaders are busy pleasing the majority
community but can't speak about the minorities.
"Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal who is
also in the INDIA alliance says that we will organise SunderkandPaath and
Hanuman Chalisa every Tuesday... Nobody speaks anything about this because they
are all busy targeting the votes of the majority community..." he added.
Earlier, Owaisi slammed the AAP over its
decision to conduct Sunderkand ahead of the pran-pratishtha ceremony, saying
that it is competitive Hindutva" as a fight was on to garner the votes of
the majority community.
The AIMIM chief had last week described
AAP as "RSS kachota recharge" and questioned the timing of the
decision to hold Sundarkand Path.
"Chhota Recharge of RSS has decided
that the Sunderkand Path will be organised in every assembly constituency of
Delhi on the first Tuesday of every month. This decision was taken because of
the inauguration (Ram Mandir) on January 22," he had said.
Meanwhile, the preparations are in full
swing for the pran-pratishtha ceremony of Ram Lalla in Janmabhoomi temple on
January 22.
Several gifts, including the world's
largest lock, weighing 400 kg, and 1,265 kg of laddu Prasad, reached Ayodhya on
Saturday as an offering to Ram Lalla.
The week-long rituals, which commenced
on Tuesday, will culminate on January 22 with the pran-pratishtha ceremony.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is slated to preside over the ceremonial
installation of Ram Lalla. The temple will be open for 'darshan' for the
general public from January 23.
Source: hindustantimes.com
Please click the following URL to read
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https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/babri-masjid-taken-away-from-indian-muslims-systematically-owiasi-on-ram-temple-pranpratishtha-101705737307792.html
------
Is Shri Ram confined to one temple, asks
Farooq Abdullah; sparks controversy
19 Jan 2024
JAMMU: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief
minister Farooq Abdullah on Friday sparked a debate on the Ram temple
consecration ceremony in Ayodhya, questioning whether Lord Ram is confined to
one temple.
Speaking to reporters here, he also
asked if Shri Ram belonged exclusively to the BJP or RSS, asserting that
"nobody is the custodian of Ram".
"Is Lord Ram residing only in one
temple? Isn't Ram having any other home (temple)? Are other Ram temples useless
ones? Ram is omnipresent. He is also there where there is no Ram temple. He is
the Ram of the entire universe," Abdullah told reporters here.
He said Shri Ram does not belong to one
sect and it is wrong to portray him only as a 'Hindu'.
Responding to invitations extended by
political entities for the temple opening on January 22, Abdullah questioned
the exclusivity of Shri Ram.
"Is Ram of the BJP only? Does Ram
belong to only the RSS? Who are they to invite anyone? Why do you need an
invitation to go to a temple?" the former chief minister asked
"If I am going for an Umrah, shall
I expect an invite from there? The invitation process is wrong. Nobody is the
custodian of Ram," he added.
Source: newindianexpress.com
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https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2024/Jan/20/cong-condemns-attack-on-bharat-jodo-nyay-yatra-in-assam-accuses-bjp-of-trampling-people-s-rights
-----
Mideast
Iraq finds nearly $800 million fraud in
funds for Islamic State victims - state media
JANUARY 19, 2024
Iraq's National Security Service
announced it had uncovered a corruption scheme involving fraud and embezzlement
of payments intended for victims of Islamic State that saw more than 1 trillion
Iraqi dinars ($760 million) taken from state coffers.
Iraqi state media said a three-month
investigation had led to the arrest of more than 30 suspects including senior
employees at several state entities such as retirement funds and the country's
Martyrs Foundation.
The alleged corruption scheme based in
Anbar province saw defendants falsify pension transactions with faked
identities and false credit card information and sell confidential data.
The wasted funds totalled more than 1
trillion 32 billion Iraq dinars, state media said.
Islamic State rampaged across Iraq in
2014, at one point holding nearly a third of Iraq's territory before it was
beaten back and declared territorially defeated in Iraq by the end of 2017.
Source: jpost.com
Please click the following URL to read
the text of the original story
https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-782916
----
Only 15 thousand Palestinians perform
Friday prayers in Al-Aqsa Mosque due to enemy measures
[19/January/2024]
OCCUPIED QUDS January 19. 2024 (Saba) -
The Zionist enemy's strict procedures against the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque caused
that only 15,000 Palestinian citizens could perform Friday prayers inside the
mosque.
The Islamic Endowments Department stated
today that the enemy’s procedures prevented thousands of worshipers from
reaching Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The enemy forces stopped the citizens,
searched them, and prevented them from entering the Old City and reaching
Al-Aqsa Mosque to perform Friday prayers, in conjunction with erecting military
checkpoints in the place.
Citizens performed Friday prayers in
Yusufiya Cemetery, after they were prevented from reaching Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Enemy forces also suppressed journalists
and forced them to move away from Wadi Al-Jozneighborhood in Quds, and called
in a wastewater vehicle to suppress worshipers in the neighborhood.
Source: saba.ye
Please click the following URL to read
the text of the original story
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3297656.htm
-----
Kurdistan Region mosques condemn IRGC
Erbil attack during Friday sermon
January 19, 2024
Azhi Rasul
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Mosques across
the Kurdistan Region dedicated their Friday sermon to the condemnation of
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) attack on Erbil, describing it
as being “against the principles of Islam and other religions.”
“The Friday sermon of over 3500 mosques
in the Kurdistan Region will be dedicated to talk about the IRGC attack on
Erbil,” Nabaz Ismael, a spokesperson of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s
(KRG) ministry of endowment and religious affairs told Rudaw before the start
of the sermons.
“It was an unjustified attack, and it is
against the principles of Islam and other religions. It is a great tragedy that
requires religious scholars to take a stand against and talk about,” Ismael
said, explaining the reason behind choosing the incident as a topic for the
sermon.
The title of the sermon was “Attacks and assaults on Kurdistan Region are far from the sacred
values of religion and humanity.”
“Before starting my sermon, I want to
strongly condemn the tremendous crime committed by the Iranian forces against
the city of Erbil and an innocent Civilian family on Monday night,” Dr Bashir
Haddad said at the beginning of his sermon in Erbil’s Jalil Khayat Mosque.
In the late hours of Monday, the IRGC launched ten ballistic
missiles toward Erbil, under the pretext of targeting “spy headquarters” of
anti-Iran groups, killing four people.
The target in question was the house of
Kurdish businessman PeshrawDizayee, the owner of Falcon Group which runs major
projects such as Empire World, who later succumbed to his injuries. His mansion
was described by Tehran as a Mossad base - a claim strongly denied by Kurdish
officials.
The KRG has categorically rejected the
presence of Israeli intelligence in the Kurdistan Region.
Iraqi National Security Advisor Qasim
al-Araji on Tuesday stated on X that “the claims that a Mossad headquarter was
targeted [in the attack] are baseless.”
Apart from Dizayee, the strike's victims
include his eleven-month-old daughter, Zhina, a housekeeper, and Iraqi
businessman Karam Mikhail, who was visiting his Kurdish friend. His older son,
Roj, 25, lost a hand in the strike. Rawan, his other son, is slightly injured.
“The accusations [of espionage] shocked
us more than the attacks did because Mr. Peshraw was not involved in political
and partisan activities and had no ties with intelligence agencies. He was
purely neutral,” Dizayee’s office told Rudaw, adding that other members of the
family who were targeted by Iran as well, were also not involved in politics.
Source: rudaw.net
Please click the following URL to read
the text of the original story
https://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/19012024
-----
UN rights official says Gaza detainees
humiliated, dressed in diapers
January 19, 2024
GENEVA: A UN human rights official
accused Israel on Friday of mistreating Palestinian detainees in Gaza, saying
he had met men who had described being held for weeks, beaten and blindfolded,
with some released in diapers.
AjithSunghay, a UN human rights official
in Gaza, told reporters it was not clear exactly how many men had been detained
by Israel since it began its military operation in the Palestinian enclave in
response to the deadly assault by Hamas on Oct. 7, but he said the number ran
into the thousands.
“These are men who were detained by the
Israeli security forces in unknown locations for between 30 to 55 days,”
Sunghay told reporters in Geneva by video link from Gaza.
He said he had just met released detainees
in the besieged enclave. “There are reports of men who are subsequently
released, but only in diapers without any adequate clothing in this cold
weather,” he added.
Israel’s military said it was detaining
and questioning suspects involved in militant activity — without disclosing a
number — as part of its operations in combat areas in Gaza.
Detainees were “treated in accordance
with international law” and those found not to be involved in the fighting were
released, the Israeli military’s Spokesperson’s Unit said.
It said suspects were required to hand
over their clothes so that they can be searched “to ensure that they are not
concealing explosive vests or other weaponry” and that detainees were given
back their clothes when possible.”
Asked to elaborate on why some of the
released detainees wore diapers, Sunghay said: “So we’re not exactly sure why
they were put in diapers and sent out but they were clearly visibly shocked and
even shaken when I met them.”
Israeli TV broadcast footage in December
of Palestinian men stripped to their underwear in Gaza. The images that also
circulated on social media drew condemnation from Palestinian, Arab and Muslim
officials.
At the time, Israeli government
spokesperson Eylon Levy said the images showed “military-age men who were
discovered in areas that civilians were supposed to have evacuated weeks ago.
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the text of the original story
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2444551/middle-east
----
Israeli tanks, drones target last
operational hospitals in Gaza
January 20, 2024
Israeli tanks and armed drones targeted
two of Gaza’s few remaining operational hospitals on Friday as the number of
Palestinian deaths from more than three months of war neared 25,000.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said
displaced people were injured by intense gunfire from drones attacking
civilians at Al-Amal Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis.
Nearby in the same city, Israeli tanks
converged on Gaza’s largest remaining functioning hospital, Nasser, where there
was shellfire from the west and fierce gun battles to the south.
As the carnage continued, diplomats were
dealing with the fallout after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
explicitly ruled out the creation of a sovereign independent Palestinian state,
which is a long-standing pillar of US policy in the Middle East.
“Israel must have security control over
the entire territory west of the Jordan River,” Netanyahu said. “It clashes
with the principle of sovereignty, but what can you do?”
US State Department spokesman Matthew
Miller responded that that the establishment of a Palestinian state was the
only way to provide lasting security to Israel itself, along with
reconstruction, governance and security for Gaza.
The White House said later that
Netanyahu and President Joe Biden had discussed developments in Israel and Gaza
in a phone call. Israel says it will fight on until Hamas is eradicated, an aim
Palestinians call unachievable because of the group’s structure and deep roots
in an enclave it has run since 2007.
Inside Gaza, the Health Ministry said
142 Palestinians had been killed and 278 injured in the past 24 hours, taking
the death toll to 24,762. The World Health Organization said most of the
enclave's 36 hospitals hadstopped working; 15 were partially functioning, at up
to three times their capacity and without adequate fuel or medical supplies.
In the north, where Israel says it has
started pulling out troops and shifting to smaller scale operations, 12 people
were killed in airstrikes on a residential building near the largely
non-functioning Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. An Israeli strike on a house in
Al-Nusseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip killed five Palestinians.
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the text of the original story
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2444861/middle-east
-----
Dozens of civilians killed, wounded in
Israel's latest strikes on Gaza
19 January 2024
Dozens of Palestinian civilians,
including women and children, have been killed and many others wounded in a
fresh round of Israeli strikes against the Gaza Strip as the occupying regime’s
genocidal war on the besieged territory lingers on for the 105th day.
The official Palestinian news agency
WAFA said on Friday that the casualties took place over the past hours
following Israel’s ongoing airstrikes, shelling and naval bombardment targeting
multiple areas of Gaza.
“Medical sources confirmed the murder of
77 civilians and the injury of dozens more in the recent hours as a result of
the ongoing Israeli aggression across the territory, bringing the total number
of martyrs since the beginning of the Israeli war to over 24,620, in addition
to more than 6,1830 injured and thousands missing,” the news agency said.
WAFA stressed that at least 12 civilians
were killed as Israeli warplanes targeted a residential apartment near al-Shifa
Hospital in Gaza, adding, several civilians were also injured in a regime’s
airstrike that hit al-Noor Mosque in the al-Sabra neighborhood of Gaza.
“Israeli naval forces shelled the coast
of Gaza City and the northern areas of the Strip,” the news agency said.
“Israeli warplanes and artillery further targeted various areas in the northern
region of the Strip, including the town of Jabalia and its refugee camp.”
Palestinian media also reported that
eight civilians were killed and an unspecified number of others were injured in
the Israeli fighter jets’ overnight raids on houses in the west of Khan Yunis
in southern Gaza.
Israeli tanks and military vehicles were
reported to have stormed the vicinity of the Nasser Medical Complex, while the
Israeli artillery shelled the surroundings of al-Amal Hospital, which is run by
the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, in Khan Yunis.
The Israeli occupation forces were also
said to have blown up and demolished residential homes in the southern part of
Khan Yunis.
UN expert underscores multiple instances
of breach of the international law by the Israeli regime, which has brought
Gaza under a genocidal war.
Israel launched the war on Gaza on
October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise
Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli
regime's decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.
Gaza's Government Media Office said on
Thursday that the regime had dropped more than 65,000 tons of missiles and
bombs on Gaza throughout the war.
Thousands of Palestinians are missing
and presumed dead under the rubble in Gaza, which is under “complete siege” by
Israel.
Source: presstv.ir
Please click the following URL to read
the text of the original story
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/01/19/718520/Palestinian-civilians-Israeli-strikes-Gaza-Strip
------
20,000 babies born into Gaza war, while
135,000 minors at 'severe risk' of malnutrition: UNICEF
BeyzaBinnurDonmez
19.01.2024
Nearly 20,000 babies have been born into
the current war in Gaza, while 135,000 children in the Gaza Strip under age 2
are at "severe risk" of malnutrition, UNICEF said on Friday.
Noting that the number equals one baby
born about every 10 minutes since Oct. 7, when the conflict began, Tess Ingram,
a UNICEF spokesperson, told a press briefing in Geneva: "The situation of
pregnant women and newborns in the Gaza Strip is beyond belief, and it demands
intensified and immediate actions."
"The already precarious situation
of infant and maternal mortality has worsened as the healthcare system
collapses," Ingram stressed, adding that mothers face unimaginable
challenges in accessing adequate medical care, nutrition, and protection
before, during, and after birth.
She underlined that the trauma of war
also directly impacts newborns, resulting in higher rates of undernutrition,
developmental issues, and other health complications.
Pregnant and breastfeeding mothers and
their babies are living in "inhumane conditions, makeshift shelters (with)
poor nutrition and unsafe water."
"This is putting about 135,000
children under the age of two at severe risk of malnutrition," she warned.
On the mortality rate among the 20,000
newborns, she said that it is not possible to be sure about the infant
mortality rate at the moment due to the current conditions.
"But it is safe to say that that
children are dying now because of the humanitarian crisis on the ground as well
as from the bombs and bullets," she added.
The Israeli army has been waging a
destructive war on Gaza since Oct. 7 last year, resulting in 24,620 deaths and
61,830 injuries – most of them children and women – and causing the displacement
of more than 85% of the Gaza Strip's population, according to Palestinian
authorities and the UN.
Source: aa.com.tr
Please click the following URL to read
the text of the original story
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/20-000-babies-born-into-gaza-war-while-135-000-minors-at-severe-risk-of-malnutrition-unicef/3113477
----
Europe
Expanding Middle East Conflict Would Be
A 'Catastrophe’: Spanish Foreign Minister
Alyssa Mcmurtry
19.01.2024
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel
Albares said on Friday that there is a clear and growing risk of the
Israel-Palestinian conflict spilling over into the Middle East, which he said
would be “an authentic catastrophe.”
He said he has been lobbying his
counterparts for an immediate cease-fire that gives way to a peace conference
that implements a Palestinian state, something he believes is needed to achieve
regional stability.
“The hope of the Palestinian people for
the Palestinian State is intimately linked with Israel’s security and the
stability of the Middle East,” he told broadcaster RNE.
Albares said the “entire international
community” knows what a viable Palestinian state would look like, so it is less
about negotiating and more about implementing the state on the ground.
In his view, a viable Palestinian state
consists of Gaza and the West Bank under a single Palestinian authority,
connected by a corridor, and with the capital in East Jerusalem. Gaza would
also need to have a port and the ability to use the sea.
He said that Israel will need to cooperate
and end its policy of “aggressive settlements” in the West Bank, but said there
is still hope.
“The international community is giving
up too quickly to the idea that war in the Middle East is inevitable,” Albares
continued. “I will never believe that the Middle East has to be synonymous with
war, refugees, and dead civilians. I will never give up the idea that the
Palestinian people will have a state where they can live in peace and safety
alongside neighboring Israel.”
Albares added that the EU will hold a
“very important” foreign ministers’ meeting with Arab countries and Israel on
Monday.
He said Spain would be there arguing for
peace and for the EU to speak in a united voice.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has
vowed to try to convince the EU and other European nations to recognize a
Palestinian state. However, Sanchez said if they are not persuaded, Spain will
do so unilaterally during his term, set to last a maximum of four years.
Source: aa.com.tr
Please click the following URL to read
the text of the original story
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/spain-says-expanding-middle-east-conflict-would-be-a-catastrophe-/3113767
-----
UK Labour party leader criticizes
Netanyahu's rejection of Palestinian state
AysuBiçer
20.01.2024
Britain’s Labour Party leader Keir
Starmer strongly endorsed a two-state solution Friday as the only path to a
secure future in the Middle East.
He also criticized Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent rejection of the two-state framework.
It comes in response to Netanyahu's
declaration to the White House where he firmly stated his opposition to the
creation of a Palestinian state after Israel concludes its offensive in the
Gaza Strip.
In an exclusive statement to ITV
television, Starmer expressed his disapproval of Netanyahu's remarks, deeming
them "wrong and unacceptable."
"Palestinian statehood is not in
the gift of a neighbour, it's the inalienable right of the Palestinian people.
It's also the only way to a secure settlement and secure future so they're
wrong that unacceptable," he said.
"A Labour government would work
with international partners to that two state solution. A safe and secure
Israel alongside a viable Palestinian state," he added.
While Starmer previously expressed
support for Israel's "right to defend itself" against Hamas in Gaza,
he recently shifted his stance and called for a sustainable cease-fire and
condemned the "intolerable" number of casualties in the conflict.
Israel has launched relentless air and
ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas which Tel
Aviv said killed 1,200 people.
At least 24,762 Palestinians have since
been killed, mostly women and children, and 62,108 injured, according to
Palestinian health authorities.
The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s
population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and
medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure was damaged or destroyed,
according to the UN.
Source: aa.com.tr
Please click the following URL to read
the text of the original story
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/uk-labour-party-leader-criticizes-netanyahus-rejection-of-palestinian-state/3114067
----
Italy ready to send peacekeepers to Gaza
if needed: Foreign minister
BarısSeckin
19.01.2024
Italy is ready to send peacekeepers to
the Gaza Strip if needed, the nation’s foreign minister said Friday.
Over a thousand Italian military staff
are already taking part in the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Deputy
Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told Radio24.
"Should a peace mission be needed
in Gaza, we are ready to send our military personnel as UN peacekeepers,"
he explained.
He added that the US has yet to request
any expansion of the Lebanese mission.
He added that next Monday in Brussels,
at an EU foreign affairs council meeting, he will speak about maritime security
in the Red Sea region.
Italy supports the creation of a EU
mission to ensure maritime security in the Red Sea, Tajani added.
The US and UK have carried out strikes
on multiple Houthi targets and bases in Yemen in response to the Yemeni group’s
ongoing attacks on vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, said to be a
measure against Israel’s deadly onslaught in Gaza.
The Red Sea is one of the world's most
frequently used sea routes for oil and fuel shipments. It is used to transit
between Egypt's Suez Canal and the Gulf of Aden, allowing ships to avoid the
much costlier and longer route across the southern coast of Africa.
Source: aa.com.tr
Please click the following URL to read
the text of the original story
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/italy-ready-to-send-peacekeepers-to-gaza-if-needed-foreign-minister/3113655
----
London primary school considers closure
over bomb threats amid Palestine flag row
JANUARY 19, 2024
Barclay Primary School in east London
may need to close its doors for good after it was the target of a number of
bomb and arson threats, GB News reported on Friday.
Lion Academy Trust, the party
responsible for the school, warned parents that the school would have to adopt
remote learning should the threats continue.
Lion Academy Trust said that remote
learning was part of measures being
taken “to secure the school for the benefit of children and staff” amid
“despicable threats.”
On January 9, an anonymous caller “made
a series of racial slurs and a further threat to commit criminal damage (arson)
against the school and to individual staff,” someone familiar with the issue
told GB News.
Police have been stationed outside the
school, according to the source. A private security company, CCTV, and other
security measures were also reportedly installed.
The school had been the site of a number
of protests after the school had asked parents not to send their children in
with flags. Additionally, a letter was sent to eight families asking they not
allow their children to make
"extremist or divisive comments.”
At the time of the protests, the school
had decided to close early for Christmas break following a number of threats
targeting staff.
The Evening Standard reported that
before the break, men had managed to gain access to the school’s grounds, where
they hung a Palestinian flag before fleeing.
A TikTok video had gone viral which
accused the school of discriminating against an 8-year-old student of
Palestinian descent. An investigation was launched into this accusation, which
found no wrongdoing on the school’s part.
Staff member speaks to the press
A staff member at the school told the
Telegraph, “Barclay Primary School is currently being targeted by a group of
parents who are pushing a political agenda and accusations of Islamophobia by
not adhering to the school's uniform policy.
“Staff are being intimidated, bullied,
abused, threatened, and confronted as a result of misinformation and
manipulation of the trust for this agenda. I personally, am scared for my
safety and all staff within the school.
“I am shocked that this is happening to
a primary school. I chose to work at this school because it is one of the best
in the country, and I value its dedication and hard work. What has been
happening is unacceptable for the staff and children - no school should be
subjected to this.”
Source: jpost.com
Please click the following URL to read
the text of the original story
https://www.jpost.com/international/islamic-terrorism/article-782928
-----
Russian FM Stresses Formation of
Inclusive Govt in Afghanistan
Fatima Adib
JANUARY 19, 2024
The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey
Lavrov, expressed hope for the formation of a government in Afghanistan that
would feature “political inclusivity."
Speaking at his annual news conference
devoted to reviewing Moscow’s main foreign policy achievements in 2023, Lavrov
said “there is a de facto government in Afghanistan, and it has the situation
in control."
“True, some hotbeds of tensions, protest
do remain there, but the Taliban have real power. And our embassy never stopped
operations in Kabul," Lavrov told the reporters. "And we maintain
regular communication with the Taliban, including on issues that need to be
solved for them to become a fully recognized government."
However, regarding the formation of
inclusive government in Afghanistan, he said:
“The fulfillment of their own promises,
first and foremost, the main being the establishment of an inclusive
government, which would include not only ethnic Pashtuns, not only other ethnic
groups, but feature political inclusivity, as well.”
The Islamic Emirate has not commented
regarding the remarks of the Russian Foreign Minister, but earlier stressed
that their government is inclusive.
The political analysts stressed that the
interim government should accept the wishes of the international community to
pave the way for recognition.
“The people of Afghanistan want a legal
system based on the laws. They want to have a government which is based on the
constitution,” said Saleem Paigeer, a political analyst.
“I think the best way to ensure the
political stability in Afghanistan is the Doha agreement which includes
inclusive government, human rights and in general the policies of Afghanistan
towards other countries,” said Sayed Muqdam Ameen, a political analyst.
The international community has
repeatedly expressed concerns over the lack of formation of the international
community since the Islamic Emirate came to power.
The deputy Prime Minister for Political
Affairs, Mawlawi Abdul Kabir, said that the Islamic Emirate is committed to the
formation of an inclusive government.
Source: tolonews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the text of the original story
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-187040
-----
EU ministers to meet Israeli,
Palestinian top diplomats
January 19, 2024
BRUSSELS: EU foreign ministers will hold
a series of meetings Monday with counterparts from Israel, the Palestinian
Authority and key Arab nations about the war in Gaza and prospects for a future
peace settlement, officials said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz and
his Palestinian counterpart Riyad Al-Maliki are not expected to meet each other
during their Brussels visits.
The foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan
and Saudi Arabia will also meet with European ministers in Brussels as fears
swirl that a wider conflict could engulf the Middle East.
European diplomats said their aim is to
sound out each side over ways to end the violence on the ground and the next
steps toward a longer-term solution.
The EU has struggled for a united stance
on the conflict in Gaza as staunch backers of Israel such as Germany have
rejected demands for an immediate cease-fire from the likes of Spain and
Ireland.
Hamas, the Islamist movement that
controlled the Gaza Strip, launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7,
resulting in the death of about 1,140 people in Israel, most of them civilians,
according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Militants also seized about 250 hostages
during the attacks, around 132 of whom Israel says remain in Gaza.
Israel has vowed to “annihilate” Hamas
in response and its relentless air and ground offensive has killed at least
24,620 Palestinians, around 70 percent of them women, children and adolescents,
according to figures from the Hamas-run health ministry.
EU officials have sketched out broad
demands for “the day after” the current war ends in Gaza, calling for no
long-term Israeli occupation, an end to Hamas’s rule and a role for the
Palestinian Authority in running the territory.
The 27-nation bloc — along with the
United States — believes the creation of a Palestinian state remains the only
viable way to secure a lasting peace.
But Israel’s right-wing Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday flatly rejected that suggestion.
France has said the EU on Monday will
adopt sanctions on Hamas over the October 7 attack.
The Islamist movement’s Gaza political
chief Yahya Sinwar was added to the EU’s “terrorist” blacklist on Tuesday.
Hamas is already listed as a “terrorist”
organization by the EU.
Diplomats say EU countries are also in
the process of drawing up sanctions against “extremist” Israeli settlers in the
West Bank.
In the face of spiralling violence
across the region, EU countries this week gave initial backing to setting up a
naval mission to help protect shipping in the Red Sea from attacks by Yemen’s
Houthi.
A proposal for deployment says it could
have three frigates and a mandate to defend ships, but not attack the Houthis
onshore, like a US-led coalition operating in the region.
EU ministers meeting on Monday are set
to discuss the mission, but it is only expected to be finalized next month.
The Netherlands and Germany have said
they are willing to contribute ships to mission.
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the text of the original story
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2444566/world
----
South Asia
Kabul University attack mastermind found
in Iran, linked to Kerman bloodshed
Fidel Rahmati
January 19, 2024
On Friday, January 19th, the Iranian
Ministry of Intelligence revealed that Adel Arif, the perpetrator of the Kabul
University attack in 2020, had a role in the recent attacks in Kerman, Iran.
Despite being sentenced to execution by
the previous Afghan government, Adel Arif was released from Bagram Prison
following the Taliban’s resurgence in August 2021.
Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence
announced that Adel Arif, also known as Adel Panjshiri, has been in western
Tehran and is currently under pursuit.
The ministry released images of Adel Arif
and urged Iranian citizens to cooperate in his apprehension and detention, as
he is a member of ISIS-Khorasan.
According to the statement by the
Iranian Ministry of Intelligence, Adel had direct communication with Abdul
Hakim Tuhidi, the ISIS-Khorasan commander in Kerman, and was previously
detained for planning a suicide attack at Kabul University, only to be released
from Bagram Prison after the Taliban took Kabul.
The statement also noted that after his
release from prison, Adel Arif returned to criminal activities.
Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence
confirmed that several of his associates, all members of ISIS-Khorasan, have
been identified and detained, but Mohammad Adel Arif remains at large and under
pursuit.
Adel Arif’s involvement in the deadly attack
at Kabul University in 2020, which lasted for about six hours, resulted in
nearly 20 casualties, primarily young students.
Despite initial denials, it was revealed
that the attack was carried out by the ISIS-Khorasan branch, and Adel Arif, who
had studied Sharia at a university, was later recruited by extremist networks
and implicated in the crime.
Source: khaama.com
Please click the following URL to read
the text of the original story
https://www.khaama.com/kabul-university-attack-mastermind-found-in-iran-linked-to-kerman-bloodshed/
------
UN chief, 8 more nations congratulate
Hasina
Jan 20, 2024
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
and leaders of eight more countries have congratulated Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina on her re-election as prime minister of Bangladesh for the fourth
straight term.
The countries are the United Arab
Emirates, Qatar, Egypt, Luxemburg, Turkey, Singapore, Malaysia, and Brazil,
said the PM's Press Wing yesterday.
"The United Nations remains
committed to working with your government, including through the United Nations
Country Team, for the benefit of the people of Bangladesh," the UN chief
said in a letter to PM Hasina on Thursday.
The United Nations deeply values its
partnership with Bangladesh, including its major contributions to UN
peacekeeping operations, the generosity towards Rohingya refugees and efforts
towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, Guterres said.
"I am also appreciative of your
participation in the Global Crisis Response Group and trust that I can continue
to count on your support in our ambition to address growing global challenges,
including the fight against climate change and the pressing need to reform the
international financial architecture," said the UN chief.
Meanwhile, in a congratulatory message,
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, "I am confident that the
relations between our countries based on historical and cultural ties will
further deepen and strengthen during your [Hasina's] new term."
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim
said, "The close ties between our two countries, bound by our
commonalities and shared values, have greatly benefited our people."
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi,
in a letter, said Egypt and Bangladesh share a long history of friendship and
cooperation and he expressed his confidence that the bilateral relations
between the two countries will continue to grow over the coming years for the
mutual benefit of the peoples of the two nations.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da
Silva wished Hasina's fifth term to be a resounding success and assured that
Bangladesh will always have a steadfast partner in Brazil in the pursuit of
peace and prosperity for the societies.
In separate letters, Qatar's Prime
Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Bin Jassim
Al-Thani, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, UAE Vice-President, Prime
Minister and Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Luxemburg's
Vice-Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Minister
for Cooperation and Humanitarian Action Xavier Bettel extended their warmest
congratulations and best wishes to Sheikh Hasina on securing the absolute
majority in the 12th national election of Bangladesh.
Source: thedailystar.net
Please click the following URL to read
the text of the original story
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/un-chief-8-more-nations-congratulate-hasina-3523401
-----
More than 300 Afghan refguees
transferred to Canada from Pakistan
Fidel Rahmati
January 20, 2024
The Canadian Immigration and Citizenship
Department has announced that they have transferred 319 Afghan refugees from
Pakistan to the city of Vancouver in Canada.
The department stated on Friday, January
19, on its social media platform X that these refugees have arrived in
Vancouver on a charter flight.
According to the Canadian Immigration
and Citizenship Department, these refugees will be settled in 26 different
locations across Canada.
Based on the statistics from the
department, Canada has relocated and resettled 45,820 Afghan refugees in the
country from 2021 to the end of December 2023.
Previously, Canada had also announced
the resettlement of 295 Afghan refugees from Pakistan to the city of Toronto in
Canada.
Furthermore, the Canadian government had
committed to resettling nearly 40,000 Afghan refugees by the end of the year
2023 in one of the world’s largest resettlement programs.
It should be noted that after the rise
of the Taliban administration, over 120,000 Afghan citizens sought refuge in
various countries in Europe, America, and some other countries.
Prior to this, Afghan migrants had
arrived in Canada from countries like Pakistan, Tajikistan, the United Arab
Emirates, and Albania through charter flights.
Source: khaama.com
Please click the following URL to read
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https://www.khaama.com/more-than-300-afghan-refguees-transferred-to-canada-from-pakistan/
---
In First, Pakistan Restricting 4 of 5
Crossing Areas With Afghanistan
Bibi Amina Hakimi
January 19, 2024
Among 5 joint crossings between
Afghanistan and Pakistan, only Ghulam Khan crossing is not blocked.
According to the Chamber of Commerce and
Investments, the restrictions in the trade sector are a loss to both sides and
it is needed for Kabul and Islamabad to reach an agreement.
Torkham, Spin Boldak, Ghulam Khan,
Dand-e-Patan and Angur Ada are the joint crossings between Afghanistan and
Pakistan.
Khan Jan Alokozay, head of the Afghanistan-Pakistan Joint
Chamber of Commerce, said: “It is a very bad situation since the history of the
creation of Pakistan that all our crossings with Pakistan have been blocked.
Thousands of vehicles have stopped on that side of Torkham and hundreds of cars
on this side of Torkham, and we see that Pakistan is also losing."
Alokozay said that this is the first
time that Pakistan blocked all its crossings with Afghanistan.
The Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and
Investment (ACCI) stated that from time to time Pakistan creates problems in
trade with Afghanistan and there is a need to make Afghanistan's trade more
diversified in order to solve these challenges.
Mohammad Yunus Momand, the first deputy
of the ACCI, said: “Afghanistan has alternative ways and we want to expand
relations with regional and neighboring countries and we don't want relations
to be damaged. As an example, we can mention that we want to import fabric from
Pakistan but now other countries have taken the market for Pakistan's fabrics,
which is unfortunate for us."
A number of business people believe that
Afghanistan's trade with the countries of the region should be increased
through alternative ways, including Chabahar port.
"We ask the chambers of commerce to
find alternative ways for us, like Central Asia, because Pakistan often shuts
down when it's grape or pomegranate season under various excuses," said
ZadranNaseri, a trader.
"The fruit that is outside is also
inside the country, they should prepare cold storage and arrange a transit
route for us, via Pakistan or India," said Khwaja Shamsuddin, another
trader.
Earlier, Pakistan also closed the
Torkham crossing for 9 days, and the blocking of Afghan goods in the port of
Karachi caused more than $26 million dollars in losses for the traders of both
sides.
Source: tolonews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the text of the original story
https://tolonews.com/business-187038
----
Talks ongoing to reopen Torkham crossing
for trade: Mujahid
January 20, 2024
The spokesman of the Islamic Emirate of
Afghanistan (IEA) has announced that talks with the Pakistani authorities are
ongoing in order to reopen the Torkham crossing for trade.
Zabihullah Mujahid told Turkey’s Anadolu
news agency that the details of the talks between Islamabad and Kabul for the
reopening of the Torkham crossing will be released soon.
Around a week ago, Pakistan stopped
allowing trucks to pass through the Torkham crossing due to visa issues.
The closure of the crossing has caused
protests by traders.
Source: ariananews.af
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https://www.ariananews.af/talks-ongoing-to-reopen-torkham-crossing-for-trade-mujahid/
----
Pakistan
IHC disposes of plea regarding security
of Baloch protesters
January 20, 2024
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court
(IHC) on Friday disposed of a petition regarding the provision of facilities
and security to the Baloch protesters in the federal capital.
IHC’s Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, who
heard the case, instructed the authorities to ensure the security of the
protesters.
Advocate General Islamabad Ayaz Shaukat,
State Counsel Abdur Rehman and petitioners’ lawyers appeared before the court.
The court asked the authorities to
provide the details to the petitioners’ lawyers pertaining to the FIRs
registered against the protesters anywhere in the country. The court disposed
of the plea with the above instructions.
Source: thenews.com.pk
Please click the following URL to read
the text of the original story
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1149668-ihc-disposes-of-plea-regarding-security-of-baloch-protesters
Achakzai claims heirs of terrorists
killed in Iran were present in Baloch protest camp in Islamabad
January 20, 2024
QUETTA: Balochistan’s Caretaker Minister
for Information Jan Achakzai on Friday said the armed forces befittingly
responded to the elements in Iran who had challenged the sovereignty and
integrity of the country.
Addressing a press conference at the
Balochistan Civil Secretariat in Quetta, he said that the revelation regarding
the presence of the heirs of terrorists in the protest camp of Baloch Yekjehti
Committee in Islamabad had exposed the true face of Dr Mahrung Baloch.
He said that Dr Mahrung Baloch herself
had confessed that their people had been killed in Iran during the retaliatory
attack of the country.
He said that Dr Mahrung Baloch and her
abettors were playing a leading role to defame national institutions and armed
forces of the country.
He further said that Dr Mahrung Baloch
was presenting those terrorists as missing persons, adding that pro-India
agenda had exposed the reality of Dr Mahrung and the enemies of the state would
not succeed in their nefarious designs.
Source: thenews.com.pk
Please click the following URL to read
the text of the original story
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1149666-achakzai-claims-heirs-of-terrorists-killed-in-iran-were-present-in-baloch-protest-camp-in-islamabad
-----
'Iran should have sought assistance from
Pakistan instead of taking action unilaterally': JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman
Jan 20, 2024
ISLAMABAD: The chief of Jamiat
Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman emphasised on Friday
the importance of taking "positive steps" to address the concerns
between Pakistan and Iran in light of cross-border incursions and increased
tension in the region, according to ARY News.
Interacting with mediapersons in Dera
Ismail (DI) Khan, the head of JUI-F expressed alarm over the "unprovoked
airspace violation" and stated that Iran ought to have gotten in touch
with Pakistan before pursuing such "drastic action."
He said, "Iran should have sought
assistance from Pakistan instead of taking action unilaterally."
He referred to Pakistan's counterattack
as "reciprocal," claiming that Islamabad had every right to react
since Iran had instigated the conflict, according to ARY News.
Less than 48 hours after Iran breached
Pakistan's airspace, Pakistan targeted terrorist hideouts in the
Sistan-Baluchistan province of Iran.
"Hideouts used by terrorist
organisations, namely the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and Balochistan
Liberation Front (BLF)," were hit in an intelligence-based operation
dubbed "Marg Bar Sarmachar," ARY News cited a statement released by
the Pakistan military's media affairs division.
Pakistan denounced the violation of
Pakistan's sovereignty as "completely unacceptable" and on Wednesday
expelled the Iranian ambassador and recalled its envoy to Iran.
Pakistan's caretaker foreign minister,
Jalil Abbas Jilani, in a phone call with his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir
Abdollahian, underscored that the January 16 attack conducted by Iran inside
Pakistterritory was not only a serious breach of Pakistan's sovereignty but was
also an egregious violation of international law and the spirit of bilateral
relations between the two countries.
Expressing Pakistan's unreserved
condemnation of the attack, Jilani added that the incident has caused serious
damage to bilateral ties between Pakistan and Iran.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Please click the following URL to read
the text of the original story
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/iran-should-have-sought-assistance-from-pakistan-instead-of-taking-action-unilaterally-juif-chief-fazlur-
rehman/articleshow/107003545.cms
-----
Pakistan seeks friendly ties with all
countries: Caretaker PM
January 19, 2024
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs briefed
the Caretaker Federal Cabinet about the situation arising from the Iranian
attack on Pakistan on 16 January, 2024.
In a meeting of the Federal Cabinet held
under the chairmanship of Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, the
details of the attack, as well as Pakistan's response, were shared.
The Cabinet lauded the high
professionalism with which the Pakistan Armed Forces responded to the breach of
the Pakistan's sovereignty and how the entire government machinery worked in unison
in this regard.
Addressing the federal cabinet, the
Prime Minister affirmed that Pakistan is a law abiding and peace loving country
and it seeks friendly and cooperative relations with all countries,
particularly its neighbors.
The Prime Minister said that Pakistan
and Iran are two brotherly countries that have historically enjoyed fraternal
and cooperative relations marked by respect and affection.
He said that it is in the interest of
both countries to take steps to restore the relationship to what it was prior
to January 16.
The Prime Minister said that, in this
regard, Pakistan would welcome and reciprocate all positive measures from the
Iranian side.
Source: radio.gov.pk
Please click the following URL to read
the text of the original story
https://www.radio.gov.pk/19-01-2024/pakistan-seeks-friendly-cooperative-relations-with-all-countries-caretaker-pm
----
Pakistan faced worst economic crisis in
2023, says Human Rights Watch
January 20, 2024
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan faced one of the
worst economic crises in its history in 2023 with poverty, inflation and
unemployment soaring, jeopardising millions of people’s rights to health, food
and an adequate standard of living, according to a report by the Human Rights
Watch.
In its 740-page ‘World Report 2024’,
made available on Friday, the HRW reviewed human rights practices in more than
100 countries, and observed that the insistence of the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) on austerity and the removal of subsidies without adequate
compensatory measures resulted in additional hardship for low-income groups in
Pakistan.
The country remained exceedingly
vulnerable to climate change and faced rates of warming considerably above the
global average, making extreme climate events more frequent and intense,
according to the report.
Increasing repression by governments in
Asia is negatively affecting human rights locally and internationally, the HRW
said. Asia, unlike Europe, Africa and the Americas, lacks a meaningful human
rights charter or regional institution to safeguard human rights standards, it
adds.
IMF insistence on removal of subsidies
sans compensatory measures adds to hardship for low-income groups
The report says government threats and
attacks on the media created a climate of fear among journalists and civil
society groups, with many resorting to self-censorship. Authorities pressured
or threatened media outlets not to criticise state institutions or the
judiciary.
NGOs reported intimidation, harassment,
and surveillance of various groups by government authorities. The government
used its regulation of INGOs in Pakistan policy to impede the registration and
functioning of international humanitarian and human rights groups.
The report says violence against women
and girls — including rape, murder, acid attacks, domestic violence, denial of
education, sexual harassment at work, and child and forced marriage — is a
serious problem throughout Pakistan. Human rights defenders estimate that
roughly 1,000 women are murdered in so-called “honour killings” every year.
In Punjab, 10,365 cases of violence
against women were reported to the police in the first four months of 2023,
according to a local NGO. The actual number of incidents is likely to be much
higher given barriers to reporting, harmful social norms, and ineffective and
harmful responses by the police. Pakistan’s conviction rate for rape is less
than three per cent.
Over six million primary school-age
children and 13m secondary school-age children in Pakistan were out of school,
most of them girls. The HRW found that girls miss school for reasons including
lack of schools, costs associated with studying, child marriage, harmful child
labour, and gender discrimination.
A lack of awareness about mental health
in Pakistani society contributes to the abuse of those with psychosocial
disabilities and mental health conditions.
Prisoners who ask for mental health
support are often mocked and denied services. The prison system lacks mental
health professionals, and prison authorities tend to view any report of a mental
health condition with suspicion. Transgender women, particularly in Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa, remained under attack.
Nearly 37pc of Pakistan’s 230 million
people faced food insecurity as of 2018, yet only 8.9m families received
assistance to mitigate the impact of rampant inflation.
In July, the European Union proposed
extending Pakistan’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) status by
another four years, enabling Pakistan to enjoy trade preferences and access
to the European market.
Pakistan and China deepened their
extensive economic and political ties in 2023, and work continued on the
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a project consisting of the construction of
roads, railways, and energy pipelines.
“The threats abusive governments in Asia
pose to human rights domestically and internationally demand bold new
approaches from rights-respecting governments and democratic institutions,”
said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at HRW.
Source: dawn.com
Please click the following URL to read
the text of the original story
https://www.dawn.com/news/1807228/pakistan-faced-worst-economic-crisis-in-2023-says-human-rights-watch
-----
Southeast Asia
Nearly 300 Myanmar soldiers flee to
India after rebel gains
JAN 19, 2024
GUWAHATI, India – Nearly 300 Myanmar
soldiers crossed the border into India to flee an advance by armed insurgents
fighting the country’s junta, an Indian paramilitary officer told AFP on Jan
19.
Clashes have rocked parts of Myanmar
near the Indian border since the Arakan Army (AA) attacked security forces in
November 2023, ending a ceasefire that had largely held since a 2021 military
coup.
This week, the group said it had taken
over the major town of Paletwa and six military bases along the border of
India’s Mizoram state, where the soldiers had crossed on Jan 17.
A total of 276 troops carrying their
arms and ammunition arrived at Bondukbangsora village, an officer from the
Assam Rifles paramilitary force who declined to give a name told AFP.
“We have given them shelter at our
camp,” he said, adding that the arriving soldiers were “given all the support
they require”.
The officer said his unit was collecting
biometric data from the soldiers, and had sought approval from the Defence
Ministry in New Delhi to return them to Myanmar.
Hundreds of other Myanmar troops have
fled to India to escape fighting since the ceasefire ended in November 2023,
according to local media reports.
Two Myanmar military aircraft arrived in
Aizawl, the Mizoram state capital, to collect and repatriate soldiers who
retreated from the conflict.
In October 2023, an alliance of the AA
and two other ethnic minority armed groups launched a joint offensive across
Myanmar’s northern Shan state, capturing towns and seizing vital trade hubs on
the China border.
Last week, the alliance announced a
China-mediated ceasefire in Shan state after months of conflict that posed the
biggest threat to the junta since it seized power.
The agreement does not apply to areas
near the Indian border where fighting between the military and insurgents has
raged on. AFP
Source: straitstimes.com
Please click the following URL to read
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https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/nearly-300-myanmar-soldiers-flee-to-india-after-rebel-gains
------
‘JejakHarmoni’ programme to be held
nationwide this year - Aaron
20-01- 2024
KUALA LUMPUR: The National Unity
Ministry will organise the “JejakHarmoni” programme nationwide this year to
promote and strengthen inter-faith camaraderie and harmony.
Its Minister Datuk Seri Aaron Ago Dagang
said the programme would include several activities such as harmony
documentaries and visits to places of worship, aiming to encourage the diverse
population to explore and understand each other’s cultures and religions, in
turn fostering a spirit of harmony in the country.
“The programme will also involve Harmony
and Places of Worship Committees. We have identified several states so far, but
for the long term, we will implement it nationwide because each state has its
uniqueness,” he told Bernama today.
In addition, the ministry will consider
providing incentives to registered members of the Voluntary Patrol Scheme (SRS)
nationwide to enhance activities and strengthen the SRS further.
“In the past, they did not receive any
incentives. When we plan to enhance and strengthen the SRS, I think it’s fair
to provide incentives... we will provide it in monetary form,” he said.
Meanwhile, Aaron said there were 107,400
registered SRS members nationwide as of Dec 31 last year.
He said Selangor recorded the highest
number of members at 13,000, followed by Johor (12,900) and Sarawak (11,100). –
Bernama
Source: thesun.my
Please click the following URL to read
the text of the original story
https://thesun.my/local_news/jejak-harmoni-programme-to-be-held-nationwide-this-year-aaron-JD12006690
-----
RM1,000 financial aid for B40 Muassasah
pilgrims involves RM9.4 mln allocation - MohdNa’im
19-01- 2024
SEPANG: The targeted financial
assistance of RM1,000 for each prospective Haj pilgrim in the Muassasah B40
group involves a total allocation of RM9.4 million, said Minister in the Prime
Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Dr MohdNa’im Mokhtar.
He said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar
Ibrahim, who is also the Finance Minister, has approved the continuation of the
financial assistance initiated last year, especially for those performing the
pilgrimage for the first time.
“With this assistance, each pilgrim from
the B40 group only needs to pay RM12,356 out of the total RM13,356,“ he told
reporters after officiating the Haj, Umrah and Tourism Carnival organised by
Haj Travel Operators (PJH) for the 1445H/2024 season today.
The Pilgrims Fund Board (TH) today
announced that prospective pilgrims from the B40 group will receive financial
assistance and government aid totalling RM20,944 per person, covering 63 per
cent of the Haj pilgrimage cost.
Those from the M40 group, on the other
hand, will receive RM14,148 in financial aid or 42 per cent from the total cost
per person.
The cost for a prospective Muassasah
pilgrim to perform the Haj this year is set at RM33,300, compared to RM30,850
last year.
Earlier, in his speech MohdNa’im advised
prospective pilgrims, including groups receiving Furada or Mujamalah visas, to
opt for packages offered by any of the 25 PJH companies licenced by TH, to
avoid falling victim to fraudulent Haj packages.
He expressed confidence in the 25
licenced PJH companies, stating that they have the capacity, expertise,
experience and credibility to provide the best services and ensure the welfare
of Haj pilgrims in the Holy Land.
Among the 25 companies licenced by TH
are Andalusia Travel & Tours SdnBhd, Al-Balad Travel & Tours SdnBhd,
Felda Travel SdnBhd, JAD Travel & Tours (M) SdnBhd and Zahafiz Travel &
Tours Sdn Bhd. – Bernama
Source: thesun.my
Please click the following URL to read
the text of the original story
https://thesun.my/home_news/rm1000-financial-aid-for-b40-muassasah-pilgrims-involves-rm94-mln-allocation-mohd-na-im-KD12006509
------
North America
US Democrats push Biden administration
over civilian toll in Israel’s Gaza campaign
January 20, 2024
WASHINGTON: Dozens of President Joe
Biden’s fellow Democrats signed a letter on Friday urging his administration to
reaffirm that the US strongly opposes “the forced and permanent displacement”
of Palestinians from Gaza.
The letter to Secretary of State Antony
Blinken, led by US Representatives Ayanna Pressley and Jamie Raskin, was signed
by 60 Democratic House of Representatives members, reflecting concern,
especially on the left, over the steep toll on Palestinian civilians of
Israel’s campaign against Hamas.
“We urge you to continue to reiterate
the United States’ firm commitment to this position and ask that you provide
clarification regarding certain provisions of the administration’s supplemental
humanitarian and security funding request,” the letter said.
A State Department spokesperson said the
department does not typically comment on congressional correspondence. But on
the broader issue of displacement, the spokesperson said in an email, “We have
been clear. There must be no enduring forced displacement of Palestinians,
whether inside of Gaza or outside.”
The spokesperson said State had rejected
statements by some Israeli officials calling for resettlement of Palestinians
outside of Gaza and understands from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that is
not the Israeli government’s policy.
The US gives Israel $3.8 billion in
annual military assistance. Biden has asked Congress to approve an additional
$14 billion, part of a sweeping supplemental funding request stalled in
Congress as Republicans and Democrats negotiate immigration policy changes.
Separately, a group of Democratic
senators said on Friday that 18 Democrats in that chamber support an amendment
that would require that any country receiving funding in the supplemental use
the money in accordance with US law, international humanitarian law and the law
of armed conflict.
Also this week, Senator Bernie Sanders,
an independent who caucuses with Democrats, forced a vote on a resolution that
would have frozen security aid to Israel unless the State Department produced a
report within 30 days examining whether Israel committed human rights
violations in its campaign against Hamas.
Seventy-two senators voted to set the
resolution aside, versus 11 who backed it, easily clearing the simple majority
needed to kill the resolution in the 100-member chamber.
Israel launched the war to eradicate
Hamas, an Iran-backed group sworn to Israel’s destruction, after militants
stormed across the border on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and capturing 240
hostages, Israeli tallies showed.
Gaza health authorities said the war,
now in its fourth month, has killed more than 24,760 people in the Palestinian
enclave.
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read
the text of the original story
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2444891/world
----
Biden speaks with Netanyahu on Gaza
attacks, Palestinian state
20 Jan 2024
WASHINGTON, Jan 20 ― US President Joe
Biden yesterday said he spoke with Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu
about possible solutions for creation of an independent state for Palestinians,
noting that not all countries have their own militaries.
Biden's call with Netanyahu was the
first in nearly a month, the White House said, noting the discussions focused
on Israel's ongoing strikes in Gaza.
White House spokesperson John Kirby told
reporters that Biden had been trying to schedule the call “for quite a bit of
time” and denied it came in response to Netanyahu's comment on Thursday saying
he objected to Palestinian statehood that did not guarantee Israel's security.
Asked if a two-state solution was
impossible while Netanyahu was still in office, Biden said, “No, it's not.”
Speaking to reporters after a meeting
with US mayors, Biden said Netanyahu was not opposed to all two-state
solutions, and there were a number of types possible, adding that some United
Nations members do not have military forces.
Biden was asked if he would reconsider
conditions on Israel aid given Netanyahu's comments rejecting a two-state
solution.
“I think we'll be able to work something
out ... I think there's ways in which this could work,” he said.
Biden and Netanyahu discussed efforts to
secure the remaining hostages held by Hamas, and Israel's shift to more
“targeted” operations in Gaza to allow more humanitarian assistance to come
through, the White House said.
Biden has been pressuring Israel to
reduce Palestinian deaths even as he has maintained his strong support of
Israel in its war against Hamas.
But the two men do not see eye-to-eye on
Palestinians having a state, a solution Biden has advocated to achieve
long-term peace.
“The president also discussed his vision
for a more durable peace and security for Israel fully integrated within the
region and a two state-solution with Israel’s security guaranteed,” the White
House said in a statement about their call.
Netanyahu had said in a press conference
that he told Washington he objected to any Palestinian statehood that did not
guarantee Israel's security. “Israel must have security control over the entire
territory west of the Jordan River. That's a necessary condition,” he said.
Biden's call came as Red Crescent
officials reported “intense gunfire from the Israeli drones targeting citizens
at Al-Amal Hospital” in Khan Younis, the main city in the southern part of
Gaza.
Israel launched a major new advance in
Khan Younis this week to capture the city, which it says is now the primary
base of Hamas fighters who attacked Israeli towns on October 7, killing 1,200
and precipitating a war that has devastated the Gaza Strip.
The Gaza health ministry said 142
Palestinians had been killed and 278 injured in Gaza over the past 24 hours, raising
the death toll from more than three months of war to 24,762.
Asked about a request by Mexico and
Chile for the International Criminal Court to investigate potential crimes
against civilians in Gaza, Kirby said the United States was still gathering more
information about what that would entail.
“We don't have any indications that
there's deliberate ... efforts to commit war crimes by the Israeli Defense
Forces,” Kirby said.
A Palestinian-American teenager was
killed by Israeli security forces in the West Bank on Friday, Palestinian
health officials said.
“We're seriously concerned about these
reports,” Kirby said. ― Reuters
Source: malaymail.com
Please click the following URL to read
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https://www.malaymail.com/news/world/2024/01/20/biden-speaks-with-netanyahu-on-gaza-attacks-palestinian-state/113469
-----
CAIR Condemns Israeli Killing of
Palestinian-American Teen, Calls on Biden Admin to Act
Ibrahim Hooper
January 19, 2024
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 1/19/2024) – The
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil
rights and advocacy organization, today condemned the killing of a
Palestinian-American teen by the forces of the far-right Israeli government in
the occupied West Bank.
American-born 17-year-old Tawfiq Hafiz
Hijazi’s uncle told Reuters that the incident occurred during clashes with the
Israeli military. National Security spokesman John Kirby expressed “concern”
about the killing.
In a statement, CAIR National Executive
Director Nihad Awad said:
“This murder of an American teenager by
the forces of the far-right Israeli government again shows that President
Biden’s unwillingness to call for an end to the ongoing Israeli genocide and
ethnic cleansing is resulting in the deaths of American citizens and their
relatives.
“The Biden administration has
consistently shown its disregard for the killing and injuring of Americans of
Palestinian descent. How many Palestinians must die before the Biden
administration does what it would do for any other people similarly targeted by
genocide?”
He said hundreds of relatives of
American citizens have already been killed by Israel in Gaza the West Bank and
noted President Biden’s refusal to meet with the family of murdered
Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh
Last month, CAIR called on the State
Department and FBI to investigate the shooting and detention of a 13-year-old
Palestinian-American boy by Israeli forces in the West Bank.
Last year, CAIR called on the Biden
administration to demand “real justice” after an announcement that Israeli
soldiers will not face criminal prosecution for the death of an elderly
Palestinian-American man who they dragged from a car, bound and left
unresponsive on the ground overnight after apparently suffering a heart attack.
Yesterday, CAIR called on President
Biden to condemn Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and take action
after he admitted to being opposed to the existence of a Palestinian state in
any scenario.
Also yesterday, CAIR condemned what it
called the latest “Israeli war crimes of the day,” including a new call for
ethnic cleansing of Gaza by a top Israeli government official, the demolition
of a Gaza university, attacks near a Gaza hospital, video of Israeli troops
mocking Palestinian suffering, and Israeli actions forcing women to give birth
in the streets.
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil
rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American
Muslims.
La misión de CAIR esproteger las
libertadesciviles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y
empoderar a losmusulmanesenlosEstadosUnidos.
Source: cair.com
Please click the following URL to read
the text of the original story
https://www.cair.com/press_releases/cair-condemns-israeli-killing-of-palestinian-american-teen-calls-on-biden-admin-to-act/
-----
CAIR-Ohio Harnesses MLK’s Legacy to
Cultivate Young Leaders in Muslim Community
Ibrahim Hooper
January 19, 2024
The Ohio chapter of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Ohio) held its Muslim Youth Leadership Program
(MYLP) on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day to train the next generation of young
leaders. The program, held at the CAIR-Ohio Columbus Office aimed to empower
Muslim youth with essential skills in political education and leadership.
Students from Cincinnati, Dayton, and Columbus areas joined the program this
year.
Inspired by the words of Martin Luther
King, Jr., who stated, “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability
but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and
work for our freedom,” the program is empowering young individuals to be
catalysts for positive change.
The event featured distinguished
speakers who shared their insights and experiences with the participants. Ohio
Representative MuniraAbdullahi, the first Muslim and Somali woman elected to
the statehouse, served as one of the keynote speakers, inspiring the attendees
with her journey in public service.
Additionally, two speakers from
Palestinian Liberation Movement (PLM-JUST), Ramon Obey and Hani Al-Bawab,
shared their expertise in grassroots organizing, and sharing opportunities for
students to be more involved in organizing.
“The Muslim Youth Leadership Program
provided a platform for our youth to explore their potential and develop the
skills necessary to drive positive change in their communities,” said CAIR-Ohio
Outreach Director Victoria Hickcox. “It is always exciting to hear from
students after the program about their accomplishments using the tools gained
in the program.”
CAIR is America’s largest Muslim civil
liberties and advocacy organization, with three offices in Ohio – Cincinnati,
Columbus, and Cleveland. The organization is dedicated to enhancing
understanding of Islam, protecting civil rights, promoting justice, and
empowering American Muslims.
Source: cair.com
Please click the following URL to read
the text of the original story
https://www.cair.com/press_releases/cair-ohio-harnesses-mlks-legacy-to-cultivate-young-leaders-in-muslim-community/
---
US Admits Sending $40 Million Weekly to
Afghanistan Amid Controversy
Fidel Rahmati
January 19, 2024
The U.S. Department of State has
confirmed that it sends $80 million in cash to Afghanistan under Taliban
control every 10 to 14 days. This comes as the Taliban, since June does not
disclose the receipt of $40 million packages through the media to avoid
criticism.
The Special Inspector General for
Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) reported on Friday, January 19th, citing the
United Nations Office (UNAMA) that this cash is held in a dedicated account at
a private bank and is not transferred to the Central Bank under the Taliban
control. However, critics argue that the Taliban still influence how this money
is spent.
In June 2023, a reliable source at the
Central Bank of Afghanistan under Taliban control confirmed that $40 million
packages of humanitarian aid are being sent to Kabul, but the Taliban no longer
publicizes this news through the media.
The Central Bank of Afghanistan under
Taliban control last time announced in April of 2023 that a $40 million aid
package had arrived in Kabul.
Since the Taliban took control of
Afghanistan, they have not been recognized by the international community and
remain under sanctions.
Despite this, the US continues to send
$40 million in so-called humanitarian aid, raising concerns about the group’s
influence over the financial assistance.
Source: khaama.com
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https://www.khaama.com/us-confirms-40-million-sent-to-afghanistan-weekly/
----
US Navy fighter jets strike Houthi
missile launchers in Yemen, officials say
January 20, 2024
WASHINGTON: US fighter jets struck
Iranian-backed Houthi rebel sites for the sixth time Friday, taking out
anti-ship missile launchers in Yemen that were prepared to fire, according to
two US officials.
The officials, who spoke on condition of
anonymity to discuss ongoing military operations, said the strikes were carried
out by F/A-18 aircraft off the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier. And
they resembled similar US attacks on Houthi launchers that have been occurring
almost daily this week.
President Joe Biden acknowledged
Thursday that the bombardment of Houthi sites, including a massive array of
strikes on Jan. 12 by US and British forces, has yet to stop the militants’
attacks on vessels in the Red Sea that have disrupted global shipping.
Al-Masirah, a Houthi-run satellite news
channel, said there were air raids in the western city of Hodieda on Friday,
targeting the Al-Jabaananeighborhood in the west of the city. The location of
the US strikes could not be immediately confirmed.
US warships and aircraft, in rapid
succession, have taken out Houthi missiles poised to launch over the past few
days, underscoring the military’s increasing ability to watch, detect and
strike militant activities in Yemen.
At the White House, National Security
Council spokesman John Kirby said there were three strikes against Houthi
targets on Friday, and he noted the uptick in preemptive missions.
“This is the fourth preemptive action
that the US military has taken in the past week against Houthi missile
launchers that were ready to launch attacks, in this case, anti-ship missiles,”
he said, adding that the self-defense strikes are aimed at improving security
in the shipping lanes.
But so far the strikes have not deterred
Houthi attacks on ships in the southern Red Sea or Gulf of Aden, which also
have been happening nearly daily.
The Biden administration put the Houthis
back on its list of specially designated global terrorists. The sanctions that
come with the formal designation are meant to sever violent extremist groups
from their sources of financing, while also allowing vital humanitarian aid to
continue flowing to impoverished Yemenis. And the White House has made it clear
that the retaliatory strikes will also continue.
“They continue to have offensive
capability, and they still continue to be willing to use it,” Kirby said. “We
also have plenty of defense capability available to us and we continue to use
it as well.”
For months, the Houthis have attacked
ships in the Red Sea that they say are either linked to Israel or heading to
Israeli ports. They say their attacks aim to end the Israeli air-and-ground
offensive in the Gaza Strip that was triggered by the Palestinian militant
group Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel. But the links to the ships
targeted in the rebel assaults have grown more tenuous as the attacks continue.
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2444871/middle-east
----
US conducts strikes against three Houthi
anti-ship missiles
20 Jan 2024
WASHINGTON, Jan 20 ― US Central Command
forces yesterday conducted strikes against three Houthi anti-ship missiles that
were aimed into the Southern Red Sea and were prepared to launch, the US
military said on X, formerly called Twitter.
“US forces identified the missiles in
Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and determined that they presented an imminent
threat to merchant vessels and the US Navy ships in the region. US forces
subsequently struck and destroyed the missiles in self-defence,” the US Central
Command said in the post on X.
The incident, the latest amid growing
tensions in the Red Sea that have disrupted global trade and raised fears of
supply bottlenecks, took place around 6.45pm Yemen time (1545 GMT), the US
Central Command added.
Attacks by the Iran-aligned Houthi
militia on ships in and around the Red Sea for the past several weeks have
slowed trade between Asia and Europe and alarmed major powers in an escalation
of the war in Gaza.
The Houthis, who control the most
populous part of Yemen, say their attacks are in solidarity with Palestinians
under attack from Israel in Gaza.
Since last week, the United States has
been launching strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, and this week returned the
militia to a list of “terrorist” groups.
President Joe Biden said on Thursday
that air strikes would continue even as he acknowledged they may not be halting
the Houthi attacks.
The confrontation risks an expansion of
the conflict beyond Hamas-governed Gaza, where the local health ministry says
over 24,000 people ― or more than 1 per cent of Gaza's 2.3 million population ―
have been killed in Israel's assault.
Israel launched its offensive following
October 7 attacks on Israel by the Palestinian Islamist group, which Israeli
officials say killed 1,200 people.
White House spokesperson John Kirby said
yesterday's strikes were the fourth in the past week by the US military against
Houthi missile launchers that were prepared to launch attacks.
The Houthis launched two anti-ship
ballistic missiles at a US-owned tanker ship late on Thursday that hit the
water near the vessel but caused no injuries or damage, according to the US
military. ― Reuters
Source: malaymail.com
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https://www.malaymail.com/news/world/2024/01/20/us-conducts-strikes-against-three-houthi-anti-ship-missiles/113486
-----
Arab World
Saudi deputy FM takes part in IGAD and
NAM summits in Uganda
January 20, 2024
KAMPALA: Representing Prince Faisal bin
Farhan bin Abdullah, Saudi minister of foreign affairs, Waleed Elkhereiji, the
deputy minister of foreign affairs, participated in the Intergovernmental
Authority on Development Summit in Uganda on Friday.
In his address, Elkhereiji conveyed the
Kingdom’s resolute commitment to supporting and strengthening Saudi-African
relations, solidifying connections with African nations and IGAD member states.
He emphasized Saudi Arabia’s keenness to
upholding the unity of Somalia and Sudan, ensuring the preservation of their
territories. This commitment contributes to maintaining security, and
stability, and fostering integration among countries in the region.
Elkhereiji also participated in the
opening of the 19th summit of the leaders of the Non-Aligned Movement
countries, on behalf of King Salman.
The NAM summit will discuss finding
effective solutions to the major political and economic challenges around the
world, and multilateral cooperation to enhance international peace and
security.
The Kingdom’s Permanent Representative
to the UN in New York Abdulaziz Al-Wasel, and Saudi Ambassador to Uganda Jamal
Al-Madani also took part in the meeting.
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2444836/saudi-arabia
-----
US attacks on Yemen aimed at guarding
Israel, not world: Ansarullah
19 January 2024
Yemen’s Ansarullah movement has
condemned in the strongest terms the “unjustified” US airstrikes on the Yemeni
territory, saying they’re aimed at “guarding Israel, not the world.”
Mohammed Abdulsalam, the Ansarullah
spokesman, made the comment in an interview with Reuters.
The United States and Britain launched
airstrikes on Yemen on January 12 in what they called an intervention to
protect international shipping in the Red Sea.
“What the Yemeni people did, in the
beginning, was to target Israeli ships heading to Israel without causing any
human or even significant material losses, just preventing ships from passing
as a natural right,” Abdulsalam said.
“We imposed rules of engagement in which
not a single drop of blood was shed or major material losses.”
“It represented pressure on Israel only,
it did not represent pressure on any country in the world.”
The Yemeni official said the US
intervention has further escalated the situation and that the movement will
continue to respond to the US attacks.
“Now, when America joined in and
escalated the situation further, there is no doubt that Yemen will respond.”
“The strikes on Yemen, from our
perspective, are a blatant violation of Yemen's sovereignty and a serious
aggression against the Yemeni people,” Abdulsalam said.
Yemen, he added, does not intend to
expand the attacks on shipping in and around the Red Sea beyond their stated
aim of blockading Israel and retaliating against the United States and Britain
for airstrikes.
“We do not want the conflict to expand
in the region, and we are still working on non-escalation, but the decision is
up to the Americans, as long as they continue to attack.”
The Yemeni official said the decision to
target Israeli-linked ships was a response to popular demands. “It came after
great popular pressure not only in Yemen but in the region, demanding that the
governments of the region and their leaders take a position towards the
Palestinians facing a genocidal campaign.”
Referring to the Persian Gulf’s Arab
countries, the Yemeni official said Ansarullah calls on them “to reject the
militarization of the Red Sea or the presence of military forces inside the
region.”
Abdulsalam said the Yemenis have made
their own decisions in the conflict and do not take orders from Tehran, though
they maintain a close relationship.
Source: presstv.ir
Please click the following URL to read
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https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/01/19/718530/US-attacks-on-Yemen-aimed-at-guarding-Israel-not-world-Ansarullah
------
US-British aggression targets two raids
on Hodeidah
[20/January/2024]
HODEIDAH January 20. 2024 (Saba) - The
US-British aggression launched two raids on Hodeidah Governorate.
security source in the governorate
explained to the Yemeni News Agency (Saba) that the US-British aggression
targeted the city of Hodeidah with two raids.
Source: saba.ye
Please click the following URL to read
the text of the original story
https://www.saba.ye/en/news3297802.htm
----
Africa
Ethnic killings in one Sudan city left
up to 15,000 dead: UN report
Jan 20, 2024
UNITED NATIONS/CAIRO: Between 10,000 and
15,000 people were killed in one city in Sudan's West Darfur region last year
in ethnic violence by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied
Arab militia, according to a United Nations report seen by Reuters on Friday.
In the report to the UN Security
Council, independent UN sanctions monitors attributed the toll in El Geneina to
intelligence sources and contrasted it with the UN estimate that about 12,000
people have been killed across Sudan since war erupted on April 15, 2023,
between the Sudanese army and the RSF.
The monitors also described as
"credible" accusations that the United Arab Emirates had provided
military support to the RSF "several times per week" via Amdjarass in
northern Chad. A top Sudanese general accused the UAE in November of backing
the RSF war effort.
In a letter to the monitors, the UAE
said 122 flights had delivered humanitarian aid to Amdjarass to help Sudanese
fleeing the war. The United Nations says about 500,000 people have fled Sudan
into eastern Chad, several hundred kilometers south of Amdjarass.
Between April and June last year El
Geneina experienced "intense violence," the monitors wrote, accusing
the RSF and allies of targeting the ethnic African Masalit tribe in attacks
that "may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity."
The RSF has previously denied the
accusations and said any of its soldiers found to be involved would face
justice. The RSF did not immediately respond to a request for comment by
Reuters.
"The attacks were planned,
coordinated, and executed by RSF and their allied Arab militias," the
sanctions monitors wrote in their annual report to the 15-member Security
Council.
'Shot to the head'
Reuters last year chronicled the
ethnically targeted violence committed in West Darfur. In hundreds of
interviews with Reuters, survivors described horrific scenes of bloodletting in
El Geneina and on the 30-kilometer (18 mile) route from the city to the border
with Chad as people fled.
The monitors' report included similar
accounts. They said that between 14-17 June, some 12,000 people fled El Geneina
on foot for Adre in Chad. The Masalit were the majority in El Geneina until the
attacks forced their mass exodus.
"When reaching RSF checkpoints
women and men were separated, harassed, searched, robbed, and physically
assaulted. RSF and allied militias indiscriminately shot hundreds of people in
the legs to prevent them from fleeing," the monitors said.
"Young men were particularly
targeted and interrogated about their ethnicity. If identified as Masalit, many
were summarily executed with a shot to the head. Women were physically and
sexually assaulted. Indiscriminate shootings also injured and killed women and
children," according to the report.
Everyone who spoke to the monitors
mentioned "many dead bodies along the road, including those of women,
children and young men." The monitors also reported "widespread"
conflict-related sexual violence committed by RSF and allied militia.
New firepower
The monitors said the RSF takeover of
most of Darfur relied on three lines of support - Arab allied communities,
dynamic and complex financial networks, and new military supply lines running
through Chad, Libya, and South Sudan.
The UN missions for Chad, Libya and
South Sudan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"Complex financial networks
established by RSF before and during the war enabled it to acquire weapons, pay
salaries, fund media campaigns, lobby, and buy the support of other political
and armed groups," wrote the monitors, adding that the RSF used proceeds
from its pre-war gold business to create a network of as many as 50 companies
in several industries.
Since the war started "most of the
gold which was previously exported to UAE, was now smuggled to Egypt," the
monitors said.
The new firepower acquired by the RSF
"had a massive impact on the balance of forces, both in Darfur and other
regions of Sudan," the report found.
The RSF has recently made military
gains, taking control of Wad Madani, one of Sudan's major cities, and
consolidating its grip on the western region of Darfur.
In December the United States formally
determined that warring parties in Sudan committed war crimes and that the RSF
and allied militias had also committed crimes against humanity and ethnic
cleansing.
The war has left nearly half of Sudan's
49 million people needing aid, while more than 7.5 million people have fled
their homes - making Sudan the biggest displacement crisis globally - and hunger
is rising.
The sanctions monitors told the UN
Security Council that "an excess of mediation tracks, the entrenched
positions of the warring parties, and competing regional interests meant that
these peace efforts had yet to stop the war, bring political settlement or
address the humanitarian crisis."
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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the text of the original story
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/ethnic-killings-in-one-sudan-city-left-up-to-15000-dead-un-report/articleshow/107001989.cms
----
Days after blasting Tinubu, Sharia
Council makes u-turn after closed-door meeting with President
19 January, 2024
The Supreme Council for Sharia in
Nigeria (SCSN) concluded a closed-door meeting with President Bola Tinubu at
the State House, Abuja, on Thursday, commending his administration’s economic
policies while advocating for increased resources to address national security
threats.
Earlier in the week, the organization
had expressed dissatisfaction, stating that the same faith ticket utilized by
President Tinubu in the last general election had not yielded positive changes
for Nigerians. However, following their meeting with the President, Vice
President of the Council, Dr. Bashir Umar, spoke to reporters, explaining that
the group paid a courtesy call to show solidarity and commend the President for
the decisions he has taken on behalf of the country.
Umar stated, “We are here today on a
courtesy call to the President and to show our solidarity and commendation for
the hard decisions he is taking for the country.”
During the meeting, the Islamic Council
advised the President to expedite actions to mitigate the impact of recent
economic decisions. They also urged him to address insecurity decisively to
achieve food security.
Umar elaborated, “And also to request
that he expedite action to cushion the effect of the hard economic decisions
that were taken and also to request that he brings out everything that is in
the arsenal to face the problem of insecurity and to also achieve food
security.”
The Council for Sharia submitted the
communiqué from its recently concluded conference, which conducted a
post-mortem of the 2023 general elections, to the President. The aim was to
create a consensus and provide solutions to perceived issues in the last
elections.
Umar explained, “We also submitted to
him the communique of our just concluded conference which brought about Islamic
scholars and academics, intellectuals, and civil society organizations to make
a post-mortem of the 2023 elections in order to create a consensus and the way
forward.”
Responding to their requests, President
Tinubu assured the Council and provided encouraging remarks. Umar stated, “We
got very good assurances from the President and very encouraging remarks that
call for us to continue to pray intensely for the success of the administration
and for peace and security and development of the country which we have been
doing and we are intensifying our prayers for the leadership of the country.”
It’s worth noting that Sheikh
AbdurRasheedHadiyyatullah, the President of SCSN, had recently expressed
dissatisfaction with the President’s performance, citing issues such as rising
prices, scarcity of Naira, and escalating unemployment. Despite the initial
support for the same faith ticket, he claimed that Nigerians had not enjoyed
the dividends of democracy since the President came to power.
Source: thequesttimes.com
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https://thequesttimes.com/days-after-blasting-tinubu-sharia-council-makes-u-turn-after-closed-door-meeting-with-president/
------
Muslim group eulogises virtues of Sheikh
Abou
20 January 2024
ShakirahAdunola
The Muslim Association of Nigeria (MAN)
has paid glowing tribute to the late Baba Adini of Lagos, His Eminence, Sheikh
Abdul-Hafeez Abou who died on January 9, 2024 at the age of 101.
The group also organised a special
Friday prayer for him. In a condolence message signed by its President, Prof.
DhikrullahAdewaleYagboyaju and National Publicity Secretary,
AlhajaMudirakatAjibona respectively, MAN mourned the demise of the elder
statesman.
The group condoled with the family and
said he was a peace lover, teacher of teachers, community leader and an opinion
moulder.
The statement reads further: “Every soul
originated from Allah and unto Thee, every soul shall return.
“This is to express our condolences on
the passing of Sheikh Hafiz Abou. May Allah be pleased with his soul and grant
him Aljanah Firdaus. May Allah comfort his family and friends, including the
Muslim Association of Nigeria as well as several parts of the Muslim Ummah that
Baba Adini associated with. Lagos State and Nigeria, indeed, will sorely miss
him.”
Source: guardian.ng
Please click the following URL to read
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https://guardian.ng/news/nigeria/muslim-group-eulogises-virtues-of-sheikh-abou/
-----
Military has increased surveillance in
Abuja Communities – DHQ
Odita Sunday, Abuja
20 January 2024
Military high command said it has
increased surveillance on communities in Abuja being terrorised by bandits.
Director Defence Media Operations (DMO), Major General Edward Bubawho made the
disclosure in a statement noted that the armed forces is not unaware of the
terrible impact of kidnappings on the families of those affected.
“Indeed, our hearts and thoughts go to
their families and loved ones. We also recognizes the fear that these
kidnappings creates among the citizenry, following recent events in the FCT.
“While troops probably don’t have all
the answers as at now. Citizens should be rest assured that the armed forces is
working relentlessly to address the hurtful situation. Additionally, troop are
synergizing with other security services and stakeholders to investigate and
gather more intelligence on these kidnapping gangs, particularly around the
FCT.
“Troops have prioritized the areas of
these kidnappings, increased both ground and air surveillance over the areas.
Technologies have also been deployed to more easily detect these kidnapping
gangs in their hideouts and enclaves.
“Furthermore, troops increased the tempo
operations in order to find, degrade and destroy the terrorist and cohorts
wherever they were hiding. In the FCT and environs, some of the areas cleared
by troops so far include Kawu, Gaba, Deidei, Kubwa Hills, and Ushafa in the
FCT, Garam, Jibi, and back of Zuma Rock in Niger State, as well as GidanDogo
and Kuyeri/Kuyeri Hills in Kaduna State. There have also been intensified night
patrols in the Mpape, Kubwa, Lugbe, Pyakasa, Keti, Gbaupe, Gbaukuchi, and
Airport Rd among others.”
He noted that in the Northeast, the air
component of Operation HADIN KAI, on January 10, 2024, eliminated three top
ISWAP terrorists commanders in Borno State.
“The three commanders identified as;
Abou Maimuna, Abou Zahra and Commander Saleh with their lieutenants in a canoe,
were targeted and destroyed by the air strikes.
“Overall, the operations during the week
resulted in 43 neutralized terrorists with 76 of them arrested. Troops also
arrested 29 perpetrators of oil theft and rescued 27 kidnapped hostages. In the
SS, troops denied oil theft of the estimated sum of One Hundred and Thirty One
Million One Hundred and One Thousand Seven Hundred and Fifty Naira
(N131,101,750.00) only.
“Furthermore, troops recovered 81
assorted weapons and 2,150 assorted ammunition. The breakdown as follows: one
NSVT AA gun, one GPMG, one PKMG, 36 AK47 rifles, one RPG 7 tube, 2 AGL bombs, 4
pump action guns, 4 locally fabricated guns, 8 dane guns, 3 short guns, one cut-to-short
dane gun, 2 berretta pistols, one damaged AK47 rifle, 2 RPG chargers, wooden
stock of AK47 rifles, LMG magazine, 8 bandoliers and 42 magazines.
” Others are: 272 belted rounds of 7.62
x 51mm, 268 rounds of 7.62 x 54mm, 557 rounds of 7.62 x 39mm special, 1000
rounds of 7.62mm special ammo, 3 rounds of 12.7 x 108mm, 6 rounds of 9mm ammo,
one AA ammo, 74 live cartridges, empty cases of 7.62mm special ammo, 2
vehicles, 25 motorcycles, 21 mobile phones, 6 baofeng radios and the sum of
N1,266,920.00 only amongst other items.
“Troops in the Niger Delta area
discovered and destroyed 7 dugout pits, 13 boats, 23 storage tanks, 2 barges, 4
vehicles. Other items recovered incl 15 cooking ovens, 2 pump machines and 16
illegal refining sites. Troops recovered 139,045 litres of stolen crude oil,
25,115 litres of illegally refined AGO and 5,200 litres of DPK.
“The armed forces will always be mindful
of the threat by kidnapping gangs and terrorist across the country.
Accordingly, we will continually review our internal processes in order to deal
with these threats both now and in the long term. The military is determined to
give the situation the seriousness it deserves so as to create a safer
environment for citizens.” He said.
Source: guardian.ng
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the text of the original story
https://guardian.ng/news/military-has-increased-surveillance-in-abuja-communities-dhq/
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Over 87 FCT residents killed, 176
kidnapped under Tinubu – Investigation
20th January 2024
AbiodunSanusi and Nathaniel Shaibu
Over 200 violent attacks have been
recorded across all six area councils of the Federal Capital Territory since
President Bola Tinubu assumed office on May 29, 2023.
The incidents led to the death of no
fewer than 87 residents of the FCT, while 176 were kidnapped within the period.
The figures were sourced from Beacon
Consulting, a local firm monitoring security issues in the country, and several
media reports on violent attacks, including kidnapping and killings in the FCT.
Since the assumption of office of the
Minister of the FCT, NyesomWike, on August 16, 2023, there’s been a rise in
violent attacks in the nation’s capital.
The FCT is facing alarming surge in
insecurity, prompting concerns among residents and the authorities. The capital
city, once considered relatively immune to the prevalent security challenges in
other parts of the country, is now grappling with an escalating wave of
criminal activities, particularly kidnapping.
According to a 2020 report by SB Morgen,
Abuja was ranked 11th among locations with frequent abductions, a stark
revelation of the evolving security landscape in the region.
Over the last three years, close to 50
kidnap cases have been recorded in Abuja, involving over 200 persons. The
severity of the issue becomes more apparent when examining the data from
January 2021 to June 2023, revealing approximately 40 recorded cases with 236
victims. Between October and December 2023 alone, there were 13 recorded kidnap
incidents, impacting 80 victims.
These incidents are not isolated to
specific areas but have occurred in various locations within Abuja, including
GwagwaladaKuje, Lugbe, Pegi, Abaji, Keti, and Kwali. What is particularly
concerning is that these incidents seem to occur unchallenged by security
agencies, allowing criminal elements to operate with impunity.
The economic toll of the rising
insecurity is substantial, with confirmed ransom payments totalling N653.7m
between 2021 and 2022. Residents and businesses in the affected areas are
bearing the brunt of the security challenges, and the impact on daily life and
economic activities is becoming increasingly pronounced.
The most notorious among the incidents
over the past seven months includes the abduction of seven persons, including
six girls kidnapped on January 5, 2024, in the Bwari Area Council.
Latest amongst the incidents was the
abduction of the wife and one of the in-laws of a lawyer, Cyril Adikwu, on
Thursday, January 18, at the Nigerian Army Post Housing Scheme in the Kurudu
area of Abuja.
The incident, according to a neighbour
of the victims, occurred around 10pm in the Phase 2 area of the estate.
Also, on January 7, 2024, armed men
abducted 12 from an estate in the Bwari area of Abuja.
On December 12, 2023, a total of 23
residents of the Dei-Dei community in the Bwari area of the FCT were also
abducted.
A nursing mother and three children were
kidnapped in Abuja on December 12, 2023. An Abuja-based musician and his band
members were kidnapped on December 18, 2023, while two persons were kidnapped
in the Mpape area of the FCT on July 16, 2023.
Following a rise in the incidents,
Nigerians have called on the Federal Government and the security agencies to
find a lasting solution to the problem.
The Inspector-General of Police,
OlukayodeEgbetokun, on Wednesday launched the Special Intervention Squad in the
FCT to curb the activities of kidnappers and bandits wreaking havoc, especially
in border towns within the territory.
The squad is charged with patrolling and
securing the communities in the border areas of the FCT, and intervening to
curb and mitigate violent attacks in the nation’s capital.
Following the inauguration of the SIS,
its operatives commenced patrol across the FCT and border towns, villages and
hamlets.
The Force Public Relations Officer, OlumuyiwaAdejobi,
who spoke with one of our correspondents in an exclusive interview, revealed
that the deployment of the officers would be all over the FCT, with more
attention to crisis-prone areas and exits out of the city.
He added that the creation of the SIS
was aimed at addressing the security concerns in the FCT.
“The deployment will be all over, with
more attention to crisis-affected areas and exits out of the city. It is a
general operation aimed at addressing the security concerns in the FCT,” Adejobi
said.
The Commander of the FCT SIS, Bennett
Igwe, who led the operatives on Tuesday in Bwari, Kawu, Kubwa and Gwagwalada,
among others, and into Niger, Nasarawa, Kaduna, and Kogi states, told our
correspondent that the SIS operatives would be stationed in the borders and
would be moving in and out of the FCT to apprehend bandits and other insurgents
disturbing the peace of the capital city.
He added that the SIS was under the
command of the Inspector-General of Police at the Force Headquarters hence its
operatives were not limited by borders.
Igwe said, “We are here tonight in Kawu,
where about 23 persons were kidnapped. As you’ve seen, we’ve toured the whole
of Bwari, and we have shown the criminals that we are ready and we want our
people to be at peace.
“As we’re stationed here and patrolling
Bwari, our other officers are also currently patrolling other border towns in
the FCT; our operatives are patrolling Gwagwalada, Kubwa, Maraba, and other
border towns, villages and hamlets. And we’re moving in and out of the border
states of Kaduna, Nasarawa, Niger, and Kogi. We will flush the bandits out and
return peace and harmony to the FCT.”
The scourge of abduction, which has
strangulated social and economic activities in the North-East and the
North-West, has spread nationwide as bandits and other criminal elements have
moved their operations into major cities across the country, especially the FCT
in recent times.
The hoodlums, who hitherto operated on
highways and in rural communities, have in recent times escalated their attacks
on residents of Abuja, Lagos, Enugu, Kaduna and other urban centres.
Unveiling the SIS at the Force
Headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday, Egbetokun said the alarming rise in
criminal activities without equivocation demanded immediate and resolute
action.
He noted that the approach of the police
was comprehensive, adding that beyond immediate intervention, the SIS would
also engage in community-oriented policing.
Egbetokun said, “As I stand before you
today, I am imbued with a profound sense of duty as we confront the crisis of
kidnapping and violent crimes presently afflicting our esteemed nation,
particularly in and around the Federal Capital Territory.
“The alarming rise in these criminal
activities without equivocation, demands immediate and resolute action from us
all. It is thus with a determined spirit that I proudly announce the
inauguration of the Special Intervention Squad.
“Conceived as an elite unit of the
Nigeria Police Force, the SIS composed of specially trained, well equipped and
highly mobile police officers, and possesses the capacity for rapid
intervention and effective containment of significant security breaches, such
as those currently threatening the suburb of the FCT and creating panic
generally.
“This initiative is not just born out of
necessity, but out of foresight, diligent planning and commitment to enhancing
the already robust security architecture of our nation’s capital.”
Operatives of the SIS visited several
villages and hamlets in the Bwari area of Abuja where there had been several
attacks by insurgents over the past weeks.
One of our correspondents, who followed
the operatives during the show of force, observed that the officers stormed
Bwari with several Armoured Personnel Carriers, patrol vehicles and buses, and
a helicopter.
The NPF had in late 2023 announced that
the deployment of 40,000 operatives of the Special Intervention Squad who were
undergoing training, would begin with Katsina and nine other states including
the FCT.
The Force Headquarters also revealed
that the proposed commanders, who would be in charge of the squad, would be
trained in Mexico while noting that the deployment to the 10 carefully selected
states was to pilot the activities of the SIS.
Following his assumption of office in
June, Egbetokun announced the establishment of the SIS.
He noted that the SIS would be a standby
team of specially trained officers to quickly intervene in large insecurity
occurrences, adding that it was part of the a priority in his administration’s
endeavour to combat the threat of violent crime.
During a recent visit to Owerri, the Imo
State capital, the IG stated that the other 27 states would immediately follow
the 10 pilot states that were selected based on the recent violent crime
assessment conducted in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
Adejobi noted that the SIS would not
operate like the defunct Special Anti-Kidnapping Squad which was notorious for
human rights abuses.
The Force spokesperson also revealed
that operatives of the SIS which were drawn from the Police Mobile Force would
not be involved in escort duties, while noting that the squad’s commanders
would operate under the command of commissioners of police in their respective
states.
In June, Egbetokun announced plans to
withdraw PMF personnel from VIP escort/guard duties.
The IG, who spoke during a meeting with
squadron leaders and tactical commanders at the Force Headquarters, said the
development was to allow the force to take back its place in the internal
security architecture of the country.
Meanwhile, while clarifying the
misunderstanding in regards to the IG’s directive concerning the proposed
withdrawal of the PMF from specialised escort and services for VIPs, Adejobi
noted that the NPF did not intend to strip VIPs (who are legally and
statutorily entitled to police escorts) of their security details, noting that
doing so would be unsafe and counterproductive.
He said, “Get the message right: We
understand that there has been some misunderstanding regarding the directive of
IGP OlukayodeEgbetokun about withdrawing members of the Police Mobile Force
unit from specialised escort and services for VIPs. It’s crucial to provide
clarifications to address this.
“First and foremost, let us be clear: at
no point did the Force intend to strip VIPs (who are legally and statutorily
entitled to Police escorts) of their security details. Doing so would be unsafe
and counterproductive. Instead, the objective is to reassign the withdrawn PMF
personnel to the recently established Special Intervention Squad.”
Two divisional stations
Meanwhile, the Minister of the Federal
Capital Territory, NyesomWike, has directed the Commissioner of Police in the
FCT to provide two new divisional police stations in the Gwagwalada community.
The minister also disclosed that from
next week, police stations across the six area councils would receive new
operational vehicles and communication gadgets to enhance the work of security
agencies in the territory.
Wike made this known during the second
in the series of security town hall meetings at the Gwagwalada Area Council on
Friday.
While disclosing that some informants of
kidnappers had been arrested, the minister vowed to chase criminals out of
Gwagwalad, stating that their time had come.
He said, “Security is one thing the
President has said he will give Nigerians, because his job is to make sure that
he protects lives and property. If we cannot protect lives and property, then
our being in government has no meaning. Criminals should get ready, their time
has come.
“You all know that if I say something, I
will do it. And as I have come here today, if you know you are one of the
informants to these criminals, or you are one of the criminals too, your time
has come. I and the security agencies will pursue you until you will not come
near Gwagwalada again.”
Speaking earlier, the Chairman,
Gwagwalada Area Council, Abubakar Giri, requested the establishment of two
police divisions in Dobi and Giri to strengthen the fight against insecurity,
while the Agumo of Gwagwalada, Muhammadu Magaji, also requested for the
provision of a new patrol van for the police in the area.
Meanwhile, human rights activist and
convener of Concerned Nigerians, DejiAdeyanju, has blamed the displacement of
individuals, including scavengers, and the destruction of shanties where
disadvantaged people earned their livelihood for the current state of
insecurity in the FCT.
He also berated the FCT minister over
rising insecurity in Abuja.
Adeyanju said the distressing reality of
the poor, who had been neglected and marginalised, had made them to resort to
criminal acts such as kidnapping in their pursuit of survival.
“Rather than adequately relocating these
individuals and providing them with alternative means of sustenance, the minister
has callously sent them to the streets, exacerbating the desperation and
criminal activities in the city,” he stated.
Source: punchng.com
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the text of the original story
https://punchng.com/over-87-fct-residents-killed-176-kidnapped-under-tinubu/
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