Educational Crisis, 229 Professors Left Afghanistan since Taliban Takeover
New
Age Islam News Bureau
03 February 2022 
• Sadhvi
incites sexual violence against Muslim women at Chhattisgarh dharm sansad
• Pakistani
Sunni scholar: Conspiracies cannot weaken Islamic Revolution
• Saudi
regime arrests another well-known Shia Muslim religious scholar
• Yemen's
Ansarullah Leader: US, Israel, ‘True Enemies’ of Muslims
• US
advice to banks: OK to transfer aid money to Afghanistan
South Asia
• Armed,
Uniformed Islamic Emirate Forces Must Stay Out of Parks
• Afghanistan
law of media still applicable: Mjahid
• Islamic
Emirate Reopens Universities for in Hot Areas
• Two
disappeared journalists released in Kabul
• US
allows money transfer to Afghanistan, lifted many financial sanctions
--------
India
• Jamaat-e-Islami
Jammu and Kashmir denies any ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, which began an
anti-India campaign in September.
• Indore:
Accused of 'Love Jihad' After Travelling With Friend, Muslim Man Languishes in
Jail
• Karnataka:
Hindu boys of another Udupi college adorn saffron as Muslim girls defy hijab
diktat
• SP
only wants Muslim votes, not Muslim leadership: Maulana Shahabuddin Rizvi
• Samastha
to keep off Muslim Coordination Committee
• No
significant damage to public property in J&K due to terror incidents
between Aug 2019 & Jan 2022
• What
the Indian American Muslim Council is all about, and why it has irked the
Centre
• Linguistic
Identity Scores Over Religious Identity In Assam
--------
Pakistan
• Hindu
businessman shot dead in Pakistan, protesters block highway
• 4
terrorists, 1 soldier killed in attacks on security posts in Pakistan
• PM
expresses solidarity with UAE after attempted Houthi attack
• Pakistan's
ambassador to Iran condoles demise of Ayatollah Safi Golpaygani
• Backdoor
diplomacy with India ongoing, may bear fruit: Mian Mansha
• Govt
hoping PM Imran’s China trip can reinvigorate CPEC
• Prosecution
submits evidence in Altaf Hussain hate speech trial
• JIT
report on Chaman bomb blast to be made public: CM Bizenjo
--------
Arab World
• Vatican
foreign minister urges peace in troubled Lebanon
• Analysis:
Lebanon’s savers to bear burden under new rescue plan
• Turkish
jets target Kurdish positions in Iraq, Syria; four die
• ISIS
resurfacing aided by power vacuum in Iraq, Syria
• UAE
intercepts, destroys three drones targeting the country: Defense Ministry
• Israel
defense minister on first-ever visit to Bahrain
• UAE
welcomes Somali apology for seized cash, easing dispute
• 9
civilians killed in YPG/PKK rocket attack in northwestern Syria
--------
Mideast
• Israel
non-committal amid US pressure over Palestinian’s death
• President
Rayeesi: Even US Admits Failure of Maximum Pressure against Iran
• Iran,
Australia FMs Review Bilateral Ties
• President
Rayeesi Calls for Expansion of Iran-China Ties
• Israel
participates in huge US Gulf naval exercise alongside Saudi Arabia, Oman
• Iran
state TV streaming site targeted with dissident message
• Turkish
consul general visits West Bank city of Salfit
--------
North America
• US
expects full accountability for death of elderly Palestinian-American in West
Bank
• Senator:
US got nothing from Trump's "maximum pressure"
• US-led
joint naval drill begins with Israel and Muslim nations
• US
re-offers $10 mln for information on Iran hackers accused of election
interference
• Washington
threatens Yemen’s Houthis with new sanctions
--------
Europe
• Turkey:
12 bodies of migrants recovered at Greek border
• Lisa
Smith 'led astray' by Islamic State, court hears
• Turkey,
Armenia resume charter flights amid thawing ties
• Pope
Francis appoints new ambassador to Turkiye
• Turkish
president to visit Ukraine, attend high-level council meeting
• Australian
SAS corporal ‘executed unarmed Afghan,’ court hears
--------
Africa
• Hijab:
Court adjourns alleged violation of FHR cases between ISI-UI, Muslim students
till March 11
• Tunisian
president denies a coup but holds power tight
• Economic
pain threatens social and political chaos in Tunisia
• King
of Jordan: Security of Saudi Arabia and Jordan is indivisible
• Burkina
Faso junta lifts nationwide curfew in force since coup
--------
Southeast Asia
• Militants
killed by soldiers in mosque shootout
• Nasdaq
bell-ringing ceremony featured Chinese official who called genocide of Uyghur
Muslims 'lies'
• Khairy
sues Lokman, Islamic preacher over vax-linked online posts
• Xi
promises a ‘safe and splendid’ Olympics in Beijing
• Holocaust
museum causes stir in Indonesia
Compiled
by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL:
--------
Educational
crisis, 229 professors left Afghanistan since Taliban takeover
03
Feb 2022
The
findings of BBC indicate that 229 university lecturers from the top three
universities in Afghanistan have left Afghanistan for foreign countries since
the Taliban took over on August 15 last year.
The
professors have left Kabul University, Herat University, and Balkh University.
Among
the professors who have left, most of them held Masters or/and Ph.D. Degrees.
As
per the findings of BBC, most of the professors were from Kabul University-the
biggest and the most important University- that amount to 112.
The
229 professors do not include those who are on vacation abroad or those who
left Afghanistan for treatment or studies purposes during the past six months.
The
findings show that 50 professors from Kabul University have left Afghanistan
for the above-mentioned purposes.
Most
of the professors were from the faculty of literature of Kabul University
accounted for 27.
Among
them, the department of French had 7 professors, all of who have left and now
there is no professor in the department to teach.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
Sadhvi
incites sexual violence against Muslim women at Chhattisgarh dharm sansad
2nd
February 2022
A
Sadhvi incites sexual violence against Muslim women at the Dharma Sansad in
Chhattisgarh on December 26. (Screengrab Twitter)
-----------
A
video from the Dharma Sansad in Chattisgarh has surfaced on social media, where
a Hindutva leader, a sadhvi, can be seen making objectionable remarks against
Muslim women.
The
Sadhvi calls upon the Hindu youth to step up action against inter-faith
marriages between Hindus and Muslims. She directs the youth to create fear
among Muslim men to stay away from Hindu girls.
“If
any Muslim man laid their eyes on a Hindu girl from today onwards, their women
will give birth to Hindu children, without a nikah or pheras,” threatens the
Sadhvi, openly inciting sexual violence against Muslim women.
The
Sadhvi further instructs the youth to keep track of Hindu women to ensure that
they do not fall for Muslim men. “If a Hindu girl runs away with Muslim youth,
go after her, bring her back. Thrash the girl and her parents and question
them,” she says.
The
video of the Sadhvi that has surfaced on Twitter is from the ‘dharam sansad’
held in Raipur on December 26, the same event where Maharaj Kalicharan had made
objectionable comments against Mahatma Gandhi, following which he was arrested.
Kalicharan
was the only accused arrested in the Chattisgarh Dharma Sansad event but only
on sedition charges for using derogatory language against Mahatma Gandhi.
Source:
Siasat Daily
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
Pakistani
Sunni scholar: Conspiracies cannot weaken Islamic Revolution
February
3, 2022
A
Pakistani religious scholar says the Islamic Revolution of Iran is a source of
inspiration for the entire Muslim World and cannot be weakened through
conspiracies.
-----------
A
Pakistani religious scholar says the Islamic Revolution of Iran is a source of
inspiration for the entire Muslim World and cannot be weakened through
conspiracies.
Mufti
Gulzar Ahmad Naimi head of 'Jamaat Ahle Haram’ said that Imam Khomeini brought
the Islamic Revolution at a time when the entire Muslim world was controlled by
the West and lost its identity.
“Imam
Khomeini with his vision guided the Muslims all over the world to stand against
the oppression and led the Iranian nation to revolt against the tyranny
according to the principles of Islam,” he noted.
He
said the Islamic Revolution is a beacon light for the oppressed nations of the
world.
Mufti
Gulzar Ahmad Naimi said that the Islamic Revolution was based on Islamic
principles and there was no self-interest involved.
The
scholar said that many Arab states of the region had tried to weaken the
Islamic revolution under Western influence but failed miserably to accomplish
their evil designs.
“Islamic
Revolution has the support of Allah Almighty and cannot be weakened through
conspiracies,” said head of 'Jamaat Ahle Haram’.
He
said that from the very first day of the victory of the Islamic Revolution the
West has been doing negative propaganda against the Islamic Republic.
Mufti
Gulzar Ahmad Naimi expressing his views said that even now the Islamic
Revolution is continuing to inspire Muslims around the world.
He
added that brave nations of Lebanon and Syria have stood victorious because of
the principles of the Islamic Revolution and even the Yemeni nation today is
fighting against a much larger and powerful enemy under the guidelines of the
Islamic Revolution.
The
religious scholar went on to say that the future of the Islamic Revolution is
bright and will going to flourish in times to come.
Source:
ABNA24
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
Saudi
regime arrests another well-known Shia Muslim religious scholar
February
3, 2022
The
Saudi regime has arrested Sheikh Kadhim al-Amri, a leading Shia Muslim religious
scholar in the holy city of Medina, without any charges.
------------
The
Saudi regime has arrested Sheikh Kadhim al-Amri, a leading Shia Muslim
religious scholar in the holy city of Medina, without any charges.
Local
sources reported the development on Tuesday, saying the arrestee — who is the
son of the late Sheikh Muhammad al-Amri — was transferred by Saudi security
forces to an “unknown location” upon detention.
Sheikh
Amri is the custodian of a famous mosque in Medina and represents Grand
Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Sistani in the holy city. He had been arrested once in
2010 too.
His
arrest came only a couple of days after a court in Saudi Arabia sentenced Shia
Muslim religious scholar Sheikh Abdul Latif al-Nasser to eight years in prison
on “terrorism charges.”
Sheikh
Nasser had likewise been placed under arbitrary arrest while traveling with his
family on the King Fahd Causeway, which connects Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, in
June 2019.
Source:
ABNA24
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
Yemen's
Ansarullah Leader: US, Israel, ‘True Enemies’ of Muslims
2022-February-2
TEHRAN
(FNA)- Leader of the Yemeni popular Ansarullah resistance movement called the
United States and the Israeli regime "enemies number one" to Muslims
around the world.
-----------
“Americans
and Israelis try to abuse the problems that lie within the [international
Muslim] Ummah (Nation) towards furthering their own plots,” Abdul-Malik
Al-Houthi said on Tuesday while receiving tribal delegations from across
war-torn Yemen, presstv reported.
“Israel
and its mercenaries consider the Yemeni nation to be their common enemy,” he
added.
Al-Houthi
was referring to the regional Arab states that have entered US-backed
normalization agreements with the Israeli regime and have, ever since, been
trying to ingratiate themselves to the occupying regime by aligning their
positions with it.
“The
[adversarial] positions that the United Arab Emirates, the Zionist regime, and
Saudi Arabia [adopt] against the Yemeni people during their meetings is very
clear,” the Houthi leader noted.
The
UAE was one of the regional states that normalized its relations with the
Israeli regime via the Washington-mediated so-called “Abraham Accords” in
August 2020.
Several
other regional states followed suit. Saudi Arabia has not yet clinched any
explicit normalization agreement with Tel Aviv, but has once received the
occupying regime’s former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and recently opened
its airspace to a UAE-headed flight that was carrying Israeli President Isaac
Herzog.
Al-Houthi
attacked Riyadh’s double-standards in dealing with the occupying regime and the
Yemeni people, asking how come would the kingdom open up its skies to the
Israeli officials' plane, but at the same time would forbid the Yemeni people
from travelling within the kingdom.
The
Emirates is also Saudi Arabia’s main ally in a 2015-present war and
simultaneous siege that the kingdom has been leading against Yemen in order to
change the impoverished country’s ruling structure.
The
war has killed tens of thousands of Yemenis and turned the entire country into
the scene of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
On
Tuesday, the spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces, repeated a threat he had
leveled against the UAE last week, in which he had warned that — with the
Emirates' ongoing involvement in the devastating war — the country’s popular
Dubai Expo 2020 might be the next target of Yemen’s retaliatory strikes.
“To
be safe…we repeat the advice,” Brigadier General Yahya Saree wrote in a tweet
that incorporated Expo as its only hashtag.
Precisely
this time last week, Saree had urged the events’ participants “to change” their
destination.
In
the space of a single month, the Yemeni army and its allied popular committees
have carried out several rounds of retaliatory strikes against targets in Dubai
and the Emirati capital of Abu Dhabi.
Sana’a
has also warned Abu Dhabi that the counterstrikes would be exceedingly
“painful” if the latter failed to wind down its involvement in the Saudi-led
war.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
US
advice to banks: OK to transfer aid money to Afghanistan
02
February ,2022
Taliban
fighters stand guard at the courtyard of the Hazrat-e-Ali shrine or Blue
Mosque, in Mazar-i-Sharif on October 30, 2021. (AFP)
--------------
International
banks can transfer money to Afghanistan for humanitarian purposes, and aid
groups are allowed to pay teachers and healthcare workers at state-run
institutions without fear of breaching sanctions on the Taliban, the United
States said on Wednesday.
The
US Treasury Department offered guidance on sanctions exemptions issued in
September and December for humanitarian work in Afghanistan, where the United
Nations says more than half the country’s 39 million people suffer extreme
hunger and the economy, education and social services are facing collapse.
UN
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last week warned Afghanistan was “hanging by
a thread.”
The
Taliban, which have long been blacklisted by the US as a terrorist group,
seized power from Afghanistan’s internationally backed government in August.
Billions of dollars in Afghan central bank reserves and international
development aid were frozen to prevent it from falling into Taliban hands.
International
banks have been wary of Afghanistan and the UN and aid groups are struggling to
get enough money into the country to fund operations.
The
US Treasury said banks can process transactions related to humanitarian
operations “including clearing,
settlement,
and transfers through, to, or otherwise involving privately owned and
state-owned Afghan depository institutions.”
It
also outlined permitted transactions involving the Taliban, which include the
also blacklisted Haqqani Network. These include signing agreements to provide
aid directly to the Afghan people, general aid coordination, including import
administration, and sharing of office space.
“Payments
of taxes, fees, or import duties to, or the purchase or receipt of permits,
licenses, or public utility services from” the Taliban, Haqqani Network or any
entity in which they own more than 50 percent is authorized for humanitarian
operations, the Treasury said.
It
also said aid groups are allowed to ship cash to Afghanistan for humanitarian
operations and can make direct payments to healthcare workers and teachers in
public hospitals and schools.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
South Asia
Armed,
Uniformed Islamic Emirate Forces Must Stay Out of Parks
February
3, 2022
Armed
and uniformed forces of the Islamic Emirate are forbidden from entering parks
and other entertainment areas across the country, a spokesman said on
Wednesday.
The
decision was made by the caretaker cabinet of the Islamic Emirate last Monday,
according to the spokesman.
“Based
on a government cabinet decision, the forces of the Islamic Emirate are not
allowed to enter parks or other entertainment areas while being armed and
wearing uniforms,” said Inamullah Samangani, deputy spokesman for the Islamic
Emirate.
Citizens
welcomed the decision of the government.
“We
sincerely call on them to not enter with military equipment--not only the parks
but in the hospitals, schools, mosques because it affects the morale of the
society,” said Mansour, a resident of Kabul.
“We
welcome the decision made by the Islamic Emirate. It is a good act because
parks are places for families and as all parks have their own guards, there is
no need for security forces,” said Farida another resident.
Islamic
Emirate Spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said on Twitter that all forces of the Islamic
Emirate are obliged to adhere to the rules in entertainment areas.
Analysts
believe that the Islamic Emirate’s forces need to receive professional
training.
“Armed
military personnel, and individuals with military equipment, should be banned
because the areas (parks) are designed for common people and children who need
to walk and enjoy a calm environment,” said Gen. Samar Sadat, a military
expert.
Source:
Tolo News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-176555
--------
Afghanistan
law of media still applicable: Mjahid
02
Feb 2022
Deputy
Minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Zabiullah Mujahid said that the
previous law of media in Afghanistan is still applicable but added that two
other commissions regarding media will be created soon.
Speaking
at a gathering of the Afghan Journalist Safety Committee in Kabul on Wednesday,
February 2, 2022, Zabiullah Mujahid said that the two commissions will be, a
commission of violation of rules of media and a joint commission of media and
government in Afghanistan.
The
Deputy Minister also said that after the creation of a commission of violation
of rules of media, no government administration will be allowed to interfere in
Afghan media outlets.
“Works
on creation of the law of access to information is going on and the result will
be announced as soon as they complete the law. Afghan women and girls can work
at media in Afghanistan but they should wear Islamic hijab.” Said Mujahid.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/afghanistan-law-of-media-still-applicable-mjahid-987987/
--------
Islamic
Emirate Reopens Universities for in Hot Areas
February
2, 2022
KABUL:
The Islamic Emirate on Wednesday said they have reopened public universities
for all in hot areas that include six provinces of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces.
Since
they swept into power in mid-August, the international community has watched to
see whether the Islamic Emirate will impose restrictions on women or not. The
international community has repeatedly voiced concerns over the closure of
schools and universities for female students.
The
Taliban have imposed several restrictions, many of them on women, since their
takeover — women have been banned from many jobs outside the health and
teaching sector, and girls have not been able to go to school after grade six.
This
comes as the European Parliament is hosting a two-day conference about Afghan
women to assess the situation of women in Afghanistan.
Source:
Afghanistan Times
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
http://www.afghanistantimes.af/islamic-emirate-reopens-universities-for-in-hot-areas%ef%bf%bc/
--------
Two
disappeared journalists released in Kabul
03
Feb 2022
Two
Afghan journalists named Waris Hasrat and Aslam Hijab were released on
Wednesday, February 2, 2022, after being in detention of the Taliban for two
days.
Their
TV channel, Ariana TV confirmed the news and added that the journalists were
released after not being found guilty.
The
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has not commented on the detention of
journalists but both the United Nations and the General Amnesty had accused the
Taliban of having kidnapped the journalists.
UNAMA
in a Twitter post said that the Taliban should find the whereabouts of the two
journalists and released them.
This
comes two weeks after two women activists disappeared from their houses and are
still missing.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/two-disappeared-journalists-released-in-kabul-59876887/
--------
US
allows money transfer to Afghanistan, lifted many financial sanctions
03
Feb 2022
The
United States said that international banks can transfer money to Afghanistan
fur humanitarian purposes and that the aid agencies can also pay the salaries
of teachers and health workers in all state-run institutions.
As
per the new announcement of the US, aid groups and international banks will
violate no sanctions by doing so.
This
comes a week after UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said that Afghanistan is
hanging by a thread.
The
US Department of Treasury has said the international banks can process
transactions related to humanitarian operations that include settlement,
clearing, and transfer through or otherwise involving privately owned and
state-owned Afghan depository institutions.
In
the meantime, the department permitted transactions involving the Taliban,
which also include the blacklisted Haqqani Network.
Based
on the permission of the US Treasury, these transactions include signing
agreements to provide aid directly to the Afghan people, general aid
coordination, including import, administration, and sharing the office.
“Payments
of taxes, fees, or import duties to, or the purchase or receipt of permits,
licenses, or public utility services from” the Taliban, Haqqani Network or any
entity in which they own more than 50 percent is authorized for humanitarian
operations, the Treasury said.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
India
Jamaat-e-Islami
Jammu and Kashmir denies any ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, which began an
anti-India campaign in September.
FEB
02,2022
Jamaat-e-Islami
Jammu and Kashmir was banned for five years in 2019 due to its close links with
terrorist organisations. The Muslim Brotherhood launched a boycott movement
against India in September last year to dent its image.
Srinagar
(Jammu and Kashmir) India, February 2: Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir denied
links to the Muslim Brotherhood, a transnational Islamist organization that
launched an anti-India campaign in September last year, and said it was not
involved in the running of any conference.All the complaints raised about
Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir's participation in the conference Russell
Tribunal on Kashmir held in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir
said in a statement released today that it was a religious body working for the
happiness of humanity at large in accordance with the divine guidance of
Islam.People and organizations should not claim to be affiliated with Jamaat
and attempt to shame the organization.We are not involved in any discussion, it
said.In 2019, Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir was banned for five years due
to its close links with terrorist organisations.
Source:
The Times Bureau
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Indore:
Accused of 'Love Jihad' After Travelling With Friend, Muslim Man Languishes in
Jail
03rd
February 2022
Bhopal:
It was 2:30 am on January 24 when the Indore police came knocking at 30-year-old
Asif Shaikh’s two-room house in Azad Nagar, taking his elderly parents and
pregnant wife by surprise. It was a bad omen for the Shaikh family, who are
still trying to understand why their son was taken off an Ajmer-bound train by
members of the Bajrang Dal after they found Asif travelling with a Hindu woman,
Sakshi Jain, and accused him of committing ‘love jihad’.
It
had come as some relief to Asif and his family that Jain, after being abruptly
taken to the Ujjain railway police station, had stood firm and denied that Asif
had pressurised her in any way.
According
to Asif’s mother Mumtaz Shaikh (50), Asif had known Jain since 2016, when she
married his school friend Aman Yadav.
But
nearly 10 days after the train episode, neither Mumtaz nor anyone else in the
family had the slightest idea what the police might have come looking for late
at night. “Before we could even ask them what they were looking for, the police
barged into our house and began questioning us like we were some hardened
criminals, without any warrant or anything in hand. It was after some time that
we were told that Asif had loaned money to some people and they wanted to
question Asif over it,” said Mumtaz.
Mumtaz
was asked to bring Asif to the police station the next morning for the required
questioning. It was only after reaching the police station with Asif that
Mumtaz was told that he has been booked for forceful religious conversion along
with extortion on a complaint made by Sakshi Jain the night before.
Jain
approached the Mhow police station at 11 pm on January 23 and submitted a
written application alleging that Asif secretly took objectionable photos of
her and began blackmailing her. He was also pressurising her to convert in a
bid to get married, the complain alleged. The police booked Asif under Section
384 (punishment for extortion) of the IPC and Sections 3 (prohibition of
unlawful conversion from one religion to another) and 5 (punishments for
contravention of Section 3) of the MP Freedom of Religion Act, 2021.
This
comes in sharp contrast to the statement given by the superintendent of police
for Ujjain GRP, Nivedita Gupta, who had clarified that the parents of both
Sakshi Jain and Asif Shaikh were called to the police station and after it was
learnt that the two are family friends, the two were let go.
Speaking
to The Wire, Gupta had then said, “As they were two consenting adults and there
was no crime, the two were let go.” In another video of the incident from
inside the railway police station at Ujjain, Jain was seen shouting at the
Bajrang Dal men saying, “Your one misunderstanding will spoil my life. I work
as a teacher and teach children.”
It’s
only after Jain said in a written statement that the two are family friends,
travelling to Ajmer with their families’ consent, that the police did not file
an FIR and handed the two over to their parents. The videos of the two being
taken off the train, with Asif was being beaten up by Bajrang Dal men on the
way to the police station, had gone viral on social media and made national
headlines.
“The
cops did not reveal that Sakshi has lodged an FIR of forceful conversion. It
was only while arresting Asif that the police revealed that he was booked for
extortion and forceful conversion in a case filed by Sakshi,” said Mumtaz.
Admitting
to this, Arun Solanki, station house in-charge of the Mhow police station,
said, “The FIR was lodged around 11 pm on a written application made by the
victim Sakshi Jain on January 23. And we have gone to Asif’s home to question
his family member at midnight. We arrested Asif only after his mother brought
him to the police station the following day around 2 pm.”
The
following day, Asif was produced before the court and sent to Mhow jail.
Sessions
judge Sashi Singh of Dr Ambedkar Nagar Court in Indore rejected Asif’s bail
application after the police claimed “his bail may create furore and communal
tension may erupt”.
Despite
repeated attempts, Jain and her husband Aman Yadav refused to comment when
asked about their friendship with Asif. “We will not comment. Aapko jo likhna
hai likho (You write whatever you want),” both said over the phone before
disconnecting the call.
Asif’s
mother, Mumtaz, claimed that Aman, Sakshi and Asif were friends and often
visited each other’s homes. “Asif and Aman are schoolmates. When Asif got
married in November 2021, Sakshi and Aman played an important role. Asif’s wife
was also familiar with Aman and Sakshi,” said Mumtaz.
She
added that Jain has even given Asif Rs 20,000 as a loan after his business
suffered during the two COVID-19-induced lockdowns.
When
asked about the January 14 incident, when Bajrang Dal men assaulted the duo at
the Ujjain railway station, Mumtaz said, “We know that Asif was going to Ajmer
with his friend. Asif’s wife and I together packed his luggage. They had a
return ticket for the following day.”
Not
only has Asif’s bail plea been rejected, Mumtaz was also denied an appointment
to meet her in jail when she tried on February 1. According to Mumtaz, after
she went to meet the jailer seeking an appointment to see Asif, she was told
that Asif has tested positive for COVID-19.
Source:
The Wire
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Karnataka:
Hindu boys of another Udupi college adorn saffron as Muslim girls defy hijab
diktat
2nd
February 2022
At
another government school in Karnataka’s Udupi, male students adorned saffron
scarves around their necks in a protest after Muslim girls defied the state’s
new hijab diktat.
A
hijab row has erupted in the state of Karnataka as girl students are forced to
attend schools and colleges without a hijab despite religious mandate.
Boys
of the government college in Udupi’s Kundapura came to the institution adorning
saffron scarves after hijabi Muslims turned down the management’s order to
attend college without headscarves, as per the state’s new guidelines.
After
the girls denied to defy their religious mandate over the government’s hijab
diktat, several Hindu boys came to college wearing saffron scarves, in protest.
The
school management held a meeting with the parents of the Muslim students,
alongside a local MLA.
In
the video from the meeting that surfaced on social media, parents can be heard
saying that we have never discriminated against any religion and sent our
students to the college during all Hindu festivals.
“Our
children have attended college during all Hindu festivals be it Onam or Holi.
Everybody came to college on those days. Nobody remained absent. When it comes
to Hijab it is mandatory. We have to do it,” said a parent.
“They
are students why are you dragging them into this? Don’t discriminate between
them. They come here to study,” said another parent.
The
controversy that has been raging since early January, forced the state to call
for a committee to look into the matter and take a call on pre-university
college uniforms across the state.
The
state had directed students, of all colleges, to shun the Hijab until the
report of the high-level committee formed in this regard is submitted.
Source:
Siasat Daily
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SP
only wants Muslim votes, not Muslim leadership: Maulana Shahabuddin Rizvi
2nd
February 2022
Bareily:
Maulana Shahabuddin Rizvi, the General Secretary of All India Tanzeem Ulama E
Islam on Wednesday, launched a scathing attack on Samajwadi Party stating, “it
only wants Muslim votes but not Muslim leadership.”
“Samajwadi
Party wants Muslim votes, but it wants to end Muslim leadership,” Rizvi told
ANI.
He
also said that Muslims are looking for a better alternative in this upcoming
Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections that are scheduled to take place in seven
phases beginning from February 10.
“Muslims
are looking for a better alternative in this assembly elections, not for Samajwadi
Party, but for Congress or All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen,” he added.
Source:
Siasat Daily
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--------
Samastha
to keep off Muslim Coordination Committee
03rd
February 2022
KOZHIKODE:
Samastha Kerala Jam-Iyyathul Ulema has decided not to be a part of the
permanent Muslim Coordination Committee that has declared agitations against
the government’s decision to hand over the appointments in Waqf Board to Public
Services Commission (PSC).
The
decision was taken at the Samastha central mushawara (consultative body)
meeting last month and was communicated at the meeting of the Samastha
Coordination Committee held at Chelari in Malappuram two days ago. Samastha
Coordination Committee is the forum of all the feeder outfits that come under
the parent organisation.
Though
Samastha said that a permanent mechanism is unnecessary, it will participate in
the meetings convened by Panakkad Thangals as and when urgent issues concerning
the Muslim community arise.
Source:
New Indian Express
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--------
No
significant damage to public property in J&K due to terror incidents
between Aug 2019 & Jan 2022
Bharti
Jain
Feb
2, 2022
NEW
DELHI: Damages to private property in Jammu and Kashmir on account of terror
incidents since the abrogation of Article 370, were assessed at Rs 5.3 crore,
the home ministry told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
MoS
Nityanand Rai, in reply to a written question, informed that no significant
public property was damaged in the 541 terror incidents witnessed in J&K
between August 5, 2019 and January 26, 2022.
Source:
Times Of India
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What
the Indian American Muslim Council is all about, and why it has irked the
Centre
February
02, 2022
Former
vice-president Hamid Ansari, along with four US lawmakers, sparked controversy
on 26 January as he raised concerns over the human rights situation in India.
Ansari
was speaking at a panel discussion organised by the Indian American Muslim
Council (IAMC), which in the past has raised issues pertaining to the safety and
security of Muslims in India.
Participating
in the virtual panel discussion from India, Ansari expressed his concern over
the rising trend of Hindu nationalism.
His
allegation of "intolerance", "insinuating otherness", and
"promoting disquiet and insecurity" on the current government were
not received well. Several BJP leaders have since spoken strongly against the
former vice-president.
Also
read: Hamid Ansari comments on human rights irk BJP: What you need to know
about controversy
The
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) also criticised Ansari’s comments and the
Indian American Muslim Council.
MEA
spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said “the track record of event organisers is as
well known as the biases and political interests of the participants”.
Let’s
take a look at the IAMC’s controversial history and its tussle with Indian law:
–
The Indian American Muslim Council was founded in 2002 by Sheikh Ubaid after
the Godhra riots.
–
IAMC is headed by Rasheed Ahmed, who was executive director (2008-17) of
Islamic Medical Association of North America (IMANA) which was accused of
looting public COVID funds. Meanwhile, IMANA’s Director of Operations Zahid
Mahmood is an ex-PakIstan Navy official.
–
According to its website, the IAMC is “the largest advocacy organization of
Indian Muslims in the US”.
–
The organisation has been outspoken about alleged crimes against minorities in
India.
–
According to News18, the IAMC had reportedly collected funds for the cause of
the Rohingya crisis and paid to lobby firm FGR for getting India blacklisted by
the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF).
–
FGR head Terry Allen was a long-time associate of Nadine Maenza, USCIRF Chair.
IAMC’s Sheikh Ubaid is friends with Abdul Malik Mujahid, who headed Islamic
Circle of North America (ICNA): the US front for Jamaat-e-Islami, Pakistan.
The
ICNA has known links with Pak-based terror groups including LeT.
–
After the 26 January event, minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said
that the organisation had links with SIMI (Students’ Islamic Movement of India)
and ISI of Pakistan.
"This
Indo-American Muslim Council, who had a link with SIMI and ISI, who used to
propagate anti-India bashing and Modi bashing, has done it again," Naqvi
said.
What
did Ansari and others say during the online event
The
former vice president said that in recent years, the country has “experienced
the emergence of trends and practises that dispute the well-established
principle of civic nationalism”.
“…and
interposes a new and imaginary practice of cultural nationalism. It seeks to
present an electoral majority in the guise of a religious majority and
monopolized political power. It wants to distinguish citizens on the basis of
their faith, give vent to intolerance, insinuate otherness, and promote disquiet
and insecurity,” Ansari said.
He
added: “Some of its recent manifestations are chilling and reflect poorly on
our claim to be governed by rule of law. It's a question that has to be
answered. These trends need to be contested and contested legally and contested
politically.”
US
senator Ed Markey, Congressmen Jim McGovern, Andy Levin and Jamie Raskin were
among the speakers at the session. Markey is known for his anti-India stands in
the past including opposing the India-US civil nuclear deal during the Manmohan
Singh regime.
The
other three Congressmen also have a history of taking anti-India stands
irrespective of the governments at the Centre.
Levin
said that the world’s largest democracy was seen backsliding as human rights
are under attack.
"Regrettably,
today, the world's largest democracy is seeing backsliding, human rights under
attack and religious nationalism. Since 2014, India has fallen from 27 to 53 on
the Democracy Index. And Freedom House has downgraded India from free to partly
free," Levin said.
IAMC’s
response to Naqvi’s claims
–
While denying all allegations made by Naqvi, the IAMC challenged the government
to “furnish evidence to prove even one of these baseless and fraudulent
claims”.
“IAMC
does not have ties to Pakistan, ISI or SIMI. IAMC has zero history of spreading
communal violence in India,” it said.
–
It said that SIMI has been banned eight times under UAPA since 2001 and never
in these years IAMC was linked to SIMI.
“SIMI
has been banned eight times under the Unlawful (Activities) Prevention Act
since 2001. Each time, the ban was adjudicated upon at a tribunal constituted
under a high court judge. Not once in all these years has India’s federal
government claimed at the court that IAMC is linked with SIMI,” it said in a
statement.
Source:
First Post
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Linguistic
Identity Scores Over Religious Identity In Assam
Seema
Guha
02
FEB 2022
The
people of Assam have always had fears of being reduced to a minority in their
own state. This fear was there from the time of the British Raj.
In
fact, when India was portioned in 1947, Gopinath Bordoloi, the then Prime
Minister (yes, he was called PM) of
Assam, played a pivotal role in ensuring that the Sylhet area, which was then a
part of Assam, was transferred to East Pakistan. This was because the Barak
valley of Assam adjoins Sylhet, both
with Bengali speaking populations. Taken together, they could have overwhelmed
the Assamese speakers of the state. Bordoloi, an important Congress leader,
made sure through his links with the party big-wigs in New Delhi that Sylhet be
part of former East Pakistan. A referendum was held and Sylhet went to
Pakistan. Identity in Assam is linked to language. Assam in the past witnessed
several anti-Bengali language riots.
The
All-Assam Student Union movement against Bangladeshi immigrants in the late 70s
and early 80s was initially not so much anti-Muslim,(Assamese speaking Muslims
were never targeted) as anti-foreign nationals from Bangladesh. Later it also became anti-Muslim rode on the
back of exaggerated fears of Assam becoming India’s second Muslim majority
state after Kashmir. This was also fueled by RSS working on the ground as well
as the BJP who were then not the major forces it is now.
The
agitation against foreign nationals ended with the signing of the Assam Accord in 1985, where Clause 6 spoke of "constitutional, legislative
and administrative safeguards, as may be appropriate, shall be provided to protect,
preserve and promote the cultural, social and linguistic identity and heritage
of the Assamese people."
But
in the mosaic that makes up the people of the state -Ahom’s, the many tribals
who live in the state, upper castes that had migrated from North India, Bengali
speaking people of the Barak valley, the tea garden labour, Bangladeshi
immigrants, initially brought in by the British to clear the malarial plains of
the Brahmaputra and turn it into fertile agricultural land. – the question
remains who is an Assamese.
That
question had haunted Assam since the beginning. The National Register of
Citizens of 1951, as a result of that effort. The student agitation in Assam
was to clean the state’s electoral rolls and ensure that only genuine citizens
would-be voters. The students believed that illegal Muslim Bengali-speaking migrants from former East
Pakistan were being encouraged by the ruling Congress party to come into Assam
and form a solid vote bank for the party.
In
the Assam Accord, the cut-off for citizenship was March 24, 1971, meaning all
those who entered India from former East Pakistan before midnight of that date
were accepted as Indian citizens. The rest of the Muslim Bengali speakers would
be deported to Bangladesh. When the agreement between the student leaders, the
state government and the centre were signed, they were given the assurance that
the NRC of 1951 would be updated, to throw out all those who were not genuine
citizens. But so long as the Congress and later the UPA ruled nothing moved.
The
revision and update of the NRC in Assam was ordered by the Supreme Court to
settle the issue of citizenship. When the final updated list of the NRC was
published on August 31, 2019, the number of foreigners were found to be just
19.07 lakh, a far cry from the exaggerated figures of both the All-Assam
Student Union and the BJP, which had swept the assembly elections in the state
and were in power for the first time in 2016. Ever since there was a steady
drumbeat by the party both in the state and centre of Assam being taken over by
illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. To add to the discomfiture of the BJP, a
large section was Bengali Hindus, the
vote bank of the party not just in Assam, but in Tripura as well as West Bengal
where state polls were due. The BJP had since the beginning of the movement
against Bangladeshi influx supported the students and the people of Assam, as
it fell in line with its Hindutva ideology.
Source:
Outlook India
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Pakistan
Hindu
businessman shot dead in Pakistan, protesters block highway
Feb
2, 2022
KARACHI:
A Hindu businessman was shot dead in Pakistan's Sindh province on Monday by
influential elements allegedly belonging to the Dahar community, living 2 km
away from the Daharki town of Ghotki district, reported local media.
Satan
Lal, the businessman, was shot dead on Monday over a piece of land in Ghotki
district, reported The Express Tribune.
"There
was an inauguration of a cotton factory and flour mill on the land of Satan Lal
where some people shot and killed him," The Express Tribune quoted Lal's
friend Mukhi Anil Kumar, who was present at the scene, as saying over the
phone.
"We
initially thought that it was the aerial firing to welcome Saen Sadhram Saheb,
spiritual leader of the community," he added."They are threatening to
kill me, smash my eyes and cut my hands and feet. They are asking me to leave
Pakistan. I belong to this country and will prefer to die here but will not
surrender," said Satan Lal in a video that went viral a few months
ago."The roadside land belongs to me and why should I give it up," he
was further quoted as saying. Late Lal had requested the chief justice of
Pakistan and other authorities to provide him justice, naming those who were
threatening to kill him.
On
Tuesday, a large number of protesters blocked the National Highway to protest
the killing of the Hindu businessman.
Following
the sit-in, police arrested ring leader Bachal Dahar and his accomplices
accused of killing Lal. Earlier, in an attempt to press the law enforcement
agency to apprehend the culprits, the locals had staged a protest in front of
the Daharki police.
The
culprits involved in the incident have been arrested and protesters have now
cleared the highway, said Deputy Inspector General (DIG) police Sukkur.A
two-acre land triggered the dispute. Around eight years ago, some people had
shot and injured Satan Lal who also came under attack a few months ago, claimed
local journalists from the area.
Efforts
were afoot to tarnish the image of co-existence in Sindh where Hindus and
Muslims live peacefully for centuries, said Khehal Das Kohistani, a lawmaker of
the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
Girls
of the Hindu community were forcibly converted and people were being kidnapped
and killed, claimed the PML-N leader.
Stressing
that the situation will spiral out of control if protection is not given to the
minorities living in the province, Kohistani urged the Chief Minister, IG
police and others to take notice of the situation and provide justice and
protection to the aggrieved Hindu families facing threats, according to The
Express Tribune.
The
incident came after a 44-year-old Hindu businessman Sunil Kumar was shot dead
by unidentified persons at Anaj Mandi in Sindh Province of Pakistan in early
January.
Source:
Times Of India
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--------
4
terrorists, 1 soldier killed in attacks on security posts in Pakistan
Feb
3, 2022
KARACHI:
Armed assailants attacked two security forces' camps in Pakistan's restive
southwestern Balochistan province, triggering an intense exchange of fire in
which at least four terrorists and a soldier were killed, the military's media
wing said.
The
attacks, claimed later by the banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), took place
in Panjgur and Noshki districts on Wednesday. In Panjgur, the terrorists tried
to enter a security forces' camp from two locations while in Noshki they
attempted to get into a Frontier Corps (FC) post which was "promptly
responded".
In
a statement, the military's media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR)
said: "both attacks were successfully repulsed, inflicting heavy
casualties on terrorists”.
Four
terrorists and a soldier were killed in the shoot-out, besides an officer was
injured in one of the attacks, the statement said, adding that
"intermittent firing" was going on.
Earlier,
a Frontier Corps spokesperson confirmed that two blasts had taken place near
the camps in Panjgur and Noshki which were followed by intense firing.
The
BLA claimed responsibility for the attacks in a statement. The separatist
outfit has recently stepped up attacks on security forces and installations.
The
attacks on Wednesday were the latest in a string of such assaults in
Balochistan and come a week after ten soldiers were killed in a terrorist
attack on a security forces' checkpost in the province's Kech district.
Three
Levies Force personnel and a Bugti tribal leader were killed and eight others
injured on January 28 in bomb blasts in the Sui area of Dera Bugti.
Source: Times Of India
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PM
expresses solidarity with UAE after attempted Houthi attack
February
2, 2022
PM
Imran Khan on Wednesday spoke to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Deputy Supreme
Commander and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and
expressed solidarity after an attempted Houthi attack.
According
to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office, PM Imran Khan condemned
the attempted missile attack by Houthis against the UAE on January 30, 2022.
He
further lauded the timely and effective air defence response of the UAE that
saved precious lives.
It
is pertinent to note that the PM expressed abiding solidarity with the
leadership, government and the people of the UAE.
The
PM further reaffirmed Pakistan’s abiding support for efforts to protect and
promote regional peace and security through dialogue and diplomacy.
He
also expressed deep concern at the recent escalation in attacks that have
seriously threatened regional peace and security.
Source:
Pakistan Today
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Pakistan's
ambassador to Iran condoles demise of Ayatollah Safi Golpaygani
February
3, 2022
The
Ambassador of Pakistan to the Islamic Republic of Iran while condoling the
demise of Grand Ayatollah Lotfollah Safi Golpaygani said that his services to
Islam and suffering Muslims will long be remembered.
Rahim
Hayat Qureshi in a tweet on Wednesday said that Pakistan expresses its deepest
condolences on passing away of Grand Ayatollah Safi Golpaygani.
“His
services to Islam, Iran and suffering Muslims everywhere including Kashmiris
will long be remembered,” he said.
A
number of Pakistani religious figures, senior Shiite clerics, and heads of
seminaries in the country also sent separate messages to condole the demise of
Ayatollah Safi Golpaygani.
Secretary
General of Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) Allama Raja Nasir Abbas Jaffari,
Chairman of Ummat-e-Wahida Pakistan Allama Muhammad Amin Shaheedi, and the
Association of Shiite Friday Imams in Karachi expressed their condolences.
Ayatollah
Safi Golpaygani passed away at the age of 103 on early Tuesday.
Source:
ABNA24
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Backdoor
diplomacy with India ongoing, may bear fruit: Mian Mansha
February
3, 2022
LAHORE:
Pakistan’s leading businessman Mian Muhammad Mansha claims that backchannels
are working between Pakistan and India that will hopefully yield good results.
“If
things improve between the two neighbours, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
could visit Pakistan in a month,” the chairman of Nishat Group told a gathering
of businessmen at the Lahore Chambers of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday.
He
advised the two countries to resolve their disputes and start trade to fight
poverty in the region.
“If
the economy does not improve, the country may face disastrous consequences.
Pakistan should improve trade relations with India and take a regional approach
to economic development. Europe fought two great wars, but ultimately settled
for peace and regional development. There is no permanent enmity.”
Trade
relations between Pakistan and India have been suspended since August 2019
when New Delhi revoked the law providing special status or autonomy to occupied
Kashmir. There have been reports of backchannel talks last summer between the
two economies of the region brokered by a Gulf state. However, the government
said the talks were discontinued due to Indian repression of the people of held
Kashmir, as well as its refusal to recall its troops from the valley and
restore its special status.
On
the domestic front, Mian Mansha said “progressive, market-oriented policies”
were the key to success. Through price control to capital market operations,
reducing trade barriers and minimising state influence on the economy,
especially through privatisation and austerity, Pakistan can truly achieve
rapid growth.
Privatisation,
he added, promotes various sectors of the economy. The telecom sector is an
example where privatisation has enabled everyone to gain access to everything
from telephone to cheap calls.
“Good
deeds of the state should be appreciated. It is good that motorways were built
in the country, development work was carried out expeditiously, but the state
should focus on the sectors on which billions of rupees are being lost
annually,” he suggested.
Mian
Mansha said privatisation of airports, along with the Pakistan International
Airlines (PIA), would boost their efficiency and standards, and the sector
would become economical.
The
railways, he further said, was a lucrative entity during British rule, but has
now become a liability for the state. “One of the reasons for the high
electricity cost is state intervention.”
He
emphasised the importance of improving relations with countries in the
neighbourhood and said one of the reasons for Europe’s development was its
softening of borders and promotion of bilateral trade.
He
further said that in no other country gas was supplied through pipes and
resources wasted on such a large scale. “The system is a burden on the state
and major changes are needed in the structure of the bureaucracy,” he added.
Mian
Nauman Kabir, the LCCI president, congratulated Mian Mansha on his appointment
as chairman of the advisory council of the British Asian Trust in Pakistan.
“We
are all witness to your illustrious career, extraordinary achievements as an
entrepreneur and one of the most successful businessmen who left a lasting
footprint across the country. Be it textiles, cement, banking, insurance, power
generation, hospitality, agriculture, dairy or paper products, your group has
achieved unmatched success,” he added.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1673016/backdoor-diplomacy-with-india-ongoing-may-bear-fruit-mian-mansha
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Govt
hoping PM Imran’s China trip can reinvigorate CPEC
Syed
Irfan Raza
February
3, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
The government hopes that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s four-day trip to China,
which starts on Thursday (today), will reinvigorate the China-Pakistan Economic
Corridor (CPEC) project.
“Twenty-one
different sectors have been identified to be discussed with the Chinese
leadership,” Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry told Dawn on Wednesday after
attending a series of meetings chaired by Mr Khan at the Prime Minister House.
The
sectors to be discussed during the PM’s visit are related to the Special
Economic Zones created under CPEC, trade, information technology, agriculture
and the relocation of massive Chinese industries to Pakistan.
In
a statement, the Foreign Office said PM Khan would hold bilateral meetings with
President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang.
“The
leaders will review the entire gamut of bilateral relations, with a particular
focus on stronger trade and economic cooperation including CPEC,” the statement
said.
The
FO also said that the prime minister was visiting China on the invitation of
the Chinese leadership.
There
has been a general impression that CPEC had slowed down ever since the Pakistan
Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) came to power three years ago. However, the government
expects the PM’s upcoming visit would be a boost for projects that are either
being executed or have yet to launched under the ambit of CPEC.
Prime
Minister Khan has repeatedly said that his government had changed the focus of
CPEC from road infrastructure to industrialisation, energy and agriculture.
PM’s
Special Assistant on CPEC Khalid Mansoor told Dawn that this time around, they
were better prepared and had done a comparative analysis of the opportunities
Pakistan could provide to Chinese investors.
He
said there were 10 different sectors that both countries discussed bilaterally
in joint working group meeting, but said that meetings had been arranged with
influential Chinese industrials, who will meet the PM during his visit.
According
to the Foreign Office, the prime minister will be meeting with prominent
business leaders, representatives of leading Chinese think-tanks, academia and
the media during his stay in Beijing
Meanwhile,
chairing a high level meeting ahead of his upcoming visit to China, the prime
minister on Wednesday expressed confidence that his trip would take the strong
bilateral ties that already existed between the two countries, to new heights.
The
meeting was attended by federal ministers including Shaukat Tareen, Fawad
Chaudhry, Asad Umer and Hammad Azhar as wll as Commerce Adviser Abdul Razak
Dawood, State Minister Farrukh Habib, National Security Adviser Dr Moeed Yousuf
and Special Assistant Shahbaz Gill along with Kahlid Mansoor.
In
addition to meetings on CPEC, PM Khan will also attend the opening ceremony of
the Winter Olympic Games during his visit to China.
“It
is highly admirable that the Chinese government has made meticulous
arrangements for holding the Winter Olympic Games despite the COVID-19
pandemic,” the FO statement.
The
prime minister’s visit will mark the culmination of celebrations commemorating
the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between
Pakistan and China, with more than 140 events organized to showcase the
resilience of the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership, in the midst
of the Covid-19 pandemic and the unfolding international situation.
Source:
Dawn
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1673006/govt-hoping-pm-imrans-china-trip-can-reinvigorate-cpec
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Prosecution
submits evidence in Altaf Hussain hate speech trial
Atika
Rehman
February
3, 2022
LONDON:
The Crown Prosecution Service on Wednesday submitted evidence at the
Kingston-upon-Thames crown court to support their case against Muttahida Qaumi
Movement (MQM) supremo Altaf Hussain, who faces charges of inciting violence.
The
charge under section 1(2) of the British Terrorism Act (TACT) 2006 relates to
the encouragement of terrorism, which is defined as being intentional or reckless
as to whether members of the public will be directly or indirectly encouraged
or otherwise induced by the statement to commit, prepare or instigate such acts
or offences.
The
charge as stated by the UK police is that Mr Hussain had “on 22 August 2016 published
a speech to crowds gathered in Karachi, Pakistan, which were likely to be
understood by some or all of the members of the public to whom they were
published as a direct or indirect encouragement to them to the commission,
preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism and at the time he published
them, intended them to be so encouraged, or was reckless as to whether they
would be so encouraged”.
During
the hearing, 12 members of the jury took oath. They were read the charge
against Mr Hussain and informed that he had pleaded not guilty.
Before
the jury took their seats, the prosecution spent most of the day introducing
the evidence it had gathered to prove its charge. The evidence included maps of
the offices of ARY and Samaa TV channels, as well as the Rangers headquarters
on Ziauddin Ahmed Road and the press club.
Images
and video footage were also submitted and some of it played in the court. They
appeared to feature women party workers who could be heard saying they were
waiting for a signal. Mr Hussain’s voice and message were also featured in this
footage.
The
prosecution said they were listing this evidence to prove that, when taken
together, it highlights how after Mr Hussain’s instruction to the crowd led to
the violence that followed.
Past
news reports from that day allege that crowds ransacked two television stations
in a rampage that left one person dead and eight injured. This allegedly
occurred after Mr Hussain criticised the media for not covering his speeches.
Lawyers
at Corker Binning, who are defending Mr Hussain, challenged the admission of
certain footage and questioned its admissibility. The prosecution responded by
saying that there is no dispute that unrest took place, and that the unrest
took place due to receipt of an address which threatened civil order.
Source:
Dawn
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1672991/prosecution-submits-evidence-in-altaf-hussain-hate-speech-trial
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JIT
report on Chaman bomb blast to be made public: CM Bizenjo
February
3, 2022
QUETTA:
A delegation of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Nazaryati), led by its emir Maulana Abdul
Qadir Loni, called on Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo on
Wednesday.
During
the meeting, the delegation apprised the chief minister of the loss of lives in
terrorist attacks on the JUI-N workers and leadership in Quetta and Chaman and
other matters, including security challenges to the party leadership.
The
chief minister expressed grief over the killing of JUI-N activists in bomb
blasts in Chaman and Quetta a few weeks ago, saying his provincial government
would extend all possible cooperation to the bereaved families.
He
said the JIT report on the Chaman bomb blast would be made public and the
anti-peace elements involved in these incidents would be brought to justice.
He
promised that the JUI-N leader would be provided security.
Mr
Bizenjo held out the assurance that the families of those killed and injured in
the Quetta blast would be provided compensation.
Source:
Dawn
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1673008/jit-report-on-chaman-bomb-blast-to-be-made-public-cm-bizenjo
--------
Arab World
Vatican
foreign minister urges peace in troubled Lebanon
February
03, 2022
The
Vatican's foreign minister traveled to Lebanon with messages for its
politicians and for ordinary people.
Lebanon's
leaders must "make the decisive decision to work for peace and not for
their own interests," said Archbishop Paul Gallagher.
And
after meeting with families of the August 2020 Beirut port explosions, as well
as leaders of Christians churches, he said he would "return to Rome with a
clearer vision of the difficulties and the role of the church in the future and
research regarding the possibility of helping Lebanon in these difficult
times."
Throughout
his Jan. 31-Feb. 4 visit — which included meetings with government officials,
religious leaders, scholars and migrant children — Archbishop Gallagher
reiterated Pope Francis' concern for Lebanon.
"The
Holy Father instructed me to convey to the Lebanese people his closeness and
concern for Lebanon and the Lebanese, in the deep economic, social and
political crisis which they are going through," the archbishop said after
meeting with Lebanese President Michel Aoun.
"The
Lebanese people continue to suffer greatly. Everyone can see it,"
Archbishop Gallagher said during a symposium at Holy Spirit University of
Kaslik. "Poverty is growing, many families cannot access their bank
accounts, schools, universities and hospitals suffer from lack of
funding."
But,
as he did several other times during the visit, he urged people to work
together, for the good of the nation.
"Division
along with political and economic deadlock can be overcome through real
democracy, which consists of dialogue, unity, compromise and a preference for
the common good," he said.
After
meeting Aoun, the archbishop said it was time to end the situation in which
some people profited "from the suffering of all. It is not allowed for
half the truth to frustrate the hopes of the people. Stop using Lebanon and the
Middle East for foreign interests. The Lebanese people must have the
opportunity ... to be the makers of a better future, better than any outside
interference.
"We
fear that the future of this country will not be guaranteed," he added.
"We call on everyone, and all leaders, whether locally or internationally,
to preserve Lebanon as a message of living together, brotherhood and hope among
religions," the top Vatican diplomat said.
In
a Feb. 1 meeting with academics at St. Joseph University, Archbishop Gallagher
expressed his hope "that the current economic crisis, which sees schools
and universities in Lebanon suffering greatly, will soon end."
He
warned that the absence of culture and education "provides fertile soil
for extremism to develop."
"Lebanon
is a hub of multiple religions and confessions. Throughout the centuries, and
not without difficulty, the Lebanese have given witness to the value of
dialogue among religions," he said.
"I
strongly believe Lebanon could play an important role, providing an example of
fraternity and dialogue for the entire Middle East and the Mediterranean
region," he said.
Source:
UCA News
Please
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https://www.ucanews.com/news/vatican-foreign-minister-urges-peace-in-troubled-lebanon/95968
--------
Analysis:
Lebanon’s savers to bear burden under new rescue plan
02
February ,2022
Two
years into an economic meltdown the World Bank says is one of the worst
recorded, Lebanon’s rulers have proposed a way to plug a huge hole in the
financial system they were blamed for making: savers will foot most of the
bill, not banks or the state.
The
plan, seen by Reuters, seeks to revive the moribund banking system by making
depositors cover more than half the $69 billion gap, which is three times the
size of Lebanon’s economy.
For
the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
It
includes converting a large portion of dollar deposits to Lebanese pounds at
rates that wipe out much of their value.
The
state, central bank and commercial banks will contribute $31 billion, or less than
half.
Agreement
on a plan of action is vital for securing an International Monetary Fund
bailout and setting the nation on the road to recovery. The new plan needs
cabinet approval.
Till
now, disputes between politicians and banks about the size of losses and who
should pay have stalled any agreement.
This
latest plan still needs to convince the IMF. But ordinary Lebanese, many driven
into poverty, will have little or no say.
“It
is the victim that has to bear most of the burden,” said Toufic Gaspard, an
economist who has advised the IMF and Lebanese finance ministry. “Their logic
is unacceptable by any standard of logic anywhere in the world.”
Savers
have faced ‘haircuts’ in other crises around the world, although small
depositors are usually protected.
Savers
in Lebanon with less than $150,000 will have dollars preserved - amounting to
about $25 billion - but, like other depositors, the money will be paid out over
15 years. They have already largely been frozen out of their accounts for two
years.
Yet
the scale of Lebanon’s crisis, the worst since its 1975-1990 civil war, dwarfs
most other global examples. Lebanese government debt was, by some estimates, an
eyewatering 500 percent of gross domestic product in 2021, while the same
sectarian leaders who ran the nation into trouble still wield influence now.
‘Little
money left’
“There
simply is very little money left. This is why accountability is so important.
The political leadership is trying to flip the page, close this chapter,
without anyone being held to account,” said Mike Azar, an expert on the crisis.
The
government, the central bank and the banking association did not respond to
emailed requests for comment.
Under
the plan, the bulk of dollar deposits of $104 billion - which banks no longer
have enough hard currency to cover - will be converted to Lebanese pounds but
at a range of exchange rates, with two of them well below current market
levels.
Lebanon’s
pound has lost more than 90 percent of its value since the crisis erupted in
2019.
Of
those deposits, $16 billion will lose 75 percent of their value and $35 billion
will lose 40 percent.
“It
is an effective nationalization of deposits,” said Nasser Saidi, a former
economy minister and central bank vice governor, blaming the central bank for
racking up “massive balance sheet losses” to defend an over-valued currency.
The
Lebanese pound, which before the crisis was exchanged at 1,500 to the dollar,
now trades around 20,000.
“If
accepted by parliament, it would be the kiss of death for a near-zombie banking
system and will doom Lebanon, its economy and people to prolonged misery and
lost decades,” he said of the latest plan.
Entrenched
elite
An
earlier plan, drawn up in 2020, was torpedoed by banks, the central bank and
ruling politicians over objections to the way losses were calculated and shared
out. IMF talks collapsed.
The
new plan aims to create an Asset Management Company (AMC) to invest deposits in
projects such as rebuilding Beirut port - shattered by a huge blast in 2020 -
and power stations in a country whose state power plants can’t keep the lights
on.
The
AMC, to be owned by the state but managed independently, will issue
asset-backed securities to pay back depositors, the plan says, aiming to
“generate value.”
“A
top governance framework is needed to manage all those assets, with no
corruption, and the politicians running this country are probably the worst
qualified in the world to do this,” said Talal F. Salman, a former finance
ministry official.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Turkish
jets target Kurdish positions in Iraq, Syria; four die
02
February ,2022
Turkish
warplanes struck suspected Kurdish insurgent positions in Iraq and Syria early
on Wednesday in a new aerial offensive that Ankara said aimed to protect
Turkey’s borders from “terrorist threats.”
The
airstrikes killed at least four people, a Britain-based war monitoring group
reported, and drew condemnation from US-backed Syrian Kurdish fighters who said
the attack came days after the Kurdish-led forces in Syria battled ISIS group
militants.
A
Turkish defense ministry statement said the strikes hit targets, including
shelters, caves, ammunition depots and training camps, on Sinjar Mountain and
in the Karacak region in northern Iraq, and the Derik region in northern Syria.
The
operations dubbed “Winter Eagle” were aimed against Turkey’s insurgent
Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, in northern Iraq, which Ankara says has
hideouts there, and the US-backed Syrian Kurdish forces known as People’s
Protection Units, or YPG in Syria.
The
YPG is a close US ally against the ISIS group but is labeled a terrorist group
by Ankara because of its ties to the PKK.
The
strikes aimed to “eliminate terrorist threats against our people and security
forces from the north of Iraq and Syria and to ensure our border security,” the
ministry statement read.
“Last
night, we bombed targets in three different locations and they could not even
find a hole to escape to,” said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Defense
Minister Hulusi Akar claimed that several insurgents were “neutralized” in the
operation, including a number of PKK names wanted by Turkey. Around 60 aircraft
were involved in the offensive, including warplanes and armed and unarmed
drones, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Close to 80 targets were struck,
it said.
The
war monitor in Syria — the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights —
said Turkish drones fired two missiles at a power station near Syria’s northeastern
village of Malikiyah close to the Iraqi border, killing at least four people.
It added that several people were wounded and electricity was cut in a number
of nearby villages.
It
said the strike hit the building where the guards stay, adding that the dead
were both guards and civilians. The Observatory reported another Turkish drone
strike at a power station a day earlier near the Semalka border crossing
between Syria and Iraq’s Kurdish region. It said one Kurdish fighter was
wounded.
A
Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria condemned the Turkish airstrikes
and urged the international community to intervene to stop what it called “the
terrorist Turkish aggression.”
It
said the Turkish strikes came days after the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian
Democratic Forces defeated scores of ISIS militants who broke into a prison
where some 3,000 extremists are held in the northeastern city of Hasakeh. The
weeklong battle left dozens of people dead, including many ISIS fighters.
“This
escalation and aggression is a clear indication that Turkey is not happy with
[ISIS] failure,” the authority said in a statement.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
ISIS
resurfacing aided by power vacuum in Iraq, Syria
02
February ,2022
Yousif
Ibrahim no longer travels by night along the roads around his hometown of
Jalawla in northeastern Iraq. He fears getting caught up in attacks by ISIS.
“The
police and army don’t come into our area much anymore. If they do, they get
shot at by militants,” said the 25-year-old, who sells fish for a living in a
nearby market.
Nearly
three years after the group lost its final enclave, ISIS extremists are
re-emerging as a deadly threat, aided by the lack of central control in many
areas, according to a dozen security officials, local leaders and residents in
northern Iraq.
For
the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
ISIS
is far from the formidable force it once was, but militant cells often operating
independently have survived across a swathe of northern Iraq and northeastern
Syria, and in recent months they have launched increasingly brazen attacks.
“Daesh
[ISIS] isn’t as powerful as it was in 2014,” said Jabar Yawar, a senior
official in the Peshmerga forces of Iraq’s northern autonomous Kurdistan
region.
“Its
resources are limited and there’s no strong joint leadership,” he told Reuters
in the city of Sulaimaniya. “But as long as political disputes aren’t solved,
ISIS will come back.”
Some
fear that could be starting to happen.
In
late January, ISIS carried out one of its deadliest attacks against the Iraqi
army for years, killing 11 soldiers in a town near Jalawla, according to
security sources.
The
same day, its militants stormed a prison in Syria under the control of
US-backed Kurdish militia in an attempt to free inmates loyal to the group.
It
was the biggest attack by ISIS since the collapse of its self-declared claim in
2019. At least 200 prison inmates and militants were killed, as well as 40
Kurdish troops, 77 prison guards and four civilians.
Officials
and residents in northern Iraq and eastern Syria lay much of the blame on
rivalries between armed groups. When Iraqi, Syrian, Iranian and US-led forces
declared ISIS beaten, they faced off against each other across the territory it
had ruled.
Now
Iran-backed extremists attack US forces. Turkish forces bomb Kurdish separatist
militants. A territorial dispute rumbles on between Baghdad and Iraq’s
autonomous Kurdish region.
The
tensions are undermining security and good governance, causing confusion that
ISIS once thrived on.
For
Ibrahim, that means crossing checkpoints manned variously by Iraqi soldiers and
Shia Islam paramilitaries to get to work in a town controlled until a few years
ago by Kurds.
The
remote farmland between each military outpost is where ISIS members hide out,
according to local officials.
A
similar pattern plays out across the 400-mile corridor of mountains and desert
through northern Iraq and into Syria where ISIS once dominated.
Towns
like Jalawla bear the scars of fierce fighting five or so years ago - buildings
reduced to rubble and scarred with bullet holes. Banners honoring slain
commanders from different armed groups jostle for space in town squares.
Iraqi
disputes
In
some parts of Iraq where ISIS operates, the main dispute is between the
government in Baghdad and the autonomous northern Kurdish region, home to huge
deposits of oil and strategic territory that both sides claim.
The
terrorists’ deadliest attacks in Iraq in recent months have taken place in
those areas. Dozens of soldiers, Kurdish fighters and residents have been
killed in violence that local officials blamed on militants loyal to the group.
According
to Yawar, ISIS members use the no-man’s-land between Iraqi army, Kurdish and
other checkpoints to regroup.
“The
gaps between the Iraqi army and the Peshmerga are sometimes 40 km (25 miles)
wide,” he said.
Mohammed
Jabouri, an Iraqi army commander in the province of Salahuddin, said the
militants tended to operate in groups of 10-15 people.
Because
of the lack of agreement over territorial control, there are areas where
neither the Iraqi army nor Kurdish forces can enter to pursue them, he added.
“That’s
where Daesh [ISIS] is active,” he told Reuters by telephone.
Iraqi
state paramilitary forces aligned with Iran in theory coordinate with the Iraqi
army, but some local officials say that does not always happen.
“The
problem is that local commanders, the army and the paramilitaries ... sometimes
don’t recognize each other’s authority,” said Ahmed Zargosh, mayor of Saadia, a
town in a disputed area.
“It
means ISIS militants can operate in the gaps.”
Zargosh
lives outside the town he administers, saying he fears assassination by ISIS
members if he stays there at night.
Syria
and the borders
ISIS
extremists at the other end of the corridor of contested territory, in Syria,
are taking advantage of the confusion to operate in sparsely populated areas,
according to some officials and analysts.
“Fighters
(are) entering villages and towns at night and having complete free rein to
operate, raid for food, intimidate businesses and extort ‘taxes’ from the local
population,” said Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute
think-tank.
“They’ve
got many more local fissures, be they ethnic, political, sectarian, to exploit
to their advantage.”
Syrian
government forces and Iran-backed militias hold territory to the west of the
Euphrates River and US-backed Kurdish forces are stationed to its east,
including where the prison attack occurred.
The
picture on the Iraqi side of the frontier area is no less complex.
Soldiers
and fighters aligned with Iran, Turkey, Syria and the West control different
segments of land, with separate checkpoints sometimes just a few hundred feet
apart.
Iran
and its proxy militias seek to maintain control of Iraqi-Syrian border
crossings that are Tehran’s gateway to Syria and Lebanon, according to Western
and Iraqi officials.
US
officials blame those militias for attacking the 2,000 or so American troops
stationed in Iraq and Syria fighting ISIS. Tehran has not commented on whether
Iran is involved.
Turkey,
meanwhile, launches drone strikes from bases in northern Iraq against Kurdish
separatist militants operating on either side of the border.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
UAE
intercepts, destroys three drones targeting the country: Defense Ministry
02
February ,2022
The
UAE intercepted and destroyed three “hostile drones” that targeted unnamed
areas in the country, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday.
“MOD
confirms it is ready to deal with any threats and is taking all necessary
measures to protect the state and its territory,” a tweet from the ministry
read.
For
the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
The
drones, fired at dawn on Wednesday, were “away from populated areas,” the
ministry said.
Lebanese
pro-Iranian TV channel Al Mayadeen said that an Iraqi militia claimed the
attacks, which they said were aimed at facilities in Abu Dhabi.
The
latest attack comes after three separate missile attacks on the UAE in the last
two weeks. The Iran-backed Houthis have claimed responsibility for the attacks
and threatened to increase their attacks on the UAE.
On Tuesday,
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohamed bin
Zayed Al Nahyan to discuss the Houthi attacks on the UAE’s capital.
Austin,
later echoed by US President Joe Biden, said that Washington was prepared to
increase its assistance to the UAE in order to deal with these threats.
UAE
Ambassador to the US Yousef Al Otaiba welcomed the announcements in a statement
posted on the Embassy’s website on Wednesday.
“US
naval and air deployments to the UAE are a welcome and valued signal of common
purpose against Houthi and other threats,” the Emirati envoy said. “Close
UAE-US cooperation in air defense has been critical to protecting the UAE and
UAE-based US personnel against recent Houthi-launched missile and drone
attacks. For more than 25 years, the UAE-US security partnership has made both
countries safer.”
Late
Sunday, US military forces deployed Patriot surface-to-air missiles at the
ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis during an attack on Abu Dhabi, a senior
White House official said Monday.
That
attack by the Houthis, which Biden removed the terror blacklist in one of his
first foreign policy moves after taking office, coincided with the first-ever
visit to the UAE by an Israeli president.
On
January 17, the Houthis launched a deadly attack using cruise and ballistic
missiles and drones to target Abu Dhabi. The strike led to a fire breaking out
and the explosion of three petroleum tankers, killing three people and wounding
six others.
That
was followed by another attack against Abu Dhabi on January 24, but UAE
authorities - with US forces - said they successfully intercepted the two
Houthi ballistic missiles with no casualties.
Source: Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Israel
defense minister on first-ever visit to Bahrain
02
February ,2022
Israeli
Defense Minister Benny Gantz landed in Bahrain on Wednesday, the latest
high-profile diplomatic trip since the countries normalized ties, his office
said.
Gantz,
who is the first Israeli defense minister to ever officially visit the Gulf
country, travelled with several top military and security officials, including
navy chief Admiral David Saar Salama.
“The
aircraft carrying the delegation is the first IAF [Israeli Air Force] plane to
land in Bahrain,” the defense ministry said in a statement.
“Throughout
the visit, the minister is expected to conduct meetings with high ranking
officials in the Bahraini defense establishment and with the Kingdom’s
leadership,” it added.
The
visit comes less than two years after the Gulf country forged diplomatic ties
with Israel, becoming the fourth Arab nation to do so following close ally the
United Arab Emirates, as well as Egypt and Jordan.
Last
year Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid made the first ministerial visit to
Bahrain, where he inaugurated an embassy in Manama.
The
normalization between Bahrain and Israel was one of a series of US-brokered
agreements known as the Abraham Accords.
The
deals angered the Palestinians, and broke with decades of Arab League consensus
against recognizing Israel until it signs a peace agreement establishing a
Palestinian state with a capital in east Jerusalem.
The
accords were negotiated by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s predecessor, Benjamin
Netanyahu, who said they would offer Israel new regional allies against Iran
and bolster its diplomatic efforts to stop Tehran from acquiring nuclear
weapons.
It
was not immediately clear if international talks on Iran’s nuclear program
would be discussed during Gantz’s visit.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
UAE
welcomes Somali apology for seized cash, easing dispute
02
February ,2022
The
United Arab Emirates late Tuesday welcomed the prime minister of Somalia’s
public apology for a Somali operation in 2018 that resulted in the seizure of
Emirati aircraft and $9.6 million in cash, wrecking relations between the
nations.
For
the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
The
Emirati foreign ministry thanked Prime Minister Mohammed Hussein Roble for his
“initiative” to settle the dispute, which prompted the UAE to end a military
training mission in Somalia that had helped the conflict-ravaged nation rebuild
after decades of chaos.
Somalia’s
apology “reflects the depth of the historical relations” between the nations
and “appreciation for the UAE’s purposeful role in supporting the Somali people
and their government,” the Emirates’ state-run WAM news agency said.
In
a dramatic incident in April 2018, Somali agents boarded an Emirati airplane at
the Mogadishu airport, held Emirati soldiers at gunpoint and made off with bags
of cash that the country’s security services claimed were undeclared US
dollars. The UAE said the funds had been flown in to pay salaries of Somali
soldiers and provide other aid.
Last
month as the UAE dispatched planeloads of humanitarian aid to drought-stricken
Somalia, Roble offered a formal apology to the Emirati government for the
confiscation of the $9.6 million. He promised Somalia would return the seized
funds “as soon as possible.”
“A
new dawn of normalizing relations,” Roble tweeted at the time. “After a period
of cold relations, Somalia & UAE are now on a progressive path to solve
their differences & resume the brotherly ties.”
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
9
civilians killed in YPG/PKK rocket attack in northwestern Syria
Mahmoud
Mohamed Barakat
02.02.2022
AL-BAB,
Syria
Nine
civilians were killed and 30 others injured in a rocket attack carried out by
the YPG/PKK terrorist group on Al-Bab district in northwestern Syria, according
to local sources.
YPG/PKK
terrorists in the Sheale region, west of al-Bab, fired a volley of rockets on
the city enter, the sources said.
The
rockets struck the densely-populated neighborhood of Waki and the vicinity of
Al-Bab Hospital, the sources added.
According
to initial reports, nine civilians lost their lives and 30 were injured in the
terrorist attack, which took place while civilians were shopping.
The
rocket attack has caused material damage in the area.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Mideast
Israel
non-committal amid US pressure over Palestinian’s death
02
February ,2022
An
Israeli general said on Wednesday it would be foolish to speculate on whether
troops might be prosecuted over the death of an elderly Palestinian-American
they detained, a case in which Washington has called for “full accountability.”
After
reprimanding a battalion commander and dismissing two officers involved in the
Jan. 12 death of Omar Abdalmajeed As’ad, 78, the military said its police were
looking into the possibility of pressing charges too.
For
the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
When
and if that might happen remains unclear.
A
spokesman for the Israeli military said the investigation continues while the
chief of its forces in the occupied West Bank, where the death occurred,
declined to speculate on the outcome.
“It
would be so stupid of me to try to assume or guess,” Major-General Yehuda Fuchs
told reporters, adding that he was - per procedure - not privy to that probe.
On
Tuesday a State Department spokesman said Washington continued to be “deeply concerned,”
and expected “a thorough criminal investigation and full accountability.”
Israel’s
top general and defense minister have voiced regret at the conduct of the three
officers, whom the military accused of “moral failure and poor decision-making”
for leaving As’ad supine and unresponsive in a courtyard of his West Bank
hometown of Jiljilya.
Such
public Israeli censure at the death of a Palestinian has been unusual. But,
Fuchs said, “this has nothing to do with the fact he (As’ad) was American.”
A
Palestinian autopsy found that As’ad, who had a history of heart problems, had
suffered cardiac arrest. Palestinian officials attributed this to him having
been manhandled.
Fuchs
deemed the incident “shameful” and said As’ad, who was intercepted in his car, should
not have been detained.
But
he also backed the troops’ accounts, saying As’ad had been subjected only to
the force required to subdue him.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
President
Rayeesi: Even US Admits Failure of Maximum Pressure against Iran
2022-February-2
"When
the Americans officially declare to the failure of their maximum pressure
policy against Iran, this is a victory for our nation and it shows that the
maximum resistance has triumphed over the maximum pressure," President
Rayeesi said.
He
reiterated that the maximum resistance of Iranians has triumphed over the US
maximum pressure.
In late January President Rayeesi underlined
that if Washington removes the oppressive sanctions against Tehran, the ground
will be paved for an agreement.
“If
the parties are ready to lift the cruel sanctions against the Iranian people,
there is room for agreement,” Rayeesi said in a live TV interview.
He
reiterated that the removal of the sanctions could lead to the nuclear deal’s
revival.
“If
the other party removes the sanctions, there will be a possibility to revive
the pact.”
The
Iranian president, however, asserted that not everything relied on the
negotiations. “We will pursue the negotiations, but it is not like the
negotiations solve everything.”
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Iran,
Australia FMs Review Bilateral Ties
2022-February-2
Amir
Abdollahian pointed to the half-century history of friendly relations between
Iran and Australia, and said that the presence of the highly-educated Iranian
community in Australia has built a cultural bridge between the two countries.
Referring
to the capacities and capabilities of both countries to expand relations, Amir
Abdollahian voiced Iran's readiness to expand cooperation with Australia in
various fields, including trade and investment, as well as scientific
cooperation between the countries' public and private sectors.
He
referred to the development of the Spicogen vaccine as a successful example of
constructive collaboration between the two countries' scientific sectors.
The
Iranian top diplomat also called the recent visit of the Australian Special
Representative for Afghanistan to Tehran a success, and said that during the
visit, new areas of cooperation between the two countries were defined in
relation to Afghanistan.
Payne,
for her part, said that she hopes the two countries would work closely together
on Afghanistan to encourage the Taliban to live up to their commitments.
Welcoming
the expansion of bilateral relations, Payne said that Australia supports Vienna
talks.
In
a relevant development last month, Amir Abdollahian lashed out at Washington
for pursuing wrong policies in Afghanistan for 20 years, and warned of the US
plots to sow discord between Kabul and the neighboring countries.
The
US seeks to create rifts between Afghanistan and its neighboring countries now
that its 20-year occupation of the country has failed, Amir Abdollahian said in
a meeting with the visiting Taliban acting foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi,
in Tehran on Sunday.
He
condemned the wrong policies of the US and its allies in Afghanistan over the
past 20 years, saying one of the main policies of the US in the region has been
driving a wedge between Afghanistan and its neighbors.
“Afghanistan’s
funds that have been blocked by the US must be released for humanitarian
reasons to help improve the economic situation of the Afghan people,” the
Iranian foreign minister said.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14001112000733/Iran-Asralia-FMs-Review-Bilaeral-Ties
--------
President
Rayeesi Calls for Expansion of Iran-China Ties
2022-February-2
The
Iranian president in his message congratulated the New Year in China, and
expressed hope that the beginning of the new Chinese year would mark the
opening of a new chapter in bilateral relations between the two countries.
"I
sincerely congratulate you and the victorious people of the People's Republic
of China on the arrival of Chinese Spring and New Year," President Rayeesi
said in his message.
"I
am glad that at the beginning of the new year, the relations between the two
nations entered the second fifty years of diplomatic relations and the
announcement of the implementation of the 25-year comprehensive cooperation program,"
he added.
He
also wished good health and success for the Chinese president, and the
prosperity and well-being of the friendly people of the People's Republic of
China.
In
a relevant development in August, President Rayeesi in a telephone conversation
with his Chinese counterpart underlined that his government will give priority
to the expansion of relations with China in different areas.
“Enhancement
of the level of cooperation and expansion of relations with China is a priority
for the Iranian government in the area of foreign policy,” Rayeesi said.
The
Iranian president reiterated tha the complete implementation of the 25-year
comprehensive strategic partnership agreement that was signed by Iran and China
back in March “should be on the agenda of all of the countries’ [various]
apparatuses".
President
Rayeesi also thanked China for backing Iran’s membership in the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization (SCO).
He
urged Beijing to expedite delivery of millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccines
that Iran had bought from China in order to be able to fight the pandemic.
President
Rayeesi said that the Islamic Republic of Iran is prepared to cooperate with
China on the issue of establishment of security, stability, and calm in
Afghanistan.
"The
US' withdrawal from Afghanistan showed that it was Afghans, who had to join
their efforts towards guaranteeing the country’s security and
development," he added.
The
Chinese president, for his part, said that the countries’ relations had seen
various international developments over the past half a century.
"The
ties began fairing even remarkably better after the conclusion of the
comprehensive Sino-Iranian cooperation deal," he added.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14001113000369/Presiden-Rayeesi-Calls-fr-Expansin-f-Iran-China-Ties
--------
Israel
participates in huge US Gulf naval exercise alongside Saudi Arabia, Oman
02
February ,2022
Israel
is taking part in a huge US-led naval exercise in the Middle East, for the
first time publicly joining Saudi Arabia and Oman, two counties it has no
diplomatic relations with despite its normalization of ties with some Gulf
states.
The
International Maritime Exercise 2022 (IMX 22) includes around 60 countries and
comes amid heightened Gulf tensions after missile attacks on the United Arab
Emirates by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement, including a foiled attack
aimed at a base hosting US forces.
Israel
normalized relations with Gulf states the UAE and Bahrain in 2020, brought
together by shared worries about Iran, and first held a joint naval drill with
those two countries in November.
For
the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
But
this is the first time Israel has participated in an IMX exercise, and publicly
alongside Saudi Arabia with which it has no diplomatic ties.
Gulf
neighbors Kuwait and Qatar, who also have no formal relations with Israel, did
not participate, according to US Navy information.
Bahrain
hosts the US Navy Fifth Fleet's headquarters as well as some operations for
CENTCOM, a US military coordination umbrella organisation for the Middle East.
Israel last year was included in CENTCOM.
A
US Navy spokesperson on Wednesday said exercise planners were aware of the
geopolitical context of participating countries, but cooperation had been high.
“Here
in the region we have had nothing but positive results in terms of planning
efforts,” he said.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Iran
state TV streaming site targeted with dissident message
02 February
,2022
A
streaming website that features Iranian state television programming has
acknowledged suffering technical issues amid reports that dissident hackers
played an anti-government message on the platform.
Telewebion
said it suffered “infrastructure” irregularities Tuesday and suffered an
archive failure, without elaborating on the cause.
The
problems came as a video message circulated online claiming to be from a
self-described group of hackers called “The Justice of Ali” in Farsi. In the
video, which Farsi-language news networks abroad say played on the streaming
platform, a masked man appears and a muffled voice says Iran’s government “will
no longer silence us.”
“We’ll
burn hijabs. We’ll burn their pictures and propaganda posters,” the man says.
“We will break their idols. We will reveal their palaces so that the people can
punish them.”
“The
Justice of Ali” did not immediately respond to a request for comment via an
account it used in an earlier conversation with The Associated Press. In August
it released footage showing grim condition at Iran’s notorious Evin prison it
claimed it obtained through a hack.
The
video comes just ahead of commemoration ceremonies for Iran’s 1979 Islamic
Revolution this month. It also follows an apparent hack Thursday that saw
multiple channels of Iran’s state television broadcast images showing the
leaders of an exiled dissident group and a graphic calling for the death of the
country’s supreme leader.
The
incident Tuesday potentially marks the latest in a series of embarrassing
cyberattacks against the Islamic Republic, as world powers struggle to revive a
tattered nuclear deal with Tehran. Other attacks, which Iran has blamed on
Israel, have targeted its nuclear program.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Turkish
consul general visits West Bank city of Salfit
Awad
Rajoub
02.02.2022
RAMALLAH,
Palestine
Turkish
Consul General in Jerusalem Ahmet Riza Demirer on Wednesday visited the West
Bank city of Salfit.
The
diplomat held talks with Palestinian local officials to discuss requests
submitted by the Salfit Municipality to the Turkish government for carrying out
projects in the city, the Salfit Municipality said in a statement.
The
talks also discussed twinning projects between the Salfit Municipality and
Turkish municipal councils, the statement added.
During
the meeting, Demirer underlined the importance of strengthening cooperation
between the two sides, the statement said.
Salfit
mayor Abdelkarim Zubeidi, for his part, thanked the Turkish government for its
support to the Palestinians and stressed the strength of relations between the
Palestinian and Turkish peoples.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/turkish-consul-general-visits-west-bank-city-of-salfit/2492188
--------
North America
US
expects full accountability for death of elderly Palestinian-American in West
Bank
Servet
Günerigök
02.02.2022
WASHINGTON
The
US said Tuesday that it expects a thorough criminal investigation and full
accountability in the case of an elderly Palestinian-American who was found
dead after being detained by Israeli forces during a raid in the occupied West
Bank.
In
a statement, State Department spokesman Ned Price said the US continues to be
"deeply concerned by the circumstances" of the death of 80-year-old
Omar Abdulmajeed Asaad.
"We
continue to discuss this troubling incident with the Israeli government,"
said Price.
Asaad
was found dead on Jan. 12
Fuad
Fattoum, the head of the municipal council in the village of Jaljulia, told
Anadolu Agency last month that Asaad, who is from the village, died after being
held and assaulted by the Israeli army.
He
said soldiers stormed the village and detained Asaad after beating and
handcuffing him. The soldiers then withdrew, leaving the elderly man lying on
the ground inside a house under construction, where he died.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Senator:
US got nothing from Trump's "maximum pressure"
February
2, 2022
American
senator Chris Murphy has said that the sanctions imposed by Previous US
president Donald Trump against Iran have failed and proven to be futile.
"The
United States got nothing from Trump's "maximum pressure" sanctions
on Iran. In fact, things got worse," American senator Chris Murphy has
posted on his Twitter account.
He
further claimed that the attacks have increased on the US troops in the Middle
East while the Iranian nuclear program has expanded in the meantime that the US
continues its futile Trump-era sanctioning campaign.
The
US senator has further urged his country to be ready to release those sanctions
in exchange for Iran coming back into compliance with the nuclear deal known as
the JCPOA.
US
got nothing from Trump's "maximum pressure": senator
These
remarks by this American senator come at a time when the eighth round of talks
between Iran and the remaining participants to the JCPOA known as the P4+1 with
the indirect involvement of the United States is still going on in the Austrian
capital of Vienna.
While
the talks at political levels between the top negotiators have been paused for
a week until the end of this week, it was reported on Tuesday the eighth round
will resume over the weekend.
Source:
ABNA24
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://en.abna24.com/news//senator-us-got-nothing-from-trumps-maximum-pressure_1225090.html
--------
US-led
joint naval drill begins with Israel and Muslim nations
03
February, 2022
A
US-led maritime exercise including 60 nations and organisations has kicked off
in and around Gulf waters with Israel joining for the first time alongside
Muslims nations such as Pakistan.
The
US navy said on Tuesday that the 18-day biennial International Maritime
Exercise (IMX) since Monday includes 50 vessels and 9,000 personnel from more
than 60 entities.
It
includes a number of countries — among them Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Oman and
Yemen — that do not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel.
With
more than 80 drones, it is also the world's largest unmanned drill, it added
from Bahrain, where the 5th Fleet is headquartered.
The
exercise comes at a time of regional tensions over Iran's nuclear programme and
Yemeni rebels' recent targeting of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates
with missiles and drones.
Saudi
Arabia and Israel share the same desire to contain their common foe Iran.
Weapons'
smuggling
Israeli
army spokesperson Avichay Adraee has tweeted that Israel would "for the
first time take part" in the IMX drill.
In
November, the UAE and Bahrain launched joint naval exercises with Israel for
the first time.
Yemen's
Iran-backed Houthi rebels targeted the UAE three times in January with drones
and missiles, killing three foreign workers in the first attack on January 17.
Earlier
in the month, the rebels seized a UAE-flagged ship in the Red Sea, saying it
was carrying weapons — a claim denied by the Emirates.
Source:
Trt World
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
US
re-offers $10 mln for information on Iran hackers accused of election
interference
03
February ,2022
The
US is repeating its offer of a $10 million reward for information on two
Iranians accused of attempting to influence the 2020 US elections through a
state-sponsored online campaign, according to a US Department of State
statement released on Tuesday.
The
two men were charged in November 2021 over their alleged involvement in hacking
an undisclosed media company.
Seyyed
Mohammad Hosein Musa Kazemi and Sajjad Kashian also allegedly purported to be
members of the Proud Boys far-right group and threatened to physically harm
people who did not vote for President Donald Trump, in an email and social media
campaign.
The
charges, published by the Department of Justice, allege that the men
disseminated material online suggesting that the elections were unreliable,
eroding trust in the country’s democratic system.
The
material in question claimed that the Democratic Party was planning to exploit
“serious security vulnerabilities” in state voter registration websites to
“edit mail-in ballots or even register non-existent voters.”
They
are also accused of hacking into the voter information website of an undisclosed
US state and downloading the details of around 100,000 people.
Both
men worked for an Iranian cyber company called Emennet Pasargad, believed to
have been responsible for the online interference campaign that ran from at
least August through November 2020, the press release said.
Kazemi
and Kashian are both charged with one count of conspiracy to commit computer
fraud and abuse, intimidate voters, and transmit interstate threats; one count
of transmission of interstate threats; and one count of voter intimidation.
The
first two charges carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison, and the
third carries a maximum one-year prison sentence.
Kazemi
is additionally charged with one count of unauthorized computer intrusion; and
one count of computer fraud, namely, knowingly damaging a protected computer,
according to the statement.
The
first count carries a maximum five-year prison sentence, while the second
carries a ten-year maximum sentence.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Washington
threatens Yemen’s Houthis with new sanctions
03
February ,2022
The
United States on Wednesday threatened Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia with
new sanctions after a series of drone and missile attacks on the United Arab
Emirates.
“We’ve
taken a number of such actions, including in recent weeks and months alone, and
I suspect we will be in a position to take additional action given the
reprehensible attacks that we’ve seen emanate from Yemen from the Houthis in
recent days and weeks,” said State Department Spokesperson Ned Price.
President
Joe Biden’s administration is under increasing pressure to again formally
designate the Houthis as a “foreign terrorist organization,” a label withdrawn
from the group one year ago after Biden became president, to engender peace
negotiations in the war-torn country.
But
the war between the Iran-backed Houthis and the government, backed by an Arab
coalition, has continued to rage.
“You
heard from the president last month that this is a decision that is under
review,” Price told reporters.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Europe
Turkey:
12 bodies of migrants recovered at Greek border
02
February ,2022
Turkey’s
interior minister said authorities have recovered 12 bodies, believed to be
those of migrants who froze to death after being pushed back into Turkey, near
Turkey’s border with Greece.
Interior
Minister Suleyman Soylu said on Twitter that the 12 were among 22 migrants who
were pushed back into Turkey by Greek border guards. He said they were found
near the Ipsala border crossing between Turkey and Greece “without shoes and
stripped of their clothes.”
The
minister did not provide further details but accused Greek border units of
acting “cruelly” and the European Union of being soft on Greece.
Turkey
frequently accuses neighboring Greece of illegally pushing back migrants
wanting to make their way into Europe. Greece denies the accusation.
Turkey
is a major crossing point for migrants from the Middle East, Asia and Africa
seeking a better life in European Union countries.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Lisa
Smith 'led astray' by Islamic State, court hears
03
February, 2022
A
former Irish Defence Forces soldier told gardaí after returning from Syria that
she did not support the Islamic State (IS) and had been "led astray".
In
interviews with gardaí, read to Dublin's Special Criminal Court, Lisa Smith
said she realised she had made a mistake going to the country.
She
also told detectives she never used a weapon in Syria, RTÉ has reported.
Ms
Smith has pleaded not guilty to membership of the terrorist group and financing
terrorism.
In
the 100-page interview given to detectives in December 2019, Ms Smith recalled
how she travelled across the Turkish border.
She
said all her money, amounting to €7,000 (£5,840), was stolen and she was kept
in a house with 50 or 60 women in Syria for five months.
The
39-year-old said she agreed to marry a man she did not want to, who took her to
Raqqa and beat her "very badly", RTÉ reported.
Ms
Smith described being attacked with cluster bombs and bullets hitting her
house.
She
said she was "so scared...we could have been killed".
Ms
Smith said her husband put her and her daughter on a truck with no bags, money
or food and they ended up in a camp.
She
said she saw people getting shot, babies dying and people with serious injuries
who did not go to hospital.
"People
don't know the reality of what happened in Islamic State," she told
gardaí.
When
asked if she would go back there, she said: "No way. No I've had enough,
I've done my time. It was four years spent in prison.
"They
put you in prison, torture and rape you. You are not allowed to come home.
Europe doesn't want you. If you go home you go to prison."
Source:
BBC News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60233301
--------
Turkey,
Armenia resume charter flights amid thawing ties
02
February ,2022
Charter
flights between Istanbul and Yerevan resumed after a two-year hiatus on
Wednesday amid efforts by Turkey and Armenia to normalize strained ties.
A
Fly One Armenia plane, with 64 passengers on board, landed at Istanbul Airport
Wednesday evening, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. A plane belonging to
Turkish low-cost Pegasus Airlines was scheduled to take off from Istanbul’s
second airport, Sabiha Gokcen, for Yerevan at 11:55 p.m. (2115 GMT).
Turkey
and Armenia have appointed special envoys in a bid to end their decades-long
hostile relationship and to establish diplomatic ties. The envoys held their
first meeting in Moscow last month and both nations said their talks were held
in a “positive and constructive atmosphere.”
Turkey
was among the first countries to recognize Armenia’s independence following the
collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, but the two neighbors have no diplomatic
ties.
Turkey,
a close ally of Azerbaijan, shut down its border with Armenia in 1993, in a
show of solidarity with Baku, which was locked in a conflict with Armenia over
the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
In
2020, Turkey strongly backed Azerbaijan in the six-week conflict with Armenia
over Nagorno-Karabakh, which ended with a Russia-brokered peace deal that saw
Azerbaijan gain control of a significant part of the region.
Turkey
and Armenia also have a more than century-old bitter relationship over the
deaths of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians in massacres, deportations and
forced marches that began in 1915 in Ottoman Turkey.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Pope
Francis appoints new ambassador to Turkiye
Baris
Seckin
02.02.2022
VATICAN
CITY
Pope
Francis appointed Polish monsignor Marek Solczynski as nuncio to Turkiye on
Wednesday.
The
Vatican said the Polish prelate worked as nuncio in Tanzania for the past five
years and was now appointed as the papal ambassador to Turkiye.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/pope-francis-appoints-new-ambassador-to-turkiye/2492392
--------
Turkish
president to visit Ukraine, attend high-level council meeting
Burcu
Calik Gocumlu
02.02.2022
Turkiye's
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will be visiting Ukraine on Thursday upon the
invitation of his counterpart to attend the 10th meeting of the High-Level
Strategic Council between the two countries.
Erdogan
and Volodymyr Zelensky will review the two countries' relations, which are at
the level of strategic partnership, Turkiye's Communications Directorate said
in a statement on Wednesday.
At
the meeting to be held in the capital Kyiv, the two leaders, along with their
accompanying delegations, will discuss possibilities for further deepening
cooperation and exchange views on regional and international issues, as well as
bilateral ties.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Australian
SAS corporal ‘executed unarmed Afghan,’ court hears
February
02, 2022
LONDON:
Australia’s most decorated serving soldier killed an Afghan prisoner with a
machine gun and ordered the execution of another detainee, a Sydney court has
heard.
Ben
Roberts-Smith, a former SAS corporal who was awarded the Victoria Cross, the
highest medal for gallantry, ordered a junior soldier to kill an Afghan
prisoner during a raid on a Taliban compound, according to a serving SAS
soldier.
The
soldier giving evidence, who remained anonymous for security reasons, said
Roberts-Smith threw another prisoner to the ground before shooting and killing
him.
The
alleged killings reportedly took place in southern Afghanistan on Easter Sunday
in 2009.
This
latest batch of evidence and testimony is part of a long-delayed defamation
trial, which was initiated by Roberts-Smith, 43, who is suing Melbourne’s The
Age newspaper and The Sydney Morning Herald over reports published in 2018 that
he believes portrayed him as a war criminal, linking him to six killings of
unarmed Afghan detainees.
The
serving SAS soldier giving evidence, referred to in court as Person 41,
deployed to Afghanistan in 2009 at the same time as Roberts-Smith.
Person
41 said that he was searching a compound when he heard a disturbance outside,
where he saw Roberts-Smith, another soldier identified as Person 4 and an older
Afghan male prisoner held against a wall.
Person
41 told the court that Roberts-Smith and Person 4 asked him for the suppressor
from his M4 rifle, which he lent to Person 4, presuming he was going to
investigate the tunnel as a potential hideout for insurgents.
But
instead, Person 41 said, “RS walked down and grabbed the Afghan male by the
scruff of his shirt.”
Person
41 said that Roberts-Smith moved the man for 2 meters until he was in front of
Person 4, “then kicked him in the back of the legs behind the knees until he
was kneeling down. RS pointed to the Afghan and said to Person 4, ‘shoot him’.”
Person
41 said that he immediately stepped back into the compound at this point, not
wanting to witness what he believed was about to occur.
He
heard shots and then saw the Afghan male’s body on the ground, which he
inspected: “There was quite a lot of blood flowing from the head wound.”
Person
4 handed back Person 41’s suppressor, which Person 41 said was warm from being
used.
Person
41 then witnessed another execution after seeing Roberts-Smith frog-march an
Afghan man while holding him by the scruff of his shirt.
“I
turned to face RS to see what was happening. He then proceeded to throw the
Afghan male down on to the ground; the man landed on his back. RS then reached
down, grabbed him by the shoulder, flipped him over on to his stomach and then
I observed him lower his machine gun and shoot approximately three to five
rounds into the back of the Afghan male,” he said.
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2016941/world
--------
Africa
Hijab:
Court adjourns alleged violation of FHR cases between ISI-UI, Muslim students
till March 11
February
2, 2022
By
Musliudeen Adebayo
Justice
Ladiran Akintola of an Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan, has adjourned
the cases of alleged denial of fundamental human rights of some female Muslim
students at International School, University of Ibadan to use hijab by the
school authority till March 11.
The
students and their parents had sued the school authority, its principal, Mrs.
Phebean Olowe and the University of Ibadan, because the students were not
allowed to use hijab.
A
hijab is a head covering worn in public by some Muslim women.
The
judge, who presided over Court 7 of the state High Court on Wednesday,
adjourned the cases during the resume of the matters in Ibadan.
The
court session was attended by some of the plaintiffs, their parents, counsel to
the appellants, Barrister Hassan Fajimite and counsel to the defendants,
Barrister Ejelonu M.S.
Akintola,
after listening to the arguments put forward by both Fajimite and Ejelonu, then
adjourned the case till March 11, for further mention.
He
explained that he adjourned the cases in order to allow the parties involved
file their applications supported by their evidence.
The
counsels to both the applicants and the defendants said that they were
satisfied with the submission of the judge to adjourn the case.
DAILY
POST recalls that some female Muslim students were in November 2018 bared from
entering the premises of the school because they were wearing Hijab on top of
their school uniforms.
The
denial of the students to gain entrance to the school resulted in a mild drama,
which forced the management to close the school for one week.
The
development forced the affected students and their parents to sue the school,
authorities of University of Ibadan and the principal of the school over what
they described as violation of the rights of the students.
Fajimite,
who addressed journalists shortly after the court session, explained that his
clients approached the court for the enforcement of their fundamental human
rights to use hijab.
He
described the action of the school by preventing the students from using hijab
as a violation of the existing laws in the country.
He
said, “I am the counsel to the appellants, 11 of them who are students of
ISI-UI who were deprived the right from using Hijab and have deem it fit and
their parents to file applications for the enforcement of their fundamental
human rights.
“The
matter is actually for mention today and the matter has been adjourned till
March 11, to enable us file our counter affidavits.
Source:
Daily Post Nigeria
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Tunisian
president denies a coup but holds power tight
02
February ,2022
A
political novice, Tunisia's president stunned opponents and admirers alike by
seizing near total state power in a move that thrust his country's young
democracy into turmoil.
Kais
Saied, a former law professor with an awkward public manner, denies accusations
by critics that he has dictatorial aspirations and vows to uphold the rights of
Tunisians.
But
six months after sacking the North African country's prime minister, suspending
parliament and assuming executive power -- moves his opponents call a coup –
his declared roadmap out of the crisis appears a work in progress.
For
some Tunisians it is an open question whether he will ultimately become a
populist hero, a dictator who undermines democracy or a president brought down
by a collapsing economy.
Tunisia
is regarded as the only democratic success to emerge from the 2011 Arab Spring
uprisings, but the country faces a looming public finances crisis, and painful
reforms needed to secure international assistance risk triggering social
unrest.
Saied
seems to have decided that he embodies “the consensus of the Tunisian
electorate, and that in order to move Tunisia forward, he needs to move
aggressively and uncompromisingly,” said H.A. Hellyer, a scholar at the
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
To
those who back Saied, his actions were the necessary work of a rare man of
integrity who managed to oust a corrupt political elite and relaunch the 2011
revolution that toppled Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali.
The
solemn, balding 63-year-old, who speaks an ultra-formal style of classical
Arabic, has started online consultations in order to write a new constitution,
which he plans to put to a referendum in June.
Economic
frustrations
His
critics, drawn from across Tunisia's political spectrum and elements of civil
society, say he is inexperienced, isolated and uncompromising, and fear that
when economic frustrations breed opposition, he will grow autocratic.
But
Saied says he wants to lead Tunisians on an enlightened political path free of
corruption and that problems stem from the current 2014 constitution, which
analysts say he wants to change in order to focus power in the presidency.
“The
way forward is to return to the people in a completely new and different way.
There must be a legal solution based on the will and sovereignty of the
people,” he said in December.
Saied's
inflexible approach contrasts with the tumultuous days of the 2011 revolt, when
he would wander at night through the narrow streets of the Kasbah and grand
colonial boulevards downtown asking protesters about their demands.
He
became prominent after the revolution by appearing on media shows to talk about
the constitution.
Saied
swept into office in a 2019 landslide second-round vote as a scourge of
corruption, his severe, formal manner contrasting vividly with that of the
groomed political elite.
Saied's
campaign headquarters reflected his austere approach: a small upstairs
apartment in an old building with no elevator, broken windows and peeling paint
work equipped with little more than a small television and some plastic chairs.
He
won the support of leftists, though his radical but socially conservative
politics do not neatly chime with the group. His social views - favoring the
death penalty and opposing homosexuality and equal inheritance for men and
women - appear to have won him support among hardliners.
As
time passed after his election, he showed impatience with the messy politics of
parliament and a succession of governing coalitions. Growing demonstrations
indicate he has since lost some of the support evident in his early months in
power.
“It
looks like he is en route to creating a presidential system that oversees
weakened democratic institutions such as parliament,” said Andreas Krieg,
Associate Professor at King's College London's School of Security.
‘Democracy
of individuals’
Tunisia
is pursuing talks with the International Monetary Fund on a rescue package
predicated on painful economic reforms. The discussions were halted in July,
when Saied seized wide powers, but resumed after he laid out plans for a
referendum and parliamentary elections this year.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Economic
pain threatens social and political chaos in Tunisia
02
February ,2022
President
Kais Saied says he will remake Tunisian politics in 2022 with a new
constitution and parliament after seizing executive power last year in a move
his foes call a coup - but the threat of national bankruptcy may upend his
plans.
The
country requires an international rescue package to avert a disastrous collapse
in public finances, with some state salaries delayed in January. But as time
runs out, donors say Saied has not done enough to bring them on board.
They
want him to embrace a more inclusive political process to ensure Tunisia's
young democracy survives, and strike a publicly acknowledged agreement with his
major rivals on unpopular economic reforms to tame spending and debt.
For
the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
The
costs of failure could be catastrophic - terrible hardship for Tunisians, a
slide into full-blown autocracy, or a social explosion that could inflame a
migration crisis and create opportunities for militants.
Saied
already faces bolder opposition than at any point since his July moves to
suspend parliament and dismiss the prime minister, but a sharp decline in
living standards could prompt major unrest among a people already sick of years
of stagnation.
That
would test not only Saied's ability to achieve his political ends, but whether
he would unleash the increasingly assertive security forces on opponents,
despite his promise to uphold rights and freedoms won in the 2011 uprising.
While
there has been no big crackdown on free speech or major campaign of arrests,
there were recent hints of a more aggressive posture towards dissent including
the detention of an opposition figure and the harsh policing of a protest.
“The
security apparatus has a strong hand with Saied now,” said a source close to
the presidency.
Saied's
main opposition, the big parties in parliament, are themselves deeply unpopular
and Tunisians appear bitterly divided over their leaders. Even inside Saied's
small team, there have been ruptures between rival camps.
It
all points to a volatile year for Tunisians, who are still trying to solve the
puzzle of a president whose uncompromising but unconventional approach has
often mystified his supporters, opponents and foreign allies alike.
Painful
reforms
Under
intense pressure, Saied announced a roadmap out of the crisis in December,
launching an online consultation for a new constitution that he says a
committee of experts will draw up before a referendum in July. The election of
a new parliament would follow in December.
Donors
do not think these steps alone meet their call for a return to normal
constitutional order through an inclusive process and want to see the powerful
labour union and major political parties directly involved.
Meanwhile
the government Saied appointed in September is seeking an International
Monetary Fund (IMF) rescue package, which the finance minister says he hopes to
secure by April, that is needed to unlock almost any other bilateral aid.
Donors
think any agreement is very unlikely before the summer, a timeframe that may be
too late to avert serious problems including pressure on the currency, payment
of state salaries and the import of some staple subsidized goods.
The
economy is a constant source of public unease, though opinions about the
president's handling of the issue differ. Tunisians are already complaining of
shortages of some goods such as sugar and rice.
“Democracy
is collapsing day by day. Prices have risen sharply. Wages are less secure each
month,” said Sonia, 38, a teacher in Tunis.
“The
president needs time. He is trying to rebuild a state that was broken when he
took over,” said Imed ben Saied, also from Tunis.
However,
while the initial Tunisian presentation to the IMF was described as satisfactory,
donors thought it lacked both detail and - critically - the inclusive political
buy-in needed to carry out any reforms promised.
Though
Saied met the labor union head last month for the first time since July, there
is little evidence yet that either the president or the union are willing to
publicly back reforms on the scale needed for IMF help.
Spectre
of unrest
Though
much of the political elite has lined up against Saied's power grab, protests
so far have been relatively modest by historical standards. An economic crisis
on the scale of those in Lebanon or Venezuela - which the central bank governor
warned of a year ago - would likely cause serious unrest.
Saied
since July has largely allowed protests against his moves, though a January
demonstration was banned on COVID-19 grounds and harshly dispersed by police.
Most
media, including the state-owned news agency TAP, have still reported criticism
of the president and government but the journalists' union says state
television has stopped featuring political parties in discussion programs.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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King
of Jordan: Security of Saudi Arabia and Jordan is indivisible
February
03, 2022
AMMAN:
King Abdullah of Jordan met Speaker of the Saudi Shoura Council Sheikh Dr.
Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Ibrahim Al-Sheikh and an accompanying delegation on
Wednesday as part of the official visit of Al-Sheikh to Jordan.
During
the meeting, the Jordanian King reiterated Jordan’s condemnation of Houthi
attacks on Saudi Arabia, reaffirming that Saudi Arabia’s security was an
integral part of the security of Jordan and the region.
King
Abdullah reaffirmed the ties between Jordan and Saudi Arabia, praising the
level of existing coordination between the two countries, asking the speaker of
the Shoura Council to convey his greetings to King Salman and Prince Mohammed
bin Salman, crown prince, deputy prime minister and minister of defense.
The
speaker of the Shoura Council conveyed the greetings of King Salman and
Mohammed bin Salman to King Abdullah and their wishes for the progress and
prosperity of Jordan and its people.
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2017351/saudi-arabia
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Burkina
Faso junta lifts nationwide curfew in force since coup
February
03, 2022
OUAGADOUGOU:
Burkina Faso’s junta lifted Wednesday a nationwide curfew they imposed after
seizing power in a coup last month, the military announced.
The
restrictions were imposed on January 24 after mutinous soldiers arrested
President Roch Marc Christian Kabore following a revolt at several army
barracks in the capital over the handling of jihadist attacks in the Sahel
nation.
“The
President of the Patriotic Movement for Preservation and Restoration, President
of Faso, Head of State, updates... the total lifting of the curfew measure as
of this day, February 2,” Col. Paul-Henri Sandaogo said in a press release.
The
nation’s nightlife will not completely resume as “popular celebrations and
festive events are prohibited after midnight from Monday to Thursday and after
2 am from Friday to Sunday,” the junta said in a televised statement.
The
coup leaders said the measure was taken “in view of the security context and in
solidarity with the victims of insecurity.”
Initially
imposed from 9 p.m. to 5 pm, the national curfew was later reduced to midnight
to 4 am before being lifted entirely.
Like
neighboring Mali and Niger, Burkina Faso has been caught up in a spiral of
violence since 2015, attributed to jihadist groups affiliated to Al-Qaeda and
the Daesh militant group.
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2017336/world
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Southeast Asia
Militants
killed by soldiers in mosque shootout
3
FEB 2022
SONGKHLA:
Three armed militants were killed as they tried to break through security
forces surrounding a study centre on the grounds of a mosque in Chana district
early Thursday morning.
Soldiers
accompanied by two armoured vehicles surrounded a Koran learning centre at Khok
Khet mosque in tambon Ban Na about 5.30am, Col Kiatsak Neewong, PR chief of the
southern office of the Internal Security Operations Command, said.
They
were acting on information that three separatist militants named on several
arrest warrrants were hiding there.
Local
officials, Islamic leaders and relatives tried to persuade the suspects to
surrender. They did not.
Instead,
three armed men ran out of the building and opened fire at them, Col Kiatsak
said. The soldiers returned fire and the three men were killed. The men were
armed with two rifles and a handgun.
They
were identified as Sattha Awae, Surin Kaseng and Adinan Doloh.
Source:
Bangkok Post
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2258183/
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Nasdaq
bell-ringing ceremony featured Chinese official who called genocide of Uyghur
Muslims 'lies'
February
3, 2022
A
Chinese government official who claimed reports of human rights violations in
China were "lies" and praised the Communist Party of China (CPC) as a
"great party" was featured at two high-profile events earlier this
week in New York City, where he used his platform to promote the upcoming
Beijing Winter Olympics and a "shared future" between China and the
United States.
Huang
Ping, who has been the consul general of China’s New York Consulate since 2018,
posted two videos of himself on Twitter participating in Nasdaq's virtual
bell-ringing ceremony and the lighting of the Empire State Building for the
start of the Lunar New Year.
"It
is my great pleasure to attend Nasdaq's bell ringing ceremony for the fourth
time to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year of the tiger," Huang said.
"2021 was a year full of challenges. Despite the protracted and resilient
pandemic, we have seen the positive trend of economic recovery. Nasdaq
Composite index hit record high, China's GDP grow by 8.1 percent, the largest
jump since 2011."
After
hyping up China's economy and calling for China and the United States to work
together, Huang promoted the Beijing Winter Olympics, saying, "The Beijing
Winter Olympics are open in just five days. China is ready to deliver a
streamlined, safe, and splendid Olympic Games to the world."
Nasdaq,
which lists many of America’s largest tech companies, has come under scrutiny
from U.S. officials, along with other major exchanges, for its continued
listing of Chinese companies over concerns about transparency and threats to
U.S. national security.
Nasdaq's
Twitter account, which has over 700,000 followers, posted a few photos of the
digital billboards in New York City, which included one with Huang and another
billboard that said, "Nasdaq welcomes Chinese Consulate in New York."
Bob
McCooey, who serves as a vice chairman at Nasdaq, quote tweeted Huang and said,
"It is always such a great honor for me to be able to host [Huang Ping]
each year at the beginning of the #LunarNewYear."
Chinese
state-run media outlets were quick to exploit Huang's invitation to speak at
the Nasdaq bell-ringing ceremony and promoted it to millions of followers on
Twitter. China Daily, a CPC-controlled media outlet tweeted three photos of the
digital billboards and said, "Chinese Consul General in New York Huang
Ping said #China will continue to be the opportunity for #US investors in the
Year of the Tiger." The Global Times, another CPC-controlled English
language newspaper, promoted Huang's remarks about the upcoming Beijing Winter
Olympics, which start later this week.
Fox
News Digital reported last month that Huang appeared on a podcast in August
2021, during which he made several controversial remarks, including praise of
the CPC as a "great party" and repeatedly denying the existence of a
genocide of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, despite the State Department and
Holocaust Museum saying China is committing genocide.
"There
are lots of lies here fabricated by some people with their own political
agenda," Huang said, denying the existence of genocide and internment camps.
"As I said, there’s no genocide, not single evidence to prove that there’s
a genocide or something there. It’s just a slandering."
In
addition to attending the bell-ringing ceremony Monday, Huang was invited to a
virtual lighting of the Empire State Building over the weekend, where he was
introduced by Tony Malkin, the chairman, president and chief executive officer
of Empire State Realty Trust.
Malkin
said the trust partners with Huang "each year" to light up the Empire
State Building for the start of the Lunar New Year and that he was
"honored" to welcome Huang to the lighting. He also promoted the
upcoming Olympics in Beijing.
Source:
Fox Business
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Khairy
sues Lokman, Islamic preacher over vax-linked online posts
Feb
3, 2022
Health
Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has brought defamation suits against former Umno
supreme council member Lokman Noor Adam and an Islamic preacher over online
postings linked to Malaysia’s Covid-19 vaccination programmes.
The
former Umno Youth chief filed the writ of summons against fellow party member
Lokman (above) as well as Mohd Rasyiq Mohd Alwi, also known as Ustaz Abu
Syafiq, at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Jan 25.
According
to the suit’s statement of claim sighted by Malaysiakini, Covid-19 Immunisation
Task Force (CITF) chairperson Khairy is suing the two men over a series of
online uploads between Oct 20 last year, and Jan 10 this year.
The
cause papers were referring to four videos and a photo allegedly uploaded to
Lokman’s Facebook page and YouTube channel, as well as four postings, three
videos and a photo purportedly uploaded to Rasyiq’s Instagram page.
Rembau
MP Khairy claimed that the two defendants committed defamation through the online
postings which contained several allegations linked to the government’s
Covid-19 vaccination efforts in Malaysia.
Among
these allegations are that the plaintiff purportedly acted recklessly and/or
irresponsibly in the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines for the vaccination
programmes in Malaysia, as well as claims linked to his Covid-19 vaccination
status.
Khairy
claimed that the online postings by Lokman and Rasyiq are contrary to the
public interest as they purportedly undermined the government’s efforts to
combat the Covid-19 endemic in the country.
.
“The
defamatory publications have harmed societal response to Covid-19, and the
defamatory publications have undermined the official data and facts provided by
the Health Ministry to the public,” claimed Khairy, who is the coordinating
minister of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme (NIP).
.
The
plaintiff added that the lawsuits were filed by his lawyers from law firm
Rashid Zulkifli, following the two defendants allegedly refused to abide by his
letter of demand issued on Jan 16 this year.
Source:
Malaysiakini
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/609307
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Xi
promises a ‘safe and splendid’ Olympics in Beijing
February
3, 2022
BEIJING:
The Beijing Olympics, which officially opens tomorrow, will be streamlined,
safe and splendid, Chinese president Xi Jinping said today, as the head of the
IOC decried boycott ghosts “rearing their ugly heads again” over human rights
concerns.
Addressing
the International Olympic Committee (IOC) session in the capital via a brief
video message, Xi said China had played an active part in the Olympic movement
since staging the 2008 summer Olympics.
For
these winter Games the country had engaged 300 million Chinese in winter sports
as promised, he said.
“From
‘One World-One Dream’ in 2008 to ‘Together for a Shared Future’ in 2022, China
has taken an active part in the Olympic movement and consistently championed
the Olympic spirit,” he said.
“The
Olympic Winter Games will open tomorrow evening. The world is turning its eyes
to China and China is ready. We will do our best to deliver to the world a
streamlined, safe and splendid Games.”
The
Chinese capital will become the first city to host both summer and winter
editions of the Olympics but preparations have been hit by diplomatic boycotts
and the coronavirus pandemic.
The
US, Britain and some other allied countries have staged a diplomatic boycott of
the Games over human rights in China.
Rights
groups have long criticised the IOC for awarding the Games to China, citing its
treatment of Uighurs and other Muslim minority groups, which the US has deemed
genocide.
China
denies allegations of human rights abuses.
IOC
president Thomas Bach has repeatedly defended his organisation’s choice for the
2022 Olympics, saying the IOC was not a political body nor was its mandate to
influence laws in sovereign states.
He
said today that in the two years leading up to the Beijing Games he had seen
“the dark clouds of the growing politicisation of sport on the horizon”.
“We
also saw that in some peoples’ minds the boycott ghosts of the past were
rearing their ugly heads again,” Bach said.
The
1976, 1980 and 1984 Olympics were all hit by boycotts of countries during the
Cold War era, severely denting the event’s universality and finances.
“This
is why we have been working even harder to get this unifying mission of the
Olympic Games across to as many leaders and decision makers as possible,” Bach
said.
Source:
Free Malaysia Today
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Holocaust
museum causes stir in Indonesia
Konradus
Epa
February
02, 2022
Rights
groups have condemned Indonesia’s top Islamic clerical body after it called for
the demolition of a Jewish community’s newly opened Holocaust museum.
The
museum in Minahasa, North Sulawesi province, violates the constitution and is
provocative, according to the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI).
The
Shaar HaShamayim Holocaust Museum is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia
and was built by the local Jewish community. It was officially opened by German
ambassador Ina Lepel on Jan. 27 to coincide with International Holocaust Day.
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"The
museum aims to fight racism, anti-Semitism and all intolerance," Lepel
said during the opening
Her
words did not hold sway with the Ulema Council.
"The
Indonesian government should act decisively and immediately demolish the museum
because it is provocative and its presence is not welcomed among many in this
country," Muhyiddin Junaidi, deputy chairman of the MUI’s advisory board,
said in a statement.
He
said the museum does not benefit Indonesian people and hurts the feeling of
Palestinians.
He
also accused the Minahasa Jewish community of trying to convince the Indonesian
government to open diplomatic ties with Israel.
Indonesia,
like many Muslim nations, refuses to acknowledge Israel as a state.
Bonar
Tigor Naipospos, deputy chairman of the Setara Institute for Democracy and
Peace, accused the MUI of failing to understand history and what the museum
symbolizes.
“The
museum sends a message that a tragedy against humanity occurred and millions of
people fell victim,” he told UCA News on Feb. 2.
He
said the MUI call was more about religious intolerance when it should be
“taking lessons from the tragedy so that it doesn’t happen again.”
Calling
something that actually happened “provocative” is strange, he said, adding:
“The museum is important for the young generation to warn them that cruelty to
others can result in the killing of millions of people.”
Source:
UCA News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.ucanews.com/news/holocaust-museum-causes-stir-in-indonesia/95960
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URL: