Timor-Leste President Backs Indonesia's Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, Moderate Muslim Outfits, For Nobel
New Age Islam News Bureau
21 July 2022
Timor Leste President Jose
Ramos Horta (left) meeting Nahdlatul Ulama chairman Yahya Cholil Staquf in
Jakarta on July 20. (Photo courtesy Nahdlatul Ulama)
-----
• Online
Backlash for Israeli Journalist, Gil Tamary, Who Sneaked Into Mecca
• 700 Civilians Killed and Over 1400 Wounded Since
Taliban Takeover: UN
• Karnataka: Thirteen Muslim Educational Institutions
to Establish Colleges Allowing Hijab
• Facebook Bans Taliban-controlled Media Pages,
Bakhtar News Agency & Afghanistan National Television
Southeast Asia
• Muhammad Rizieq Shihab, Paroled Hardline Indonesian
Cleric Promises To Fight On, ‘Forbid Evil’
• Perak state assembly makes history as private
member’s motion passed
• Don’t let Tommy Thomas leave Malaysia until Sulu
claim resolved, says Najib
• Tajuddin hits back after being called out for sexist
remarks
--------
Arab World
• UK’s Queen Elizabeth Bestows ‘Rare and Exceptional
Honour’ On Kuwait Ambassador
• Turkey says attack on Iraq’s Dohuk was carried out
by ‘terrorists’
• Iraq’s Kadhimi condemns Turkey for ‘violation’ after
deadly Kurdistan strike
• Lebanon Archbishop’s court summons sparks anger
among Christian leaders
• Saudi foreign minister meets S. Korea’s assembly
speaker, global security on agenda
• 4 policemen killed in Daesh/ISIS attack in Iraq
-------
North America
• President Biden expects to speak with China’s Xi
within next 10 days
• US warns Iran it risks dependency on an isolated
Russia
• Biden's Mideast tour makes road to revival of Iran’s
nuclear deal bumpier
--------
India
• Pasmanda Muslims Want ‘Sammaan’, Not ‘Sneh’, Says
Former MP Ali Anwar Ansari in Open Letter to PM
• Highly-Radicalised Man Involved In Propagating
'Jihad' Against India Arrested From Bihar: NIA
• India’s Top Court Grants Bail to Muslim Journalist, Mohammed
Zubair, Accused Of Insulting Hindus
• Kerala Govt Drops Public Services Commission
Recruitment to Waqf Board, Puts Muslim
• Gyanvapi Dispute: Allahabad HC Junks PIL for Panel
to Determine Nature of Structure Found In Mosque
--------
South Asia
• 'Tweet apology or go to jail': Foreign journo says
she was threatened by Taliban
• Despair, poverty fuel massive addiction scourge in
Taliban-ruled Afghanistan
--------
Pakistan
• Pakistan Neither Afford Religious Disharmony, Nor
Political Instability: PM’s Special Representative for Interfaith Harmony
• An ‘Out of Pakistan’ Solution For Population
Control—Produce Kids In Non-Muslim Nations: Minister
• Pakistani passport remains fourth-worst in the world
• Pakistan faces foreign policy challenge amid
political slugfest between PTI, Sharif govt
• Miftah sees economy stabilising with inflows ‘on
cards’
• Five killed in operation belonged to terrorist
group: Langove
• Pakistan, Turkiye enjoy exemplary fraternal
relations based on common values: Kh Asif
--------
Europe
• French President Calls for Direct Political Dialogue
Between Israel, Palestine
• Supporters of YPG/PKK terror group hold
demonstration in Finland
• Talks with Ukraine, Russia, UN on grain corridor
going well, says Turkey
• Iran recalls Sweden ambassador in protest at Noury
sentence
• France's Macron meets Palestinian leader Mahmoud
Abbas in Paris
• Turkey says it will meet Finland, Sweden in August
to evaluate terror-related pledges
--------
Mideast
• Iran Clarifies Nuclear Policy Unchanged After ‘Bomb’
Remark
• Iran: Ball in Court of US Policy-Makers to End
Nuclear Negotiations
• Iran: Holding All-Inclusive Referendum Sole Solution
to Palestinian Issue
• EU ‘deeply regrets’ Iran-backed Houthi’s rejection
of UN proposal to reopen Taiz road
• Yemen’s information minister says Houthis unjustly
sieged Khubzah village, indiscriminately bombing
• US forces in Syria, region a ‘destabilizing factor':
Iranian president
--------
Africa
• Muslim-Muslim Ticket: Bishops Who Attended
Shettima’s Unveiling Fake – Catholic Church
• Death Toll from Sudan Ethnic Clashes Climbs to 105:
Official
• Libya’s NOC says production resumed at several
oilfields
• Envoy reaffirms Türkiye’s support for Burkina Faso
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
--------
Timor-Leste President Backs Indonesia's Nahdlatul
Ulama and Muhammadiyah, Moderate Muslim Outfits, For Nobel
Timor Leste President Jose
Ramos Horta (left) meeting Nahdlatul Ulama chairman Yahya Cholil Staquf in
Jakarta on July 20. (Photo courtesy Nahdlatul Ulama)
-----
July 20, 2022
Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta has said he
will be nominating two moderate Indonesian Muslim organizations for the Nobel
Peace Prize.
Ramos-Horta, himself a Nobel peace laureate, said two
Muslim groups in Indonesia--Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah--deserve
international recognition for their contribution to promoting tolerance in the
world’s most populous Muslim-majority country.
The Timor-Leste president made the remarks while
visiting the Nahdlatul Ulama headquarters in Jakarta on July 20, as part of a
week-long visit to Indonesia.
“I will also propose these two organizations for
another very prestigious award, namely the Zayed Award for Human Fraternity,”
he added.
The international award was established to mark the
historic meeting of Pope Francis and the grand imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmad
At-Tayyeb, in February 2019 in Abu Dhabi.
Ramos-Horta is a member of the judging committee for
this year’s Zayed Award. Thanking him, Nahdlatul Ulama Chairman Yahya Cholil
Staquf said: "This is an honor for all of us."
Jesuit Father Franz Magnis-Suseno, professor emeritus
at the Driyarkara School of Philosophy in Jakarta, told UCA News that he fully
supports Ramos-Horta's initiative.
The priest, who promotes interfaith dialogue, said he
had written to the Nobel Peace Committee in 2019 proposing the names of both
organizations.
"I think these two organizations are very
important in showing how Indonesia as a Muslim-majority country in the world
can be a tolerant country and maintain Pancasila [the state philosophy],"
he said, alluding to the secular ideology of the Indonesian state.
Father Magnis-Suseno said maintaining a consistent
policy of tolerance while overcoming various challenges in Indonesia's history,
including efforts by extremist groups to disrupt peace, deserves international
recognition.
"It is hard to imagine that Indonesia can survive
with its Pancasila, without the existence of these two organizations," the
German-born priest said.
Established in 1926, Nahdlatul Ulama is widely known
for its appreciation of pluralism and the banning of the term
"infidel" to describe non-Muslims. The group has maintained good
relations with minority groups, including Catholics.
Its current chairman, Staquf, who assumed charge last
year, met Pope Francis in the Vatican in 2020.
On June 9, the organization signed a pact with the
Community of Sant'Egidio, an Italian Catholic lay group, to promote interfaith
peace and humanitarian work.
Muhammadiyah, founded in 1912 by Ahmad Dahlan, a
Muslim cleric, is Indonesia's oldest Islamic organization devoted to education,
health, and social activities.
It runs more than 5,000 primary and secondary schools,
as well as over 175 universities in Indonesia. The organization stresses the
need to return to the Quran and the exemplary conduct of the Prophet Muhammad.
In October last year, its general secretary Abdul
Mu'ti was a speaker at a meeting on religions and education at the Vatican,
which was also attended by the pope.
Source: UCA News
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
--------
Online
Backlash for Israeli Journalist, Gil Tamary, Who Sneaked Into Mecca
Israel's
Channel 13 shows reporter Gil Tamary as he travelled to Mecca in Saudi Arabia
[Screengrab Channel 13]
----
21
Jul 2022
RIYADH,
July 21 — An Israeli journalist has sparked controversy after publishing a
video of himself sneaking into the Saudi city of Mecca, the holiest city of
Islam, flouting a ban on non-Muslims.
The
video by Gil Tamary, who works for Israel’s Channel 13, continued to draw
hostile reactions on Saudi social media Wednesday, two days after Tamary posted
it on Twitter and one day after he followed up with an apology for any offence
he might have caused.
Saudi
Arabia does not recognise Israel and did not join the 2020 US-brokered Abraham
Accords that saw the Jewish state establish ties with two of the kingdom’s
neighbours, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
Several
Israeli journalists who hold foreign passports were nonetheless able to visit
Saudi Arabia both before and during US President Joe Biden’s tour of the Middle
East last week.
In
his roughly 10-minute clip, Tamary visits Mount Arafat, where robed Muslims
pilgrims gather to pray during the climax of the hajj pilgrimage each year.
He
makes clear he knows what he’s doing is outlawed, referring to the site as “a
place forbidden to non-Muslims” and declaring, “I am the first Israeli
journalist on the spot to broadcast these images and in Hebrew.”
Responding
to the outcry on Tuesday, Tamary said he wanted merely to “showcase the
importance of Mecca” and the beauty of Islam, while claiming the video “allowed
many people to see, for the first time, a place that is so important to our
Muslim brothers and sisters”.
Yet
a host of international and Saudi media outlets published extensive coverage
from Mecca during the hajj pilgrimage less than two weeks ago.
Tamary’s
justification of the video did little to quiet angry social media responses.
A
hashtag which translates as “A Jew at the holy mosque” has been trending on
Twitter, where one user on Wednesday urged Saudi authorities not to “injure the
Islamic nation... by allowing Jews to desecrate the city of the Messenger of
God”.
Saudi
authorities have not responded to AFP’s requests for comment about the
incident.
‘Shame
for journalism’
Even
Twitter accounts that have promoted diplomatic normalisation between Israel and
Saudi Arabia decried Tamary’s report as a “shame”, as did some of his fellow
Israeli journalists.
“There
are things that must be said: What Gil Tamary did is a shame for journalism,”
Yoav Limor, another Israeli journalist who recently visited the kingdom, said
on Twitter.
The
dust-up comes amid speculation about future bilateral ties, which US officials
stoked ahead of Biden’s visit.
The
Saudi civil aviation authority announced Friday it was lifting overflight
restrictions on “all carriers”, paving the way for Israeli planes to use Saudi
airspace.
But
the Saudi foreign minister later said the move had “nothing to do” with Israel
and was “not in any way a precursor to any further steps” towards
normalisation.
Riyadh
has repeatedly said it would stick to the decades-old Arab League position of
not establishing official ties with Israel until the conflict with the
Palestinians is resolved. — AFP
Source:
Malay Mail
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
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700
Civilians Killed and Over 1400 Wounded Since Taliban Takeover: UN
Photo:
The Khaama Press
-----
By
Saqalain Eqbal
20
Jul 2022
In
a report detailing serious human rights violations conducted by Taliban forces
since their takeover, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan
(UNAMA) found that more than 700 civilians had been killed and more than 1400
injured.
A
recent UNAMA report confirms many of the concerns Afghan human rights activists
have voiced since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan last August.
Summary
killings and forced disappearances of former Afghan National Security Forces
personnel are just two serious human rights violations Taliban forces have
committed. These violations persisted for months after the Taliban took control
of the country, according to the report.
According
to this report, the Taliban were responsible for 178 arbitrary arrests and 160
extrajudicial (desert) executions between August 15, 2021, and June 15, 2022.
In
the last 10 months, the Taliban allegedly perpetrated 23 acts of unlawful, arbitrary
arrests of former soldiers and 56 cases of torture, maltreatment, and threats.
More
than 100 ISIS members were allegedly unlawfully killed in Nangarhar, in eastern
Afghanistan, by the Taliban.
The
Taliban, on the other hand, denies the report by UNAMA calling it “unfounded”
and “propaganda”.
Zabihullah
Mujahid, in reaction to UNAMA’s report on Taliban repression and abuse in
Afghanistan, stated that “The UNAMA report on human rights in Afghanistan is
not true.”
He
declared that anyone who engages in extrajudicial executions or arbitrary
arrest will be prosecuted as a criminal and subject to Sharia law.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/700-civilians-killed-and-over-1400-wounded-since-taliban-takeover-un-474873/
--------
Karnataka:
Thirteen Muslim Educational Institutions to Establish Colleges Allowing Hijab
Photo:
Times Now
----
20th
July 2022
Bengaluru:
As many as 13 Muslim educational institutions have sought Karnataka
government’s permission to set up Pre-University Colleges in Dakshina Kannada
which would enable Muslim girl students to wear hijab inside classrooms.
According
to sources in the Education Department, all the applications have sought
consent to open PU colleges (first and second PUC) in the coastal district of
Dakshina Kannada from where the agitation for hijab began in Karnataka.
Though
a majority of Muslim girl students are adhering to the High Court’s verdict
that no attire representing religious symbol is allowed and attending classes
without hijab, a section of girl students are insisting on wearing of hijab.
They
have discontinued their studies as education institutions are not allowing them
with hijab into classrooms.
The
government order empowers the College Development Committees to frame rules in
this regard. As many as 14 applications have been submitted to open PU Colleges
in Dakshina Kannada district among which 13 are submitted by Muslim academic
institutions.
So
far, the permission has been granted for only 1 Muslim institute to start PU
College, sources confirmed. There was demand from the Muslim community to open
separate classes for their girl students enabling them to wear hijab.
Hundreds
of girls took out a procession last week in Mangaluru city demanding their
right to wear hijab under the banner of the Campus Front of India (CFI). The
matter is pending before the Supreme Court.
Hijab
crisis which started by six students of Udupi Pre-University Girl’s College
turned into a state-wide crisis and made international headlines. The crisis
resulted in social unrest and threatened the law and order situation in the
state.
The
Karnataka High Court formed a Special Bench of three judges, which dismissed
the petitions by Muslim girl students seeking permission to wear hijab. The
ruling BJP in Karnataka is strictly implementing rules on hijab in academic
institutions and not allowing students to wear hijab in classrooms.
Source:
Siasat Daily
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
--------
Facebook
Bans Taliban-controlled Media Pages, Bakhtar News Agency & Afghanistan
National Television
Photo:
Khaama Press
----
By
Saqalain Eqbal
20
Jul 2022
Facebook
has suspended the pages of the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan National
Television and Bakhtar news agency. The said pages are no longer accessible.
Facebook
had suspended the Pashto and Dari pages of this media organization, according
to Ahmadullah Wasiq, head of Afghanistan National Television.
When
the Taliban took Kabul on August 15, 2021, they seized control of Afghanistan
National Television’s media center. As a result, they conducted extensive media
activities. However, the pages of this media center and Bakhtar News Agency are
currently inaccessible.
The
pages of Taliban-controlled government agencies in Afghanistan on the Facebook
social networking site were previously closed, by Facebook.
Facebook,
one of the most widely used social networks worldwide, was the first to name
the Taliban as a terrorist organization following their takeover in mid-August,
2021, merely two days after the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan.
Facebook
perceives the Taliban to be a “terrorist organization” and has banned the
publication of any materials created by or supporting this organization on its
social media platform.
According
to a Facebook spokesperson, this social media platform enforces its
anti-Taliban policy on all of its platforms, including Facebook itself,
Instagram, and WhatsApp.
While
the Taliban has long used Facebook as a social media platform for information
and advertising, Taliban officials and spokespersons are more active on
Twitter.
Source:
Khaama Press
Please
click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
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Southeast Asia
Muhammad Rizieq Shihab, Paroled Hardline Indonesian Cleric Promises To Fight On, ‘Forbid Evil’
2022.07.20
A
hardline Indonesian Muslim cleric vowed to fight on as he walked free on parole
Wednesday after serving about 18 months of his four-year prison sentence for
lying about his COVID-19 test result.
Muhammad
Rizieq Shihab, founder of the banned but influential anti-vice group Islamic
Defenders’ Front (FPI), pledged to continue to “enjoin the good and forbid the
evil, no matter the risks,” in his first public statement after being set free
from a prison in Jakarta.
“I’m
telling you my friends and fellow scholars, we are united in the struggle and I
will not abandon the people, I will not betray the people,” Rizieq said in a
speech livestreamed online.
“I
will try my best to protect the people and will continue to fight for the
rights of the people, because we are the people, and the people are us,” he
said.
Rizieq
also said he was forbidden from travelling outside the capital without written
permission from parole officers. According to a spokesperson for the Ministry
of Law and Human Rights, Rizieq was allowed to go free because he had met
minimum requirements for parole, but he will have to report regularly to the
Bapas correctional institution in Jakarta for at least a year.
Azis
Yanuar, Rizieq’s attorney, said his client would spend his time preaching what
he called a “moral revolution” but in a way that avoids breaching his parole
terms.
“He
will go about it without violating the law and in a softer manner,” Azis told
BenarNews.
‘Won’t
risk criminal offenses’
Rizieq
would likely avoid mobilizing followers for political rallies ahead of national
elections scheduled for 2024, said analyst Rakyan Adibrata.
“During
the period of parole, I believe that he will not risk criminal offenses. In
other words, he will play it safe,” Rakyan, Indonesia director of the International
Association for Counterterrorism and Security Professionals, told BenarNews.
However,
Rakyan said, conservative Muslim politicians might try to court Rizieq as he
remains influential politically.
“I
believe soon there will be meetings between politicians and Habib Rizieq that
will be covered widely by the media as identity politics heats up,” said the
analyst, using the Arabic honorific for the cleric.
A
Jakarta court in June 2021 sentenced Rizieq to four years in prison for saying
he was not infected with COVID-19 after testing positive and refusing to give
the government access to his test results.
The
previous month, Rizieq and five of his associates were sentenced to eight
months in prison for violating coronavirus restrictions by organizing events in
late 2020 that drew thousands of people. These included a gathering to
celebrate the birthday of Prophet Muhammad and a wedding for Rizieq’s daughter.
Rizieq,
a vocal critic of the government, held the gatherings upon his return home from
Saudi Arabia on Nov. 10, 2020.
Since
founding the anti-vice group FPI in 1998, the cleric and the group’s members
have had several brushes with the law.
In
the early 2000s, FPI was notorious for raiding bars and night clubs, which, the
group said, harbored drug dealers and prostitutes.
In
2003, Rizieq was sentenced to seven months in prison for these raids.
In
2008, he was jailed for 18 months after being found guilty of inciting FPI
members to assault protesters from the National Alliance for Freedom of
Religion and Beliefs.
In
Dec. 2020, police shot and killed, allegedly in self-defense, six of Rizieq’s
supporters who were traveling in a convoy with him.
A
month later, the National Commission on Human Rights said its investigation
found police had acted unlawfully in the killings of at least four of those
followers.
FPI,
for its part, claimed the six were victims of extrajudicial killings.
The
Indonesian government officially banned FPI in December 2020 after it accused
the group of violating the law and disrupting peace and security. In addition,
35 members and former members had been convicted on terrorism charges,
officials said.
Source:
Benar News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Perak
state assembly makes history as private member’s motion passed
20
Jul 2022
IPOH,
July 20 — The Perak State Assembly made history today when it approved a
private member’s motion to study the existing enactments with regard to wills,
to preserve the welfare of Muslim orphans in the state.
The
motion was tabled by Aminuddin Zulkipli (Amanah-Behrang) and debated by several
assemblymen on the last day of the state assembly sitting.
“The
goal is to provide a mechanism to take care of the welfare of orphans. It could
become legislation for other departments to manage orphans in Perak,” said
Aminuddin when winding up the motion after the debate session.
Perak
Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad in a press conference later said the
approved motion would enable the assembly to set up a select committee to study
state enactments to create special enactments related to wills.
“It
is history for the Perak assembly because it is the first time a private motion
was brought in and debated and then approved,” he said.
Source:
Malay Mail
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Don’t
let Tommy Thomas leave Malaysia until Sulu claim resolved, says Najib
July
20, 2022
PETALING
JAYA: Former prime minister Najib Razak says former attorney-general (AG) Tommy
Thomas should be prevented from leaving the country pending the resolution of
the Sulu sultanate’s heirs’ claims against the government.
Najib
said the letter Thomas sent to the lawyers representing the Sulu sultan’s heirs
in 2019 had put Malaysia’s assets at risk of seizure.
He
was referring to the letter in which Thomas expressed regret that Malaysia had
not paid the claimants since 2013 after the Lahad Datu intrusion. According to
the letter, Thomas offered to settle the multi-billion dollar claim with an
RM48,000 compensation payment.
“As
the Pakatan Harapan (PH)-era Cabinet members have kept mum on the Sulu sultan’s
heirs’ claims and Thomas’ letter, it’s only fair for the government to take
precautionary measures to stop Thomas from leaving the country until the truth
can be uncovered,” he said on Facebook.
He
added that he would not object if the government also decided to prevent former
ministers from the PH administration from leaving the country.
Najib
was commenting on the press conference held by Sepanggar MP Azis Jamman and
Kota Belud MP Isnaraissah Munirah in Parliament on Monday.
The
Warisan duo claimed they never knew about the existence of Thomas’ letter and
whether it was approved by the government.
Recently,
bailiffs seized Petronas’ two Luxembourg-registered subsidiaries, on behalf of
the Sulu sultan’s heirs.
Source:
Free Malaysia Today
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Tajuddin
hits back after being called out for sexist remarks
Danial
Azhar and Dineskumar Ragu
July
20, 2022
KUALA
LUMPUR: Tajuddin Abdul Rahman (BN-Pasir Salak) has hit back at opposition MPs
in the Dewan Rakyat after being called out for making sexist remarks.
He
cited comments by Teo Nie Ching (PH-Kulai), who accused him, Bung Moktar Radin
(BN-Kinabatangan) and Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim (BN-Baling) yesterday of
frequently making sexist remarks in the lower house.
Tajuddin
claimed the DAP MP was trying to tarnish his image.
RSN
Rayer (PH-Jelutong) interjected, saying Tajuddin was going off on a tangent
from the ongoing debate on the sexual harassment bill.
In
response, the Umno man told Rayer to “shut up”, sparking a commotion in the
Dewan Rakyat.
Tajuddin
angered opposition MPs when he said DAP women MPs were “biadap” (rude) and
“tidak senonoh” (indecent).
He
continued: “(They) tarnished the name of the three wakil rakyat (elected
representatives). They (opposition MPs) don’t know about us, and how we take
care of women’s rights and their dignity.”
Rayer
then called on the Umno man to retract his remarks.
Steven
Sim (PH-Bukit Mertajam) chimed in, saying it was pointless to debate the sexual
harassment bill if Deputy Speaker Rashid Hasnon did not act on Tajuddin’s
remarks.
“The
Parliament Hansard will take note that an MP has made insensitive remarks,” he
said.
Rayer
interjected and said: “Are you (Rashid) not brave enough to call him out for
saying that DAP women are indecent? We are pleading to you, please take action
(against Tajuddin).”
He
was joined by Cha Kee Chin (PH-Rasah) and Kasthuri Patto (PH-Batu Kawan), who
asked Tajuddin to retract his remarks and apologise.
Improper
remarks
The
PH MPs then urged Rashid to eject Tajuddin.
As
the ruckus continued, Kasthuri claimed that Tajuddin made a lewd remark after
turning off his microphone.
“He
just cursed while turning off the microphone under your (Rashid) watch. Yet,
you let Pasir Salak get away after making such remarks.
“You
have the responsibility. If one of us (opposition MPs) made such a statement,
you would have asked us to leave,” she lamented.
Kasthuri
said: “Parliamentary Standing Order 36(4) states that an MP must not use
improper remarks.
“You
(deputy speaker) gave him a warning, and yet he did not heed it. You did not
act on it. There is no point in having Standing Order 36(4) if it is not going
to be used.
“This
is not about (parliamentary) immunity, this is about decorum and language.”
Hannah
Yeoh (PH-Segambut) echoed both Sim and Kasthuri’s arguments, saying it was
pointless to debate the bill if the Deputy Speaker refused to reprimand
Tajuddin.
Source: Free Malaysia Today
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Arab World
UK’s
Queen Elizabeth Bestows ‘Rare and Exceptional Honour’ On Kuwait Ambassador
21
July ,2022
Britain's
Queen Elizabeth II has bestowed a ‘rare and exceptional honor’ on Kuwait's
ambassador Khaled al-Duwaisan following three decades of service, Kuwait news
agency Kuna reported.
The
Kuwaiti ambassador was appointed to the Order of St Michael and St George, a
title awarded to those in high office, or who render extraordinary or important
non-military service in a foreign country.
Marshal
of the Diplomatic Corps Alistair Harrison said the order is a rare and
exceptional honor, presented by the queen to an outgoing foreign ambassador.
It
comes in appreciation of his efforts in boosting ties between the two countries
in his 30 years of service.
Harrison
praised al-Duwaisan’s three decades as ambassador to the United Kingdom.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Turkey
says attack on Iraq’s Dohuk was carried out by ‘terrorists’
21
July ,2022
Turkey’s
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday that artillery strikes which
killed at least eight tourists in Iraq’s Dohuk were carried out by
“terrorists,” adding that Iraqi authorities must not fall for this “trap.”
Speaking
to state broadcaster TRT Haber, Cavusoglu said that Turkish military operations
in Iraq have always been against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
He
added that reports blaming Turkey for the attack were attempts by the PKK to hinder
Ankara’s counter-terrorism efforts.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Iraq’s
Kadhimi condemns Turkey for ‘violation’ after deadly Kurdistan strike
20
July ,2022
Iraq’s
Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi condemned artillery strikes blamed on Turkey
that authorities said killed nine civilians Wednesday in the country’s
autonomous Kurdistan region as a “flagrant violation” of sovereignty.
“Turkish
forces have perpetrated once more a flagrant violation of Iraqi sovereignty,”
he said on Twitter, condemning the harm caused to “the life and security of
Iraqi citizens” and reserving Iraq’s right to retaliate.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Lebanon
Archbishop’s court summons sparks anger among Christian leaders
20
July ,2022
A
senior Lebanese Maronite cleric’s detention and military court summons after a
trip to his parish in Israel drew indignant reactions from Christian leaders on
Wednesday.
As
the Patriarch of the Diocese of Haifa and the Maronite Holy Land, Mussa al-Hajj
is, along with other Christian religious figures, allowed to cross Lebanon’s
southern border and enter Israel, unlike regular Lebanese citizens.
While
Lebanon and Israel remain technically at war, Hajj visited Israel because he
heads a community of Lebanese Christian Maronites living there, many of whom
are refugees who collaborated with Israel during Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war.
But
he was questioned for eight hours earlier this week upon his return from
Israel, local media said, before a military court summoned him for further
questioning Wednesday.
Hajj
on Wednesday ignored the military court summons, issued for violating boycott
laws imposed on Israel and for involvement in money laundering, an official
close to the case said, asking for anonymity because he was not authorized to
speak to the press.
Maronite
Patriarch Bechara Al-Rai was due to discuss the case with his advisory board
Wednesday and Samir Geagea, who heads the biggest Christian parliamentary bloc,
condemned the priest’s arrest in a statement.
Geagea
said that Lebanon’s general security agency had carried out the arrest and
initial questioning of Hajj, and described the move as “not at all
understandable.”
Archbishop
Mussa was bringing aid from Lebanese nationals in Israel to relatives back home
who have been hit by Lebanon’s crisis, the anonymous official added.
Many
Lebanese rely on remittances from family abroad to weather a crushing economic
crisis that began in 2019, but transporting products or money from Israel to
Lebanon is illegal.
Security
forces seized “large quantities of medicines, foodstuffs and canned goods,
enough to fill a car, in addition to $460,000” when he re-entered Lebanon, the
anonymous official said.
Archbishop
Mussa handed Lebanese authorities a six-page list containing hundreds of
beneficiaries’ names, with each person or family expecting between $100 and
$500 from relatives in Israel, the official added.
Nadim
Gemayel, a lawmaker from the Christian Kataeb party, dubbed the arrest “an
attack on the Maronite Church.”
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Saudi
foreign minister meets S. Korea’s assembly speaker, global security on agenda
20
July ,2022
Saudi
Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan discussed bilateral ties and
global issues in a meeting with South Korea’s Speaker of the National Assembly
Kim Jin-pyo on Wednesday.
The
meeting took place at the Korean National Assembly Proceeding Hall and also
explored areas of joint cooperation, according to a ministry statement.
The
two sides also addressed the efforts of “the two friendly countries in laying
the foundations for security and stability in the region and the world,” the
foreign ministry statement said.
Both
countries share strong diplomatic ties since establishing them in 1962.
The
meeting was also attended by Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to South Korea, Sami
al-Sadhan and the Director-General of the Minister of Foreign Affairs office
Abdulrahman al-Daoud.
In
January, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met South Korean
President Moon Jae-in in Riyadh.
Coinciding
with Moon’s visit, it was reported by local Saudi television that South Korean
electronics giant LG would be setting up its regional headquarters in Riyadh.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
4
policemen killed in Daesh/ISIS attack in Iraq
Yakut
Dandashi
20.07.2022
BAGHDAD
Four
policemen were killed in clashes with Daesh/ISIS terrorists in northern Iraq on
Wednesday, according to local media.
The
terrorists attacked federal police positions in the town of Al-Malha in the
northern Salahuddin province, the news portal Baghdad Today reported.
Four
policemen were also injured in subsequent clashes with attackers, it added.
Iraqi
security forces have launched a manhunt for the attackers.
In
2017, Iraq declared victory over Daesh/ISIS by reclaiming all of its
territories – about a third of the country’s area – invaded by the terror group
in 2014.
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/4-policemen-killed-in-daesh-isis-attack-in-iraq/2641418
--------
North America
President
Biden expects to speak with China’s Xi within next 10 days
21
July ,2022
President
Joe Biden says he expects to speak to Chinese leader Xi Jinping “within the
next 10 days,” as the US considers whether lifting some tariffs on Chinese
imports would help stem rampant inflation.
Already-tense
relations between the two largest economies have deteriorated over China’s
refusal to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“I
think I’ll be talking to President Xi within the next 10 days,” Biden said on
Wednesday, speaking to reporters after a trip to Massachusetts to discuss his
climate agenda.
An
administration official downplayed the role tariffs will play in the
discussion, which the official described as a potential call. The conversation
would be about a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues and not
connected to the tariff process, the official said.
The
official asked not to be identified because the call hasn’t been scheduled.
Biden
demurred when asked what he’d say to Xi about the duties. “I’ll tell him to
have a good day,” he said.
The
talks come amid a range of disputes between the countries, including tariffs,
Taiwan, as well as China’s trading and military relationship with Russia. The
two presidents last spoke in March.
There’s
no call to announce or confirm right now, a spokesperson for the White House
National Security Council said after Biden’s remarks.
Chinese
Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Thursday at a regular press
briefing in Beijing that he had no information to offer on any call between the
two leaders.
The
president was also asked about the reported possibility of a trip by House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a top figure in his party, to Taiwan. “The military
thinks it’s not a good idea right now but I don’t know what the status of it
is,” Biden replied.
Biden
has been expected to announce shortly his decision on whether to scrap some of
former President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
In
meetings with his economic team over the last several months, officials have
debated whether the removal of the duties would help fight record inflation in
the US or would leave Biden vulnerable to attacks from Republicans as well as
organized labor.
The
administration is concerned that broad-based tariff reductions would not lead
to savings being passed on to consumers, one official familiar with the
deliberations said.
Trump
imposed tariffs on more than $300 billion in Chinese imports. But Biden’s
administration is trying desperately to curb fast-rising US prices ahead of
November’s midterm elections.
Trump
used section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 to hit China with the duties starting
in July 2018 after an investigation concluded China stole intellectual property
from American companies and forced them to transfer technology.
The
tariffs covered goods including industrial inputs such as microchips and
chemicals, and consumer merchandise such as apparel and furniture. While
there’s been no direct indication of which duties may be removed, senior
administration officials have said reducing tariffs on household items could
help ease consumer inflation, which accelerated at the fastest pace since 1981
in June from a year earlier.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
US
warns Iran it risks dependency on an isolated Russia
21
July ,2022
The
United States on Wednesday warned Iran that it risked dependency on an isolated
Russia after it welcomed President Vladimir Putin, although the CIA chief
acknowledged the two nations have uneasy ties.
Putin
on Tuesday visited Tehran for a three-way summit with his counterparts from
Iran and Turkey that was nominally about conflict-ridden Syria.
On
the sidelines of the summit, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called for
“long-term cooperation” with Russia, even though Tehran earlier tried to show
its neutrality by abstaining from a key UN vote on condemning Moscow's invasion
of Ukraine.
“Iran
has now cast its lot with a small number of countries who wore that veil of
neutrality only to end up supporting President Putin in his war against Ukraine
and the Ukrainian people,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters.
The
United States recently released intelligence purporting to show Russian
delegations visiting Iran to assess combat drones as it looks to bolster its
arsenal against Western arms in Ukraine.
But
Price signaled that Iran's return to compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal --
backed by President Joe Biden after his predecessor Donald Trump trashed it --
would start a new “economic relationship with other countries around the
world.”
Negotiations
have been deadlocked in part over Iranian demands that Biden lift Trump's
designation of the powerful Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist group.
Despite
the US criticism of Iran's summit, CIA chief Bill Burns -- who as a diplomat
helped broker the Iran deal and served as ambassador to Moscow -- said Iran and
Russia were reaching out to each other primarily because they are both “looking
to break out of political isolation” and are under sanctions.
“But
if they need each other, they don't really trust each other in the sense that
they are energy rivals and historical competitors,” Burns said at the Aspen
Security Forum.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Biden's
Mideast tour makes road to revival of Iran’s nuclear deal bumpier
Syed
Zafar Mehdi
21.07.2022
US
President Joe Biden said last week in Jerusalem on the first leg of his Middle
East tour that Washington is "not going to wait forever" for Iran to
revive a 2015 agreement on its nuclear program, hours after warning of using
force against Tehran "as a last resort.”
During
the four-day trip, which also took him to Saudi Arabia's port city of Jeddah
for bilateral talks and a regional summit, Biden made it clear that the US will
be acting tough against Iran despite ongoing negotiations in Doha to revive the
nuclear accord, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
(JCPOA).
"The
only thing worse than the Iran that exists now is an Iran with nuclear
weapons," he said in an interview with Israel's Channel 12, sparking angry
reactions from Tehran.
The
first round of European Union-mediated Iran-US talks last month, as a follow-up
to the Vienna talks, failed to produce the result "the EU team as
coordinator had hoped for," the EU’s envoy, Enrique Mora, admitted on
Twitter.
The
next round, said many US and European officials, would be held after Biden's
long-delayed trip and consultations with regional allies, most prominently
Israel.
With
the US president back from the regional trip, the question everyone seems to be
asking is when will the Doha talks resume and whether there is a likelihood of
two arch foes burying the hatchet and restoring the landmark deal that was
effectively put on the backburner after the US withdrawal in 2018.
"The
deal is hanging by a thread, especially after President Biden's Israel visit
and the declaration issued jointly by Biden and the Israeli premier, which
raised eyebrows in Tehran," Mohsen Salehi, a Tehran-based Middle East
affairs analyst, told Anadolu Agency.
Mohsen
believes the road to peace and rapprochement between Iran and the US, who have
had no diplomatic relations since the 1979 Iranian revolution, has become
"bumpier" after Biden's Middle East trip, especially his statements
against Tehran.
-
Iran-US talks in Doha
On
July 14, Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid unveiled a joint
declaration in Jerusalem boosting military cooperation between the two
all-weather allies and reiterating calls to take military action against Iran's
nuclear program.
The
statement, officially known as the Jerusalem US-Israel Strategic Partnership
Joint Declaration, asserted that the US will "never allow Iran to acquire
a nuclear weapon" while adding that it is "prepared to use all
elements of its national power to ensure that outcome."
It
further said that the US reaffirms its commitment to "work together with
other partners to confront Iran's aggression and destabilizing activities"
in the region.
Hours
later, Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi vowed a "harsh and regrettable
response" to any "mistake" from the US or its allies.
A
day later, on the second leg of his regional tour in Jeddah, Biden and Saudi
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman addressed a regional summit, which was
followed by a communique that again aimed at Iran's nuclear program and
regional activities.
The
statement "underscored the need to further deter Iran's interference in
the internal affairs of other countries, its support for terrorism through its
armed proxies, and its efforts to destabilize the security and stability of the
region."
Already
miffed by the Jerusalem Declaration, Iran's Foreign Ministry took strong
exception to the Jeddah communique, accusing the US of fueling "tension
and crisis" in the region by resorting to "Iranophobia."
Vahid
Moradian, a senior journalist and political observer, said Biden's "overt
anti-Iran posturing" during his Middle East visit and the "strong
reactions" from Iranian officials don't augur well for the nuclear deal.
"From
what we noticed in Doha last month, and in Vienna before that, there is a
massive trust deficit between the two sides that is preventing an
agreement," he told Anadolu Agency, adding Biden's visit to the Middle
East has "only made it worse.”
Moradian,
however, said the attempts to build a "regional front" against Iran
during Biden's visit "didn't work out," as was evident from
statements by both Saudi and Iranian officials after the Jeddah summit.
"The
Saudi foreign minister again extended an olive branch to Iran, while the
Iranian Supreme Leader's adviser welcomed it," he noted, adding the
tension-easing talks between the two estranged neighbors in Baghdad are
"unlikely to be affected" by Biden's trip.
-
Saudi-Iran talks in Baghdad
The
marathon talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran, brokered by the Iraqi government,
have been underway since April last year, without any breakthrough so far.
Saudi
Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, speaking to reporters after
the Jeddah summit, said talks with Tehran have been "positive,"
adding Riyadh is "keen on finding a path" to normalizing ties with
Iran.
"The
issue of forming a regional coalition consisting of Israel and Arab countries
was in Biden's plan, but he failed to achieve that goal as countries in the
region do not want to lead the region to tension and war," Seyyed Ali
Nejat, a foreign policy analyst and writer, told Anadolu Agency.
He
said a "soft position" was adopted against Iran at the Jeddah summit,
but "it will not have a significant impact" on negotiations.
The
two countries severed their diplomatic relations in 2016 following the
execution of Saudi Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, which saw unruly protesters
storming Saudi diplomatic missions in Tehran and Mashhad.
At
the weekly press briefing Wednesday, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser
Kanaani said the talks are "moving forward," lauding the role played
by Baghdad in bringing the two neighbors closer.
"What's
clear is that the Iran-Saudi talks are most likely to move to the level of
foreign ministers in the near future and even the opening of embassies, which
can partly be attributed to strains in US-Saudi ties," said Salehi.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
India
Pasmanda
Muslims want ‘sammaan’, not ‘sneh’, says former MP Ali Anwar Ansari in open
letter to PM
by
Santosh Singh
July
21, 2022
Former
Rajya Sabha MP and head of All India Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz (AIPMM), an
apolitical body, Ali Anwar Ansari on Thursday wrote an open letter to Prime
Minister Narendra Modi thanking him for using the word ‘Pasmanda (those left
behind)’ during the BJP’s national executive in Hyderabad earlier this month.
Anwar also questioned why backward Muslims had not been part of discussions
earlier and why BJP thought of organising a ‘sneh yatra’ now.
“It
was a pleasant surprise to hear you talk about Pasmanda, but the Pasmanda
Muslims want ‘sammaan’ (equality and dignity), not ‘sneh’ (affection). The term
‘sneh’ has a specific connotation: That the Pasmanda Muslims need ‘sneh’
denotes that they are an inferior lot requiring patronage from the ones who are
superior,” Ansari wrote.
At
the same time, Ansari questioned if “the sudden move” to take out a ‘sneh
yatra’ for Pasmanda society had “something to do with vote-bank politics”.
“Isn’t it aimed at pitting Muslims against one another? Pasmanda Muslims do not
support any party blindly. No party should take them for granted,” he said.
Stressing
that AIPMM’s fight has been within the constitutional framework, Ansari wrote:
“It’s not that we, as Pasmanda Muslims, are asking for something special
separately; rather we, as Muslims, are demanding that the discrimination
against us by the government be stopped forthwith. The same demand is also for
our Christian Dalits. They are also being punished for being Christians. We
have been of the firm belief since the very beginning that the Pasmanda Muslims
alone cannot win this battle. We can succeed only with the help of Pasmanda
Dalits of all religions and other progressive and justice-loving people.”
Anwar,
who formed AIPMM in 1998, may not have been the first person to use the term
‘pasmanda’ but he is credited for widely using it. “There is no caste or
religion by the name of Pasmanda. All the communities – Hindu, Muslim,
Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and others – have people from Pasmanda, Dalit and
Adivasi sections. Not only do we have a relationship of pain with these
sections, but our DNA is also same. We have put the word ‘Pasmanda’ before the
word ‘Muslim’ in our organisation’s nomenclature. For, historically we are
Pasmanda first, Muslims later. We have converted to Islam for ‘masawat’
(equality). We, Pasmanda Muslims, are the original inhabitants of our country,
India. Hardly one or two per cent of Muslims have come to India from Arabia,
Iran and Iraq. We are not the people of ‘Aqliyat’ (minority); we are
‘Aksariyat’ (bahujans). ‘Pasmanda’ is an Urdu-Persian word which means people
left behind or oppressed. We don’t want to continue as ‘Pasmanda’; we aspire to
become ‘Peshmanda’ (the one who leads from the front),” Ansari wrote.
“You
have asked your partymen to take out ‘sneh yatra’ for the Pasmanda Muslims.
This will prove effective only when communal harmony is maintained in the
society. What is the point in taking out a ‘sneh yatra’ if hate statements and
bulldozers also go on? Pasmanda Muslims have been the worst hit of all the
campaigns of mob lynching in the name of cow protection, ghar-wapsi, love
jihad, Tablighi jihad in the time of Corona pandemic or any temple-mosque
conflict that have been going on since 2014. Those killed, burnt, maimed,
framed in police cases and jailed due to such incidents were mostly Pasmanda
Muslims,” Ansari wrote to the PM.
Ansari
also referred to some harsh comments made by senior BJP leaders against Muslims
in the past and questioned the PM’s silence. “When Muslims did not come under
provocation, aren’t their prayers now being disrupted, aren’t their mosques being
attacked and isn’t blasphemy against their Prophet being committed? Even as our
country’s image continued to be tarnished all over the world because of this,
you have not spoken a single word against it till date. On the contrary, the
Muslims, intellectuals, journalists and civil society activists, who raise
their voice against it, are being put behind bars,” the letter read.
Ansari
wrote that AIPMM had always been “raising voice against communalism”. He added
that “…even if the BJP is extending a friendly hand towards Pasmandas for their
votes, could you at least take these few steps immediately: There are about a
dozen castes within the Pasmanda Muslims such as Halalkhor (scavenger, Bhangi),
Muslim washerman, Muslim cobbler, Bhatiyara, Gadhedi etc for whom the Sachar
Committee and the Ranganath Mishra Commission have recommended Scheduled Caste
status. Has your government, in response to a query of the Supreme Court last
year, replied that it will not accept this recommendation? Will you end this religion-based
discrimination by increasing the quota of Scheduled Caste? Will the nomadic
tribes like Mewati, Van Gujjar, Sapera, Madari etc, who were called criminal
tribes during the British period, be included in the ‘Scheduled Tribe’? If not,
then nothing fruitful is going to come out of the drum-beating by some greedy”.
Source:
Indian Express
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Highly-Radicalised
Man Involved In Propagating 'Jihad' Against India Arrested From Bihar: NIA
JULY
21, 2022
Ali
Asgar alias Abdullah Bihari arrested in Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh
activities case
A
"highly-radicalised" individual involved in propagating "jihad"
against India has been arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) from
Bihar, according to an official.
Ali
Asgar alias Abdullah Bihari, a resident of Siswaniya village, was the seventh
accused arrested in connection with a probe into the activities of the banned
Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) outfit, the official said on Wednesday.
Asgar
was arrested during searches conducted in Bihar's east Champaran area on
Tuesday, an NIA spokesperson said.
The
spokesperson said the case is related to the arrest of six active JMB members,
including three illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, from Aishbagh, Bhopal in
Madhya Pradesh, who were found involved in propagating the JMB's plans or
ideology and motivating youngsters to carry out "jihad" against India.
The
case was initially registered at a Bhopal police station on March 14 and
re-registered by the NIA on April 5, the anti-terror probe agency said.
"Asgar
is a highly-radicalised individual involved in propagating jihad by posting
hate and incriminating materials online in various groups on social media
platforms.
Source:
The Hindu
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
India’s
Top Court Grants Bail To Muslim Journalist, Mohammed Zubair, Accused Of
Insulting Hindus
July
20, 2022
New
Delhi
CNN
—
Muslim
journalist Mohammed Zubair has been freed from jail on the order of India’s
Supreme Court after he was detained last month for allegedly insulting
religious beliefs on social media.
Zubair
– co-founder of fact-checking website Alt News, which debunks misinformation in
the Indian media – was arrested by Delhi police on June 27 after a Twitter user
accused him of insulting Hindus in a 2018 post about the renaming of a hotel
after a Hindu god.
Zubair
had already been granted bail for the case in Delhi but had remained in custody
after several police complaints were filed against him in the northern state of
Uttar Pradesh in June and July over separate social media posts.
On
Wednesday, the Supreme Court said all of the outstanding cases would be
combined and investigated by a special unit of the Delhi police, and ordered
his release by 6 p.m. local time.
Zubair
often tweets criticism of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) for what he and other critics claim is a crackdown on the
rights of the country’s roughly 200 million Muslims.
Among
his recent social media posts are videos he claims show Hindu extremists giving
hate speeches against Islam, a minority religion in India where nearly 80% of
people are Hindu.
Zubair’s
arrest came amid repeated accusations by critics that the BJP is using
colonial-era laws to quash any form of criticism and encourage self-censorship,
and was condemned by free speech advocates.
In
early June, Zubair had highlighted derogatory comments made by a BJP
spokesperson about Islam’s Prophet Mohammed that sparked a diplomatic row with
several Gulf states.
The
spokesperson, Nurpur Sharma, was suspended by the BJP after at least 15
Muslim-majority nations condemned her remarks, several of them summoning
India’s ambassadors.
In
a statement after Zubair’s arrest in June, the Editors Guild of India said it
was “apparent that Alt News’ alert vigilance was resented by those who use
disinformation as a tool to polarise society and rake nationalist sentiments.”
Early
Thursday, Pratik Sinha, Alt News’ co-founder, posted a photo of him with Zubair
on Twitter, thanking their supporters.
Source:
US CNN
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://us.cnn.com/2022/07/20/media/indian-muslim-journalist-bail-intl-hnk/index.html
--------
Kerala
Govt Drops Public Services Commission Recruitment to Waqf Board, Puts Muslim
21st
July 2022
KOZHIKODE:
In a canny political move that left the IUML in a quandary, the state
government has dropped its decision to entrust the recruitment to the Waqf
Board with the Public Services Commission (PSC).Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan
announced in the assembly on Wednesday that necessary amendments will be made
to the controversial Kerala PSC (Additional Functions As Respects the Services
Under the Waqf Board) Act, 2021. Replying to a submission by IUML leader P K
Kunhalikutty, Pinarayi said the government had convened a meeting of the
representatives of Muslim organisations to discuss the recruitment issue.
“The
government in-principle agrees to the unanimous opinion at the meeting,” he
said. The amendment will put in place a system to recruit qualified persons to
the Waqf Board, he said.The Act was passed last November drawing deep
resentment from the Muslim community. But the IUML and Samastha Kerala Jam-Iyyathul
Ulema were moving in different directions on the issue. In December 2021, the
Muslim Coordination Committee led by IUML called for raising the issue in
mosques during Friday prayers, but Samastha president Syed Muhammad Jiffiri
Muthukoya Thangal objected to the move, saying it was unnecessary.
Samastha’s
decision had poured cold water on the agitation though the IUML went ahead with
the protests against the government. On his part, Jiffiri Thangal asked the
government to convene a meeting of Muslim organisations to discuss the issue.
At the meeting on April 4, 2022, the
government assured that the sentiments of the community will be considered
before taking a final decision.
Waqf:
Samastha elated over CM’s announcement
The IUML refused to take the assurance for
granted while Samastha said it was satisfied with the promise. Waqf Board issue
remained a major bone of contention between the two organisations.The Samastha
camp is elated over the Chief Minister’s announcement and upholds it as a victory
of their leader Jiffiri Thangal. Reacting to the news, Thangal told reporters
that Pinarayi had personally given him an assurance that no steps would be
taken that will adversely affect the Muslim community.
Asked
about the IUML agitations, Thangal said being in the opposition, the party is entitled to hold
political agitations. Pinarayi, by holding direct talks with Muslim
organisations, eliminated the IUML from the scene, which was till then acting
as a mediator on the issue. And he came closer to the Samastha, the main vote
bank of the IUML.
Meanwhile,
IUML state president Panakkad Syed Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal said government’s
withdrawal is the collective victory of the Muslim community and his party had
a role in the agitations. “Our stand was that since the decision to leave the
appointments was introduced in the assembly, the amendment also should be
announced there,” Thangal said.
Source:
New Indian Express
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Gyanvapi
dispute: Allahabad HC junks PIL for panel to determine nature of structure
found in mosque
JULY
21, 2022
High
Court says it appears that the plea was filed with the intention to gain
publicity
The
Allahabad High Court has now dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL)
seeking the formation of a committee to determine the nature of the structure
allegedly found during the video survey of the Gyanvapi mosque, saying it
appeared that the plea was filed with the intention to gain publicity.
A
Lucknow Bench of the High Court (Justices Rajesh Singh Chauhan and Subhash
Vidyarthi) held that several suits pertaining to this issue are already pending
in civil courts in Varanasi and that the Supreme Court is also seized of this
matter with a Special Leave Petition pending before it. Considering these
facts, the high court said it was not proper on the part of the petitioners to
invoke its jurisdiction in this matter.
The
court was hearing a PIL filed by seven persons claiming to be followers of
Sanatan Dharma, seeking that a committee be formed by the State government to
determine the nature of the structure found in the survey of the mosque.
Earlier
this year, a civil court had ordered a survey of the mosque while hearing a
suit in the ongoing Gyanvapi mosque-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute. The
Anjuman Intezamia Committee had challenged the order directing this survey in
the Supreme Court, which had transferred all related suits to the district
court in Varanasi.
Meanwhile,
the survey was conducted in Varanasi and the report of the survey was leaked in
public domain multiple times in violation of court orders. This prompted the
Hindu plaintiffs to claim the discovery of a “Shivling” inside the mosque with
the Masjid panel disputing this and insisting that the structure in question
was part of the mosque’s wuzu khana (ablution pond).
In
the PIL before the Allahabad High Court, the petitioners had sought permission
for Hindu devotees to pray at the structure if it did turn out to be a Shivling
as claimed by the plaintiffs to the suit.
However,
the Allahabad High Court noted in its July 19 order that the district court is
currently hearing this aspect pertaining to the suit. The district court has
already called for objections to the survey report and proceedings are underway
in the matter there, it said.
Source:
The Hindu
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
South Asia
'Tweet
apology or go to jail': Foreign journo says she was threatened by Taliban
July
20, 2022
Foreign
journalist Lynne O'Donnell said the Taliban in Afghanistan asked her to tweet
an apology or go to jail for articles on forced marriages by Taliban
commanders.
Taking
to Twitter, the Australian journalist said, "Tweet an apology or go to
jail, said Taliban intelligence. Whatever it takes: They dictated. I tweeted.
They didn’t like it. Deleted, edited, re-tweeted."
O'Donnell
added that the Taliban made a video of her saying she wasn't coerced to delete
her tweet. Made video of me saying I wasn't coerced. Re-did that too, she said.
Lynne
O'Donnell has written extensively about the Taliban commanders who forcefully
marry teenage girls and use them as sex slaves.
"This
was a premeditated attempt at character assassination and an affront to Afghan
culture. These stories were written without any solid proof or basis, and
without any effort to verify instances through on-site investigation or
face-to-face meetings with alleged victims," she had said while
apologising for the article she wrote.
Now,
she has claimed that she was forced to pen an apology on Twitter and was
threatened by Taliban officials.
Source:
India Today
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Despair,
poverty fuel massive addiction scourge in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan
20
July ,2022
Hundreds
of men, strung out on heroin, opium, and meth, were strewn over the hillside
overlooking Kabul, some in tents, some lying in the dirt. Dogs skulked around
because they sometimes give them drugs, and there were bodies of overdosed dogs
amid the garbage. Men here as well slip, quiet and alone, across the line from
oblivion and despair to death.
“There’s
a dead man next to you,” someone told me as I picked my way among them, taking
pictures. “We buried someone over there earlier,” another said further down.
For
the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
One
man lay face down in the mud, unmoving. I shook him by the shoulder and asked
if he was alive. He turned his head a bit, just half out of the mud, and
whispered that he was.
“You’re
dying,” I told him. “Try to survive.”
“It’s
fine,” he said, his voice exhausted. “It’s okay to die.”
He
lifted his body a little. I gave him some water, and someone gave him a glass
pipe of heroin. Smoking it gave him some energy. He said his name was Dawood.
He had lost a leg to a mine about a decade ago during the war; after that he
couldn’t work, and his life fell apart. He had turned to drugs to escape.
Drug
addiction has long been a problem in Afghanistan, the world’s biggest producer
of opium and heroin and now a major source of meth. The ranks of the addicted
have been fueled by persistent poverty and by decades of war that left few
families unscarred.
It
appears to only be getting worse since the country’s economy collapsed after
the seizure of power by the Taliban in August last year and the subsequent halt
of international financing. Families that were once able to get by found their
livelihoods cut off, leaving many barely able to afford food. Millions have
joined the ranks of the impoverished.
The
growing numbers of addicts are found around Kabul, living in parks and sewage
drains, under bridges, on open hillsides.
A
2015 survey by the UN estimated that up to 2.3 million people had used drugs
that year, which would have amounted to around 5 percent of the population at
the time. Now, seven years later, the number is not known, but it’s believed to
have only increased, said the head of the Drug Demand Reduction Department, Dr.
Zalmel, who like many Afghans uses only one name.
The
Taliban, who seized power nearly a year ago, have launched an aggressive
campaign to eradicate poppy cultivation. At the same time, they inherited the
ousted, internationally backed government’s policy of rounding up addicts and
forcing them into camps.
On
two nights earlier in the summer, Taliban fighters stormed two areas where
addicts gather — the one on the hillside and another under a bridge. In total,
they collected some 1,500 people, according to officials in charge of
registering them. They were herded into trucks and cars and taken to the
Avicenna Medical Hospital for Drug Treatment, a former US military base that in
2016 was converted into a drug treatment center.
It’s
the biggest of a number of addict treatment camps around Kabul. There, the
addicts were shaved and kept in barracks for 45 days. They receive no treatment
or medication as they go through withdrawal. Since the Taliban seizure of
power, the international funding on which the Afghan government relied has been
cut off, so the camp barely has enough funding to feed its inmate-patients.
But
the camps do little to break addiction.
A
week after the raids, I went back to both locations, and both were once again
full of hundreds of people.
On
the hillside, I saw a man who was clearly not an addict. In the darkness, he
wandered among the men, shining a feeble flashlight on each. He was searching
for his brother, who became addicted years ago and left home. He goes from site
to site, through Kabul's netherworld. “I hope one day I can find him,” he said.
At
the site under the bridge, the stench of sewage and garbage was overwhelming.
One man, Nazer, in his 30s, seemed to be respected among his fellow addicts; he
broke up fights among them and negotiated disputes.
He
told me he spends most of his days here under the bridge but goes to his house
every once in a while. Addiction has spread throughout his family, he said.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Pakistan
Pakistan
Neither Afford Religious Disharmony, Nor Political Instability: PM’s Special
Representative for Interfaith Harmony
Fahad
Shabbir
July
20, 2022
ISLAMABAD,
(UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Jul, 2022): Prime Minister's Special
Representative for Interfaith Harmony and Middle East Hafiz Tahir Mehmood
Ashrafi on Wednesday said Pakistan neither could afford religious disharmony,
nor political instability.
Addressing
a press conference, he said Pakistan was passing through a critical phase and
it was in dire need of love, peace and unity.
Ashrafi,
who is also the chairman of Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC), urged the religious
and political leaderships to avoid extremist attitudes and adopt moderate
approaches in order to bring the country out of prevailing crisis.
"We
should move ahead with unity as it is in the favor of Pakistan's economic and
political conditions," he added.
He
said undue criticism on national institutions including judiciary, security
agencies and foreign affairs ministry make them controversial and damage their
credibility globally.
Ashrafi
categorically stated that Pakistan Army had no role in country's politics and
by-election results in Punjab were its evidence.
On
the issue of cipher, Ashrafi said it should be the end of blame game as how one
could hide such an important document from the chief executive of the country
while the then Foreign Affairs Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had already
admitted that they themselves distributed the cipher to various state
institutions.
He
said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was the face of the country which had
to portray its soft image in the comity of nations. He proposed to put aside
our personal grudges which were tarnishing the integrity of the country world
over.
Keeping
in view the present circumstances, there was a dire need of political stability
and dialogue, he said and added that the political instability was one of its
main factors causing crisis in the country.
PM
representative said the PUC had issued code of conduct to keep law and order in
Muharram-ul-Haram after a thorough consultation with the leadership of various
schools of thought.
The
PUC was establishing contact centers in Lahore and Islamabad and nobody would
be given permission to degrade anyone's sacred personalities, he said. If
someone found involved in sectarian activities particularly in the holy month
of Muharram, the law would take its course, he maintained.
He
urged the religious leaders to ensure implementation on the Paigham-e-Pakistan
protocols to avert any untoward situation.
Source:
Urdu Point
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.urdupoint.com/en/pakistan/pakistan-neither-afford-religious-disharmony-1538935.html
--------
An
‘Out of Pakistan’ Solution For Population Control—Produce Kids In Non-Muslim
Nations: Minister
Akansha
Sengupta
20
July, 2022
New
Delhi: Minister of Health and PPP member Abdul Qadir Patel Monday offered an
‘out of Pakistan’ solution to the population problem—couples wanting more kids
should leave the country and add to the Muslim population in nations where they
are in minority.
At
a seminar in Islamabad, the minister said that by 2030 the population of
Pakistan is expected to cross 285 million. “We do not want to decrease the
Muslim population. We want Muslims to be better, more educated and provide them
with better health care facilities,” he said.
Pakistani
media outlets such as Geo News termed the health minister’s suggestion ‘out of
the box’.
Population
is a big reason for Pakistan’s troubles, especially when it remains fragile and
debt-ridden. According to a UN projection, Pakistan is set to see a 56 per cent
population increase by 2050, which amounts to over 366 million people.
A
recent Dawn editorial titled The population bomb highlighted the seriousness of
the issue: “We are fighting a losing battle, slipping inexorably towards a
dystopian future where want and deprivation will be our lot. The reason? There
are simply too many of us: the pace at which Pakistan’s population is growing
is fast outstripping our ability to provide for the millions that call this
country home. Unbelievably, there still appears to be no well-thought-out and
cohesive population control programme in the offing.”
Patel
stressed the importance of family planning and awareness while saying that
citizens need to stop believing the misinformation that is spread about state’s
family planning measures and vaccinations, be it polio or Covid-19. He called
this as “very dangerous behavior” on part of the Pakistanis. The United Nations
report titled World Population Prospects 2022 lists Pakistan as a leading
contributor to population growth. “We are a lot in numbers, masa’Allah,” the
minister remarked at the seminar.
While
some Pakistanis assume that the minister’s remarks came in jest, others didn’t
let his very “childish” statement slide. “What do you expect when Qadir Patel
is the Director and Producer of such Comedy,” a user wrote.
Many
others wrote Patel off as rather foolish and incompetent and lamented his
appointment as the health minister, going as far as to call him a downgrade
from ministers like Dr. Faisal Sultan and Dr. Yasmin Rashid.
Some
said the minister lacked common sense and brought up his past scandals and
controversies — calling him Professor holding a post-doctoral degree in money
laundering and gang war crimes.
Controversy
not a first for Patel
Abdul
Qadir Patel was on trial for alleged links with the Pakistani mafia and
evidence had surfaced regarding his role in getting said gangsters’ treatment
in a local hospital. The case was registered on the complaint of the Rangers, a
federal law enforcement organisation, which alleged Patel’s links with local
gangsters and al Qaeda terrorists.
Source:
The Print
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Pakistani
passport remains fourth-worst in the world
Jul
20, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
The Pakistani passport continues to be the fourth-worst in the world, not
changing its position from a year ago and providing access to only 32
destinations, according to the Henley Passport Index for 2022, local media
reported.
The
Henley Passport Index is a ranking of all the world's 199 passports according
to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa,
Dawn reported.
The
ranking is based on data from the International Air Transport Association,
which maintains the world's largest database of travel information, and it is
enhanced by extensive, ongoing research by the Henley & Partners Research
Department.
In
the newly-unveiled ranking, Pakistan is ranked only higher than
conflict-ravaged Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, which occupies the bottom spot,
Dawn reported.
The
top spot has been taken by Japan, with the country's passport providing its
holders access to 193 destinations. Next in line are Singapore and South Korea,
whose passports provide access to 192 countries, followed by Germany and Spain,
with their passports having a visa-free score of 190.
Among
other top-ranked countries are mostly European nations, the US and the United
Kingdom.
In contrast,
Afghan passport holders can access just 27 destinations, the passport having
the lowest visa-free score. Among other bottom-tier countries, the holders of
Iraqi passports are able to gain entry to a mere 29 countries and those of
Syrian passports to 30.
Among
other countries from Asia, India, along with Mauritius and Tajikistan, has been
ranked 87th, with its passport providing access to 67 countries.
China
ties with Bolivia for the 69th spot, with each of their passports allowing
access to 80 destinations.
Source:
Times Of India
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
Pakistan
faces foreign policy challenge amid political slugfest between PTI, Sharif govt
20
July, 2022
Islamabad
[Pakistan], July 20 (ANI): In the wake of the ongoing political slugfest
between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and the Shehbaz Sharif-led PML-N government,
Pakistan has been facing an unprecedented foreign policy challenge due to
consistent ‘anti-US’ rhetoric by ex-Premier Imran Khan and his party members
which continues to create political instability in Pakistan.
Pakistan
is facing an unprecedented foreign policy challenge amid growing tensions
between the two political camps in the country due to the Shehbaz Sharif-led
coalition government standing on a ‘weak’ electoral majority and facing a
historic economic crisis amid strong political opposition from Imran Khan’s PTI
while Imran Khan’s blame game against the US for allegedly ousting him from
power also continues.
There
are emerging cases of growing sentiments against Washington in Pakistan even
three months after the incident, for its “alleged role” in dethroning Khan from
power, and Khan has intensified his support for the betterment of
Pakistan-Russia relations and has refused to condemn Russia’s military
aggression against Ukraine, Islam Khabar reported.
Several
reasons have played a role in creating serious roadblocks in resetting Pak-US
ties, a few being Khan’s denial to attend Biden’s Summit for Democracy event in
December last year and Biden not paying heed to call Imran Khan while he was
Prime Minister. All these reasons had hit Pak-US ties significantly under Imran
Khan’s almost four-year-long rule.
Moreover,
the army establishment is facing serious credibility issues and a rare spurt of
public anger against it for remaining silent/neutral during the ousting of
Imran Khan’s government. The whole issue has aggravated the civil-military
imbalance in Pakistan and put the military establishment on the defensive mode.
Pakistan’s
Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa had even spoken publicly about
improving relations with the US and openly criticised Russia’s “invasion” of
Ukraine to prove the military establishment’s neutrality on the issue, reported
Islam Khabar citing sources.
Pakistan’s
‘brotherly’ relations with China and Imran Khan’s severe pressure on the
Sharif-led government to import oil, gas, and wheat from Russia amid the
growing food and energy crisis in the country are also becoming a roadblock for
the country’s foreign policy.
As
per the reports by Islam Khabar, the PDM coalition in Islamabad is facing
serious difficulties in choosing to either reset ties with the US or face
public resentment and likely electoral defeat in the 2023 general elections in
Pakistan and the Sharif-led government has taken the political risk to put its
weight behind the ‘West’ to seek the immediate resumption of the stalled
International Monetary Fund bailout programme and a desperate exit from the
Financial Action Task Force’s “Grey List”.
Imran
Khan has relied on “anti-American” rhetoric both in his rise to power as well
as in his recent fall. Given that his relationship with the Biden
administration was “non-existent”, Khan’s ties with Russian President Vladimir
Putin — who called him three times since August 2021 — and Chinese President Xi
Jinping was a major foreign policy shift for Pakistan, much to Washington’s
chagrin.
Source:
The Print
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Miftah
sees economy stabilising with inflows ‘on cards’
Khaleeq
Kiani | Syed Irfan Raza
July
21, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
Blaming political factors for the latest downturn in currency and share
markets, Pakistan’s economic managers tried on Wednesday to reassure that
macroeconomic fundamentals were stabilising and $8.5-10 billion inflows have
been lined up from friendly countries against a financing gap of $4bn estimated
by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Simultaneously,
economic managers of both incumbent and former PTI governments appeared to
hint at the continuation of a staff-level agreement with the IMF under an
interim set-up.
While
Finance Minister Miftah Ismail and senior State Bank of Pakistan (SBP)
officials said the IMF had no problem working with an interim set-up, former
finance minister Shaukat Tarin also offered cooperating with a “credible
interim government” on the continuation of the IMF programme.
Mr
Ismail announced at a news conference that economic fundamentals on the trade
front had been corrected to an “ideal situation”, in which exports and
remittances were now financing imports, as evident from the latest numbers for
the first 18 days of the current month.
He
said the country had a trade deficit of $48bn and a current account deficit of
$17bn last fiscal year ending June 30, but the measures taken by the current
government had started showing results as imports flattened to $2.6bn in the
first 18 days of July against $7.2bn in June. This means the government would
be able to have about $2bn in import savings this month.
The
minister said the staff-level agreement had been achieved on the IMF programme
and there was no disruption to it and no chance of derailment as the government
was committed to the implementation of all agreed prior actions and measures in
letter and spirit before the Fund’s executive board’s approval.
With
this, the inflows from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Asian
Infrastructure and Investment Bank (AIIB) have been revived.
He
said the IMF estimated that despite the World Bank, ADB and AIIB support, there
would be a financing gap of $4bn during the current fiscal year for which an
agreement would be reached in a day or two with a friendly nation for about
$1.2bn worth of oil supplies at the rate of $100 million per month.
Another
friendly country would be investing $1-2bn in the stock market under a
government-to-government (G2G) mechanism that had been approved by the cabinet
and sent to its committee on disposal of legislative cases for vetting.
Moreover,
another friendly country was expected to provide $2.4bn worth of natural gas on
deferred payment and another country had promised a $2bn bank deposit.
All
these supports in the form of oil, gas and deposits put together worked out at
$6.6bn and would materialise in a few days and maybe some of them be announced
in a couple of days during the foreign visits of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
A
fourth country had offered 2bn in special drawing rights (SDR) deposits (around
$2.63bn), Mr Ismail said, adding that this country had already talked to the
IMF, which was currently examining the proposal for which past precedents were
available in the IMF history.
The
government was also considering privatising two LNG power plants at Balloki and
Haveli Bahadur Shah in Punjab at about $2bn on a G2G basis, but that might take
some time to materialise, he said. “So, our funding requirements are
comfortably complete.”
Rupee’s
slide
He
said the local currency’s depreciation this week “originated from the political
situation and had nothing to do with the economic situation”.
The
rupee fell 2pc on Monday and 3pc on Tuesday despite last week’s staff-level
agreement with the IMF. On Wednesday, the rupee further slid 1.3pc to 224.92
per dollar, having ended Tuesday at 221.99.
Mr
Ismail said all currencies had depreciated against the greenback because of a
“once-in-a-generation strengthening of dollar owing to US Fed’s monetary
tightening”.
While
the minister claimed that the political situation would stabilise over the next
couple of days, he parried repeated questions over the basis of his optimism.
‘Economic
shock worse than Covid’
Separately,
a senior SBP official told journalists the current economic shock was worse
than the Covid-19 as many things were happening simultaneously and US central
bank’s monetary tightening was always painful for emerging economies and
resultantly even large economies were struggling.
The
SBP official said Pakistan’s trust pattern had turned very low after the Feb 28
policy reversals after international commitments and the international
community was not ready this time to bail out the country before it showed
results on grounds.
He
dispelled the impression that the central bank was a silent spectator to the
rupee’s depreciation, saying it was intervening in disorderly movement and was
working with banks and taking other steps as well. “The country needs a bridge
between now and until we start receiving funds” from abroad, he said.
He
said a better indicator of the rupee’s strength was the real effective exchange
rate — which takes into account the currencies in which Pakistan trades in
inflation-adjusted terms — according to which the Pakistani currency had
depreciated only 3pc since December.
PM
briefed on economy
Meanwhile,
the country’s economic team briefed Prime Minister Sharif as the dollar’s sharp
rise had become a source of deep concern for the government.
The
premier called an emergency meeting on the economic situation of the country,
Prime Minister Office said Wednesday.
The
meeting — held in Islamabad and attended by the economic team and top officials
related to the economy — evaluated the factors for the recent hike in the dollar’s
value and the measures to address it. Mr Sharif, presently in Lahore, chaired
the meeting via a video link.
A
source privy to the meeting told Dawn the prime minister said the country’s
uncertain political situation was the main reason behind the dollar’s flight.
The
meeting discussed ways and means how to stabilise the rupee and expressed
concern that the local currency continued sliding against the dollar despite a
ban on the import of hundreds of items.
Cabinet
meeting today
Mr
Sharif has also called a meeting of the federal cabinet on Thursday (today) to
discuss the economic and political situation. He will chair the meeting from
Lahore via a video link.
According
to the agenda, the meeting will discuss the multimodal air-road corridor for
Afghan Transit Trade and will also make a decision on the “trade in goods”
agreement with Turkiye.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1700792/miftah-sees-economy-stabilising-with-inflows-on-cards
--------
Five
killed in operation belonged to terrorist group: Langove
Saleem
Shahid
July
21, 2022
QUETTA:
Adviser to Balochistan Chief Minister on Home and Provincial Disaster
Management Authority Mir Ziaullah Langove claimed on Wednesday that five of the
nine killed in a recent operation conducted by security forces in Ziarat
belonged to a terrorist organisation. However, he said, their names were
included in the missing persons’ list prepared by the Voice of Baloch Missing
Persons organisation.
The
operation was carried out near Ziarat last week against the killers of Lt Col
Laiq Baig Mirza and his cousin.
Mr
Langove’s remarks come against the backdrop of a claim by the BNP-Mengal,
National Party and some Baloch nationalist groups that five ‘militants’ killed
in the operation were actually missing persons and that they had gone missing
after having been picked up allegedly by security forces. Expressing concern,
these parties called for an investigation into the killings.
Speaking
at a press conference here, Mr Langove said that on July 12, Lt Col Laiq and
his cousin Umar Javed had been kidnapped and later martyred by the banned BLA
militants in Ziarat. The adviser described the act as against Baloch and
Islamic traditions.
He
said members of Levies Force and police officers were being targeted by the
banned organisation and their poor families were severely affected by such
incidents.
The
adviser said a major operation had been conducted in Ziarat area by security
forces after Col Laiq’s murder.
During
the operation, he said, an officer of an intelligence agency had been martyred.
He said that of the nine terrorists, five had been identified because their
names was included in the missing persons’ list.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1700800/five-killed-in-operation-belonged-to-terrorist-group-langove
--------
Pakistan,
Turkiye enjoy exemplary fraternal relations based on common values: Kh Asif
July
20, 2022
ISLAMABAD:
Federal Minister for Defence Khawaja Asif on Wednesday said Pakistan and
Turkiye enjoy exemplary fraternal relations based on common faith, culture,
values, civilization and historical linkages, mutual trust and support.
The
Minister paid his regards during a call on paid by Ambassador of the Republic
of Turkiye Mehmet Pacaci, a news release said.
While
speaking to Ambassador of Turkiye, Mehmet Pacaci, Minister for Defence Khawaja
Asif expressed satisfaction over common understanding on regional and global
emerging situation.
Minister
stressed that Kashmir dispute coupled with water crises had central role in
India-Pakistan relations and a just solution was necessary for lasting peace in
the region under UN Resolutions.
He
reiterated Pakistan’s concern on Indian Army cruelties on innocent people of
Jammu and Kashmir especially after revocation of Articles-370 and 35-A of
Indian Constitution in August 2019.
Moreover,
he also emphasized that Pakistan-Turkiye bilateral relations had been
institutionalized under the forum of High Level Strategic Cooperation Council
(HLSCC) under Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defence Relations under High
Level Military Dialogue Meetings.
Minister
for Defence also appreciated the fact that defence engagement between Pakistan
and Turkiye focused on building Pakistan’s capabilities through defence
industrial collaboration and regular exchange of trainings, delegations,
courses and joint exercises.
Source:
Pakistan Today
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Europe
French
president calls for direct political dialogue between Israel, Palestine
Busra
Nur Cakmak, Mahmoud Barakat
20.07.2022
The
French president on Wednesday called for a direct dialogue between Israel and
Palestine.
“In
the short term, we know, this first requires the end of unilateral measures on
the ground,” Emmanuel Macron said in a joint news conference with Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas at Elysee Palace in Paris.
“I
am thinking in particular of the evictions of Palestinian families, the
demolitions, and the settlement policy contrary to international law, which
remove the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state living in peace
alongside Israel,” Macron added.
He
said that this peace also requires “the resumption of a direct political
dialogue between the Israelis and the Palestinians.”
Abbas,
for his part, said that the option of a two-state solution is
"eroding" due to Israeli measures and practices and Palestinians
"have been waiting for 74 years to get rid of the occupation."
He
went on to say: "There is no people in the world living under foreign
occupation, except us."
Abbas
called on European countries that have not recognized the state of Palestine to
recognize it with the aim of "preserving the two-state solution before it
is too late."
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Supporters
of YPG/PKK terror group hold demonstration in Finland
Emre
Karaca
20.07.2022
Sympathizers
of the YPG/PKK terrorist organization held demonstrations Wednesday in
Finland’s capital to protest an agreement it signed last month with Türkiye to
secure NATO membership.
Gathering
outside the Finnish parliament in Helsinki, the demonstrators unfurled banners
symbolizing the terrorist group. They also chanted slogans against the policies
of President Sauli Niinisto and Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, saying,
"Finland for sale, no to NATO."
Finland
and Sweden formally applied to join NATO in June, a decision spurred by
Russia's war on Ukraine. But Türkiye, a member of the alliance for 70 years,
voiced objections, criticizing both countries for tolerating and even
supporting terror groups.
The
trilateral agreement signed between the countries in June stipulates that
Finland and Sweden will not provide support to the terrorist YPG/PKK or the
Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup
in Türkiye, and said Ankara extends full support to Finland and Sweden against
threats to their national security.
All
30 NATO member states need to approve the admission of any new countries.
The
PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the European Union, and
the US, and is responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women,
children, and infants. The YPG is the terrorist PKK’s Syrian branch.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Talks
with Ukraine, Russia, UN on grain corridor going well, says Turkey
21
July ,2022
Talks
between Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and the United Nations on resuming Ukrainian
grain exports through the Black Sea are going well so far, Turkish Foreign
Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday, adding he was hopeful about
reaching a deal.
Turkey
hosted officials from Russia, Ukraine and the UN to discuss details of the
UN-led plan last week.
Ankara
has since said a general agreement was reached, and that it wants to put this
into writing this week.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Iran
recalls Sweden ambassador in protest at Noury sentence
20
July ,2022
Tehran
on Wednesday recalled its ambassador to Sweden “for consultation” in protest
against a sentence handed down to former Iranian prison official Hamid Noury.
“The
Islamic Republic of Iran, in protest at the statement and the illegal sentence
issued in Sweden against Mr. Hamid Noury... has decided to recall its
ambassador to Sweden for consultations,” foreign ministry spokesman Nasser
Kanani said in a statement.
The
verdict “is based on baseless, distorted and fabricated accusations,” he added.
On
July 14, Noury received a life sentence from a Swedish court on charges of
committing crimes during a 1988 purge of dissidents in Iran.
Noury,
61, was convicted of a “serious crime against international law” and “murder”,
the Stockholm district court said in a statement.
The
proceedings, which have been running since August 2021, have strained relations
between Sweden and Iran, with Tehran dismissing the verdict as “political”.
According
to the court, Noury was an assistant prosecutor in a prison near Tehran at the
time of the events.
The
case related to the killing of at least 5,000 prisoners across Iran that was
allegedly ordered to avenge attacks carried out by exiled opposition group the
People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK) at the end of the Iran-Iraq war of 1980-88.
Noury
was sentenced both for his role in the killings targeting the MEK and for
participating in a second wave directed at “left-wing sympathizers who were
deemed to have renounced their Islamic faith”, the court said.
Throughout
the trial, Noury argued that he was on leave during the period in question, and
said he worked in another prison, denouncing the accusations as a plot by the
MEK to discredit Iran.
Noury
was arrested at a Stockholm airport in November 2019 after Iranian dissidents
in Sweden filed police complaints against him.
Tehran
has repeatedly called on the Swedish government to release Noury.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
France's
Macron meets Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in Paris
20
July ,2022
French
President Emmanuel Macron called for a relaunch in political dialogue to
achieve peace in the region surrounding Israel and the Palestinian territories
on Wednesday (July 20), as he welcomed the leader of the Palestinian Authority
in Paris.
Macron
and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas held hands as they entered a conference
room in the Elysee presidential palace, where they were slated to have a
one-on-one meeting to discuss security in the Middle East, where violence and
tensions have flared up again recently.
“We
both know - we all know - that a new deadly spiral could start at any moment,”
Macron said, speaking alongside Abbas.
“We
have to seize every moment to be able to re-ignite this fire (for political
dialogue), this capacity to move forward,” Macron added.
Macron
also said France remains ready to aid Palestinians to prevent food insecurity
brought about by the conflict in Ukraine.
Abbas’
Paris visit comes after a trip made last week by United States President Joe
Biden in the West Bank, during which he pledged not to give up efforts to end
the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict, though he offered no new
proposals to restart the stalled political dialogue between the two sides.
Abbas
said he counted on Macron to push for efforts to restore peace and find a just
solution to the stalemate.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Turkey
says it will meet Finland, Sweden in August to evaluate terror-related pledges
21
July ,2022
Officials
from Turkey, Finland, and Sweden will meet in August to evaluate the progress
made in fulfilling Ankara’s counter-terrorism demands from the Nordic countries
to lift its veto on their NATO membership bid, Foreign Minister Mevlut
Cavusoglu said on Thursday.
Finland
and Sweden have applied for NATO membership in response to Russia’s invasion of
Ukraine, but were faced with opposition from Turkey, which accused them of
supporting groups it deems terrorists.
The
three countries signed an accord last month to lift Ankara’s veto in exchange
for promises on counter-terrorism and arms exports.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Mideast
Iran
clarifies nuclear policy unchanged after ‘bomb’ remark
July
21, 2022
TEHRAN:
Tehran gave assurances on Wednesday that its nuclear policy was unchanged and
that it still adhered to a fatwa banning weapons of mass destruction, after an
Iranian official said the country was able to make atomic bombs.
It
is the second time in the past 18 months that Iran has reiterated its
opposition to nuclear weapons following comments by an official.
“In
regard to the topic of weapons of mass destruction, we have the fatwa”, or
religious edict, by Iran’s supreme leader that prohibits the manufacture of
such weapons, said foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani.
The
fatwa declares the use of atomic bombs and other weapons of mass destruction to
be “haram”, or forbidden by Islam, and it is often cited by Iranian authorities
as a guarantee of Tehran’s good intentions.
“It
seems that there has been no change in the view and position of the Islamic
Republic of Iran” regarding the nuclear policy, Kanani told a news conference.
His
comments came in response to a question about remarks made by Kamal Kharazi,
head of Iran’s strategic council of foreign relations to Al Jazeera on Sunday
about Iran’s capability to manufacture nuclear weapons.
“It
is no secret to anyone that we have the technical capability to make atomic
bombs, but we have not made a decision in this regard,” Kharazi said, before
reiterating Iran’s position that it does not want to make a nuclear bomb.
Speaking
to the media on Wednesday, Kanani said: “Iran’s nuclear capacities are great,
but, as it has mentioned many times, Iran’s nuclear technology is completely
peaceful and under continued monitoring of the (UN’s) International Atomic
Energy Agency.” The remarks came amid heightened tensions between Iran and
Western powers as talks in Vienna to revive a 2015 nuclear deal have been
stalled since March.
Vienna
talks
Qatar
hosted indirect talks last month between the United States and Iran in a bid to
get the process back on track, but those discussions broke up after two days
without any breakthrough.
The
Vienna talks, which began in April last year, aim to return the US to the
nuclear deal, including through the lifting of sanctions on Iran, and to return
Tehran to full compliance with its commitments.
The
2015 agreement gave Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its atomic
programme to guarantee that Tehran could not develop a nuclear weapon —
something it has always denied wanting to do.
But
the US unilateral withdrawal from the accord in 2018 under then-president
Donald Trump and the reimpositon of biting economic sanctions prompted Iran to
begin rolling back on its own commitments.
On
Tuesday, State Department spokesman Ned Price said US President Joe Biden “has
made a commitment that Iran will not acquire a nuclear weapon”.
“We
continue to believe that diplomacy is the most effective, durable, and sustainable
means by which to achieve that,” he added.
In
February 2021, Iran reiterated its opposition to nuclear weapons after then
intelligence minister, Mahmoud Alavi, said it would not be the Islamic
republic’s fault if it was ever “pushed” towards developing a nuclear bomb.
Iran
had claimed the existence of the fatwa for years before making the text public
for the first time in 2010, at a time of crisis over its nuclear programme.
Source:
Dawn
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1700780/iran-clarifies-nuclear-policy-unchanged-after-bomb-remark
--------
Iran:
Ball in Court of US Policy-Makers to End Nuclear Negotiations
2022-July-20
"The
way is paved for reaching the agreement, but the major issue is about the US
which should make an independent, firm and unbiased dicision," Iran’s
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kana'ani said at weekly press conference in
Tehran.
He
stated that a deal would be conceivable in the short term “if America looked at
the matter through the prism of America’s national interests, not the Zionist
regime’s".
"Iran
views the US government and its internal institutions as an integrated group,
and every action taken by Washington will have an impact on the process of
nuclear negotiations. So, Tehran will react on this basis," Kana'ani
stressed.
The
Iranian official pointed to the latest trend of negotiations for the removal of
anti-Tehran sanctions, and stated that "the fact is that, unlike the claim
of the American side regarding the fruitless of Doha talks, the negotiations
were constructive", so suitable ways have been paved for the continuation
of talks in a way that the country is seriously pursuing resumption of talks.
"The
Islamic Republic of Iran needs a serious, clear guarantee and verification to
secure its economic interests resulting from the nuclear agreement," the
spokesman added.
Iranian
officials say the ball is in the US' court, and the administration of President
Joe Biden should assure Tehran that it will not repeat Donald Trump's past
mistakes.
The
Spokesman said Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian had held a
phone conversation with European Union (EU) Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell
to facilitate new talks.
Kana'ani
added negotiations with the United States were being carried out via the EU.
Iran:
US Should Set Aside Excessive Demands, Doubts in Nuclear Talkshttps://t.co/bIOkE0vwN5
pic.twitter.com/eikn7ESav6
—
Fars News Agency (@EnglishFars) July 19, 2022
Iran
and the five remaining parties to the nuclear deal, officially known as the
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), have held several rounds of
negotiations in the Austrian capital of Vienna since April last year to restore
the agreement, which was unilaterally abandoned by Trump in May 2018.
In
quitting the agreement, Trump restored sanctions on Iran as part of what he
called the “maximum pressure” campaign against the country. Those sanctions are
being enforced to this day by the Biden administration, even though it has
repeatedly acknowledged that the policy has been a mistake and a failure.
EU
Deputy Foreign Policy Chief Enrique Mora coordinated indirect negotiations
between Iran and the US in Qatar's Doha in late June aimed at resolving the
differences hindering the revival of the 2015 agreement.
Iran:
Biden Continues Trump's Failed Policyhttps://t.co/L8ifOoV5D5
pic.twitter.com/xwZ5ldoakI
—
Fars News Agency (@EnglishFars) July 12, 2022
Iran
has blasted the US for insisting on previous positions during the Doha talks,
stressing that the path of diplomacy is still open.
In
a joint press conference with Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammad bin Abdul Rahman
Al Thani in Tehran in early July, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir
Abdollahian blamed Washington for failure in arriving at a deal in Doha talks,
and refuted the US claim that Iran’s negotiators have raised demand irrelevant to the nuclear
deal in the negotiations.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14010429000418/Iran-Ball-in-Cr-f-US-Plicy-Makers-End-Nclear-Negiains
--------
Iran:
Holding All-Inclusive Referendum Sole Solution to Palestinian Issue
2022-July-20
Amir
Abdollahian made the remarks at the first Regional Islamic Unity Conference in
the western Iranian city of Sanandaj on Wednesday.
He
announced that the Islamic Republic had presented an initiative to the United
Nations to solve the Palestinian issue diplomatically.
"This
initiative has been registered at the United Nations. The plan is based on
holding a referendum with the participation of the original inhabitants of
Palestine, including Muslims, Jews, and Christians," he said.
The
top Iranian diplomat went on to say that the first step of the plan was to
launch a fund with the help of the UN and volunteer countries to cover the
expenses of the referendum.
The
second step was to conduct a population census of all the original inhabitants
of Palestine, including those living in the besieged Gaza Strip, the
Israeli-occupied territories, and all over the world, he said, adding that a
referendum could be held under the supervision of the UN afterwards.
Amir
Abdollahian further stressed that the elected representatives would later
decide about the fate and future of their country.
In
a relevant development in mid-July, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer
Qalibaf called on regional countries to be watchful of the US-Israeli plots in
the Middle East, cautioning that the impending visit by US President Joe Biden
to the region will be a move at the service of Tel Aviv's plots against
regional security.
US
President Joe Biden had a four-day tour of the Middle East with stops in the
Israeli-occupied territories and Saudi Arabia.
Qalibaf
said at the opening session of the Iranian Parliament on Tuesday Washington is
the executor of the Tel Aviv regime’s plans in the Middle East, calling it
"a historical and strategic mistake" by the White House.
"All
the evidence shows that this trip was arranged by the Zionists and that the
American president is implementing the programs and projects that the Zionist
regime, as the main enemy of the nations of the region, has designed,"
Qalibaf stated.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
EU
‘deeply regrets’ Iran-backed Houthi’s rejection of UN proposal to reopen Taiz
road
20
July ,2022
The
EU slammed the Iran-backed Houthis rejection of a UN-backed proposal to reopen
the road around the Yemeni city of Taiz, the EU delegation to Yemen said in a
statement on Tuesday.
“The
EU deeply regrets a rejection by the Houthis of the latest proposal by UN
Special Envoy (UNSE) on road reopening notably around Taiz,” it said, further
calling it a “crucial humanitarian element” of the ongoing truce agreement.
The
EU urged the Houthis to reconsider and accept the UNSE’s proposal.
The
Taiz blockade continues to be of concern since it impedes the flow of essential
goods and aid delivery inside Yemen’s third largest city that has been under
siege since 2015.
A
provision in the truce agreement for the militants to ease their siege of
Yemen’s third-biggest city Taiz has yet to be implemented, and the government
has demanded roads to the city be opened.
“The
truce has broken the diplomatic stalemate and brought unprecedented tangible
benefits to Yemenis, and this momentum should not be lost,” the EU statement
said.
The
United Nations, meanwhile, is pushing Yemen’s warring parties to agree to a
six-month truce extension, two sources familiar with the talks told Reuters,
which would be the longest in the seven-year-old conflict as international
pressure grows on both sides to end the war.
Peace
efforts gained a boost after US President Joe Biden visited Saudi Arabia last
week, where he announced agreement with the Saudi leadership to “deepen and
extend” the ceasefire expiring on August 2.
In
a joint statement released following his visit, the US President Biden
expressed his appreciation for the role King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown
Prince Mohammed bin Salman played in achieving the truce.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Yemen’s
information minister says Houthis unjustly sieged Khubzah village,
indiscriminately bombing
July
20, 2022
LONDON:
The Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen have unjustly sieged Khubzah village in
Al-Bayda province, south of Sanaa, and are indiscriminately bombing citizens
with tanks and artillery, the country’s information minister said on Wednesday.
Moammer
Al-Eryani described their actions as “a fully-fledged war crime” and that they
were injuring women and children in those areas and destroying several houses.
“Houthi’s
heinous crime under UN-sponsored truce, confirms its indifference to
deescalation calls and efforts to alleviate Yemenis suffering, and taking
advantage of the truce to subjugate tribes that oppose them, and to subjugate
them to their priestly project,” he said in a series of tweets.
He
urged the international community, and the UN and US envoys, to condemn their
brutal attack, pressure the Houthi militia to end atrocities, prosecute
perpetrators in international courts, lift their siege on Khubzah immediately,
open safe corridors for citizens, and allow the injured to receive treatment.
Source:
Arab News
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2126301/middle-east
--------
US
forces in Syria, region a ‘destabilizing factor': Iranian president
Syed
Zafar Mehdi
20.07.2022
TEHRAN,
Iran
Iran,
Türkiye and Russia reiterated their commitment to work toward a political and
diplomatic solution to the Syrian crisis at the seventh summit of the guarantor
states of the Astana Process on Syria in Tehran on Tuesday.
In
his remarks at the trilateral meeting and at the joint presser, Iran's
President Ebrahim Raisi said the only solution to the Syrian crisis is "a
political solution without foreign interference."
He
hailed the Astana Process as a "successful framework for the peaceful
settlement of the Syrian crisis” which he affirmed has made "good
achievements.”
He
went on to emphasize the "need to maintain territorial integrity and
cohesion (and) respect for the national sovereignty and independence of Syria,
determining the fate of the country through Syrian-Syrian dialogues and without
foreign interference."
Raisi
said 11 years have gone by since the war in Syria started, adding that his
country still believes that the only solution is "political" and
"not military."
The
guarantor states of the Astana Process, he noted, have always backed the
"political solution" to the crisis within the framework of the
agreements reached, including holding the Syrian constitutional negotiations,
while reaffirming their commitment to fighting terrorism in the entire region,
including Syria.
Raisi
called for "ending the presence of terrorist groups" in Syria while
condemning Israeli attacks in the war-ravaged country, especially on civilian
infrastructure like airports and ports.
He
said US sanctions have put "additional pressure" on the Syrian
people, "depriving them of avenues to lead a normal life" while
calling for an end to "foreign interference" in the country.
A
united, independent Syria without a foreign presence will restore peace to
Syria and contribute to the stability and security of its neighbors, Raisi
stressed, while terming the presence of US forces in Syria and the region
"a destabilizing factor.”
The
Iranian president went on to reaffirm Tehran's support to the "people and
the government of Syria with full force."
The
issue of Syrian refugees and domestically displaced people is an
"important issue,” he asserted, urging regional countries and the
international community to "help the refugees return to their homes."
Iran
is one of the strongest allies of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Damascus and
has backed it fully during the years of war.
The
host of Tuesday's meeting described Syria's territorial integrity and
sovereignty as a "red line," attributing instability in the country
to the American presence.
Raisi
accused the US of "looting (Syria's) natural resources," including
the country's oil.
He
said the international community bears responsibility for solving Syria's
refugee crisis and expressed Iran's readiness in supporting any such
initiatives.
In
their joint statement, the three leaders said they discussed the current
situation in Syria, reviewed its developments following the July 1 summit, and
reiterated their determination to enhance the trilateral coordination in light
of their agreements as well as the conclusions of foreign ministers’ and
representatives’ meetings.
The
statement added that they also examined the latest international and regional
developments and emphasized the key role of the Astana Process in the peaceful
and sustainable settlement of the Syrian crisis.
It
further said that they emphasized their unwavering commitment to the
sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity of Syria, expressed
their determination to continue working together to fight terrorism, discussed
the situation in northern Syria, reviewed the situation in the Idlib
de-escalation area, expressed concern over the humanitarian situation in Syria
and sanctions, expressed opposition to a military solution to the conflict,
reaffirmed their determination to continue operations on the mutual release of
detainees, and condemned Israeli military attacks in Syria.
The
Astana Process was launched in 2017 in a bid to restore peace and stability in
the Arab country, which has been ravaged by war since 2011, when the Assad regime
cracked down on pro-democracy protesters.
Last
month, the representatives of the three countries stressed that Syria’s
national sovereignty and territorial integrity should be respected.
Notably,
it is Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s first visit to Tehran since the
formation of the new government in Tehran last year. Russian President Vladimir
Putin is also on his first international trip beyond the borders of the former
Soviet Union since the start of the Ukraine war.
Following
the talks Tuesday, Nour News, affiliated with Iran's top security body, said
the meeting is centered on the "adoption of practical solutions to reduce
tensions (and) relying on the principle of dialogue and interaction to resolve
misunderstandings and reduce conflicts together with security concerns."
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Africa
Muslim-Muslim
ticket: Bishops who attended Shettima’s unveiling fake – Catholic Church
July
20, 2022
By
Seun Opejobi
The
Catholic Church has described the bishops who attended the unveiling of Kashim
Shettima as the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential candidate, Bola
Tinubu’s running mate as fake.
Rev.
Fr. Patrick Alumuku, spokesman for the Catholic Church Headquarters in Abuja,
said those bishops were not their representatives.
Alumuku
stressed that Tinubu’s campaign team hired the fake bishops to attend the
event.
“We
have seen the photos circulating online, they are not Catholic bishops. The
Catholic Church did not send any representation to the event held today by Bola
Tinubu and his running mate Kashim Shettima.
“If
you look at the manner the imposters dressed and conducted themselves, you will
see they are not Catholic Church officials” he told newsmen.
Source:
Daily Post Nigeria
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Death
toll from Sudan ethnic clashes climbs to 105: Official
20
July ,2022
Ethnic
clashes in Sudan’s Blue Nile state in a deadly land dispute killed 105 people
and wounded 291, the state’s health minister said, providing a new toll
Wednesday.
Fighting
broke out in the southern state on the borders with Ethiopia and South Sudan on
July 11 between members of the Berti and Hausa ethnic groups.
“The
situation is now calm,” state health minister Jamal Nasser told AFP by
telephone from the state capital al-Damazin, some 460 kilometers (285 miles)
south of Khartoum.
The
deployment of the army had eased the fighting since Saturday, he said.
“The
challenge now is in sheltering the displaced,” Nasser said.
The
United Nations said Tuesday that more than 17,000 people have fled their homes
from the fighting, with 14,000 “sheltering in three schools in al-Damazin.”
Between
January and March this year, the UN said aid was provided to 563,000 people in
Blue Nile.
Sudan,
one of the world’s poorest countries and mired in an economic crisis that has
deepened since an October coup led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has
seen only rare interludes of civilian rule since independence.
In
Sudan, deadly clashes regularly erupt over land, livestock and access to water
and grazing, especially in areas still awash with weapons left over from
decades of civil war.
Fighting
in Blue Nile reportedly broke out after Bertis rejected a Hausa request to
create a “civil authority to supervise access to land,” a prominent Hausa
member said.
But
a senior Berti leader said the group was responding to a “violation” of their
land by the Hausas.
While
fighting is reported to have stopped and relative calm returned to Blue Nile,
tensions have escalated in other states, where the Hausa people have taken to
the streets demanding “justice for the martyrs.”
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
--------
Libya’s
NOC says production resumed at several oilfields
21
July ,2022
Libya’s
National Oil Corp (NOC) said on Wednesday crude production had resumed at
several oilfields, after lifting force majeure on oil exports last week.
Production
has restarted at fields belonging to Waha Oil Company at a rate of 70,000
barrels per day (bpd) and will be gradually increased until normal rates are
achieved, the state-owned NOC said in a statement.
Production
has also resumed from the Nafoura, Tibesti, al-Ghani and al-Bayda oilfields
belonging to Harouge Oil Operations and Arabian Gulf Oil Company (AGOCO).
“Production
at the two companies will be increased gradually after restarting the other
fields,” NOC said.
A
tanker entered Ras Lanuf port to ship 600,000 barrels of crude, it said, while
another has arrived at the Zueitina oil terminal and will be loaded with one
million barrels on Thursday.
Source:
Al Arabiya
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click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
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Envoy
reaffirms Türkiye’s support for Burkina Faso
James
Tasamba
20.07.2022
Türkiye’s
envoy to Burkina Faso reaffirmed her country’s support for the West African country
on Tuesday in the face of growing security and food insecurity challenges.
Ambassador
Nilgün Erdem Ari announced this after a meeting with Burkina Faso’s Prime
Minister Albert Ouédraogo in the capital Ouagadougou, according to a statement
by the prime minister’s office.
They
discussed various areas of cooperation between the two countries.
“Türkiye
is ready to support Burkina Faso, which is facing a difficult security,
humanitarian and food insecurity situation,” said Erdem Ari.
She
noted that Türkiye maintains excellent and historic diplomatic relations with
Burkina Faso.
“There
is a strong will between the two countries to enhance cooperation in the fields
of economy, trade, culture, and especially education,” she added.
In
education, Türkiye awards scholarships to Burkinabe citizens, while the two
countries also maintain military cooperation in the area of training.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please
click the following URL to read the full text of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/envoy-reaffirms-turkiye-s-support-for-burkina-faso/2641035
--------
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/timor-indonesia-nahdlatul-muhammadiyah-nobel/d/127534