Opposition Parties Accuse RSS Chief Bhagwat Of Issuing A Call For Violence And Challenging The Constitution
New Age Islam News Bureau
12 January 2023
RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat (ANI)
-----
• Michigan’s Muslim-Majority City Council Approves
Animal Sacrifice For Religious Purposes
• Uyghur Activists Condemn Islamic Scholars'
'Propaganda' Trip To Xinjiang That Serves China
• Suicide Blast Near Afghan Foreign Ministry, More
Than 20 Casualties
• Iran Sentences Ex- Deputy Defence Minister To Death
For Spying For UK, London Demands Release
India
• Mohan Bhagwat's "Rhetoric Of Supremacy"
Remark On Muslims Slammed By CPM
• Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi Hails Mohan Bhagwat's Remarks On
Muslims, Says Spirit Of Partnership Leads To Path Of Development
• NIA Arrests Two More Terror Operatives in Shivamogga
Islamic State Conspiracy Case
• Day after Bajrang Dal worker attacked, Shivamogga
cops say he stalked, harassed Muslim girl
• Supreme Court to hear plea over Allahabad HC’s 2017
direction to evict mosque on its premises on February 9
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North America
• Weapons Supplied To Saudis By US, UK Killed Hundreds
Of Yemenis: Report
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Southeast Asia
• Umno deputy chief calls for new Malay agenda after
GE15 drubbing
• Mais won’t exhume ex-teacher’s remains pending
widow’s appeal
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South Asia
• Pakistan, Afghanistan Suffering From Militancy and
Terrorism
• Taliban Wants To Send Envoy To Delhi, Boost Ties
Between India, Afghanistan
• Bangladesh rallies press for Hasina’s resignation
• Complications over funeral as ‘Muslim convert’ Hindu
student dies after being hit by train in Dhaka
• Turkey to Extradite 5000 Illegal Afghan Migrants
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Mideast
• Israel’s Knesset passes bill to withdraw nationality
from Palestinian detainees
• Israeli army makes plans to resettle 1,000 Palestinians
without government’s knowledge
• IRGC Chief Reminds France of Salman Rushdie’s Fate
• Iran Summons Iraqi Envoy to Protest Distortion of
Persian Gulf's Name
• At least 30 Iran journalists still detained over
protests: Association
• Israeli President Herzog invites Turkey’s Erdogan to
visit, receives envoy
• Yemeni YouTubers tried by Iran-backed Houthis for
inciting ‘chaos’
--------
Arab World
• World’s Great Science Minds Inspire Saudi Students
At “Eyes On The Future” Event
• Abu Dhabi Uses Drones To Plant One Million Mangrove
Seeds As Part Of Climate Pledge
• Our Message Aims At Reflecting True Image Of Islam,
Entrenching Values Of Co-Existence, Love: Al Azhar Official To A Delegation Of
Students
• Saudi Fund for Development official reviews
cooperation with UN delegation
• Saudi Arabia renews support for Palestine after
Israel storms Al-Aqsa: OIC envoy
• Iraqi PM underlines historic ties with Iran amid
Persian Gulf misnomer row
• Syrians, disgruntled with US military occupation,
brandish national flag in Dayr al-Zawr
--------
Europe
• Bogus Terrorism Charges Dropped Against Austrian
Muslim Academic
• Australia pull out of Afghan cricket series over
Taliban crackdown on women
• Morocco, Spain bust Daesh/ISIS terrorist cell
• Prince Harry slams media reports of ‘boasting’ about
25 Taliban kills as ‘dangerous lie’
--------
Pakistan
• Imran Says Undeterred In Face Of ‘Red Lines’ Around
Him
• Pakistan: Punjab CM Pervaiz Elahi wins confidence
vote amid opposition uproar
• JUIF stages protest against price-hike, flour crisis
• Rallies staged against runaway inflation, flour
crisis in KP
• Radioactive cargo ‘didn’t come from Pakistan’: FO
• CTD arrests four terror suspects in Peshawar
• PM Shehbaz Sharif urges Kuwait to participate in
climate moot
--------
Africa
• Muslim Rights Group Cautions Nigerian Youths Against
‘Japa’ Syndrome
• 4 killed in suspected al-Shabaab bomb attack in
northern Kenya
• Suspected Islamist fighters kill four road workers
in eastern Kenya
• Tigray rebels hand over heavy weapons to Ethiopian
army
• Jordanian army investigates what might be remains of
Jordanian soldiers found in Jerusalem
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/rss-chief-bhagwat-violence-constitution/d/128861
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Opposition Parties Accuse RSS Chief Bhagwat Of Issuing
A Call For Violence And Challenging The Constitution
RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat (ANI)
-----
Sanjay K. Jha
| New Delhi
12.01.23
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s claim that Hindus are at war
to protect their religion and culture, and Muslims can live in the country by
shedding their “sense of supremacy” drew a strong reaction from Opposition
parties that accused him of issuing a call for violence and challenging the
Constitution.
In an interview with the Organiser, regarded as an RSS
mouthpiece, Bhagwat said the aggression shown by a section of Hindus could be
understood because they were at war. Opposition parties felt his views were
dangerous because he believed the war was now against the enemies within,
hinting at liberal Hindus and communists.
Although the main Opposition Congress did not react to
the interview, the CPM politburo said in a statement: “The RSS chief Mohan
Bhagwat’s atrocious comments in an interview to RSS weeklies constitutes an
open and blatant challenge to the Constitution of India, to equal rights of all
citizens and to the rule of law.
He has threatened the Muslim minority community that
they will have to give up ideas of ‘supremacy’ to remain safe.
“He justifies the aggression of ‘Hindu society’ in the
name of perceived historical wrongs, stating that Hindus are ‘at war’. He has
virtually given a call for violence against a section of Indian citizens on the
basis of religious affiliation.”
The statement added: “In fact, it is not ‘Hindu
society’ but Hindutva brigades inspired by the RSS ideology and backed by
leaders like Bhagwat who have created a sense of siege in the minority
community by their constant assaults on the constitutional and legal rights of
minority communities at different levels. Bhagwat’s statements are an update of
the hate-filled communal writings of RSS icons like Hedgewar and Golwalkar that
Muslims can live in India only if they accept a subordinate position.”
RJD Rajya Sabha member Manoj Jha told The Telegraph:
“I don’t believe the idea of aggression. This is again fiction. In the last few
years, the RSS-BJP has made sure that a fictional fear, a fictional anger
dominate everything. And if at all there is any aggression, that can be used
for a constructive purpose. For instance, how can Hindu society be comfortable
with this kind of inequality? How can the Hindu society be comfortable with the
idea that their collective memory is being butchered in favour of a history
that did not exist?”
Jha added: “In spite of a progressive Constitution,
there are hundreds and thousands of regressive tendencies… and you (the RSS)
are actually promoting those regressive tendencies. Unless you address those
regressive tendencies, all this talk is nothing but going for multiple
signalling and none of those signals have any value or merit.”
Questioning the perception of war, he said: “Where
does he get this input that Hindus are at war? I have been, together with many
others, saying that don’t use Hindu and Hindutva as synonyms. With multiple
deficiencies and demerits, the Hindu religion is an ocean while Hindutva is a
pond. And these should not be used interchangeably.
“And Hindus are at war with whom? If some of them are
at war, it is your creation. If you wish to have a war, please ensure that the
war is against inequality, the war is against violence, the war is against
hatred. But you won’t do that because all those things suit your kind of
paradigm which you have been very comfortable with.”
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said: “Who is Mohan to
give Muslims ‘permission’ to live in India or follow our faith?... How dare he
put ‘conditions’ on our citizenship?” He added: “Muslims are only talking about
equality and equal citizenship, not supremacy. For them, diversity is
anti-national. He (Bhagwat) is directly inciting people to do violence against
Muslims. He will never speak on inflation, unemployment, India-China and rupee
value.”
Source: Telegraph India
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original story:
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Michigan’s Muslim-Majority City Council Approves
Animal Sacrifice For Religious Purposes
Residents will be required to notify the city, pay a
fee and make their property available for inspection. WJBK
------
January 11, 2023
By Bradford Betz
A Detroit-area city on Tuesday voted to approve
allowing residents to sacrifice animals at home for religious purposes.
The Hamtramck City Council, whose members are all
Muslims, approved the practice, 3-2, Tuesday.
The matter was put up for a vote in December, but city
council members kept a ban in place. The issue was revisited this month after
legal advice and objections from resident Muslims, the Detroit Free Press
reported.
"If somebody wants to do it, they have a right to
do their practice," Council Member Mohammed Hassan said.
Muslims often slaughter animals, especially goats or
sheep, during the holiday of Eid al-Adha or pay someone to do it for them. Meat
is shared with family, friends and the poor.
"It's not something new or novel," explained
Dawud Walid, director of the Michigan branch of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations.
"This is when Muslims recognize Abraham
sacrificing a sheep instead of having to sacrifice his son," Walid said,
in an apparent reference to the Quran and Old Testament passage.
Hamtramck residents will be required to notify the
city, pay a fee and make their property available for inspection.
Hamtramck has a population 28,000. More than half of
the residents are of Yemeni or Bangladeshi descent, the Free Press said.
Source: Fox News
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original story:
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Uyghur Activists Condemn Islamic Scholars'
'Propaganda' Trip To Xinjiang That Serves China
Emirati academic Ali Rashid
al Nuaimi, among other Islamic scholars as part of the World Muslim Communities
Council visiting a centre against terrorism in the Xinjiang province
(Screengrab)
-----
By Areeb Ullah
11 January 2023
Uyghur activists described a visit by a delegation of
Islamic scholars to Xinjiang province as "propaganda" that serves
China as it continues to deny claims it has imprisoned thousands of Uyghur
Muslims.
Thirty Muslim scholars from 14 Muslim-majority
countries, including pro-government clerics from Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia,
Tunisia and the UAE, visited Xinjiang province as part of a delegation
organised by the World Muslim Communities Council (WMCC).
Pictures posted by Chinese state media showed the WMCC
delegation, headed by Emirati academic Ali Rashid al-Nuaimi, visiting various
sites as part of their multi-city tour of Xinjiang province.
Founded in the United Arab Emirates, the WMCC said its
aim is to support Muslims in non-Muslim majority countries and to protect them
"intellectually, spiritually, and from racial discrimination or ethnic
cleansing".
In a press statement by the WMCC, Nuaimi, who has
championed normalisation between Israel and the Arab world, repeated China's
claims that its crackdown on Uyghurs is part of its policy to combat terrorism
in the Xinjiang province.
But Dolkun Isa, president of the World Uyghur
Congress, hit back at Nuaimi's claims and said China often used the pretext of
combatting terrorism to justify criminalising "everyday and legal forms of
religious behaviour, such as wearing a beard or hijab and possessing a Quran.
"It is outrageous that the WMCC has participated
in this propaganda visit and is now echoing the Chinese government's
narrative," Isa told Middle East Eye.
"This was a wasted opportunity to ask real questions
about the actual conditions of Uyghurs and openly condemn the current genocide,
and show that as ''representatives' of the global Muslim community, they
genuinely care about the Uyghur Muslims."
Isa added: "Certain scholars, especially the ones
from countries that have experienced genocide against Muslims, such as Bosnia,
have failed to learn from past experiences and stand up for victims of atrocity
crimes elsewhere."
The Chinese government is accused of detaining more
than one million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the eastern Xinjiang
region and subjecting the community to abuses some have labelled a genocide.
China denies all allegations of abuse.
'Whitewashing China crimes'
Abduweli Ayup, an Uyghur language activist from
Kashgar, described the trip as "whitewashing" China's crimes against
Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
Feeling particularly incensed by representatives from
Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest sites, attending the delegation, Ayup
recounted how disappointed he felt at the sight of Bosnian scholars
participating in the visit.
"When the Bosnian genocide took place, I remember
how Uyghurs in Kashgar, where I am from, raised money for the Bosnians,"
Ayup told MEE.
"Now those same Muslim men and women are
languishing in Chinese concentration camps because they dared to practice their
faith in China."
Other members of the WMCC delegation include Usaama Al
Azhari, Egyptian President Abdel Fateh el Sisi's adviser on religious affairs,
and Mestaoui Mohamed Slaheddine, adviser to the Tunisian Prime Minister.
In an interview with the Emirati channel Al Ain, Azhar
on Monday described China as "brotherly" and said the visit was
"critical to exchange experiences [of fighting terrorism]."
Last year, China's foreign minister attended an
Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) meeting in Islamabad with Uyghur
campaigners criticising the body for not speaking up about their plight.
This delegation's latest visit comes after claims that
Egypt, the UAE and Saudi Arabia have been deporting Uyghurs to China despite
concerns over their safety if sent back.
Last April, Amnesty International called on Saudi
Arabia to immediately release four Uyghurs, including a 13-year-old girl and her
mother, who were at risk of being taken to repressive internment camps if sent
back to China.
Buheliqiemu Abula and her teenage daughter were
detained in Mecca and told by police they faced deportation to China.
Abula is the former wife of Nuermaimaiti Ruze, who was
also detained in Saudi Arabia in 2020 after they took a pilgrimage to Mecca.
Source: Middle East Eye
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/china-uyghurs-condemn-islamic-scholar-propaganda-trip-xinjiang
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Suicide Blast Near Afghan Foreign Ministry, More Than
20 Casualties
Representative image
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11 January 2023
AFP
KABUL:A suicide bomber detonated a device Wednesday
near Afghanistan’s foreign ministry in the capital, causing more than 20
causalities, an AFP staff member said.
Images from the scene show people lying in the snow in
the street outside the central Kabul building.
“I don’t know how many of them were dead or injured,”
AFP driver Jamshed Karimi said, adding: “I saw the man blow himself up.”
Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran confirmed the
explosion “which unfortunately resulted in casualties.”
“Security teams have reached the area,” he tweeted.
The Taliban claim to have improved security since
storming back to power in August 2021 but there have been scores of bomb blasts
and attacks, many claimed by the local chapter of DAESH group.
Source: Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2230576/world
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Iran Sentences Ex- Deputy Defence Minister To Death
For Spying For UK, London Demands Release
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2023
-----
11 January ,2023
Iran has sentenced a former defence ministry official
to death for allegedly spying for Britain, the official IRNA news agency
reported on Wednesday.
Alireza Akbari, who served as a deputy defence
minister during the tenure of former president Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005),
was found guilty of “corruption on earth and extensive action against Iran’s
internal and external security through the transmission of information (to
Britain),” according to IRNA.
Akbari, who holds British citizenship, appealed the
sentence but the appeal was rejected by Iran’s supreme court, IRNA said. This
suggests that his execution may occur in the near future.
Iran’s intelligence ministry, in a statement,
described Akbari as “one of the most important agents” of MI6, and said he had
provided valuable information about Iran to the British intelligence agency.
British foreign minister James Cleverly said that the
death sentence against Akbari was “politically motivated” and called for his
immediate release.
“Iran must halt the execution of British-Iranian
national Alireza Akbari and immediately release him,” Cleverly wrote on
Twitter.
“This is a politically motivated act by a barbaric
regime that has total disregard for human life.”
IRNA did not specify the date of Akbari’s arrest, but
the BBC reported that he was arrested sometime between 2019 and 2020.
Akbari’s wife expressed concern to the news outlet
that his execution may be imminent, as he was transferred to solitary
confinement on Tuesday evening, a typical prelude to execution for death row
prisoners in Iran.
She also told the BBC that an official had asked her
to come to his prison in Tehran for a “final meeting.”
Akbari is said to have been a close associate of Ali
Shamkhani, who was the defense minister in the Khatami administration and
currently holds a position as the secretary of the Supreme National Security
Council, a top decision-making body.
Some observers have suggested that the charges against
Akbari may be politically motivated by rivals of Shamkhani within the regime.
Source: Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the text of the
original story:
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India
Mohan Bhagwat's "Rhetoric Of Supremacy"
Remark On Muslims Slammed By CPM
January 11, 2023
New Delhi: Mohan Bhagwat, the chief of the BJP's
ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, today said Muslims have nothing
to fear in India, but they must abandon their "boisterous rhetoric of
supremacy". He remark drew sharp criticism from the Left. AIMIM chief
Asaduddin Owaisi also slammed Mr Bhagwat's comments, questioning who he is to
give Muslims "permission" to live in India and put
"conditions" on their citizenship.
In an interview with the RSS mouthpieces Panchajanya
and the Organiser, Mr Bhagwat said: "The simple truth is this -- Hindustan
should remain Hindustan. There is no harm to the Muslims living today in
Bharat... Islam has nothing to fear. But at the same time, Muslims must abandon
their boisterous rhetoric of supremacy".
"'We are of an exalted race; we once ruled over
this land, and shall rule it again; only our path is right, rest everyone is
wrong; we are different, therefore we will continue to be so; we cannot live
together' -- they (the Muslims) must abandon this narrative. In fact, all those
who live here -- whether a Hindu or a communist -- must give up this
logic," the RSS chief added.
In a series of tweets, Asaduddin Owaisi said:
"Who is Mohan to give Muslims 'permission' to live in India or follow our
faith? We're Indians because Allah willed it. How dare he put
"conditions" on our citizenship?".
Asserting that RSS ideology is a "threat" to
the country's future, he said, "Who elected Mohan as the representative of
Hindus? Fighting elections in 2024? Welcome".
Senior CPM leader Brinda Karat said the RSS chief's
statement "is against the Constitution", "Objectionable and
provocative".
"It seems Bhagwat ji will prepare and decide the
criteria (for living in India). Bhagwat ji and all his Hindutva brigade should
read the Constitution, especially Articles 14 and 15, among others. Every
citizen has equal rights in our country irrespective of religion," the
Rajya Sabha MP said.
Source: ND TV
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Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi hails Mohan Bhagwat's remarks on
Muslims, says spirit of partnership leads to path of development
Jan 11, 2023
NEW DELHI: Former minority affairs minister and senior
BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Wednesday hailed RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's
remarks on Muslims and said the spirit of partnership and not the battle to
dominate leads to the path of development.
Naqvi's assertion came after Bhagwat said Muslims have
nothing to fear in India, but they must abandon their "boisterous rhetoric
of supremacy".
In an interview to Organiser and Panchjanya, Bhagwat
said, "The simple truth is this, Hindustan should remain Hindustan. There
is no harm to the Muslims living today in Bharat... Islam has nothing to fear.
But at the same time, Muslims must abandon their boisterous rhetoric of
supremacy."
"We are of an exalted race; we once ruled over
this land, and shall rule it again; only our path is right, rest everyone is
wrong; we are different, therefore we will continue to be so; we cannot live
together; they (Muslims) must abandon this narrative. In fact, all those who
live here whether a Hindu or a communist must give up this logic," the RSS
chief said.
Speaking with journalists here on Bhagwat's remarks,
Naqvi said, "The spirit of participation and not the battle to dominate
leads to the path of development and trust. The result of this is that out of
every 10 Muslims in the world, one is living in India. His social, economic and
educational rights are completely secure and strong."
"But the problem is not of common Muslims, it is
of the 'contractors' vying for Muslim votes. These people do not want Muslims
to be a part of inclusive development and society," he said in an apparent
swipe at the Opposition.
But today the environment has changed and because of
this there has been a "lockout" on the shops of contractors vying for
Muslim votes, he said.
In his remarks, Bhagwat had said the new-found
aggression among Hindus the world over was due to an awakening in the society
that has been at war for over 1,000 years.
"You see, Hindu society has been at war for over
1,000 years - this fight has been going on against foreign aggressions, foreign
influences and foreign conspiracies. Sangh has offered its support to this cause,
so have others.
Source: Times Of India
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NIA Arrests Two More Terror Operatives in Shivamogga
Islamic State Conspiracy Case
By: Manoj Gupta
JANUARY 11, 2023
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday
arrested two more Islamic State (IS) operatives for hatching a conspiracy to
further the activities of the terror organisation in India.
The accused were identified as Mazin Abdul Rahman from
Mangaluru and Nadeem Ahmed KA from Davanagere.
The case is related to a conspiracy hatched by the
accused to further the terror activities of the Islamic State, a banned
terrorist organisation, and to endanger the unity, security and sovereignty of
the country.
Investigations revealed that another accused in the
case, Maaz Muneer, had radicalised and recruited Rahman while accused Syed
Yasin radicalised and recruited Nadeem KA for furthering the terror activities
of Islamic State in India.
The accused recced and attempted/committed acts of
sabotage/arson as part of a larger conspiracy to further the activities of
Islamic State. Four other accused have been arrested in the case earlier.
Source: News18
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Day after Bajrang Dal worker attacked, Shivamogga cops
say he stalked, harassed Muslim girl
January 11, 2023
A day after Bajrang Dal worker Sunil was allegedly
attacked with a machete in Karnataka’s Shivamogga district, the police said on
Tuesday that their investigation had revealed that he was stalking and
harassing a Muslim girl and it was one of her brothers who had attacked him.
The police arrested three men, Sameer, Imiyaan and Mansoor, on Tuesday.
The police probe revealed that Sunil had been stalking
and pestering Sameer’s sister for more than three months, Shivamogga
Superintendent of Police Mithun Kumar said. Sunil used to pester her to share
her mobile number and she had informed her family members. Sameer had allegedly
warned Sunil to stay away but he still continued to harass her, Kumar added.
“Sameer should have approached the police but he took the law into his hands
and attacked Sunil,” he said.
Sunil, 28, a resident of Sagara town in Shivamogga
district, was attacked on Monday but he escaped unhurt. Following the incident,
terming it a communal attack, Bajrang Dal and Hindu activists called for a bandh
in Sagar town. Shops were closed and a protest march was taken out.
As tension escalated in the communally-sensitive
district, the police deployed additional force.
Source: Indian Express
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Supreme Court to hear plea over Allahabad HC’s 2017
direction to evict mosque on its premises on February 9
January 12, 2023
The Supreme Court will hear on February 9 a plea arising
from the Allahabad High Court’s 2017 direction to evict a mosque located on its
premises. Hearing an appeal by the mosque management, the apex court had in
December 2018 directed status quo in the matter.
Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud told a counsel
who mentioned it that he recalls having asked the district collector to find a
solution. “I remember…I was on the bench,” the CJI said while fixing the date
for hearing it.
Acting on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), the high
court had on November 8, 2017, said, “The Waqf, shall hand over vacant and
peaceful possession of the site in dispute to respondent no 1 — the High Court
— within a period of three months…” from the date of the judgment.
The high court order made a note of the “acute crunch
of space” it was facing.
Referring to the need to complete the construction of
the high court’s administrative annexe without further delay, it said,
“Recently, 19 additional Judges have been sworn in, but because of shortage of
space, as many as 12 of them are sharing six chambers. The High Court could not
arrange and allot them separate chambers. On one or two occasions, when the
Division Benches, on Friday, had to split and judges were required to sit
singly, one judge had to sit in chamber and conduct hearing of the matters
assigned to him.”
Hearing it again in February 2018, a Supreme Court
bench, comprising the then Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justice A M
Khanwilkar and then justice D Y Chandrachud, called for an amicable solution
and asked the parties to discuss among themselves to arrive at a settlement, if
possible.
Justice Chandrachud had said then that there were
several tracts of land beside the high court and some part of this could be
considered for relocating the mosque. Then CJI Misra, too, seemed to favour a
relocation.
Source: Indian Express
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North America
Weapons Supplied To Saudis By US, UK Killed Hundreds
Of Yemenis: Report
11 January 2023
Weapons supplied by the United Kingdom and the United
States to the Saudi-led coalition in war-torn Yemen killed at least 839
civilians and wounded 1,775 others in just over a year, a new report said
Wednesday.
The report by the Oxfam charity revealed that the
Saudi-led coalition used weapons supplied solely by the UK and the US in
hundreds of attacks targeting civilians in the Arab country between January
2021 and the end of February 2022.
The 43-page report authored by Martin Butcher, Oxfam’s
policy advisor on arms and conflict, stated that an analysis of attacks showed
the Saudi-led forces used Western-supplied weapons in hundreds of
"relentless" attacks against civilian targets in Yemen during this
14-month period.
Of all the attacks by the Saudi-led coalition during
the 14-month period, airstrikes alone killed at least 87 civilians and wounded
136, according to the report.
The coalition attacks, 19 of which targeted medical
institutions and ambulances, during this period included airstrikes by jet
fighters as well as artillery, missile and drone attacks, in addition to
casualties from land mines, road bombs and light arms.
“It’s just so relentless,” Butcher said. “People just
find it so hard to escape the violence and the killing.”
The report also found that in the attacks the
coalition used western-made cluster munitions, “weapons banned by international
convention and customary law.”
Butcher called on Western governments, namely the US
and the UK, to “immediately cease arms sales to Saudi Arabia for use in Yemen,”
and to promote a permanent cease-fire and negotiations for a long-term
settlement through its position as a member of the UN Security Council.
“They’ve (the governments) really been not only arming
Saudi Arabia but also very reluctant to use their position in the Security
Council to push for peace,” he said.
The United States and Britain are the main suppliers
of weapons to Saudi Arabia, selling tens of billions of dollars of arms to the
leaders in Riyadh.
The oil-rich Western ally has historically played an
outsized role in foreign military sales for the US and Britain.
For decades, Saudi leaders have been the lead
importers of US-made and UK-manufactured weapons.
Riyadh purchased a huge chunk of all the weapons sold
by the two countries between 2017 and 2021, according to peace groups
monitoring international arms deals.
Saudi Arabia, in collaboration with its Arab allies
and with arms and logistics support from the US and other Western states,
launched the devastating war on Yemen in March 2015.
The objective was to crush the Ansarullah resistance
movement, which has been running state affairs in the absence of a functional
government in Yemen, and reinstall the Riyadh-friendly unpopular regime of Abd
Rabbuh Mansour Hadi.
While the Saudi-led coalition has failed to achieve
any of its objectives, the war has killed hundreds of thousands of Yemenis and
spawned the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
Last week, a Yemeni rights group reported that more
than 3,000 civilians, including women and children, have been killed or injured
in the airstrikes launched by the Saudi-led coalition against Yemen in the year
2022.
Source: Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text of
the original story:
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/01/11/696147/US-UK-Arms-Deals-Saudi-Arabia-Yemen
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Southeast Asia
Umno deputy chief calls for new Malay agenda after
GE15 drubbing
Ram Anand
KUALA LUMPUR - Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan on
Wednesday urged Malaysia’s longest ruling party to review its Malay-centric
agenda, as delegates assembled for the party’s first meeting since its poor
showing in the 15th general election in November 2022.
Datuk Seri Mohamad, who is Defence Minister in the
current government led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, said the grand old
party has to change its approach towards the Malay electorate and also its way
of opposing other parties’ ideologies, as he attempted to rationalise Umno’s
working relationship with its new government partner Democratic Action Party
(DAP), which Umno had demonised for decades.
“The factor that motivates Malays to support or reject
us is not our stand regarding DAP,” Mr Mohamad said, pointing out that Umno’s
support has been on the decline for the past four elections even though the
party had consistently criticised the Chinese-dominated DAP.
Umno won only 26 seats in the last election, but
joined its long-time rival Pakatan Harapan (PH) to form a government after the
polls resulted in a hung Parliament. For years, Umno’s assemblies had echoed
the chant of “no Anwar, no DAP”, referring to Datuk Seri Anwar, PH chief and
now Premier.
Mr Mohamad reiterated that Umno has not formally
joined PH but said that working with PH, instead of former partner Perikatan
Nasional (PN), was more palatable to Umno’s own positioning among the Malay
electorate and also due to its current government partners not “pretending”
with it.
He said that working with PH enables Umno to become
the strongest political representative for Malays within the government,
instead of being drowned out as the third-largest Malay party were it to be in
a government with PN, led by former premier Muhyiddin Yassin.
Both PN and PH – the two biggest blocs – had raced to
secure Umno’s backing to enable them to form a government after the November
polls. PN is mainly comprised of Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) and Parti Pribumi
Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), both Malay-Muslim parties that defeated Umno in
many of its strongholds.
Mr Mohamad said that PN’s mission was to “bury” Umno,
and being partners with the predominantly Malay-Muslim coalition would further
diminish its share of political capital in the country.
Umno, along with the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition
that it leads, had been the ruling party of Malaysia for 61 years until its
2018 election defeat to PH – which then had counted Bersatu as one of its
members.
But it had been in the opposition for only a brief 22
months. It returned to power by joining hands with a newly formed PN after
Bersatu’s mass defection forced the collapse of the PH government mid-term in
2020, before opting to contest independently as BN in the last election, where
it won only 30 seats – the poorest performance in its history.
The Umno grassroots’ acceptance of the party decision
to back PH will likely be tested further over the next few days as thousands of
delegates meet for the first time since the general election at the party
headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, with much of the focus being on party president
Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who was one of the chief engineers of the cooperation with
PH.
Source: Straits Times
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Mais won’t exhume ex-teacher’s remains pending widow’s
appeal
January 11, 2023
PETALING JAYA: The Selangor Islamic Religious Council
(Mais) will refrain from exhuming the remains of a former secondary school
teacher who is believed to have converted to Islam pending his widow and
children exhausting their right of appeal.
Mais’ lawyer, Arham Rahimy Hariri, said his client
would honour the due legal process by allowing M Rajeswary and her two underage
daughters to take their appeal all the way to the Federal Court, if necessary.
“The council will not enforce the Shariah High Court
order (handed down on May 21, 2020) although a civil High Court dismissed her
judicial review application two months ago,” the lawyer told FMT.
Meanwhile, lawyer A Surendra Ananth, who represents
the trio, said his clients had withdrawn an application to stay the High Court
order on the faith of the council’s undertaking which was given last month.
Rajeswary and her daughters are asking the Court of
Appeal to reverse a High Court ruling which declined their application to
determine the religious status of B Raguram who died three years ago.
The appeal has been fixed for case management on Feb
13.
On Nov 10, Justice Shahnaz Sulaiman ruled that the
civil court had no jurisdiction to hear and determine whether Raguram died a
Muslim.
She said that determination fell exclusively within
the domain of the Selangor shariah court.
Shahnaz added that a statutory declaration which
Raguram affirmed on March 2, 2015, showed that he had converted to Islam.
Dismissing the judicial review application, the judge
said the only issue before her was whether Raguram was still a Muslim when he
passed away on March 14, 2020.
The suit, filed in September 2020, had named Mais, the
Shariah High Court and the Selangor government as respondents.
They sought a declaration that Raguram professed the
Hindu religion when he died and the shariah court had no jurisdiction to
determine his religious status.
They also sought an order prohibiting the Shariah High
Court from giving the religious council the authority to exhume Raguram’s
remains.
Source: Free Malaysia Today
Please click the following URL to read the full text
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South Asia
Pakistan, Afghanistan Suffering From Militancy and
Terrorism
By Nizamuddin Rezahi
January 12, 2023
The unprecedented rise in terror activities by
militant groups has caused great concerns for the civil and military
authorities of both countries in the recent past.
Pakistan has experienced a major rise in militancy since
the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) broke its peace treaty with the
Pakistani government in November. According to Jang Media, the attacks have
claimed the lives of 415 military personnel and civilians thus far.
Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies (PIPS) has
announced that TTP and other terror groups based in border areas between
Pakistan and Afghanistan have launched 262 attacks over the past year, causing
the death of 419 people and injuring 734 others.
The close relations the Pakistani government had with
the Afghan Taliban for years have soured as the notion of good and bad Taliban
has been proved wrong. The TTP and their ideological twin in Afghanistan seem
to be taunting the Pakistani government. The TTP demands that the status of
Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), a semi-autonomous tribal region in
north-western Pakistan be resolved and the fence built on the Afghan border be
removed, according to American media.
The Pakistani government has repeatedly accused the
Afghan Taliban of giving sanctuaries to TTP and other militant groups on Afghan
soil, threatening the security of Pakistan. Whereas the de facto authorities of
Afghanistan reject Pakistan’s claims and describe them as baseless allegations
that may tarnish the relations between the two neighboring countries.
Similarly, Afghanistan is choked up by growing
militancy in the recent past. The optimism the general public had with the
Taliban’s return to power in August 2021 has long faded. Suicide bombings,
targeted attacks, and gun fires have caused the death of hundreds of ordinary
people and security personnel. Islamic State (IS) militants have been behind
the recent terror activities across the country.
IS militants, the National Resistance Front (NRF), and
other groups strictly oppose the ideology and self-centered policy of the
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and try to expand their operations on different
fronts. NRF, for instance, aims at draining the enemy, gaining more territory,
and accumulating resources while launching guerrilla attacks on Taliban forces
in Andarab and Panjshir province.
The IS militants focus their operations in major
cities, targeting Taliban officials, security personnel as well as innocent
civilians. The worsening security situation in Afghanistan is a major challenge
for the country’s ruling regime, having no internal legitimacy or external
recognition.
Source: Khaama Press
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/pakistan-afghanistan-suffering-from-militancy-and-terrorism/
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Taliban wants to send envoy to Delhi, boost ties
between India, Afghanistan
January 12, 2023
New Delhi: In an effort to improve its international
credibility, the Taliban government of Afghanistan is trying to persuade India
to allow it to post a diplomatic representative in New Delhi.
According to a report by The Print, the proposed
candidates to become the envoy to India for Afghanistan’s current rulers
include controvertial Taliban leader Abdul Qahar Balkhi, who is alleged to have
issued death threats against journalists.
India has reopened its diplomatic mission in Kabul,
but is yet to recognise the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has declined to
comment on the issue even as India tries to navigate the complex diplomatic
challenge posed by the Afghan Taliban.
The Print quoted officials as saying that the Afghan
Taliban first came up with the proposal to send a diplomatic representive to
India in July 2022, when a delegation from the MEA had visited Kabul.
Since then, India has posted three diplomats in Kabul.
The current Indian delegation in Kabul also includes an estimated 80 soldiers
from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).
India is reportedly mulling over the feasibility of
reopening its consulate in Kandahar, which was shut down when the Afghan
Taliban captured Kabul following the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Source: Firstpost
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Bangladesh rallies press for Hasina’s resignation
January 12, 2023
DHAKA: Huge crowds swarmed the streets of Bangladeshi
cities on Wednesday to demand Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s resignation and
fresh elections, with public anger mounting over rising food and fuel costs.
Opposition allies staged rallies in Dhaka and nine
other cities — the latest of several demonstrations in recent months that have
occasionally been quelled by violence.
Bangladesh is one of the fastest-growing economies in
Asia, but rising global food and fuel costs linked to the war in Ukraine forced
Hasina’s government last year to impose lengthy power cuts and expand food
handouts to the poor.
Several people were injured in the central city of
Faridpur when supporters of the ruling Awami League attacked protesters while
brandishing sticks and hurling Molotov cocktails.
“The time to cling to power by force is over,” senior
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Mirza Abbas said at a sit-in outside
party headquarters in the capital.
“Let a neutral government hold an election.” Police
estimated up to 50,000 people were present in the crowd addressed by Abbas, who
was released from prison on Monday a month after a sweeping crackdown on
opposition activists.
BNP officials said hundreds of thousands had turned up
in Dhaka alone, with thousands more joining sister rallies around the country.
“Living costs have always been a headache,” university
student Abu Nayem said.
“The government might not have a problem with this,
but people like me are dying. I came to protest this careless apathy.” The
Bangladeshi taka has depreciated by up to 25 per cent, driving up the cost of
food imports and making life harder for the country’s poorest citizens.
Police said at least four people were wounded in the
Faridpur clashes.
“We fired rubber bullets to bring the situation under
control,” a senior city police officer said.
Shama Obaed, a BNP leader at the Faridpur rally, said
that at least 100 people were wounded and more than 30 had been detained. The
Awami League held a much smaller counter-protest in Dhaka to support Hasina,
who has rejected calls for her departure.
“Extremists are gathering in one place to topple us
from power,” she told supporters at a small gathering on Tuesday.
“Don’t think that the party will fall down if it is
shaken. Things are not that easy.” Western governments and the United Nations
have expressed concerns over the political climate in Bangladesh, where
Hasina’s party dominates the legislature and runs it virtually as a rubber
stamp.
Two-time premier Khaleda Zia, the BNP chairperson and
Hasina’s long-term rival for power, is effectively under house arrest after a
conviction on graft charges.
Washington levelled sanctions against top security
officers in December 2021 over their roles in hundreds of enforced
disappearances and thousands of extrajudicial killings.
Source: Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1731231/bangladesh-rallies-press-for-hasinas-resignation
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Complications over funeral as ‘Muslim convert’ Hindu
student dies after being hit by train in Dhaka
12 Jan 2023
Complications have arisen over the last rites of a ‘Muslim
convert’ Hindu student who died after being hit by a train in Dhaka.
Police have identified the student as 20-year old
Abdullah Syeed, born Jewel Sheel, from Chakaria in Cox’s Bazar.
He studied at Government Science College and was
awaiting the results of Higher Secondary Certificate exams. The student lived
in a hostel at Tejgaon.
He was crossing the tracks near Tejgaon Railway
Station when one of two passing trains hit him just before noon on Wednesday.
He was rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where
doctors declared him dead, said Tejgaon Police Station chief Apurba Hasan.
His name was mentioned as Jewel Sheel in the public
exam records, but he took the name Abdullah Sayeed after converting to Islam in
2022 by using an affidavit, Apurba said, citing the student’s classmates.
Sub-Inspector Kamrul Islam of Kamalapur Railway Police
Station said the family initially said they would come to take the body, but
later they refused to take it.
Police did not hand over the body to his Muslim
classmates, who wanted to give him an Islamic funeral and burial. The body was
kept at the DMCH mortuary.
Kamrul said they were waiting for their high-ups’
decision on whether the body will be cremated or buried.
In another accident in the capital, an elderly woman died
after being run over by a bus near the Bata Signal intersection on New Elephant
Road in the afternoon.
The 60-year-old victim, Rokeya Begum, used to take
care of an old lady in a house in the New Market area, said one of her
relatives.
The relative, Alauddin, who gave a single name, said
Rokeya often visited her daughter who lives in the Konapara Dogair area of
Demra.
She was taken to the DMCH but doctors declared her
dead.
Source: BD News24
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/iqo4p0sstl
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Turkey to Extradite 5000 Illegal Afghan Migrants
By Nizamuddin Rezahi
January 11, 2023
The General Directorate of Migration of Turkey
announced on Tuesday that it will deport 5000 more illegal Afghan migrants in
the coming days. Turkey has been accused of violating immigration laws by
mistreating and extraditing refugees.
Anatoly New Agency reports that Turkey’s General
Directorate of Migration has expelled 477 Afghan refugees in the first five
days of 2023, and this trend will continue.
According to reports Turkey government has detained
some 2000 undocumented migrants from January 1-5, out of which 1000 have
already been deported to their countries, respectively. The country’s migration
department stated that 5000 more Afghan refugees will be extradited in the
coming days.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) has accused some countries including Turkey, Pakistan, Iran, and
Tajikistan of violating international human rights laws, and asked them to end
the mistreatment of migrants and their arbitrary deportation.
Turkey has expelled more than 120,000 refugees in 2022
alone, a huge number for a country to host with more coming from the
war-ravaged and conflicted hit regions, hoping to reach Europe.
Following the return of the Taliban to power in August
2021, thousands of Afghans fled the country fearing physical harassment,
persecution, and killing at the hands of the Taliban to the neighboring
counties. Most people took the rather risky and illegal pathways to enter
countries including Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey. After spending months of
uncertainty they now face the fear of forceful deportation and imprisonment.
Source: Khaama Press
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of the original story:
https://www.khaama.com/turkey-to-extradite-5000-illegal-afghan-migrants/
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Mideast
Israel’s
Knesset passes bill to withdraw nationality from Palestinian detainees
Abdel
Raouf Arnaout, Qais Abu Samra
11.01.2023
JERUSALEM
The
Knesset (Israel’s parliament) on Wednesday approved in a preliminary reading a
bill to withdraw citizenship from Palestinian prisoners who received financial
aid from the Palestinian Authority.
The
bill was passed by 71-9 votes in the 120-seat Knesset, according to the
assembly’s website.
It
will now be forwarded to the Knesset Committee to decide when to put it up for
a first-reading vote.
Under
Israeli law, the draft law must pass a preliminary reading, followed by three
readings before it becomes law.
“A
prisoner convicted of carrying out operations and sentenced to imprisonment
will be deemed to have renounced their nationality or permanent residence
permit, as the case may be, if it is proven to the Minister of Interior that
they received funds from the Palestinian Authority,” the draft says.
The
Palestinian Foreign Ministry quickly condemned the Israeli bill as a “flagrant
violation of international law.”
“The
law is a reflection of the program of [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu's
extreme right-wing government, which does not recognize the existence of the
Palestinian people and their legitimate national rights,” the ministry said in
a statement.
The
ministry called on the international community and the US administration “to
stop the Israeli government from implementing racist legislation."
Source: Anadolu Agency
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Israeli
army makes plans to resettle 1,000 Palestinians without government’s knowledge
MOHAMMED
NAJIB
January
11, 2023
RAMALLAH:
Officials from the Israeli armed forces have been making plans to forcibly move
about 1,000 Palestinians from villages in Masafer Yatta, near southern Hebron
in the southern West Bank, without the Israeli government’s knowledge,
according to Israeli sources.
The
army’s Central District Command began preparations in November to displace the
residents so that the military can conduct regular training exercises in the
area, the sources said.
The
plan was said to have been presented to the government for the first time only
last week, after the new administration took over, and the displacement of
residents is due to take place this year. The sources said decision was
communicated by officials from the Israeli Civil Administration, which oversees
civilian affairs in the Occupied Territories, to the Palestinian Authority
during a meeting last week in the West Bank.
The
forced displacement of civilians from, or within, the Palestinian Territories
is prohibited under international humanitarian law.
Representatives
of the Palestinian Authority have told people in Masafer Yatta that the Civil
Administration officials informed them of plans to displace residents from 12
villages, an increase over the eight that were included in the most recent,
failed, petition on the issue submitted by the residents to the Supreme Court.
Officials from the Israeli armed forces propose that the residents of the
villages be moved to two new sites in the region and can choose the location of
one of them.
Israeli
security and political sources reportedly have expressed concern about the
behavior of military officials in the case, warning that it is a “warning
signal” about future plans affecting Palestinians and the ability of the army
to stand up to politicians, the far right and the settlers who “pressure senior
officers and expect them to make decisions that are consistent with their ideas
according to political and non-professional considerations.”
Nidal
Younis, head of the Masafer Yatta Villages Council, told Arab News that attacks
on Palestinians by the Israeli army, police and settlers have increased
dramatically since a ruling by the Israeli Supreme Court in May to displace
eight communities, restrict the movement of residents of other villages,
prevent non-residents from entering certain villages, and confiscate
agricultural machinery and vehicles. Meanwhile settlers have attacked residents
of Masafer Yatta, their livestock pastures, and prevented them from plowing
their land and cultivating crops used to feed their livestock.
“The
goal of escalating attacks against us is to make our lives difficult and
impossible, and thus push us and force us to leave our villages and leave our
land for them to control,” said Younis.
The
villages in Masafer Yatta occupy an area of about 13.5 square miles and include
five schools and five medical centers. About 1,150 Palestinians from 215
households live there, including 569 children.
The
residents depend on humanitarian aid due to the restrictive and discriminatory
planning regime they face. Israeli authorities have issued demolition or “stop
work” orders against most of the homes, animal shelters, and community
infrastructure in the villages on the grounds that they were constructed
without the required building permits, which are almost impossible for
Palestinians to obtain. This has impeded the development of adequate housing,
infrastructure and livelihoods.
In
addition to the threat of their homes being demolished, the communities also
face violence from settlers at a nearby outpost who have blocked roads in the
area, attacked farmers, and set haystacks and grazing areas on fire. This has
undermined the physical security of villagers, negatively affected their mental
and psycho-social health, lowered their standard of living, and increased their
dependence on humanitarian aid.
The
rearing of livestock provides the community’s primary source of income but
access to grazing land has been reduced by military and settlement activity.
Younis
Arar, head of the International Relations Unit at the Settlement and Wall
Resistance Commission, told Arab News that there is growing concern for the
remaining villagers given that Israeli authorities removed eight of the 12
communities from the villages of Masafer Yatta following the Supreme Court
decision last year — and especially since the new far-right Israeli government
came to power in late December.
Arar
said there has been an increase in demolitions of buildings and the destruction
of land in Masafer Yatta carried out by Israeli authorities in the past two
weeks, and that Palestinians are planning protests in an attempt to resist the
forced displacement of residents.
Palestinian
officials have expressed disappointment in the efforts of the international
community to prevent Israeli authorities from implementing their forced
resettlement plans, in particular the weakness of statements issued by the EU
and the UN, which did not go beyond expressing concern and did not include any
steps to attempt to force Israeli authorities to back down.
Humanitarian
organizations and donors have been providing assistance to help meet the needs
of the remaining communities in Masafer Yatta, including water and electricity,
and prevent forced displacement. However, Israeli authorities are reportedly
impeding such efforts by issuing demolition or “stop work” orders, confiscating
vehicles and equipment, restricting access to land, and preventing humanitarian
workers from entering the area.
Source:
Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2230856/middle-east
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IRGC
Chief Reminds France of Salman Rushdie’s Fate
2023-January-11
Maj.
Gen. Salami made the remarks in reaction to recently published cartoons by the
Charlie Hebdo which insulted the Iranian and Muslim values.
"Despaired
and disappointed of their recent plots, the enemies are seeking to disturb the
peace of mind of the Muslims by insulting their sanctities," the top
commander said.
He
advised the insulters not to “play with the Muslims”, noting that Salman Rushdi
was punished more than thirty years after he insulted the Holy Quran and the
Prophet of Islam.
"This
is a lesson for those to know that no one can dare to insult the Islamic
sanctities nowhere in the world," the military official added.
On
Wednesday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned the French Ambassador in Tehran
Nicolas Roche to protest the insulting act by the French publication.
“The
Islamic Republic of Iran brooks by no means any insults to its sanctities, and
Islamic, religious, and national values,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser
Kana’ani told the French envoy in the meeting.
“France
has no right to justify insults to other countries’ and Muslim nations’
sanctities under the pretext of freedom of expression,” he noted, voicing
Tehran’s “strong protest” to Paris.
On
Thursday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry lashed out at the French government for
keeping mum on sacrilege of religious values and spiritual beliefs by Charlie
Hebdo, and declared that Tehran will shut down the French Institute for
Research in Iran as the first step in response to insulting cartoons published
by the Paris-based magazine.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14011021000213/IRGC-Chief-Reminds-France-f-Salman-Rshdi's-Fae
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Iran
Summons Iraqi Envoy to Protest Distortion of Persian Gulf's Name
2023-January-11
“We
summoned the Iraqi ambassador to the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs after
the Iraqi authorities used a fake name for the Persian Gulf,” Amir Abdollahian
stated.
“We
conveyed to the Iraqi side the sensitivity the great Iranian nation has about
the (need to) use of the accurate and complete designation of the Persian
Gulf,” he added.
The
top diplomat noted that Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani had
corrected the wrong way of labelling Persian Gulf in a recent post he posted on
social media.
“Despite
having strategic, fraternal, and deep relations with Iraq, we have openly
conveyed our protest with regards to the issue,” the minister continued.
On
Monday, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kana’ani noted that Tehran has
expressed its objection to Baghdad over using the fake misnomer of “Arabian
Gulf” to refer to the Persian Gulf.
The
Iraqi city of Basra is hosting the return matches of a local competition, and
Iraq set up billboards to welcome the foreign teams to the “25th Arabian Gulf
Cup".
Using
the fake label for the Persian Gulf is seen in Iran as a futile attempt by the
Arab neighbors to distort the region’s ancient history.
Source:
Fars News Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/14011021000391/Iran-Smmns-Irai-Envy-Pres-Disrin-f-Persian-Glf's-Name
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At
least 30 Iran journalists still detained over protests: Association
11
January ,2023
At
least 30 Iranian journalists are still imprisoned in connection with protests
linked to the death of Mahsa Amini, the Tehran journalists’ association said on
Wednesday.
Iran
has been gripped by nearly four months of demonstrations triggered by the
September 16 death in custody of Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, following
her arrest by morality police for allegedly violating Iran’s dress code for
women.
“Around
70 journalists” have been detained since mid-September, the association said in
a statement.
Some
have been released on bail while “30 journalists taken in for questioning are
still detained”, it added on its Telegram messaging app channel where it
published a list of those currently jailed.
Among
those on the list are the two Iranian journalists Niloufar Hamedi and Elaheh
Mohammadi who helped expose the case of Amini.
“Since
the start of the protests, a large number of journalists have also been
summoned” by the authorities, the organization added, without elaborating.
The
latest to be sentenced was sports journalist Ehsan Pirbornash, reformist
newspaper Hammihan reported on Wednesday.
It
did not identify the charges against him but said he must serve 10 years in
prison out of an 18-year sentence.
In
late October, more than 300 Iranian journalists and photojournalists signed a
statement to criticize the authorities for “arresting colleagues and stripping
them of their civil rights after their detentions”, local media said at the
time.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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Israeli
President Herzog invites Turkey’s Erdogan to visit, receives envoy
11
January ,2023
Israeli
President Isaac Herzog on Wednesday invited his Turkish counterpart President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan to visit the country as he received Ankara’s new
ambassador in another token of the countries’ recently warming ties.
Last
year, Herzog, whose role is largely ceremonial, was the first Israeli leader to
visit Turkey since 2008, after the two countries began restoring relations and
ending a more than a decade-old diplomatic rift.
They
agreed to mutually appoint ambassadors in August and, after Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won an election in November, he and Erdogan agreed
to keep improving ties.
“I
am sure we will all work to strengthen the countries’ relations,” Herzog said.
Netanyahu’s
return to power at the head of a nationalist-religious government in December
has rattled Palestinians and Western and Arab allies who fear it could heighten
tensions in the Middle East.
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
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Yemeni
YouTubers tried by Iran-backed Houthis for inciting ‘chaos’
11
January ,2023
Three
Yemeni YouTubers stood trial in a Houthi court on Wednesday charged with
spreading misinformation and inciting “chaos,” according to court documents
seen by AFP.
The
three, including Mustafa al-Mawmari who has more than two million followers,
were detained in Sanaa in December after they published videos critical of the
Iran-backed Houthi militia.
Ahmad
Hajar, who has more than 243,000 subscribers, and Ahmad Elaw with 800,000 also
appeared before the court.
They
were charged with “spreading misinformation” and “harming public interest,” as
well as “inciting the masses to commit acts of chaos,” according to the court
documents.
It
was not clear when a verdict would be issued.
The
Houthis are increasingly limiting individual liberties, including free speech
and the movement of women in areas they control.
The
YouTubers’ influence was seen as “serving the aggression... against Yemen” by
the Arab Coalition backing the Yemeni government, the court documents said.
Hajar,
43, was the first to be captured after he accused the Houthis of “robbing the
Yemeni people,” in a video watched by half a million viewers.
One
of Hajar’s relatives confirmed his arrest to AFP and said that “he was
kidnapped from the street on December 22.”
Source:
Al Arabiya
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
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Arab World
World’s
Great Science Minds Inspire Saudi Students At “Eyes On The Future” Event
Nada
Alturki
January
11, 2023
RIYADH:
Eminent scientists from around the world met Saudi scientists of the future on
Wednesday and shared with the students details of their journeys and
experiences within the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields,
as part of Mawhiba’s “Eyes on the Future” initiative.
The
experts included Swiss astronomer and Nobel Prize winner Didier Queloz,
Colombian structural biologist Edna Matta-Camacho, and Fadji Zaouna Maina from
Nigeria, an earth scientist at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. They are
the members of the jury that will select the recipients of the inaugural UNESCO
Al-Fozan International Prize for the Promotion of Young Scientists, along with
Adah Almutairi, a Saudi-American professor at the University of California who
was unable to attend the event.
“At
Mawhiba we continuously aspire to enable talent and innovation, as they are the
pillars to flourishing young minds,” said Nazeeh Alothmany, the organization’s
deputy secretary general of corporate relations and business development, in
his opening remarks.
“Through
these initiatives, we work with our partners in all local and international
sectors to provide an environment that promotes a passion for science and
knowledge to the Kingdom’s youth.
“Our
meeting today is a golden opportunity to platform global and international
experiences from scientists, some of whom have received Nobel prizes and other
internationally recognized awards, including the renowned Saudi scientist Adah
Almutairi.”
As
the STEM fields continue to evolve in an ever-changing world, Saudi authorities
say they are investing billions in technology as a key element in the
transformation of the country under the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 blueprint for
development and diversification. Events such as the one on Wednesday are
therefore seen as an important part of this as they encourage the international
exchange of knowledge and experiences.
The
event was moderated by leading and emerging Saudi scientists, including:
Abdulrahman Alfozan, a former senior systems engineer at Facebook and founding
engineer of delivery service Nash; Moath Abu Aisha, a researcher and expert in
the use of 3D printing in healthcare; and Fatimah Al-Ali, a petroleum engineer
at Saudi Aramco with experience in data analytics, reservoir engineering and
operations management.
Ghanima
Abuhaimed, a doctoral student and researcher, said in a speech on behalf of the
Saudi scientists of the future at the event: “The future is full of uncertainty
… But being here today in a room full of leaders, future-shapers, minds who are
constantly asking questions, I am hopeful.
“We
can do it because we are not only aware of the complexities of the problems
around us but we are lucky to have the opportunities to come up with creative
and practical solutions to these problems.”
During
the day’s sessions, the expert guests and industry leaders discussed common
challenges they face, ways to overcome them, how to maintain a balanced
approach, and their thoughts on the future.
One
discussion focused on ethnic disparities and disadvantages based on race within
STEM sectors, along with the problems that can arise as a result of language
barriers as the field becomes more global in nature.
Matta-Camacho
and Maina talked about some of the difficulties they have faced as women of
color in science, navigating industries traditionally dominated by white males.
“A
challenge is that you might not look like other people but that’s who you are,”
said Maina. “That’s your power today … Scientists are curious; we want to
understand the universe and the world today, and you have your own structure
and background, so just bring that to the table.”
Matta-Camacho,
who is from Colombian but moved to Canada to pursue the greater opportunities
available to her there, is the co-founder of Immigrant and International Women
in Science, an organization dedicated to building a community of women working
in science fields in Canada, in which they can share their experiences and help
each other overcome language barriers, navigate the system, find work
opportunities, and much more.
“When
I was growing up (in Colombia), we didn’t have so much recognition regarding
what career to study … I think it’s really important to focus on education from
an early age and I think that what you’re doing here is fantastic, to nurture
people’s education and potential in different STEM fields,” said Matta-Camacho.
The
work of a scientist never ends, Queloz said. Even after winning his Nobel Prize
for Physics in 2019, he said he felt no great sense of accomplishment but
rather an aching need to continue to discover.
“I
feel like I’m not completely done,” he said. “I know I have the greatest award
you can imagine but I still feel like a student.
“Science
is our emotional connection to the world. This is what pushes us to do what we
do and it’s not the easiest path in life trying to find out the mystery of the
world … but if you have a little bit of success in what you’re trying to
explore, it gives you some joy.”
Source: Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2230796/saudi-arabia
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Abu
Dhabi uses drones to plant one million mangrove seeds as part of climate pledge
12
January ,2023
Abu
Dhabi’s Environment Agency (EAD) has used drones to plant one million mangrove
seeds across the emirate.
The
mangroves – planted at different locations across the Al Dhafra region - is
part of the first phase of a drone mangrove plantation project supporting the
Abu Dhabi Mangrove Initiative, state news agency WAM reported Thursday.
The
process involves using drones to scan the topography of the area to create a 3D
map. Then the most efficient planting pattern for that area is calculated using
algorithms. Drones are then loaded with germinated seeds and dropped from the
sky.
The
process is faster and cheaper than hand-planting as it removes the need for
intense labour and sapling transportation. It is also cost-effective as it
reduces the overall price of mangrove planting, eliminates the need for
mangrove nurseries and associated costs, and facilitates reaching remote and
difficult areas.
The
Abu Dhabi Mangrove Initiative was first announced in February 2021 during
Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge’s visit to the UAE, where he met with
Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed, Member of Abu Dhabi Executive Council and
Chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Office, at Jubail Mangrove Park.
The
initiative supports Abu Dhabi’s plans to establish the emirate as a global hub
for research and innovation in support of the conservation of mangroves and
focuses on the importance of mangroves for carbon sequestration to combat
climate change.
It
also aids the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment’s target,
announced during COP26 in Glasgow in 2021, which unveiled a nationwide plan to
plant 100 million mangroves by 2030.
Dr
Shaikha Salem al-Dhaheri, Secretary-General of EAD, said that the UAE began
mangrove plantation in the 1970s under the guidance of the late Sheikh Zayed
bin Sultan Al Nahyan, founder of the UAE, and also known as the country’s first
environmentalist.
He
commenced mangrove plantation along the coasts of the islands and mainland of
the emirate of Abu Dhabi. The Eastern Mangrove plantation was the inception of
the first mangrove plantation programme in Abu Dhabi.
She
said: “Even though the world’s mangroves are declining due to natural and human
challenges they are facing, Abu Dhabi has a different story to tell as the
plantation of mangroves has continued in the UAE at large and in Abu Dhabi in
particular, in a slow but steady manner.”
Source:
Al Arabiya
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Our
Message Aims At Reflecting True Image Of Islam, Entrenching Values Of
Co-Existence, Love: Al Azhar Official To A Delegation Of Students
January
11, 2023
Al
Azhar Grand Imam’s Deputy Dr. Mohamed al-Duwini said the message of Al Azhar is
universal as it aims at reflecting the true image of Islam, spreading the
Sunnah of Prophet Muhammed and entrenching the values of peaceful co-existence,
dialogue and love among humanity, regardless of any difference in gender or
creed.
During
a meeting on Tuesday with a delegation of students from George Washington
University and the American University in Cairo (AUC), to help them get
acquainted with Al Azhar’s activities in the academic, cultural and Dawa
fields, Al Azhar official said, the world’s most outstanding seat of Sunni
Muslim learning seeks to deliver its message through some 11,000 institutes
nationwide, in addition to 90 faculties and 27 specialized research centers
covering a wide range of disciplines from jurisprudence, to humanities and
applied sciences.
Duwini
sheds light on the role of Al Azhar Fatwa Global Center’s electronic website in
answering all fatwa inquires, in a bid to disseminate moderate thought and shun
away extremism.
Source:
Egypt Independent
Please click the following URL to read the full text
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Saudi
Fund for Development official reviews cooperation with UN delegation
January
11, 2023
RIYADH:
Dr. Abdullah Al-Sakran, the executive director of the Strategy Sector at the
Saudi Fund for Development, met with a delegation from the UN Industrial Development
Organization in Riyadh, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Wednesday.
During
the meeting, the two sides reviewed the SFD’s work in developing countries over
the previous 48 years. They discussed the SFD’s close collaboration with UN
programs, funds and offices, as well as the prospects for development
cooperation with UNIDO.
Source: Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2230671/saudi-arabia
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Saudi
Arabia renews support for Palestine after Israel storms Al-Aqsa: OIC envoy
January
12, 2023
JEDDAH:
Saudi Arabia on Wednesday affirmed that the Kingdom’s support for the
Palestinian people stems from its deep belief in the importance of the
Palestinian cause, the permanent representative to the Organization of Islamic
Cooperation said.
Dr.
Saleh Al-Suhaibani said that the cause represented “the main pillar of the
OIC’s work, an important axis of its interests, and a sense of duty dictated by
its firm belief, conscience, and affiliation to its Arab and Islamic nation,”
the Saudi Press Agency reported.
He
reiterated the Kingdom’s call for the need to “intensify international efforts
to end the conflict, enhance the stability of the entire region, and the
Palestinian people who, unfortunately, still suffer from obtaining legitimate
rights.”
His
comments came during an extraordinary meeting of the open-ended executive
committee in Jeddah on Tuesday to discuss the Israeli attacks on the Al-Aqsa
Mosque, held at the request of the Palestinian and Jordanian delegations and in
coordination and consultation with Saudi Arabia, the current OIC summit
chairman and chairman of the executive committee.
Al-Suhaibani,
who also chaired the meeting — in the presence of OIC Secretary-General Hissein
Brahim Taha — said the incident “a few days ago in Al-Quds Al-Sharif, in terms
of the storming of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli extremists, whatever
their characteristics, cannot be seen in isolation from the events that took
place two decades ago when a senior Israeli official did the same.”
He
said this resulted in the killing of hundreds of Palestinians following the
outbreak of the second Palestinian intifada, stressing that such dangerous
developments require the international community to quickly resolve the current
situation to avoid regional conflicts and confrontations.
“The
Israeli occupation authorities warn against changing the historical and legal
status quo in Al-Aqsa Mosque, while the Kingdom affirms its firm position on
the need to provide full protection for Al-Aqsa Mosque and stop serious
violations and provocations in it,” Al-Suhaibani said.
Saudi
Arabia “holds those authorities fully responsible for any results or
repercussions regarding the provocative policies and practices they take in the
city of Jerusalem and the assault on its people and sanctities, as they
ultimately undermine international peace efforts and contradict international
principles and norms in respect of religious sanctities,” he said.
Al-Suhaibani
highlighted the Kingdom’s efforts toward the Palestinian cause, reiterating the
centrality of this issue to the Arab and Islamic nations, and the Kingdom’s
full standing by the Palestinian people.
He
said “these blatant attacks constitute a provocation to millions of Muslims,
and fuel conflict, extremism and instability in the entire region, in addition
to being a flagrant violation of the relevant international resolutions.”
Al-Suhaibani
pointed to the Kingdom’s constant endeavor to support all efforts aimed at
reaching a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue, in a way
that enables them to establish an independent state, with Jerusalem as its
capital.
Source:
Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2230966/saudi-arabia
--------
Iraqi
PM underlines historic ties with Iran amid Persian Gulf misnomer row
11
January 2023
Iraqi
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani has underlined historic ties with Iran
after the Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the Arab country’s ambassador to
Tehran to protest the use of the distorted name for the Persian Gulf at a
regional football competition.
Sudani
described the Baghdad-Tehran relations as deep-rooted and historic, stressing
that the common border between the two neighbors extends for more than 1,200
kilometers and they enjoy cultural, religious and social commonalities, the
National Iraqi News Agency reported.
“Tehran
has been supportive of political developments in Iraq following a change in the
country’s political system in 2003," the Iraqi premier noted.
"Iran
assisted Iraq in the fight against the Daesh terrorist group. The two countries
maintain positive relations, and their cooperation and relations are away from
interference in each other’s domestic affairs.”
Sudani
stressed that his government "does not support political polarization,
neither in the region nor anywhere in the world, and purses the principle of
balanced relations to interact with neighboring countries.”
“We
also announce initiatives aimed at economic partnership so that Iraq will be
the venue where regional countries would come together in accordance with the
common interests of their respective nations,” he remarked.
“Iraq
has also developed initiatives designed to bridge differences between Iran and
Arab states. In my opinion, reduction of existing tensions and convergence of
viewpoints will help ensure the security of Iraq and the region."
On
Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Iraqi
ambassador to Tehran Nasir Abdul Mohsen Abdullah had been summoned after Iraqi
officials used a misnomer instead of the historically recognized name of the
water body lapping Iran's southern shores.
The
spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry Nasser Kan’ani said on Monday that
Tehran has expressed its objection to Baghdad over using the fake misnomer of
“Arabian Gulf” to refer to the Persian Gulf.
The
Iraqi southern city of Basra is hosting the premier regional soccer competition
for the first time since 1979. Local officials have set up billboards to
welcome foreign teams to the "25th Arabian Gulf Cup", using the
distorted name for the Persian Gulf.
The
tournament that runs until January 19 also sees participation of teams from
Bahrain, Kuwait, Yemen, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Several
international scientific conferences have been held in recent years to discuss
the historical roots of the Persian Gulf.
Researchers
from the most reputable academic centers worldwide are almost unanimous in
their opinions that the body of water has been referred to as the Persian Gulf
throughout history.
Source:
Press TV
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Syrians,
disgruntled with US military occupation, brandish national flag in Dayr al-Zawr
11
January 2023
Amid
smoldering public resentment over Washington’s ferocious attempts to deploy
military forces in the energy-rich regions of Syria and further plunder its
natural resources, local people have raised the national flag in front of an
illegal military facility housing US occupation forces in the country’s eastern
province of Dayr al-Zawr.
The
Arabic service of Russia’s Sputnik news agency reported that residents of Diban
town hoisted the flag over school buildings in the area close to the
US-controlled al-Omar oil field on Tuesday to show their strong support for the
Damascus government and reject the presence of American occupation forces and
Kurdish-led militants affiliated with the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces
(SDF) there.
Local
sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, reported that US troops
immediately ordered their allied SDF militants to lower the flags, and round up
all those behind the move.
The
US military has for long stationed its forces and equipment in northeastern
Syria, with the Pentagon claiming that the deployment is aimed at preventing
the oilfields in the area from falling into the hands of Daesh terrorists.
Damascus,
however, maintains the deployment is meant to plunder the country’s natural
resources. Former US president Donald Trump admitted on several occasions that
American forces were in the Arab country for its oil wealth.
Back
on December 2 last year, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson lambasted the
US military’s deployment of troops in Syria and its smuggling of oil and grain
as illegal.
“The
US stationing of troops in Syria is illegal. The US smuggling of oil and grain
from Syria is illegal. The US missile attack against Syria is also illegal,”
Zhao Lijian told a daily news briefing in the capital Beijing.
Source:
Press TV
Please click the following URL to read the full text
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--------
Europe
Bogus
terrorism charges dropped against Austrian Muslim academic
11th
January 2023
Terrorism
charges against Austrian academic Farid Hafez have been dropped two years after
police officers barged into his home and pointed guns at him, his wife and two
children.
In
an interview with Al Jazeera, Hafez, who is best known for an annual report on
European Islamophobia and is one of the founders of the Austrian Muslim Youth
Association, said he was relieved to be no longer living in “limbo.”
“I
never knew if the judges would go ahead and really file charges, which I did
not believe [they would] at any point in time,” he said. “But I could also not
believe that such a raid could happen.”
Hafez’s
apartment was one among some 60 homes of Muslim activists and academics raided
in November 2020 as part of what Austria’s Interior Minister called “Operation
Luxor.”
The
search warrant alleged that Hafez wanted to destroy Egypt and Israel and
establish a worldwide Islamic caliphate with Jerusalem as its capital.
In
addition to “supporting terrorism,” police accused him of crimes including
“hostility to the state” and “money laundering.”
Hafez’s
bank account was frozen and he has since relocated to the United States to
become a professor at Georgetown University.
Hafez
said his study of Islamophobia was “reframed” and cast as a “form of
terrorism.”
“The
idea was basically to intimidate and silence any kind of critique vis-a-vis the
Austrian discrimination against Muslim people,” Hafez said.
Operation
Luxor
On
November 11, 2020, more than 930 police officers launched 60 early morning
raids against Muslim homes which did not lead to a single person being charged
or arrested. No weapons were seized during the raids either.
The
raids, which seem to have targeted Egyptians and Palestinians, took place just
over a week after a series of shootings in Vienna in which four people were
killed and 23 others were injured. The attacker was killed by police and was
identified as an ISIS sympathiser.
Austria’s
right-wing government subsequently announced a range of anti-terrorism measures
and pledged to ban “political Islam.”
But
according to the Assisting Children Traumatised by Police organisation, during
the November 11 raids 62 children under the age of 18 were traumatised and
victimised.
It
said 93.8% of children reported suffering from ongoing psychological trauma as
a result of the raids, with some even showing early signs of post-traumatic
stress disorder. Parents have reported that their children continue to have
severe nightmare and suffer from insomnia and scream as well as cry at night.
In
recent years Austria has taken several anti-Muslim measures. In 2015, the
Minister for Europe backed legislation that, among other things, banned the
foreign funding of mosques and imams in Austria. The controversial law, which
eventually passed through Parliament, was intended to develop an Islam of
“European character,” according to Sebastian Kurz. He also said the move was a
crackdown on political Islam.
In
2017, the Austrian government issued a new law banning Muslim women from
wearing full-face veils in public places. The “Burqa Ban” states that faces
must be visible from hairline to chin in public places and also includes
off-slope ski masks and surgical masks outside of hospitals. Muslim women
wearing the niqab and burqa in public places can be fined 150 Euros on the
spot.
Source:
5pillar Suk
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://5pillarsuk.com/2023/01/11/bogus-terrorism-charges-dropped-against-austrian-muslim-academic/
--------
Australia
pull out of Afghan cricket series over Taliban crackdown on women
January
12, 2023
Australia
pulled out of an upcoming one-day series against Afghanistan in the United Arab
Emirates on Thursday citing Taliban moves to further restrict women’s rights.
The
men’s team were due to face their Afghan counterparts in three games, which
form part of the ICC Super League, in March following a tour to India.
But
Cricket Australia said that following consultations with stakeholders,
including the Australian government, it would no longer take place.
“This
decision follows the recent announcement by the Taliban of further restrictions
on women’s and girls’ education and employment opportunities and their ability
to access parks and gyms,” it said in a statement.
“CA
is committed to supporting growing the game for women and men around the world,
including in Afghanistan.
“(We)
will continue to engage with the Afghanistan Cricket Board in anticipation of
improved conditions for women and girls in the country,” it added while thanking
Canberra for its support.
Australia
will forfeit 30 competition points for the series, which go towards World Cup
qualification. But they have already secured automatic qualification to the
50-over tournament in India in October.
The
Taliban regained control of the Asian nation in mid-2021 and immediately placed
restrictions on female participation in sport.
They
have also barred teenage girls from secondary schools and last month banned
women from attending universities, prompting global outrage.
More
recently, women were told they could no longer work in Afghanistan’s aid
sector.
Source:
Dawn
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Morocco,
Spain bust Daesh/ISIS terrorist cell
Khalid
Mejdoup, Ahmed Gouda
11.01.2023
Authorities
in Morocco and Spain teamed up to bust a terrorist cell linked with the
Daesh/ISIS terror group.
One
suspect was caught in Morocco’s central Chtouka Ait Baha region, while two were
arrested in Spain’s southern city of Almeria, the Moroccan Interior Ministry
said in a statement.
Digital
equipment and printed materials of the terror group were found during the raid
in Chtouka Ait Baha, the ministry added.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/morocco-spain-bust-daesh-isis-terrorist-cell/2785072
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Prince
Harry slams media reports of ‘boasting’ about 25 Taliban kills as ‘dangerous
lie’
January
11, 2023
LONDON:
Prince Harry has hit back at media “spin” surrounding his memoir released this
week, saying he is particularly upset by the “dangerous lie” that he had
boasted about killing 25 Taliban fighters in Afghanistan while serving as a
military helicopter pilot.
He
was criticized for describing those he killed in his book “Spare” as “chess
pieces,” with some military figures saying it was wrong to refer to the dead in
such a manner.
In
the book, he recounts two tours of Afghanistan, his first in 2007/2008 as a
forward air controller, and again in 2012 as a co-pilot gunner in Apache attack
helicopters.
British
newspapers, which he heavily criticizes in his book, and some senior former
British military figures have attacked his decision to make public the number
of those he had killed, saying it could put him and others at risk of
reprisals.
Speaking
to US chat show host Stephen Colbert on “The Late Show,” Prince Harry said he
had only spoken out about his experiences in Afghanistan to reduce the number
of potential suicides by military veterans.
“Without
doubt the most dangerous lie that they have told, is that I somehow boasted
about the number of people that I killed in Afghanistan,” he said, adding that
the press had spun his words to take his disclosure out of context.
“I
made a choice to share it because having spent nearly two decades working with
veterans all around the world, I think the most important thing is to be honest
and be able to give space to others to be able to share their experiences
without any shame.”
Source:
Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2230691/world
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Pakistan
Imran
says undeterred in face of ‘red lines’ around him
Mansoor
Malik
January
12, 2023
LAHORE:
PTI Chairman Imran Khan said his party members were being asked to part ways
with him and were being coerced into believing that he had been marked with a
“red line” and had no political future, and vowed to erase all such barriers
with the help of his supporters.
The
former prime minister once again accused the establishment of meddling in
politics and alleged that PTI lawmakers were being forced to switch loyalties
ahead of a trust vote faced by Punjab Chief Minister Parvez Elahi.
In
a speech to members of the Punjab parliamentary party, Mr Khan said that those
who wanted to write him off were “arrogant” and without political acumen.
Mr
Khan challenged the establishment that the political engineering purportedly
underway to damage PTI would be “swept away by the sea of people” who would
take to the streets as happened on April 10 — after his removal through a vote
of no confidence.
He
said people had shattered plans of powers-that-be by voting for PTI, which
resulted in its victory in July and October by-polls.
Alleges
establishment coercing PTI members to switch sides; slams Centre for placing
Elahi’s family on no-fly list
“The
PTI is sacrificing its two assemblies in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and
expects that elections be held in both provinces within a stipulated time
frame,” Mr Khan hoped.
He
added that his party would come to power and take “strong decisions” for the
sake of the country.
‘Punjab
legislators’
Speaking
about the Punjab Assembly, Mr Khan said he was monitoring PTI’s Punjab
legislators whose support was crucial to retain Mr Elahi the chief executive.
Stating that the victory target was not far away, Mr Khan welcomed independent
MPA Bilal Warraich who joined the PTI.
Earlier
in the day, Mr Khan met with CM Parvez Elahi and Hussain Elahi at his residence
to discuss the impending vote of confidence in the Punjab Assembly.
Mr
Khan also slammed the Centre for placing Mr Elahi’s family members on the
no-fly list.
Chiding
the powers-that-be for forcing people to accept the ‘regime change’ rulers and
intimidating them through torture and pressure, Mr Khan asserted, “We will sign
the country’s death warrant if we accepted the cabal of corrupt rulers”.
He
said the PDM government was now left with only one option i.e. to go to the IMF
and take relief in exchange for hyperinflation.
He
also took a potshot at ex-president Asif Zardari for attempts to buy the
loyalties of PTI MPAs ahead of the vote of confidence. He, however, thanked Mr
Zardari for buying “rotten eggs” (20 turncoats) and making his party clean.
Source:
Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1731196/imran-says-undeterred-in-face-of-red-lines-around-him
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Pakistan:
Punjab CM Pervaiz Elahi wins confidence vote amid opposition uproar
Jan
12, 2023
ISLAMABAD:
After weeks of political turbulence in the most populous province in Pakistan,
Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi proved his majority in the
provincial assembly, winning the vote of confidence in the early hours of
Thursday.
"There
were 186 votes in favor of the resolution. Chaudhry Parvez Elahi has received a
vote of confidence from the House as chief minister of Punjab," Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) tweeted.
The
vote of confidence started after midnight and concluded with Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) coalition
showing a majority with the support of 186 lawmakers, The Express Tribune
newspaper reported.This vote was held after the Lahore High Court (LHC) ruled
that the Punjab governor Baligh-Ur-Rehman had the authority to ask the chief
minister to seek the trust of the house even during an ongoing session.
Earlier
on Wednesday, the LHC had said that the chief minister should have the support
of 186 lawmakers- the required number for being elected as the CM -- round the
clock.
As
many as 186 members of the provincial assembly (MPAs) voted in support of the
punjab chief Minister on a resolution moved by minister Mian Aslam Iqbal and
PTI leader Raja Basharat.
The
News International reported that the opposition boycotted the session, claiming
that the pre-requisite legal requirements were not met and that the Punjab
governor's order of vote of confidence was sub judice.
After
winning the vote of confidence, Elahi thanked the leaders of PTI, Majlis
Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) for supporting him during today's session.
"I
have full confidence in Imran Khan. I thank the members of the assembly of
Tehreek-e-Insaf and Q-League. I also thank Majlis Wahdat al-Muslimeen and
independent member Bilal Waraich and all the ministers," he tweeted.
"After
Quaid-e-Azam, there is only one leader who is Imran Khan. Taking Imran Khan's
vision forward Growing. Imran Khan who has dreamed of a new Pakistan will
succeed," he said in another tweet.
Source:
Times Of India
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JUIF
stages protest against price-hike, flour crisis
January
12, 2023
KHAR/TAKHTBHAI:
The workers and activists of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUIF) staged
protest rallies against the unprecedented price-hike of essential commodities
and wheat flour crisis in the province.
The
protestors, led by JUIF district chief Maulana Abdur Rashid, Maulana Shamsuz
Zaman, Mufti Mohsin and others, were holding placards inscribed with slogans
against shortage of flour and prevalent price-hike.
Addressing
the protestors, the leaders said that JUIF was part of the Pakistan Democratic
Movement government but the anti-people policies would be resisted tooth and
nail.
They
termed the provincial government responsible for the rising price hike, adding
that poor people were being humiliated in the name of providing subsidized
flour.
The
speakers said that provision of basic amenities and security of life of people
was the responsibility of the government and state and the JUIF would fight for
the rights of masses at all costs.
The
protesters later staged a rally from Bajaur Press Club to main Chow in Khar,
the headquarters of Bajaur tribal district, and chanted slogans against the
government.
Meanwhile,
the workers and activists of JUIF also held a protest rally against the
price-hike, lawlessness and anti-Pakistan and anti-Islam policies of the
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government.
The
JUI workers took out the protest rally from Darul Uloom-s-Islamia and chanted
slogans against the provincial government and PTI policies.JUIF Ex-lawmaker
Maulana Muhammad Qasim, Tehsil Mayor Maulana Muhammad Saeed and others were
leading the rally.
Source:
The News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1029693-juif-stages-protest-against-price-hike-flour-crisis
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Rallies
staged against runaway inflation, flour crisis in KP
January
12, 2023
LAKKI
MARWAT: The Awami National Party’s Lakki chapter organised a rally in Naurang
town here on Wednesday against runaway inflation on the call of party’s
provincial president Aimal Wali Khan.
ANP’s
district president Malik Ali Sarwar Khan led the rally, which was taken out
from the party’s office and converged near the old railway crossing after
passing through different bazaars.
Party’s
office bearers and workers, local body members and residents participated in
the rally.
Speaking
on the occasion, Malik Sarwar, Farmanullah, Eng Latifullah and others said the
skyrocketing prices of daily use commodities had snatched the two times meal
from the poor. They said even the middle class was unable to make ends meet.
The
ANP leaders said the surge in prices of wheat flour and other essential items
had forced the people to commit suicides. They regretted that the provincial
government has failed to ensure availability of flour and other food items in
markets.
In
Kohat, the ANP workers demonstrated against shortage of wheat flour and price
hike on Wednesday.
A
large number of people gathered outside the Kohat Press Club holding placards
inscribed with slogans against the government.
ANP
district president Dr Safdar, general secretary Syed Kashif Shah, secretary
information Rahib Noor, former president Masood Khalil Advocate and others
spoke on the occasion.
They
said people were being humiliated while standing in long queues to get a flour
bag, but the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and federal governments were not bothered.
They
claimed that hundreds of thousands of tons of wheat was being smuggled to
Afghanistan and the remaining stocks had been hidden in warehouses by the
influential people, who the government was unable to proceed against.
In
Lower Dir, hundreds of Jamaat-i-Islami workers staged a rally in Timergara
despite rain against shortage of wheat flour and inflation.
The
JI workers gathered at Ahyaul Uloom in Balambat and marched on the road
carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans against the government’s
failure to control inflation.
JI
district chief Izazul Mulk Afkari, general secretary Hafiz Yaqubur Rehman and
Malik Sher Bahadar led the protesters.
The
protesters blocked the main road at Gorgorai Chowk for some time as the traffic
was diverted on the Timergara Bypass Road.
On
this occasion, Mr Afkari said the Pakistan Democratic Movement government at
the centre and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and
Punjab had failed to control spiraling inflation and unemployment.
He
claimed government warehouses were filled with wheat, but citizens were forced
to stand in queues to get a 20kg flour bag. He said both the PDM and the PTI
had deceived the nation on mere slogans.
Mr
Afkari said the daily wagers were unable to feed their families as the prices
of essential commodities had increased manifold.
In
Bajaur, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl workers took out a rally against price hike,
holding the provincial government responsible for the skyrocketing prices of
essential commodities.
The
rally held outside the Bajaur Press Club was attended by party workers and
general public in large numbers.
The
participants were holding banners and placards inscribed with slogans against
runaway inflation. They also chanted slogans against both the federal and
provincial governments over their failure to control the sharp rise in prices
of flour, ghee, chicken, sugar, vegetables and other commodities.
JUI-F
Bajaur chief Maulana Abdur Rasheed and others addressed the participants.
They
said though JUI-F was part of the coalition government at the centre, they
would continue raising voice against price inflation.
The
speakers said the federal government didn’t take measures to provide relief to
people. They also lambasted the provincial government led by PTI for its
failure to curb rising prices of commodities.
Source:
Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1731152/rallies-staged-against-runaway-inflation-flour-crisis-in-kp
--------
Radioactive
cargo ‘didn’t come from Pakistan’: FO
Atika
Rehman | Baqir Sajjad Syed
January
12, 2023
LONDON/ISLAMABAD:
Reports that a package containing uranium originating from Pakistan arrived at
Heathrow Airport last month sparked panic in the United Kingdom on Wednesday,
but Pakistani officials insisted that London has not contacted Islamabad
regarding the investigation into the matter.
Officials
also said that the shipment did not originate in Pakistan, as is being claimed
by British media, and suspected foul play behind insinuations that the shipment
had been booked from Karachi.
“No
information to this effect has been shared with us officially. We are confident
that the reports are not factual,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra
said when asked to comment on the reports in British media that the seized
material came from Pakistan.
Although
initial media reports mentioned fears of a “deadly shipment” that may have been
used to make a “dirty bomb”, soon after the story was first reported by tabloid
The Sun, multiple UK officials stressed the amount of radioactive material was
“extremely small” and posed “no threat to the public”.
It
is learnt that the cargo package arrived at Heathrow Airport Terminal 4 via
Oman Air passenger flight WY 101, which arrived on the evening of December 29.
The flight originated from Pakistan, where UK officials believe the package was
checked in as cargo, and had a stopover in Muscat, Oman.
Upon
arrival, the package was detected by regular airport scanners, which alerted
Border Force officials to analyse the contents. The package contained scrap
metal and the uranium in question was “embedded into metal bars”.
The
Sun claimed that the package was being shipped to UK-based Iranian nationals,
with other media outlets saying it was shipped to a London-based business owned
by Iranians.
‘No
metal’ booked on flight from Pakistan
An
official, who had been briefed on the issue, said that Oman Airlines’ flight on
Dec 29 had left Karachi for Muscat at 04.00 hours and its cargo contained
frozen meat and apparel/garments. “No metal or out-sized cargo was booked on
the flight,” the official emphasised.
Officials
fear that Pakistan is being deliberately drawn into this issue for maligning
it.
Such
an incident, if it were to have happened, would have raised questions about
Pakistan’s export control mechanisms and security of its radioactive material.
Pakistan
boasts to have streamlined and strengthened its export control regime over the
years. It is always emphasised by the officials that as a responsible nuclear
state it is the government’s policy to advance the shared goals of
non-proliferation and strictly adhere to its commitments.
Meanwhile,
multiple incidents of seizure of radioactive material in India over the past
few years has not only pointed to the possible existence of a nuclear black
market there, but also exposed India’s lax arrangements for securing
radioactive material including the imported one.
Measures
by UK authorities
In
UK, the Metropolitan Police said its counter-terrorism command unit was
informed by Border Force officials after the package and praised “the excellent
capability we and our partners have in place to monitor our ports and borders
in order to keep the public safe”,
Speaking
at the London Assembly Police and Crime Committee on Wednesday, Commander Richard
Smith, head of the Met Police counter-terrorism command, said that police will
“follow every avenue” to find out the circumstances in which it arrived in the
UK and its intended purpose.
He
said it was understandable that a report like this would attract considerable
attention and potentially concern. “The circumstances are that in the course of
routine scanning at London Heathrow an element of cargo was identified that was
emitting a radioactive signal. There are procedures in place to deal with these
sorts of incidents and those procedures were enacted. As part of that the
counter-terrorism commands were contacted and have opened an investigation into
the surrounding circumstances.”
He
clarified that there was no risk to public health, and that the “consignments
that had been identified included a very small amount of contaminated
material”.
“The
amount of material we’re talking about was very small, and there was no threat
to public health or public safety identified.
Speaking
to Sky News, former head of the British Army’s chemical weapons unit, Hamish de
Bretton-Gordon, said it was “a concern” that the material reached the UK all
the way from Pakistan, but that the public should be overly worried. He added,
however, that whatever the origin, the material “absolutely shouldn’t be on a
commercial airliner”.
Uranium
is a radioactive metal found in rocks, and is commonly used as fuel for nuclear
power plants and reactors that power naval ships and submarines. It may also be
used in nuclear weapons.
Uranium
would typically fall under the category of dangerous goods under UK law, and
requires the sender to ensure its classification, packaging and marking for
transportation.
Source:
Dawn
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.dawn.com/news/1731192/radioactive-cargo-didnt-come-from-pakistan-fo
--------
CTD
arrests four terror suspects in Peshawar
January
11, 2023
PESHAWAR:
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in joint
intelligence-based operation with police, claimed to have arrested four alleged
terrorists from Manchi Gate Abshar Colony in Peshawar on Wednesday.
According
to a spokesperson for the CTD, the law-enforcement agency conducted the joint
operation in Peshawar and apprehended four alleged terrorists during the
operation. He said one of the CTD officials was also injured during firing with
the terrorists.
Source:
Pakistan Today
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2023/01/11/ctd-arrests-four-terror-suspects-in-peshawar/
--------
PM
Shehbaz Sharif urges Kuwait to participate in climate moot
January
11, 2023
ISLAMABAD:
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday held a telephonic conversation with
his Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.
The
prime minister apprised the Kuwaiti prime minister about the International
Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan, to be held on Monday in Geneva and
requested High level participation
The
Kuwaiti PM Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah expressed firm support
for the initiatives to strengthen Pakistan’s climate resilience.
Pakistan
and Kuwait have reiterated their mutual commitment to further expand and
diversify special bilateral relations.
The
premier reaffirmed the importance Pakistan attached to its relationship with
Kuwait and reiterated the desire to further expand bilateral cooperation in
diverse fields.
He
underscored the resolve to forge deeper economic engagement between Pakistan
and Kuwait – including in trade, investment, labour and other key sectors.
PM
Shehbaz Sharif also expressed satisfaction at close cooperation between the two
countries at the multilateral forums.
He
appreciated the measures taken by Kuwait for the recruitment of Pakistani
manpower in the fields of Health, Security and Infrastructure.
The
prime minister of Kuwait reciprocated the sentiments of the Prime Minister
Shehbaz Sharif and reassured of the desire of the Kuwaiti leadership to further
deepen and broaden bilateral relations with Pakistan.
The
two leaders agreed to maintain close contact and work together on all issues of
mutual interest.
The
two leaders also agreed to remain in close contact and take forward the process
of consolidation and further expansion of Pakistan-Kuwait relations.
Source:
Pakistan Today
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Africa
Muslim
rights group cautions Nigerian youths against ‘Japa’ syndrome
January
11, 2023
By
Ogaga Ariemu
The
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has cautioned Nigerian youths against a mass exodus
to other countries, now known as ‘Japa’ syndrome.
The
Muslim group affirmed that Nigeria is better in many ways than countries which
seem to attract the youth.
It
also warned Nigerians to stop condemning the government.
The
advice was contained in a statement issued by the director of the Islamic human
rights organisation, Professor Ishaq Akintola, on Wednesday.
“We
are greatly disturbed by what is now called the ‘Japa’ syndrome. This
phenomenon signifies a mass exodus of skilled men and women from Nigeria to
Europe and America for greener pastures. This practice is harmful to our
country, particularly to youths. It is escapist and cowardly.
“Often
running away from your country ends up taking you from the frying pan into the
fire. For instance, life in Britain, France and America is no longer all milk
and honey it used to be. Recent assessments of economic conditions have proved
this.
Source:
Daily Post Nigeria
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://dailypost.ng/2023/01/11/muslim-rights-group-cautions-nigerian-youths-against-japa-syndrome/
--------
4
killed in suspected al-Shabaab bomb attack in northern Kenya
Andrew
Wasike
12.01.2023
NAIROBI,
Kenya
Kenya
police said Wednesday a suspected al-Shabaab attack killed four people in the
north and injured others.
Police
said a vehicle hit an improvised explosive roadside bomb planted by suspected
terrorists that killed three Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA)
engineers who were on a routine road evaluation.
The
vehicle was part of a convoy that turned back after the Toyota Hilux Double
Cabin vehicle was destroyed, said police.
“The
other vehicles turned back to Hailey Chinese camp,” according to a statement.
North
Eastern police boss George Seda said the attackers fled and police have been
sent to the area to pursue and boost security for residents.
The
same locality in Garissa County was the target of a similar attack that killed
two police officers and a civilian in December.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Suspected
Islamist fighters kill four road workers in eastern Kenya
January
11, 2023
NAIROBI,
Jan 11 (Reuters) - Four workers from Kenya's highways agency were killed in an
ambush by suspected Islamist militants on Wednesday near the country's eastern
border with Somalia, police said.
The
workers were leading a three-car convoy from the town of Garissa to Bura when
they hit an explosive device planted in the road by suspected members of the
Somali insurgent group al Shabaab, according to a police report.
"A
vehicle with four employees of the Kenya National Highway Authority was
attacked with an IED, all the four died on the spot," said John Otieno, a
local government administrator.
Spokespersons
for al Shabaab could not immediately be reached for comment as their phones
were switched off.
Al
Shabaab killed 166 people at Garissa University in 2015, and 67 at a mall in
Nairobi in 2013, but the frequency and severity of the group's attacks in Kenya
has reduced in recent years.
Source:
Reuters
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
--------
Tigray
rebels hand over heavy weapons to Ethiopian army
Mohammed
Dhaysane?
11.01.2023
MOGADISHU,
Somalia
Tigray
rebels handed over their heavy weapons to Ethiopia’s national army in the
presence of a monitoring team comprising members of the two sides and the
Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a regional body.
The
handover was held in the town of Agulae, located 30 kilometers (19 miles)
northeast of the Tigray regional capital Mekelle.
Aleme
Tadesse, an Ethiopian army representative, said: “Both us and the TDF (Tigray
Defense Forces) have moved from our respective defensive positions in peace,
understanding and love.”
“We
are all part of one Ethiopia,” he added.
“Tigray
has handed over its heavy weapons as part of its commitment to implementing the
#Pretoria agreement, and the Monitoring & Verification Team has confirmed
it. We hope & expect this will go a long way in expediting the full
implementation of the agreement. We hope & expect!”, Getachew Reda, an
adviser to the president of the Tigray regional administration, said on
Twitter.
The
war between Ethiopian government forces and Tigray rebels erupted in November
2020 after the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) attacked federal army
bases stationed in the northern region.
Hostilities
subsided after the two sides signed agreements in Pretoria and Nairobi in
November last year.
The
Tigray conflict has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions more
since November 2020.
Source:
Anadolu Agency
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/tigray-rebels-hand-over-heavy-weapons-to-ethiopian-army/2785351
--------
Jordanian
army investigates what might be remains of Jordanian soldiers found in
Jerusalem
January
11, 2023
AMMAN:
The Jordanian Armed Forces said on Wednesday that they are working with the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs to follow up on the discovery in Jerusalem of what
might be the remains of 15 Jordanian soldiers.
It
is believed they were killed in the town of Beit Hanina in northern East
Jerusalem during the June 1967 war, the Jordan News Agency reported.
Source:
Arab News
Please click the following URL to read the full text
of the original story:
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2230921/middle-east
--------
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/rss-chief-bhagwat-violence-constitution/d/128861
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