Tired Of ‘Cattiest’ CPM, Dalit Woman, Chithralekha, In Kerala To Seek Solace In Islam
New Age Islam News Bureau
18 November 2020
I am doing this because I am unable to continue this
fight alone anymore, she wrote in a FB post
-----
• Islamists In Pakistan Call Off Their Anti-France
Protest After Deal of Downgrading Diplomatic Ties With Paris
• Bangladesh Islamic Extremists Threaten Shakib
Al-Hasan Over His Participation In A Hindu Ceremony In Kolkata
• US Military Gathering Location Data Of Muslims Around
The World, Harvested From Innocuous-Seeming Apps
• UK De-Radicalization Referrals For Far-Right,
Islamist Extremists Now Equal
• Yemen’s Ansarullah Urges Halt To Arms Sales To
‘Child-Killer’ Saudi Arabia
• Palestine To Resume Relationship With Israel After
Month-Long Pause: Official
India
• Tired Of ‘Cattiest’ CPM, Dalit Woman, Chithralekha,
In Kerala To Seek Solace In Islam
• Muslim Family Hands Over Temple Land Ownership
Papers On Which A Shiva Temple Is Built To Temple Committee, In Meerut
• Congress, CPI(M) Plan To Woo Muslims In Bengal Ahead
Of AIMIM March For 2021 Elections
• ‘Was BJP-PDP Alliance To Bring Back Terror In
J&K?’ Asks Kapil Sibal After Shah’s ‘Gupkar Gang’ Remark
• Madhya Pradesh plans law to check ‘rising love
jihad’ with five-year prison term
• Omar, Mufti react, say it’s a legitimate political
alliance
--------
Pakistan
• Islamists In Pakistan Call Off Their Anti-France
Protest After Deal of Downgrading Diplomatic Ties With Paris
• Massive protests continue in Gilgit-Baltistan
against rigged elections by Imran Khan's PTI govt
• Prosperity linked with commitment to democracy, says
army chief
• UK committee publishes scathing report on Lord Nazir
• Breaking news of Osama raid to Pakistan was easier
than thought, says Obama
--------
South Asia
• Bangladesh Islamic Extremists Threaten Shakib
Al-Hasan Over His Participation In A Hindu Ceremony In Kolkata
• Abdullah Abdullah: US, Taliban Agreement No Basis
for Peace Talks in Afghanistan
• Taliban Offensive Claims 12 Security Members in Badakhshan
• Taliban Battered in Kandahar and Herat, 35 Killed
• Officials Detain ISIS-Taliban Member for Extorting
Money: Saleh
• Bangladeshis welcome Saudi labour reforms for
foreign workers
--------
North America
• US Military Gathering Location Data Of Muslims Around
The World, Harvested From Innocuous-Seeming Apps
• After 9/11, US Military Should Have Invaded Saudi
Arabia
• Pentagon to pull 2,500 US troops from Afghanistan,
Iraq before Trump leaves
• Sudan minister reveals US pressured Sudan to normalize
with Israel
• Accused Canadian Neo-Nazi Soldier Offered U.S.
Terror Group Paramilitary Training
--------
Europe
• UK De-Radicalization Referrals For Far-Right,
Islamist Extremists Now Equal
• Armenians return to Nagorno-Karabakh after
Russia-brokered cease-fire with Azerbaijan
• Trial in France for extremist foiled by 3 Americans
on train
--------
Arab world
• Yemen’s Ansarullah Urges Halt To Arms Sales To
‘Child-Killer’ Saudi Arabia
• UAE's Mohammed Bin Zayed, Israel's President
Exchange Visit Invitations
• Saudi Arabia’s Prince Turki Cautions Against Same
Mistakes Of Iran Nuclear Deal
• Iran diplomat: Saudis must drop blame game if they
want to develop nuclear weapons
• Iraqi military says four rockets struck Baghdad’s
Green Zone
• Iraqi army jets target Daesh remnants in eastern
Diyala Province
• Iraqi Leader: Popular Forces Ready to Give Crushing
Response to Any Threat by Trump
• Saudi Arabia rejects, condemns Israel's settlement
moves near East Jerusalem
--------
Mideast
• Palestine To Resume Relationship With Israel After
Month-Long Pause: Official
• Netanyahu had ‘warm’ talk with US President-elect
Biden: Israel’s PM office
• Iranian, Iraqi Air Forces Stress Cooperation in War
on Terrorism
• Leader's Aide Warns against Presence of Takfiri Terrorists
in Azerbaijan
• Israel says air strikes in Syria hit Syrian, Iranian
military targets
• Turkey's parliament grants Erdogan permission to
deploy peacekeepers to Azerbaijan
• Israel finds explosive devices in Golan, blames
Syria for ‘violating sovereignty’
--------
Southeast Asia
• Developer Of Popular Muslim Pro App Denies Selling
Data To US Military
• We’re not rebels’: Young leaders form ‘progressive’
caucus to push for reforms in Malay-dominated Umno
• Parliament to discuss issues on undocumented
migrants, religious sentiments today
-----
Africa
• Full-Scale Humanitarian Crisis Unfolding In
Ethiopia: UNHCR
• President Trump could withdraw troops from Somalia
as part of global pullback
• Ethiopian PM declares deadline given to rebels in
north over
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/tired-cattiest-cpm-dalit-woman/d/123504
--------
Tired Of ‘Cattiest’ CPM, Dalit Woman, Chithralekha, In
Kerala To Seek Solace In Islam
18th November 2020
I am doing this because I am unable to continue this
fight alone anymore, she wrote in a FB post
-----
KANNUR: Life has been one long struggle for
Chithralekha. Ostracised and shunned over the years because of her layered
identity as a Dalit woman auto rickshaw driver, the hardest battle she has had
to fight, however, might have been against the CPM which, she says, has been
continually harassing her in the name of caste.
Tired of waging the lone battle against the Goliath
party and its alleged casteism, the Payyannur native has now made the decision
to try and escape from the shackles of caste by converting to Islam. “I am
doing this because I am unable to continue this fight alone anymore,” she wrote
in a Facebook post on Monday.
“Just because I was born a Pulaya woman and I dared to
question the caste discrimination practised by the CPM, I was tortured to the
extent that I had to run away from my own village,” Chithralekha said in her
Facebook post. Even though she had fled from Payyannur and settled down in a
house in Kattampally, the harassment did not end.
CPM workers allegedly went on to set ablaze her auto
rickshaw at Edatt in December 2005, just a year after she bought it.
Chithralekha said she was not even given the consideration that she was a woman
and belonged to a Dalit community.
“Though the UDF government led by then chief minister Oommen
Chandy had given me five cents of land and Rs 5 lakh to build a house, the LDF
government revoked this order after it came to power in 2016. The case is still
pending in the High Court. I don’t know if I will ever get that land back,”
Chithralekha told TNIE over phone.
Stating that she had to learn more about the religion
before converting, she said she hadn’t decided when to embrace Islam yet.
“Some people have offered to help me with these
learnings. But I do not wish to reveal their names here. Once I make a final
decision, I will announce it publicly,” she said.
Meanwhile, she warned people against troubling her
further with allegations of ‘love jihad’, adding that all she wished was to
live peacefully.
https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2020/nov/18/tired-of-casteist-cpm-dalit-woman-in-kerala-to-seek-solace-in-islam-2224682.html
--------
Islamists In Pakistan Call Off Their Anti-France
Protest After Deal of Downgrading Diplomatic Ties With Paris
Nov 18, 2020
Islamist party has called off anti-France protests and
claimed the Pakistani government agreed to sever diplomatic ties with Paris
-----
ISLAMABAD: A far-right Pakistani religious political
party called off its sit-in protest in Islamabad against the publication of
caricatures of Prophet Muhammad in France after the government agreed to
discuss its demands for downgrading diplomatic ties with Paris.
Around 5,000 Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP)
protesters, led by its founder, firebrand cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi, began
rallying on Sunday on a main highway between Islamabad and the neighboring city
of Rawalpindi, vowing to march on the French embassy.
The protesters were chanting anti-France slogans,
demanding the expulsion of the French ambassador.
According to the group, it signed a deal with the
government early on Tuesday to end the protest, after assurance from
authorities to consider expelling the French ambassador to Pakistan and to
boycott French goods.
The agreement signed between the two sides has four
points: One, the government will put the question of expelling the French
ambassador to the parliament “within two or three months”.
Two, the government “will not appoint its ambassador
to France”.
Three, that Pakistan will “completely boycott French
goods on a government level”. Finally, amnesty to the dozens of TLP protesters
who were arrested during the course of the protest.
The agreement was signed by interior minister and
federal minister for religious affairs, in the early hours of Tuesday.
The TLP has held several protests in Islamabad on
blasphemy-related issues in recent years. Considered a sensitive subject in
Pakistan, conviction for blasphemy against Islam carries a mandatory death
sentence. Accusations of blasphemy have increasingly led to mob violence or
targeted attacks in Pakistan in recent years.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/islamists-call-off-their-anti-france-protest-after-deal-with-government/articleshow/79270132.cms
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Bangladesh
Islamic Extremists Threaten Shakib Al-Hasan Over His Participation In A Hindu
Ceremony In Kolkata
by
Sumon Corraya
11/17/2020
Shakib
Al Hasan. Photograph:( AFP )
------
Dhaka
(AsiaNews) – Controversy continues to rage around cricket player Shakib
al-Hasan, a Bangladeshi Muslim, over his participation in a Hindu ceremony in
Kolkata (India) last Thursday.
The
storm stems from the popular champion’s alleged participation in the
inauguration of a pooja mandap, a wooden temple, with offerings and prayers.
The
morning after the event, a Muslim extremist named Mohsin Talukdar, from Sylhet,
repeatedly insulted and threatened Shakib in a video uploaded to Facebook
saying that he would cut his throat and dismember his body (picture 2) for
insulting Islam and Muslims.
Cricket
is widely popular in Bangladesh and South Asia. And public opinion split
between defenders and opponents of the cricket player. In a couple of days, his
official Facebook fan page lost nearly a million followers after mainstream media
released images of the "inauguration" of the pooja mandap.
In
an attempt to appease feelings, Shakib's radical enemy Moshin said he was sorry
for his "offensive" remarks but urged the cricket champion to
apologise for having "offended Muslims".
The
second video, however, did not stop police from arresting him this morning at
his home for making death threats in the first video.
For
his part, Shakib said that he did not take part in the inauguration of a pooja
mandan but still asked for “forgiveness" for what happened.
“It
is not possible to understand the context and the story by looking only at a
picture. However, if anyone felt offended that I went there, I ask your
forgiveness,” he said.
Shakib
explained that he had played for the Kolkata Knight Riders team and is well
known in the West Bengal city. During his visit, he was invited to an event at
a time when Indians celebrate the Deepavali (Diwali) festival.
When
asked, he lit a candle for Deepavali as a token of friendship. For some this is
a poor excuse; for others, his apology is a just caving in to extremists who
continue to use Islam to threaten and attack.
“Shakib
is a grown man,” said Nirmol Palma, not the person’s real name, speaking to
AsiaNews. “He took part in a Hindu activity and Islamic extremists reacted to
it negatively.”
To
avoid a violent reaction, he “said he was a practising Muslim,” and apologised
for “doing something wrong.”
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Islamic-extremists-threaten-cricket-star-Shakib-over-a-Hindu-symbol-51614.html
--------
US
Military Gathering Location Data Of Muslims Around The World, Harvested From
Innocuous-Seeming Apps
17
November 2020
The
US military is purchasing private data from app companies that provide popular
services for Muslims.
The
US military is “buying the granular movement data of people around the world,
harvested from innocuous-seeming apps,” Joseph Cox of VICE’s Motherboard wrote
on Monday.
The
report revealed that the US military purchased users' data from popular apps
such as Muslim prayer and Quran app which has been downloaded nearly 100
billion times.
Motherboard
did not specify why the data of Muslim civilians was being collected from
seemingly harmless apps; however, the US military has infamously used movement
and location data of users for aiming in and striking targets with
assassination drones, targeting numerous civilians, including women and
children, in Muslim countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq and
Yemen.
Alarmingly,
one of the buyers of the apps' data was the US Special Operations Command
(USSOCOM), which deals with counter-insurgency, counter-terrorism and various
covert activity around the globe, media reported.
US
Navy Commander Tim Hawkins confirmed the report, noting that Americans' private
data was safe and the information gathered by the US military was used for
overseas operations.
“Our
access to the software is used to support Special Operations Forces mission
requirements overseas. We strictly adhere to established procedures and
policies for protecting the privacy, civil liberties, constitutional and legal
rights of American citizens,” he said.
Muslim
US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar acknowledged the close ties between the military
and tech companies.
"The
military industrial complex and the surveillance state have always had a cozy
relationship with tech. Buying bulk data in order to profile Muslims is par for
the course for them," Omar noted.
In
2013, US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor and whistle-blower Edward
Snowden disclosed the extent of US
spying activities.
Snowden
revealed details of US intelligence agencies’ secret surveillance programs.
US
authorities want Snowden to stand trial in a criminal court for disclosing US
spying activities.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/11/17/638803/US-Military-Muslim-App-Pakistan
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UK
de-radicalization referrals for far-right, Islamist extremists now equal
November
17, 2020
LONDON:
For the first time since data has been recorded, there was an equal number of
referrals to the UK’s de-radicalization programs for far-right and Islamist
extremists.
In
the year leading up to March 2019, out of 5,738 referrals to the government’s
counter-terrorism program Channel, 1,404 (24 percent) were for concerns related
to Islamist radicalization and 1,389 (24 percent) related to right-wing
radicalization.
Of
those right-wingers, 62 percent were youths up to the age of 20, and in the
2017-2018 period, 682 children under the age of 18 were referred for links to
the radical right. Children as young as 9 have been referred to Channel for
right-wing radicalization.
One
counter-extremism group, Exit UK, said 70 percent of the people it has helped
leave far-right organizations were recruited online.
Islamophobic
propaganda and messaging by far-right groups are often a major force behind
their recruitment.
One
former member of a far-right group told Sky News: “The enemy in our minds was
Islam, (it) was the Muslim people, (it) was almost the police as well as the
government, and journalists as well.”
The
UK’s MI5 and various counter-extremism organizations have repeatedly cautioned
of the growing threat of far-right violence in the UK and across Europe.
In
2019, Britain saw four far-right attacks or plots, one more than the number of
Islamist incidents in the same period.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1764561/world
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Yemen’s
Ansarullah urges halt to arms sales to ‘child-killer’ Saudi Arabia
17
November 2020
Yemen’s
Houthi Ansarullah movement has praised countries that have adopted measures to
halt arms sales to the “child-killer” regime in Saudi Arabia, calling on other
world states to follow suit.
“We
express our appreciation to the countries that have taken steps to stop selling
weapons to Saudi Arabia, which is a child-killer regime,” the Ansarullah
spokesman, Mohammed Abdul-Salam, said in a statement on Monday evening,
referring to the Riyadh regime’s crimes against Yemeni children.
He
called on other world states to adopt similar steps, emphasizing that freezing
such exports to the kingdom is the least humanitarian position that could be
taken in the face of the brutal Saudi-led aggression against Yemen, which poses
threats to global security and stability.
The
comments come as Germany is set to discuss extending its ban on arms exports to
the countries involved in the war on Yemen in the coming weeks ahead of its
expiry on December 31.
Despite
opposition from France and Britain, two major arms suppliers to Saudi Arabia,
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition enacted the ban in late 2018, in response
to the devastating consequences of the Saudi-led war in Yemen and following the
state-sponsored murder of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Along
with Germany, a number of other European countries, including Norway, Denmark,
Finland, Sweden and the Netherlands, have also suspended arms sales to Riyadh.
France
urged to give MPs control over arms sales
Meanwhile,
14 of the world’s top human rights organizations on Monday called on the Paris
government to “end France’s opacity on arms sales,” ahead of the publication of
a parliamentary fact-finding report on arms export control to be published on
November 18.
A
joint press release, co-signed by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International,
the International Federation for Human Rights FIDH, Oxfam, and a number of
local organizations said parliamentary control was “essential since French arms
sales have been shown to be responsible for certain serious violations of
humanitarian law, particularly in Yemen, where those violations have dramatic
consequences for the civilian population.”
Heavily
relying on Western-supplied arms, the Saudi regime has been leading a military
coalition of allied countries in a bloody war against Yemen since 2015 with the
aim of reinstalling a Riyadh-friendly government in Sana’a.
The
military campaign has largely targeted ordinary people and Yemen’s civilian
infrastructure, including hospitals and schools, drawing calls from leading
human rights groups for a halt to weapons sales to the aggressors.
The
US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), a nonprofit
conflict-research organization, estimates that the war has claimed more than
100,000 lives for over the past five years.
The
Ansarullah movement, backed by armed forces, has been defending Yemen against
the Saudi-led alliance, preventing the aggressors from fulfilling the
objectives of the atrocious war.
Saudi-led
jets keep pounding Yemen
Late
on Monday, Saudi-led warplanes launched four airstrikes against the Mahliyah
district in Yemen’s central province of Ma’rib. There were no immediate reports
about possible casualties and the extent of damage caused.
Saudi-led
fighter jets had carried out nearly two dozen air raids against Medghal and
Sirwah districts in the same Yemeni province earlier in the day, though no
reports of casualties and damage were immediately available.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/11/17/638768/Yemen-Ansarullah-lauds-German-arms-ban-on-Saudi-Arabia-urges-others-to-follow-suit
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Palestine
To Resume Relationship With Israel After Month-Long Pause: Official
Joseph
Haboush
17
November 2020
Palestinian
officials announced Monday the resumption of ties with Israel after a
monthslong pause following the Middle East peace plan unveiled by Washington
earlier this year.
“In
light of the calls made by President #Abbas regarding Israel’s commitment to
the bilateral signed agreements,& based on the official written and oral
letters we received, confirming Israel’s commitment to them,” Civil Affairs
Minister Hussein Al Sheikh said on Twitter.
For
all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
“Accordingly,
the relationship with #Israel will return to how it was,” he added.
In
February, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that his country would cut
all ties with the United States and Israel, including those relating to
security, after rejecting a Middle East peace plan presented by US President
Donald Trump.
Israel
and the Palestinian Authority’s security forces have long cooperated in
policing areas of the occupied West Bank that are under Palestinian control.
The PA also has intelligence cooperation agreements with the CIA, which
continued even after the Palestinians began boycotting the Trump
administration’s peace efforts in 2017.
In
a Zoom video conference organized by the Council on Foreign Relations,
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said the decision to resume
contacts with Israel was based in part on confronting the health crisis.
Between
the hundreds of thousands of Israeli settlers who live in the West Bank, and
the tens of thousands of Palestinian workers who commute to Israel daily for
work, coordination was needed to help prevent the virus’s spread, Shtayyeh
said.
“Our
life is so interconnected between us and the Israelis, and there is no way that
we can fight viruses by ourselves only,” he said.
Palestinian
sources said cooperation with Israel would resume immediately. An Israeli
official said “we are very close” to renewing coordination, citing exchanges of
messages between Israel’s defense minister and Palestinian authorities.
“One
thing that certainly helped the Palestinians (reach their decision) was (Joe)
Biden’s election (as U.S. president), which gave them ... an excuse to climb
down from the tree,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/11/17/Palestine-to-resume-relationship-with-Israel-after-monthslong-pause-Official
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India
Muslim
Family Hands Over Temple Land Ownership Papers On Which A Shiva Temple Is Built
To Temple Committee, In Meerut
Nov
17, 2020
A
Muslim family of the city set an example of communal harmony on Diwali day when
they handed over ownership papers of a piece of land, on which a Shiva temple
is built, to the temple’s management committee.
According
to the family members, in 1976 their grandfather had verbally donated the land
in the city’s Indira Nagar locality for the temple.
The
temple was constructed on this donated land almost 25 years ago but land was
still in the name of late Kasim Ali of Shakoor Nagar here.
Meanwhile,
a group of local residents tried to take control of the temple as there was no
management committee to take care of it. Another group of local residents, led
by Sumit Kumar Sharma, opposed them and formed a committee of 11 members for
management of the temple. “We submitted all required documents in the
registrar’s office almost a month ago for registration of the committee,” said
Sharma, president of the committee.
They
then came to know that Kasim Ali had verbally donated the land for the temple
and the committee members approached Ali’s family last week with a request to
hand over the papers of the land. Kasim Ali’s sons Hazi Asim, Sajid and Sabir
assured them of handing over the documents of the land soon.
Kashif
Ali, son of Sajid and a TV artiste in Mumbai, said his family got the papers of
the land prepared and handed them over to the committee on Diwali day.
Showing
their gratitude towards the Ali family, members and officials of the temple
committee and local residents felicitated the three brothers and Kashif Ali
inside on temple premises on Monday and expressed their gratitude to them for
honoring the will of their grandfather. “They set an example of communal
harmony by their gesture,” said Sharma
Kashif
said: “We believe that people should respect each other’s religion and spread
the message of harmony and brotherhood.”
https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/in-meerut-muslim-family-hands-over-temple-land-ownership-papers-to-mgmt-committee/story-lep3mq9kr48PCQfZixPJKJ.html
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Congress,
CPI(M) plan to woo Muslims in Bengal ahead of AIMIM march for 2021 elections
November
18, 2020
In
a bid to stall the march of AIMIM in West Bengal, opposition CPI(M) and
Congress on Tuesday chalked out a detailed plan to reach out to the politically
crucial minority community of the state ahead of the 2021 assembly polls.
Political
equations in the polarised state are set to witness significant changes as the
sway of non-BJP parties over minorities, a key factor in several seats, appears
to be set for a stiff challenge with Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM announcing that
it will contest Bengal assembly polls, sources in the two parties said.
AIMIM
has clinched five seats in Bihar in the state polls.
The
CPI(M) and the Congress, which has decided to fight the next assembly polls as
alliance partners, Tuesday night held a two-hour-long meeting to determine the
strategy for the next assembly polls.
"As
a part of our outreach programme, apart from reaching out to the community
leaders and eminent personalities from the minorities community, both the
parties have decided to conduct special outreach programme on the National
Minorities Day on December 18. We have chalked out a detailed plan," said
a senior state Congress leader who is privy to the development said.
Before
the meeting, West Bengal PCC president Adhir Chowdhury and state Leader of the
opposition Abdul Mannan met Muslim religious leader Toha Siddique and appealed
to the community o stand by the secular forces, he said.
"We
met Toha Siddique at Furfura Sharif and appealed to minority community not to
get confused by the forces who are B-team of the BJP," Chowdhury later
told reporters.
When
asked about Owaisi's plan to venture into West Bengal, Chowdhury iterated
"AIMIM is nothing but the B-team of the BJP, whose sole aim is to divide
the Muslim votes and cause damage to the secular parties".
According
to state Congress and CPI(M) sources, both the parties are concerned about
AIMIM's entry into Bengal as 34 out of the 76 seats it had won in the 2016 assembly
polls as an alliance were from minority-dominated districts of Malda,
Murshidabad and North Dinajpur. These are districts which AIMIM is eyeing.
A
deciding factor in nearly 100-110 seats in the state, minorities specially the
30 per cent Muslims, till 2019 had acted as a bulwark of the TMC against its
rivals, with most of them voting in favour of the party. The minorities had
considered TMC to be a "credible" force that can resist saffron
surge.
But
AIMIM's decision to fight the assembly polls is likely to affect it.
During
the meeting, it was also decided that the Congress and the CPI-M will set up a
joint core committee to look into the aspects of district-wise seat-sharing in
the assembly polls.
It
has also been decided to increase the number of joint rallies and programmes in
the state, the senior Congress leader said.
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/congress-cpm-woo-muslims-in-bengal-1741794-2020-11-18
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‘Was
BJP-PDP alliance to bring back terror in J&K?’ asks Kapil Sibal after
Shah’s ‘Gupkar gang’ remark
Posted
by Shivani Kumar
Nov
18, 2020
Congress
leader Kapil Sibal on Wednesday lashed out at Union Home Minister Amit Shah
over his “Gupkar gang” remark and asked him if Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP)-People’s Democratic Alliance (PDP) alliance was done to “bring back
terror” in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Amit
Shah alleges: Congress wants to take ‘J&K back to the era of terror and
turmoil’ when in talk with other parties in the upcoming District Development
Council elections. Amitji was BJP -PDP alliance to “bring back terror in
J&K ..” ? Which gang were you then part of?” Sibal tweeted.
On
Tuesday, Shah had said that the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration wants
foreign forces to intervene in Jammu and Kashmir and asserted that Indian
people will no longer tolerate an “unholy global gathbandhan” against national
interest.
Taking
to Twitter, Shah had asked Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi and party
leader Rahul Gandhi if they support the People’s Alliance for Gupkar
Declaration which, he said, insults India’s tricolour.
The
Home Minister said that “Congress and the Gupkar Gang want to take Jammu and
Kashmir back to the era of terror and turmoil”.
However,
Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala clarified that “Congress
party is not a part of Gupkar alliance or People’s Alliance for Gupkar
Declaration.”
In
2015, BJP entered into an alliance with PDP as no party could get a majority in
2014 Assembly polls in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. However, in
2018, BJP pulled out of its coalition government with the PDP.
Parties
including the National Conference, PDP, Peoples Conference and CPI(M), formed
the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration and are fighting the maiden
District Development Council (DDC) elections together.
While
Farooq Abdullah was chosen as president of the People’s Alliance for Gupkar
Declaration, Mehbooba Mufti was picked to play a role of vice-president.
On
October 24, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah had said that the PAGD has
been formed to ensure the rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh
are restored. “All of us united that the pre-August 5th, 2019 position must be
restored,” he added.
The
DDC polls will be conducted in Jammu and Kashmir in eight phases between
November 28 and December 19, and the counting of votes will take place on
December 22.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/was-bjp-pdp-alliance-to-bring-back-terror-in-j-k-asks-kapil-sibal-after-shah-s-gupkar-gang-remark/story-JI033SrQ4GOhT5xbirYkML.html
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Madhya
Pradesh plans law to check ‘rising love jihad’ with five-year prison term
by
Iram Siddique
November
18, 2020
The
BJP government in Madhya Pradesh is planning to introduce a Bill in the next
session of the state Assembly to “check rising incidents of love jihad”, state
Home Minister Narottam Mishra said on Tuesday.
The
Bill, to be called Dharma Swatantrya (Freedom of Religion) Bill, 2020, proposes
five years of rigorous imprisonment for “luring a person through fraud and
forcing marriage by religious conversion”, Mishra told reporters, adding that
such an offence would be non-bailable.
The
Bill, modelled on the MP Dharma Swatantrya Adhiniyam, 1968, aims to prevent
conversion through marriage and will not only prohibit conversion or attempt to
convert by use of financial “allurement”, as specified in the earlier Bill, but
also add “conversion through fraud” and “misrepresentation”, along with
“force”.
The
earlier Act only specified imprisonment of up to one year, but the new Bill,
which will supersede the existing Act, will be more stringent, Mishra said.
Other
proposed provisions include making it mandatory for the kin of the person
“being forced to convert to another faith for the purpose of marriage” to file
a complaint.
Talking
to The Indian Express, Mishra said, “Such incidents are on the rise, which you
call ‘love jihad’. Such cases are on the rise in Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and
Uttar Pradesh.”
When
asked about the rise in alleged ‘love jihad’ cases, Mishra said there are
intelligence reports of such cases and “that’s the basis for making this law”.
An
official from the state government said statistics showing a rise in such cases
were “not immediately available”.
Mishra
added the Bill would have a provision to declare such marriages “null and
void”. However, such a move will need the concurrence of the Central government
since both the Hindu Marriage Act and the Special Marriage Act are Central
Acts.
When
asked about this, Mishra said, “We are working on the details but will take the
Central government’s view into consideration before finalising it.”
Under
the proposed Bill, those assisting “forced conversions for marriage” will be
made co-accused, Mishra told reporters.
The
draft proposal of the Bill will be sent for vetting to the law department and
is expected to be finalised over the next two weeks. Mishra said the Bill is
expected to be introduced in the state Assembly by December.
A
senior official from the state government said, “The previous Act prohibiting
religious conversion enforced in 1968 was upheld by the High Court in 1977.
This is modelled on it and we see no reason why it won’t be approved.”
Earlier,
the Madhya Pradesh government had in a letter to the Uttar Pradesh government
sought details of the law being proposed by them to counter love jihad.
BJP-ruled
Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka are also moving in the direction of a law
against religious conversion in the name of “love jihad”.
On
Tuesday, after chairing a ministry meeting to discuss the modalities for such a
law, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij said, “A strict law will be enacted to
control love jihad cases in Haryana. A committee shall be constituted to draft
this law.
https://indianexpress.com/article/india/sc-slams-centre-affidavit-on-tablighi-reporting-silent-on-tv-content-7055231/
--------
Omar,
Mufti react, say it’s a legitimate political alliance
Nov
18, 2020
SRINAGAR:
Omar Abdullah of National Conference and Mehbooba Mufti of PDP, constituents of
the Gupkar Alliance, have hit out at Amit Shah for saying that the alliance was
involving foreign forces to intervene in J&K.
Mufti
tweeted: “Love jihad, tukde tukde & now Gupkar Gang dominates the political
discourse instead of rising unemployment & inflation”. She added, “Fighting
elections in an alliance is also anti-national now.”
BJPs
propaganda is peddled day & night by pliable channels that dedicate their
prime time debates to issues such as… https://t.co/qjQ2H2CWQm
—
Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) 1605631291000
Abdullah
posted: “We are not a ‘gang’ Amit Shah ji, we are a legitimate political
alliance having fought & continuing to fight elections, much to your
disappointment.” He added: “Only in J&K can leaders be detained &
called anti-national for participating in elections & supporting the
democratic process. The truth is all those who oppose the ideology of the BJP
are labelled ‘corrupt & anti-national’.”
We
are not a “gang” Amit Shah ji, we are a legitimate political alliance having
fought & continuing to fight electi… https://t.co/qehMPOj0i4
—
Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) 1605604331000
Only
in J&K can leaders be detained & called anti-national for participating
in elections & supporting the democrat… https://t.co/0zPiar8aUb
—
Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) 1605604331000
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/omar-mufti-react-say-its-a-legitimate-political-alliance/articleshow/79272630.cms
--------
Pakistan
Massive
protests continue in Gilgit-Baltistan against rigged elections by Imran Khan's
PTI govt
Nov
18, 2020
GILGIT-BALTISTAN:
With the results seemingly in favour of Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in Gilgit Baltistan, massive protests continue in the
illegally occupied region alleging poll rigging in the Legislative Assembly
elections.
The
elections were held on Sunday in Gilgit-Baltistan in 24 constituencies of the
Legislative Assembly.
Thousands
of people turned up on the streets, carrying flags to protest against the
rigged polls.
While
speaking to his supporters, Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) chairperson Bilawal
Bhutto Zardari said: "Your mandate has been stolen. The votes of
Gilgit-Baltistan have been stolen."
Pakistan
Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) vice president Maryam Nawaz Sharif was also seen
addressing a crowd of protesters.
One
of the protesters said: "Whoever oppresses us, we will stand up against
them and die fighting. Today, through pre-poll rigging our mandate has been
stolen. Till our demands are not met, we will continue protesting."
Meanwhile,
human rights activist Amjad Ayub Mirza said that the Gilgit-Baltistan elections
were a 'scam'.
"There
has been a scam in the Gilgit-Baltistan elections. From three areas, the
polling boxes were stolen, and so, the two big leaders of Pakistan, Bilawal and
Maryam, have refused to accept the outcome of the elections. Bilawal has also
stated that if the three seats, which were previously won by PPP but later lost
through a scam, are not returned, he will not leave Gilgit-Baltistan,"
said Mirza.
According
to sources, thousands of people had taken to the streets in Skardu and Gilgit
areas against vote-rigging in the elections on Monday, with incidents of
several tires being set on fire and many roads blocked for hours were reported
in the region.
Bilawal
had alleged rigging in three constituencies. Addressing a sit-in in Gilgit, he
said rigging was made to snatch the mandate of PPP in Gilgit 1, Ghizer 3 and a
constituency in Skardu.
Dawn
quoted Bilawal as saying at a press conference that results were manipulated
"overnight" for elections on seats that the PPP was winning and the
party was declared to have lost them during the day.
In
addition, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz Sharif claimed that Imran Khan's
PTI won a few seats in Gilgit Baltistan's elections through 'rigging',
'bullying', and with the help of turncoats.
Maryam,
on her Twitter, wrote that Imran's PTI failing to achieve an absolute majority
in the northern region (illegally occupied) is a "shameful defeat"
for the incumbent government, the News International reported.
Elections
were held amidst relentless protest by the people of Gilgit Baltistan against
the Pakistan government's "illegal occupation" in the region.
India
has slammed Pakistan for its decision to hold elections in Gilgit-Baltistan and
said any action to alter the status of the militarily-occupied region has no
legal basis.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/massive-protests-continue-in-gilgit-baltistan-against-rigged-elections-by-imran-khans-pti-govt/articleshow/79275471.cms
--------
Prosperity
linked with commitment to democracy, says army chief
Saleem
Shahid
18
Nov 2020
QUETTA:
Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa visited the provincial
capital on Tuesday and interacted with the participants of a workshop.
The
National Workshop Balochistan aims to enhance understanding of the participants
about critical national security issues, timely decision-making process,
national security management system and elements of national power.
Speaking
on the occasion, the COAS said progress and stability in Balochistan was
critical to the prosperity of Pakistan. All stakeholders, including the army,
had synergised their efforts for socio-economic uplift of the people of
Balochistan, he added.
The
army chief said measures like fencing of borders with Afghanistan and Iran,
effective articulation of security apparatus deployed across the province and
Quetta Safe City project would have positive impact on the overall security
paradigm of Balochistan. Nefarious efforts of hostile elements to foment
terrorism and create chaos in the province would not be allowed to succeed, he
emphasised.
The
COAS reiterated that Pakistan’s peace and prosperity were linked with
commitment to democracy and its values.
Later,
Gen Bajwa visited School of Infantry and Tactics.
He
was briefed on new training modules, online examination systems enacted for
young leadership and innovative systems/techniques being incorporated in
training regime.
The
COAS asked the faculty and students to stay abreast with developments in modern
warfare. He appreciated the hard work and dedication of the faculty and staff
in grooming the young officers and soldiers for taking on the future challenges
befittingly.
Earlier
on arrival in Quetta, the army chief was received by Lt Gen Muhammad Waseem
Ashraf, the Commander of Southern Command.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1590940/prosperity-linked-with-commitment-to-democracy-says-army-chief
--------
UK
committee publishes scathing report on Lord Nazir
Atika
Rehman
18
Nov 2020
LONDON:
A day after British Pakistani Lord Nazir Ahmed tweeted that he has stepped down
from his role in the UK House of Lords after 20 years of service, a report
published by the Upper House revealed that a conduct committee recommended he
be expelled after an inquiry into sexual misconduct.
The
decision marks the first time a peer has ever been recommended for expulsion.
“Lord
Ahmed breached the Code of Conduct by failing to act on his personal honour in
the discharge of his parliamentary activities by agreeing to use his position
as a member of the House to help a member of the public but then; sexually
assaulting the complainant, lying to the complainant about his intentions to
help her with a complaint to the Metropolitan Police regarding exploitation by
a faith healer, exploiting the complainant emotionally and sexually despite
knowing she was vulnerable,” read the preamble to the report published on
Tuesday.
House
of Lords inquiry recommends his expulsion for misconduct and dishonesty
The
report added: “...the Commissioner found that Lord Ahmed knew that he was
dealing with a vulnerable person, who was undergoing treatment for anxiety and
depression and who had already made clear that she did not want a sexual
relationship. He nonetheless misleadingly induced her to visit him at his house
under the pretext of offering to assist her as a member of the House of Lords…”
UK
media reports suggest 43-year-old Tahira Zaman approached Lord Nazir three
years ago in the hope that he would help her in getting the police to
investigate a Muslim healer who she thought was a danger to women.
Ms
Zaman told BBC that Lord Nazir repeatedly asked her for dinner and she finally
agreed.
Weeks
after she contacted him about the case, he asked her to come to his east London
home. The two had a consensual sexual relationship. However, she said: “I was
looking for help and he took advantage of me. He abused his power.”
Lord
Nazir hails from Azad Kashmir and was made a life peer on the recommendation of
Prime Minister Tony Blair in 1998. Currently living in Rotherham, he sat in the
House until he retired this week.
Many
of his political activities relate to advocating for the Muslim community both
in the UK and abroad. In his Twitter bio, he describes himself as “a campaigner
for Kashmiris” and the “first Muslim member appointed to the House for life”. He
resigned from the Labour party in 2013.
He
came to Pakistan to meet Prime Minister Imran Khan after his victory in the
2018 general elections. The two discussed how to improve Pakistan’s relations
globally.
In
the inquiry report, the head of the committee found “that, while Lord Ahmed was
taking no steps to help Ms Zaman for the majority of their interactions, he
allowed and encouraged her to believe that he was”.
The
commissioner added: “[On] important issues Lord Ahmed persistently gave
deliberately inaccurate and misleading accounts to conceal his behaviour
towards Ms Zaman … I consider that in conducting himself in this manner he has
failed genuinely to cooperate with my investigation. He has failed to act on
his personal honour, as evidenced.”
Although
Lord Nazir admitted to having a brief relationship with the complainant, “he
did not accept that any of the potential breaches of the Code of Conduct had
taken place”, the report said.
In
a statement last year, he told BBC: “I completely deny the allegation that I
have exploited my position to pursue an inappropriate relationship with any
member of the public (vulnerable or otherwise) or that I have acted
inappropriately in the presence of women either in my personal or professional
capacity.”
Child
abuse trial pending
In
a separate case, the former Labour peer Lord Nazir and two of his brothers in
2019 were charged with historical sexual offences against minors. He has
pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Lord
Nazir was charged with serious sexual assault against a boy under the age of 11
and the indecent assault of the same boy; two counts of attempting to rape a
girl who was under the age of 16. All charges relate to dates between 1971 and
1974.
His
brother Mohamed Farouq was charged with four counts of indecent assault against
a boy. One of these counts relates to when the boy was under eight, in the late
1960s. His other brother Mohammed Tariq was charged with two counts of indecent
assault against a boy under 11.
The
trial was set to commence in January this year but has been postponed to resume
in January 2021 because of Covid-19 restrictions on jury trials.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1590926/uk-committee-publishes-scathing-report-on-lord-nazir
--------
Breaking
news of Osama raid to Pakistan was easier than thought, says Obama
Anwar
Iqbal
18
Nov 2020
WASHINGTON:
Barack Obama has claimed in his memoirs that breaking the news to Pakistan of a
US raid into Abbottabad to kill Osama bin Laden was easier than he had expected
as the then president Asif Ali Zardari understood the US position.
The
book — “A Promised Land” — was released on Tuesday and gives a blow-by-blow
account of the raid by American commandos that killed the world’s most wanted
terrorist on May 2, 2011 inside his compound in Abbottabad.
Obama
wrote that he knew ordering a military strike inside an allied state violated
its sovereignty but he decided to go for it as he did not want to miss the
chance to take out the Al Qaeda leader.
“Whatever
we chose to do in Abbottabad, then, would involve violating the territory of a
putative ally in the most egregious way possible, short of war- raising both
the diplomatic stakes and the operational complexities,” he wrote.
The
former US president revealed that his two closest aides, the then vice president
Joe Biden and defence secretary Robert Gates opposed the raid. The revelation
shows why Obama released the book after the Nov. 3 elections as it would have
hurt Biden, who is now the President-elect.
After
the raid, Obama called many American and world leaders, including the then
president of Pakistan.
Zardari
“showed genuine emotion, recalling how his wife, Benazir Bhutto, had been
killed by extremists with reported ties to Al Qaeda,” Obama wrote.
“I
expected my most difficult call to be with Pakistan’s beleaguered president,
Asif Ali Zardari, who would surely face a backlash at home over our violation
of Pakistani sovereignty,” he wrote.
“When
I reached him, however, he expressed congratulations and support. ‘Whatever the
fallout,' he said, ‘it’s very good news'."
Obama
then asked his military Chief, Mike Mullen, to call his counterpart in
Pakistan.
“Mullen
had put a call in to Pakistan’s army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, and
while the conversation had been polite, Kayani had requested that we come clean
on the raid and its target as quickly as possible in order to help his people
manage the reaction of the Pakistani public,” he said.
Obama
said he ruled out involving Pakistan in the raid because he believed that
certain elements inside Pakistan maintained links to the Taliban and perhaps
even Al Qaeda.
He
wrote that when it became increasingly clear that Bin Laden was living in a
hideout in Abbottabad, he decided to go for the kill.
“Based
on what I’d heard, I decided we had enough information to begin developing
options for an attack on the compound. While the CIA team continued to work on
identifying the Pacer, I asked Tom Donilon and John Brennan to explore what a
raid would look like,” he wrote.
“The
need for secrecy added to the challenge; if even the slightest hint of our lead
on bin Laden leaked, we knew our opportunity would be lost. As a result, only a
handful of people across the entire federal government were read into the
planning phase of the operation,” he said.
Although
he acknowledged that “Pakistan’s government cooperated with us on a host of
counterterrorism operations and provided a vital supply path for our forces in
Afghanistan,” he decided not to share the information with Islamabad.
“The
fact that the Abbottabad compound was just a few miles from the Pakistan
military’s equivalent of West Point only heightened the possibility that
anything we told the Pakistanis could end up tipping off our target,” he added.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1590958/breaking-news-of-osama-raid-to-pakistan-was-easier-than-thought-says-obama
--------
South Asia
Abdullah
Abdullah: US, Taliban Agreement No Basis for Peace Talks in Afghanistan
2020-November-17
“The
peace agreement between the US and the Taliban may not be the basis for all
talks in peace negotiations with the Taliban,” Abdullah was quoted by Tolou
News as saying on Tuesday.
Under
the Trump administration, the deal signed between the US and the Taliban was
claimed to pave the way for intra-Afghan peace talks in Doha between the Kabul
government and the Taliban. However, no tangible progress has been made at
these talks in the Qatari capital since its launch on September 12.
Abdullah
underlined that Afghanistan should reach a peace agreement which includes
people’s views.
He
also warned that if the Taliban continues the fight after the withdrawal of
foreign forces from Afghanistan, the country will be entangled in war for
years.
Meantime,
The Taliban in Afghanistan last Tuesday urged US President-elect Joe Biden to
stay committed to the Doha peace accord with the group, signed during the
Donald Trump administration.
In
its initial public response to the victory of Democrat Joe Biden in the US
presidential elections, the Taliban said in a statement that the Doha agreement
was "an excellent document for bringing an end to the war and for a better
future for both countries."
The
statement posted on the group's propaganda site addressed Biden and future US
administrations that withdrawing all American forces from Afghanistan would be
in the interest of both "our peoples and our nations." The group also
expressed its commitment to the agreement.
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/13990827000393/Abdllah-Abdllah-US-Taliban-Agreemen-N-Basis-fr-Peace-Talks-in
--------
Taliban
Offensive Claims 12 Security Members in Badakhshan
By
Mohammad Haroon Alim
17
Nov 2020
Local
officials told the media, at least 12 security force members were killed in
Badakhshan province on Monday evening.
Reports
indicated Taliban militants attacked the Jurm district of Badakhshan killing
more than a dozen Afghan troops and taking four others in captivity.
Taliban
have reportedly burned to armored Humvee vehicles and took other military
equipment with them.
On
the other hand, Police in Badakhshan reported to the media, that 10 security
force members were either killed or wounded during the Taliban offensives, but
the attack was repelled by the Afghan national forces.
Taliban
have not yet commented on the incident.
https://www.khaama.com/taliban-offensive-claims-12-security-members-in-badakhshan-9798798/
--------
Taliban
Battered in Kandahar and Herat, 35 Killed
By
Mohammad Haroon Alim
18
Nov 2020
The
Ministry of Defense (MoD) says that 29 Taliban militants were killed in
Kandahar, during the defense and security operations.
In
a released statement on Wednesday, the ministry stated, that a number of armed
Taliban, who were planning to attack security positions has been targeted by
AAF airstrikes.
According
to the Ministry of Defense, the attack took place in the Zherai district of
Kandahar province.
Besides,
the statement reports, that six Taliban insurgents had been killed in Herat
province.
Taliban
fighters were killed in a counterattack by security forces in Deh Sheikh and
Golmir villages of Pashtun Zarghun district of Herat province on Tuesday
afternoon, MoD stated, “Four Taliban fighters were also wounded in the
clashes”.
Recently,
the country’s defense and security forces have resorted to airstrikes to repel
attacks and suppress the movements of armed opposition groups, such operations
received less attention in the past.
This
comes in a time that American president Obama wrote in his book “A Promised
Land”, that the Pakistan army, ISI has
“open secret” ties with the Taliban and Alqaeda and the country uses
them as a strategic asset against Afghanistan and India.
https://www.khaama.com/taliban-battered-in-kandahar-and-herat-35-killed-897987/
--------
Officials
Detain ISIS-Taliban Member for Extorting Money: Saleh
By
Mohammad Haroon Alim
18
Nov 2020
First
Vice President Amrullah Saleh announces the arrest of an ISIS Taliban member.
Saleh
wrote on his Facebook page, Wednesday, that a member of the ISIS-Taliban named
“Ezatullah” had been arrested.
The
first vice president says the man wanted to extort $ 100,000 from money
changers and previously had thrown a hand grenade at them to set a grown fear
among the Shroves.
Saleh
also said that another Taliban member, “Mohammad Zahir”, who had recently
killed a national security official, had also been detained by security forces.
This
comes as the second core member behind the Kabul university attack is known as
Hezbollah, originally a resident of Kunar province, and the captured militant
is transferred to Kabul, Saleh said on Tuesday.
Saleh
previously, stressed that he has undeniable documents that show how security
gaps are being identified by the enemy.
https://www.khaama.com/officials-detain-isis-taliban-member-for-extorting-money-saleh-765776/
--------
Bangladeshis
welcome Saudi labour reforms for foreign workers
November
17, 2020
DHAKA:
Bangladeshi migrant workers in Saudi Arabia have lauded new labor reforms in
the Kingdom easing contractual restrictions on foreign employees.
Saudi
authorities recently announced that a seven-decade-old sponsorship system,
known as kafala, was to be abolished.
The
reforms, due to come into effect in March, are aimed at making the Saudi labor
market more attractive by granting more than 10 million foreign workers the
right to change jobs and leave the country without employers’ permission.
Shameem
Ahmed Chowdhury Noman, secretary-general of the Bangladesh Association of
International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA), told Arab News: “We welcome the
decision of the Saudi government. It’s a very positive move. Now the workers
can easily change their jobs which will definitely help them explore better
opportunities in the job market of the Kingdom.”
He
said that his organization was eagerly waiting to learn more about the new
system and was looking forward to its implementation.
Saudi
Arabia is the single largest destination for Bangladeshi migrant workers and
more than 2 million of them are living in the Kingdom.
Every
year, they send billions of dollars back to their home country. Remittances
from Bangladeshis in Saudi Arabia reached $4 billion in the last fiscal year,
according to data from the Bangladeshi Bureau of Manpower, Employment, and
Training (BMET).
Shariful
Hasan, migration head at Bangladesh-based international development agency
BRAC, told Arab News that the new system would make life easier for migrant
workers.
“It’s
obvious that migrant workers will be benefitted through the reformation of the
kafala system,” he said.
Under
the current kafala system, migrant workers are generally bound to one employer.
Bangladeshi
workers praised the new system which will base the relationship between
employers and workers on a standard contract certified by the government, and
will allow workers to apply directly for services via an e-government portal,
instead of a mandatory employers’ approval.
“My
shop is not doing good business since the outbreak of the coronavirus disease
(COVID-19) and I was planning to switch over the job. Now, I can take the
decision on my own,” migrant worker Mohammed Hossain told Arab News.
Shams
Joarder, who plans to work in Saudi Arabia, said the reform was a great relief
as it would allow workers to search for new jobs on the expiry of their
contracts while still residing in the Kingdom. “Now we can all change employer
without any hassle,” he added.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/1764461/world
--------
North America
After
9/11, US military should have invaded Saudi Arabia
17
November 2020
By
Tony Gosling
So
it's very interesting that President Trump is using his last month or so in
power to do this drawdown of troops, 2,000 from Afghanistan, which is about 40%
of the contingent there, and 500 from Iraq, which is 20% of the troops in Iraq.
I
mean, he's had to replace his defense secretary to do this, replacing him with
Chris Miller which is interesting because it shows that the previous defense
secretary basically wasn't cooperating with the president, even though he
chooses these people.
He's
given often in this sort of situation, the President is given a choice of
people, none of whom agree with him, but he's now in his last month asserting
himself a bit more. Now, what Chris Miller has said the new defense secretary
is that he doesn't want this perpetual war, which is great news.
Although
it's I'm afraid it's 19 years, which is too late. You know, it’s 19 years to
2001 when the Americans went into Afghanistan under George Bush Jr., and under
what pretext ? Under the pretext of these 9/11 attacks which are actually
carried out by Saudi Arabia.
So
maybe back in 2001, the US military should have been going into Saudi Arabia,
to occupy Saudi Arabia instead.
I
mean it was just an excuse to go into Afghanistan at the time. It was a media
hype around bin Laden, hiding in these fictitious caves in Afghanistan, and
it's about time that these troops were withdrawn, absolutely right.
But
the other thing to look at here is this perpetual war is also what we're
getting now is it's being replaced, or in fact added to domestically with the
perpetual war on the virus, so that this perpetual war idea seems to be
spreading like a virus itself within the deep state in the United States.
Also
worth mentioning that you've got to look at individual presidents as
individuals, like for example President John F Kennedy was very much... he was
in charge, he wanted to be in charge. He wasn't co-opted by the deep state or
the CIA to be their little poodle president.
And
what we saw with Trump was somebody that they were having to manage him right
the way through. They would have to push him, cajole him, etc into doing what
they wanted. And he kept his promise at no big new wars. He was making all
sorts of threats against North Korea, but then he went and made friends with
Kim Jong-un.
So
it's very interesting that I think we're going back now to a George Bush Jr.,
an Obama-type president, with Biden, somebody who the deep state know they can
just write a script for him and he'll read it out for them.
So
the end of the Trump era I think people are going to be a little bit looking
back with nostalgia towards President Trump - somebody that when he was stood
in front of the podium and the microphone was actually speaking his mind and
actually kept his promise not to start new wars.
*Beginning
his working life in the aviation industry and trained by the BBC, Tony Gosling
is a British land rights activist, historian, and investigative radio
journalist. For 20 years he has been exposing the secret power of the Bank for
International Settlements (BIS) and élite Bilderberg conferences where the dark
forces of corporations, media, banks, and royalty conspire to accumulate wealth
and power through extortion and war.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/11/17/638818/After-911,-US-military-should-have-invaded-Saudi-Arabia
--------
Pentagon
to pull 2,500 US troops from Afghanistan, Iraq before Trump leaves
17
November 2020
The
US Defense Department has reportedly been ordered to cut the number of troops
in Afghanistan from 4,500 to 2,500 and the number of forces in Iraq from 3,000
to 2,500 by January 15, days before outgoing President Donald Trump leaves
office.
“I
am formally announcing that we will implement President Trump’s orders to
continue our repositioning of forces” from Afghanistan and Iraq, the
president’s newly appointed acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller told
reporters at the Pentagon announced Tuesday.
He
further asserted that Trump’s decision “is based on continuous engagement with
his national security Cabinet for the past several months, including ongoing
discussions with me and my colleagues across the United States government.”
The
move comes on the heels of Trumps ouster of Defense Secretary Mark Esper, which
led to a flurry of resignations at the Pentagon, yielding gaps now filled by
Trump’s loyalist.
National
security adviser Robert O’Brien told reporters at the White House that the
Trump campaign has kept its promise of returning US troops back home.
“Four
years ago, President Trump ran on a promise to put a stop to America’s endless
wars,” O’Brien said. “President Trump is keeping that promise to the American
people.”
He
further emphasized that this has been the administration’s policy from the
get-go.
“By
May, it is President Trump's hope that they will all come home safely and in
their entirety,” O’Brien said. “I want to reiterate that this policy is not
new. This has been the president’s policy since he took office.”
In
an agreement reached between the US and the Taliban in February, the Trump
administration promised to pull out all its troops by mid-2021 in return for
the Taliban to stop their attacks on US-led occupation foreign forces in
Afghanistan.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/11/17/638823/US-to-pull-some-2,500-troops-from-Afghanistan,-Iraq
--------
Sudan
minister reveals US pressured Sudan to normalize with Israel
17
November 2020
US
President Donald Trump placed Sudan under “heavy pressure” to normalize
relations with the occupying regime of Israel and sought to use the
normalization deal as a card in his favor during the US presidential election
on November 3, a Sudanese government minister has told Press TV.
Sudan’s
Minister of Information Faisal Mohamed Saleh made the revelation in an
exclusive interview with Press TV’s correspondent in the Sudanese capital of
Khartoum, Ahmed Kaballo, on Monday.
Trump
announced at the White House in October that Sudan and Israel had agreed to
normalize relations. Sudan thus became the third Arab country — after the
United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain — to agree to a normalization deal with
Israel since August.
But
no signing ceremony has been held between Sudan and Israel so far.
Sudan’s
Acting Foreign Minister Omar Gamareldin has said the accord would depend on
approval from its yet-to-be formed legislative council under a power-sharing
deal between the country’s military and civilian leaders.
The
US has promised to remove Sudan from Washington’s list of so-called state
sponsors of terrorism (SST). That has widely been seen as the sole incentive
for Sudan’s normalization with the Israeli regime.
“In
the last few months, the question of normalization with Israel was raised and
that was not raised only with Sudan, as you may see, with Emirates, Bahrain,
and other countries. And we insisted on two things, the separation of the two
issues. We used to say to them, and that was said to US Secretary of State
[Mike] Pompeo when he came to Sudan, that these are two separate issues,
delisting Sudan from SST, [which] we are negotiating on that for 17 or 18
months, and normalization with Israel, that is a very controversial issue,”
Saleh told Press TV on Monday.
“Our
response to him (Trump) was that we are a transitional government and this
issue is not one of our mandate… This should be left to an elected government
to discuss… Then, the American pressure on Sudan started…,” the Sudanese
minister said.
“He
(Trump) used to raise the issues until maybe the last two weeks before the
American election, and I think Sudan was used as a card in the election,” he
added.
Trump
had been attempting to use the normalization deals as foreign policy
achievements in the run-up to the November election. Both Israeli and US officials
had repeatedly hinted since August that other Arab countries would follow suit.
Trump
was declared the loser of the presidential election.
The
Sudanese minister went on to say that, “Trump wanted to have some cards in his
favor. Part of it was convincing some Arab countries to normalize relationship
with Israel. So it was linked directly, Sudan was put under very heavy
pressure.”
“It
was said clearly this is linked, [that] ‘if you want Sudan to be delisted from
the SST, then you have to normalize relationship with Israel.’ It was a very
difficult situation,” he added.
Defending
his country against the illegal sanctions by the US administration, Saleh said,
“Sudanese people have nothing to do with terrorism and that was an act of our
state government and it is not fair. The Sudanese people should continue paying
the price of that because the old regime hated Sudanese people more than they
hated the Americans or the people of other countries. So we shouldn’t pay the
price twice, we have paid the price for 30 years.”
Sudan
was put on the so-called terrorism list in 1993 over allegations that its
ousted ruler, Omar al-Bashir, was supporting terrorism. Under Bashir, Sudan was
an enemy of the Israeli regime.
Sudan’s
inclusion on the list has made it difficult for the transitional government to
access debt relief.
All
Palestinian officials have roundly condemned the normalization deals as
betrayals of their cause.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/11/17/638807/Sudan-minister-reveals-US-pressured-Sudan-to-normalize-with-Israel-exclusive
--------
Accused
Canadian Neo-Nazi Soldier Offered U.S. Terror Group Paramilitary Training
17.11.20
A
former Canadian soldier facing terrorism-related charges in the U.S. promised
fellow members of a neo-Nazi terror group that he could train them at a
secretive paramilitary camp in the U.S.
Patrik
Mathews, 27, made the comments in a call with members of the Base, a recording
of which was obtained by VICE News.
Mathews
disappeared in August 2019 along the U.S.-Canada border near Minnesota only to
reappear months later in handcuffs after a January 2020 FBI raid in Delaware.
In the January phone call, Mathews is heard recounting how he could drill the
group in military tactics at a paramilitary camp that was to be held in
Michigan later that month.
“We
want to go from point A, to point B [with] as much stealth as possible,” he
said in the call. “And then when we're there, we strike like thunder. At least
I see that being proper guerrilla operations.”
Mathews,
arrested along with two other members of the Maryland cell of the Base, was
allegedly plotting to shoot up a gun-rights rally in Virginia and derail
trains—attacks meant to help incite a “Second Civil War”—before the FBI
intervened.
Mathews
has pleaded not guilty and his lawyer, Joseph Balter, filed a series of motions
to quash evidence pointing to Mathews’ role in the plot. Balter did not respond
to a request for comment from VICE News.
During
the call, Mathews said he could lead a training program built around the models
of guerilla warfare and “small unit tactics” common among jihadist
organizations and insurgencies in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan. (In
October 2019, at a separate paramilitary training camp held in Georgia, Mathews
also allegedly trained members of the Base in military drills.)
“I
know how to teach what I've been trained in,” said Mathews, who went under the
pseudonyms "PunishedSnake" and "Dave" in the Base’s
encrypted chat. “So what I figured out in terms of what I learned or somebody
that looks like me, so to speak, learned from the military, that I believe can
apply to guerrilla warfare is: recce (reconnaissance) patrols, maybe some
section; like a fire and move type stuff. Aside from that, it's more just understanding
how the military operates. And then from there, it's just […] patrolling, it's
like how to use terrain so that you can be max stealth.”
At
the time of the phone call in early January, Mathews had been in the U.S.
illegally for nearly five months. One of his co-conspirators, Brian Lemley Jr.,
an American veteran of the war in Iraq who went by the alias
"CantGoBack" while operating as a cell leader for the Base, harbored
the Canadian in a series of safehouses in Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia,
according to authorities. (In the same call, Lemley seemingly admits to hiding
“Snake” and helping him freely move around inside the U.S.). Lemley, who is
facing several federal charges of his own, did not respond to a request for
comment sent through his attorney.
Mathews
was a trained combat engineer and reservist in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF),
but was booted from the military once his ties to the Base came to light in the
summer of 2019 following a report in the Winnipeg Free Press. According to court
documents, after the RCMP, Canada’s federal police force, raided his home and
seized multiple weapons, Mathews went on the lam and was covertly ferried
across the border by members of the Base.
The
Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), which has well documented issue with the far-right
joining its ranks, declined to comment on Mathews allegedly using his military
taught skills to train other members of the Base.
The
call also revealed some of the internal problems plaguing the Base at the time,
including personal grudges that spilled over into death threats. Lemley and
Mathews described ongoing issues with the Georgia cell leader, Luke Austin
Lane, who went by "TMB" or "The Militant Buddhist" in the
group’s encrypted chat room.
“He
kind of urged a fatwa,” said Mathews. “If we say anything in particular, if I
say anything that, oh, I don't know, he is going to use his extensive reach and
God knows what he can do to, I don't know, [hurt] us with something.”
Do
you have information about the Base or other extremist groups? We’d love to
hear from you. You can contact Mack Lamoureux and Ben Makuch securely on Wire
at @benmakuch and @mlamoureux, or by email at mack.lamoureux@vice.com or
ben.makuch@vice.com.
Lemley
mentions that prior to the Georgia training camp, he had contacted the group’s
leader, Rinaldo Nazzaro, a New Jersey native and ex-Pentagon contractor now
living in Russia (with possible links to the Kremlin, which he denies), about
Lane’s instability. “So when we went down to the Georgia meet, I was telling [Nazzaro]
‘You know, like there's a huge problem.’”
The
death threats against members of the Base were first revealed in an FBI
affidavit against three Georgia members, including Lane, who were raided by the
FBI days after the Maryland arrests, for a plot to assassinate a local
antifascist activist and his wife. The operation to takedown Lane and the other
cell members in Georgia, included an undercover agent who infiltrated the Base
for close to five months.
The
Base, along with the Atomwaffen Division—a parallel neo-Nazi organization with
a similar terroristic mantra—has been the subject of a broader nationwide FBI
counterterrorism operation resulting in the arrests of several accerlationist
terror suspects, including another member of the Base in Wisconsin and Justen
Watkins, 25 (whose alias was "AK"), the Michigan cell leader that was
supposed to host the paramilitary camp Mathews spoke of.
Mathews
is due to appear in court again in January.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/xgzdaj/accused-canadian-neo-nazi-soldier-offered-us-terror-group-paramilitary-training?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1726020_
--------
Europe
Armenians
return to Nagorno-Karabakh after Russia-brokered cease-fire with Azerbaijan
17
November 2020
Joyous
scenes of smiles and hugs could be seen Tuesday on the main square of
Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, as ethnic Armenians returned to
their homeland a week after a cease-fire between Armenia and Azerbaijan halted
the fighting that had raged over the separatist region for more than six weeks.
The
Moscow-brokered truce called for territorial concessions in favor of Azerbaijan
and left many Armenians bitter, but allowed those who fled from the violence to
return to their homes.
For
all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
“I
feel great because I’m coming back to my sons,” said None Agasyan, whose two
sons were injured during the fighting.
According
to the Russian Defense Ministry, Russian peacekeepers deployed to the region in
accordance with the cease-fire agreement have accompanied more than 1,200
people returning to Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenia since Saturday. Turkey’s
parliament, meanwhile, granted President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government
permission to deploy peacekeepers to Azerbaijan to monitor the cease-fire.
Nagorno-Karabakh
lies within Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces
backed by Armenia since a separatist war there ended in 1994.
That
war left not only Nagorno-Karabakh itself but substantial surrounding territory
in Armenian hands.
Heavy
fighting that flared up Sept. 27 marked the biggest escalation of a decades-old
conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, killing hundreds and possibly
thousands of people.
The
truce last week stipulated that Armenia turn over control of some areas its
holds outside Nagorno-Karabakh’s borders to Azerbaijan. It halted the fighting
after several failed attempts to establish a lasting cease-fire, but prompted
mass protests in the Armenian capital Yerevan and calls for Armenian Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinian's ouster.
In
a sign of the political crisis deepening, Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan
resigned Monday after the ministry publicly contested Pashinian's claims about
the course of the peace talks. Another Cabinet member, Emergency Minister
Feliks Tsolakyan, submitted his resignation on Tuesday.
On
Monday evening, Armenian President Armen Sarkissian added to the pressure,
saying in an address to the nation that holding an early election, which
implies Pashinian stepping down, is “inevitable.”
But
politics appeared far away from residential buildings of Stepanakert, where
residents were unpacking their belongings after returning from Armenia.
Bela
Khachateryan, a doctor at a maternity clinic, found her apartment in the
region's capital untouched by shelling, but without electricity or gas. Still,
for Khachateryan, who came back to Stepanakert on Tuesday with her mother and
daughters after nearly two months away, there is no place like home.
“Wherever
we are staying, even with Armenians (in Yerevan), we’re drawn to here, to our
home, to our city," Khachateryan said after unpacking heavy bags with
groceries she brought from Yerevan. "We are used to this place. We love
our city.”
US
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday said the United States welcome the
cease-fire and is providing $5 million in humanitarian assistance “to support
the operations of the International Committee of the Red Cross and other
international organization and non-governmental organization partners to assist
people affected by the recent fighting.”
The
assistance will go towards local efforts to provide food, health, shelter, and
other emergency assistance to conflict-affected persons, Pompeo said.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2020/11/18/Armenians-return-to-Nagorno-Karabakh-after-Russia-brokered-cease-fire-with-Azerbaijan
--------
Trial
in France for extremist foiled by 3 Americans on train
17
November 2020
PARIS
-- Head lowered, an Islamic State operative listened silently as a Paris judge
on Monday detailed his alleged plot to unleash mass slaughter on a high-speed
train before he was tackled and subdued by American vacationers whose heroics
inspired Clint Eastwood to direct a Hollywood re-enactment.
Opening
a month-long trial for Ayoub El Khazzani, the judge said the 31-year-old
Moroccan with ties to a notorious mastermind intended to “kill all the
passengers" aboard the Amsterdam to Paris train in 2015 but “lost control
of events.”
El
Khazzani, who is on trial with three suspected accomplices, acknowledged the
charges against him with a simple “Yes.”
He
risks life in prison if convicted of attempted terrorist murder.
The
heavily-armed and bare-chested El Khazzani wounded a French-American who
managed to briefly yank a Kalashnikov from his hands before the three
vacationing Americans took him down.
The
drama on the train is portrayed by investigators as one of a series of
IS-linked attacks in Europe that include the Nov. 13, 2015 massacre in Paris at
a music hall and cafes that killed 130 people. A failed 2015 attack in
Verviers, Belgium, and 2016 attacks in Brussels are also among them.
The
suspected mastermind of the Paris massacre, Abdel Hamid Abaaoud, also worked as
behind-the-scenes leader of the train attack, according to investigators. Their
probe showed that Abaaoud and El Khazzani traveled together from Syria to
Belgium and holed up with Chatra in a Brussels apartment.
French
special forces killed Abaaoud days after the Bataclan attack.
The
alleged train attack plot went awry when passengers moved in on El Khazzani.
One
of the Americans who tackled the gunman told investigators that he seemed high
on drugs and “completely crazy,” the judge said.
A
lawyer for the two U.S. servicemen and their friend, whose electrifying capture
of El Khazzani inspired Eastwood's movie “The 15:17 to Paris", said their
heroics during the drama on Aug. 21, 2015 thwarted a “slaughter.”
“This
terror attack could have killed up to 300 people based on the number of
ammunition that was found on the terrorist and in his bag,” said the attorney,
Thibault de Montbrial.
With
El Khazzani and his three alleged accomplices seated behind protective glass in
a heavily-secured courtroom, the trial opening was largely taken up with
procedural issues including whether Eastwood’s presence is needed. That
question wasn't immediately resolved. The actor-director so far hasn't
responded to a summons. The three Americans hailed as heroes are to testify.
El
Khazzani boarded the train in Brussels armed with a Kalashnikov, nine clips
with 30 rounds each, an automatic pistol and a cutter, according to
investigators. A bottle of high flammable yellow liquid also was found in black
suitcase, the judge said.
His
lawyer, Sarah Mauger-Poliak, said El Khazzani “regrets having allowed himself
to become indoctrinated” by extremist propaganda and wants "to demonstrate
his remorse.” He wants to speak to the victims if allowed, she said.
El
Khazzani, bearded under his mask and his hair pulled back in a bun, said when
asked about his prison conditions after several reprimands, “It's hard,” but “I
deserve it.”
Three
others, who were not on the train, are being tried as alleged accomplices.
Bilal
Chatra, 24, an Algerian member of the Islamic State group, would have been the
second man on the train but dropped out of the plot a week earlier. He left
Syria for Europe a week before to set up the exit route.
Mohamed
Bakkali allegedly sheltered the attackers in Budapest, Hungary, which he
denies. The two were arrested in Germany in 2016. A third man, Redouane El
Amrani Ezzerrifi, allegedly piloted a boat to help in their return to Europe.
The
trial ties into the massacre of 130 people in Paris three months later, on Nov.
13, 2015, at the Bataclan music hall and restaurants and cafes.
Once
aboard the train, El Khazzani lingered in a restroom between cars and emerged
bare-chested with the Kalashnikov. One waiting passenger struggled with the
attacker, then a French-American, Mark Magoolian, wrestled the Kalashnikov away
— before being shot himself by a pistol. He jumped in after a French banker,
who has asked to remain anonymous, wrestled unsuccessfully with El Khazzani.
Spencer
Stone, then a 23-year-old U.S. airman, has said he was coming out of a deep
sleep when the gunman appeared. He said Alek Skarlatos, then a 22-year-old U.S.
National Guardsman recently back from Afghanistan, “just hit me on the shoulder
and said ‘Let’s go.’”
The
men, all from California and following what Skarlatos has said was “gut
instinct," snapped into action. Stone and Skarlatos moved in to tackle the
gunman, helped by a third man, Anthony Sadler, 23, then a student. Stone said
he choked El Khazzani unconscious. A British businessman also joined the fray.
Stone,
whose hand was injured by the cutter, is also credited with saving Magoolian,
whose neck was squirting blood. Stone said he “just stuck two of my fingers in
his hole and found what I thought to be the artery, pushed down and the
bleeding stopped.”
The
train rerouted to Arras, in northern France, where El Khazzani was arrested.
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/trial-france-extremist-foiled-americans-train-74228268?utm_source=iterable&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1726020_
--------
Arab world
UAE's
Mohammed bin Zayed, Israel's President exchange visit invitations
Tuqa
Khalid
17
November 2020
Sheikh
Mohammed bin Zayed, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander
of the UAE Armed Forces, exchanged with Israel's President Reuven Rivlin
invitations to visit their respective countries, state news agency WAM reported
on Tuesday.
Rivlin's
letter to Sheikh Mohammed discussed "bilateral relations and ways to
enhance them to serve mutual interests."
For
all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
"In
his message, the Israeli President expressed appreciation for the efforts made
to sign the historic peace accord, paving the way for a new era in the ties
between the two countries. President Rivlin extended an invitation to His
Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed to visit Israel," WAM said.
"In
his reply, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed thanked President Rivlin for his
positive and constructive stance. He also expressed the UAE's appreciation for
the cooperation that led to the historic peace accord, which is poised to
contribute to regional stability. He also extended an invitation to the Israeli
President to visit the UAE."
The
UAE normalized ties with Israel after a US-brokered deal which was announced at
the White House on August 13 and signed in Washington on September 15.
The
UAE agreed to normalize relations with Israel, while Israel agreed to continue
with plans to suspend its annexation of the West Bank. The UAE also abolished
on August 29 a previous law that mandated an economic boycott of Israel.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2020/11/17/UAE-s-Mohammed-bin-Zayed-Israel-s-President-exchange-visit-invitations
--------
Saudi
Arabia’s Prince Turki cautions against same mistakes of Iran nuclear deal
Joseph
Haboush
Saudi
Arabia’s former intelligence chief Prince Turki Al-Faisal Tuesday cautioned
Washington from repeating the same mistakes made under the Joint Comprehensive
Plan of Action (JCPOA).
“Mr.
President-elect [Joe Biden], do not repeat the mistakes and shortcomings of the
first deal. Any non-comprehensive deal will not achieve lasting peace and
security in our region,” Prince Turki said during the 29th Annual Arab-US
Policymakers Conference.
Biden
was Obama’s VP and has previously expressed his willingness and intention to
re-enter the JCPOA, which was heavily criticized and withdrawn from by
President Donald Trump.
“Iranian
disruptive regional behavior in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia,
by attacking directly and indirectly the oil installations is as much of a
threat as is its nuclear program,” Prince Turki said.
Any
new deal should include all issues of concern, and this means Washington’s
friends and allies need to be part of potential negotiations, Prince Turki
suggested.
The
JCPOA has been criticized for focusing on Iran’s nuclear program and ambitions
without discussing Tehran’s terrorist proxies and militias in the region as
well as its ballistic missile program.
Prince
Turki also warned against American retrenchment from the Middle East, “which
widens … the existing strategic vacuum that is increasingly coveted by regional
and other great powers.”
However,
this increases the “appetite of radical states and forces in the region,” he
said, which is detrimental to US interests and those of its allies.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2020/11/17/Saudi-Arabia-s-Prince-Turki-warns-Biden-against-same-mistakes-of-Iran-nuclear-deal
--------
Iran
diplomat: Saudis must drop blame game if they want to develop nuclear weapons
17
November 2020
Iran’s
permanent representative to Vienna-based international organizations says Saudi
officials should stop engaging in blame-shifting if Riyadh is down the path of
developing nuclear weapons and seeks to invent an excuse for avoiding
cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
In
two tweets posted late on Tuesday, Kazem Gharibabadi responded to recent
anti-Iranian remarks by Saudi Arabia’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs
Adel al-Jubeir, who told the DPA news agency in a recent interview that the
kingdom “reserves the right” to arm itself with nuclear weapons if Iran cannot
be stopped from making one.
“Scapegoating
and fearmongering are two common and classic methods used by demagogues!”
Gharibabadi wrote.
“If
you want to pursue a nuclear weapon program, or you are seeking for an excuse
to justify your lack of cooperation with the IAEA or your outdated safeguard
system, at least have the courage to admit it and pay the price for it, don’t
blame your wrongdoings on others by lies,” he added.
Riyadh’s
nuclear ambitions have become a source of heightened concern for the global
community in recent years, especially after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin
Salman first hinted in 2018 that the kingdom may go for nukes.
During
a trip to the US in mid-March 2018, the heir to the Saudi throne said if Iran
develops a nuclear bomb, “we will follow suit as soon as possible.”
The
kingdom has so far kept its nuclear activities secret, defying calls for it to
implement the IAEA’s Comprehensive Safeguards Agreements, a system of
inspection and verification of the peaceful uses of nuclear materials.
Reports
about Saudi Arabia’s undeclared nuclear activities were confirmed earlier this
year by satellite images, which showed a large compound in a suspicious
location in the heart of the desert.
Citing
Western officials, The Wall Street Journal reported in early August that Saudi
Arabia, with Chinese help, has built a facility for extraction of yellowcake
from uranium ore near the remote town of al-Ula.
The
New York Times also said American intelligence agencies had spotted what
appeared to be an undeclared nuclear site not too far from the town of
al-Uyaynah, located 30 kilometers northwest of Riyadh, and its Solar Village.
The
agencies, the report said, are scrutinizing attempts by the kingdom to build up
ability to produce nuclear fuel that could potentially lead to the development
of nuclear weapons.
Unlike
Saudi Arabia, Iran showed the peaceful nature of its nuclear program to the
world by signing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with six world
states — namely the United States, Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China —
in 2015. The nuclear deal was also ratified in the form of a UN Security
Council Resolution 2231.
The
US, however, unilaterally pulled out of the deal and re-imposed unilateral
sanctions against Tehran in a move supported by the regimes in Saudi Arabia and
Israel.
Tehran
remained fully compliant with the JCPOA for an entire year as confirmed by the
IAEA, waiting for the co-signatories to fulfill their end of the bargain, but
as the European parties failed to do so, it moved in May 2019 to suspend parts
of its commitments with the Agency’s supervision under Articles 26 and 36 of
the deal covering Tehran’s legal rights.
Iran
says its retaliatory measures are reversible as soon as the other sides fulfill
their contractual obligations.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/11/18/638840/Iran-Saudi-nuclear
--------
Iraqi
military says four rockets struck Baghdad’s Green Zone
18
November 2020
The
Iraqi military says four rockets have targeted the Green Zone in the capital
Baghdad, an area that houses government buildings and foreign missions,
including the US embassy.
The
Iraqi military announced in a statement on Tuesday that four Katyusha rockets
had landed near the US Embassy in the heavily fortified Baghdad Green Zone,
with reports of sirens having gone off in the diplomatic mission.
The
statement added that the rockets had been fired from the New Baghdad district
located in the east of the capital.
#عاجل |سقوط 4 صواريخ على
المنطقة الخضراء، أطلقت من منطقة حي الأمين الثانية في شرق بغداد pic.twitter.com/vmAazOjT3o
—
شبكة
الصحافة العراقية +INP (@INPPLUSarabi) November 17, 2020
There
were no immediate words on possible damage or casualties, but Iraqi officials,
speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Associated Press news agency that
at least two Iraqi security personnel had sustained injuries in the attack.
The
heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, which hosts foreign diplomatic sites
and government buildings, has been frequently targeted by rockets and
explosives in the past few years.
Washington,
each time, has been quick to point the finger at popular anti-terror groups,
which are now integrated into Iraq's armed forces.
The
US has time and again targeted positions of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units
(PMU), also known as Hashd al-Sha’abi, after blaming the major anti-terror
force for the rocket attacks. The popular group has strongly denied any
involvement in the strikes.
The
Tuesday incident marks the first such attack after anti-terror groups in Iraq
agreed last month to stop military operations against US and foreign forces in
Iraq to allow them to leave the Arab country.
Anti-American
sentiments have been running high in Iraq since the US assassinated Iran’s
anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, and the deputy head
of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, in Baghdad on
January 3.
Just
days later, Iraqi lawmakers unanimously passed a bill mandating the withdrawal
of all foreign troops from Iraq.
The
US has refused to withdraw its troops, with US President Donald Trump balking
at the idea with the threat to seize Iraq's oil money held in bank accounts in
the United States.
Iraqi
resistance groups have pledged to take up arms against US forces if Washington
fails to comply with the parliamentary order.
The
US announced on Tuesday that it would slash troop levels in Afghanistan and
Iraq to 2,500 in each country, their lowest levels in nearly 20 years of
invasion.
Washington
still has some 3,000 troops stationed across Iraq.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/11/18/638827/Iraqi-military-rockets-Green-Zone-Baghdad
--------
Iraqi
army jets target Daesh remnants in eastern Diyala Province
17
November 2020
The
Iraqi Army F-16 aircraft have targeted the positions of remaining Daesh
terrorists in the eastern province of Diyala.
The
Iraqi Security Information Cell said in a statement that the aerial operation
was conducted on Diyala’s Khanaqin district on Tuesday morning.
Groups
of armed terrorists have recently increased their activities in Diyala as well
as the provinces of al-Anbar and Saladin, prompting the Iraqi armed forces and
the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) to jointly carry out several large-scale
operations, arrest a number of militants and destroy their hideouts, the
statement read.
Lately,
it added, Diyala’s al-Muqdadiya and Abi Sayda districts have witnessed attacks
against security forces, civilians and local figures.
On
Saturday, the Security Information Cell announced that Prime Minister Mustafa
al-Kadhimi had called for the reinforcement of the armed forces in Diyala in
the face of terrorists.
Almost
two dozen executed on terrorism charges
On
Monday, the Iraqi Interior Ministry said in a statement that 21 convicted
terrorists and murderers had been hanged at a prison in the southern city of
Nasiriyah.
Among
those executed were people involved in two deadly attacks in the city of Tal
Afar, in northern Nineveh Province, according to the statement.
It
did not elaborate on the identities of the executed people or their
convictions.
Daesh
began a terror campaign in Iraq in 2014, overrunning vast swathes in lightning
attacks.
The
PMU or Hashd al-Sha’abi played a major role in reinforcing the Iraqi army,
which had suffered heavy setbacks against the Takfiri elements.
Iraq
declared victory over Daesh in December 2017 after a three-year
counter-terrorism military campaign, which also had the support of neighboring
Iran.
The
terror outfit’s remnants, though, keep staging sporadic attacks across Iraq,
attempting to regroup and unleash new era violence.
Daesh
has intensified its terrorist attacks in Iraq since January, when the United
States assassinated top Iranian anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem
Soleimani and PMU’s deputy commander, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Baghdad
International Airport.
The
two commanders were highly popular because of the key role they played in
eliminating Daesh in the region.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/11/17/638771/Iraqi-army-jets-target-Daesh-remnants-in-Diyala-Province
--------
Iraqi
Leader: Popular Forces Ready to Give Crushing Response to Any Threat by Trump
2020-November-17
“The
resistance front is fully prepared and vigilant and will reciprocate any threat
by the mad Trump with twice more powerful response,” al-Kaabi wrote on his
twitter page on Tuesday.
He
stressed that the resistance front will not withdraw, fail or fear, adding that
occupiers will be confronted until their complete pull-out from Iraq.
In
a relevant development in August, the Iraqi resistance groups in a statement
threatened to target the American interests in the Arab country if the US fails
to withdraw its forces from the Iraqi soil.
The
statement was released concurrent with the premier's meetings with American
officials at the White House -- by the resistance groups that form part of
Iraq’s Hashd al-Sha’abi or Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) anti-terror force,
Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen television network reported.
The
PMU, which includes such resistance groups as the Kata’ib Hezbollah and Harakat
Hezbollah al-Nujaba, has been integrated into the Iraqi Defense Forces as a
result of its successful and indispensable contribution to the country’s defeating
the Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) terrorist group in late 2017.
The
groups considered expulsion of the troops to be Baghdad’s top priority, urging
the PM to accord primacy to a law approved by the parliament that mandates the
forces’ withdrawal.
The
legislature passed the law in January shortly after a US drone strike
assassinated Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force
of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis,
the PMU’s second-in-command, in Baghdad alongside many others. The attack came
while General Solemani was paying an official visit to the Iraqi capital.
“If
an agreement on the expulsion of US forces from Iraq is not concluded in
Washington, we reserve the right to target America’s interests in Iraq,"
the statement warned.
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/13990827000193/Irai-Leader-Pplar-Frces-Ready-Give-Crshing-Respnse-Any-Threa-by
--------
Saudi
Arabia rejects, condemns Israel's settlement moves near East Jerusalem
Tuqa
Khalid
17
November 2020
Saudi
Arabia rejects and condemns Israel's move decision to invite contractor bids to
build 1,257 new settlements near East Jerusalem, the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs said on Tuesday.
"The
Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirms the Kingdom's condemnation and rejection of
the move, which contravenes international resolutions, undermines efforts
towards the two-state solutions and affects efforts to achieve peace in the
region," the ministry said in a tweet.
Israel
moved ahead on Sunday with a settler housing plan in a sensitive area near East
Jerusalem, a step critics said aimed to shore up the project before US
President-elect Joe Biden takes office.
On
its website, the Israel Land Authority (ILA) invited contractor bids for
building 1,257 homes in Givat Hamatos, under a plan revived in February by
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after it had been effectively frozen by
international opposition.
Bidding
ends on Jan. 18, the ILA said, two days before Biden is to be sworn in to
replace President Donald Trump, whose administration has been supportive of
Israeli settlement on occupied land Palestinians seek for a state.
Nabil
Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said in a
statement that settlements were illegal under international law and the tender
was part of Israeli efforts "to kill the internationally-backed two-state
solution".
Opponents
of the project say it would sever parts of East Jerusalem from the nearby
Palestinian town of Bethlehem in the West Bank, an issue European Union foreign
policy chief Josep Borrell raised, saying he was "deeply worried" by
the tender.
"This
is a key location between Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank.
Any settlement construction will cause serious damage to the prospects for a
viable and contiguous Palestinian State," Borrell said in a statement.
The
ILA gave no date for the start of construction.
Peace
Now, an Israeli anti-settlement group, accused Netanyahu's government of
"taking advantage of the final weeks of the Trump administration in order
to set facts on the ground" at Givat Hamatos.
Israel
cites historical, political and biblical links to the West Bank and over
440,000 Israeli settlers live there, among three million Palestinians.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/gulf/2020/11/17/Saudi-Arabia-rejects-condemns-Israel-s-settlement-moves-near-East-Jerusalem
--------
Mideast
Netanyahu
had ‘warm’ talk with US President-elect Biden: Israel’s PM office
Tuqa
Khalid
17
November 2020
Israel’s
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a “warm conversation” with US
President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday, the PM’s office said.
“Prime
Minister Netanyahu spoke this evening with US President-elect Joe Biden. In a
warm conversation, the President-elect reiterated his deep commitment to the
State of Israel and its security,” the PM’s office said.
For
all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
“Prime
Minister Netanyahu said that the special bond between Israel and the US is a
fundamental component of Israel's security and its policy,” the office added.
“The
two agreed to meet soon in order to discuss the many issues on the agenda and
reiterated the need to continue bolstering the steadfast alliance between the
US and Israel.”
This
can be considered as a delayed and clear acknowledgement of Biden defeating
Donald Trump, who is one of Netanyahu’s allies.
Netanyahu
had congratulated Biden and running mate Kamala Harris on Twitter on November
8, a day after the Democrat declared victory in the US ballot.
However,
in that message and subsequent public remarks, Netanyahu had refrained from
referring to Biden as "president-elect", in what was widely seen as
Israel as an attempt to avoid angering Trump, who has challenged his rival's
victory.
But
the statement issued after Netanyahu and Biden spoke used that term and said
they had "a warm conversation."
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/11/17/Netanyahu-had-warm-talk-with-US-President-elect-Biden-Israel-s-PM-office
--------
Iranian,
Iraqi Air Forces Stress Cooperation in War on Terrorism
2020-November-17
During
the meeting, General Nasirzadeh and General Jahid discussed grounds to further
reinvigorate mutual cooperation and regional synergy between the two countries.
They
also underscored the existence of grounds for cooperation in joint operations,
overhauling and maintenance of different aircraft and training human resources.
Cooperation
and operational synergy in fighting the Takfiri terrorists and other forces
which threaten Iran and Iraq’s sustainable security were among other issues
reviewed by the two commanders.
In
a relevant development on Saturday, Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General
Amir Hatami in a meeting with his Iraqi counterpart General Juma Anad Saadoun
in Tehran underlined his country’s preparedness to supply the Armed Forces in
Iraq with needed weapons and military equipment.
“Thanks
to its abundant capacities and infrastructures which are the fruits of the
cruel sanctions era after the victory of the Islamic Revolution, the Islamic
Republic of Iran’s defense ministry is ready to provide the Iraqi Armed Forces’
needs to strengthen Iraq’s defense power,” General Hatami said in the meeting.
Earlier
this month, Iranian Army Airborne Commander General Yousef Qorbani announced
that the Iraqi Army has demanded Iran to sell and mount its indigenous night vision
systems on the Arab country’s helicopters.
“The
Iraqi airborne officials visited Iran recently and we also decided to pay a
reciprocal visit and the Iraqi side was highly interested in purchasing
(helicopter) parts from Iran and wanted the Iran-made night vision systems to
be mounted on their helicopters,” General Qorbani said.
He
noted that Iran is now able to produce 500 helicopter parts, adding that the
first indigenously developed helicopter will be manufactured in the country
soon.
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/13990827000499/Iranian-Irai-Air-Frces-Sress-Cperain-in-War-n-Terrrism
--------
Leader's
Aide Warns against Presence of Takfiri Terrorists in Azerbaijan
2020-November-17
“There
is no sense in the presence of Wahhabi and Takfiri terrorists among the Azeri
people,” Velayati said on Monday, adding, “The Azeri people can liberate their
own country and Wahhabi terrorists will never be tolerated at Iranian borders.”
“We
believe that [protecting] Iran's national security will not be possible without
security and calm in neighboring states,” he reiterated.
“Iran
has common borders with Azerbaijan, Armenia and with part of Azerbaijan in
Nakhchivan and no country in the region has such characteristic,” Velayati
added.
“It
is logical for Iran as neighbor of Azerbaijan and Armenia to seriously pursue
the issue,” he added.
"Supreme
Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei had stressed that the
occupied part of Azerbaijan should be given back to that country," he
said.
In
relevant remarks on Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed
Khatibzadeh said that establishment of peace in the Karabakh region will be to
the benefit of all the regional nations, but meantime underlined that his
nation stands firm against the deployment of any Takfiri terrorists near its
borders.
"There
have been numerous reports on the presence of Takfiris, but we constantly hear
from (official Azeri) sources that these reports are not accurate," he
noted, adding that Tehran would not tolerate presence of militants across its
borders.
"The
Islamic Republic of Iran has played and will continue to play a strategic role
in all equations in the region,” the spokesman stated, and added, “The only
permanent solution to this crisis is to consider the sovereignty of countries
and respect borders."
Karabakh
is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but it has been held by
ethnic Armenian separatists backed by Armenia since 1992, when they broke from
Azerbaijan in a war that killed some 30,000 people.
The
conflict re-erupted in late September, becoming the worst fighting in the
region in decades.
After
weeks of fighting in and around Karabakh, the separatist junta government of
the region finally acknowledged last week that it had lost control of the
mountain enclave’s second-largest city of Shusha and that Azerbaijani forces
were closing in on the main city of Khankendi, which Armenians call Stepanakert
after a Bolshevik militant in the early 20th century.
Armenia
and Azerbaijan eventually agreed to end hostilities earlier this week, under
the deal that secured territorial advances for Azerbaijan in Karabakh and seven
surrounding districts.
In
the meantime, Russia has deployed a peacekeeping contingent to
Nagorno-Karabakh, to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire deal.
Moscow
announced on Sunday that two Antonov An-124 Ruslan military transport aircraft
carrying Russian peacekeepers and equipment had arrived in Yerevan.
“The
aircraft delivered 10 BTR-82A armored personnel carriers, logistics equipment,
as well as about 30 military personnel from peacekeeping units,” the military
announced in a statement.
President
Vladimir Putin on Saturday called on Azerbaijan to protect Christian shrines in
the lands that are being given back to Baku.
Putin
“underscored the importance of securing safety and normal church life of these
shrines” in a phone call with his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev on Saturday,
according to the Kremlin.
Aliyev
noted that was how Azerbaijan, the Muslim nation, will act, according to the
Kremlin.
Azerbaijan
says almost all mosques and other Azerbaijani landmarks have been destroyed by
Armenian forces during about 28 years of occupation.
https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/13990827000633/Leader's-Aide-Warns-agains-Presence-f-Takfiri-Terrriss-in-Azerbaijan
--------
Israel
says air strikes in Syria hit Syrian, Iranian military targets
18
November 2020
Israel
launched air strikes against Syrian and Iranian targets in southern Syria on
Wednesday after explosive devices were planted in the Israeli-held Golan
Heights, the Israeli military said.
The
Syrian state news agency reported that three military personnel were killed and
one was wounded in “Israeli aggression.”
In
a statement, the Israeli military said its planes targeted the Syrian army and
Iran’s Quds Force, hitting storage facilities, military compounds and Syrian
surface-to-air missile batteries.
For
all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
“Earlier,
Israel Defence Forces (IDF) troops exposed improvised explosive devices (IEDs)
on the Israeli side of the Alpha Line which were placed by a Syrian squad led
by Iranian forces,” the statement said, referring to territory inside the
Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
“The
IEDs’ exposure on Tuesday is further clear proof of the Iranian entrenchment in
Syria,” the statement said. Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz, on a visit to
the northern border on Tuesday, said Israel would not tolerate the planting of
explosives in the Golan, territory captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East
war.
“We
cannot turn a blind eye to this. It’s a grave incident,” Gantz told reporters.
Israel
has repeatedly attacked Iranian targets in Syria and those of allied militias,
including Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Gantz said Israel held Syria responsible for
“everything that occurs on [Syrian] territory.”
President
Bashar al-Assad’s government has never publicly acknowledged that there are
Iranian forces operating on his behalf in Syria’s civil war.
Western
intelligence sources say Israel’s stepped up strikes on Syria this year are
part of a shadow war approved by Washington in a bid to check Iran’s military
reach.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/11/18/Israel-says-air-strikes-in-Syria-hit-Syrian-Iranian-military-targets
--------
Turkey's
parliament grants Erdogan permission to deploy peacekeepers to Azerbaijan
17
November 2020
Turkey’s
parliament on Tuesday granted President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government
permission to deploy peacekeepers to Azerbaijan to monitor a cease-fire deal
between Azerbaijan and Armenia that aims to end the conflict in the region.
In
a show of hands, legislators voted in favor of a one-year mandate allowing the
government to send troops to Azerbaijan, where they would observe possible
violations of the truce from a joint Turkish-Russian monitoring center. The
cease-fire ended six weeks of intense fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia
over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
For
all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
Erdogan’s
government would determine the number of troops to be sent and it wasn't
immediately clear how many the country planned to deploy. The motion states
that civilian personnel could also be deployed as part of the peacekeeping
mission.
Last
week, the defense ministers of Russia and Turkey signed a memorandum of
understanding to create a joint monitoring center in Azerbaijan, although
technical details of the mission are still being worked out.
Azerbaijan
has been pressing for its ally Turkey, which has backed in in the conflict, to
take an active role in the peace talks and was the first to announce its
involvement in the monitoring of the cease-fire agreement.
Russian
officials have said that Ankara’s involvement will be limited to the work of
the monitoring center on Azerbaijani soil, and Turkish peacekeepers wouldn't go
to Nagorno-Karabakh. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said the center
will operate remotely, using drones and other technical means to monitor
possible violations.
Russia,
which negotiated the cease-fire, is sending about 2,000 peacekeeping troops
under a five-year mandate.
Nagorno-Karabakh
lies within Azerbaijan but has been under control of ethnic Armenian forces
backed by Armenia since a separatist war there ended in 1994.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/11/17/Turkey-s-parliament-grants-Erdogan-permission-to-deploy-peacekeepers-to-Azerbaijan
--------
Israel
finds explosive devices in Golan, blames Syria for ‘violating sovereignty’
Emily
Judd
17
November 2020
Israel
blamed the Syrian regime on Tuesday for violating its ‘sovereignty’ in the
Golan Heights after finding improvised explosive devices (IEDs) on the Israeli
side of the country’s border with Syria.
Israel’s
Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Twitter their discovery of “a number” of IEDs
in the southern Golan Heights.
“We
hold the Syrian regime responsible for all events in Syria and will not
tolerate any violation of our sovereignty,” the IDF said in a post on its
official Twitter account.
The
incident is just one of many recent escalations in the disputed territory,
currently controlled by Israel.
In
July, the IDF announced it struck Syrian military targets near the Golan
Heights, in response to munitions fired from Syria.
"Earlier
today, munitions were fired from Syria toward Israel. In response, our aircraft
struck military targets in southern Syria belonging to the Syrian Armed
Forces," the IDF said in a post on Twitter.
In
August, the Israeli military targeted a militant group placing explosives along
the border fence with Syria on the Golan Heights.
Israel
seized the territory of the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Arab-Israeli
war and officially annexed the land in 1981.
The
United States, through the Trump administration, recognized Israeli sovereignty
over the Golan Heights last year.
https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2020/11/17/Israel-finds-explosive-devices-in-Golan-blames-Syria-for-violating-sovereignty-
--------
Southeast Asia
Developer
of popular Muslim Pro app denies selling data to US military
November
17, 2020
PETALING
JAYA: A Singapore-based developer of an Islamic prayer app has rubbished claims
it sold the personal information of its users to the United States military,
dismissing such reports as “incorrect and untrue”.
The
Straits Times reported Muslim Pro’s head of community Zahariah Jupary as saying
that the protection and respect of its users were its “utmost priority”.
“As
one of the most trusted Muslim apps over the last 10 years, we adhere to the
most stringent privacy standards and data protection regulations, and never
share any personal identifiable information,” the Singapore daily quoted her as
saying.
Reputed
to be the “most popular Muslim app in the world”, Muslim Pro lists down prayer
times and shows them the direction of Mecca depending on their location.
It
also provides audio recordings of the Quran as well.
Earlier
today it was reported that Muslim Pro, which has been downloaded at least 95
million times in 200 countries, had sold its user location data to X-Mode.
It
was then sold to third-party contractors who allegedly gave it to the US
military.
The
data which was reportedly purchased had included location information as well
as the name of the wifi networks users were connected to.
The
app’s developer, Bitsmedia told ST that it will be “immediately terminating its
relationships with its data partners”, although they did not go into specifics.
Meanwhile,
other reports say Bitsmedia had cut all ties with X-Mode and other data
partners.
Vice
Media, a US-Canadian digital media company, had reported that the US military
bought Muslim Pro’s data via X-Mode, a third-party data broker.
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2020/11/17/developer-of-popular-muslim-pro-app-denies-selling-data-to-us-military/
--------
We’re
not rebels’: Young leaders form ‘progressive’ caucus to push for reforms in
Malay-dominated Umno
18
Nov 2020 05:48 AM MYT
BY
DANIAL DZULKIFLY
KUALA
LUMPUR, Nov 18 — Hoping for a “return” of Umno to its more centrist and
people-centric roots, several like-minded young leaders in the party have
banded together in a “progressive” caucus as a platform for those who share
their ideals.
Seeking
to uphold the ideals of democracy, sustainable equity policies, and ultimately
advancing Malay politics through progressive ideas, these mostly professional
Umno members have formed the group calling itself ‘’Progresif Umno".
Speaking
to Malay Mail, one of the movement’s founding members, Muhammad Shaqib
Shahrilnizam, said the creation of the caucus was meant to provide a voice for
what he deemed as “the silent majority” within the party who lack an avenue to
express their ideas or concerns.
“The
idea of the caucus is to bring a new narrative that is more friendly towards
the people. We need to find a new narrative so that people would appreciate
Umno and they feel Umno is one of the places where they can express their
ideas, concerns, and even a place where they can fight for,” said the Pulai
Umno Youth information chief.
“At
the moment, Umno is perceived to be so conservative, an Islamist party, a party
that propagates propaganda, this is what is clouding the party now but Umno is
not like that.
“There
are a lot of professionals within the party but they feel there is a lack of a
caucus or a platform for them to be empowered. By establishing a caucus, it is
like a beacon for all these silent progressives within the party to come together,’’
the 24-year-old said.
So
who are the ‘progressives’ in Umno?
The
group said that members of the progressive caucus include those from the
Barisan Nasional Youth Volunteers group, overseas Umno supporters clubs, and
local university students.
“These
people believe in the progressive value of Umno. So we are not a small group,”
Shaqib said.
Another
founding member, Ariff Zaky Zolkafly, who is also a committee member of Sg
Siput Umno Youth, said the party has yet to possess a new “recipe” in accepting
progressive members within their ranks.
He
recalled that Umno during its early years comprised many teachers, working
professionals and pertinent members of their respective communities.
“In
the past, it's true that Umno used to consist of teachers, who were deemed as
professionals as many of them had graduated with diploma and degrees and what's
more is that they understand the problems at their respective locality.
“As
time progress, we see engineers, doctors and other professionals joining the
party, that in itself is progressive. But looking at the dynamic of politics
right now, Umno have to accept these people but we have to find a new recipe to
accept them being progressive within the party,’’ he said.
Making
Malay politics progressive
So
what exactly counts as “progressive” ideas espoused by the caucus, considering
the party by the virtue of its constitution will continue to be an ethnocentric
one?
The
group said these include ideas and policies that are directed towards advancing
Malay politics, while at the same time pushing for equity and moving away from
racial politics — the last particularly associated with Umno, an exclusively
Malay nationalist party.
“We
need to go back to our roots. The true fundamentals of Umno. Umno’s ways of
politics that focus on the people’s wellbeing, not emphasising on hate
speeches, or struggling for power.
“We
do this for the people, not asking for people to listen to Umno, but that Umno
should listen to people, change the voice and demand of the people, into a
better collective policy-driven approach,” Shaqib said.
Both
Shaqib and Ariff also claimed that progressive ideas are hardly new in the
party, citing the names of its four influential pioneers: Datuk Onn Jaafar,
Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra al-Haj, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, and Tun Dr Ismail
Abdul Rahman.
Onn
was the founder and first president of Umno; Tunku Abdul Rahman was the
country’s first prime minister and Abdul Razak his immediate successor; while
Dr Ismail was the latter’s deputy.
“Progressive
ideas are not new, nor unappealing within Umno. From Tunku's brotherhood
spirit, the policy framework brought by both Tun Dr Ismail and Tun Abdul Razak,
the value of Datuk Onn's unification. There’s a deep progressive tradition in
Umno,’’ said Shaqib.
“Progressive
means the way we carry this party forward, strongly with the idea of Umno’strue
principle and ideologies.
“We
are pro-welfare, we want to advance Malay politics, we emphasise on equitable
distribution of wealth, without leaving anyone behind. It won’t be a stumbling
block, progressive is a caucus, not just a rebellious group,’’ said Shaqib.
Reforming
Umno from the inside
Since
its inception, Umno has identified itself as a centre-right party, with an
emphasis on nationalism, communal politics, and pro-Malay-Muslim policies.
However
following the historic 2018 general elections which saw them fall from power
for the first time in six decades, political observers have cautioned of the
rise of more right-wing politics as Umno and their once political enemy PAS,
banded together.
Political
experts have stated the cooperation of the two parties dubbed as Muafakat
Nasional has adopted a populist stance reinforced by communal and religious
politics, a move to appeal to some within the Malay community.
While
attracting like-minded progressive to Umno may prove to be challenging on
itself, Ariff said the faction itself needs to be active in participating
within their own respective party branches and divisions.
“We
want them to learn the party’s system and along the way, we will support them
and teach them on how to position themselves within the party,” he told Malay
Mail.
“Some
were reluctant to voice their concerns before but now through this movement, we
can help them and from work towards changing Umno from within.”
Ariff
also stressed that the progressive caucus is not a platform for any popular
figures within the party, saying they are only intending for genuine work
towards change within the party for the good of all.
“We
are working independently as we do not want to be labelled as anyone’s platform
but rather a genuine means of getting likeminded people together and working
towards a goal,’’ he said.
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2020/11/18/were-not-rebels-young-leaders-form-progressive-caucus-to-push-for-reforms-i/1923624
--------
Parliament
to discuss issues on undocumented migrants, religious sentiments today
18
Nov 2020
KUALA
LUMPUR, Nov 18 — Efforts by the government in managing illegal immigrants and
enforcement of laws pertaining to religious sentiments are among matters to be
discussed at the Dewan Rakyat sitting today.
Based
on the Order Paper of the Parliament sitting today, the issues will be raised through questions
to the Home Minister during the questions for oral answers session.
They
include by Che Alias Hamid (Pas-Kemaman) on the implementation of the five-year
Holistic Plan for the Enforcement Against Illegal Immigrants to address the
influx of illegal immigrants into the country, while Ramli Mohd Nor (BN-Cameron
Highlands) wants to know whether amendments would be made to existing laws and
regulations to provide for heavier punishment against individuals who insult,
ridicule, or play on religious issues.
There
will also be a question by Maria Chin Abdullah (PH-Petaling Jaya) on the
government’s position in the Rome Statute and on the possibility of Malaysia
agreeing to be a member of the International Criminal Court.
After
the session ends, the house will debate the Supply Bill 2021 on Budget 2021 for
the seventh day.
The
Parliament will sit for only four hours, from 10am to 2pm daily from Monday to
Thursday, with only 80 Members of Parliament — 41 from the government and 39
from the Opposition and Independent — are allowed to be in the House at any one
time.
It
is a precautionary measure following the spread of the Covid-19 outbreak.
According
to the Parliament’s calendar, the third session of the Third Term of the 14th
Parliament is for 27 days until Dec 15. — Bernama
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2020/11/18/parliament-to-discuss-issues-on-undocumented-migrants-religious-sentiments/1923661
--------
Africa
Full-scale
humanitarian crisis unfolding in Ethiopia: UNHCR
17
November 2020
The
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says a full-scale humanitarian crisis
is unfolding in Ethiopia as thousands of people flee the country’s northern,
conflict-torn Tigray region and the border area with Sudan.
The
UNHCR said on Tuesday that an average of 4,000 women, men, and children had
crossed the border into eastern Sudan every day since November 10.
UNHCR
spokesman Babar Baloch also told a briefing in the Swiss city of Geneva that in
total, over 27,000 people had traveled into Sudan at three border locations
over the past few days.
“UNHCR
is warning that a full-scale humanitarian crisis is unfolding as thousands of
refugees flee ongoing fighting in Ethiopia’s Tigray region each day to seek
safety in eastern Sudan,” Baloch said.
“People
are coming out of Ethiopia really scared, afraid, with stories saying they have
been fleeing heavy fighting and there’s no sign of the fighting stopping,” he
said.
Sudan,
one of the world’s poorest countries, is now faced with the massive influx. UN
agencies were mobilizing resources and trying to assist the refugees, who have
been arriving in growing numbers with few possessions or provisions.
Jens
Laerke, another spokesman of the OCHA said, “There may be massive displacement
inside Tigray and that is of course a concern and we try to prepare the best
way possible.”
The
Ethiopian government has been fighting local rebels in Tigray since late last
month.
Prime
Minister Abiy Ahmed said earlier on Tuesday that a three-day deadline given to
the rebels in Tigray to lay down their arms had ended, warning of a final push
to retake the regional capital, Mekelle.
The
fighting has left hundreds dead and forced hundreds of thousands to flee across
the border into Sudan. The crisis also risks destabilizing the wider Horn of
Africa region.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/11/17/638805/Full-scale-humanitarian-crisis-unfolding-in-Ethiopia-UNHCR
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Ethiopian
PM declares deadline given to rebels in north over
17
November 2020
Ethiopian
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed says the three-day deadline given to rebel forces in
the northern region of Tigray to lay down their arms has ended, warning of a
final push to retake the regional capital, Mekelle.
"The
three-day ultimatum given to Tigray Special Forces and the militia to surrender
to the national defense... ended today," Abiy said in a statement posted
on Facebook on Tuesday. "Following the expiration of this deadline, the
final critical act of law enforcement will be done in the coming days."
Abiy
gave Tigray's ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), three
days to surrender to the national army on Friday. He said they were "in
the final throes of death."
The
prime minister announced a military offensive in Tigray on November 4, saying
it was in response to assaults by the TPLF on federal troops.
The
fighting has left hundreds dead and forced around 25,000 Ethiopians to flee
across the border into Sudan. The crisis also risks destabilizing the wider
Horn of Africa region.
The
warning came after government forces conducted "precision-led and surgical
air operations" outside Makelle, according to a government emergency
task-force, and after ground troops pushed forward, reportedly on Monday
morning.
Tigrayan
leaders accused the government of having attacked a sugar factory and a dam.
Abiy,
a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has resisted calls by the United Nations, the
African Union, and various countries for talks with the armed rebels in the
north.
The
fighting is now set to continue as Tigrayan leader Debretsion Gebremichael said
on Tuesday that "the government and people of Tigray" would hold
their ground.
"This
campaign cannot be finished. As long as the army of the invaders is in our
land, the fight will continue. They cannot keep us silent by military
force," he told AFP.
Nobel
Committee calls for end to fighting
The
Nobel Committee, which awarded Abiy the 2019 Peace Prize for his efforts to
heal divisions with Eritrea, expressed its deep concern about the fighting in
Ethiopia and urged all parties to de-escalate.
"The
Committee is following developments in Ethiopia closely and is deeply
concerned," its Secretary Olav Njolstad told AFP on Monday.
"It
reiterates today what it said before, namely that all parties involved share
responsibility for halting the escalation of violence and contributing to
resolving differences and conflicts by peaceful means."
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2020/11/17/638769/Ethiopian-PM-declares-deadline-given-to-rebels-in-north-over
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