Kashmiri Hospitality: Stranded Tourists From Punjab Find Shelter In Mosque Amid Heavy Snowfall In Kashmir
New Age Islam News Bureau
28 December 2024
A vehicle stranded on the Jammu-Srinager National Highway after heavy snowfall, in Anantang district, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024.
PTI
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· Kashmiri Hospitality: Stranded Tourists From Punjab Find Shelter In Mosque Amid Heavy Snowfall In Kashmir
· Lahore High Court Rules A Non-Muslim Not Entitled To Inherit Any Share From The Estate Of A Muslim Relative, Either As A Successor Or Predecessor
· Sharia Law’ll Cause AnarchyDivision, And Instability In South-West, Traditional Leaders Warn
· After Public Caning In Terengganu, Perlis Mufti Says Rejection Of Practice Does Not Mean Opposing Islam
· Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Calls For Unity Among Anti-Fascist ForcesTo Build A "New Bangladesh"
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India
· Owaisi Slams UP Over New Police Post Near Sambhal Mosque: Funds To "Open Police Posts And Liquor Bars" Instead Of Schools And Hospitals
· Two More Arrested In Sambhal Violence After Mosque Survey, Total Arrests Reach 50
· Properties of 3 Pakistan-based ultras attached in J&K’s Rajouri
· Kashmiri shawl sellers facing harassment in Himachal: PDP chief
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Pakistan
· ‘Nuclear Real Target’: Bilawal Sees ‘Foreign Conspiracy’ Behind US Statements Favouring Imran
· PTI Seeks Shift In State Policies, Slams Tendency To Term Dissent ‘Anti-State’
· Talks cannot go hand in hand with backing for terrorists, PM Shehbaz tells Kabul
· PTI Free To Table As Many Demands As It Wants, Says Govt Committee Spox
· Govt close to settlement of madressah conundrum
· Support for illegal activities fuelling terrorism: ISPR
· Nine terrorists killed in North Waziristan
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Africa
· Lagos Imam to Tinubu: You’ve Not Disappointed Us
· ‘They Are Toys’ – DHQ Speaks On Boko Haram Drone Attack On Military Bases
· National Security, Economic Transformation Remain Tinubu’s Priorities – Shettima
· DHQ Issues Fresh Claims On Sokoto Airstrikes That Killed Scores
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Southeast Asia
· Public caning in Terengganu over syariah offence sparks tensions
· IGP urges parents to monitor children’s social media to protect against online predators
· Pahang police: Temerloh trader scammed of RM117,000 in bogus investment by fake stock exchange official
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South Asia
· Attack on Noakhali Muslim’s shop falsified as recent communal incident: Rumor Scanner
· Continued efforts of Islamic Emirate towards preventing human trafficking!
· 16 Bangladeshis arrested in India for illegal entry
· Journalists' access restricted for secretariat safety: CA press wing
· Our aim’s not power, it’s to establish good governance
· Foreign Ministry summons Pakistan’s Chargé d’Affaires regarding airstrikes in Paktika
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Mideast
· Jordan’s King Abdullah Reaffirms Support For Syria’s Sovereignty, Calls For Gaza Ceasefire
· Tehran Friday Imam defends Iranian advisors’ presence in Syria
· Turkiye to allow pro-Kurdish party to visit jailed militant leader
· Israel says intercepted missile from Yemen, day after Sanaa hit with strikes
· Humanitarian disaster in Yemen could get even worse if attacks by Israel continue, UN warns
· Relatives of Bashar Assad arrested as they tried to fly out of Lebanon
· Fresh air strike hits Sanaa, say Houthis
· UN worker seriously hurt in Israeli Yemen strike moved to Jordan, WHO says
· Syrian equestrian champ reveals 21 years of torture at hands of Assad regime
· Iran FM warns against ‘destructive interference’ in Syria’s future
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Arab World
· Islamic Military Coalition Training Program Focuses On Hazardous Risks
· Saudi Arabia condemns Israel’s burning of Gaza hospital
· Saudi Arabia to provide $500m in new economic support for Yemen
· Diriyah Season exhibition honours symbols of Saudi resilience
· King Salman Global Academy launches Camel Lexicon
· How Saudi organizations are building a sustainable future for wildlife
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Europe
· Ukrainians Hope For A New Year Prisoner Exchange With Russia
· North Korean soldier captured in Ukraine dies, reports say
· Georgia's pro-Western president refuses to leave and prepares for showdown
· Russian blogger jailed for pro-Nazi videos and religious insults
· EU country ready to host Russia-Ukraine talks – PM
· Half of Canadians favor union with US – tycoon
· Russian Education Ministry disavows school book blaming rapes on victims
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North America
· Cracks appear in Maga world over foreign worker visas
· Footage shows NY officers beating prisoner before death
· Greg Gumbel, famed US sportscaster, dies at 78
· Trump urges US Supreme Court to delay TikTok ban
· Man charged with murder, arson in NYC subway killing
· Memorial fund grants 9 scholarships for ski areas across North America
· President-elect Trump wants to again rename North America's tallest peak
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/tourists-punjab-mosque-snowfall-shelter/d/134176
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Kashmiri Hospitality: Stranded Tourists From Punjab Find Shelter In Mosque Amid Heavy Snowfall In Kashmir
28.12.24
A vehicle stranded on the Jammu-Srinager National Highway after heavy snowfall, in Anantang district, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024.
PTI
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In a heartwarming display of Kashmiri hospitality, locals in Gund, on the Srinagar-Sonamarg highway, opened the doors of a mosque to shelter a group of travellers stranded due to heavy snowfall.
A dozen tourists from Punjab found themselves caught in the snowfall on Friday while returning from the Sonamarg area, officials said Their vehicles became stuck in the snow and with no nearby hotels and local houses too small to accommodate the group, Gund residents opened the doors of the Jamia Masjid, allowing the tourists to stay there for the night, officials added.
"It was the best possible solution as the mosque has a hamaam, which stays warm throughout the night," said Bashir Ahmad, a local resident.
The Jamia Masjid at Gund is located less than 10 kilometers from the site of a terrorist attack in Gagangir, where six people -- five non-local labourers and a local doctor -- were killed in October this year.
A video of the tourists spending the night inside the mosque has since gone viral.
The tourists expressed their gratitude to the locals for their help. "We were stuck in the snow, and you came to our rescue. We are extremely thankful to all of you," one of them said.
Another tourist added, "Everyone should visit Kashmir to experience its hospitality. Everyone here is kind and it is safe to visit. Please come to this paradise on earth." Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq praised the gesture and said it was heartening to see Kashmiris open their mosques and homes to stranded tourists amidst heavy snowfall.
"This gesture of warmth and humanity reflects our longstanding tradition of hospitality and helping others in times of need," he said on X.
Elsewhere, heavy snowfall also left many tourists stranded along the Srinagar-Jammu highway and at tourist destinations like Doodhpathri.
However, not all the stranded tourists were complaining. "The car ignition isn’t working due to the cold, and we have to push it. But it's fine; we're enjoying it," said a tourist from Haryana as he waited for clearance at Qazigund to head home.
Police and civil administration have begun reaching out to stranded tourists, providing hot drinks and other necessities to keep them warm.
Source:telegraphindia.com
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https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/stranded-tourists-find-shelter-in-mosque-amid-heavy-snowfall-in-kashmir/cid/2073938
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Lahore High Court Rules A Non-Muslim Not Entitled To Inherit Any Share From The Estate Of A Muslim Relative, Either As A Successor Or Predecessor
Wajih Ahmad Sheikh
December 28, 2024
LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has ruled that a non-Muslim is not entitled to inherit any share from the estate of a Muslim relative, either as a successor or predecessor.
Justice Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal issued the ruling upholding the decisions of two lower courts regarding a devolution of a land measuring 83 kanals in Gojra tehsil of Toba Tek Singh district.
The landowner was Muslim by faith and after his demise the property was devolved to his children — three sons and two daughters.
However, a Muslim grandson of the deceased challenged the mutation in favour of one of his uncles while alleging that the latter was an Ahmadi by faith and as such he could not inherit the property from the estate of his deceased Muslim father.
The courts decreed in favour of the grandson who sought cancellation of the subsequent mutations. During the cross-examination, one of the heirs of the non-Muslim man also testified that his father was an Ahmadi.
Justice Iqbal observed it was an admitted position that the man was an Ahmadi by faith, but he did not disclose the same while incorporating the inheritance mutation of his Muslim father. “It is settled law that admitted facts need not to be proved,” the judge maintained.
The judge asserted that as per Sharia, the estate left by a deceased Muslim owner cannot be inherited by a non-Muslim heir. To explain this point, he quoted the saying of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) from Vol. 4 of Sahih Muslim: “A Muslim does not inherit from a disbeliever and a disbeliever does not inherit from a Muslim.”
Justice Iqbal observed that in the British rule the personal laws of the respective communities dwelling in India were protected through promulgation of legislated law. Similarly, he said, the Muslim Personal Laws were also made applicable to the Muslims through Muslim Shariat Application Act, 1937. Therefore, he added, the canon of the Holy Quran and Sunnah are applicable to inheritance of the estate of a deceased Muslim.
Considering these facts, the judge ruled that a non-Muslim was not entitled to inherit any share from the estate of his Muslim relative as successor or predecessor. Also, the provisions of Article 260(3), which defines the terms Muslim and non-Muslim for legal purposes, are applicable, retrospectively, he explained.
The LHC noted that the trial court rightly decreed the suit, which was lawfully upheld by the appellate court.
While dismissing the petition, the judge concluded, “The concurrent findings of fact are against the petitioners which do not call for any interference by this court in exercise of its revisional jurisdiction in absence of any illegality or any error of jurisdiction.”
Source:dawn.com
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1881520/non-muslim-cant-inherit-from-muslim-relative-lhc
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Sharia Law’ll Cause AnarchyDivision, And Instability In South-West, Traditional Leaders Warn
28th December 2024
By Muhammed Lawal
South west map
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Peeved by the reported move to introduce Sharia law in South-West, traditional leaders in the region have warned that any attempt to initiate such a law will cause anarchy, division, and instability.
According to them, Sharia law, in any form, is unsuitable for Yorubaland.
Earlier, PUNCH Online reported that a flier went viral on Tuesday, inviting guests from across the country to the inauguration of a Sharia court scheduled for January 11, 2025, at the Muslim Community Islamic Centre, Oba Adeyemi High School Road, Mobolaje Area, Oyo.
The flier listed the Bashorun of Oyo Land, High Chief Yusuf Akinade Olayinka I, as the Royal Father of the Day; the Mufairu of Oyo Land, Alhaji Abdullateef Eleyele, as the Spiritual Father of the Day; and the Aare Musulumi of Oyo Land, Alhaji Tajudeen Kamorise, as the Chief Host.
However, the event drew criticism from a cross-section of Nigerians, with many arguing that the predominantly Yoruba South-West is distinct from the northern region, where Muslims are in the majority.
In 2021, the President of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, Bishop Wale Oke, cautioned the Senate against covert attempts by certain groups to introduce Sharia law to the South-West through the ongoing constitution review.
In response, the Director of the Muslim Rights Concern, Ishaq Akintola, urged the PFN to “mind its business and stop opposing Muslims’ right to operate Shariah.”
The push for Sharia law in the region faced resistance and was ultimately dismissed at the time.
Addressing the recent call for the introduction of Sharia law in the South-West, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde acknowledged the proposed Sharia court and the controversy it had sparked.
“Regarding the establishment of a Sharia court in Oyo town, people may try, but as for me, I swore to uphold our laws and the Constitution of Nigeria. If their actions are within the law, fine; if not, they should expect that I will insist the law must be followed,” the governor stated in a broadcast.
Meanwhile, the announcement has ignited heated debates, with critics warning that introducing a Sharia court could disrupt the state’s religious harmony.
Rejecting the proposal, the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, told Saturday PUNCH that introducing Sharia law in Oyo State would create significant problems.
He argued that implementing Sharia law in Yorubaland, a multi-religious region, would be extremely challenging.
“I am not against Sharia law; it is a good law. But it is easier to implement in the North. Even in the North, Sharia law is not deeply enforced in the Middle Belt, because the majority there are Christians.
“We have been running the South-West with the modern constitution, promoting coexistence among religions. We do not want religion to divide us,” Adams stated.
He advised the Oyo State Government to tread carefully, as religion is a sensitive issue in Yoruba land.
Gani Adams added, “Sharia law has been in place in the 19 northern states of Nigeria, based on the penal code. Since Nigeria’s inception, the southern part has been using the modern Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. For anyone to want Sharia law introduced to Yorubaland is to plan for division, disunity, and anarchy.”
He highlighted the region’s unique social fabric, saying, “In Yorubaland, there is intermarriage; you’ll see a Muslim marrying a Christian, and a Christian marrying a traditionalist. I was born a Muslim. Today, I am a Muslim, Christian, and traditionalist. We do not define ourselves based on religion.”
He also noted that in Oyo State, the Muslim and Christian populations were almost equal, as they were in Ogun and Lagos states, whereas Christians remained the majority in Ondo and Ekiti states.
Also speaking with Saturday PUNCH, the Olugbon of Orile-Igbon in Oyo State, Oba Francis Alao, Akinbola I, noted that the type of religion practised in northern Nigeria was not applicable in the southern part.
He explained that in the South-West, people drank alcohol, which is prohibited by Sharia law, and enforcing such a law would be anti-people.
The monarch stated, “This will not work in Yorubaland. Our strength is our social life. If we accept Sharia law, how many people will conform to it? This will later bring chaos and instability. It will also interfere with the peaceful coexistence in Yoruba land.”
He added, “This will not work in the South-West because of our way of life. I don’t foresee Sharia law happening now. Our diversity in religion is our strength. Irrespective of our religions, what matters most is that we live in unity and love. I don’t have anything against any religion as long as the public accepts it. The government needs to carry the people along and sample their opinions.”
The Eselu of Iselu kingdom, in Yewa North LGA of Ogun State, Oba Akintunde Akinyemi, kicked against Sharia law in the South West and called on other traditional rulers in Yorubaland to reject it.
He said, “Nigeria is a multi-religion country for Muslims, Christians and traditionalists, so bringing Sharia to Oyo and the South West is imposing a religion on others and we have to respect ourselves.
“It is a way of fueling an unnecessary crisis in the South West. We have enough problems already in the region; we should not allow religion to bring another civil war into this country.
“The constitution of the country should be paramount to all of us, including traditional rulers; they should not bring religious law into the constitution of the country. Everybody should rise against this, irrespective of religion.”
The President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Daniel Okoh, said the Christian body was working on a reaction to the matter.
He said, “We are working on it. At the appropriate time, we’ll come out with our position.”
But the Oyo State Chairman of CAN, Apostle Joshua Akinyemiju, dismissed the initiative, describing it as unconstitutional and a threat to the state’s secular nature.
He stated, “This should not happen in Oyo State, where Christians and Muslims coexist in nearly every family. There’s no law to support this, and the government is not aware. We won’t allow anything that jeopardises the peaceful coexistence we enjoy.”
It’s not a court – Shari’ah committee
Amid the growing tension, the organisers of the event postponed the inauguration indefinitely.
Speaking to Saturday PUNCH, the Chairman of the Sharia Committee of Oyo land, Rafiu Bello, said he had nothing further to add.
In a statement shared with our correspondent, the committee clarified that it was not inaugurating a Sharia court, but an arbitration panel.
The statement read in part, “The postponement is informed by the inadvertent reference to the programme as the inauguration ceremony of a Sharia Court in Oyo town and its environs instead of the Independent Sharia Arbitration Panel.
“Such an arbitration panel, which already exists in many parts of the South-West, is only meant to settle family disputes among willing Muslims, without any power of enforcement. It is not a court.”
The statement concluded by noting that a new date would be announced for the inauguration ceremony.
Also, an Islamic cleric and lecturer of Islamic Studies at the Lagos State University, Ojo, Dr Sidiq Uthman, explained that the establishment of a Sharia court was intended to allow Muslims to resolve their issues in accordance with Sharia principles.
He clarified that such a court would only be relevant for committed Muslims.
He said, “The court is a place where Muslim families can come for adjudication or reconciliation in matters of inheritance, divorce, or child custody. These are the issues they want to address, not what is being sensationalised on social media. This has nothing to do with any religion. When they wanted to introduce Islamic banking, it was the same misunderstanding that people thought it was about Islamising Nigeria. Everyone has the right to practise their religion, and there’s freedom of association.”
Similarly, the National President of the Islamic group, Jamaat Taawunil Muslimeen, Sheikh Daood Imran, emphasised that Sharia law is a system Muslims use to settle disputes within their community.
He said, “There are three groups of believers in Nigeria: Muslims, Christians, and traditionalists, each with their own belief systems. This is not a court. The Christians own the High Court, traditionalists own the Customary Court, and Muslims follow Sharia law.”
Source:punchng.com
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https://punchng.com/sharia-lawll-cause-anarchy-in-swest-traditional-leaders-warn/#google_vignette
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After public caning in Terengganu, Perlis mufti says rejection of practice does not mean opposing Islam
28 Dec 2024
By Malay Mail
Perlis Mufti Datuk Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin said rejecting public caning for shariah offences does not mean opposing Islamic teachings. — Picture by Choo Choy May
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KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 28 — Rejecting public caning for Shariah offences does not mean opposing Islamic teachings, Perlis Mufti Datuk Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin said.
Asri, popularly known as Dr Maza, emphasised that those who are against public caning for Shariah offences should not be seen as contradicting Islam.
“There is no stipulation in Islamic law requiring khalwat (close proximity) offenders to be caned in public,” he said in a Facebook post.
“In fact, public caning for such offences may contradict the principles of Islamic law which calls for a person’s faults to be concealed.”
“The caning of khalwat offenders in public is not Allah’s law or that of His Messenger (Prophet Muhammad). It is merely the authorities’ choice,” he added.
Asri urged the public not to overreact by accusing those who disagree with the practice of going against Islam.
His comments came after objections from some quarters over Terengganu’s recent implementation of public caning for Shariah offences.
Yesterday, a construction worker in Terengganu received six strokes of the cane for repeated khalwat offences.
Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar defended the practice, stating it adhered to Islamic principles of justice.
Samsuri explained that the punishment serves as retribution, education, and deterrence to guide society towards Islamic values.
Asri said that while caning for adultery is mentioned in the Quran and Sunnah, it is subject to stringent conditions.
He explained that the act must be witnessed by four credible individuals who see the male offender penetrating the woman.
“In other words, it is almost impossible to find an adulterous couple who would allow four people to witness their act unless the couple were openly advocating adultery,” he said.
He added that confessions by perpetrators requesting punishment are another method of proving adultery.
“As for qarinah or circumstantial evidence of adultery, there are many ways to avoid punishment,” he said.
Asri said Islam discourages gossip and publicising personal sins, favouring discretion and repentance instead.
“As for those who accuse others of adultery without evidence as prescribed by Islamic law, they are more liable to public caning than the adulterers themselves.
“Islam opposes slander and turning sins that are between a person and Allah into a public spectacle,” he said.
He also urged those in power to avoid exposing personal sins and to prevent them from becoming public issues.
Source:malaymail.com
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https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/12/28/after-public-caning-in-terengganu-perlis-mufti-says-rejection-of-practice-does-not-mean-opposing-islam/161347
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Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Calls For Unity Among Anti-Fascist ForcesTo Build A "New Bangladesh"
Dec 28, 2024
Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Shafiqur Rahman today called for unity among all anti-fascist political parties to build a "new Bangladesh" inspired by the aspirations of the youth fighting for freedom in the spirit of the 2024 Liberation War.
Speaking at the 12th General Council of Khelafat Majlish at Dhaka's Suhrawardy Udyan this morning, Shafiqur emphasised the need for collective action to establish a democratic future for the nation.
"Bangladesh will move forward according to the aspirations of the youth participated in the Liberation War of 2024. In the new Bangladesh, all anti-fascist political parties will stand united," he said.
The Jamaat chief also expressed concern over what he described as ongoing injustice towards Islamic scholars in the country.
"Over the past decade and a half, the nation's Islamic scholars have been subjected to unprecedented levels of injustice and vendetta," he said.
The conference was attended by leaders and activists from various Islamic political organisations.
Source:thedailystar.net
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https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/jamaat-ameer-calls-unity-among-anti-fascist-forces-3786251
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India
Owaisi Slams UP Over New Police Post Near Sambhal Mosque: Funds To "Open Police Posts And Liquor Bars" Instead Of Schools And Hospitals
28.12.24
Hyderabad MP and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday criticized the Uttar Pradesh government for starting the construction of a new police outpost directly opposite the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal, an area that witnessed deadly violence in November, resulting in the deaths of four people.
In a post on X, the Hyderabad MP said that the state government only has funds to "open police posts and liquor bars" instead of schools and hospitals. Owaisi further claimed that data indicates the least number of government facilities are provided in Muslim-majority areas.
"A police post is being built in front of Jama Masjid in Sambhal. Go to any corner of the country. The government there neither opens schools nor hospitals. If something is built, it is a police post and a liquor bar. The government does not have money for anything else, it only has money for police posts and liquor bars. The data itself says that the least number of government facilities are provided in Muslim areas," Owaisi said in a post in Hindi.
On November 24, four people were killed and several others, including security personnel, were injured in violence that broke out in the Kot Garvi area of the Sambhal when some locals clashed with police during a court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid over a petition that claimed a Harihar temple once existed at the site.
As many as 50 people have so far been arrested in the Sambhal violence under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). After the violence, the Uttar Pradesh Polie started the construction of a new police outpost in the field opposite Shahi Jama Masjid.
The 'bhoomi pujan' for the police outpost named 'Satyavrat' was carried out on Saturday, December 28, and construction will start after that.
Source:indiatoday.in
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https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/sambhal-riots-survey-asaduddin-owaisi-yogi-adityanath-police-post-near-shahi-jama-masjid-2656657-2024-12-28
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Two More Arrested In Sambhal Violence After Mosque Survey, Total Arrests Reach 50
27 December 2024
Two more persons were arrested in connection with the violence in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal that followed a court-ordered survey of a mosque, police said here on Tuesday.
One of them was arrested from Delhi's Batla House, they said, adding that 50 people have so far been arrested in the Sambhal violence.
Rihan (37) and Adnan (24) were booked under Section 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment (CLA) Act (Molesting a person to prejudice of employment or business) and Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act. Adnan was arrested from Delhi, Superintendent of Police of Sambhal Krishan Kumar said in a statement said.
Kumar added that so far 50 people have been arrested in the case.
Four people were killed and several others, including security personnel, were injured in violence that broke out in the Kot Garvi area on November 24 when some locals clashed with police following a court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid over a petition that claimed a Harihar temple previously existed at the site.
Source:outlookindia.com
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https://www.outlookindia.com/national/two-more-arrested-in-sambhal-violence-after-mosque-survey-total-arrests-reach-50
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Properties of 3 Pakistan-based ultras attached in J&K’s Rajouri
Dec 28, 2024
JAMMU: A joint team of police and administrative officials attached properties of three Pakistan-based terrorists in Kotranka in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district under CrPC in connection with an FIR registered at Kandi PS, police said Friday.
The details of the terrorists and the attached properties are: Khadim Hussain of Kandi-Kotranka (3 kanals, 4 marlas, and 31sqft); Muneer Hussain of Gakhrote-Kotranka (2 kanals and 8 marlas), and Mohammad Shabir of Panjnara-Kotranka (2 kanals, 2 marlas, and 253sqft), a police spokesperson said. The total property attached is 7 kanals and 15 marlas, having an approximate market value of Rs 18.5 lakhs, the spokesperson added.
The attachment was carried out following orders of the Court of Judicial Magistrate 1st Class, Kotranka, police said. “This operation underscores the commitment of J&K Police and district administration to combat anti-national elements and safeguard public order,” said the spokesperson, urging citizens to report any suspicious activities to law enforcement agencies.
Source:indiatimes.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/properties-of-3-pakistan-based-ultras-attached-in-jks-rajouri/articleshow/116724325.cms
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Kashmiri shawl sellers facing harassment in Himachal: PDP chief
Dec 27, 2024
Alleging that Kashmiri shawl sellers were being harassed, threatened and assaulted by right wing groups in Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti today urged Himachal Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to intervene and provide a safe environment for them.
The PDP chief took to X to highlight the matter and express her concern on what she called a “worrying trend of targeted violence”. “Kashmiri shawl sellers in Himachal Pradesh’s Bilaspur district are facing harassment, assault and threats from right-wing groups. Despite proper documents, they’re being barred from doing business and evicted,” she posted on X. She further claimed that at least three such incidents had already taken place, pointing towards a worrying pattern of targeted violence. She further wrote that “this othering of Kashmiris will alienate them further” and urged the Chief Ministers concerned to intervene.
Meanwhile, Abid Hussain Sadiq, Deputy Commissioner, Bilaspur, said the matter had been brought to his notice and Bilaspur SP and Ghumarwin SDM had been asked to look into the incident.
“We will take the required action,” he said.
The Deputy Commissioner admitted that a couple of such incidents had happened in the past as well, but the required action was taken every time.
The incidents of harassment of hawkers and traders from outside the state have seen an increase after the Sanjauli mosque row a few months back in Shimla. Last month, a woman was caught on camera in Kangra district bullying Kashmiri shawl sellers and asking them to chant ‘Jai Shree Ram’.
Later, she accepted her mistake and apologised to the Kashmiri traders after the intervention of the Chief Minister’s office.
Source:tribuneindia.com
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https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/j-k/kashmiri-shawl-sellers-facing-harassment-in-himachal-pdp-chief/
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Pakistan
‘Nuclear real target’: Bilawal sees ‘foreign conspiracy’ behind US statements favouring Imran
By Web Desk
December 27, 2024
Expressing his annoyance over the statements issued by the US lawmakers, including President-elect Trump’s aide Richard Grenell, favouring PTI founder Imran Khan, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Friday said that the jailed premier was just an "excuse" as their real target was Pakistan’s nuclear programme.
Bilawal made the remarks while addressing the public gathering in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh on the 17th death anniversary of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
The PPP leader wondered “why those who conspired against Pakistan are raising voice for PTI founder Imran Khan”.
“We have to get united to deal with the conspiracy being hatched against us [Pakistan]. We have to think about the Pakistan and its defence while keeping aside politics,” the PPP chief said.
“They [international powers] are casting an evil eye on nuclear technology gifted by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto."
Expressing annoyance over “foreign interference” in Pakistan’s internal affairs, the PPP chairman said: “Statements are being issued from US about our internal politics; these statements are just excuses.”
He said that the US lawmakers had nothing to do with democracy in Pakistan, adding: “PTI founder is just an excuse, their real target is Pakistan’s nuclear and missile programme.”
“PTI founder should clarify his position about these statements.”
The PPP leader wondered that why those who had been issuing statements against Pakistan’s nuclear programmer are now raising their voices for Khan’s release.
He said that PTI and its founder should condemn these statements.
“There is an impression that a certain lobby wants to bring a government [in the country] that is ready to make a deal on anything [including nuclear programme].
Stressing the need for making consensus decision, the PPP chairman said that that PML-N-led government doesn’t have mandate to take unilateral decisions.
Addressing the event, Bilawal paid rich tribute to his mother and the slain former prime minister, saying that her 30-year political struggle has become part of history.
He said that Benazir had never compromised on ideology, adding that she was the representative of the vulnerable segments of the society.
“An international conspiracy is being hatched against Pakistan,” he said, adding that they could deal with the nefarious designs by unity and political stability.
The PPP leader urged all the political forces to set aside their differences for the sake of the country.
Referring to recent US sanctions on Pakistan missile programme, Bilawal said: “They wish that no Muslim country has nuclear power.”
Last week, the US imposed additional sanctions related to Pakistan's ballistic missile programme, targeting four entities. Islamabad, however, termed the decision as "biased" stressing that the step from the US had "dangerous implications for strategic stability of our region and beyond".
The PPP founder made “Islamic bomb”, Bilawal said, adding that they would let anybody to make a “deal” on the nuclear and missile programme.
No cut in water, gas shares, President assures Sindh
Addressing the public gathering, President Asif Ali Zardar has promised the people of Sindh that their water and gas "would not go anywhere" apparently referring to the federal government’s project for constructing six canals on the River Indus.
"Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Balochistan and Sindh will also get their rights," he said, urging the people to refrain from getting panic.
Zardari said he has become president for the second time due to unwavering support from the people of Sindh.
"We reversed the verdict of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto'case after 43 years, now it will always remain a judicial murder," he added.
Furthermore, he said that they have to save the country from the hands of "anti-Pakistan elements".
PPP and its supporters across the country are observing the 17th death anniversary of their slain leader with great devotion and respect.
A main congregation is being held in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh, the hometown and the resting place of the Bhutto family. President Zardari, Bilawal and central and provincial leaders of the party addressed the gathering.
Benazir's youngest child, Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, who is now the first lady of Pakistan and central president of PPP's Ladies Wing and Asif's sister and member of provincial assembly (MPA) Faryal Talpur, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah had reached the Presidential House Naudero in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh a day ahead of the anniversary.
Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi and other leaders were also present there.
At the gathering's scene, a 60-foot-wide main stage has been decorated with party flags, portraits of Benazir and other party leaders. Famous poets of the country will pay tribute to their late leader through poetry on the occasion.
Source:thenews.com.pk
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PTI seeks shift in state policies, slams tendency to term dissent ‘anti-state’
Malik Asad
December 28, 2024
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has called for a re-evaluation of the state’s policies and criticised the tendency to label all dissenting opinions as anti-state, warning that such actions fuel conflict and lawlessness.
Reacting to a press conference by the military spokesperson, the party leadership termed it “an old wine in a new bottle”, while emphasising the need for freedom of expression and constitutional justice.
PTI’s Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqqas Akram, who outlined the party’s concerns in a detailed press release, criticised the use of military courts in judicial matters, warning of the detrimental effects on the constitutional system.
He emphasised that justice must be administered transparently and independently, free from preconceived notions or external pressures. “The world accepts the decisions of independent constitutional courts, not those of military courts,” he stated.
The PTI leader condemned what he termed an “attack on democratic rights,” including the blocking of roads and arrests of peaceful protesters.
“Peaceful protest is a constitutional right of every political party. Why are roads blocked and unarmed workers arrested under Article 245?” he questioned.
Addressing the events of May 9, Mr Akram stressed that the issue could not be resolved through press conferences or rhetoric.
He rejected ‘intimidation and threats’ as solutions, reiterating his party’s demand for a high-level independent judicial inquiry based on credible evidence including CCTV footage.
The PTI statement blamed the current chaos in the country on “flawed state policies and narratives”.
“The state’s unrealistic and divisive approach is creating conflict between institutions and the people,” Mr Akram said, urging a fundamental shift in the state’s thinking and behaviour.
Calling PTI’s governance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa a ‘success story’, Mr Akram said fiscal discipline, increased revenue and development spending positioned it as a leader in meeting governance standards. Seeking a more responsible approach to governance, the PTI leader said, “The country and its 240 million people are suffering because of the state machinery’s misplaced priorities.”
He urged the government to focus on addressing public grievances and fostering unity rather than relying on heavy-handed tactics.
‘Bajwa masterminded TTP talks’
Meanwhile, in an attempt to clarify and counter the claims presented by ISPR, opposition leader in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan assailed former military figures, saying that it was former chief of army staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa who spearheaded the initiative for peace talks with the TTP.
During a meeting of the National Security Committee in 2021, ex-Gen Bajwa emphasised that “all conflicts end with negotiations.”
He added, “In response to DG ISPR’s other allegations against PTI, it appears that he was handed the same old script he has been reading out the last few months (that has been rejected time and again), and he has read it out again.”
“The DG ISPR has chosen to reiterate the same baseless allegations,” he claimed, adding: “This approach undermines the public’s confidence in official communications and raises questions about the intent behind these repeated claims.”
Source:dawn.com
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Talks cannot go hand in hand with backing for terrorists, PM Shehbaz tells Kabul
Syed Irfan Raza
December 28, 2024
• Says Pakistan wants cordial ties with Afghanistan
• Remembers Benazir Bhutto as ‘a courageous woman’
• Says 1,000kg of medicines sent to Parachinar
• Orders uninterrupted supply of gas to domestic consumers
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday asked the Afghan regime once again to stop the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) from carrying out terrorist activities inside Pakistan, calling it unacceptable and a red line for the country.
Addressing a federal cabinet meeting, the premier said Islamabad was ready to hold talks with Kabul on the issue. However, he made it clear that the policy of dialogue and allowing the outlawed TTP to operate against Pakistan can’t go together.
“Unfortunately, TTP is operating from Afghanistan and carrying out terror attacks and killing innocent people inside Pakistan. This cannot go on. We have conveyed to the Afghan government that we desire good ties with them, but TTP should be stopped from killing our innocent people. This is a red line. The TTP operating from there against Pakistan is unacceptable,” he said.
He said Afghanistan is a neighbouring country with a shared border running thousands of kilometres.
“We desire cordial ties with each other and cooperation in trade, economy and other sectors,” he said, adding that Kabul should formulate a solid strategy as Pakistan was ready to talk to them on the issues.
PM Shehbaz said Pakistan’s armed forces and law enforcement agencies were always ready to ensure the country’s peace and security. A few days ago 16 FC personnel were martyred while the forces eliminated several terrorists in North Waziristan operations on Thursday in which an army major was martyred.
Referring to the 17th anniversary of Benazir Bhutto’s martyrdom, which was observed on Friday, he remembered the late PPP leader as a courageous lady with political sagacity and acumen. He said that being the first female prime minister of the Muslim world, Ms Bhutto always believed in political coexistence and that approach led to the signing of the Charter of Democracy with Nawaz Sharif which was later endorsed by all political parties.
He said that the services and sacrifice of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto for democracy and the country were exemplary and would be remembered forever.
On the issue of the shortage of medicines in Parachinar, PM Shehbaz told the cabinet members that the federal government had supplied 1,000 kilograms of medicines to the area through a helicopter which also airlifted patients from there who are being treated in Islamabad.
He apprised the meeting of his telephonic conversation with Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev during which he condoled the deaths of 38 people in a plane crash. He expressed the hope that ties between Pakistan and Azerbaijan would strengthen in the coming months.
About the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy, he said arrangements for the event had been made and expressed the hope that people of Pakistan will witness high-quality cricket.
The prime minister told the cabinet that under the ADR agreed between the banks and the government, an amount of Rs70 billion would go to the national kitty in a year and around Rs240bn in three years.
He noted that banks in recent years had earned windfall profits owing to the high interest rate. The matter will be approved by the cabinet before the final nod by the president.
Later, the cabinet took some decisions including the approval of the Income Tax Ordinance 2024 and awarded additional charge of income tax judges to all district and sessions judges in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Gas supply
In a separate meeting, PM Shehbaz took notice of complaints regarding shortage of gas and directed the authorities concerned to ensure uninterrupted supply to consumers during the winter season.
He said the issue should be resolved on a permanent basis by bringing reforms to the system structure. “Providing gas to domestic consumers is the government’s top priority,” he said.
The meeting was informed that there was a surplus of Regasified Liquefied Natural Gas in the system, leading to improvements in the gas load management compared to last year.
The meeting was told that the duration of gas load-shedding this year was shorter than the last year. It was also apprised that gas was being provided to domestic consumers from 5am to 10pm, while its supply to the power sector was being ensured according to its demand.
Similarly, it was told that online dashboards for consumer complaints by the SNGPL and SSGC were operational and the complaint resolution rate for SNGPL was 93 per cent and 79pc for the SSGC. All gas fields in the country were active.
Source:dawn.com
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1881519/talks-cannot-go-hand-in-hand-with-backing-for-terrorists-pm-shehbaz-tells-kabul
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PTI free to table as many demands as it wants, says govt committee spox
By Web Desk
December 28, 2024
Senator Irfan Siddiqui, a spokesperson of the federal government's negotiation committee, said on Friday that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was free to table as many demands as it wanted and the government imposed no restrictions on continuing the talks aimed at ending misgivings, political tensions and distrust.
Siddiqui, speaking on Geo News programme "Naya Pakistan", emphasised that both government and opposition should take a break from developments outside the parliament's "Constitution Room" to focus on finding a solution to political disputes.
The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader showed positive gesture towards the former ruling party, saying that it would be a positive development if both sides reached a conclusion before the latter's January 31 deadline.
"Even, we don't ask them [PTI] to take back their civil disobedience movement's call until the end of these talks," he added.
He said that negotiations were being held between the PTI and the incumbent government and certainty could not established until the former tabled its demands in writing.
The senator went on to say that a clear picture would come to fore after the Imran Khan-founded party tables its "charter of demand" by January 2 when the two sides are scheduled to meet again.
Expressing optimism about fruitful talks, Siddiqui urged the PTI to "open-heartedly" join the dialogue table, saying the government was ready to facilitate the opposition even if it demands to arrange another meeting with its jailed party founder Imran Khan.
The senator, while pointing towards the PTI's deadline, said that they would welcome if both sides reach a logical conclusion in the negotiations.
His statement came a day after Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar laughed off PTI's deadline for talks, saying that the federal government "does not take it seriously", terming it a "face-saving" attempt.
Tarar had also claimed that the PTI's call to the overseas Pakistanis to stop sending remittances would meet the same fate as its "final call" protest in Islamabad last month.
The PTI negotiation committee had set January 31 deadline after meeting its party founder at Adiala Jail a day earlier, reiterating the demands of judicial probe into May 9 riots and November 26 late-night crackdown and release of "political prisoners".
The government and the opposition began much-anticipated negotiation process earlier this week at the Parliament House, following months of heightened political tensions.
The inaugural meeting, from the government's side, was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, PM's Adviser Rana Sanaullah, Senator Siddiqui, PPP leaders Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Naveed Qamar, and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Farooq Sattar.
Whereas, the PTI was represented by former NA Speaker Asad Qaiser, Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) Chief Sahibzada Hamid Raza, and Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) Chief Allama Raja Nasir Abbas.
The two sides are set to hold the second session on January 2.
Source:thenews.com.pk
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https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1266106-pti-free-to-table-as-many-demands-as-it-wants-says-govt-committee-spox
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Govt close to settlement of madressah conundrum
Syed Irfan Raza
December 28, 2024
• President expected to introduce ordinance next week after cabinet signs off on changes to stalled seminary registration law
• Cabinet green-lights carbon markets policy to pave way for voluntary markets, cooperative approaches
ISLAMABAD: The government signed off on two key steps during Friday’s meeting of the federal cabinet, paving the way for the adoption of a madressah registration law that would satisfy the JUI-Fazl, as well as green-lighting a policy that would allow the country to trade carbon credits on the international market.
JUI-F’s Senator Kamran Murtaza, who was involved in the preparation of the legal framework under which the latest version of the Societies Registration (Amendment) law will be adopted, told Dawn on Friday that President Asif Zardari would issue an ordinance following the cabinet nod.
The steps okayed included amendments to the law previously passed by parliament, which would give religious seminaries the option to register themselves, either with the relevant DC office or the Directorate General of Religious Education (DGRE).
That move is expected to come next week in the shape of a presidential ordinance, and would be applicable to the extent of the federal capital, a member of the federal cabinet told Dawn.
He said that following the cabinet meeting, the prime minister had sent the ordinance to the Presidency, despite the president’s earlier reservations with the possible international fallout of changing the law currently in vogue.
“We have accepted all demands of the JUI-F [through] the amended act,” the cabinet member said.
“After [the ordinance is promulgated], parliament has 120 days to secure its approval from both the houses to make it part of the law,” Senator Murtaza told Dawn.
The amendment to the Societies Act to shift the registration of seminaries away from the DGRE was part of a deal, made by the JUI-F in exchange for supporting the government for the passage of the 26th constitutional amendment.
The registration of seminaries was made mandatory in 2005 under an amendment to the Societies Act 1860. However, following the attack on the Army Public School in 2014, there was intense pressure to place the regulation of seminaries under the interior ministry.
After three years of consultations, the five seminary boards agreed to place madressahs under the administrative control of the Federal Education Department.
Since 2019, ten new boards have been established, which seemingly pose a challenge to the monopoly enjoyed by the five traditional seminary boards.
The Societies Registration (Amendment) Bill 2024, which would revert control of seminaries from the education department to the DCs, was approved by both houses of parliament alongside the 26th amendment. However, it was not signed by President Asif Ali Zardari, who returned the bill to the National Assembly in late October due to “several technical flaws”.
When the Maulana learnt of this development, he threatened to launch protests against the government to force it to accept the bill. However, the delay in its approval led to an open war of narratives between clerics supporting the registration of madressahs under the DGRE, and those in favour of shifting it under the DC office, led by the JUI-F.
Talking to Dawn, Pakistan Ulema Council Chairman Allama Tahir Ashrafi said that since seminaries provide education, they should be under the education ministry.
“We have agreed to the decision to avoid any conflict among the clerics, despite the fact that we have a clear majority in this sector with 10 seminary boards, and majority of 18,600 madressahs are under these boards, where around 2.2 million students get modern education along with religious learning,” he said.
Carbon policy approved
Also on Friday, the cabinet approved a carbon markets policy, which will allow the country to trade carbon credits — one carbon credit is equal to one tonne of CO2 equivalent — in the international market under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.
The adoption of the policy follows the launch of the carbon market policy at COP29 in Baku, hoping to attract green investments, achieve environmental stability, and plug the climate finance gap. The approval of the carbon markets policy by the federal cabinet paves the way for cooperative approaches and voluntary carbon markets.
Under the voluntary carbon markets (VCM), carbon credits can be sold to any entity in the international market after their registration with the national registry whereas the cooperative approaches pertain to carbon trading with other governments in the form of internationally traded mitigation outcomes.
The projects set up under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism will also be shifted to the Sustainable Development Mechanism of the Paris Agreement. At present, Pakistan has only one such project under the Kyoto Protocol i.e. Delta Blue Carbon, which has reportedly earned $40 million in carbon credits.
In order to capitalise on carbon markets, the government is working on a national carbon registry, which will have a database of carbon projects. This registry will be linked to other national registries as well as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
For a carbon project to be approved under a cooperative approach, it will go through four stages. Firstly, a project note information will be submitted, which will be followed by a letter of intent (LOI).
The LOI will lead to a project design document which will have to be completed in a two-year period and a grace period of 180 days.
After the approval of the project design document, a letter of authorisation will be issued for carbon trading, said Sana Rasool, a carbon market specialist at the climate change ministry. She said Pakistan has had a good experience with the Delta Blue Carbon project that comparatively did well and the country is well-prepared to expand its reach into these markets.
Source:dawn.com
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Support for illegal activities fuelling terrorism: ISPR
Baqir Sajjad Syed
December 28, 2024
• Military spokesperson criticises PTI govt’s 2021 talks with TTP as ‘misguided’; insists May 9 trials send strong message against vandalism
• Denies role in deadly Nov 26 crackdown on PTI workers
• Says Kurram violence not terrorism, but a tribal dispute
ISLAMABAD: The military on Friday attributed the alarming surge in terrorist violence this year to the backing of illegal activities by politicians and glaring governance shortcomings.
“When you examine the illegal spectrum in the country closely, behind it you will see political backing everywhere, which, for its narrow-minded political and financial gain, is obstructing all the necessary steps that are required under the Revised National Action Plan, Azm-i-Istehkam, and other steps that are to be taken to break this illegal spectrum,” Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said at the year-end press conference.
The country has witnessed a disturbing resurgence of terrorism in recent years, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. The surge in violence is largely attributed to the Afghan Taliban’s takeover of neighbouring Afghanistan in August 2021, which not only emboldened militant groups like Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan but also allowed them sanctuaries on Afghan soil. The other major contributors to this resurgence of violence are Baloch insurgents.
In 2024, Pakistan suffered a staggering 1,200 terrorist attacks, resulting in the loss of over 2,000 lives, including 383 military personnel, despite counterterrorism efforts. According to the military, 925 militants have been killed in counterterrorism operations, and 59,779 intelligence-based operations have been conducted in the past year alone. The persistence of terrorist violence, however, raises questions about the effectiveness of counter-terrorism strategies.
The ISPR spokesman warned that unless Pakistan’s political elite fully backs efforts to dismantle the illegal spectrum, valued at billions of rupees, and enacts necessary laws, takes strict action against criminal elements, and metes out punishments, terrorism and lawlessness will persist.
He also pointed to governance issues in the militancy-infested regions as another factor behind the intensification of the terrorism wave. “Terrorism will end when justice is established in those areas when there is education, health, administration, good governance, and uniformity in the education system and madrasas,” he maintained.
“We are filling these gaps in governance with the sacrifices of our martyrs on a daily basis,” the spokesman said.
While talking about the military-led counterterrorism operations, he said that they had not spared anyone, nor would they do so in future.
The spokesman also touched upon the facilitation and freedom of operation that terrorist groups enjoy in Afghanistan and regretted that though the matter has been raised with Taliban leadership on multiple occasions, both directly and through friendly countries, the problem persists.
Although he did not directly comment on reports about Pakistan conducting air strikes in Afghanistan’s Paktika province on what are being claimed as terrorist targets, he said that “if they continue to unjustly shed the blood of innocent civilians and law enforcers, should we sit and watch this spectacle?”
“If these blood-stained hands are strengthened and supported from across the border, then the status quo is no more acceptable,” he asserted.
He criticised the PTI government’s 2021 decision to engage in talks with the TTP in Afghanistan, facilitated by the Afghan Taliban. This misguided approach, he argued, has had severe consequences, allowing some TTP fighters to resettle and regroup, and ultimately putting law enforcement agencies in harm’s way. “Our soldiers are now paying the price of that wrong decision with their blood,” the general said.
No one at the press briefing reminded the general that even after PTI’s departure in 2022, the military kept advocating talks with TTP. In an in-camera parliamentary briefing on July 5, 2022, which was attended by the then army chief Gen Qamar Bajwa, the then ISI chief Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum, and the then Peshawar corps commander Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, parliamentarians were told that the reconciliation process with TTP was underway for ensuring the safety of the borders.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had also attended that meeting. The only voices that opposed the talks on that occasion were Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Senator Mushahid Hussain, and Mohsin Dawar.
May 9 trials
The military spokesman said that the sentencing of 85 PTI activists for vandalism at military installations and monuments sends a clear message that such actions would not be tolerated.
“In the future also, if anyone is involved in such cases, he will be punished according to the Constitution and law,” he vowed.
The sentences were criticised by the international community — EU, UK and US, and human rights groups and activists. He said the criticism was because “there was no legal and moral justification for such acts and these could not be defended in any way, then propaganda was done on the process of military courts”.
Lt Gen Sharif said that the real culprits of May 9 were those who created the narrative against the military. The process will continue until the plotters and others linked to this incident are not brought to justice, he maintained while parrying a question about whether there was still a possibility of a military trial of PTI founder Imran Khan.
He also called for the conclusion of the trials of those May 9 accused, who are being tried by the anti-terrorism courts.
Nov 26 crackdown
The military spokesman refuted allegations of Army troops’ involvement in the violent crackdown on PTI workers in the federal capital on Nov 26, which reportedly resulted in multiple deaths of protesters.
Clashes between protesters and law enforcement agencies on Nov 26 and 27 occurred after the government invoked Article 245 of the Constitution, calling the Army into the capital to quell a PTI rally.
Though the clampdown on information has made it challenging to verify the number of casualties, reports suggest at least 12 people lost their lives, with dozens more injured during the violent confrontations.
The spokesman cited a detailed statement by the Ministry of Interior, emphasising that “the Pakistan Army did not come into direct contact with the violent mob in the entire incident”.
He insisted that the Army’s role was strictly confined to the Red Zone, which houses government buildings, diplomatic missions and critical installations.
He further claimed that security personnel deployed to handle the protests were unarmed, countering allegations of excessive force by law enforcement agencies. “The security enforcers that were deployed there were not given firearms,” he asserted.
The statement also accused PTI leaders and armed protesters of escalation. “The political leadership, its armed guards, and some of the protesters who were armed with weapons certainly opened fire,” he said.
He condemned the dissemination of what he described as “pre-packaged social media content and fake content”, which was aimed at creating “baseless accusations to distract from the senseless upheaval” and to fuel societal discord.
Kurram
The military spokesman emphasised the need for a civilian-led resolution to the escalating violence in Kurram district, asserting that the conflict is not rooted in terrorism but stems from a long-standing tribal land dispute.
The Kurram district has long been a hotspot of deadly clashes, primarily between Sunni and Shia tribes. At least 133 people were killed in November alone during intense armed confrontations. The latest episode of violence can be traced back to July when over 50 people were killed in clashes linked to disputed land ownership.
Tensions escalated last month when a convoy of Shia travellers was ambushed by gunmen, resulting in the deaths of 52 passengers, including women, children and security personnel escorting them. This incident triggered another wave of violence. A few days ago, a couple of Shia men were beheaded, after which countrywide protests began to demand government attention to the crisis.
The situation has left Parachinar, a Shia-majority town in upper Kurram, effectively under siege for months, with Sunni villagers in lower Kurram blocking access roads, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis.
The spokesman stressed that restoring peace required dialogue among local stakeholders. “People should be made to sit down and find a middle ground,” he said, underlining the necessity of a concerted effort by politicians to address the issue.
“The law enforcement agencies and the army will play whatever positive role they can in this. The problem has to be solved by the politicians. The army and the law enforcement agencies have to act on it,” he said.
He dismissed the notion that the violence was linked to terrorism, instead describing it as “a local tribal land dispute which is being complexed without reason”.
Source:dawn.com
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1881522#:~:text=anti%2Dterrorism%20courts.-,Nov%2026%20crackdown,-The%20military%20spokesman
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Nine terrorists killed in North Waziristan
Pazir Gul | A.K. Wazir
December 28, 2024
NORTH AND SOUTH WAZIRISTAN: Nine terrorists, including two commanders, were killed and seven others injured during an exchange of fire with security forces in North Waziristan on Friday, sources said.
The clash occurred in the Barho Khel area of Mir Ali tehsil during an intelligence-based operation, sources said. Acting on a tip-off, security forces launched the operation after receiving information about the presence of around 25 militants who had gathered for a meeting in the area.
As the security forces reached the location, a fierce exchange of gunfire ensued. Among those killed were militant commanders Abdul Haq and Moeen. Seven militants were also injured during the operation. Arms and ammunition were recovered from the site, according to the sources.
The slain militants were reportedly involved in several activities, including target killings of innocent civilians. Following the encounter, security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation.
Security and district administration officials also held talks with residents, urging them to prevent militants from entering the area so that the locals were not bothered and could live peacefully.
There was no official word from Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, until going to press.
Militant hideouts targeted
Meanwhile, security forces targeted militant hideouts in two strikes carried out in the Birmal tehsil of South Waziristan on Thursday night, sources said.
The strikes, conducted around 10pm, targeted a house used by militants in the Manra area. No casualties were reported in these strikes.
Sources said Manra has become a stronghold for militants, primarily members of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), who have sought refuge in the area.
Earlier, on Friday night, a similar operation targeted a house in the same area, resulting in the killing of two TTP militants, including local commander Noor Muhammad.
Source:dawn.com
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Africa
Lagos Imam to Tinubu: You’ve Not Disappointed Us
28 Dec, 2024
*President’s harsh economic policies responsible for hunger, poverty, LP’s scribe insists
Deji Elumoye in Abuja and John Shiklam in Kaduna
Chief Imam of Lagos Central Mosque, Ridhwan Jamiu, has declared that the competence and capability of President Bola Tinubu was never in doubt saying he’s not disappointed the people.
Jamiu made the remark same day the National Secretary of Labour Party (LP), Umar Farouk Ibrahim, stressed that Tinubu’s economic reforms have caused untold hardship to Nigerians.
In a statement yesterday in Kaduna, Ibrahim said the harsh economic policies were responsible for the hunger and poverty in the country.
Delivering a sermon yesterday as Tinubu observed the Jumat prayer at the Lekki Central Mosque in Lagos afternoon alongside the Muslim faithful, the Chief Imam assured the President of the steadfast prayers and support of the Muslim Ummah as he governs the nation.
Acknowledging the President’s presence, Imam Jamiu offered prayers for his success in leading Nigeria towards peace, security, and prosperity.
His words: “We are proud of you. I remember that we encouraged people to vote for you during the campaigns. We thank God that you have not disappointed us.
“We know you are capable. We know you have the sagacity. We know you are competent.
“We believe and pray that you are not going to disappoint us. May Allah continue to be with you. Allah has entrusted Nigeria to you and will ask you for this trust.
“Remember accountability and responsibility to the people. Responsibility is to the people, and accountability is to Allah when you return to Him.
“Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said, ‘The most beloved of all people to Allah is the righteous and just leader.’
“We have seen righteousness in you and fairness and justice in you. Please keep it up and sustain it.
“You bear one of the names of Prophet Muhammad, Ahmed, someone who does what is praiseworthy. This name has been reflected in your past actions, and we hope it will reflect in your actions now.”
Jamiu, urged people to be grateful to Allah during times of fortune and patient during adversity.
He reminded the faithful that unwavering hope and faith are essential to believers, even in challenging circumstances.
It was the President’s first public outing since attending prayers at the Alausa Central Mosque last Friday.
The President, spending the festive season in Lagos State, arrived in Nigeria’s commercial capital on December 18 after presenting the 2025 budget to the joint session of the National Assembly.
In honour of victims of the unfortunate stampedes in Oyo, Anambra states, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), which claimed lives, President Tinubu cancelled his public engagements, including a boat regatta, in Lagos last Saturday.
On December 23, the President hosted the maiden Presidential Media Chat at his Oyinkan Abayomi Drive Residence in Ikoyi. As part of the Christmas and holiday festivities, he also received private visitors daily.
Meanwhile, Ibrahim, the LP scribe attributed the recent stampedes during the distribution of foodstuffs in some parts of the country to abject poverty caused by government economic policies.
Ibrahim added that the crime rate has also raisen as a result of bad government policies.
According to him, “One major reason some people resort to crime is hunger. Millions of Nigerians have been subjected to hunger arising from other reasons such as high inflation and poor economic management.
“The economic reforms of the Tinubu administration have caused untold hardship to Nigerians. Hunger is turning into an epidemic, and not many people can survive this situation.”
Ibrahim said before the 2023 elections, “LP warned that unless we change our consumption policies to a productive policy, the economy will be in serious jeopardy. Here we are at a crossroads today.”
He added that, “It is only poverty that makes some Nigerians go scooping fuel from accident scenes resulting to inferno which brought about hundreds of casualties.”
He called on the government to scale down most of its agenda in 2024 and redirect its policies towards food production.
He noted that over 70 per cent of Nigeria’s land resources are laying in waste and urged ministries in charge of aquatic economy to live up to their functions.
He further called on the federal government to do everything possible to completely crush criminal elements terrorising the country.
The Labour Party chieftain said that protection of lives and property are the cardinal purposes of the government, lamenting that in Nigeria today, life no longer matters.
“While a large number of Nigerians have been wasted by the butcher knife of kidnappers, many simply get killed while trying to survive at all cost.
“Nothing tangible seems to be done by the government to ameliorate the hunger crisis and check poverty level in Nigeria.
“The government must simply sit up and put their acts together; the statistics is not good, and enough of taking the people for granted.
Source:thisdaylive.com
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‘They Are Toys’ – DHQ Speaks On Boko Haram Drone Attack On Military Bases
28 December 2024
The Defence Headquarters has urged Nigerians to remain calm following reports of Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists deploying drones to target military bases.
Naija News understands that this reassurance comes in the wake of two drone incidents during the festive season that resulted in five soldiers sustaining injuries.
Speaking at a press briefing on Friday, the Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, downplayed the threat posed by these drones, emphasizing that they are not military-grade and serve more as tools of harassment than effective weapons.
“These are not professional or military-grade drones; they are essentially toys. The terrorists have modified them to carry certain items, but their impact is negligible. Their primary intent is to harass rather than inflict significant damage,” Buba explained.
He further assured the public of the military’s preparedness to counter such tactics and cautioned against unnecessary panic.
“We are engaged in a war against terrorists and insurgents, similar to conflicts seen globally in areas like Ukraine and Israel. The use of drones is a known tactic in modern warfare.
“Now that we are aware of their approach, we are implementing measures to mitigate these attacks. However, I wouldn’t term them actual attacks; they are better described as acts of harassment. Rest assured, we are ready and have strategies in place to address these challenges,” Buba said.
Source:naijanews.com
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https://www.naijanews.com/2024/12/28/they-are-toys-dhq-speaks-on-boko-haram-drone-attack-on-military-bases/
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National Security, Economic Transformation Remain Tinubu’s Priorities – Shettima
27 December 2024
By Udeze Ekene
Vice President Kashim Shettima has assured Nigerians of the federal government’s dedication to national security, economic transformation, and welfare of the citizens.
In a Christmas message on Wednesday, the Vice President said the administration of President Bola Tinubu remained unwavering in its focus on these critical areas, as the country looked forward to the dawn of a new year.
“In these times of economic transformation, I want to assure you that the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration remains steadfast in its commitment to improving the lives of all Nigerians,” he said.
Shettima particularly urged the citizens to imbibe the virtues of national unity during the yuletide season.
“Nigeria’s diversity remains our greatest strength. Let us avail ourselves of the time provided by the holiday season to strengthen the bonds of brotherhood that unite us across all faiths and regions,” he stated.
Senator Shettima assured Nigerians of the continued vigilance of the nation’s security forces, noting that “our brave security personnel will continue to work round the clock during this festive period to keep us safe.”
Shettima expressed optimism about the nation’s trajectory in the coming year, saying, “I am filled with hope and optimism about Nigeria’s future. Together, we will build a more prosperous and united nation.
“To our young people, you are the backbone of our nation. The Renewed Hope administration is implementing various initiatives to create opportunities for you to thrive and contribute to Nigeria’s development,” he added.
Source:naijanews.com
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https://www.naijanews.com/2024/12/27/national-security-economic-transformation-remain-tinubus-priorities-shettima/
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DHQ Issues Fresh Claims On Sokoto Airstrikes That Killed Scores
27 December 2024
By Richard Ogunsile
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) on Friday described the recent airstrikes that resulted in the death of many in Sokoto State as ‘secondary explosions’.
The government of Sokoto State had earlier claimed that ten villagers were killed and others injured after airstrikes in the Silame Local Government Area of the state.
However, in a statement issued on Friday, the Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, said the deaths and injuries were due to secondary explosions and not a direct result of the airstrikes.
Earlier on Thursday, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, insisted that the military only bombed terrorists and criminals in Sokoto State.
General Musa, who spoke when he visited Sokoto State amidst the controversy surrounding an airstrike targeted against Lakurawa terrorists, submitted that those targeted were terrorists and anyone found with them during the airstrike was an accomplice.
Naija News recalls a fighter jet bombed two communities in the Silame Local Government Area of the state on Wednesday, killing at least 10 civilians and injuring several others.
The Sokoto State government claimed that some of those killed in the strikes were “innocent villagers”, while the military insisted that the strike was against criminals.
The CDS, while briefing newsmen at the Giginya Cantonment Sokoto during his visit on Thursday, also insisted the military airstrike was targeted at terrorists but added, however, that an investigation would be launched into the matter.
He submitted that the criminals were only trying to twist the narrative in the media to favour them.
Source:naijanews.com
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https://www.naijanews.com/2024/12/27/breaking-dhq-issues-fresh-claims-on-sokoto-airstrikes-that-killed-scores/
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Southeast Asia
Public caning in Terengganu over syariah offence sparks tensions
DEC 27, 2024
KUALA TERENGGANU – The public caning of a man over an offence under syariah law in Terengganu, a Malaysian state ruled by the country’s main Islamist party, has sparked tensions between conservative Muslims who back such punishments and rights groups that said federal law was broken.
Mohd Affendi Awang, 42, a carpenter, was caned six times at a mosque in the Terengganu capital on Dec 27 for the Islamic crime of close proximity with a non-family member of the opposite sex.
His punishment was witnessed by 70 pre-selected individuals – government officers, members of the media and representatives of non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
It was only the second time that the east coast state had carried out public caning under its syariah law.
In September 2018, two women were publicly caned after they were convicted of attempting to have lesbian sex in a car.
The carpenter’s caning has once again brought into the spotlight Malaysia’s dual-track justice system – comprising the civil court and the syariah court – which has confused non-Muslims navigating inter-religious marriages.
The case also highlighted the power of the country’s 13 state legislatures to enact their own laws, as long as the Federal Constitution is not violated.
Analysts expect the caning to reverberate into mainstream politics as Terengganu is ruled by Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), which has the most number of lawmakers in the federal Parliament.
PAS controls the legislatures of the Malay-Muslim majority states of Terengganu, Kelantan, Kedah and Perlis.
The Terengganu Syariah High Court had on Nov 24 sentenced Affendi to six strokes of the cane after he pleaded guilty to committing khalwat for the third time.
Khalwat occurs when a man and a woman who are not married to one another are found in proximity in a private place.
He had been fined and received four strokes of the cane, in private, for two earlier khalwat offences in 2023 and 2024.
The police deployed 40 officers at the Al-Muktafi Billah Shah Mosque in Kuala Terengganu where the caning took place, and gave instructions that no recording device be used while the punishment was carried out.
Affendi, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, was taken to the mosque from prison in a van, which was escorted by two cars. The convoy arrived at 2.30pm.
A crowd of onlookers surged past the first police barrier after he arrived, but were stopped by the police as they neared a second police line.
Supporters of public caning argue that such punishments serve as a deterrent and promote public morality, but critics are concerned over the trampling of rights and said that public canings violate federal law.
Malaysian Muslim Lawyers Association deputy president Muhammad Hariz Md Yusoff told a press conference that before and after the lashing, Affendi was inspected by a doctor from the Health Ministry to ensure that he was fit to face the punishment, and also not subsequently injured.
“Affendi wasn’t stripped (of his clothing) when he was caned, and it was done in a humane way. He didn’t cry out in pain when he received the six lashes.
“The prison officer who caned him did not raise the cane above his head when he carried out his duty, and he used only moderate force,” said Mr Hariz, who witnessed the punishment.
Affendi was escorted out of the mosque by prison officers at around 3pm.
Malaysian Bar president Mohamad Ezri Abdul Wahab urged the federal and Terengganu state governments to review the law that allows for public caning, as the punishment undermines the dignity of the individual, he said in a statement.
It could also be considered a violation of Article 5 of the Federal Constitution, which guarantees personal liberty.
“While Act 355 (of the federal law) allows for whipping, it does not envisage the punishment being carried out publicly,” said Mr Ezri.
But the Syariah Judiciary Department said that caning can take place at any location deemed fit by the courts.
Malaysian Muslim Lawyers Association president Muhamad Hisham Marzuki told The Straits Times: “This punishment is seen not as something extreme, but rather as something reasonable, seeing that syariah caning is different, compared to civil caning. It takes into account the needs of the community and the offender.”
G25, an influential NGO comprising senior retired civil servants, said the offender is not a criminal and his behaviour did not pose a threat to life, property or the peace and security of the country.
“State religious departments should maintain the more humane approach of their dakwah (missionary) activities by counselling offenders, guiding, and supporting them to become better Muslims,” G25 said in a statement on Dec 22.
Nine out of Malaysia’s 13 states have carried out caning for syariah offences, usually conducted in jail.
Only Sabah and Terengganu have carried out public lashings. And five states have yet to conduct caning under syariah law: Perlis, Perak, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan and Sarawak.
The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam), an institution established by Malaysia’s Parliament, said there are serious questions on the legality of public caning under the Federal Constitution and federal law.
“The public execution of such a punishment exacerbates its degrading nature, subjecting the individual to humiliation, anguish and shame. Such practice... perpetuates a cycle of stigma, rather than focusing on rehabilitation,” it said.
Human rights lawyer Siti Kasim said she is disappointed with Malaysian politicians, including Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who did not voice his objection to Affendi’s punishment.
“What really gets me is the silence from our politicians, especially our Prime Minister, who didn’t say a word about this. I mean, where are we actually going with regard to this kind of action?”
Analysts say the move to carry out the public lashing reflects increasing Islamic conservatism in Terengganu and the three other states that PAS controls.
The Dec 27 caning “reflects the deep social conservatism in Terengganu and the boldness of the state government in enforcing Islamic laws after its clean sweep of the state legislature”, said risk consultancy KRA Group’s strategic director Amir Fareed Rahim.
He was referring to PAS winning all 32 state-assembly seats in the August 2023 polls.
Dr Mazlan Ali, a political analyst from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, pointed to the strong influence of PAS clerics in Terengganu and the party’s longstanding mission to implement its vision of Islamic law in Malaysia.
Source:straitstimes.com
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IGP urges parents to monitor children’s social media to protect against online predators
By Malay Mail
28 Dec 2024
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 28 — Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain has advised parents to closely monitor their children’s social media activities to safeguard them from paedophiles.
Razarudin said sexual predators often use grooming tactics to approach children, including offering gifts to gain their trust.
“The Sexual, Women, and Child Investigations Division (D11) has detected teenagers trying to sell provocative images of themselves via social media,” he told Utusan Malaysia.
He emphasised the importance of vigilance, urging parents to check their children’s social media content and the identities of their virtual friends.
Earlier this week, police and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) conducted “Op Pedo Bersepadu PDRM-MCMC,” targeting individuals involved in possessing and distributing Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM).
The operation, which spanned six states — Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Johor, Terengganu, Penang and Perak — resulted in 13 arrests and the confiscation of 40,000 CSAM items from various devices, including computers, phones and external hard disks.
The New Straits Times (NST) recently reported on the widespread sale of Malaysian-made explicit content, including CSAM, on social media and messaging platforms.
Bukit Aman’s D11 Principal Assistant Director Senior Assistant Commissioner Siti Kamsiah Hassan said access to pornography had emboldened some predators to the point of attempting child abductions.
“Easy access to pornographic content has led to severe addiction, with children, some as young as primary school pupils, becoming involved in creating and profiting from CSAM content,” Siti Kamsiah noted.
The FBI had informed the NST about the use of advanced encryption by cybercriminals trafficking in CSAM to evade detection.
Malaysia has partnered with the FBI and other international entities to coordinate operations aimed at dismantling high-impact targets.
Source:malaymail.com
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https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/12/28/igp-urges-parents-to-monitor-childrens-social-media-to-protect-against-online-predators/161351
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Pahang police: Temerloh trader scammed of RM117,000 in bogus investment by fake stock exchange official
28 Dec 2024
KUANTAN, Dec 28 — A trader in Temerloh lost more than RM100,000, after falling victim to a fraudulent investment scheme last month, which promised high returns.
Pahang police chief Datuk Seri Yahaya Othman said the 67-year-old man joined a purported share investment scheme on Nov 8, through the WhatsApp application, after being enticed by a man who claimed to be a senior official of the stock exchange.
According to Yahaya, the victim was attracted by the scheme after being told there would be no investment tax if he committed on the same day.
“The victim made nine transactions, transferring a total of RM117,000 to eight different bank accounts. He later realised he had been scammed, when he could no longer contact the suspect and did not receive the promised returns,” he said, in a statement today.
Yahaya added that the victim had used his personal savings for the investment. He urged the public to exercise caution and verify the legitimacy of any online investment opportunities, to avoid falling prey to similar scams. — Bernama
Source:malaymail.com
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South Asia
Attack on Noakhali Muslim’s shop falsified as recent communal incident: Rumor Scanner
27 Dec 2024
DHAKA, Dec 27, 2024 (BSS) – Fact-checking body Rumor Scanner in an investigation found that a video being circulated claiming an attack on a shop in Noakhali is not recent, rather it is from 2023 and any Hindu person does not involve with this incident.
In a report published on its website on Thursday, the fact-checking organization said a video was being circulated on social media claiming an attack on Gangchil Asa Bazar in Char Elahi Union No. 8 of Companiganj, Noakhali. The hashtag “Saving Bangladeshi Hindus” has also been used in the caption of some posts claiming the same.
The posts claiming the recent incident also criticized the current government, mentioning that the incident happened during the time of the interim government.
In its report, Rumor Scanner said a video uploaded on a page called ‘Channel Noakhali’ on December 2, 2023 was found by searching with relevant keywords. The video footage is similar to the footage of the video to be circulated claiming as communal attack.
The caption of the video stated that the attack took place on December 1 at Raj Garments in Gangchil Bazar of Char Elahi Union.
The injured are the owner of the establishment identifying as Shahraj Uddin, 31, and his family members, Haji Mustafizur Rahman, 83, Md. Belayet Hossain, 63, Omar Faruk, 38, Shahab Uddin, 63 and Imam Hossain Khan, 56.
Traders in the market said around 9 pm, 15-20 people led by Gangchil Bazar Committee General Secretary Md. Rajib Khan and his father-in-law Delwar Hossain resorted to sudden attack. They all stabbed six people with country-made sharp weapons, injuring them.
A two-minute and 51-second video of the incident has gone viral on Facebook. It is learnt that the general secretary of the market committee, Md. Rajib Khan, had been demanding a bribe of Taka one lakh from the owner of Raj Garments in Gangchil Bazar, Chhatra League leader Shahraj Uddin.
He also threatened him several times when he did not pay. Due to this, on Friday (December 1) night, Rajib and his associates, led by his father-in-law, attacked and vandalized Raj Garments with weapons.
Shahraj Uddin, the owner of Raj Garments, told Global TV, "The general secretary of the market committee, Rajib, has demanded a bribe of Taka one lakh from me to run the business. They threatened me several times when I did not pay. They will not let me do business unless I pay the bribe. I want a proper investigation into this incident and the terrorists to be brought to justice."
Repeated calls to the mobile phone of the general secretary of the market committee, Md. Rajib Khan, did not yield any response.
Pranab, the officer-in-charge (OC) of the Companiganj police station, said that after receiving information about the attack, the police went to the spot and arrested a man named Delwar Hossain.
He was seen attacking with a weapon in the video. A case is being filed against him. The operation to arrest the rest is underway.’
Further investigation found a video report that was uploaded on Jamuna TV’s YouTube channel on December 2, 2023 with the caption ‘Noakhali attack video viral | Noakhali Attack | Viral Video | Jamuna TV’.
The footage shown in the report is similar to the footage of the video broadcast with the discussed claim.
From the video report, it is known that the attack took place at Raj Garments in Gangchil Bazar, Char Elahi Union, Companiganj, Noakhali, at around 8 pm on December 1, 2023.
A report published on Jamuna TV’s website in this regard mentioned, ‘Locals said that Tareq, a relative of the secretary of the market committee, Rajib Khan, tried to use the shop employee of Muslim, a green coconut trader in Gangchil Bazar, to install a deep tubewell. In this regard, an argument broke out between the two parties in Gangchil Bazar on Friday (December 1) evening. At one point, Rajib Khan was hit on the head by Muslim's family members. Later, Rajib's relatives attacked Muslim's nephew Md. Shahraj Uddin's shop with a ramada. Five members of their family were injured during this time.'
Furthermore, the news published on the websites of Bengali daily Jaijaidin and RTV also revealed that the incident happened in 2023.
The incident took place during the previous Awami League government in 2023. So, propagating the 2023 incident of the attack on a Muslim man's shop in Noakhali as recent and an attack on Hindus is misleading, the fact checking body concluded.
Source:bssnews.net
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https://www.bssnews.net/news/233780
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Continued efforts of Islamic Emirate towards preventing human trafficking!
December 28, 2024
The Supreme Lead er of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has recently issued a six-article decree to prevent human trafficking in the country. Based on the decree, human trafficking is considered an unlawful act, and the relevant ministries and agencies of the Islamic Emirate are tasked with all necessary measures to prevent this evil phenomenon in the country. As part of efforts towards addressing human trafficking in the country, the governor of Nimroz, Mohammad Qasim Khalid has announced the closure of a major human trafficking route in the Daq region of Chahar Burjak district, near Afghanistan’s border with Iran and Pakistan. The area has long been known as a key corridor for human trafficking. The decision to close the route is aimed at combating human trafficking in the country. According to Nimroz governor, the crossing will no longer be accessible, warning that anyone attempting to use the passage will face strict consequences. Following the six-point decree issued by the Islamic Emirate leader, countering human trafficking has become one of the top priorities of the Islamic Emirate Human trafficking seriously undermines the dignity of human beings, who are sold as commodities and deprived of their fundamental rights. Trafficked persons are subjected to psychological and physical violence, sexual abuse, and forced labor, which pose serious threats to their health and lives. Human trafficking damages the economic fabric of society as young workers leave the country and engage in illegal activities. To fundamentally prevent the negative consequences of this evil phenomenon, public awareness should be increased through the ministries of Hajj and endowments, education, higher education, information and culture, the propagation of virtue and prevention of vice, and other relevant institutions. The smugglers should be arrested through the ministries of interior and national defense and brought to justice so that they get punished based on the law. In the meantime, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs should increase employment opportunities so that people do not resort to smuggling routes due to economic problems. The Ministry of Borders and Tribal Affairs should strengthen border control to prevent human trafficking. The country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs should work with neighboring and other countries to combat human trafficking and limit the activities of smuggling networks. Human trafficking is a serious problem that weakens the foundations of society. Over the past three years, illegal migration has been on the rise as people seek to take illegal routes, mostly due to economic problems. Human trafficking has remained a pressing issue, fueling security concerns and worsening regional tensions.The recent measures of the Islamic Emirate are significant in preventing this evil practice, but every member of society must play their part in this fight so that all members of society can live a peaceful and comfortable life in their country. Mukhtar Safi
Source:thekabultimes.com
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https://thekabultimes.com/continued-efforts-of-islamic-emirate-towards-preventing-human-trafficking/
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16 Bangladeshis arrested in India for illegal entry
Dec 28, 2024
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has arrested 16 Bangladeshi nationals, including six women, on charge of entering India illegally and staying without valid documents.
The arrests were made during a special operation conducted in Navi Mumbai, Thane, and Solapur over the past 24 hours till this morning, according to a report by PTI.
The accused have been booked under the Foreigners Act and other relevant laws.
"Seven men and six women were arrested as part of the operation. Investigations revealed that they had obtained Indian documents, including Aadhaar cards, using forged documents," an ATS official said.
In a separate operation last night, a joint team of the ATS and local police apprehended three Bangladeshi nationals from Jalna district. The suspects were working at crusher machines in Bhokardan taluka and were arrested from the villages of Anva and Kumbhari.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the trio had been living in India illegally for two years using forged identity documents.
Cases have been filed against the accused under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita and the Foreigners Act, officials added.
Source:thedailystar.net
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https://www.thedailystar.net/news/asia/india/news/16-bangladeshis-arrested-india-illegal-entry-3786196
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Journalists' access restricted for secretariat safety: CA press wing
Dec 28, 2024
The government has restricted journalists' access to the secretariat following a fire on Thursday "in view of the safety and security of the key point installation (KPI)" said the chief adviser's press wing.
A devastating fire ravaged parts of building seven for almost 10 hours early on Thursday. Firefighters were able to completely douse the flames on Thursday afternoon. One firefighter had died as he was run over by a speeding truck when carrying a water hose across the street next to the secretariat.
According to the press wing, the government will soon review the existing accreditation cards and invite fresh applications from local and international news outlets for the Press Information Department to issue new cards.
Temporary daily access cards will be issued by respective ministries for any press events. The government regrets the inconvenience and seeks cooperation from journalists, the press wing said.
The government last night issued a notice cancelling all temporary entry passes for private individuals to the secretariat. It also suspended entry passes of all visitors, including journalists, citing "security concerns".
The entry of journalists, who could get into the secretariat with accreditation cards, were also barred from entry until further notice, said the instruction.
Source:thedailystar.net
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https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/journalists-access-restricted-secretariat-safety-ca-press-wing-3786186
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Our aim’s not power, it’s to establish good governance
Dec 28, 2024
Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Shafiqur Rahman yesterday said his party's aim is not to come to power, but to establish good governance in the country.
"We want two things from the people of the country. If we work for the country, for the people, then we want the love of your hearts. You should give us the gift of love. Along with love, we want support and cooperation. We want a place in your hearts to change this nation."
He said these while speaking as the chief guest at a conference organised by the Jashore district Jamaat at the Jashore Eidgah.
Shafiqur said if Jamaat gets the opportunity to serve the countrymen, extortion will not exist in this country.
"There will be no bribery. We want to build a nation that will not tolerate fascism and imperialism," he said.
He said before August 5, the country was full of misrule.
"Whenever the Awami League came to power, misrule has oppressed. For the past 15 and a half years, the pain of misrule and oppression by the Awami League was greater," he said.
He added, "The interim government is trying to activate the economy. We want the economy to be more dynamic. But the syndicate in the market has not been broken. There is a rise in commodity prices. The government should be more proactive in controlling the market."
He also said there is no such thing as minority in the country. "Everyone is constitutionally equal. We live in harmony between religions and castes," he said.
Source:thedailystar.net
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https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/politics/news/our-aims-not-power-its-establish-good-governance-3785706
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Foreign Ministry summons Pakistan’s Chargé d’Affaires regarding airstrikes in Paktika
December 28, 202
KABUL: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan summoned the Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of Pakistan in Kabul to deliver a strong protest note regarding the airstrikes conducted by that country’s military jets in the Barmal district of Paktika province near the theoretical Durand Line.The ministry’s spokesperson Hafiz Zia Ahmad Takal, in a statement, said on his X page Wednesday that the attacks by the Pakistani military were categorically condemned, and the Embassy of Pakistan was informed that while representatives of Pakistan’s civilian government were engaged in dialogues with the Afghan officials in Kabul and such cowardly actions will harm relations between the two countries. “The violation of Afghanistan’s airspace and martyring civilians by Pakistani military are counted as deliberate attempts by certain circles in Pakistan aimed at undermining trust and causing obstacles in the relations of the two nations,” he said. Takal warned that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, with its longstanding history of defending the country against major powers, strongly denounces any breach of territorial integrity and firmly remains committed to defending Afghanistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Furthermore, the Pakistani side has been informed that protecting Afghanistan’s national sovereignty is a red line for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, and such irresponsible actions will have serious consequences, the spokesman concluded. Pakistan’s airstrikes martyred 46 people, including women and children, and wounded 6 others. It should be said that Pakistan’s cowardly action caused reactions and condemnations of a large number of Afghan officials including the officials of the previous government. The Kabul Times
Source:thekabultimes.com
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https://thekabultimes.com/foreign-ministry-summons-pakistans-charge-daffaires-regarding-airstrikes-in-paktika-2/
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Mideast
Jordan’s King Abdullah reaffirms support for Syria’s sovereignty, calls for Gaza ceasefire
December 27, 2024
AMMAN: King Abdullah II reaffirmed on Friday Jordan’s commitment to supporting Syria in building a free, independent, and fully sovereign state that reflected the aspirations of all its people.
In a phone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron, the king emphasized the importance of Syria’s security, and stability for the Middle East region as a whole. He also reiterated Jordan’s firm stance against any violations of Syria’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, Jordan News Agency reported.
Syria faced nearly 14 years of devastating civil war before the fall of President Bashar Assad’s regime earlier this month following a swift takeover by militants led by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham.
The country remains fragmented, grappling with the challenges of rebuilding amid competing political and military influences.
The discussion between King Abdullah and Macron also addressed the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza.
The conflict, which erupted in the aftermath of a Hamas attack on Israeli territory on Oct. 7 last year, has led to a humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave, with tens of thousands of lives lost and infrastructure heavily damaged.
King Abdullah called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a strengthened humanitarian response to alleviate the suffering of Palestinians trapped there.
He also stressed the urgent need for progress toward a just and comprehensive peace in the region, underscoring the two-state solution as the basis for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
King Abdullah highlighted the importance of sustained efforts to ensure the success of the ceasefire in Lebanon.
Source:arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2584473/middle-east
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Tehran Friday Imam defends Iranian advisors’ presence in Syria
2024-12-27
Shafaq News/ Tehran prayer Imam, Sheikh Kazem Seddiqi, justified the presence of Iranian advisors in Syria during Bashar al-Assad’s rule, citing Syria’s support for Iran during the Iran-Iraq War.
“In Iran’s war with the Baathists, Syria performed remarkably alongside Iran by shutting down Iraq’s oil pipeline,” Seddiqi said during the Friday sermon.
“It was necessary for Tehran to reciprocate this gesture.”
Seddiqi also accused Iran’s adversaries of attempting to undermine public morale and unity. “The enemies want to create tension and anxiety in society by spreading rumors and launching psychological warfare with any excuse or false news. People should not succumb to such tactics,” he said.
During the presidency of Bashar al-Assad, Iran has been a pivotal ally of the Syrian government. Iran’s support has encompassed military assistance, financial investment, and strategic collaboration.
Iranian forces, primarily from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), have provided military aid, including fighters, weapons, and advisors.
This alliance is part of a broader geopolitical strategy, known as the “Axis of Resistance,” aimed at countering Israeli and Western influence in the region.
Source:shafaq.com
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Turkiye to allow pro-Kurdish party to visit jailed militant leader
December 27, 2024
ANKARA: Turkiye has decided to allow parliament’s pro-Kurdish DEM Party to hold face-to-face talks with militant leader Abdullah Ocalan on his island prison, the party said on Friday, setting up the first such visit in nearly a decade.
DEM requested the visit last month, soon after a key ally of President Tayyip Erdogan expanded on a proposal to end the 40-year-old conflict between the state and Ocalan’s outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Ocalan has been serving a life sentence in a prison on the island of Imrali, south of Istanbul, since his capture 25 years ago.
Devlet Bahceli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party, made the call a month after suggesting that Ocalan announce an end to the insurgency in exchange for the possibility of his release.
Erdogan described Bahceli’s initial proposal as a “historic window of opportunity.” After the latest call last month, Erdogan said he was in complete agreement with Bahceli on every issue and that they were acting in harmony and coordination.
“To be frank, the picture before us does not allow us to be very hopeful,” Erdogan said in parliament. “Despite all these difficulties, we are considering what can be done with a long-range perspective that focuses not only on today but also on the future.”
Bahceli regularly condemns pro-Kurdish politicians as tools of the PKK, which they deny.
DEM’s predecessor party was involved in peace talks between Ankara and Ocalan a decade ago, last meeting him in April 2015. The peace process and a ceasefire collapsed soon after, unleashing the most deadly phase of the conflict.
DEM MPs Sirri Sureyya Onder and Pervin Buldan, who both met Ocalan as part of peace talks at the time, will travel to Imrali island on Saturday or Sunday, depending on weather conditions, the party said.
Turkiye and its Western allies designate the PKK a terrorist group. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the fighting, which in the past was focused in the mainly Kurdish southeast but is now centered on northern Iraq, where the PKK is based.
Growing regional instability and changing political dynamics are seen as factors behind the bid to end the conflict with the PKK. The chances of success are unclear as Ankara has given no clues on what it may entail.
Since the fall of Bashar Assad in Syria this month, Ankara has repeatedly insisted that the Kurdish YPG militia, which it sees as an extension of the PKK, must disband, asserting that the group has no place in Syria’s future.
The YPG is the main component of the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
In a Reuters interview last week, SDF commander Mazloum Abdi acknowledged the presence of PKK fighters in Syria for the first time, saying they had helped fight Daesh and would return home if a total ceasefire was agreed with Turkiye, a core demand from Ankara.
Authorities in Turkiye have continued to crack down on alleged PKK activities. Last month, the government replaced five pro-Kurdish mayors in southeastern cities for suspected PKK ties, in a move that drew criticism from DEM and others.
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Israel says intercepted missile from Yemen, day after Sanaa hit with strikes
December 28, 2024
SANAA: The Israeli military said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen early Saturday, a day after the Houthi-held capital Sanaa was hit by fresh air strikes.
Sirens sounded in areas of Jerusalem and the Dead Sea on Saturday as “a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted... prior to crossing into Israeli territory,” the Israeli military said.
The day before, a fresh air strike hit Sanaa, which Houthi rebels blamed on “US-British aggression” though it remains unclear who was behind it.
There was no comment from Israel, the United States or Britain.
“I heard the blast. My house shook,” one Sanaa resident told AFP late Friday.
The Iran-backed Houthis control large parts of Yemen after seizing Sanaa and ousting the government in 2014.
Since the eruption of war in Gaza in October last year, the Houthis — claiming solidarity with Palestinians — have fired a series of missiles and drones at Israel.
They have stepped up their attacks since November’s ceasefire between Israel and another Iran-backed group, Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israel has also struck Yemen, including targeting Sanaa’s international airport on Thursday in an attack that came as the head of the World Health Organization was about to board a plane.
The Houthis have also attacked commercial shipping in the Red Sea, prompting reprisal strikes by the United States and sometimes Britain.
Earlier Friday, before the strike on Sanaa, tens of thousands of people gathered to protest and express solidarity with Palestinians.
“The equation has changed and has become: (targeting) airport for airport, port for port, and infrastructure for infrastructure,” Houthi supporter Mohammed Al-Gobisi said.
“We will not get tired or bored of supporting our brothers in Gaza.”
Israel’s strike on the Sanaa international airport on Thursday shattered windows and left the top of the control tower a bombed-out shell.
A witness told AFP that the raids also targeted the adjacent Al-Dailami air base, which shares the airport’s runway.
“The attack resulted in four dead until now and around 20 wounded from staff, airport and passengers,” Houthi Deputy Transport Minister Yahya Al-Sayani said.
It occurred as the head of the UN’s World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, was preparing to fly out, and left one UN crew member injured.
Tedros was in Yemen to seek the release of UN staff detained for months by the Houthis, and to assess the humanitarian situation. He later posted on social media that he had safely reached Jordan with his team.
He said the injured member of the UN’s Humanitarian Air Service “underwent successful surgery and is now in stable condition.”
Israel’s military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether they knew at the time that the WHO chief was there.
An Israeli statement said its targets included “military infrastructure” at the airport and power stations in Sanaa and Hodeida — a major entry point for humanitarian aid — as well as other facilities at several ports.
Houthis use these sites “to smuggle Iranian weapons into the region and for the entry of senior Iranian officials,” the statement said.
But UN humanitarian coordinator Julien Harneis said the airport was “a civilian location” which the UN also uses, and the strikes took place as “a packed civilian airliner from Yemenia Air, carrying hundreds of Yemenis, was about to land.”
Although the plane “was able to land safely... it could have been far, far worse,” Harneis said.
In his latest warning to the Houthis, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s strikes would “continue until the job is done.”
“We are determined to cut this branch of terrorism from the Iranian axis of evil,” he said in a video statement.
Despite the damage, flights at Sanaa airport resumed at 10 am (0700 GMT) on Friday, deputy transport minister Sayani said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres denounced the escalation in hostilities, and said bombing transportation infrastructure threatened humanitarian operations in Yemen, where 80 percent of the population depends on aid.
The United Nations has called Yemen “the largest humanitarian crisis in the world,” with 24.1 million people in need of humanitarian aid and protection.
The airport is “absolutely vital” to continue transporting aid for Yemen, UN humanitarian coordinator Harneis said.
“If that airport is disabled, it will paralyze humanitarian operations.”
After the attack on Sanaa airport, Houthis said they fired a missile at Ben Gurion Airport outside Tel Aviv and launched drones at the city and a ship in the Arabian Sea.
The Israeli military said the same day a missile launched from Yemen had been intercepted.
Israeli “aggression will only increase the determination and resolve of the great Yemeni people to continue supporting the Palestinian people,” a Houthi statement said Friday.
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Humanitarian disaster in Yemen could get even worse if attacks by Israel continue, UN warns
EPHREM KOSSAIFY
December 28, 2024
NEW YORK CITY: The humanitarian crisis in Yemen, already one of the most dire in the world, threatens to get even worse should Israel continue to attack Hodeidah seaport and Sanaa airport and puts them out of action, the UN warned on Friday.
Julien Harneis, the organization’s resident and humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, said the number of people in the country in need of aid to survive is expected to reach 19 million in the coming year.
Speaking from Sanaa, he said Yemen, the poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula, has the second-highest number of malnourished children of any nation, and ranks third in terms of food insecurity.
The civil war there, which has dragged on for nearly a decade, has decimated the economy and left millions of civilians without access to the basic necessities of life, he added. The country is in the throes of a “survival crisis” and the number of people unable to access healthcare services is one of the highest in the world.
On Thursday, Israeli warplanes struck the international airport in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, as well as seaports and power stations on the Red Sea coast, killing at least four people. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said the attacks were a response to more than a year of missile and drone attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis, and were “just getting started.”
The Houthis began attacking Israel and international shipping lanes shortly after the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023. They have vowed to continue as long as the war goes on.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the Israeli airstrikes and said he was “gravely concerned” about the intensified escalation of hostilities. He said the strikes on the airport and seaports were “especially alarming,” and warned that they pose “grave risks to humanitarian operations” in the war-torn country.
Harneis, who was in the vicinity of the airport during the strikes, told of the destruction of its air traffic control tower, which left the facility temporarily nonoperational. A member of the UN staff was injured in the strike, and there were significant concerns about the safety of humanitarian workers in the area, he added. The airstrikes took place while a Yemeni civilian airliner was landing, additionally raising fears for the safety of passengers.
The airport is a critical hub for the delivery of humanitarian aid, and a key departure point for Yemenis seeking medical treatment abroad. Harneis said destruction of the airport would have far-reaching implications for international aid operations and the ability of Yemenis to access life-saving healthcare.
Hodeidah seaport is another focal point for humanitarian efforts in Yemen, with 80 percent of the country’s food and 95 percent of medical supplies arriving through this gateway. The recent airstrikes, which damaged tugs used to guide large ships, have reduced the port’s capacity by 50 percent.
“Any damage to this crucial facility would only deepen the suffering of the Yemeni population,” Harneis warned. He also reiterated that the one of the UN’s tasks is to ensure the harbor is used solely for civilian purposes in accordance with international law.
In addition to the immediate physical dangers airstrikes pose to its staff, the UN is also grappling with the detention of 17 of its workers by the Houthis, which casts another shadow over humanitarian operations.
Harneis said the UN has been in negotiations with the Houthis in Sanaa and continues to work “tirelessly” to secure the release of detained staff.
About 3,000 UN employees are currently working in Yemen, Harneis told Arab News, and the ongoing detentions and the threat of further airstrikes continue to create an atmosphere of anxiety. Given these risks, the emotional toll on staff is significant, he said.
“Many colleagues were very anxious about even coming to the office or going out on field missions. It’s very heavy for everyone,” he added.
Though there have been some improvements in operating conditions for humanitarian workers in recent months, Harneis said that when staff see that 16 of their colleagues are still detained “there’s obviously a great deal of anxiety.”
He added: “Then if you add in to that air strikes and the fear of more airstrikes, there is the fear of what’s going to happen next? Are we going to see attacks against bridges, roads, electricity systems? What does that mean for them?”
Despite the challenges to aid efforts, Harneis stressed that as the situation continues to evolve it is the response from the international community that will determine whether or not Yemen can avoid descending even more deeply into disaster.
Source:arabnews.com
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Relatives of Bashar Assad arrested as they tried to fly out of Lebanon
December 27, 2024
BEIRUT: The wife and daughter of one of deposed Syrian president Bashar Assad ‘s cousins were arrested Friday at the Beirut airport, where they attempted to fly out with allegedly forged passports, Lebanese judicial and security officials said. Assad’s uncle departed the day before.
Rasha Khazem, the wife of Duraid Assad — the son of former Syrian Vice President Rifaat Assad, the uncle of Bashar Assad — and their daughter, Shams, were smuggled illegally into Lebanon and were trying to fly to Egypt when they were arrested, according to five Lebanese officials familiar with the case. They were being detained by Lebanese General Security. Rifaat had flown out the day before on his real passport and was not stopped, the officials said.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case publicly.
Swiss federal prosecutors in March indicted Rifaat on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for allegedly ordering murder and torture more than four decades ago.
Rifaat Assad, the brother of Bashar Assad’s father Hafez Assad, Syria’s former ruler, led the artillery unit that shelled the city of Hama and killed thousands, earning him the nickname the “Butcher of Hama.”
Earlier this year, Rifaat Assad was indicted in Switzerland for war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with Hama.
Tens of thousands of Syrians are believed to have entered Lebanon illegally on the night of Assad’s fall earlier this month, when insurgent forces entered Damascus.
The Lebanese security and judicial officials said that more than 20 members of the former Syrian Army’s notorious 4th Division, military intelligence officers and others affiliated with Assad’s security forces were arrested earlier in Lebanon. Some of them were arrested when they attempted to sell their weapons.
Lebanon’s public prosecution office also received an Interpol notice requesting the arrest of Jamil Al-Hassan, the former director of Syrian intelligence under Assad. Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati previously told Reuters that Lebanon would cooperate with the Interpol request to arrest Al-Hassan.
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Fresh air strike hits Sanaa, say Houthis
December 27, 2024
SANAA: An air strike hit Yemen’s capital on Friday, a day after deadly Israeli raids, according to the Iran-backed Houthis who blamed the US and Britain for the latest attack.
A Houthi statement cited “US-British aggression” for the new attack, as witnesses also reported the blast.
There was no immediate comment from Israel, the United States or Britain.
“I heard the blast. My house shook,” one resident of the Houthi-held capital Sanaa told AFP.
The attack followed Thursday’s Israeli raids on infrastructure including Sanaa’s international airport that left six people dead.
The strikes came in response to a series of Houthi attacks on Israel.
The Houthis have also been firing on the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden shipping route for months, prompting a series of reprisal strikes by US and British forces.
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UN worker seriously hurt in Israeli Yemen strike moved to Jordan, WHO says
December 27, 2024
ZURICH: The UN worker hurt in an Israeli air strike on Yemen’s main international airport on Thursday suffered serious injuries and has been evacuated to Jordan for further treatment, the World Health Organization said on Friday.
Israel said it had struck multiple targets linked to the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen, including Sanaa International Airport, and Houthi media said at least six people had been killed.
“Attacks on civilians and humanitarians must stop, everywhere. #NotATarget,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X that showed him sitting in a plane looking across at what appeared to be the injured man.
Tedros was at the airport waiting to depart when the aerial bombardment took place that injured the man, who worked for the UN Humanitarian Air Service. A spokesperson for the WHO said the man had been seriously injured.
Tedros said he and the UN worker were now in Jordan.
The man underwent a successful surgical procedure prior to his evacuation for further treatment, Tedros said.
He had been in Yemen to negotiate the release of detained UN staff and to assess the humanitarian situation.
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Syrian equestrian champ reveals 21 years of torture at hands of Assad regime
December 27, 2024
LONDON: A former champion equestrian has revealed the torture he suffered when he was detained by the Syrian regime after besting the older brother of former ruler Bashar Assad.
Adnan Kassar told Sky News he endured 21 years of imprisonment, during which he was physically and mentally abused, after Bassel Assad, his teammate at the 1993 International Equestrian Championship, became irritated at his performances.
The two had been good friends, but Kassar’s showing won his team the gold medal at the event on home soil in the port city of Latakia, after Bassel had produced a poor display.
“The crowd lifted me on their shoulders. It was a moment of pure joy, but for Bassel, it wasn’t the same. That day marked the beginning of my nightmare,” Kassar told Sky.
He was later arrested over what he called “fabricated” accusations and subjected to severe physical and psychological abuse.
“I was kept underground for six months, beaten constantly, and interrogated without end,” he said.
Bassel had originally been tipped to succeed his father, Hafez Assad, as Syria’s ruler. However, Bassel died in a car crash in 1994, propelling the younger Bashar to power.
For Kassar, though, Bassel’s death only made his situation more dire, as he was transferred to Sednaya Prison, where “the torture only got worse.”
Kassar said: “They blamed me for his death. Every year on the anniversary of his passing, the torture intensified.”
He was later sent to Tadmur Prison for seven-and-a-half years.
“They pierced my ear one morning and broke my jaw in the evening,” Kassar said. “For praying, they lashed me 1,000 times. My feet were torn apart, my bones exposed.”
Kassar was released in 2014 after a campaign of appeals by international human rights groups. For years, he resisted discussing his time in captivity for fear of reprisals but felt ready to speak after the fall of the Assad family.
“After years of imprisonment, torture, and injustice, the revolution finally toppled the dictatorial regime,” he said.
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Iran FM warns against ‘destructive interference’ in Syria’s future
December 27, 2024
BEIJING: Iran’s top diplomat warned Friday against “destructive interference” in Syria’s future and said decisions should lie solely with the country’s people, writing in Chinese state media as he visited Beijing.
Abbas Araghchi touched down in the Chinese capital on Friday afternoon, Iranian state media reported, to begin his first official visit to the country since being appointed foreign minister.
China and Iran were both supporters of ousted Syrian president Bashar Assad.
Assad fled Syria this month after an Islamist-led offensive wrested city after city from his control, with the capital Damascus falling on December 8.
Iran “considers the decision-making about the future of Syria to be the sole responsibility of the people... without destructive interference or foreign imposition,” Araghchi wrote in a Chinese-language article in People’s Daily published on Friday.
He also emphasized Iran’s respect for Syria’s “unity, national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Iran’s supreme leader – a key backer of Assad’s administration – predicted on Sunday “the emergence of a strong, honorable group” that would stand against “insecurity” in Syria.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Syria’s young men would “stand with strength and determination against those who have designed this insecurity and those who have implemented it, and God willing, he will overcome them.”
In People’s Daily, Araghchi said supporting the Syrian people was a “definite principle (that) should be taken into consideration by all the actors.”
Beijing had also built strong ties with Assad – he met President Xi Jinping in China last year, where the two leaders announced a “strategic partnership.”
China has affirmed its support for the Syrian people and has said it opposes terrorist forces taking advantage of the situation to create chaos.
Araghchi’s two-day visit will include talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, according to Iran’s foreign ministry.
China is Iran’s largest trade partner, and a top buyer of its sanctioned oil.
Xi pledged in October to increase ties with Iran during talks with his counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian in Russia on the sidelines of a BRICS summit.
Araghchi told reporters in a video published by Iranian state media as he arrived in Beijing that the visit was taking place “at a very suitable time.”
“Now it is natural that there are sensitive situations, both the region has various tensions, and there are various issues at the international level, also our nuclear issue in the new year will face a situation that needs more consultations,” he said.
“The invitation of our Chinese friends was for this reason, that at the beginning of the new year... we should think together, consult and be ready for the challenges that will come.”
He wrote in his editorial that Iran and China shared the “common view” that calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza was the biggest priority in the Middle East.
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Arab World
Islamic military coalition training program focuses on hazardous risks
December 27, 2024
RIYADH: The Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition concluded a training program titled “Intervention in Hazardous Material Incidents,” attended by the IMCTC Secretary-General Maj. Gen. Mohammed bin Saeed Al-Moghedi and Civil Defense Acting Director General Maj. Gen. Hammoud bin Suleiman Al-Faraj.
The program was held at the Civil Defense Institute in Riyadh, and was jointly organized by the IMCTC and the General Directorate of Civil Defense. Funding was provided by the Saudi government.
Candidates from 17 member states took part in the training program as part of efforts to enhance international cooperation and build shared capabilities.
Participants were trained to handle hazardous material incidents, including nuclear, radiological, chemical, and industrial accidents.
The program also covered techniques for addressing biological risks, preventive measures, and intervention strategies at accident sites.
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Saudi Arabia condemns Israel’s burning of Gaza hospital
December 28, 2024
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia on Friday denounced the burning of a Gaza hospital by Israeli forces and the forced removal of patients and medical staff from the facility.
Hospital officials said that Israeli troops raided Kamal Adwan Hospital on Friday, gathered staff outside the facility, removed their clothes, and took them to an unknown location.
Israeli soldiers then set fire to several parts of the facility, which is one of the last operating in the northernmost part of the Gaza Strip, including the surgery department, according to the Palestinian health ministry in the enclave.
The actions constitute a violation of international law, international humanitarian law, and the most fundamental humanitarian and ethical norms, said a statement by the Saudi foreign ministry.
Israel claimed Hamas fighters had been operating in the facility, which hospital officials denied.
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Saudi Arabia to provide $500m in new economic support for Yemen
December 27, 2024
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia announced on Friday a new economic support package for Yemen worth $500 million and aimed at bolstering the government’s budget, stabilizing the Central Bank of Yemen, and fostering the development and stability of the Yemeni people.
The latest assistance includes a $300 million deposit into the Central Bank of Yemen to improve economic and financial conditions, alongside $200 million to address the Yemeni budget deficit, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The latest funding forms part of a larger $1.2 billion initiative through the Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen. The program focuses on enhancing food security; supporting wages and operating expenses; and aiding the Yemeni government in implementing its economic reform agenda.
The new support aims to establish economic, financial, and monetary stability in Yemen by strengthening public finances, building government institutional capacity, and enhancing governance and transparency, the SPA added.
The assistance will empower the private sector to drive sustainable economic growth, create job opportunities, and place Yemen’s national economy on a more sustainable path for economic and social development.
Saudi Arabia’s previous economic assistance included deposits in the Central Bank of Yemen, which increased foreign exchange reserves, stabilized the local currency, reduced exchange rates, and stimulated the growth in gross domestic product.
The assistance also lowered fuel and diesel costs, reduced prices of imported food commodities, and supported the import of essential goods, including wheat, rice, milk, cooking oil, and sugar.
In addition, Saudi grants have helped the Yemeni government manage operating expenses, pay salaries, and mitigate the economic crisis by boosting foreign exchange reserves and restoring confidence in Yemen’s financial institutions.
These measures reduced reliance on borrowing to finance budget deficits, enhanced financial system stability, and alleviated inflationary pressures.
Saudi Arabia has also prioritized critical sectors in Yemen through grants and projects implemented by SDRPY, including more than 260 development initiatives across various Yemeni governorates, covering education, health, water, energy, transportation, agriculture, and fisheries.
These projects have improved access to essential services; provided medical treatments for chronic diseases and cancer patients; supported education; and ensured the provision of petroleum derivatives for electricity generation.
Saudi Arabia’s grants for petroleum derivatives have played a vital role in operating 80 power plants across Yemen, boosting energy efficiency and revitalizing productive and service sectors.
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Diriyah Season exhibition honors symbols of Saudi resilience
LAMA ALHAMAWI
December 27, 2024
RIYADH: Diriyah Season’s “Enduring Resilience” exhibition highlights the life of ruler Imam Turki bin Abdullah in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the establishment of the Second Saudi State.
“I enjoyed the exhibition. I honestly think that exhibitions like this are so important because they show Saudi history and the bravery of important people of the past, such as Imam Turki bin Abdullah,” said Maha Al-Aamri, a Saudi visiting the exhibition being held at Diriyah’s Bujairi Terrace with her friends.
Speaking about what stood out to her, she said, “All of it … The storytelling about Al-Ajrab Sword was probably the best part of the exhibition.”
Al-Ajrab Sword is one of the most well-known symbols of the Kingdom’s history, representing the courage, determination, and nobility of Imam Turki in unifying and restoring the sovereignty of the Second Saudi State in 1824 when he entered Riyadh.
Through the exhibition, visitors are transported back in time through a guided and immersive journey that explores how Imam Turki established and shaped the Second Saudi State, reclaiming the land and restoring the legacy of his ancestors.
“The experience was very nice and something different to try,” Vindeep Gupta, a computer technician working and living with his family in Riyadh, told Arab News.
“I will just say that I wish it (the exhibition) was bigger, but I like that it captured the struggles and challenges in achieving the victory … The historians did a good job in making the display,” he said.
Among the areas of the exhibition where visitors noticeably spent more time taking pictures and videos was Turki’s Cave.
According to a document published by the Diriyah Gate Development Authority, Imam Turki sought refuge in a cave high atop a rugged mountain, choosing it as his base of operations. The cave, located in Aliyyah, became one of the most well-known in Najd.
Its inaccessibility made it a perfect hideout, strategically situated near several key towns and villages including Al-Kharj, Al-Houtah, Al-Hareeq, Al-Hulwah, and Al-Dalam.
The exhibition, in Arabic with English translation, is open to the public until the end of the year. It offers a deeper understanding of the values of unity, belonging, justice, and loyalty that were exhibited by the imams of the state.
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King Salman Global Academy launches Camel Lexicon
HEBSHI ALSHAMMARI
December 27, 2024
RIYADH: The King Salman Global Academy for the Arabic Language unveiled the Camel Lexicon, a comprehensive source compiling authentic information related to camels in Arabic, on Thursday.
According to Dr. Abdullah Al-Washmi, KSGAAL secretary-general, the Camel Lexicon is a continuation of KSGAAL’s efforts in the field of lexicography.
It offers a rich linguistic resource, including terms and expressions specific to camels, such as their breeds, descriptions, species, colors, life stages, as well as diseases and defects they may encounter.
The lexicon also features distinctive marks and includes idioms, proverbs, stories, tales, and poetry associated with camels and aims to prevent it from getting lost or distorted over a period of time.
The Camel Lexicon will facilitate researchers and those interested in accessing accurate and reliable information about this field. It will also play a crucial role in preserving the linguistic and cultural heritage tied to camels by documenting the words and expressions that have been used by Arabs throughout history. It also endeavors to revive and pass down this rich heritage to future generations.
This lexicon demonstrates the academy’s strategic role in serving various key sectors, as it serves as the primary reference for the Arabic language in the Kingdom.
The academy previously introduced a series of specialized lexicons, Al-Washmi added.
The concept behind the Camel Lexicon stemmed from the esteemed position of camels in Arab culture. It was meticulously crafted based on the “Camel” blog, established by the academy in August 2024, and is part of the linguistic corpora available on the “Falak” platform for linguistic blogs, the KSGAAL secretary-general explained.
These efforts were part of programs inspired by the Cabinet's decision to declare 2024 as the “Year of the Camel,” showcasing the Kingdom’s pride in the cultural and historical value of camels and their cherished position in the heart of Saudi society, Al-Washmi noted.
The Camel Lexicon is an essential tool for documenting and deepening the understanding of camels and their role in Arab culture. It serves as a valuable reference for enthusiasts and researchers in this field, Al-Washmi said.
“Language and culture are deeply intertwined and preserving the terms and expressions linked to heritage plays a vital role in strengthening Arab cultural identity. It serves as a living record of both tangible heritage, such as camels and the tools associated with them, and intangible heritage, like the customs and traditions surrounding camels. By documenting these elements, we ensure that this history remains vibrant and enduring,” Al-Washmi said.
Dr. Abdullah Al-Fifi, head of the linguistic computing department at the academy, said: “By meticulously documenting terms that capture the essence of camel life, traits, and their profound roles in Arab traditions, it ensures this cultural treasure is safeguarded. Moreover, it stands as an inspiring bridge to pass this linguistic wealth on to future generations.”
The documentation of terminology showcasing the diverse facets of camel life — encompassing their breeds, colors, conditions, and unique traits — has preserved a treasure trove of knowledge for future generations.
The academy relied on the “Camel” blog, which contains 666,186 words collected from 971 Arabic texts, according to Dr. Yahya Allateeni, director of the Digital Dictionaries Department at KSGAAL.
The team extracted camel-related terms and their definitions using an automated process, organizing them into a dictionary according to the global LMF standard for the lexicographic industry.
This automated approach was adopted to ensure the terms could be used to feed various computational applications. “These terms were reviewed by experts in camel culture from outside the academy to assess the dictionary from a technical perspective,” Allateeni said.
“We do not stop at this point. We welcome all feedback from interested parties and experts, incorporating it into an ongoing review and evaluation process. We also ensure that any terms not included in the previous edition are carefully considered,” he added.
KSGAAL commended the pivotal role of the Camel Club in refining the lexicon’s content, expressing deep gratitude for their invaluable contributions. The academy emphasized the importance of sustaining this productive partnership to further enrich the Camel Lexicon with new and diverse entries, strengthening its content and broadening its scientific reach.
Source:arabnews.com
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How Saudi organizations are building a sustainable future for wildlife
GHADI JOUDAH
December 27, 2024
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is solidifying its position as a global leader in biodiversity preservation through a series of pioneering initiatives aimed at protecting endangered species and restoring fragile ecosystems.
From the release of endangered animals in the King Khalid Royal Reserve to the historic birth of Arabian leopard triplets, the Kingdom’s conservation efforts highlight a forward-looking commitment to safeguarding its natural heritage for generations to come.
On Dec. 23, 2024, the National Center for Wildlife (NCW) achieved a significant milestone with the release of 66 endangered animals into the King Khalid Royal Reserve, located northeast of Riyadh.
The release included 40 rhim gazelles, 10 Arabian oryx, 10 Houbara bustards and six Idmi gazelles.
This initiative, conducted in collaboration with the Imam Abdulaziz bin Mohammed Royal Reserve Development Authority, is part of a broader strategy to restore ecological balance, enhance biodiversity and promote eco-tourism.
To ensure the program’s success, some of the released animals were equipped with solar-powered tracking devices, enabling researchers to monitor their integration and behavior in the wild.
The Arabian Leopard Conservation Breeding Centre in Taif has reached a groundbreaking achievement — a rare litter of Arabian leopard triplets, two males and one female, was born earlier this month.
This marks the first recorded triplet birth of the critically endangered Arabian leopard in Saudi Arabia and only the third such occurrence in captivity worldwide over the past 30 years.
The birth is a pivotal moment for Saudi Arabia’s conservation efforts led by the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU).
Fewer than 120 Arabian leopards remain in the wild, placing them in the critically endangered category of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List.
Since partnering with Panthera in 2019 under the Arabian Leopard Initiative, RCU has made significant strides in protecting this iconic species.
“When we assumed management of the Arabian Leopard breeding program in December 2020, we inherited 14 leopards and immediately began drafting strategic plans for new enclosures, team building, and breeding targets,” Abdulaziz Al-Enzy, senior manager of the RCU Breeding Center Management, told Arab News.
The initiative focuses on boosting wild populations, expanding breeding programs, and advancing research to ensure the species’ survival.
The breeding center, now home to over 32 leopards, has emerged as a global leader in conservation efforts.
“Through our KPIs, the center set an ambitious goal of producing two cubs annually,” Al-Enzy said.
“To date, it has consistently exceeded expectations: one cub in 2021, three in 2022, seven in 2023, and five in 2024.”
The center also follows strict protocols for pregnant leopards.
Al-Enzy said females are separated from males during their final trimester, and all activity around them is minimized to ensure a stress-free delivery.
Veterinary teams remain on standby to intervene in case of complications.
“We’ve achieved remarkable growth by constructing state-of-the-art open-top enclosures, the first of their kind in the Middle East for Arabian leopards, and implementing 24-hour monitoring using 200 CCTV cameras,” Al-Enzy said.
The team, according to him, ensures the leopards are healthy, safe and enriched in their environment.
Protecting the Arabian leopard is not just about saving a species—it’s about preserving ecological balance and cultural heritage.
“The Arabian leopard plays a critical role in regulating prey populations, maintaining the health of ecosystems, and is deeply rooted in Saudi Arabia’s culture," Al-Enzy said.
The ultimate goal is to reintroduce these magnificent creatures into the wild sometime in the future. However, this process is fraught with challenges.
“Leopards must be trained to hunt and acquire survival skills, and pre-release enclosures are currently being developed to prepare cubs for life in the wild.”
Genetic diversity remains a significant concern, with active collaboration between Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen, and the UAE to enhance breeding programs.
“To address these challenges, RCU launched a genetic exchange program in 2023, swapping male leopards with Oman’s Royal Court to strengthen genetic diversity,” Al-Enzy said.
These conservation efforts are not just about Saudi Arabia.
“We are working to save the Arabian leopard from extinction globally, which requires international collaboration and learning from others’ experiences,” Al-Enzy said.
Reintroducing captive-bred Arabian leopards to their natural habitat is a complex and long-term goal. Each cub undergoes rigorous evaluation before release, and success depends on partnerships with local and international organizations.
“We aim to save the Arabian leopard not for one country but for the world. The progress we’ve made so far is just the beginning of this long journey,” Al-Enzy said.
By combining cutting-edge breeding techniques, meticulous monitoring, and global collaboration, Saudi Arabia is setting an example for wildlife conservation efforts across the region.
Saudi Arabia is also making strides in reintroducing cheetahs, which disappeared from the Arabian Peninsula over 40 years ago. Under the National Cheetah Reintroduction Program, four cubs were born in captivity in 2024—a landmark achievement given the complexity of breeding cheetahs.
Globally, only 15 percent of wild-born cheetahs manage to reproduce in captivity, with just 20 percent of those continuing to do so.
By overcoming these odds, the National Center for Wildlife is contributing to the survival of a species that now numbers only 7,100 worldwide.
Combining habitat restoration with advanced research and breeding programs, Saudi Arabia is playing a pivotal role in ensuring the cheetah’s future.
The Arabian oryx, once extinct in the wild by 1972, symbolizes the Kingdom’s conservation triumphs.
Reintroduced into its natural habitat, the species was reclassified as vulnerable in 2011.
By 2019, the wild population had risen to 1,220, with an additional 6,000–7,000 individuals thriving in semi-captive conditions worldwide.
Saudi Arabia has reported a remarkable 60-fold increase in the oryx population, making it one of the most successful wildlife restoration programs globally.
Saudi Arabia’s conservation efforts extend far beyond individual species. The Kingdom’s integrated approach leverages cutting-edge technology, international collaborations and community engagement to achieve its goals.
Programs such as the Saudi Green Initiative and the Middle East Green Initiative, the Arabian Leopard Fund and the National Cheetah Conservation Strategy reflect a deep commitment to restoring ecosystems and protecting biodiversity.
From reintroducing onagers to the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve after a century-long absence to breeding endangered species at state-of-the-art facilities, the Kingdom is setting a global benchmark for conservation.
As biodiversity faces unprecedented threats worldwide, experts say Saudi Arabia’s approach demonstrates that environmental stewardship and economic growth can coexist.
These efforts not only preserve the Kingdom’s natural legacy but also offer a blueprint for global action to protect the planet’s most vulnerable species. Through innovation, dedication, and collaboration, Saudi Arabia is proving that a sustainable future for wildlife is possible.
Source:arabnews.com
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Europe
Ukrainians hope for a New Year prisoner exchange with Russia
Will Vernon
28 December 2024
A Ukrainian official has told the BBC they hope a New Year prisoner exchange with Russia will happen "any day," although arrangements could fall through at the last minute.
Petro Yatsenko, from Ukraine's Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, said negotiations with Moscow over prisoner swaps have become more difficult in recent months since Russian forces began making significant advances on the front line.
There were just 10 exchanges in 2024, the lowest number since the full-scale invasion began. Ukraine doesn't publish numbers of prisoners of war being held by Russia, but the total is thought to be over 8,000.
Russia has made significant gains on the battlefield this year, raising fears that the numbers of Ukrainians being captured is on the rise.
One of those brought home in the last swap, in September 2024, is Ukrainian marine Andriy Turas. In a flat in the Ukrainian city of Lviv, Andriy and his wife Lena tell me the remarkable story of their ordeal. Both of them were captured while defending the city of Mariupol in 2022.
"They held lectures with us about how Ukraine never existed," says Lena, a combat medic, about her Russian captors. "They tried to exterminate our Ukrainian identity in our heads."
Lena was released after two weeks of captivity. But the psychological scars of what she experienced in a Russian PoW facility remain. "We constantly heard screams, we knew the men [in our unit] were being tortured," she says.
"They beat us mercilessly, with their fists, sticks, hammers, anything they could find," Andriy says. "They stripped us naked in the cold and forced us to crawl on asphalt. Our legs were torn up, and we were left terrified and freezing."
"The food was horrifying – sour cabbage and spoiled fish heads. It's just a nightmare," says the marine. "It's like waking up from a bad dream in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat, terrified."
Andriy's incarceration lasted far longer than his wife's - two-and-a-half years.
On his release in the prisoner exchange three months ago Andriy met his two-year-old son, Leon, for the first time. When the couple were captured by Russian forces, Lena didn't know she was expecting.
"When I found out I was pregnant, I just cried, first of all from happiness, but then from sadness, because I couldn't tell my husband."
"I constantly wrote him letters, telling him that he would finally have a child he'd wanted for so long," Lena says, her eyes shining. "But he didn't get a single letter."
I ask Andriy what it felt like to meet his son for the first time. "I thought I was the happiest person in the world," he says, grinning.
While the BBC cannot independently verify everything Lena and Andriy told us, their accounts are corroborated by international organisations, who have interviewed hundreds of Ukrainian PoWs.
The UN says Russia subjects Ukrainian prisoners to "widespread and systematic torture and ill-treatment… including severe beatings, electric shocks, sexual violence, suffocation, prolonged stress positions, forced excessive exercise, sleep deprivation, mock executions, threats of violence and humiliation."
In a statement to the BBC, the Russian Embassy in London said: "The allegations you have described are patently false. Captured Ukrainian militants are treated humanely and in full conformity with the provisions of the relevant Russian legislation and the Geneva Convention. They are provided with food of good quality, shelter, medical assistance, religious and intellectual nourishment."
Andriy is undergoing rehabilitation at a medical facility in Lviv. But he still has time to enjoy the holidays with his wife and son. It's the Turas family's first Christmas together, and the best present for little Leon is having Daddy home.
But many Ukrainians are still desperately waiting for news of their loved ones. In central Kyiv, relatives and activists gather for a special Christmas demonstration to call for the release of Ukrainian prisoners.
They stand for hours in the biting cold, lining one of the main streets of the capital, as passing motorists honk their horns in a deafening cacophony of solidarity.
"We hope for a Christmas miracle," says Tetiana, whose 24-year-old son Artem was captured almost three years ago, "My son's release is my deepest wish. I've imagined our meeting 100 times, when he and I hug each other, and his eyes light up and he's finally on his native land."
Also at the protest, holding a red placard, is 29-year-old Liliya Ivashchyk, a ballet dancer at the Kyiv National Operetta Theatre. Russian forces took her boyfriend Bohdan captive in 2022. She has had no contact with him since.
"I could say that it's hard for me to be alone, but I don't want to say that, because I'm always thinking about how he's doing over there," says Liliya.
Backstage at the theatre, Liliya shows us the messages she still sends Bohdan almost every day - pictures of little hearts. "I miss him a lot. He needs to be saved and have his freedom back," she says, her bottom lip trembling. The messages are unread.
Liliya invites us to watch her perform in a special Christmas Day performance. The dance is a festive favourite in Ukraine: Johann Strauss's Blue Danube Waltz, written in 1866 to lift the Austrian public's spirits following a war. The theatre is packed.
"The Christmas holidays are a painful period," she says, as she prepares to go on stage. "There's no festive mood really."
As the show ends, theatregoers rush to collect their coats. After almost three years of war, almost everyone here has a loved one fighting on the frontline, in captivity, or killed in action.
"A lot of people in Ukraine are facing difficult situations," says Liliya. "We're just waiting for the time when we'll be able to celebrate together again. We must remember to thank our army for the fact that we have any holidays at all."
Source:bbc.com
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North Korean soldier captured in Ukraine dies, reports say
28 December 2024
An injured North Korean soldier captured by Ukrainian forces has died, Yonhap News Agency has reported, citing a statement from South Korea's spy agency.
The soldier is believed to be the first North Korean prisoner of war captured since Pyongyang deployed forces to support Russia's war in Ukraine.
Separately, the White House said North Korean forces were experiencing mass casualties, and alleged that 1,000 of their troops had been killed or wounded over the past week in the Kursk region of Russia.
North Korea has sent more than 10,000 soldiers to help Russia, according to Kyiv and Seoul - though Moscow and Pyongyang have neither confirmed nor denied their presence.
White House spokesperson John Kirby suggested that Russian and North Korean military leaders were treating the troops as "expendable".
They were being ordered to carry out "hopeless assaults against Ukrainian defences" and were being used in "massed dismounted assaults", he said.
South Korea's National Intelligence Service said it had confirmed through an "allied intelligence agency" that the captured North Korean soldier had died from "serious injuries", Yonhap reported.
The spy agency earlier confirmed that Ukrainian forces had captured the soldier after a photo purporting to show the man had been circulating on Telegram.
"This is the first in a string of captures and killings," Yang Uk, a research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, told the BBC. "For Ukrainians, it's more beneficial to capture these North Korean troops and try to exchange them with Russians for Ukrainian prisoners of war."
Recent images emerging from the Russia-Ukraine war confirmed speculations that "North Korean troops will be deployed in large numbers to the assault by Russian command", Mr Yang said.
He also added, however, that "it will be challenging to prove their North Korean nationality".
Ukrainian forces say that North Korean soldiers have been issued with fake Russian IDs, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted footage last week which he said showed Russian troops burning the faces of slain North Koreans to conceal their identities.
Ukrainian and South Korean intelligence services have said that many of the troops deployed to Russia are some of Pyongyang's best, drawn from the 11th Corps, also known as the Storm Corps. The unit is trained in infiltration, infrastructure sabotage and assassinations.
More than 3,000 North Korean troops have died or been wounded while fighting in Russia's Kursk region, Zelensky said Monday.
He added that the collaboration between Moscow and Pyongyang heightened the "risk of destabilisation" around the Korean peninsula.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The recent deployment of North Korean troops to Russia is a sign of a growing alliance between the two pariah states.
The development, which comes as North Korea ratchets up tensions with South Korea, has sparked worries in the West. China, a long-standing ally of both sides, is also keeping a cautious eye on the friendship.
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Georgia's pro-Western president refuses to leave and prepares for showdown
28 December 2024
Salome Zourabichvili's family fled Georgia in 1921 after Soviet forces snuffed out the country's three-year experiment with independence from Russia.
A century later, Georgia's pro-Western president is refusing to leave office, arguing she is the last legitimate institution in her country,
On Sunday, her six-year term as president is due to end. According to a new system for selecting the head of state, on that day she will be replaced by former Manchester City footballer Mikheil Kavelashvili, chosen with the support of the governing Georgian Dream party.
Zourabichvili, 72, has denounced his election under an electoral college system in which he was the only candidate as a travesty.
When she became president in 2018 she was endorsed by Georgian Dream, but she has since condemned their contested election victory in late October as a "Russian special operation" and backed nightly pro-EU protests outside parliament.
The government says if she refuses to leave office she will be committing a crime.
If she is forced out, she says the ruling party's takeover of the state will be complete and Georgia will have surrendered its sovereignty to a party that she accuses of serving Moscow.
'A mythical place'
Salome Zourabichvili was born in France in 1952 into a prominent family of Georgian émigrés. Her grandfather, a minister in the government of briefly independent Georgia, fled to France in 1921.
Georgia, then under Soviet rule, loomed large in her childhood. It was a "mythical place, which only existed in books," she said in a 2004 interview.
Though raised in a culturally Georgian environment, speaking the language at home and attending Georgian Orthodox church services, she easily integrated into French culture. She attended France's elite schools, including Sciences Po, traditionally a feeder for the country's top public servants.
She excelled, serving as a French diplomat for nearly 30 years. But throughout, her true passion remained in extricating her parents' mysterious country of origin from Russia's influence and bringing it closer to the West.
"She sees it as her life's mission to bring Georgia into Europe. Everything else for her has always been secondary," said Alexandre Crevaux-Asatiani, a former Zourabichvili aide.
In 2003, she was appointed French ambassador to Georgia. A year later, she was granted Georgian citizenship and made foreign minister under President Mikheil Saakashvili. Dismissed in 2005, she took an increasingly prominent role in her adopted country's politics, founding a new party.
Saakashvili's rule ended in 2012 and Georgian Dream have been in power ever since. The party's founder, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, is widely seen by Georgians as the most powerful man in their country. By a quirk of fate, he is also French, having taken citizenship in 2010.
Backed for the presidency by Ivanishvili's party, Zourabichvili was initially unpopular among the country's pro-Western youth. A popular TV show mocked her halting Georgian, spoken with a strong French accent.
She was seen as aligned with the ruling party, unpopular with many young people, and she blamed a short war with Russia in 2008 on Georgia allowing itself to be provoked.
But as her presidential term progressed, Georgian Dream took an increasingly authoritarian and anti-Western turn, cracking down on civil society and NGOs. It refused to join Western sanctions on Russia after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and called the West the "global war party", making a mockery of its stated aim of joining the EU and Nato.
Zourabichvili openly defied the government, believing she had the support of the majority of Georgia's population.
She pledged to veto a bill on "foreign influence" that mirrored Russian legislation passed under President Vladimir Putin, but the government passed it anyway, defying weeks of protests.
"The choice for Georgia is between independence or slavery, Europe or Russia," she said in April.
She has often addressed the protesters who have turned out every night for a month outside parliament, casting them as the conscience of the nation against a Russia-friendly government.
Last month she asked riot police, accused by the opposition of brutalising protesters: "Are you serving Russia or Georgia?"
Many protesters, initially distrustful of the president for coming to power with Georgian Dream's backing, came to respect her outspoken opposition.
"No-one expected her to be this good. She reflects our values," said Irakli, a 34-year-old who has been regularly demonstrating. "She motivates us to fight."
Ahead of October's contested elections, the government tried to impeach her for meeting EU leaders without government authorisation. Ultimately the effort failed but it was an indication of the showdown to come.
Zourabichvili called the elections, which returned Georgian Dream to power, "totally falsified". She backed opposition parties' calls for a re-run, drawing the ire of senior party leaders.
'Let's see where she ends up'
She now faces perhaps her biggest challenge so far, as Georgian Dream prepares to install her replacement, Mikheil Kavelashvili, as president.
But Zourabichvili has insisted she will not go, setting up a likely constitutional crisis. Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has threatened her with arrest.
"Let's see where she ends up, behind bars or outside," he told reporters this week.
The government is likely to force her to leave one way or another, said Petre Tsiskarishvili of the opposition United National Movement.
Conscious of not wanting to make her a political martyr and elevate her profile further, it may avoid a high-profile arrest, he added, perhaps merely locking her out of her official residence at the Orbeliani Palace.
Doubts towards her will persist. Some in the opposition blame her for providing a pro-European face to Georgian Dream's authoritarian turn for far too long, refraining from criticising Ivanishvili until only a few months ago.
But in a country where pro-European forces have often been fractured, Zourabichvili's supporters say she is likely to emerge from her term in office as a key opponent to the government.
"Even if she is arrested, she will still be considered the legitimate president of Georgia. There is no question about it," said Mr Crevaux-Asatiani, the president's former aide.
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Russian blogger jailed for pro-Nazi videos and religious insults
28 Dec, 2024
A Russian court has sentenced controversial blogger and singer Eduard Sharlot to five and a half years in a penal colony for promoting Nazism and insulting religious beliefs.
The court in Samara Region also barred Sharlot, 26, from using the internet for four years following his release.
The case against the singer was launched in late 2023, regarding a number of provocative videos. According to the case files, the 26-year old filmed a music video in June 2023, in which he could be seen naked, with his military ID, a photograph of Russian Orthodox Church leader Patriarch Kirill, and a hand-crafted crucifix. In the clip, he nailed the objects to a tree, then read out an insulting speech.
In addition, Sharlot filmed himself burning his passport and proclaiming that he no longer wanted to be a citizen of Russia.
Sharlot left Russia for Armenia after the escalation of the Ukrainian conflict. In November 2023, he was detained at Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg while trying to return to his homeland.
In one of his videos, Sharlot also expressed support for Ukraine and chanted an anti-Russian slogan.
The prosecution had asked for seven and a half years behind bars and a fine of 299,000 rubles ($2,828).
Sharlot admitted his guilt in court and offered his “sincere apologies to everyone for filming and publishing provocative videos” on Instagram. “These misdeeds are in the past. I realized that I acted stupidly… I am determined to improve,” the musician told the court.
Sharlot also reportedly sent a letter to Patriarch Kirill asking for forgiveness. He allegedly promised to act patriotically as a singer from now on.
Source:rt.com
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EU country ready to host Russia-Ukraine talks – PM
27 Dec, 2024
Slovakia is willing to host any kind of peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, Prime Minister Robert Fico announced on Friday.
Fico reportedly floated the idea privately to Russian President Vladimir Putin during his recent visit to Moscow. Since his election in 2023, Slovakia has criticized the EU and NATO approach to the conflict and advocated for a ceasefire and talks.
“If someone wants to organize a peace negotiation in the Slovak Republic, we will be ready and hospitable,” Fico said Friday in a Facebook post.
He also accused Ukraine of causing “billions in damage” to the EU, including Slovakia, by halting the transit of Russian natural gas, adding that “it seems that the bigwigs in the EU don’t mind.”
Fico’s public offer comes a day after Putin told reporters that Russia would not be opposed to it.
“We are not against it,” the Russian leader said in St. Petersburg on Thursday, describing Slovakia as “an acceptable option” because of its de facto neutrality in the conflict.
Speculation about possible peace talks between Russia and Ukraine began after Donald Trump won the US presidential election last month. The Republican has repeatedly vowed to quickly end the conflict, but his camp has not offered any particulars as to how.
Moscow has repeatedly said it was open to a negotiated solution to the conflict so long as its interests and the “reality on the ground” are taken into consideration.
Kiev has rejected any idea of a settlement that would require recognizing that the regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye, Kherson and Crimea are parts of Russia. Ukraine has also insisted on joining NATO, which Russia has denounced as unacceptable.
Source:rt.com
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Half of Canadians favor union with US – tycoon
27 Dec, 2024
US President-elect Donald Trump’s idea of annexing Canada is a great opportunity to think about forming a true union between the neighboring countries, Canadian investor and reality TV star Kevin O’Leary has said.
He went on to claim that many Canadians would back deeper ties with their southern neighbor.
Trump sparked outrage in Ottawa recently when he claimed that Canada would benefit from becoming America’s “51st state.”
“Canadians over the holidays – the last two days – have been talking about this. They want to hear more,” O’Leary told Fox Business on Friday.
Closer ties between the two North American countries could have its benefits, even if “there’s obviously a lot of issues,” he added. According to O’Leary, the Canadian public wants “to understand what the proposal really is.”
“Think about the power of combining the two economies, erasing the border between Canada and the United States and putting all that resource up to the northern borders where China and Russia are knocking on the door,” the businessman argued.
“So secure [the northern territories], give a common currency, figure out taxes across the board, get everything trading both ways, create a new, almost EU-like passport – I like this idea and at least half of Canadians are interested,” he said.
“You don’t have to sell the country, you don’t even have to merge it, but you can create a union,” O’Leary said. He added that liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is “immensely unpopular” at home and will likely lose power in the coming months.
Trump campaigned on a promise to protect American trade interests and threatened to impose tariffs on Canadian goods. The idea of making Canada a US state reportedly stems from a conversation earlier this month between Trump and Trudeau at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, who was present at the meeting, told reporters that the leaders were making jokes, and that Trump’s line about the 51st state was “in no way a serious comment.”
Source:rt.com
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Russian Education Ministry disavows school book blaming rapes on victims
28 Dec, 2024
The Russian Education Ministry has distanced itself from a controversial textbook that tells teenage girls that sexual assault often occurs because women are sending men the wrong “signals” and dress “provocatively.”
The ministry released a statement on Friday, saying that the textbook is not on the government-curated list of learning materials and “cannot be used in schools.”
The authorities responded to the outrage over the book for the course ‘Fundamentals of Life Safety’ designed for students who are 13 and 14 years old. The course, known in Russia by its acronym OBZh, is part of the traditional school curriculum that teaches students how to act in dangerous situations and avoid hazards.
Earlier this week, Ekaterina Mizulina, who runs the online content watchdog Safe Internet League, posted screenshots of pages from the chapter teaching about “the safe conduct of women.” The chapter gives tips on how to avoid sexual assault and harrassment.
“Many conflicts and attacks occur due to the fault of victim who signals with her appearance that she is either ‘ripe for the taking’ (found herself in the wrong place at the wrong time), compliant (very easy to get), or defenseless (drunk, frightened, aroused, or too gullible),” the book says. In order to avoid trouble, women are advised to “try not to stand out by wearing overly extravagant, flashy and unusual” clothes.
In a passage explaining “how not to become victims of assault,” women are told not to wear “very short skirts” and not to use bright makeup when visiting other people’s homes, or going to parties, cafés, bars, and concerts. “It provokes boys and men. They view it as a signal,” the book says.
Ksenia Goryacheva, deputy chair of the parliamentary committee on education, described the book’s views on sexual assault as “completely absurd.”
“The victim of assault can never be guilty of what happened to her,” the legislator told news channel RTVI. “Regardless of the woman’s appearance and behavior, assault is always the fault of the aggressor. We need to stop justifying rapists and their actions. Men are not animals. They can control themselves and their actions,” she said.
In its statement on Friday, the Education Ministry said that, starting from 2024, OBZh has been replaced with a course titled ‘The Fundamentals of Safety and the Defense of the Fatherland’, which will have its own textbook.
Source:rt.com
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North America
Cracks appear in Maga world over foreign worker visas
28 Dec, 2024
Mike Wendling
Supporters of President-elect Donald Trump clashed online over a visa programme intended to bring skilled workers to the US - showing possible cracks in the upcoming administration.
Vivek Ramaswamy, tapped by Trump to slash government spending, claimed American culture is to blame for US firms deciding to hire skilled foreign workers, which is typically done via the H-1B temporary worker visas.
"Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence," Ramaswamy wrote in a long X post that argued that foreign workers improve the the US economy.
The post attracted backlash from Trump supporters who are strongly opposed to immigration of any sort, causing Ramaswamy to clarify his position.
Taking aim at American culture, Ramaswamy originally wrote: "A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian [the top student in a class], will not produce the best engineers."
After being pilloried online by anti-immigration Trump supporters, Ramaswamy returned to X to post that he believed "the H-1B system is badly broken & should be replaced".
The disagreement led to a row online over the holidays, as mainstream Republicans and far-right influencers joined in criticising Ramaswamy and other wealthy figures in Trump's inner circle.
"If we are going to have a throwdown, let's have it now," prominent Trump supporter Steve Bannon said on his War Room podcast on Friday. He went on to call the Republican claims of support of the H-1B programme a "total scam".
But Ramaswamy's perceived view of skilled worker visas was backed by Elon Musk, a tech billionaire selected to co-direct Trump's proposed "Department of Government Efficiency".
Musk defended the H-1B visa programme as attracting the "top ~0.1%" of engineering talent".
"Thinking of America as a pro sports team that has been winning for a long time and wants to keep winning is the right mental construct," he tweeted.
But critics online posted screenshots of job postings at his companies filled by people with H1-B visas, showing salaries of $200,000 and much less, and argued these hires did not constitute an elite talent pool but rather a way to hold down the wages of US-born workers.
Nikki Haley, Trump's former ambassador to the United Nations and a former Republican presidential candidate, became a prominent voice against the tech billionaires who defended the immigration programme.
"There is nothing wrong with American workers or American culture," she wrote in response on X. "All you have to do is look at the border and see how many want what we have. We should be investing and prioritizing in Americans, not foreign workers."
Haley, who like Ramaswamy was born to Indian immigrants, was joined in opposing the visa programme by far-right accounts online.
Laura Loomer, an anti-Islam activist who regularly spreads conspiracy theories but is also known for her unwavering support of Trump, led the online charge with posts viewed millions of times.
Earlier in the week, Loomer criticised Trump's choice of Sriram Krishnan, an India-born entrepreneur, as the White House senior advisor on artificial intelligence. Loomer wrote that Krishnan was a "career leftist" who is "in direct opposition to Trump's America First agenda".
Cheered on by far-right X accounts, she also called Indian immigrants "invaders" and directed racist tropes at Krishnan.
Loomer then accused Musk, who owns X, of "censorship" for allegedly restricting replies to her posts on the network and removing her from a paid premium programme.
Echoing criticisms of Trump about the influence of X boss, she wrote: "'President Musk' is starting to look real… Free speech is an illusion."
The number of H-1B visas issued is capped at 65,000 per year plus an additional 20,000 for people with a master's from US institutions.
Recent research by Boundless, an immigration consultancy, indicates that around 73% of the H-1B visas are issued to Indian nationals, with 12% issued to Chinese citizens.
Trump promised that mass deportations of undocumented immigrants will start immediately after he takes office. He has been a critic of the H-1B progamme and tightened eligibility for that visa during his first term.
His vice-president, JD Vance, also campaigned against the programme, but has close ties to the tech world. In his previous career as a venture capitalist, Vance funded startups that hired workers with H-1B visas.
In recent days the president-elect also denied that he's unduly under the influence of Musk and the other billionaires who backed his campaign.
On Sunday, Trump told a conservative conference in Arizona that he was not under Musk's thumb.
"You know, they're on a new kick," he told the crowd at AmericaFest, organised by Turning Point USA. "All the different hoaxes. The new one is that President Trump has ceded the presidency to Elon Musk."
"No, no, that's not happening," he said. "He's not gonna be president."
Source:bbc.com
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https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyv7gxp02yo
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Footage shows NY officers beating prisoner before death
28 Dec, 2024
Newly released bodycam footage appears to show New York corrections officers fatally beating a handcuffed inmate who died the following morning.
The inmate, 43-year-old Robert Brooks, was pronounced dead on 10 December, the day after the incident took place at the Marcy Correctional Facility in upstate New York.
Following an internal review, New York Governor Kathy Hochul ordered the firing of the 13 officers and a prison nurse who were involved in the assault.
The office of New York Attorney General Letitia James has opened an investigation into Brooks' death, and the union that represents state prison workers called the video "incomprehensible".
The footage - which was released by James on Friday - shows officers repeatedly striking Brooks in the face and groin while he sits handcuffed on an examination table.
The videos also appear to show a prison officer placing something in Brooks' mouth before striking him, as well as a separate officer hitting him in the stomach with a shoe.
At one point, an officer lifts him by the neck before forcefully putting him on the examination table.
Brooks died the day after the assault. Preliminary examinations determined the cause of death was "asphyxia due to compression of the neck."
It is unclear what initially prompted staff to take him to the prison's medical facility in the first place. The videos do not include audio.
In a filmed statement, James said that she does not "take lightly the release of this video, especially in the middle of the holiday season".
"I release the videos because I have a responsibility and duty to provide the Brooks family, their loved ones, and all New Yorkers with transparency and accountability," she said.
Brooks was serving a 12-year sentence for first-degree assault, according to the Associated Press. He had been transferred to Marcy from the nearby Mohawk Correctional Facility on the same day as the incident.
Elizabeth Mazur, a lawyer representing the Brooks family, said in a statement that the videos show "the horrific and extreme nature of the deadly attack".
"He deserved to live, and everyone else living in Marcy Correctional Facility deserves to know they do not have to live in fear of violence at the hands of prison staff," Ms Mazur said of Brooks.
After the video's release, Hochul - New York's governor - said that she was "outraged and horrified" by the incident and felt compelled to hold those involved responsible.
"The state of New York has zero tolerance for individuals who break the law, and I am committed to holding everyone involved fully accountable," she added.
The New York union that represents prison workers said in a statement to local media outlets that what "we witnessed is incomprehensible to say the least and is certainly not reflective of the great work that the vast majority of our membership conducts every day".
The New York chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU, alleged that the beating is "not an isolated incident", however.
"Rather, it highlights a culture of violence and a lack of accountability for wrongdoing by corrections officers that puts the lives of incarcerated New Yorkers at risk," executive director Donna Lieberman said in a statement.
In a report issued last year, the Correctional Association of New York - an independent watchdog - found "pervasive allegations of racial discrimination" and "mistreatment by staff", including black inmates being turned away from mess halls for having their hair in cornrows or braids.
Source:bbc.com
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Greg Gumbel, famed US sportscaster, dies at 78
28 Dec, 2024
Bernd Debusmann Jr
Famed American sports commentator Greg Gumbel has died from cancer at the age of 78, his family announced on Friday.
Gumbel, who for decades worked for CBS Sports, was considered a fixture in US sports, particularly American football and basketball.
In 2001, he became the first black sports commentator to give play-by-play announcements of the Super Bowl.
In a statement, his family said that "he leaves behind a legacy of love, inspiration and dedication to 50 extraordinary years in the sports broadcasting industry; and his iconic voice will never be forgotten".
The statement added that Gumbel "passed away peacefully surrounded by much love after a courageous battle with cancer".
"Greg approached his illness like one would expect he would, with stoicism, grace and positivity."
Originally from New Orleans, Gumbel grew up in Chicago and first joined CBS in 1989 after having spent years working at New York Knicks basketball and Yankees baseball games for the Madison Square Garden Network.
His start, however, came in the early 1970s, when an executive at a local NBC affiliate in Chicago asked him to broadcast a high school basketball game every weekend.
"He said, 'I have this idea and I want you to take it and run with it'," Gumbel recalled in a 2021 interview. "We introduced our audience to a lot of guys who went on to become famous."
Jim Nantz, a veteran of CBS Sports and another prominent sports anchor, referred to Gumbel as "broadcasting royalty."
"He was as selfless a broadcaster as anyone in the industry has ever known," he said. "Our careers interesected for nearly 35 years, and he was a consumate teammate and friend."
"He really was one of the greats," another long-time colleague Lesley Visser told CBS News, the BBC's US partner. "He just had a light touch, he had a wit about him and everyone loved working with him."
"Greg had an innate dignity that he brought to the table," she added.
At CBS Sports, Gumbel had two stints as the host of the popular "NFL Today" pre-game, halftime and post-game show, including three Super Bowls in 1992, 2013 and 2016.
Gumbel also spent four years at NBC Sports, where he hosted the "NFL on NBC" show and several other Super Bowl pre-game shows.
He briefly stepped away from NFL coverage in 2003, before returning in 2005 and continued in that role until 2022.
The longtime sportscaster also served as the primetime anchor for CBS Sports during the 1994 Olympic Winter Games, as well as co-anchor during weekday broadcasts of the 1992 Winter Games.
Additionally, he was a play-by-play announcer for Major League Baseball and became a fixture of college football broadcasts.
In March of this year, he missed his first National Collegiate Athletic Association - or NCAA - basketball tournament since 1997 due to unspecified health issues.
He had signed an extension with CBS in 2023 that allowed him to return to covering college basketball while stepping away from his work covering the NFL.
Gumbel is survived by his wife Marcy, daughter Michelle and younger brother Bryant, who is also a prominent broadcaster and a former host of the "Today" show.
Source:bbc.com
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Trump urges US Supreme Court to delay TikTok ban
28 Dec, 2024
US President-elect Donald Trump has asked the US Supreme Court to delay an upcoming TikTok ban while he works on a "political resolution".
HIs lawyer filed a legal brief on Friday with the court that says Trump "opposes banning TikTok" and "seeks the ability to resolve the issues at hand through political means once he takes office".
On 10 January, the court will hear arguments on a US law that requires TikTok's Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell the social media company to an American firm or face a ban come 19 January - a day before Trump takes office.
US officials and lawmakers have accused TikTok and ByteDance of being linked to the Chinese government - which the firms deny.
Those allegations of an app that has 170 million users in the US led Congress to pass a bill in April, which President Joe BIden signed into law, that included the divest or ban requirement.
TikTok and ByteDance have filed multiple legal challenges against the law, arguing that it threatens American free speech protections, with little success. Now, with no potential buyer materialising, the companies' final chance to derail the ban is via the American high court.
While the Supreme Court has previously declined to act on a request for an emergency injunction against the law, it agreed to allow TikTok, ByteDance and the US government to plead their cases on 10 January - just days before the ban is due to take effect.
In a court filing on Friday, Trump said that the case represents "an unprecedented, novel, and difficult tension between free-speech rights on one side, and foreign policy and national security concerns on the other".
While the filing said that Trump "takes no position on the underlying merits of this dispute", it added that pushing back the 19 January deadline would grant Trump "the opportunity to pursue a political resolution" to the matter without having to resort to the court.
The US justice department has argued that alleged Chinese links to TikTok present a national security threat - and multiple state governments have raised concerns about the popular social media app.
Nearly two dozen state attorney generals led by Montana's Austin Knudsen have urged the Supreme Court to uphold the law compelling ByteDance and TikTok to divest or be banned.
Earlier in December, a federal appeals court rejected an attempt to overturn the legislation, saying it was "the culmination of extensive, bipartisan action by the Congress and successive presidents."
Trump has publicly said he opposes the ban, despite supporting one in his first term as president.
"I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok, because I won youth by 34 points," he claimed at a press conference earlier in December, although a majority of young voters backed his opponent, Kamala Harris.
"There are those that say that TikTok has something to do with that," he added.
Source:bbc.com
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Man charged with murder, arson in NYC subway killing
28 Dec, 2024
Prosecutors have formally charged a man in the death of a woman set alight on a New York subway train.
On Friday, Sebastian Zapeta was indicted on charges of murder and arson, though he did not appear during the brief court hearing.
Mr Zapeta, 33, is accused of setting fire to the woman, who may have been asleep on the train, and fanning the flames with a shirt. The victim has not been identified.
The suspect has been held without bail since his arrest shortly after the incident.
The BBC has contacted Mr Zapeta's lawyer for comment.
Police say the woman was sitting on a stationary train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue Station in Brooklyn on Sunday morning when she was approached by a man who used a lighter to ignite her clothing.
There was no interaction between the pair before the attack and police believe they did not know each other.
Officers extinguished the flame, but the woman died at the scene.
The man got off the train as police officers on patrol in the station rushed to the fire, but he did not flee immediately and his face was captured on police body cameras.
At a news conference earlier this week, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch described the incident as "one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit against another human being".
"Unbeknownst to the officers who responded, the suspect had stayed on the scene and was seated on a bench on the platform just outside the train car," Ms Tisch said.
The suspect then left the scene, and authorities say three high school students later recognised him in images distributed by police.
Mr Zapeta, who is originally from Guatemala, was deported from the US in 2018 and later re-entered the country illegally, immigration authorities said.
In a preliminary hearing on Tuesday, prosecutor Ari Rottenberg said Mr Zapeta told investigators that he had been drinking and did not remember the incident, but did identify himself in photos and surveillance video showing the fire being lit.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has urged federal authorities to also charge Mr Zapeta with arson, in addition to the state charges that he currently faces. In a statement, the mayor said: "Lighting another human being on fire and watching them burn alive reflects a level of evil that cannot be tolerated."
A vigil was held Thursday evening for the victim, who was burned so badly that police have had difficulty identifying her.
False and unverified information about her, including a fake AI-generated picture, has been circulating online. Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez told reporters on Friday that authorities are still working to identify the woman using fingerprints and DNA.
Mr Zapeta is due back in court on 7 January, prosecutors said.
Source:bbc.com
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Memorial fund grants 9 scholarships for ski areas across North America
December 28th 2024
BOZEMAN, Mont. — In southwest Montana, a ski patroller's death just over a decade ago is helping save lives to this day.
A scholarship opportunity continues honoring the legacy of a ski patroller who lost his life while on the job.
The Darren Johnson avalanche education memorial fund awarded over $20,000 to nine scholarship recipients.
The funds allow the ski patrollers to continue education safety courses.
Johnson worked as a ski patroller at the Yellowstone Club for six years and died in an avalanche in 2016, while assisting Montana State University grad students in collecting snowpack data.
“Darren was not only a great colleague, but he was an even better friend,” said Lance Stratton, a founding member of the Darren Johnson Memorial Fund and ski patroller at the Yellowstone Club. “His legacy lives on through these scholarships. Our annual memorial events in January have brought light to a dark time for those who worked the day we lost Darren to the mountains.”
The following was sent out by Darren Johnson Avalanche Education Memorial Fund:
The Darren Johnson Avalanche Education Memorial Fund based in Big Sky is pleased to announce it is granting nine scholarships totaling $20,400 in 2024 to support ski patrollers seeking to access continuing education safety courses. The scholarship fund is named after Darren Johnson, a Big Sky local and seasoned Yellowstone Club ski patroller who died in an avalanche in 2016 while on duty helping Montana State University graduate students collect snowpack data. The fund was created by Darren’s fellow ski patrollers and friends and is managed and administered by the Yellowstone Club Community Foundation.
Johnson was a member of the National Ski Patrol and a beloved member of the Yellowstone Club ski patrol for six years.
“Darren was not only a great colleague, but he was an even better friend,” said Lance Stratton, a founding member of the Darren Johnson Memorial Fund and ski patroller at the Yellowstone Club. “His legacy lives on through these scholarships. Our annual memorial events in January have brought light to a dark time for those who worked the day we lost Darren to the mountains.”
The continuing education scholarships are offered to ski patrollers across the country in a competitive selection process. The advanced training, which is already provided by the Yellowstone Club to its patrol team, can be cost-prohibitive for smaller ski areas, especially ones that rely on volunteers.
This year, nine scholarships were granted to patrollers at six ski areas in the United States and one in Canada, including Lost Trail Ski Area in Montana, Sun Valley in Idaho, Stevens Pass in Washington, Mammoth Mountain Ski Area in California, Red Mountain Resort in British Columbia, Red River Ski Area in New Mexico.
The funds are primarily raised through two events held every January in Big Sky, including the Beehive Pint Night, which will be held on January 16th, and the Waypoint film screening and silent auction, which will be held on January 20th.
"Working at a small, family-owned ski area like Lost Trail is an incredible opportunity to connect and work closely with the local community,” said Morgan Throckmorton, a ski patroller at Lost Trail Ski Area and one of the nine scholarship recipients. “This scholarship is helping support our mountain by providing the resources for me and others to strengthen our avalanche program and education through professional courses approved by the American Avalanche Association. This support ensures our team has the training necessary to maintain a safe and enjoyable environment for everyone and aligns with industry best practices.”
Ski patrollers interested in applying for the 2025 grant cycle may apply here: https://yccf.submittable.com/submit/04cd1c04-45f9-4ca5-863d-44c4e2b13f8b/darren-johnson-memorial-scholarship
Members of the public may contribute to the patrollers’ education fund here: https://www.paypal.com/donate?campaign_id=JEK4RYC2NX4ZW
The community can learn more about upcoming Darren Johnson Memorial Fund community events on its Instagram account: @Afirm_Fund.
Source:nbcmontana.com
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President-elect Trump wants to again rename North America's tallest peak
28 Dec, 2024
President-elect Donald Trump has once again suggested he wants to revert the name of North America’s tallest mountain — Alaska’s Denali — to Mount McKinley, wading into a sensitive and decades-old conflict about what the peak should be called.
Former President Barack Obama changed the official name to Denali in 2015 to reflect the traditions of Alaska Natives as well as the preference of many Alaska residents. The federal government in recent years has endeavored to change place-names considered disrespectful to Native people.
“Denali” is an Athabascan word meaning “the high one” or “the great one.” A prospector in 1896 dubbed the peak “Mount McKinley” after President William McKinley, who had never been to Alaska. That name was formally recognized by the U.S. government until Obama changed it over opposition from lawmakers in McKinley’s home state of Ohio.
Trump suggested in 2016 that he might undo Obama’s action, but he dropped that notion after Alaska’s senators objected. He raised it again during a rally in Phoenix on Sunday.
“McKinley was a very good, maybe a great president,” Trump said Sunday. “They took his name off Mount McKinley, right? That’s what they do to people.”
Once again, Trump’s suggestion drew quick opposition within Alaska.
“Uh. Nope. It’s Denali,” Democratic state Sen. Scott Kawasaki posted on the social platform X Sunday night.
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who for years pushed for legislation to change the name to Denali, conveyed a similar sentiment in a post of her own.
“There is only one name worthy of North America’s tallest mountain: Denali — the Great One,” Murkowski wrote on X.
Various tribes of Athabascan people have lived in the shadow of the 20,310-foot mountain for thousands of years.
McKinley, a Republican native of Ohio who served as the 25th president, was assassinated early in his second term in 1901 in Buffalo, New York.
Alaska and Ohio have been at odds over the name since at least the 1970s. Alaska had a standing request to change the name since 1975, when the legislature passed a resolution and then-Gov. Jay Hammond appealed to the federal government.
Known for its majestic views, the mountain is dotted with glaciers and covered at the top with snow year-round, with powerful winds that make it difficult for the adventurous few who seek to climb it.
Source:mtairynews.com
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/tourists-punjab-mosque-snowfall-shelter/d/134176