Evening NEWS DIGEST
17 Dec.2016: 17 Rabiul Awwal 1438: Vol:8, No:64
Kerala HC wants talaq power
taken away from Muslim men; recommends Uniform Marriage Code
Kochi: The Kerala high
court on Friday recommended for taking away the power of talaq from Muslim men
and said a uniform code should be brought in to govern marriages.A single bench
of the court made the recommendations after considering four petitions that
were filed by spouses involved in triple talaqs. While one of them (WP-C No.
37436 of 2003) had questioned a lower court's order to provide maintenance
following a triple talaq using a 'talaq kuri',others had challenged passport
authorities' insistence for a court decree to prove dissolution of their
marriages, which were carried out through talaqs.Recommending for bringing in a
uniform code of marriage, the court said in the judgement, "There are many
areas in which religious laws can be reconciled with secular laws without there
being a conflict of each other. While emphasizing the need for national oneness
in areas where it is possible, and allowing citizens to have their own identity
based on religious practices or belief, endeavour shall be made for common code
of conduct to regulate behaviour of subjects. The need is for a Common Civil
Code; though it is debated at different levels but still it remains a mirage
for want of agreement among different groups. This essentially arise out of
misconception as to the secular law. It is possible to have a common code at
least for the marriage law in India."The HC also suggested that the power
to end marriage by pronouncing talaq should be taken away from Muslim man and
woman and should be vested with a court. "In the light of the above
discussion, there is no difficulty to hold that the right of divorce as
permitted in Islamic Law to the husband and wife can be divested from them to
restore it to the court. Entrustment to effect divorce through the court in no
way would affect the practice of sharia law in accordance with Qur'anic
injunction. If the operative cause of the law of permitting husband and wife to
effect divorce in accordance with the Qur'anic injunction failed; to achieve
its objectives, in the form of Maslahah (public good), task of effecting
divorce through court becomes inevitable to sub-serve the purpose of law,"
the judgment stated. Further, the court said a political system that is not
established under the Islamic law can bring in changes to Sharia as it only
sets out guidelines. Through the judgment, the court said, "Nowhere in
Islam, any form of govt or authority has been singularly pointed out as a
political form of establishment. On the other hand Islam only laid down
principles relating to the human life in every walks of his life till his
death. Therefore, any form of the govt promoting the religious values must be
honoured and obeyed by the believer."TOI
Amend Muslim divorce law:
Kerala HC
Kerala HC judge says law
makers cannot remain mute spectators of injustices suffered by Muslim women
HC seeks codified law for
divorce
SC to hear plea for Uniform
Civil Code on Jan 3
The Supreme Court agrees to
hear the petitions seeking implementation of Uniform Civil Code on 3rd Jan.,
2017 BJP spokesperson Advocate Ashwini Upadhyay who is an intervener in the
case, mentioned the urgency before a three Judge bench of Chief Justice Thakur
and Justice DY Chandrachud. Upadhyay in his impleadment petition in the main
case Albert Antony Vs Union of India submitted that the object of the Article
44 is to introduce a uniform personal law for all the purposes of national
consolidation. In Albert Antony Case, the petitioner also challenged the legal
provision that forces Christian couples to wait for at least 2 years for
divorce whereas other religions like the Hindu Marriage Act and the Parsi
Marriage and the Special Marriage Act, and Divorce Act prescribed only one year
for it. Recently the Law Commission of India has sought public opinion on the
exercise of revision and reform of family laws, in view of Article 44 of the
Constitution of India which envisions a Uniform Civil Code for all Indian
citizens. Livelaw.in
IAF regulations not only
restrict sporting beard but also tilak on forehead, thread on wrist
Chandigarh: The Supreme
Court judgement dismissing the appeal of a Muslim IAF Corporal who wanted to
keep a beard has brought into focus the regulations of the defence services
which are aimed at maintaining a non-religious appearance while in uniform and
also prohibit wearing of tilak or Vibhuti on the forehead, thread on the wrist
or arm and any trinket in the ear. SC judgement also quotes the regulations of
the IAF which specify the regulations regarding the outward appearance of the
personnel and which are also mirrored in the regulations of the Army and the
Navy. IAF regulations clearly state that while in uniform, the personal
appearance of an individual should not give any religious bias. Hence the
restriction on outward appearance has been placed not only for the purpose of
sporting beard by the Muslims but also for the personnel of other religions
like Hinduism, Sikhism etc. While Sikhs are allowed to keep a beard and sport
long hair, there are extensive rules and regulations for the same and those
sporting beard and long hair have to abide by them. IAF policy regarding a
common code of conduct applicable to all air force personnel was re-examined in
February 2003 and a revised policy was issued. The policy clearly stated that
only those Muslim personnel who had kept beard along with moustache at the time
of commissioning/enrollment prior to Jan 1, 2002 would be allowed to keep beard
and moustache.“Such personnel are to maintain it in a manner that it is neat,
trimmed and tidy and not more than the length which could be covered by one
fist. Muslims who have grown beard after joining service should shave off the
beard. Under no circumstances, a Muslim person who had beard at the time of
joining service before Jan 1, 2002 shall be allowed to maintain beard without
moustache. Moustache would be a part of the beard,” the policy states. Ex-Deputy
Judge Advocate General of the Army’s legal branch, Col SK Aggarwal, said that
despite restrictions there are relaxations which are given within rules and
regulations. “For example there is a provision of taking permission and growing
beard by Muslims in Ramzan while keeping roza. The permission is given with the
direction that the beard has to be shaved off after the rozas are over else it
will be considered an disciplinary offence,” he said.As far as Sikhs serving in
the IAF is concerned, the policy says, “Sikh personnel who wear turban and keep
beard at the time of commission/enrolment would continue to do so. These
personnel must maintain the beard neatly dressed/tied and rolled and not kept
flowing. They are to wear the turban while in uniform/civil dress whether
inside or outside the camp except during PT/Games and activities related to
operations where wearing of turban is not feasible. At all such occasions, Sikh
personnel are to wear turban/patka or handkerchief over the knot of hair as
appropriate. Sikh personnel keeping short hair and beard are to wear turban as
applicable to those maintaining long hair”. indianexpress
IAF officers can’t grow
beard, uniformity of personal appearance important: SC
Airforce personnel can’t
sport beard: SC; Junks Muslim man’s plea
Russia’s Taliban outreach
alarms Delhi
New Delhi (Iftikhar Gilani):
Russia’s open admission that it was maintaining “limited political” contacts
with the Taliban has set alarm bells both in Kabul and New Delhi. Russian
ambassador to Kabul Alexander Mantytskiy’s revelation comes just two days after
the first-ever Pakistan-Russia consultations on regional issues.Reacting
cautiously to the development, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas
Swarup said, “We do not see any downward trend in our bilateral relationship.
However, in so far as the Taliban is concerned, they have to respect the internationally
agreed red lines, give up terrorism and violence, sever all ties with Al Qaeda,
agree to follow democratic norms and not do anything which will erode the gains
of the last 15 years. Ultimately, it is for the Govt of Afghanistan to decide whom to talk to and
how.”In Islamabad, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammed Nafees Zakaria
welcomed the Russia move, saying Pakistan has repeatedly emphasised the need
for a politically negotiated settlement between the Afghan Govt and the
Taliban. “Pakistan believes that Afghan conflict has to be resolved through
peaceful and political means. The most apt way to move forward in this regard
is serious talks between Afghan Govt and the Taliban. For this, Afghan govt needs
to send positive signals to the Taliban inviting them to join the peace process
along with necessary incentives. In our view, an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led
process is the best way and not the military option,” he added.It appears that
Russia and Iran of late have been seeking Taliban help to prevent Daesh or ISIS
taking roots in the war torn country. Taliban control the south western part of
Afghanistan, while ISIS has shown its presence in the north eastern part of
country. Earlier this month, Russian special envoy to Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov
at Heart of Asia (HoA) conference at Amritsar had taken a stand at variance
from India and Afghanistan, by extending support to support to Pakistan.The
most severe reaction to Russia’s Taliban move on Thursday came from Kabul,
where the legislative lower house, or Wolasi Jirga, passed a resolution, urging
President Ashraf Ghani’s national unity govt not to allow neighbouring and regional
countries to interfere in internal Afghan matters “on the pretext of supporting
the Taliban to fight Islamic State.” Afghan foreign ministry also warned that
maintaining “any kind of support or contacts” with groups destabilising
Afghanistan would undermine regional stability as well. DNA
Russia supports China-Pak
Economic Corridor project: Russian envoy Dedov
Islamabad: Russia on
Saturday said it "strongly" supports the China-Pakistan Economic
Corridor (CPEC) project as it was crucial for Islamabad's economy and regional
connectivity. PTI
Supreme Court rejects HC
ruling: No sovereignty for J-K outside Constitution of India
New Delhi: Snubbing J&K
High Court for asserting the state’s “sovereignty” and “sovereign powers”, the
Supreme Court Friday said J&K “has no vestige of sovereignty outside the Constitution
of India”. A bench of Justices Kurian Joseph and Rohinton Nariman also rejected
the J&K High Court’s view that the J&K Constitution was equal to the
Constitution of India. “It is clear that the state of J&K has no vestige of
sovereignty outside the Constitution of India and its own Constitution, which
is subordinate to the Constitution of India… they (residents of state) are
governed first by the Constitution of India and also by the Constitution of J&K,”
the bench said, referring to the preamble of the Constitution of J&K, 1957.The
bench called it “disturbing” that various parts of a judgment in appeal by the
J&K HC spoke of the absolute sovereign power of the state. “It is necessary
to reiterate that Section 3 of the Constitution of J&K, which was framed by
a Constituent Assembly elected on the basis of universal adult franchise, makes
a ringing declaration that the State of J&K is and shall be an integral
part of the Union of India. And this provision is beyond the pale of
amendment,” the judges said.The bench also clarified that J&K residents are
“first and foremost” Indian citizens. “It is therefore wholly incorrect to
describe it as being sovereign in the sense of its residents constituting a
separate and distinct class in themselves.The residents of J&K, we need to
remind the High Court, are first and foremost citizens of India… permanent
residents of the state of J&K are citizens of India, and that there is no
dual citizenship as is contemplated by some other federal Constitutions in
other parts of the world,”it said.indianexpress
Black money: Modi govt exempts
political parties from paying tax: financialexpress
New Delhi:Even as Centre
cracks down against black money generators and hoarders in the country, with
numerous seizures and arrests being reported daily and a new Income Declaration
Scheme being announced today for them to come clean, the Narendra Modi govt has exempted political parties and said that all
political parties that deposit the banned old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes
in their accounts will get full exemption from income tax. Revenue Secretary
Hasmukh Adhia said deposits in bank accounts of political parties will not be
taxed. However, tax exemption on deposits by political parties subject to
individual donations will not exceed Rs 20,000 in cash and will be done with
proper receipt.The govt had even ruled
that the farmers, exempted from paying tax on agriculture income need to make self-declaration
showing their earnings to be less than Rs 2.5 lakh per year to deposit money in
the banks without a PAN card. Stating that political party’s deposit will not
be taxed, Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia also stated that farmers without self-declaration
of income will mandatorily have to provide PAN cards for depositing money.
Jaitley hints not all
scrapped currency will be remonetised
New Delhi: Finance Minister
Arun Jaitley today hinted that not all of the Rs 15.44 lakh crore worth of
currency junked will be remonetised through issuance of new notes as he said
digital currency will fill the gap. Calling the scrapping of old 500 and 1,000
rupee notes as "a courageous step", he said the govt could do it as India today has the capacity to
take such decisions and experiment boldly. PTI
GST rollout likely between
April 1-Sept. 16: Arun Jaitley
Rs 200 crore unearthed in
new notes and no one knows where it came from
Income Tax Department, CBI,
Enforcement Directorate, and other investigative agencies, have unearthed over
Rs 200 crore in new currency notes from businessmen, hawala operators, and even
some politicians, since the intensive crackdown on cash hoarders began in the
aftermath of demonetization. According to media reports, so far, 586 such
searches have been conducted by the I-T department which has found Rs 2,900
crore in old and new cash, and gold.DNA
Gujarat matches the
fingerprints of the poor before giving them food. Does the system work?
60 km from Ahmedabad in
Gujarat, in a village called Hebatpur in Dholera, 78-year-old Gaguben Zala made
5 unsuccessful attempts to enrol in Aadhaar, the biometrics-based database that
assigns a unique 12-digit number to every resident of India. “Each time I
tried, the machine would fail to capture my fingerprints and the staff sent me
back home,” recalled the gaunt and feisty Dalit woman, with deep wrinkles
running through the dry skin of her hands that had hardened from years of farm
work.The sixth time, one of the boys working at the enrolment camp came to her
help.“He rubbed my dry fingertips against the hair-oil on his scalp for a few
minutes,” she said. “After this, the scanner captured my fingerprints.” India
is introducing Aadhaar in ration shops. The fingerprints of people like Zala
will be matched against their biometric data stored in the Aadhaar database
before they are given subsidised foodgrains.This process is called
‘authentication’. The public distribution system, which provides subsidised
wheat and rice to 67% of India’s population, is one of the first social welfare
delivery systems to use Aadhaar-based authentication. The Centre has asked
states to move to the new system by March 2017.In the govt ’s view, this will
ensure only real beneficiaries are able to access the foodgrains, bringing an
end to theft and pilferage in the system. Scroll
Jamaat chief appeals to
stop the massacre in Syria
New Delhi: The President of
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH), Maulana Syed Jalaluddin Umari has expressed great
dismay over the situation in Syria.In response to reports of the recent
massacre in Aleppo, the JIH chief said : ‘instead of providing security to its
cities, the Syrian govt is turning them
into mass graveyards.This is one of the biggest tragedies in human history.
Nobody is allowed to take the lives of innocent civilians by calling them
collateral damage.UN human rights charter should be strictly implemented”. JIH
chief said: ‘’while Aleppo is burning, the Russian armed forces are attacking
Palmyra in which again thousands of Syrians are being killed. There are reports
of attacks on hospitals and ambulances, which is most reprehensible. It is
indeed regrettable that the UN, the international community and the Muslim
countries appear helpless and have remained silent. Russia and its allied
forces are hand in hand with the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in carrying
outthe massacre of thousands of innocent civilians including women and children
in Aleppo. Jamaat appeals to the international community to establish an
evacuation process in Aleppo under the supervision of the UN and which would
include agencies like the Red Cross’’. PR
Solidarity March for Aleppo
at Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh: A solidarity march
was organized in the evening of 15th Dec from Maulana Azad Library to
Baab-e-Syed (AMU) in solidarity with the innocent victims of continued
persecution in Aleppo (Syria) and ‘Rohingya’ community in ‘Rakhine’ State of
Myanmar. A large crowd was gathered at Maulana Azad Library of AMU in the
sorrowful evening as the massacre of humanity is going on in Aleppo (Syria) or
alike, anywhere else in the world. This disturbing and continued trend of
persecution has derived two young students of Women’s College (AMU) – Zahra
Sherwani and Ayesha Najeeb to call upon the students of AMU to protest against
killings of innocent people from Syria, Myanmar or any war or riot torn region
of the world in the mere name of cast, creed, religion or ethnicity. muslimmirror
Nagpur;Muslims rack up
numbers, seek education quota
Nagpur: A day after Maratha
muk morcha (silent march), a similar rally but pipping the former in numbers
was held by Muslims under the aegis of Jamait-Ulema-e-Hind, on Thursday.Though
seeking 5% quota in education, the tone was more against any change in triple
talaaq and interference in Shariat laws. Unlike rallies by other communities,
women were absent here.Organizers said it could have been difficult to control
the crowd if women were included. "Women are being misguided in the name
of banning triple talaaq," said participants of the rally.As against close
to 20,000 participants in the Maratha rally, the number of Muslims was up to
40,000. Organizers say this was a show of strength before taking to the streets.Taking
a cue from Maratha rallies that began from June this year, Muslims too started
holding silent marches in the state since the last two months.Before Nagpur,
the Muslim reservation rallies were held in Bhusawal, Parbhani, Akola and
Aurangabad. The rally was the biggest, said Javed Ansari of United Students
Association (USA) and a participant.TOI
Muslims organise mega rally
in Nagpur for reservation, preserving personal laws
AIMIM strengthens position
in Maharshtra; grabs 6 seats in Latur local body elections
Udgir, Latur: AIMIM is
continuing its good performance in Maharashtra, and on Thursday emerged
victorious on 6 seats of Udgir (District Latur) Taluka local body elections.The
winning candidates-Sayed Taher Husain, Dargar Shamsuddin, Hashmi Sayed Reshma,
Sambhaji Sangve and Noorjahan Patel-expressed happiness while talking to local
press members and credited their victory to voters and the party high command. Imtiyaz
Jaleel, legislature of the party informed Twocircles.net that they had fielded
only 22 candidates in the entire Latur dist, of which 18 were muslims and
remainig 4 were Dalit.TCN
Jailed SIMI suspects allege
poor services
Bhopal: Suspected Simi
activists, currently lodged in Bhopal Central jail, have moved the local court
alleging denial of basic services like bath in the prison.The family of 4
jailed Simi suspects filed a petition on Friday in a local judicial magistrate
court here, alleging they were neither allowed to take bath nor given food on
time in the prison.According to their counsel, Parvez Alam, the petitioners
narrated their “ordeal” in the prison alleging that they were not given proper
clothes, forcing them to wear same clothes for a month, and that they were not
provided with sufficient bed sheets.“We are living in a perpetual fear in the
aftermath of killing of eight other Simi activists in an encounter with the
police after they fled the jail. We have been subjected to all kinds of
harassments by the authorities since the incident,” the petition alleged.“The
court has ordered the jail authorities to submit a detail report in this regard
by Dec.19,” Alam said, adding that similar petitions have also been filed in
district and sessions court here.ASIAN AGE
FBI quizzes Abu Musa:PTI
report
New Delhi:Jamaat-Ul
Mujahideen Bangladesh activist Mohammed Masiuddin alias Abu Musa has been
questioned by the FBI in Kolkata to probe a possible conspiracy being hatched
by his Syria-based handler Sultan Abdul Kadir Armar to target American assets
and nationals.
3 soldiers killed in
Pampore attack: Army
Srinagar : 3 soldiers were
killed on Saturday afternoon when militants laid an ambush near Pampore town in
south Kashmir. Army spokesman confirmed to The Hindu that three soldiers died
in the militant ambush on an army convoy on Srinagar-Jammu highway near
Kadlabal in Pampore, Pulwama. Preliminary reports suggest militants were on a
bike when they opened indiscriminate firing on the convoy in the afternoon. Immediately
after the firing, the army cordoned off some parts of Pampore to nab the
attackers. Locals said that a house-to-house search operation was also
conducted by Army.thehindu
1 dead in 'Indian shelling'
on school van in Kashmir: Aljazeera
A Pakistani school bus
driver was killed and several children were wounded in Indian firing along the
de facto Kashmir border, Pakistan said.The incident occurred at Mohra village
in the Nakyal sector of PoK across the LoC where officials said shelling by
Indian troops was continuing."A shell fired by Indian troops hit a school
van at LoC in Nakyal sector. The driver has been martyred and eight children
wounded," Zeeshan Haider, a senior govt official told AFP.
Omar Abdullah calls for
dialogue with stakeholders to resolve Kashmir issue
Srinagar: Noting there is
no alternative to political engagement, National Conference working president
Omar Abdullah on Saturday said the Centre should start a comprehensive dialogue
with various stakeholders in J&K as well as with Pakistan in order to
achieve sustainable peace."New Delhi needs to realise that it has to talk
to various stakeholders in J&K and resume the dialogue process with
Pakistan if it wants to see normalcy and peace in Kashmir," Omar, ex-CM ,
said addressing party workers in Kupwara, 100 kms from here.PTI
Charge sheet has proof
against Amit Shah: CBI
CBI has opposed the
discharge plea filed by BJP president Amit Shah in the Sohrabuddin Shaikh fake
encounter case, saying it had evidence of his involvement.Its counsel told the
special CBI court that there was evidence on record in the charge sheet and
statements from witnesses. Shah’s counsel, SV Raju, said that a person cannot
be charged based on hearsay and cited relevant sections of the Evidence Act.
Earlier, the defence had stated that Indian National Congress (INC) had used
the CBI as a tool to implicate Shah in the case.Complainant Rubabuddin Sheikh’s
lawyer, Anubha Rastogi, stated in the court that she thought that CBI will
continue its arguments for a longer period — it took around 30 minutes — and
therefore had not prepared her arguments. She will now make her arguments on
Tuesday. The special judge said every party will be given a fair hearing.Amit
Shah has been exempted from making a personal appearance in court. According to
the CBI’s charge sheet, subsequent to the murder of Hamid Lala, Sohrabuddin and
Prajapati continued their criminal activities in Maharashtra, Rajasthan and
Gujarat. However, Sohrabuddin remained elusive. It was, therefore, that the
accused, Amit Shah, who was then Gujarat home minister along with police
officers, DG Vanzara, S Pandiyan Rajkumar, Dinesh Man and others allegedly
entered into a conspiracy to abduct and murder Sohrabuddin. hindustantimes
New Islamic party born in
UP ahead of elections
Lucknow: The BJP’s concept
of ‘Hindu Rashtra’ may not have cut much ice with the people of the country but
a new political outfit called Islam Party has announced that its aim is to
establish Islamic rule in India.A poster released by the Islam Party in
Azamgarh district categorically states that “there is only one way to establish
Islamic rule in India — Islam Party”. The poster carries a picture of the
party’s national general secretary, Aftab Qamar Ansari, and urges voters to
cast their vote in the name of Islam.Ansari will be contesting the Mubarakpur
seat in Azamgarh, which is the Parliamentary seat of SP chief Mulayam Singh
Yadav and is also known for a high percentage of Muslim population.asian age
AMU old boys seek Pranab's
intervention to restore university's minority character
New Delhi; A delegation of AMU old boys today sought
immediate intervention of President Pranab Mukherjee against the Central Govt's
decision to oppose restoration of the minority character of the university in
the Supreme Court. "Muslims badly need modern education to be saved from
the influence of radical ideologies, and so it would be against national
interest that any institution created for such education should be taken away
from the community," the delegation told the President in a meeting with
him here this morning. The delegation, led by former IGNOU PVC Prof Baseer
Ahmad, who is also a former president of the AMU Students Union, told UNI after
the meeting that they stressed to the President that granting minority
character to any institution did not mean that it would not be imparting
secular education or it would be closed to students from other communities. The
delegation also complained to the President that funds were not being released
to newly created AMU campuses in Kishangarh and Murshidabad. Prof Ahmad said
after meeting with the President that he had assured them that he would take up
all these matters with HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar. Besides Prof Ahmad,
other old boys in the delegation were Irshad Ahmad, Irfanullah Khan,Mudassra
Hayat and Khan Khusro.UNI
Bengaluru man with alleged
ISIS links held in Kullu:PTI
Shimla: A 23-year-old man
from Bengaluru with alleged ISIS links was on Saturday arrested by team of NIA
and local police from Banjar area in Kullu district of Himachal. Abeed Khan was
arrested from a church where he was staying with a fake identity for the past
four-five months, police said.Confirming the arrest, DGP Sanjay Kumar said that
Khan is being interrogated by intelligence agencies. Sources said that the man
was named by some of his accomplices during interrogation after they were
arrested in Delhi.PTI
Anil Dhasmana new R&AW
chief; Rajiv Jain to be IB chief
Ending suspense, Modi govt today
announced the appointment of Anil Dhasmana as the new R&AW chief and Rajiv
Jain as IB chief. Dhasmana and Jain will succeed Rajinder Khanna and Dineshwar
Sharma. Anil Kumar Dhasmana is a 1981 batch IPS officer. He was a special
secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat. Reports suggest that Dhasmana was
supposed to superannuate on October 31, 2017, but with this appointment, he
will now retire in December of 2018.Meanwhile, Rajiv Jain, was serving as a
pecial Director in the Intelligence Bureau. Jain is a 1980 batch Indian Police
Service officer. He was given an apex pay scale of Rs 80,000 in 2015. This was
given to remove an anomaly in his salary. Financialexpress
Mr Advani, your resignation
would be meaningless. You created this monster: ASHUTOSH, AAP leader
WORLD
Aleppo evacuation deal 'to
resume' after setbacks
A new ceasefire deal to
evacuate tens of thousands of Syrian opposition fighters and civilians from the
remaining rebel-held pockets of eastern Aleppo has been reached, according to a
rebel group official.The rebel official told Al Jazeera on Saturday that the
deal would allow for the complete evacuation of the embattled enclaves still
held by rebel groups.Speaking to the Reuters, a Syrian govt source confirmed
the agreement. Saturday's announcement came after previous agreements brokered
by Turkey and Russia fell apart, with the Syrian govt and opposition groups
exchanging blame. In addition to eastern Aleppo, the deal will allow for the
transfer of civilians from the rebel-besieged towns of Kafraya and Fua, as well
as the govt -blockaded towns of Madaya and Zabadani. A day earlier, Syrian state
media said more than 8,000 people had been evacuated from the besieged
territory when the agreement was suspended. The deal would have allowed for the
remaining population of rebel-held neighbourhoods to be transferred through govt
-controlled territory to the city of Idlib, where Jabhat Fateh al-Sham
(formerly known as the al-Nusra Front, which was linked to al-Qaeda) and rebel
groups control most of the territory. aljazeera
Aleppo's exiles watch rebel
collapse, powerless to help
Aleppo is now a synonym for
hell: Outgoing UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
UN: Describing the
war-ravaged Syrian town of Aleppo as a "synonym for hell", UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said international community has collectively
failed the people of Syria and the carnage there remains a "gaping
hole" in the global conscience.In his last press conference as UN
Secretary-General, Ban delivered stark warnings on 2 issues at forefront of
international concern--- Syria and South Sudan.He stated that "the carnage
in Syria remains a gaping hole in the global conscience and South Sudan faces a
risk of genocide as the country leaders have squandered a peace
agreement." "Aleppo is now a synonym for hell," Ban said on
Saturday, bidding farewell to UN press corps."We have collectively failed
the people of Syria.Peace will only prevail when it is accompanied by
compassion, justice and accountability for the abominable crimes we have
seen,"he said. PTI
Hezbollah paper attacks
Hamas’ position on Aleppo
Lebanon’s newspaper Al
Akhbar, affiliated with Hezbollah, attacked Hamas due to its condemnation of
the “massacres and genocide” committed by the Syrian regime, its Russian ally,
and the Shia militias against civilians in Syria’s Aleppo. On Wednesday, Hamas
expressed its disapproval of “the killing and genocide innocent civilians in
Aleppo are being subjected to”, expressing their solidarity with them.Due to
this position, Al Akhbar described Hamas as an arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in
one of its articles and accused it of launching a widespread arrest campaign
against various public figures, writers and journalists in the Gaza Strip.Hezbollah
paper considered Hamas’ position condemning the massacres in Aleppo as “an
expression of an integral part of the Muslim Brotherhood’s involvement in the
battle, as it is not far from Salafist theorisation and is hostile towards the
Syrian state and its allies.”It also accused Hamas of interfering in the
internal affairs of Arab states, despite the fact that Hamas has reiterated in
all of its statements regarding the crisis that it does not interfere in the
internal affairs of Arab countries.middleeastmonitor
Aleppo:Hundreds of
civilians detained
Syrian regime and
pro-regime forces have detained hundreds of civilians in regime-held areas of
Aleppo, a local activist said yesterday. Speaking in a video which she
published on Twitter, Lina Shamy claimed that a large number of people came
back from the evacuation point to the city after the regime and pro-regime
forces breached the truce.Stating that there are still thousands of civilians
and injured people in the besieged part of Aleppo, she shared images of people
returning from the evacuation point.“There is no international monitoring on
[the] evacuation,” Shamy claimed.She also claimed that Red Cross and
humanitarian organisations have left the civilians alone in regime-held region,
adding that those people “could not come back”, and have been threatened with a
massacre.middleeastmonitor
Creepy behaviour and double
standards at the UN: Yvonne Ridley on Syria
'Palestinisation' of the
Syrian people:Robin Yassin-Kassab
Iran threatens Bahrain,
Yemen with ‘Islamic conquest’ like Aleppo
A senior Iranian military
commander has threatened further wars of conquest after describing the recent collapse
of Syrian opposition in Aleppo as an “Islamic conquest”, as footage has
appeared showing Syrian refugees attempting to evacuate the ravaged city being
shot at by Iran-backed Shia jihadists.In comments to local Iranian media,
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) General Hossein Salami said:“It
is now time for the Islamic conquests. After the liberation of Aleppo,
Bahrain’s hopes will be realised and Yemen will be happy with the defeat of the
enemies of Islam.”IRGC commander also said that “the people of Mosul will taste
the taste of victory,” in reference to the ongoing Mosul operations. middleeastmonitor
Armed force alone will
never vanquish IS: US experts
Washington:If the Islamic
State group is to be defeated and prevented from reappearing under some new
guise, the root causes behind its birth and growth must be addressed, American
experts say. In the face of an uprising that has catalyzed and channeled anger,
frustrations and resentments of a significant part of the Sunni world, a
uniquely military response will never suffice, however impressive its gains on
the ground, according to terror experts.And yet the underlying problems in many
parts of the Arab world — starting with chaos, poor governance and poverty —
run deep. With places like the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo descending into
chaos, no easy solutions are in sight.AFP
US doubles its reward for
Daesh leader to $25 million
Turkish army:13 soldiers
killed, 48 wounded in bombing
Istanbul: Thirteen Turkish
soldiers were killed and dozens more wounded in a car bombing targeting
off-duty conscripts being taken by bus on a weekend shopping trip, the latest
in a string of attacks to rock Turkey in recent months.48 soldiers were wounded
in Saturday's attack in the central Anatolian city of Kayseri, the army said in
a statement, adding that there could also be civilian casualties.AFP
Trump picks settlement
supporter as Israel ambassador
US President-elect Donald Trump
will nominate David Friedman, a right-wing lawyer known for his staunch support
for Israel, as US ambassador to Israel.Friedman, who has no diplomatic
experience, is a supporter of Israel's Jewish-only settlements - which are
considered illegal under international law - in the occupied West Bank,
including East Jerusalem. More than 530,000 Israelis live in settlements across
the occupied Palestinian territory, according to the Israeli rights group
B'Tselem. aljazeera
FBI in agreement with CIA
that Russia aimed to help Trump win White House
FBI Director James B. Comey
and Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. are in agreement
with a CIA assessment that Russia intervened in the 2016 election in part to
help Donald Trump win the White House, officials disclosed Friday, as President
Obama issued a public warning to Moscow that it could face retaliation.New
revelations about Comey’s position could put to rest suggestions by some
lawmakers that the CIA and the FBI weren’t on the same page on Russian President
Vladimir Putin’s intentions.washingtonpost
Compiled and edited by Anwarulhaq (Released at: 8:04 PM)
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