Evening NEWS
DIGEST
21 Dec.2017: 02 Rabial Aakhir 1439:Vol:9, No:78
INDIA
Lobbying intensifies for India’s UNGA vote on
Jerusalem
New Delhi:International lobbying has
intensified to get India on board for the session of the UNGA on Thursday where
the biggest platform of the UN is likely to adopt a resolution in opposition to
US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
The meeting of UNGA comes in the backdrop of a similar meeting of the Arab
League which has asked for reversing of the decision even as Indian diplomats
indicated that they will maintain that third parties do not decide Indian
“foreign policy postures”. “We have met with Minister of State for External
Affairs M.J. Akbar ten days ago to discuss the US decision and the Indian
position in support of the Palestinian case and the peace process,” said a
senior Arab diplomat indicating that a diplomatic team representing Arab
concerns on Jerusalem held consultation with the officials of Ministry of
External Affairs on Wednesday. However, there was no indication from the MEA if
India would support either party.“Third parties don’t decide our foreign policy
postures. For us this is all par for the course,” said a senior Indian official
in response to a question on whether India will vote with the Arab countries or
support President Trump’s decision.The draft resolution on the status of
Jerusalem to be presented on Thursday expresses deep “regret” on the US’ stated
position on Jerusalem and calls for “the final status of Jerusalem to be
resolved through negotiations.” A similar resolution was vetoed by the US at
the UN Security Council although the US found itself isolated with all other
members voting in favour.Soon after President Trump’s declaration on Jerusalem,
the Arab League had reached out to India even as it condemned the decision and
urged President Trump to reverse the decision.Academic Prof P.R. Kumaraswamy,
an expert on Israeli politics in JNU said that India should stay away from the
voting to show its opposition to the “exclusivist” approach by both the
Palestinian and the Israeli sides.“US declaration on Jerusalem cannot become
our problem. We have to point out that Jerusalem belongs to all its claimants
and the claimants need to be reminded that they have repeatedly come up with
exclusivist claims,” said Prof. Kumaraswamy.“India should not even abstain. Our
representatives to UN General Assembly should stay absent during the voting
which will express our position effectively,” he said. thehindu
Arab world asks India's support over UN
resolution on Jerusalem
Pakistan links Kashmir issue to Palestinian
crisis at UNSC
UN: Pakistan has raked up the Kashmir issue
again at the UN Security Council, linking it to the Palestinian crisis and
asserting that the world continues to watch these “egregious” situations
without addressing them.Participating in an open debate at the UNSC, Pakistan’s
Permanent Representative to the UN Maleeha Lodhi on Wednesday said challenges
to international peace and security are intensifying at a time when the
foundations of global order are fraying.“The Palestinian and Kashmiri people
continue to suffer horrific human rights violations at the hands of occupying
forces while the world continues to watch without addressing these egregious
situations,” she said during the debate on ‘Addressing complex contemporary
challenges to international peace and security’. The envoy said conflicts
continued to rage across the world, from Africa to Afghanistan.Civil wars and
factional fighting in Syria, Libya and Yemen are becoming more vicious and
consequential, generating record levels of human displacement, she
said.“Efforts to change the status of Jerusalem threaten to drive an already
volatile Middle East into further turbulence and chaos,” Lodhi said, referring
to US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s
capital.“And as UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has warned, in Korean
peninsula, we may be sleep-walking into a catastrophe. At the same time
longstanding, internationally recognised disputes of Palestine and Jammu and
Kashmir continue to fester,” the Pakistani diplomat said.All this is
compounding the challenges of a more turbulent and volatile world, she
asserted.
Pak has formed panel to probe reports of
conversion of Sikhs:High Commissioner
New Delhi:Pakistani govt has formed an inquiry
committee to probe reports of Sikhs being forced to convert to Islam in
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, the countrys High Commissioner to India told a
Shiromani Akali Dal delegation led by its chief Sukhbir Singh Badal.Shiromani
Akali Dal (SAD) chief and former deputy chief minister of Punjab Badal today
met Pakistani High Commissioner Sohail Mahmood here along with members of Sikh
Gurudwara Prabhandak Committee (SGPC) over the issue of reports of forced
conversions of Sikhs to Islam in the neighbouring country.Pakistans High
Commissioner to India informed the delegation that an inquiry committee has
been formed to probe the issue which will submit its report at the earliest,
Manjinder Singh Sirsa, an SAD spokesperson, said."He also told the
delegation that it can assure Sikhs residing in different nations that Sikhs of
Pakistan are very much part of the country and they will never face any problem
in this regard," the party said quoting the Pakistani envoy.PTI
No political considerations in rejecting UN
resolutions against Masood Azhar: China
Beijing:LChina on Thursday said its decision
to repeatedly reject resolutions at the UN to sanction Pakistan-based
Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar wasn’t based on “political considerations”
and was taken on the merits of the case.India on Wednesday had sharply
criticised China for apparently shielding Azhar at the UN Security Council.
India’s permanent representative to the UN Syed Akbaruddin said that “on
counter-terrorism, cooperation continues to elude the council, as it falls
victim to narrow political and strategic concerns”.China’s ministry of foreign
affairs dismissed India’s argument.“You have mentioned the narrow political
consideration but we think we have acted in a candid way with ease. We have
nothing to do with narrow-minded political consideration,” foreign ministry
spokesperson Hua Chunying said on Thursday.“We should say that we firmly
crackdown on various forms of international terrorism and on this issue we make
our own judgements based on the merits of the matter.“Like we said, the
relevant move in the committee accords with the rules of the procedure of the
committee and we will work with various parties to uphold the security and
peace of the international community.”
Pakistan Army chief says military will back
government’s efforts to normalise relations with India
Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa
told Pakistan’s senators that the military would back the political
leadership’s efforts to normalise ties with India, Dawn reported. Bajwa,
however, alleged that most of India’s troops were deployed against Pakistan and
accused India of attempting to destabilise the country by collaborating with
the Afghan intelligence agency National Directorate of Security.During his
address on December 19, Bajwa briefed Pakistani political leaders about matters
of national security to help them “prepare policy guidelines in the light of
emerging regional realities”, Geo News reported.His remarks came a day after
the country’s National Security Adviser, Lt Gen (retd) Nasser Khan Janjua,
warned that South Asia was one mistake away from a major catastrophe, and
accused India of threatening Pakistan with war.
Kulbhushan Jadhav under no threat of immediate
execution: Pakistan
Islamabad:Pakistan on Thursday said alleged
Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav was not under any threat of immediate execution
and his meeting with his wife and mother had been arranged “purely on
humanitarian grounds”.“Let me assure you that the Jadhav is under no threat of
immediate execution and his mercy petitions are still pending,” Foreign Office
spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said.Jadhav’s mother and wife will meet him in
Islamabad on December 25 in the “light of Islamic traditions and based on
purely humanitarian grounds,” the official said.Islamabad also said it was
awaiting New Delhi’s decision on Pakistan permitting media interaction with the
wife and mother of Jadhav.IANS
J&K: ‘Woman killed by stray bullet was
watching encounter from home’
Shopian;Almost 17 hours after an encounter
started 500 metres from her mother’s home, Rubina Jaan stood up inside the
house and looked out of a window to peek at the commotion outside around 11 am.
At that moment, her family said, a shower of
bullets were fired in the direction of the one-storey home in Batmurran
village. Rubina (25) took a bullet in the chest and slumped to the floor. The
rest of the family was in the same room. No one else was injured.The mother of
an 11-month-old daughter, Rubina died before she could be taken to a hospital,
her brother Yaqoob Bhat (27) said.Later, the family said they counted eight
bullet holes on the walls and in the cracked window. Yaqoob showed the holes
near the window where his younger sister had stood on Tuesday. Outside, a
stretcher lay on top of a folding bed in an apple orchard next to Rubina’s
home. Rubina was brought home in that stretcher. Her mother, carrying Rubina’s
daughter Azra, wailed: “My daughter, why my daughter?”Yaqoob said Rubina had
come home “to take care of our uncle who has been ill for some time”. He said:
“She bled out before we reached the main road.”Villagers poured in to offer
condolences and kissed Azra’s forehead. The word “target” was repeatedly heard
around the room. “All of us were sitting in that one room. And if all the
bullets had entered the house, all of us could have died. We were targeted,” a
family member said. They blamed the police for Rubina’s death.
J-K Governor seeks clarification, returns file
recommending nomination of Mehbooba’s brother as MLC
Jammu;Seeking clarification from the PDP-BJP
coalition government, the Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra has returned the
file recommending nomination of Tasaduq Mufti, younger brother of Chief
Minister Mehbooba Mufti, into the State Legislative Council.Sources said that
while returning the file, the Governor has drawn the coalition cabinet’s
attention towards a writ petition pending disposal in the state high court
wherein nomination of eight members to Upper House of the State Legislature has
been challenged. The cabinet had recommended nomination of Tasaduq Mufti
against the vacancy caused by the resignation of its former leader Yuvraj
Vikramaditya Singh from the Legislative Council.
Prominent Maldives editorial terms PM Modi as
‘anti-Muslim’, blames it for plotting coup
Prime Minister Narendra Modi led-BJP which was
earlier facing the ire of the people of other communities for favouring just
one particular religion seems to be caught up in a fresh political storm.
According to reports, a pro-Abdulla Yameen paper in the Maldives, in an
editorial, described PM Modi as ‘Hindu extremist leader’. The editorial further
termed PM Modi as ‘anti-Muslim’. Criticising the PM Modi, the editorial which
was in Dhivehi language said that Indian is their biggest ‘, enemy’. Extending
a hand of friendship towards China, it said a ‘new best friend’ to be found for
the Maldives in China.According to a report by TOI, the editorial drew unified
condemnation. The reports said that the outrageous article had appeared in the
mouthpiece of Maldives President, Abdulla Yameen. The article which was
published in the mouthpiece of President Yameen gets routinely approved by the
President Yameen’s office before being published. Condemning the editorial by
the Maldives ruling party in Yameen’s mouthpiece, Maldivian Democratic Party
(MDP) said that it seems to be the display of hostility against India. The
opposition also alerted that India should worry about the dangers of
overindulging the Yameen administration.Talking top TOI, Maldivian Democratic
Party (MDP) leader and former foreign minister of Maldives, Ahmed Naseem, said,
“More robust Indian corrective measures will be in the interest of both India
and the Maldives”. The leader further added that appeasement with wishful
thinking is not going to solve this crisis among the nations. Apart from
terming PM Modi as anti-Muslim, the editorial also blamed India for plotting a
coup against the government led by Abdulla Yameen. Apart from this, the
editorial which was approved by Maldives President’s office blamed India for
Kashmir unrest as well as for arming ‘Tamil terrorists’ in Sri Lanka. newsx
2G case verdict: CBI court acquits A Raja,
Kanimozhi and all other accused
New Delhi: A special CBI court on Thursday
acquitted former telecom minister A Raja, DMK supremo Karunanidhi’s daughter
Kanimozhi and other accused of all charges in the 2G spectrum allocation cases
— famously known as 2G ‘scam’ and often
described as the biggest corruption scandal in India. All the acquitted in the
case have to, however, furnish a bail bond of Rs 5 lakh each to ensure their
presence in a higher appellate court if the verdict is challenged.The alleged
scam came to light in 2010 when the then Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai
alleged that 122 2G licences were given to telecom operators at throwaway
prices without a free and fair bidding process, causing a loss of Rs 1.76 lakh
crore to the national exchequer. The trial in the case began next year.The
licences were scrapped by the Supreme Court on Feb.2, 2012.In a strongly worded
judgment, Special Judge OP Saini castigated the CBI for ”misreading” the case.
“There is no evidence on the record produced before the Court indicating any
criminality in the acts allegedly committed by the accused persons,” he said.
“The chargesheet of the instant case is based mainly on misreading, selective
reading, non-reading and out of context reading of the official record,” Saini
said.Punching holes in the CBI investigation, Saini further said the
chargesheet was based on oral statements by witnesses that was not owned up by
them during the hearing. “The chargesheet is based on some oral statements made
by the witnesses during investigation, which the witnesses have not owned up in
the witness box,” he said.Flagging factually incorrect facts in the
chargesheet, the special judge pointed to two instances – then Finance
Secretary strongly recommending revision of the entry fee and deletion of a
clause of the draft Letters of Intent by A Raja.After the hearing, Vijay
Aggarwal, lawyer of Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa, Vinod Goenka and
others, said the prosecution had miserably failed to prove any of the charges.
“The court said the prosecution has miserably failed to prove any of its charge.
Thus all accused are acquitted,” Aggarwal said. Meanwhile, an embarrassed CBI
said it would file an appeal against the verdict.Former Finance Minister P
Chidambaram said the allegations of a major scam involving the highest levels
of government was never trueMeanwhile, Congress spokesperson Tom Vadakan
demanded the prosecution of former CAG Vinod Rai and called the 2G verdict a
black mark in the history of the corruption watchdog. “A blind man can see. You
know the CAG chief is today one of the strong advisers of the government,
posted on various boards and organisations and is being rewarded for what he
has done. He (Vinod Rai) should be prosecuted by the law of the land for
creating such kind of excuses and cover-ups,” Vadakan said.
2G case verdict: prosec indianexpress ution's
quality totally deteriorated by the end, says court
Subramanian Swamy in the habit of making wild
and false allegations: Mukul Rohatgi
Former attorney general Mukul Rohatgi today
refuted the allegation levied by Subramanian Swamy where he had questioned the
former's appointment as the attorney general of India despite the fact that he
had represented some of the accused in the 2G spectrum allocation
"scam"."Subramanian Swamy is in the habit of making wild and
false allegations. I had appeared for some of these people at the time of grant
of bail in SC, in 2012. After, I became AG, I had nothing to do with the case.
To make personal allegations is meaningless", Rohatgi said, according to
reports on ANI.TIMESOFINDIA
Battle for Jayalalithaa's seat: Voting ends in
RK Nagar by-poll; both DMK, AIADMK confident of winning
Chennai: Voting in RK Nagar Assembly
constituency came to end at 5:00 PM on Thursday with nearly 70% voter turnout.
Counting of votes will be held on December 24. The election saw reports of
malfunctioning of an electronic voting machine (EVM) at one polling booth to
alleging of cash-for-votes by parties. Estimated as being one of India's
costliest elections, setting back the exchequer around Rs 3 crore, the R K
Nagar by-polls could serve as a report card of the ruling AIADMK which faced
turbulence after J Jayalalithaa's death last year. The major contenders are AIADMK's E.
Madhusudhanan, DMK's N. Marudhu Ganesh, T.T.V. Dinakaran -- contesting as an
Independent -- and Bharatiya Janata Party's K. Nagarajan. A day before the
crucial bypoll, the Dhinakaran faction of AIADMK has released a purported video
of Jayalalithaa in hospital. Several analaysts say that this could reflect the
voting pattern in the polls. Also, the latest 2G scam verdict acquitting DMK
leaders A Raja and Kanimozhi is also known to have some impact on the bypoll.
The seat was left vacant after the passing of former Tamil Nadu CM J
Jayalalithaa .
RBI may be holding back Rs 2,000 note, says
SBI report. Is it going to be banned? newsx
No one can forget the day when Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on Nov.8, 2016 announced demonetisation and banned 2 big value
currency notes. The government introduced two new notes in replacement which
were Rs 2,000 and Rs 500. The new notes were introduced in the system with high
security features and as a step by the government to hit out on counterfeit
currency. However, more than a year after the government introduced Rs 2,000
note, rumours are doing the rounds whether the government is planning to stop
circulating Rs 2,000 note? According to a latest report by the State Bank of
India (SBI), RBI is not sending Rs 2,000 notes or the bank has stopped printing
Rs 2,000 notes. Going by the report, the Reserve Bank has not brought Rs 2,000
notes amounting to Rs 2643 billion into the circulation . Therefore, it is
being speculated that whether the bank is now planning to stop the circulation
of the biggest denomination currency. As per a report by the Ministry of
Finance which was presented in the Lok Sabha, RBI has printed 16,957 million
pieces of Rs 500 notes and 3,654 million pieces of Rs 2,000 notes on December
8. The total value of such notes translates into Rs 15,787 billion and by doing
so it is being said that the RBI has printed an amount of Rs 2463 billion but
is not being circulated in the market.Meanwhile, in a report authored by SBI group
chief economic adviser, Soumya Kanti Ghosh said, “This means that the residual
amount of high currency notes (Rs 15,787 billion – Rs 13,324 billion) of Rs
2,463 billion may have been printed by the RBI but not supplied in the market.
Therefore, according to SBI Ecoflash report, since using Rs 2000 currency notes
brings challenges in carrying out transactions, it seems that the RBI either
has stopped printing the Rs 2,000 denomination notes or printing in smaller
numbers after initially printing them in ample amount to normalise the
liquidity situation.”NewsX
Govt to table bill on triple talaq in
Parliament tomorrow, asks all its MPs to be present
NEW Delhi: Modi-led government is likely to
introduce a bill on controversial triple talaq in the Lok Sabha on December 22,
Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar announced on
Thursday."List of Business" posted on the Lok Sabha website showed
that The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights of Marriage) Bill will be
introduced by Law Minister Ravishankar Prasad.Meanwhile, as per a report, the
BJP has issued a whip to all its MPs to attend the Parliament session while the
government presents the 'controversial' bill. zeenews
Triple Talaq bill to be tabled in Parliament
tomorrow
Triple talaq bill stupid & draconian, says
Owaisi
HYDERABAD: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has
opposed the bill seeking to criminalise instant triple talaq. Owaisi took to
Twitter on Wednesday and said that the bill would have severe consequences and
will lead to further exploitation of married women"What a stupid bill has
been drafted which is draconian & will lead (sic) further exploitation
& more injustice to married muslim women," Owaisi tweeted. He said
that the government's attempt to expedite the introduction of the bill without
any effort to appreciate the legal nuances involved is of deep concern.
"This is being done by Modi government only for political considerations,
burden of proof on women," Owaisi tweeted.TOI
Hindu activists ‘disrupt’ X-Mas celebrations
in Rajasthan, allege religious conversions
Jaipur:Hindu activists on Tuesday allegedly
disrupted a Christmas celebration in Rajasthan’s Pratapgarh town under the
pretext that the organisers were carrying out religious conversions.A video
clipping of the incident showed a number of Hindu activists raising a ruckus at
the event, organised by the Pratapgarh branch of the ‘Masih Shakti Samiti’ for
tribals, and laying waste to hymn books as well as other prayer material.Karu
Lal, the event coordinator, said they were attacked by about 20 people that
evening. “The event started at 10 am yesterday, but around 7.30 pm, a group of
people accompanied by the police arrived at the scene and ordered us to halt
the proceedings,” he told HT over the phone from Pratapgarh. Lal also alleged
that police took two tribals – Ramesh Meena and Manish Mekwan – into custody,
and released them at 1.20 am the next day.The event coordinator said his organisation
had approached the additional collector with an application for permission to
hold the event, which he approved with his signature. “He then told us to get
the Pratapgarh police’s permission. However, when we visited the local police
station, the station house officer simply took a photocopy of the letter and
told us to go ahead with the programme. He refused to give us his permission in
writing,” Lal added.HT accessed a copy of the application, which clearly states
that the event was to be held from 10 am on December 19 to 3 pm the next day.
UP: Hindu Jagran Manch asks schools not to
‘force’ Hindu students to celebrate Christmas
LUCKNOW : After Aligarh, the Hindu Jagran
Manch (HJM) asked Christian missionary schools in Agra not to ‘force’ Hindu
students to celebrate Christmas.Leaders of the district unit of the outfit
claimed to have issued letters to principals of schools in this regard and also
threatened protests if their ‘advisory’ was not complied with.Amit Chaudhary,
Agra unit president of HJM, confirmed this while talking to HT on Wednesday.“We
had been receiving complaints from parents of students studying in missionary
schools. Hindu students are being asked to buy dresses to appear as Santa Claus
and participate in programmes organised to celebrate Christmas on the campus,”
stated Chaudhary.“On receiving such complaints, we have issued letters to about
a dozen missionary schools in Agra and took up the matter with principals at a
couple of schools, asking them to desist from such activities otherwise we
would come on roads to lodge protest and would have such schools propagating
Christianity shut down,” he stated while maintaining that schools should focus
only on education.“We are not against any festival or religion. But any attempt
to propagate Christianity leading to practice of conversion would not be taken
lightly,” he stated. hindustantimes
VHP in Meerut launches campaign telling Hindus
to not sell homes to minorities
The Uttar Pradesh unit of the Vishwa Hindu
Parishad has launched a campaign that disallows people belonging to the
minority community to buy property in Hindu-dominated areas.According to the
VHP, if sold, then people may use these houses as a safe haven to conduct
terrorist and anti-national activities. “We will also educate Hindus not to
sell their houses to Muslims as their culture, and way of living does not match
with us,” Sudarshan Maharaj, VHP
Organizing Secretary, Meerut, told media.The campaign comes after Sanjay
Rastogi, a Meerut-based businessman, from Maliwada in Meerut district, sold a
portion of his house to a Muslim family. However, when the buyer Nauman Ahmed
went for the possession, he was heckled by VHP activists and local residents
and warned not to shift into the house. Locals also confronted Sanjay Rastogi
for selling his property discreetly to a Muslim family without consulting and
seeking consent from his neighbours.The matter went to the Kotwali police
station where a compromise was reached. It asked Sanjay to return the money to
Nauman within two months to close the matter.Meanwhile, a delegation of the
members AIMIM met the SSP Manzil Saini and other senior police officials. dnaindia
Jairam Thakur likely to be Himachal Chief
Minister; formal announcement on Friday
Shimla: BJP has zeroed in on five-time MLA and
veteran leader Jairam Thakur as its chief ministerial candidate and a formal
announcement to this effect is expected on Friday. The names of Thakur, who won
from Seraj assembly constituency, and Union Health Minister JP Nadda were doing
the rounds after the party’s CM pick Prem Kumar Dhumal lost to Congress’
Rajinder Rana by 2,000 votes in Sujanpur.BJP sources said a two-member team,
comprising Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Urban Development
Minister Narinder Singh Tomar, would reach Shimla on Thursday to hold informal
consultations with senior party leaders, who have already been informed about
Thakur being selected as the new CM. A formal meeting of the party, however, is
likely to be held on Friday to make the announcement
Condom ads without sexually explicit content
can play before 10pm, clarifies I&B ministry
New Delhi: I&B Ministry on Thursday
clarified that the ban on condom advertisements between 6 am and 10 pm
pertained only to commercials with sexually explicit content. “Advertisements
that do not sexually objectify women can continue to play beyond curfew hours,”
I&B Ministry said, a day after the Rajasthan High Court issued notices to
it and the Health Ministry regarding the December 11 order.“It is clarified that
the said advisory only pertains to sexually explicit content being used to
market certain condom brands which titillate the audience from a PR
perspective. Advertisements that do not sexually objectify women and are aimed
at informing citizens regarding devices/products/medical interventions to
ensure safe sex are not covered under the said advisory,” the I&B Ministry
memorandum said. indianexpress
India to set up IT centre in Egypt's Al Azhar
University
India will be establishing a Centre of
Excellence in Information Technology (CEIT) at Al Azhar University, Egypt's
highest religious authority and one of the world's most eminent seats of Sunni
Muslim learning, officials have said. All the equipment and course material has
reached Egypt and premises are being prepared for CIET, which will provide
high-tech education and skills to the country's youth, India's Ambassador to
Egypt, Sanjay Bhattacharyya, said. PTI
WORLD
UN set to vote on Trump's Jerusalem move
The UN General Assembly is set to hold a rare
emergency special session on Thursday on U.S. President Donald Trump's widely
criticized Dec. 6 declaration on Jerusalem.The full 193-member UN General
Assembly will vote on a draft resolution condemning Trump’s decision to
recognize the holy city as Israel's capital as well as move the U.S. Embassy
there from Tel Aviv.Tel Aviv is the city in Israel where all other nations
house their main diplomatic missions. Trump's move sparked widespread anger and
protests among Palestinians and Muslim communities worldwide.An extraordinary
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in Istanbul last week rebuffed
the U.S. move by formally recognizing East Jerusalem as the capital of
Palestine.On Monday, breaking with the rest of the body, the U.S. vetoed a UN
Security Council resolution that rejected its move on Jerusalem.Fourteen
council members voted in favor of the Egyptian-sponsored resolution demanding
Trump reverse course on the decision. The U.S. was the sole dissenting vote.
Will the UN challenge US threats over
Jerusalem?
Erdogan urges world 'not to be bought' by
Trump's dollars in Jerusalem vote
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed
US President Donald Trump on Thursday, hours before the United Nations General
Assembly vote rejecting US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's
capital."Mr. Trump, you cannot buy Turkey's democratic will with your
dollars", Erdogan said after US President Donald Trump threatened to cut
aid to countries that support a draft UN resolution calling for the United
States to withdraw its decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital."I
hope and expect the United States won't get the result it expects from there
(the United nations) and the world will give a very good lesson to the United
States," Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara. middleeasteye
Saudi King: We support east Jerusalem as
Palestinian capital
RIYADH, (PIC) Palestinian president Mahmoud
Abbas met in Riyadh on Wednesday with King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud of
Saudi Arabia and discussed with him different issues of mutual
interest.According to Palestinian news outlets, Abbas briefed the Saudi Monarch
on the latest developments in the Palestinian arena and the contacts he had
made recently with other heads of state to discuss the US recognition of
Occupied Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.Abbas also valued the Saudi positions in
support of the Palestinian people and their national cause.The meeting was
followed by a luncheon and prolonged talks between the two leaders and
officials from both sides.
Trump threatens to cut aid over UN Jerusalem
vote
US President Donald Trump has threatened to
cut aid to countries that vote in favour of a draft UN resolution condemning
the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.Trump said at
the White House on Wednesday the US would be "watching those votes"
in the General Assembly."They take hundreds of millions of dollars and
even billions of dollars, and then they vote against us. Well, we're watching
those votes. Let them vote against us. We'll save a lot. We don't care,"
Reuters news agency quoted Trump as saying.The UN General Assembly will hold an
emergency session on Thursday to vote on the controversial US decision.
Iraq to abolish rights given to Palestine
refugees
The Iraqi government is planning to repeal
laws that give merits, including citizenship and free education to Palestinian
refugees in the country, Quds Press reported yesterday. Palestinian sources in
Iraq warned that the Iraqi President Fuad Masum had issued a law regarding the
residence of foreigners in Iraq on 2 October which will take effect at the
beginning of 2018.The law, which applies to Palestinian refugees, annuls a
number of previous decisions issued by the Revolutionary Command Council during
former president Saddam Hussein’s era.One of the decisions gave several merits
to the Palestinian refugees, including travel documents, identification papers,
free education, healthcare insurance, financial stipends and free homes. middleeastmonitor
Israeli army responds to fresh protests with
live fire
More than 80 Palestinians have been injured in
fresh protests across the West Bank, two weeks after US President Donald
Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, according to the Red
Crescent. At least three people were
injured with live bullets, more than 20 with rubber-coated steel bullets and 40
by tear-gas inhalation in Wednesday's protests called for by the Palestinian
Authority, several political parties and trade unions. aljazeera
HRW calls for UN to sanction Saudi crown
prince
Human Rights Watch has called on the UN to
place sanctions on Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over abuses
carried out in Yemen.In an op-ed published in the Washington Post, the rights
group's deputy UN director, Akshaya Kumar, said the heir to the Saudi throne
was behind abuses at home and bore responsibility "for the ongoing
humanitarian catastrophe in neighbouring Yemen." Kumar said Mohammed bin
Salman's reforms, such as allowing women to drive, opening up physical
education to girls, and permitting movie theatres to open, were "important
steps", but warned against glossing over the prince's record in other
areas."The war in Yemen, and Prince Bin Salman's prominent role in it as
defence minister, fits poorly into a narrative of a visionary young
reform-oriented leader," she wrote."As restrictions on imports push
millions of Yemenis further into famine and aid the spread of normally
treatable diseases, Prince [Mohammed bin Salman] shouldn't be getting a free
pass."Instead, he and other senior coalition leaders should face
international sanctions." aljazeera
Saudi-led coalition air raids 'kill 11 Yemen
civilians'
Air raids by a Saudi-led military coalition
across Yemen have been blamed for killing 11 civilians, a day after Houthi
rebels fired a ballistic missile at the Saudi capital, Riyadh.The deadly
attacks came on the 1,000th day of the devastating war that has killed about
10,000 people and left millions facing starvation. The pro-Houthi Al Masirah
television channel said 11 people were killed - including women and children -
and 19 others wounded in Thursday's air raids in Saada province in the
country's far north.
1,000 days of war in Yemen, 'land of blood and
bombs'
China urges others to avoid ‘complicating’
Rohingya conflict
Beijing:China urged other governments today to
“constructively help” Myanmar and Bangladesh resolve the fate of Rohingya
Muslims “instead of complicating the issue” after Myanmar blocked a visit by UN
human rights official.Events in Rakhine state, where more than 630,000 Rohingya
fled a military crackdown, are an internal affair for Myanmar that “contains
complicated historical, national and religious factors,” said a foreign
ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying.“We think the international community should
constructively help Myanmar and Bangladesh to solve the issue instead of
complicating the issue,” said Hua at a regular briefing.
Myanmar bars UN human rights envoy Yanghee Lee
Nawaz nominates brother Shehbaz as Pak PM
candidate
Ousted Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif on
Thursday announced his brother and Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif as the
prime minister candidate in the upcoming elections.According to The Express
Tribune, Nawaz Sharif took the decision in a meeting of Pakistan Muslim League
(PML-N) leaders at his Jati Umra residence.Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)
Senator, Nayyer Bukhari slammed the former prime minister's decision saying
that Nawaz is just taking his royal lineage and Shehbaz Sharif is involved in a
murder case.
Media Dept. Jamaat-e-Islami Hind,
Compiled and edited by
Anwarulhaq (Released at: 6:49 PM)
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Anwarulhaq (Released at: 6:49 PM)
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