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Israel recalls ambassador ahead of South African parliamentary vote to shut down Israeli embassy

Israel recalls ambassador ahead of South African parliamentary vote to shut down Israeli embassy
The two countries diplomatic relations have recently witnessed a rise in tensions over the Israeli war on Gaza which has killed thousands of people. (AP)
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Updated 21 November 2023
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Israel recalls ambassador ahead of South African parliamentary vote to shut down Israeli embassy

Israel recalls ambassador ahead of South African parliamentary vote to shut down Israeli embassy
  • The two countries diplomatic relations have recently witnessed a rise in tensions over the Israeli war on Gaza
  • The conflict will also be the subject of a virtual meeting of BRICS countries on Tuesday
Updated 21 November 2023
AP
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JOHANNESBURG:Israel has recalled its ambassador to South Africa, Eliav Belotserkovsky, back to Jerusalem “for consultations” ahead of a parliamentary vote in the African country to decide the fate of the Israeli embassy on Tuesday.
The two countries’ diplomatic relations have recently witnessed a rise in tensions over the Israeli war on Gaza. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa previously said his country believes Israel is committing war crimes and genocide in Gaza, where thousands of Palestinians have been killed.
“Following the latest South African statements, the Ambassador of Israel to Pretoria has been recalled to Jerusalem for consultations,” Israel’s ministry of foreign affairs posted late Monday on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This came ahead of a vote in South Africa’s parliament on a motion to shut down the Israeli embassy and cut all ties with Israel until a cease-fire is implemented in Gaza.
The motion tabled by the leftist opposition party Economic Freedom Fighters has the backing of the ruling African National Congress and other smaller parties.
South Africa announced last week that it had referred what it called Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza to the International Criminal Court for an investigation, with its cabinet calling on the ICC Monday to issue an arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Given that much of the global community is witnessing the commission of these crimes in real time, including statements of genocidal intent by many Israeli leaders, we expect that warrants of arrest for these leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, should be issued shortly,” South African minister in the presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, told reporters Monday.
Earlier this month, South Africa recalled its ambassador to Israel and withdrew all its diplomatic staff from the country.
The conflict will also be the subject of a virtual meeting of BRICS countries on Tuesday, which will be attended by leaders of the bloc, including Ramaphosa, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The economic bloc was formed by Brazil, Russia, India and China in 2009 and added South Africa in 2010. Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Egypt and Ethiopia are also set to enter BRICS.
The Israel-Hamas war erupted after the Palestinian militant group’s surprise attacks on Israel on Oct.7, which killed about 1,200 people. Israel’s retaliatory strikes on Gaza have so far killed more than 12,700 people, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Topics: War on Gaza South Africa Israel

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Afghanistan wants to join BRICS, says Taliban govt

Updated 40 sec ago
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Afghanistan wants to join BRICS, says Taliban govt

Afghanistan wants to join BRICS, says Taliban govt
Updated 40 sec ago
The Taliban authorities have not been officially recognized by any country
The group has not publicly reacted to the Taliban government’s comments

KABUL: Afghanistan’s Taliban government is keen to join the BRICS economic forum, a spokesman said on Tuesday ahead of the group’s summit in Russia.
The summit of emerging economies that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will meet on October 22-24 in the southwestern Russian city of Kazan.
“Countries with major resources and the world’s biggest economies are associated with the BRICS forum, especially Russia, India, and China,” said Hamdullah Fitrat, a government deputy spokesman.
“Currently, we have good economic ties and commercial exchanges with them. We are keen to expand our relations and participate in the economic forums of the BRICS,” he said.
The Taliban authorities have not been officially recognized by any country but have growing relations with founding BRICS nations including China and Russia.
The group, which has recently expanded by including Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Ethiopia, has not publicly reacted to the Taliban government’s comments.
A spokesman for the Afghanistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs told AFP on Wednesday that they have “no information so far” about an invitation to the event.
Both Moscow and Beijing have expressed their readiness to invest in commercial projects in Afghanistan and to cooperate with Taliban authorities in its fight against Daesh Khorasan, the Daesh group’s Afghanistan branch.

Indonesia breaks ground for first foreign investment projects in new capital

Indonesia breaks ground for first foreign investment projects in new capital
Updated 16 min 16 sec ago
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Indonesia breaks ground for first foreign investment projects in new capital

Indonesia breaks ground for first foreign investment projects in new capital
  • The three foreign investment projects in Nusantara were worth about $63 million
  • Indonesian government planned 80 percent of the $32-billion project to be funded by private sector
Updated 16 min 16 sec ago
Sheany Yasuko Lai

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s outgoing President Joko Widodo broke ground on Wednesday for Australian, Russian and Chinese projects in the country’s future capital Nusantara, marking the first foreign investment in his administration’s flagship $32-billion initiative.

Southeast Asia’s largest economy is relocating its capital to East Kalimantan on Borneo island to replace the overcrowded and sinking Jakarta on Java island, with the megaproject scheduled for completion in 2045.

“This morning, we broke ground for education investment from Australia. Then we also broke ground for property development by Russian investors. And … we are about to do another groundbreaking (project) for a mixed-use property development from Delonix Nusantara, from Chinese investors,” Widodo said during a livestreamed ceremony in Nusantara.

“The foreign investments that are coming in are giving us the belief and confidence that Nusantara is an extremely attractive location for investments.”

Chinese property firm Delonix Group is investing $33 million in the complex of hotels, office and community retail spaces in Nusantara.

The Australian Independent School and Russia’s property developer Magnum Estate are two other investors working with local partners and investing around $9.9 million and $19.8 million in Nusantara, respectively.

Since Widodo unveiled his plan in 2019, the new capital project has faced construction delays and struggled to attract the hoped-for foreign assignment. The mammoth undertaking is expected to mostly rely on private investors, with government funding planned to cover 20 percent of the total expenditure.

The government has so far signed many letters of intent, Widodo said, but officials are carefully choosing projects to “adjust them to the needs of Nusantara.”

The new capital that has been widely seen as the president’s attempt to seal his legacy previously received a $1.3 billion investment from a consortium of Indonesian companies.

Widodo has said he is planning to spend the last weeks of his second and final term in office there. His successor, President-Elect Prabowo Subianto, will take office on Oct. 20.

Topics: Indonesia Joko Widodo

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What to expect from Sri Lanka’s new 3-member cabinet

What to expect from Sri Lanka’s new 3-member cabinet
Updated 23 min 28 sec ago
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What to expect from Sri Lanka’s new 3-member cabinet

What to expect from Sri Lanka’s new 3-member cabinet
  • Cabinet consists of president and 2 MPs from his party
  • Interim setup until new parliamentary poll on Nov. 14
Updated 23 min 28 sec ago
Mohammed Rasooldeen

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s new President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has appointed the world’s smallest cabinet, with three people in charge of all ministerial portfolios — a move that experts say fulfills his key campaign promise.

The leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (People’s Liberation Front) and the socialist National People’s Power alliance, Dissanayake was sworn in on Monday, shortly after being announced the winner of Saturday’s vote.

On Tuesday, he appointed his government and dissolved the parliament, clearing the way for new parliamentary elections scheduled for Nov. 14.

The three-member cabinet has Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya, lawmaker Vijitha Herath, and Dissanayake taking on ministerial portfolios.

“This development is due to politico-legal compulsions. It’s a political compulsion because the NPP whose candidate AKD has won the presidency received the mandate of the people at the just-held presidential election,” A.L.A. Azeez, foreign affairs commentator and former diplomat, told Arab News.

The legal compulsion stems from the fact that Sri Lankan government ministers are appointed from among members of parliament, and once the legislative body is dissolved, the cabinet of ministers existing prior to the dissolution continues in the interim until the parliamentary elections.

“But such an interim cabinet would have ministers who pursued policies and measures — otherwise, governed the country — which the people through the presidential election have disapproved,” Azeez said, adding that Dissanayake did not have much choice as his party had only three MPs.

“It would only be unthinkable for him to get members of parliament from other parties to constitute the interim cabinet. So, he has sought to demonstrate through this compelling development, that he has respected the will of the people, as manifested in the presidential election, and that his cabinet is purpose-driven.”

Dissanayake took over the top job in a nation reeling from the 2022 economic crisis and austerity measures imposed as a part of a bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund.

The new president will oversee defense, finance, economic development, policy formulation, planning, tourism, energy, agriculture, lands, livestock, irrigation, fisheries and aquatic resources.

The new prime minister Amarasuriya, a university lecturer and activist, will oversee justice, health, public administration, provincial councils, local government, education, science and technology, labor, women, child and youth affairs, sports, trade, commerce, food security, co-operative development, industries and entrepreneur development.

Lawmaker Herath, who had previously served as minister of cultural affairs, was assigned foreign affairs, Buddhist affairs, religious and cultural affairs, national integration, social security, mass media, transport, highways, ports and civil aviation, public security, environment, wildlife, forest resources, water supply, plantation and community, infrastructure, rural and urban development, housing and construction.

Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka, political analyst and Sri Lanka’s former envoy to the UN, said the formation of Dissanayake’s mini-cabinet was “inevitable” as he had promised a new style of governance.

“Only he would have done this. Any conventional party would have had 20 cabinet ministers but AKD, the new president of the left-wing NPP, had promised to shrink the overly swollen political structure of government,” he told Arab News.

After the Nov. 14 parliamentary vote, a proper cabinet will be appointed with the composition depending on the results of the election.

The mini-cabinet will be in charge until then, supported by civil servants.

“I think the new president is relying heavily on officials. He has retained some of the key officials. He has also promoted and brought in others with solid administrative credentials,” Jayatilleka said, adding that the president’s choice of his prime minister would also appeal to the public.

“There’s an excellent choice of prime minister. Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, a woman academic ... and then there’s Vijitha Herath, a popular JVP-NPP politician who has been the shadow foreign minister for many years,” he said.

“I don’t think anybody would criticize him. They would welcome the formation of a compact cabinet which is quite unlike what the conventional political parties have done and would have done so.”

Topics: Sri Lanka

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Labour Party members deal a blow to Starmer a day after his appeal for unity

Labour Party members deal a blow to Starmer a day after his appeal for unity
Updated 25 September 2024
AP
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Labour Party members deal a blow to Starmer a day after his appeal for unity

Labour Party members deal a blow to Starmer a day after his appeal for unity
  • One is ending the winter fuel allowance, worth between 200 and 300 pounds, for all but the poorest pensioners
  • Since winning office in July, Starmer has cautioned that the dire state of the public finances inherited from the last Conservative government means he must make hard choices
Updated 25 September 2024
AP

LIVERPOOL: Members of Britain’s governing Labour Party dealt Prime Minister Keir Starmer a blow on Wednesday, rejecting his decision to cut payments that offset winter heating costs for millions of retirees.
The vote on the final day of Labour’s annual conference is not binding, but it’s a setback to Starmer’s efforts to unite his center-left party around the contentious measure.
Since winning office in July, Starmer has cautioned that the dire state of the public finances inherited from the last Conservative government means he must make hard choices such as ending the winter fuel allowance, worth between 200 and 300 pounds ($262 and $393), for all but the poorest pensioners.
Trade unions that are among Labour’s funders and allies organized resistance to the cut at the conference in Liverpool, northwest England. They forced a vote on a demand for the decision to be reversed. It was narrowly passed in a show-of-hands vote amid cheers and jeers in the conference hall.
“I do not understand how our new Labour government can cut the winter fuel payment for pensioners and leave the super-rich untouched,” said Sharon Graham, general secretary of the Unite union, to applause from delegates. “This is not what people voted for. It is the wrong decision and it needs to be reversed.”
The government has promised the withdrawal of the heating allowance will be offset by an above-inflation increase in the state pension and other measures to reduce poverty.
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall told delegates that the cut “wasn’t a decision we wanted or expected to make.” But she argued that “this Labour government has done more to help the poorest pensioners in the last two months than the Tories did in 14 years.”
Starmer tried to unite the party and appeal to a skeptical electorate in his first conference speech as prime minister on Tuesday, telling voters exhausted by years of political and economic turmoil that better times are on the way — if they swallow his recipe of short-term pain for long-term gain.
He said he would make “tough decisions” — code for public spending restraint and tax increases — to achieve economic growth to fund schools, hospitals, roads, railways and more.
Starmer acknowledged some of those decisions would be unpopular, but said: “We will turn our collar up and face the storm.”

Topics: Starmer UK

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India allows foreign diplomats to observe first elections in Kashmir in 10 years

India allows foreign diplomats to observe first elections in Kashmir in 10 years
Updated 25 September 2024
Reuters
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India allows foreign diplomats to observe first elections in Kashmir in 10 years

India allows foreign diplomats to observe first elections in Kashmir in 10 years
  • India stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its partial autonomy five years ago, angering Islamabad
  • Visitors include diplomats from US, Mexico, Singapore, Spain and South Korea, among others
Updated 25 September 2024
Reuters

SRINAGAR: Foreign diplomats from 15 countries were allowed to observe local elections in India’s Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, as New Delhi highlighted the first vote in the disputed Himalayan territory in a decade.

It was the first time India has invited foreign diplomats to witness voting in the region, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government stripped of its partial autonomy five years ago, though Delhi has hosted similar trips on other occasions and a G20 meeting on tourism there last year.

More than 9 million voters are eligible to choose members for the region’s 90-seat legislature in the three-phase election, the second phase of which was underway on Wednesday. The vote is the first in the region since 2014.

The visitors included diplomats from embassies of the United States, Mexico, Singapore, Spain and South Korea, among others, officials in Srinagar and New Delhi said. They visited polling stations across the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley.

“It is a rare opportunity to come to Kashmir and see the electoral process in action and see democracy. It looks very smooth, everything is very professional,” said Jorgan K Andrews, deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy.

Jammu and Kashmir is India’s only Muslim-majority territory and has been at the center of a dispute with neighboring Pakistan since 1947. India and Pakistan both claim Kashmir in full but rule it in part, after having fought two of their three wars over the region.

It has also been roiled by an insurgency that has killed tens of thousands since it began in 1989, although violence has largely abated in recent years.

Until 2019, Jammu and Kashmir had a special semi-autonomous status that was revoked by Modi’s government.

Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party-led (BJP) government has said that the move has helped restore normalcy in the area and boosted development.

But Modi’s opponents said the visit by diplomats was not necessary.

“When foreign governments comment (on Kashmir), the government of India says this is an internal matter for India, and now suddenly they want foreign observers to come and look at our elections,” said Omar Abdullah, leader of the local National Conference party.

“Jammu and Kashmir elections are an internal matter for us and we do not need their certificate,” he said, after casting his vote.

In the past, pro-independence militants have targeted elections in Kashmir, and voter turnout has been largely weak. The territory, however, recorded its highest turnout in 35 years in national elections held in April and May, with a 58.46 percent participation rate.

Topics: Kashmir eelctions Kashmir elections

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