Spain joins South Africa’s case at UN top court on Gaza: minister

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Spanish counterpart Jose Manuel Albares shake hands after a joint press conference in Madrid, Spain. (File/Reuters)

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Updated 06 June 2024

AFP

June 06, 2024 08:43

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Spain joins South Africa’s case at UN top court on Gaza: minister

Spain, along with Ireland and Norway, earlier recognized the state of Palestine, sparking Israeli fury

Updated 06 June 2024

AFP

June 06, 2024 08:43

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MADRID: Spain said on Thursday that it will join South Africa’s case at the UN’s top court in which Pretoria has accused Israel of “genocide” in the Gaza Strip.
“Our sole goal is to put an end to the war and to advance on the road of applying the two-state solution,” Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said at a press conference.
His statement came a week after Spain, along with Ireland and Norway, recognized the state of Palestine, sparking fury from Israel.
South Africa brought the case before the International Court of Justice last year, alleging that Israel’s Gaza offensive, launched in retaliation for an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel, breached the 1948 UN Genocide Convention.
Israel has strongly denied the accusation.
Set up after World War II, the Hague-based ICJ rules in disputes between states.
The ICJ on Friday ordered Israel to ensure “unimpeded access” to UN-mandated investigators to look into allegations of genocide.
In a ruling on January 26, the ICJ also ordered Israel to do everything it could to prevent acts of genocide during its military operation in Gaza.
But South Africa has since returned several times to the ICJ arguing that the dire humanitarian situation in the territory compels the court to issue further fresh emergency measures.
On May 24, the court ordered Israel to “immediately” halt its military offensive in the city of Rafah and keep open the key border crossing there for “unhindered” humanitarian aid.
It also called for the “unconditional” release of hostages taken by Palestinian militant group Hamas during its October 7 assault that sparked the war.
ICJ rulings are legally binding but the court has no concrete means to enforce them. For example, it ordered Russia to halt its invasion of Ukraine, to no avail.

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Suspect in German Christmas market attack held on murder charges

Updated 12 sec ago

Reuters

December 22, 2024 17:31

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Suspect in German Christmas market attack held on murder charges

Suspect strongly critical of German authorities as well as Islam in the past
Saudi Arabia repeatedly flagged to Germany concerns over posts on suspect’s social media, according to sources

Updated 12 sec ago

Reuters

December 22, 2024 17:31

MAGDEBURG: A man suspected of plowing a car through crowds at a German Christmas market in an attack that killed five people and injured scores faces multiple charges of murder and attempted murder, police said on Sunday.
Friday evening’s attack in the central city of Magdeburg shocked the country and stirred up tensions over the charged issue of immigration.
The suspect, who was in custody, is a 50-year-old psychiatrist from Saudi Arabia with a history of anti-Islamic rhetoric who has lived in Germany for almost two decades. The motive for the attack remained unclear.
There were scuffles and some “minor disturbances” at a far-right demonstration attended by around 2,100 people on Saturday night in Magdeburg, police said. They added that criminal proceedings would follow, but did not give details.
Protesters, some wearing black balaclavas, held up a large banner with the word “remigration,” a term popular with supporters of the far right who seek the mass deportation of immigrants and people deemed not ethnically German.
Other residents gathered to pay their respects to the dead.
A sea of flowers stretched out in front of St. John’s Church in Magdeburg, close to the scene of the crime, which attracted a steady stream of tearful mourners over the weekend.
“This is my second time here. I was here yesterday. I brought flowers and it moved me so much and I had to know today how many flowers were brought,” local resident Ingolf Klinzmann told Reuters.
A sign commemorating the victims bore in large lettering the word “Why?.”
A magistrate ordered the suspect, identified in German media as Taleb A., into pretrial custody on charges of murder on five counts as well as multiple counts of attempted murder and grievous bodily harm, police said in a statement.
Reuters could not immediately ascertain if the suspect had a lawyer.
Those killed were a nine-year-old boy and four women aged 52, 45, 75 and 67, the police statement said. Among the wounded, around 40 had serious or critical injuries.
Authorities said the suspected attacker used emergency exit points to drive onto the grounds of the Christmas market, where he picked up speed and plowed into the crowds, hitting more than 200 people in a three-minute attack. He was arrested at the scene.
German authorities have not named the suspect and German media reports have given his name only as Taleb A. in keeping with local privacy laws.

MOTIVE UNCLEAR
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in a statement on Sunday that the criminal investigation would leave no stone unturned.
“The task is to piece together all findings and paint a picture of this perpetrator, who does not fit any existing mold,” Faeser said.
“This perpetrator acted in an unbelievably cruel and brutal manner — like an Islamist terrorist, although he was clearly ideologically hostile to Islam,” she added.
The suspect had been strongly critical of German authorities as well as Islam in the past.
He had voiced support on social media platform X for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and for US billionaire Elon Musk, who has backed the AfD.
The AfD has strong support in the former East Germany where Magdeburg is located. Opinion polls put it in second place nationally ahead of elections in February.
Its members, including the candidate for chancellor Alice Weidel, planned a rally in Magdeburg on Monday evening.
Saudi Arabia had repeatedly flagged to Germany concerns over posts on the suspect’s social media, according to a Saudi source and a German security source.
The Christian Democrats, Germany’s main opposition party, and the Free Democrats, who were part of the coalition government until its collapse last month, called for improvements to Germany’s security apparatus, including better coordination between federal and state authorities.
“The background must be clarified. But above all, we must do more to prevent such offenses, especially as there were obviously specific warnings and tips in this case that were ignored,” Sahra Wagenknecht, leader of the leftist BSW party, told the Welt newspaper.
The BSW, a new political party with far-left roots, has also condemned unchecked immigration and has gained considerable support ahead of the Feb. 23 election.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose Social Democrats are trailing in opinion polls, attended a service for victims in Magdeburg’s cathedral on Saturday.

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Topics: Germany Magdeburg Christmas market

Minorities fear targeted attacks in post-revolution Bangladesh

Updated 9 min 53 sec ago

AFP

December 22, 2024 17:16

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Minorities fear targeted attacks in post-revolution Bangladesh

In the chaotic days following Hasina’s August 5 ouster there was a string of attacks on Hindus
Muslim Sufi worshippers as well as members of the Baul mystic sect have also been threatened

Updated 9 min 53 sec ago

AFP

December 22, 2024 17:16

DHAKA: For generations, the small Hindu temple outside the capital in Muslim-majority Bangladesh was a quiet place to pray — before arsonists ripped open its roof this month in the latest post-revolution unrest.
It is only one of a string of attacks targeting religious minorities since a student-led uprising toppled long-time autocratic leader Sheikh Hasina in August.
“We don’t feel safe,” said Hindu devotee Swapna Ghosh in the village of Dhour, where attackers broke into the 50-year-old family temple to the goddess Lakshmi and set fire to its treasured idols on December 7.
“My son saw the flames and doused them quickly,” said temple custodian Ratan Kumar Ghosh, 55, describing how assailants knew to avoid security cameras, so they tore its tin roof open to enter.
“Otherwise, the temple — and us — would have been reduced to ashes.”
Hindus make up about eight percent of the mainly Muslim nation of 170 million people.

In this photograph taken on December 3, 2024, Hindu devotees pray at Dhakeshwari Temple in Dhaka. (AFP)

In the chaotic days following Hasina’s August 5 ouster there was a string of attacks on Hindus — seen by some as having backed her rule — as well as attacks on Muslim Sufi shrines by religious hard-liners.
“Neither I, my forefathers or the villagers, regardless of their faith, have ever witnessed such communal attacks,” temple guardian Ghosh told AFP.
“These incidents break harmony and trust.”
Hasina, 77, fled by helicopter to India, where she is hosted by old allies in New Delhi’s Hindu-nationalist government, infuriating Bangladeshis determined that she face trial for alleged “mass murder.”
Attacks against Hindu temples are not new in Bangladesh, and rights activist Abu Ahmed Faijul Kabir said the violence cannot be regarded out of context.
Under Hasina, Hindus had sought protection from the authorities. That meant her opponents viewed them as partisan loyalists.
“If you analyze the past decade, there has not been a single year without attacks on minorities,” Kabir said, from the Dhaka-based rights group Ain o Salish Kendra.
This year, from January to November, the organization recorded 118 incidents of communal violence targeting Hindus.
August saw a peak of 63 incidents, including two deaths. In November, there were seven incidents.
While that is significantly more than last year — when the group recorded 22 attacks on minorities and 43 incidents of vandalism — previous years were more violent.
In 2014, one person was killed, two women were raped, 255 injured, and 247 temples attacked. In 2016, seven people were killed.
“The situation has not worsened, but there’s been no progress either,” said businessman and Hindu devotee Chandan Saha, 59.
Political rulers had repeatedly “used minorities as pawns,” Saha added.
The caretaker government has urged calm and promised increased security, and accused Indian media of spreading disinformation about the status of Hindus in Bangladesh.
Dhaka’s interim government this month expressed shock at a call by a leading Indian politician — chief minister of India’s West Bengal state Mamata Banerjee — to deploy UN peacekeepers.
Hefazat-e-Islam, an association of Islamic seminaries, has led public protests against India, accusing New Delhi of a campaign aimed at “propagating hate” against Bangladesh. India rejects the charges.
Religious relations have been turbulent, including widespread unrest in November in clashes between Hindu protesters and security forces.
That was triggered by the killing of a lawyer during protests because bail was denied for an outspoken Hindu monk accused of allegedly disrespecting the Bangladeshi flag during a rally.
Bangladeshi hard-line groups have been emboldened to take to the streets after years of suppression.
Muslim Sufi worshippers as well as members of the Baul mystic sect — branded heretics by some hard-liners — have also been threatened.
“There’s been a wave of vandalism,” said Syed Tarik, a devotee documenting such incidents.
Muhammad Yunus, the 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner appointed the country’s “chief adviser,” has called for dialogue between groups.
Critics say it is not enough.
“To establish a peaceful country where all faiths coexist in harmony, the head of state must engage regularly with faith leaders to foster understanding,” said Sukomal Barua, professor of religion at Dhaka University.
Sumon Roy, founder of Bangladesh’s association of Hindu lawyers, said members of the minority were treated as a bloc by political parties.
“They have all used us as tools,” Roy said, explaining that Hindus had been previously threatened both by Hasina’s Awami League and its rival Bangladesh National Party.
“If we didn’t support AL we faced threats, and the BNP blamed us for siding with the AL,” he said. “This cycle needs to end.”

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Topics: Bangladesh Minorities in Bangladesh

India, Kuwait upgrade ties to strategic partnership on Modi visit

Updated 22 December 2024

Sanjay Kumar

December 22, 2024 15:27

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India, Kuwait upgrade ties to strategic partnership on Modi visit

Modi awarded Order of Mubarak Al-Kabeer for strengthening Kuwait-India relations
India, Kuwait leaders discussed cooperation in pharmaceuticals, IT, security

Updated 22 December 2024

Sanjay Kumar

December 22, 2024 15:27

NEW DELHI: India and Kuwait upgraded bilateral ties to a strategic partnership on Sunday as their leaders eye stronger cooperation in “key sectors” ranging from pharmaceuticals to security.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed a strategic partnership agreement with Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah during his trip to the Gulf state, the first visit by an Indian leader in 43 years.

“We have elevated our partnership to a strategic one and I am optimistic that our friendship will flourish even more in the times to come,” Modi said in a statement.

“We discussed cooperation in key sectors like pharmaceuticals, IT, fintech, infrastructure and security.”

During the trip, the Kuwaiti emir presented Modi with the Order of Mubarak Al-Kabeer for his efforts in strengthening Kuwait-India relations.

The order is the highest civilian honor in Kuwait and is bestowed upon leaders and heads of state.

The emir said India was a “valued partner” in the country and the Gulf region and that he “looked forward” to India playing a greater role in the realization of Kuwait Vision 2035, according to a statement issued by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.

The newly upgraded ties will open up “further cooperation in sectors such as defense … with the Kuwaiti armed forces,” especially the navy, said Kabir Taneja, a deputy director and fellow with the strategic studies program at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi.

Their closer cooperation in major sectors will also “further India’s economy-first agenda,” he added.

“Pharmaceuticals, for example, is a point of strength of Indian manufacturing and can contribute to further building the sector in states such as Kuwait,” Taneja told Arab News.

India’s pharmaceutical exports have been growing in recent years, and the country was the third-largest drugmaker by volume in 2023.

Delhi is also among Kuwait’s top trade partners, with bilateral trade valued at around $10.4 billion in 2023-24.

Taneja said India-Kuwait ties are also likely to strengthen through the Indian diaspora, the largest expatriate community in the Gulf state.

Over 1 million Indian nationals live and work in Kuwait, making up about 21 percent of its 4.3 million population and 30 percent of its workforce.

“(The) Indian diaspora has been part of the Kuwaiti story for a long time,” Taneja said, adding that strengthening ties between the two countries will allow India, through its diaspora, to unlock “deeper economic cooperation potential.”

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Topics: India Kuwait Narendra Modi

Putin vows more ‘destruction’ on Ukraine after drone attack on Russia’s Kazan

Updated 22 December 2024

AFP

December 22, 2024 11:21

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Putin vows more ‘destruction’ on Ukraine after drone attack on Russia’s Kazan

‘Whoever, and however much they try to destroy, they will face many times more destruction themselves and will regret what they are trying to do in our country’

Updated 22 December 2024

AFP

December 22, 2024 11:21

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday vowed to bring more “destruction” to Ukraine in retaliation for a drone attack on a high-rise apartment block in the central Russian city of Kazan a day earlier.
“Whoever, and however much they try to destroy, they will face many times more destruction themselves and will regret what they are trying to do in our country,” Putin said in comments on the attack on Kazan — which left no casualties — during a televised government meeting.

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Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict Russia Ukraine Vladimir Putin

France’s most powerful nuclear reactor finally comes on stream

Updated 22 December 2024

AFP

December 21, 2024 15:21

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France’s most powerful nuclear reactor finally comes on stream

The Flamanville 3 European Pressurized Reactor in Normandy started providing electricity to French homes on Saturday
Launch is welcome news for the heavily indebted state-owned energy company EDF after multiple problems extended construction to 17 years

Updated 22 December 2024

AFP

December 21, 2024 15:21

PARIS: France on Saturday connected its most powerful nuclear power reactor to the national electricity grid in what leaders hailed as a landmark moment despite years of delays, budget overruns and technical setbacks.
The Flamanville 3 European Pressurized Reactor in Normandy started providing electricity to French homes at 11:48 a.m. (1048 GMT) Saturday, the EDF power company’s CEO Luc Remont said in a statement.
“Great moment for the country,” President Emmanuel Macron said in a statement on social network LinkedIn, calling it “one of the world’s most powerful nuclear reactors.”
“Re-industrializing to produce low-carbon energy is French-style ecology,” he added. “It strengthens our competitiveness and protects the climate.”
The French-developed European Pressurised Reactor project, launched in 1992, was designed to relaunch nuclear power in Europe after the 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe in Soviet Ukraine, and is touted as offering more efficient power output and better safety.
The EPR, a new generation pressurized water reactor, is the fourth to be finished anywhere in the world. Similar design reactors in China and Finland came online ahead of it.
The launch is welcome news for the heavily indebted state-owned energy company EDF after multiple problems extended construction to 17 years and caused massive budget overruns.
Remont of EDF called the event “historic.”
“The last time a reactor started up in France was 25 years ago at Civaux 2,” he said, referring to the Civaux power plant in southwestern France.
The connection was initially scheduled to take place Friday.
It is the most powerful reactor in the country at 1,600 MW. Ultimately, it should supply electricity to upwards of two million homes.
The connection to the grid “will be marked by different power levels through to the summer of 2025” in a months-long testing phase, the company has said.
EDF said that starting up a reactor was “a long and complex operation.”
The plant will be shut down for a complete inspection lasting at least 250 days, probably in the spring of 2026, the company added.
Construction of the Flamanville reactor began in 2007 and was beset by numerous problems.
The start-up comes 12 years behind schedule after a plethora of technical setbacks which saw the cost of the project soar to an estimated 13.2 billion euros ($13.76 billion), four times the initial 3.3 billion euro estimate.
The start-up began on September 3, but had to be interrupted the following day due to an “automatic shutdown.” It resumed a few days later.
Generation has been gradually increased to allow the reactor to be connected to the electricity network.
Nuclear power accounts for around three-fifths of French electricity output and the country boasts one of the globe’s largest nuclear power programs.
That is in stark contrast to neighboring Germany, which exited nuclear power last year by shutting down the last three of its reactors.
“This morning marks the culmination of a titanic effort that has finally paid off,” Agnes Pannier-Runacher, the outgoing minister for ecological transition, said on X.
“We are drawing all the lessons from this to make a success of the nuclear revival that we decided on with the President of the Republic.”
Macron has decided to ramp up nuclear power to bolster French energy sustainability by ordering six new-generation reactors and laying options for eight more, that could cost tens of billions of euros.
In 2022, he called for a “renaissance” for the country’s nuclear industry to transition away from fossil fuels.
“What we have to build today is the renaissance of the French nuclear industry because it’s the right moment, because it’s the right thing for our nation, because everything is in place,” Macron said at the time.

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Topics: nuclear energy France

Spain joins South Africa’s case at UN top court on Gaza: minister

Spain joins South Africa’s case at UN top court on Gaza: minister

‘State of Palestine’ applies to join South Africa’s case at top UN court accusing Israel of genocide

Spain demands Israel comply with UN court ruling on Rafah, Britain criticizes order

Suspect in German Christmas market attack held on murder charges

Suspect in German Christmas market attack held on murder charges

Saudi Arabia had warned Germany about attacker’s extremist views, condemns Magdeburg violence

Suspect in deadly Christmas market attack which killed 5 railed against Islam and Germany

Minorities fear targeted attacks in post-revolution Bangladesh

Minorities fear targeted attacks in post-revolution Bangladesh

India, Kuwait upgrade ties to strategic partnership on Modi visit

India, Kuwait upgrade ties to strategic partnership on Modi visit

Modi to visit Kuwait for the first trip by Indian PM in four decades

Indian FM meets Kuwaiti leadership to review political, security ties

Putin vows more ‘destruction’ on Ukraine after drone attack on Russia’s Kazan

Putin vows more ‘destruction’ on Ukraine after drone attack on Russia’s Kazan

Russian defense ministry says it downed 42 Ukrainian drones overnight

Ukrainian drones hit fuel storage area in central Russia, attack other areas

France’s most powerful nuclear reactor finally comes on stream

France’s most powerful nuclear reactor finally comes on stream

France to continue to use nuclear power for years to come, says minister

France tweaks rules to keep nuclear plants running during heatwave

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Spain joins South Africa’s case at UN top court on Gaza: minister

Spain joins South Africa’s case at UN top court on Gaza: minister

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Suspect in German Christmas market attack held on murder charges

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