Dutch government survives dispute over Amsterdam violence

Dutch government survives dispute over Amsterdam violence
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof saved his governing coalition on Friday despite threats of an exodus by cabinet members over the right-wing government's response to violence against Israeli soccer fans last week. (AFP/File)
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Updated 16 November 2024
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Dutch government survives dispute over Amsterdam violence

Dutch government survives dispute over Amsterdam violence
  • Junior Finance Minister Nora Achahbar unexpectedly quit the cabinet on Friday to protest claims by some politicians that Dutch youths of Moroccan descent attacked Israeli fans
  • “We have reached the conclusion that we want to remain, as a cabinet for all people in the Netherlands,” Schoof said

AMSTERDAM: Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof saved his governing coalition on Friday despite threats of an exodus by cabinet members over the right-wing government’s response to violence against Israeli soccer fans last week.
Junior Finance Minister Nora Achahbar unexpectedly quit the cabinet on Friday to protest claims by some politicians that Dutch youths of Moroccan descent attacked Israeli fans in Amsterdam around the Nov. 7 match between Dutch side Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Her resignation triggered a crisis cabinet meeting at which four ministers from her centrist NSC party also threatened to quit. If they had, the coalition would have lost its majority in parliament.
“We have reached the conclusion that we want to remain, as a cabinet for all people in the Netherlands,” Schoof said at a news conference late on Friday in The Hague.
Last week’s violence was roundly condemned by Israeli and Dutch politicians, with Amsterdam’s mayor saying “antisemitic hit-and-run squads” had attacked Israeli fans.
The city’s police department has said Maccabi fans were chased and beaten by gangs on scooters. Police also said the Israeli fans attacked a taxi and burned a Palestinian flag.
Achahbar, a former judge and public prosecutor who was born in Morocco, felt comments by several political figures were hurtful and possibly racist, De Volkskrant daily reported.
“Polarization in the recent weeks has had such an effect on me that I no longer can, nor wish to fulfil my position in this cabinet,” Achahbar said in a statement.
Schoof, a former civil servant who does not have a party affiliation, denied any ministers in the cabinet are racist. Details of the cabinet discussion were not disclosed.
The coalition is led by the anti-Muslim populist party PVV of Geert Wilders, which came top in a general election a year ago. The government was installed in July after months of tense negotiations.
Wilders, who is not a cabinet member, has repeatedly said Dutch youth of Moroccan descent were the main attackers of the Israeli fans, although police have not specified the backgrounds of suspects.
Schoof said on Monday the incidents showed that some youth in the Netherlands with immigrant backgrounds did not share “Dutch core values.”


Beijing accuses Australia of ‘hyping’ China naval live fire drills

Beijing accuses Australia of ‘hyping’ China naval live fire drills
Updated 32 sec ago
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Beijing accuses Australia of ‘hyping’ China naval live fire drills

Beijing accuses Australia of ‘hyping’ China naval live fire drills
  • Beijing on Sunday said Canberra had “deliberately hyped” recent Chinese naval exercises near the Australian coast and confirmed its forces had used live fire in an incident

BEIJING: Beijing on Sunday said Canberra had “deliberately hyped” recent Chinese naval exercises near the Australian coast and confirmed its forces had used live fire in an incident that rattled Australian policymakers.
Authorities in Australia and close ally New Zealand have been monitoring three Chinese navy vessels spotted in recent days in international waters of the nearby Tasman Sea.
Canberra said Saturday it had not yet received a satisfactory explanation from Beijing for Friday’s drill, which saw the Chinese ships broadcast a live-fire warning that caused commercial planes to change course.
China’s defense ministry hit back on Sunday, saying the “relevant remarks of the Australian side are completely inconsistent with facts,” while also confirming the use of live ammunition.
“During the period, China organized live-fire training of naval guns toward the sea on the basis of repeatedly issuing prior safety notices,” Wu Qian, a spokesman for the defense ministry, said in a statement.
Wu added that China’s actions were “in full compliance with international law and international practices, with no impact on aviation flight safety.”
“Australia, while well aware of this, made unreasonable accusations against China and deliberately hyped it up,” said Wu, adding that Beijing was “astonished and strongly dissatisfied.”
The altercation threatens to complicate the relationship between Beijing and Canberra, which has gradually warmed under Australia’s Labor government.
Ties were derailed nearly a decade ago due to concerns in Australia about Chinese influence in local politics, followed by a 2018 ban on tech giant Huawei from Australia’s 5G network.
Earlier this month, Canberra rebuked Beijing for “unsafe” military conduct, accusing a Chinese fighter jet of dropping flares near an Australian air force plane patrolling the South China Sea.
China said at the time that the Australian plane had “deliberately intruded into the airspace around China’s Xisha Islands,” using Beijing’s name for the Paracel Islands, adding that its “measures to expel the aircraft were legitimate, legal, professional and restrained.”


Indian Hindu fans pray for victory over Pakistan in Champions Trophy clash

Indian Hindu fans pray for victory over Pakistan in Champions Trophy clash
Updated 19 min 8 sec ago
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Indian Hindu fans pray for victory over Pakistan in Champions Trophy clash

Indian Hindu fans pray for victory over Pakistan in Champions Trophy clash
  • Fans offer ‘yajna’ and ‘aarti’ Hindu prayers in Indian cities of Kolkata and Prayagraj on Saturday 
  • India and Pakistan enjoy one of fiercest rivalries in sports due to bitter history, political tensions 

Islamabad: Indian Hindu fans were seen offering special prayers as their national cricket team locks horns with arch-rivals Pakistan in a blockbuster Champions Trophy 2025 clash in Dubai today, Sunday. 

India and Pakistan enjoy one of the fiercest rivalries in sports. The nuclear-armed neighbors have fought three wars since 1947 ever since they gained independence from the British, fueling passion and emotion in millions on both sides of the border every time the two teams meet on the cricket field. 

India’s Hindu fans were seen offering special prayers in the eastern Kolkata and northern Prayagraj cities on Saturday for their cricket team’s success against Pakistan. 

“India and Pakistan are going to play against each other, and we have prayed to mother Triveni (confluence of three rivers: Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati) and mother Ganga (river Ganga) that tomorrow’s match turns out to be in favor of India,” Hindu devotee Pradeep Pandey told Reuters in Prayagraj on Saturday.

In Prayagraj, on the sidelines of Maha Kumbh Mela (The Great Pitcher Festival), fans and devotees performed ‘Aarti’ (flame ritually waved to deities) at the shore of the Ganges, praying for the Indian cricket team’s win. 

In Kolkata, fans and devotees were seen performing ‘yajna’ (offering to the God in front of a sacred fire) in the name of Goddess Kali.

India, who refused to travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy citing government advice, will be playing all their matches in Dubai. They kicked off their Group A campaign with a comfortable six-wicket victory against Bangladesh earlier this week. Pakistan’s title defense, meanwhile, looks in disarray after their comprehensive defeat to New Zealand.

India have won seven of the eight completed ODIs in the last decade against their rivals they play only in multi-team events because of a strained political relationship between the two countries.

Pakistan are the defending champions of the Champions Trophy tournament. The green shirts, under the leadership of former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed, beat India in 2017 in the final by 180 runs to win the tournament. 


 


Pakistan’s newest – and most expensive – Gwadar airport is a bit of a mystery

Pakistan’s newest – and most expensive – Gwadar airport is a bit of a mystery
Updated 35 min 40 sec ago
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Pakistan’s newest – and most expensive – Gwadar airport is a bit of a mystery

Pakistan’s newest – and most expensive – Gwadar airport is a bit of a mystery
  • Financed by China, it is anyone’s guess when New Gwadar International Airport will open for business
  • The airport is a stark contrast to the impoverished, restive southwestern Balochistan province around it

GWADAR, Pakistan: With no passengers and no planes, Pakistan’s newest and most expensive airport is a bit of a mystery. Entirely financed by China to the tune of $240 million, it’s anyone’s guess when New Gwadar International Airport will open for business.
Located in the coastal city of Gwadar and completed in October 2024, the airport is a stark contrast to the impoverished, restive southwestern Balochistan province around it.
For the past decade, China has poured money into Balochistan and Gwadar as part of a multibillion dollar project that connects its western Xinjiang province with the Arabian Sea, called the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor or CPEC.
Authorities have hailed it as transformational but there’s scant evidence of change in Gwadar. The city isn’t connected to the national grid – electricity comes from neighboring Iran or solar panels – and there isn’t enough clean water.
An airport with a 400,000 passenger capacity isn’t a priority for the city’s 90,000 people.
“This airport is not for Pakistan or Gwadar,” said Azeem Khalid, an international relations expert who specializes in Pakistan-China ties. “It is for China, so they can have secure access for their citizens to Gwadar and Balochistan.”
Caught between militants and the military
CPEC has catalyzed a decadeslong insurgency in resource-rich and strategically located Balochistan. Separatists, aggrieved by what they say is state exploitation at the expense of locals, are fighting for independence – targeting both Pakistani troops and Chinese workers in the province and elsewhere.
Members of Pakistan’s ethnic Baloch minority say they face discrimination by the government and are denied opportunities available elsewhere in the country, charges the government denies.
Pakistan, keen to protect China’s investments, has stepped up its military footprint in Gwadar to combat dissent. The city is a jumble of checkpoints, barbed wire, troops, barricades, and watchtowers. Roads close at any given time, several days a week, to permit the safe passage of Chinese workers and Pakistani VIPs.
Intelligence officers monitor journalists visiting Gwadar. The city’s fish market is deemed too sensitive for coverage.
Many local residents are frazzled.
“Nobody used to ask where we are going, what we are doing, and what is your name,” said 76-year-old Gwadar native Khuda Bakhsh Hashim. “We used to enjoy all-night picnics in the mountains or rural areas.”
“We are asked to prove our identity, who we are, where we have come from,” he added. “We are residents. Those who ask should identify themselves as to who they are.”
Hashim recalled memories, warm like the winter sunshine, of when Gwadar was part of Oman, not Pakistan, and was a stop for passenger ships heading to Mumbai. People didn’t go to bed hungry and men found work easily, he said. There was always something to eat and no shortage of drinking water.
But Gwadar’s water has dried up because of drought and unchecked exploitation. So has the work.
The government says CPEC has created some 2,000 local jobs but it’s not clear whom they mean by “local” – Baloch residents or Pakistanis from elsewhere in the country. Authorities did not elaborate.
People in Gwadar see few benefits from China’s presence
Gwadar is humble but charming, the food excellent and the locals chatty and welcoming with strangers. It gets busy during public holidays, especially the beaches.
Still, there is a perception that it’s dangerous or difficult to visit – only one commercial route operates out of Gwadar’s domestic airport, three times a week to Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, located at the other end of Pakistan’s Arabian Sea coastline.
There are no direct flights to Balochistan’s provincial capital of Quetta, hundreds of miles inland, or the national capital of Islamabad, even further north. A scenic coastal highway has few facilities.
Since the Baloch insurgency first erupted five decades ago, thousands have gone missing in the province – anyone who speaks up against exploitation or oppression can be detained, suspected of connections with armed groups, the locals say.
People are on edge; activists claim there are forced disappearances and torture, which the government denies.
Hashim wants CPEC to succeed so that locals, especially young people, find jobs, hope and purpose. But that hasn’t happened.
“When someone has something to eat, then why would he choose to go on the wrong path,” he said. “It is not a good thing to upset people.”
Militant violence declined in Balochistan after a 2014 government counterinsurgency and plateaued toward the end of that decade, according to Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies.
Attacks picked up after 2021 and have climbed steadily since. Militant groups, especially the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army, were emboldened by the Pakistani Taliban ending a ceasefire with the government in November 2022.
An inauguration delayed
Security concerns delayed the inauguration of the international airport. There were fears the area’s mountains – and their proximity to the airport – could be the ideal launchpad for an attack.
Instead, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his Chinese counterpart Li Qiang hosted a virtual ceremony. The inaugural flight was off limits to the media and public.
Abdul Ghafoor Hoth, district president of the Balochistan Awami Party, said not a single resident of Gwadar was hired to work at the airport, “not even as a watchman.”
“Forget the other jobs, how many Baloch people are at this port that was built for CPEC,” he asked.
In December, Hoth organized daily protests over living conditions in Gwadar. The protests stopped 47 days later, once authorities pledged to meet the locals’ demands, including better access to electricity and water.
No progress has been made on implementing those demands since then.
Without local labor, goods or services, there can be no trickle-down benefit from CPEC, said international relations expert Khalid. As Chinese money came to Gwadar, so did a heavy-handed security apparatus that created barriers and deepened mistrust.
“The Pakistani government is not willing to give anything to the Baloch people, and the Baloch are not willing to take anything from the government,” said Khalid.


Pakistani policewoman’s kindness toward American visitor shoots her to online fame

Pakistani policewoman’s kindness toward American visitor shoots her to online fame
Updated 29 min 33 sec ago
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Pakistani policewoman’s kindness toward American visitor shoots her to online fame

Pakistani policewoman’s kindness toward American visitor shoots her to online fame
  • Shabana Jilani provided security to Onijah Robinson, an American who arrived in Pakistan seeking her online love
  • While Robinson’s story made headlines, Jilani’s friendly interactions with her brought the officer online fame

KARACHI: Shabana Jilani, a police officer in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, emerged as an unlikely Internet star this month amid a media flurry surrounding American woman Onijah Robinson’s months-long stay in Pakistan.
Jilani’s composure and professional yet empathetic interactions with Robinson, who was abandoned by a Pakistani man she befriended online, were captured in viral TikTok videos, highlighting not only her dedication to duty but also the human side of Pakistani law enforcement.
The 33-year-old New Yorker arrived in Pakistan in October last year, hoping to marry her 19-year-old paramour, though their relationship took a dramatic turn when her intended partner abandoned her following family objections.
Left stranded, Robinson spent nearly 30 hours outside the man’s home before being taken to a shelter and later admitted to the psychiatric ward of a local medical facility.
As law enforcers were on their way to take her to the hospital, Jilani received a call from a superior officer asking her to provide security for Robinson. What followed was the making of an unexpected bond between the police officer and Robinson, marked by brief conversations and heartfelt moments that captured the Internet’s attention.
“My first meeting with Madam Onjiah took place at Jinnah Hospital, when she was being admitted,” Jilani told Arab News at her police station in Karachi. “I had a conversation with her there and it was a good experience. We spoke in a good manner.”
She said she was fulfilling her professional responsibility during her interaction with the American woman, though videos of their exchange revealed how they developed a human connection. While Jilani ensured Robinson’s safety, it was her caring attitude — helping the American loosely drape a shawl over her shoulders — that was admired by netizens.
Jilani said that while ensuring the visiting woman’s safety was her job, it was also her moral responsibility to be empathetic toward her.
“We spoke to her with love, respect and kindness, and in return, we received the same,” the police officer said.
Jilani’s husband, Deputy Superintendent of Police Ali Asghar Dahiri, lost his life in an encounter with militants in Karachi’s Landhi area in 2008, but she has continued to serve in the police force despite this personal tragedy and has dedicated about two decades of her life to policing in Karachi.
“When we joined the police department, we were given training that taught us how to face tough situations so that we could handle every challenge and difficulty,” she said.
But her interactions with ordinary people, including Robinson, reveal a softer side of the field-hardened policewoman.
And the online reaction to her videos has been overwhelming.
“I am grateful to everyone for this,” she said. “We fulfilled our professional duty while also showing respect and kindness.”
Jilani expressed her satisfaction with the videos, which have conveyed a positive message about Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies.
“They [social media users abroad] have also seen that Pakistan, its female police officers, and all our law enforcement agencies are doing a great job,” she said.
“So, a positive message has been conveyed to the world, one that highlights good behavior, strong ethics, respect and love.”
But above all, Jilani says, her interactions with Robinson were among the most memorable for her, recalling how she accompanied the American visitor to the airport for her departure on Feb. 7 after spending more than three months in Pakistan.
“She said to me, ‘I miss you so much, Shabana,’” Jilani recalled. “Good memories, good times, and beautiful moments. Just as she remembers them, so do I.”


Trump says US wants return on Ukraine aid money

Trump says US wants return on Ukraine aid money
Updated 23 February 2025
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Trump says US wants return on Ukraine aid money

Trump says US wants return on Ukraine aid money

National Harbor, United States: US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he was trying to get money back for the billions of dollars sent to support Ukraine’s war against Russia.
His comments came as Washington and Kyiv negotiate a mineral resources deal Trump wants as compensation for the wartime aid his predecessor Joe Biden gave Ukraine.
It was the latest twist in a whirlwind first month since he took office, during which he has upended US foreign policy by making diplomatic overtures toward the Kremlin over the heads of Ukraine and Europe.
Trump told delegates at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) near Washington: “I’m trying to get the money back, or secured.
“I want them to give us something for all of the money that we put up. We’re asking for rare earth and oil, anything we can get.
“We’re going to get our money back because it’s just not fair. And we will see, but I think we’re pretty close to a deal, and we better be close because that has been a horrible situation.”
Hours earlier, a source told AFP that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was “not ready” to sign such a deal, despite growing US pressure.
Trump’s special envoy Keith Kellogg, who met Zelensky this week, said the Ukrainian president understood signing a deal with the United States was “critical.”
But the Ukrainian source told AFP that Kyiv needed assurances first.
“In the form in which the draft is now, the president is not ready to accept, we are still trying to make changes and add constructiveness,” the source close to the matter said.
Ukraine wants any agreement signed with the United States to include security guarantees as it battles Russia’s nearly three-year invasion.
The negotiations between the two countries come amid a deepening war of words between Trump and Zelensky that has raised alarm in Kyiv and Europe.
On Wednesday, Trump branded his Ukrainian counterpart a “dictator” and called for him to “move fast” to end the war, a day after Russian and US officials held talks in Saudi Arabia without Kyiv.
Washington has proposed a United Nations resolution on the Ukraine conflict that omitted any mention of Kyiv’s territory occupied by Russia, diplomatic sources told AFP.

MINERALS FOR AID
Trump has asked for “$500 billion worth” of rare earth minerals to make up for aid given to Kyiv — a price tag Ukraine has balked at and which is much higher than published US aid figures.
“There are no American obligations in the agreement regarding guarantees or investments, everything about them is very vague, and they want to extract $500 billion from us,” the Ukrainian source told AFP.
“What kind of partnership is this? And why do we have to give $500 billion, there is no answer,” the source said, adding that Ukraine had proposed changes.
The United States has given Ukraine more than $60 billion in military aid since Russia’s invasion, according to official figures — the largest such contribution among Kyiv’s allies but substantially lower than Trump’s figures.
The Kiel Institute, a German economic research body, said that from 2022 until the end of 2024, the United States gave a total of 114.2 billion euros ($119.8 billion) in financial, humanitarian and military aid.
A senior Ukrainian official told AFP Friday that despite the tensions, talks on a possible agreement were “ongoing.”
The row comes as Ukraine is set to mark the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion on Monday, and as Kyiv’s forces are slowly ceding ground on the front line.
Moscow’s defense ministry earlier on Saturday claimed the capture of Novolyubivka in the eastern Lugansk region, which is now largely under Russian control.
In a call with Zelensky on Saturday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged the “UK’s ironclad support for Ukraine.”
Zelensky, in response, praised the United Kingdom for showing “leadership” on the war with Russia.
Starmer also said it was in the “interests” of both Britain and the United States to “stand by” Ukraine, which needed a seat at the negotiating table and “strong security guarantees so the peace will last,” writing in a column for The Sun published late Saturday.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced that Britain will unveil a significant package of sanctions against Russia on Monday.
In London, thousands of people marched in support of Ukraine on Saturday, and polls in Britain suggest strong support for Kyiv.
France’s Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on Saturday that Paris was looking at increasing the number of its frigates and Rafale fighter jets, and stepping up production of drones.
The measures were being taken to improve France’s defense capabilities because of threats related to the Ukraine conflict, he was quoted as saying in Sunday’s edition of Le Parisien newspaper.
French President Emmanuel Macron is due in Washington for talks with Trump on Monday.
The White House said Saturday that Trump had met with conservative Polish President Andrzej Duda backstage at CPAC, and praised Duda for “Poland’s commitment to increase their defense spending.”
Duda, a vocal admirer of Trump, said he had told Zelensky in a phone call Friday to cooperate with the US president.