Tag: InternationalNews

{Malaysian police confirm death of most wanted ISIL member Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jadi in a drone attack.}

Malaysia’s most-wanted member of the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS), Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jadi, 26, has been killed in Syria, according to Malaysian police.

“After reviewing intelligence, the Royal Malaysian Police can confirm that Muhammad Wanndy has been killed in an attack in Raqqa, Syria on April 29,” Police Chief Khalid Abu Bakar said on his Twitter account, confirming previous reports of Wanndy’s death in a drone attack on the ISIL’s self-proclaimed capital.

News of his alleged death began to make rounds after his wife Nor Mahmudah Ahmad announced it in a Facebook post last month. However, police had earlier cast doubt on the reports stating that it was possible Wanndy had faked his own death to avoid detection.

Wanndy was the alleged mastermind behind a grenade attack on a bar in the outskirts of Kuala Lampur in June 2016 that injured eight people.

Following the attack, Wanndy claimed responsibility through a Facebook post. It was the first, and so far the only, attack by ISIL on Malaysian soil.

Born and raised in the western Malaysian state of Malacca, Wanndy left for Raqqa with his wife in 2014. He first drew public attention the following year when he appeared in a video showing the beheading of a Syrian man.

Under the alias of Abu Hamzah Al Fateh, he quickly made a name for himself as an ISIL recruiter and fundraiser.

Statistics from the Maylaysian police’s counterterrorism unit indicate that at least a third of the more than 250 people arrested for ISIL-linked activities in Malaysia between 2013 and 2016 were recruited by or linked to Wanndy.

In March, he was named a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” by the US Treasury, making him a high-profil target for law enforcement agencies worldwide.

Source:Al Jazeera

{Proposed law to strip Arabic of official-language status and define Israel as ‘the national home of the Jewish people’.}

Israeli ministers have approved a controversial bill that will downgrade Arabic as an official language and define the country as the “national home of the Jewish people”.

The Haaretz newspaper reported on Sunday that if the bill were to become law, Arabic would no longer be an official language and would instead be defined as having special status.

In the bill, Hebrew is defined as the “national language”, which would become part of the country’s so-called basic law, which is similar to a constitution, it said.

The legislation still has to go through further drafting by the justice ministry and pass several votes in parliament.

Critics have described the proposed legislation, which also declares that the “right to self-determination” in Israel is “unique to the Jewish people”, as impinging on the rights of its Arab minority, who make up some 20 percent of the 8.7 million population.

Defining Israel as the “national home of the Jewish people” has also raised concerns among rights activists and others worried over discrimination and attempts to further mix religion and state.

Ayman Odeh, a parliament member who heads the mainly Arab Joint List alliance, said approving the bill would mean trampling on minority rights, adding it would “legally transform us into second-class citizens”.

The bill was sponsored by Avi Dichter, a member of the Likud party of Benjamin Netanyahu, who said it was necessary to “set in law our national identity while remaining a democratic state”.

Palestinian citizens of Israel allege widespread discrimination by Netanyahu’s government.

Source:Al Jazeera

{Kabul denies Islamabad’s claim that its forces killed 50 Afghan soldiers as tensions deepen over border fighting.}

Pakistan’s military said its forces killed more than 50 Afghan soldiers and destroyed five checkpoints in heavy fighting along their disputed border, a claim quickly rejected by Kabul.

The clashes took place on Friday at the Chaman border that divides Pakistan’s southwest Balochistan province and Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar, as Pakistani officials were carrying out a census count.

At least eight civilians were killed, according to previously stated death tolls by officials – seven on the Pakistani side and one Afghan.

On Sunday, Pakistan elevated its rhetoric by saying Afghan forces had suffered much more dramatic losses.

“We are not pleased to tell you that five Afghan check posts were completely destroyed – more than 50 of their soldiers were killed and above 100 were wounded,” Major-General Nadim Ahmad, head of the paramilitary Frontier Corps, said.

“We are not happy for their losses, but we were forced to retaliate.”

Ahmad said two Pakistani soldiers were killed and nine more wounded in the incident.

Afghanistan quickly denied the statement.

“Very false claims by Pakistani Frontier Corp that as many as 50 Afghan soldiers lost their lives in Pak retaliation; totally rejected,” Sediq Sediqqi, a government spokesman, said on Twitter.

Al Jazeera’s Qais Azimy, reporting from Kabul, said Afghan officials called Pakistan’s claims “totally false”.

“Afghan security official at the border confirmed to us at least four policemen killed, and that one woman, a civilian, was killed as a result of artillery attack by Pakistani forces,” he said.

He said Afghan officials also denied the claim that Pakistani civilians were killed.

The clashes prompted thousands of families to flee the area, he said.

“Residents are worried that fighting could start any minute because security forces remain in the area. That’s why they are leaving.”

According to Pakistan, the fighting began when Afghan troops fired on Pakistani census workers.

They said the Afghan government had been notified and given the coordinates of the border villages, where the census workers were going door to door.

Afghan officials, however, said Pakistani troops fired the first shots.

They blamed Pakistani census enumerators, who were accompanied by soldiers, for straying across the border, a charge Islamabad denied.

The so-called Durand Line, a 2,400km frontier drawn by the British in 1896 and disputed by Afghanistan, has witnessed increased tension since Pakistan began patrolling along it last year.

The border has remained closed since Friday, with senior Pakistan army general Amir Riaz telling reporters it would remain so “until Afghanistan changes its behaviour”.

It is not the only area of dispute between the neighbours: They accuse each other or harbouring armed groups who carry out attacks across their borders.

Pakistan embarked on the enormous task of conducting its first census in almost two decades in March.

Pakistan is the sixth most populous in the world with an estimated 200 million people, but has not held a census since 1998, despite a constitutional requirement for one every decade.

Source:Al Jazeera

{US rights groups criticise law enabling police to check immigration status of anyone they detain in border state.}

The Republican governor of Texas has signed into law a measure to ban “sanctuary cities” in the state, after months of US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants.

The law prohibits cities from declaring themselves “sanctuary cities” and enables police officers to check the immigration status of anyone they detain.

The law requires local officials to carry out federal requests to hold criminal suspects for possible deportation and threatens sheriffs with arrest if they refuse to cooperate with federal authorities.

Sanctuary cities limit cooperation with the US federal government’s effort to enforce immigration law, with the hopes of reducing deportations so that undocumented people will be more willing to report crimes and enrol their children in schools.

Greg Abbott, the governor, signed the bill on Sunday despite a plea from police chiefs of the state’s biggest cities to halt the measure, which they say will hinder their ability to fight crime.

Texas, which has an estimated 1.5 million undocumented immigrants and the longest border with Mexico of any US state, has been at the forefront of the immigration debate.

“As governor, my top priority is public safety, and this bill furthers that objective by keeping dangerous criminals off our streets,” Abbott said in a statement.

The law will take effect on September 1.

The Republican-dominated legislature passed the bill on party-line votes and sent the measure to Abbott earlier this month.

It would punish local authorities who do not abide by requests to cooperate with federal immigration agents.

Police officials found to be in violation of the law could face removal from office, fines and up to a year in prison if convicted.

The measure also allows police to ask people about their immigration status during a lawful detention, even for minor infractions like jaywalking.

{{A tough road}}

Any anti-sanctuary city measure may face a tough road after a federal judge in April blocked Trump’s executive order seeking to withhold funds from local authorities that do not use their resources to advance federal immigration laws.

Democrats have said the measure could lead to unconstitutional racial profiling and civil rights groups have promised to fight the Texas measure in court.

“This legislation is bad for Texas and will make our communities more dangerous for all,” the police chiefs of cities, including Houston and Dallas, wrote in an opinion piece in the Dallas Morning News in late April.

They said immigration was a federal obligation and the law would stretch already meagre resources by turning local police into immigration agents.

The police chiefs said the measure would widen a gap between police and immigrant communities, creating a class of silent victims and eliminating the potential for assistance from immigrants in solving or preventing crimes.

One of the sponsors of the bill, Republican state Representative Charlie Geren, said in a House of Representatives debate the bill would have no effect on immigrants in the country without documentation if they had not committed a crime.

He also said there were no sanctuary cities in Texas at present and the measure would prevent any from emerging.

{{Bill criticised}}

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) criticised the bill in a statement.

“This is not the Texas I know,” said Terri Burke, executive director of the ACLU of Texas, describing the measure as “racist and wrongheaded”.

“Our immigrant communities need to know that we stand with you; we will fight this assault in the courts, at the ballot box, and in the streets, if we have to,” Burke said.

“This is an assault on humanity. It will not stand.”

Source:Al Jazeera

{Some 7,400 troops from 20 nations taking part in Eager Lion military drills, ‘the largest and most complex to date’.}

Jordan and the United States kicked off Eager Lion, an annual military exercise with about 7,400 troops from more than 20 nations taking part, on Sunday.

US and Jordanian officials said the manoeuvres would include border security, cyber-defence, and “command and control” exercises to bolster coordination in response to threats including “terrorism”.

“Joint efforts and coordination and the exchange of expertise … are needed at the time when the region is facing the threat of terrorism,” Jordanian Brigadier-General Khalid al-Sharaa, who will head the exercise, told reporters.

US Major-General Bill Hickman, deputy commanding officer for the American army in the region, said this year’s Eager Lion exercise – the seventh so far – is “the largest and most complex to date”.

The highlight of this year’s war games, he said, will be that “for the first time ever a global strike mission” will be conducted by “two US Air Force B-1B bomber aircraft” – a long-range multi-mission bomber.

A statement by the Jordanian army said troops from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Gulf region – including from Britain, Japan, Kenya and Saudi Arabia – are taking part in the exercise, which runs through May 18.

About 6,000 troops from Jordan and the US took part in last year’s exercise, a joint operation first launched in 2011.

Jordan is a key partner in the US-led coalition battling Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) fighters in Syria and Iraq.

Two years ago, the US announced its intent to increase overall US assistance to Jordan from $660m to $1bn annually for the 2015-2017 period.

Source:Al Jazeera

{A deal signed by Russia, Turkey and Iran to create ‘safe zones’ went into effect on Saturday.}

A new deal aimed at reducing violence in Syria is now in effect, but questions remain as to its implementation and its consequences.

The agreement signed on Thursday by Iran, Russia and Turkey in the Kazakh capital, Astana, is the latest in a series of ceasefire proposals aimed at ending Syria’s war, now in its seventh year.

The plan calls for the cessation of hostilities between rebel groups and forces fighting on behalf of Bashar al-Assad’s government in four so-called “de-escalation zones” in mainly opposition-held areas of the country.

Russia, Turkey and Iran are to act as guarantors.

{{The deal covers four areas:}}

– Zone 1: Idlib province, as well as northeastern areas of Latakia province, western areas of Aleppo province and northern areas of Hama province. There are more than one million civilians in this zone and its rebel factions are dominated by an al-Qaeda-linked alliance.

– Zone 2: The Rastan and Talbiseh enclave in northern Homs province. There are approximately 180,000 civilians in this zone and its network of rebel groups includes al-Qaeda-linked fighters.

– Zone 3: Eastern Ghouta in the northern Damascus countryside. Controlled by Jaish al-Islam, a powerful rebel faction that is participating in the Astana talks. It is home to about 690,000 civilians. This zone does not include the adjacent, government-besieged area of Qaboun.

– Zone 4: The rebel-controlled south along the border with Jordan that includes parts of Deraa and Quneitra provinces. Up to 800,000 civilians live there.

The plan specifies that a six-month renewable truce will begin on Saturday and that Assad’s air force will halt all flights over the de-escalation areas.

Russia will continue to fly over the areas but will refrain from conducting air raids. The Syrian government is to allow “unhindered” humanitarian aid into rebel-held areas, and public services like electricity and water are to be restored where they have been cut off.

The two-track political process is also set to continue, with talks scheduled to take place at the UN in Geneva, potentially at the end of May, and another round of Russian-led talks in Kazakhstan in mid-July.

The deal allows its guarantors to continue targeting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) and al-Qaeda-linked groups inside the safe zones.

While ISIL has little-to-no presence inside the areas in question, the al-Qaeda-linked Tahrir al-Sham alliance works closely with other rebel groups in all of the four proposed de-escalation areas.

Previous ceasefires have collapsed as Russian and Syrian jets continued to hit civilians under the premise of targeting al-Qaeda-affiliated fighters.

“This leaves Tahrir al-Sham with every reason to rally opposition to the Astana deal and to torpedo it through bombings and other provocations,” Syria analyst Aron Lund wrote in an article on Friday.

“It also seems likely to provoke clashes between the jihadis and those rebels who intend to abide by the Astana plan, which could, in turn, tempt the al-Assad government to seize new opportunities for advancement.”

Alexander Fomin, Russia’s deputy defence minister, said that if implemented, the deal would allow for the separation of the opposition from ISIL fighters and those affiliated with al-Qaeda. He did not elaborate.

The Syrian government has said that although it will abide by the agreement, it would continue fighting “terrorism” wherever it exists, parlance for most armed rebel groups fighting government troops.

The Pentagon said the de-escalation agreement would not affect the US-led air campaign against ISIL.

“The coalition will continue to target ISIS wherever they operate to ensure they have no sanctuary,” said Pentagon spokesman Marine Maj. Adrian JT Rankine-Galloway, using an alternative acronym for the hardline group.

As in previous deals struck by foreign backers of the warring sides in Syria, there is no clear mechanism to resolve conflicts and violations.

This is the first plan, however, to envisage armed foreign monitors on the ground in Syria.

Troops from the three countries are expected to help secure the safe zones. But an official with Russia’s military general staff said other countries may eventually have a role in enforcing the de-escalation areas.

Sergei Rudskoi, a Russian colonel-general, told reporters on Friday that the “work of checkpoints and observation posts, as well as the management of security zones, will be carried out by the personnel and formations of Russia, Turkey and Iran”.

Russian officials said it will be at least another month until the details are worked out and the safe areas established. A joint working group of the three guarantors is expected to be created later this month.

Turkey, whose agenda in Syria has significantly narrowed over the past year, is a major rebel backer and its forces occupy a sizeable swath of territory in the country’s north.

Russia and Iran are key Assad allies and both are viewed as foreign occupying forces by his opponents. Iran’s presence as a guarantor to the deal has proven particularly problematic for the opposition.

Osama Abo Zayd, a spokesman for the Syrian military factions at the Kazakhstan talks, said on Friday that it was “incomprehensible” for Iran to act as a guarantor of the deal.

“We can’t imagine Iran playing a role of peace,” Abo Zayd said.

Source:Al Jazeera

{Khalid Meshaal, who preceded Haniya as leader of the political bureau, confirms transition to Al Jazeera.}

Ismail Haniya has been elected as the new leader of Hamas’ political bureau, according to the Palestinian movement’s news agency.

The announcement on Satuday came just days after Hamas unveiled a more moderate stance towards Israel.

Khalid Meshaal, who preceded Haniya as leader of the bureau, confirmed the transition of power to Al Jazeera.

“I would like to announce that this new council has elected Abu al-Abed, my brother Ismail Haniya, the president of the political bureau of the movement,” Meshaal, who had been in charge of the political wing for the past 10 years, said in a statement.

READ MORE: What is next for Hamas?

“The new leadership will announce any other names in the appropriate time. The movement blesses this election which came in a consultative, democratic way that is homogenous with the lists and that shows the unity of the movement.”

Haniya, 54, is expected to remain in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian enclave run by Hamas since 2007, unlike Meshaal who lives in exile in Qarar’s capital, Doha, and has completed the maximum two terms in office.

Haniya’s has been the group’s deputy leader, and served as prime minister of Gaza between 2007 and 2014.

On Monday, Hamas unveiled a new policy document easing its stance on Israel after having long called for its destruction.

The document notably accepts the idea of a Palestinian state in territories occupied by Israel in the war of 1967.

It also says its struggle is not against Jews because of their religion but against Israel as an occupier.

However, Hamas officials said the document in no way amounts to recognition of Israel as demanded by the international community.

Source:Al Jazeera

{Single-aisle plane can carry up to 168 passengers and is meant to rival Airbus and Boeing aircraft.}

The first large Chinese-made passenger jet has taken off on its maiden flight, a key milestone for a country seeking a place in the global aviation market.

The C919 single-aisle jet, which can hold up to 168 passengers, soured over Pudong international airport in the commercial hub Shanghai as a crowd of thousands cheered.

China is one of the biggest aviation markets, but relies on foreign-made aircraft and has long sought to enter the lucrative global jet market, which is estimated to be worth $2 trillion over the next 20 years.

The maiden test flight had been pushed back at least twice since 2014 due to production issues. Friday’s flight included a skeleton crew of five people and carried no passengers.

“It is important for the Chinese government to show that its industrial processes are on par with the West or are heading in that direction,” he said.

{{C919 must ‘prove itself’ }}

While the 39-metre long plane is made in China, foreign firms are playing key roles by supplying systems as well as engines.

The Chinese plane is touted to rival to the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737, but a spokesman for the aircraft’s maker said it cannot compare.

“You can’t compare us to Boeing or Airbus, they’re in a different strategic stage … We took half a century to solve the first strategic issue [of plane development], it will also take many years to solve the second [market] problem,” Jeff Cheng, a spokesman for the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), told Reuters news agency prior to the maiden flight.

Ballantyne said it will be years before the C919 will be able to fully compete with Western-made planes.

“This Chinese aircraft will have to prove itself in operation before any Western airline will even consider purchasing it,” he said.

Ballantyne added that “it is very unlikely that it will be able to compete in terms of technology and economics with the new-generation aircraft” produced by of Boeing and Airbus.

Hundreds of orders

If Friday’s maiden flight is successful, COMAC, the aircraft’s maker, will seek certification from China’s civil aviation authority and foreign regulators.

COMAC has already received 570 orders and commitments from 23 customers, mainly Chinese-owned carriers and leasing companies.

The safety certification of the new plane – which state media says will have a catalog price tag of around $50 million, less than half that of a Boeing 737 or Airbus A320 – could be among the biggest issues for the C919 internationally.

Questions remain regarding the safety approvals needed for the C919 to secure a foothold outside of China.

Chinese airlines are expected drive demand over the next two decades, buying nearly 7,000 planes – mostly from Boeing and Airbus.

China has dreamed of building its own civil aircraft since the 1970s when Jiang Qing, leader Mao Zedong’s wife and a member of the notorious “Gang of Four”, personally backed an attempt to do so. But the Y-10’s heavy weight made it impractical and only three were ever made.

China’s first domestically-made regional jet, the twin-engine regional ARJ21, flew its passengers in June 2016, eight years after its first test flight.

The development of the C919 a key step on the path laid out by Chinese leaders to transform the country into a creator of profitable technology.

Source:Al Jazeera

{Islamabad accuses Afghan forces of cross-border firing during a Balochistan population census, killing at least nine.}

The attack on Friday left 33 people wounded and happened near the Chaman crossing point in Pakistan’s Balochistan province prompting security forces to ask people to evacuate villages on the border.

Chaman, one of the two main border crossings between Pakistan and Afghanistan, was closed in the wake of the incident, with firing ongoing, Pakistani military spokesman Asif Ghafoor said in a statement.

“Since April 30, Afghan Border Police had been creating hurdles in conduct of census in divided villages of Killi Luqman and Killi Jahangir in Chaman area, on Pakistani side of the border,” the statement said.

An Afghan spokesman from the Kandahar police, Ghurzang Afridi, told DPA news agency that the Pakistani census team had worked on the Afghan side of the border.

Pakistan is currently conducting the second phase of its first door-to-door population census in 19 years, with more than 100,000 enumerators and 200,000 troops taking part in the exercise.

The lead-up to the census has been marked by political debate on how the results may show changing demographics – potentially redrawing electoral constituencies – across the country.

Pakistan and Afghanistan share a roughly 2,500km-long border, which runs through mountainous terrain and remains largely unpoliced.

Recent Pakistani attempts to establish fences and border posts along the border to curtail the movement of Taliban fighters into Pakistan have been met with resistance from Afghanistan, which disputes the border.

In February, Pakistan sealed all border crossings with Afghanistan for over a month after a wave of attacks across Pakistan killed more than 100 people.

Those attacks were followed by frequent skirmishes between Pakistani Taliban fighters and Pakistan’s military along the border in the Mohmand, Khyber and other districts.

On March 20, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ordered the reopening of the border crossings.

Since the census was launched in March, government census teams have also come under attack from Taliban fighters.

On April 5, a census team was hit by an explosion in the eastern city of Lahore, killing at least six people.

Two government census workers were also killed when a blast hit a passing passenger van in the northwestern Kurram district on April 25.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban claimed responsibility for both attacks.

Source:Al Jazeera

{Supreme Court upholds death penalty for four men convicted of rape that sparked widespread protests and condemnation.}

India’s Supreme Court has upheld death sentences against four men who fatally gang raped a woman on board a bus in 2012, a crime that sparked widespread protests and drew international attention over violence against women.

The four had challenged a 2013 court ruling that they should be hanged, which was later upheld by an appeals court.

“It’s a barbaric crime and it has shaken the society’s conscience,” Justice R Banumathi told a packed courtroom on Friday.

Jyoti Singh, a 23-year-old physiotherapy student, was raped and left for dead by a gang of five men and a teenager after she boarded a private bus while going home from the cinema with a male friend.

She died from grievous internal injuries 13 days later.

Of the six people arrested, one committed suicide in prison in 2013, while the juvenile was sentenced to three years in a reform facility and released in 2015.

The rape, and Singh’s determination to survive long enough to identify her attackers to police, triggered large-scale street protests over the high levels of violence against Indian women and children.

In 2015, more than 34,000 cases of rape were reported in the country, according to the country’s National Crime Record Bureau.

Women’s rights activist Binalakshmi Nepram said violence against women is a “trend” in India.

“The rise of violence against women will not end with any one case,” Nepram told Al Jazeera. “India will take 100 more years to treat its women with the respect they deserve.”

She added that there needs to be a change in mindset in the country.

Source:Al Jazeera