Gaza, Jan 23,2023: The Palestinian death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 25,490 since October 7, 2023, the Hamas-run health ministry said on Tuesday.
The Israeli army killed 195 Palestinians and wounded 354 others over the past 24 hours, the ministry said in a press statement.
“A number of victims are still under the rubble, and ambulances and the civil defense crew cannot reach them,” the ministry added.
On Monday, the Israeli army intensified its assault on the southern Khan Younis city, storming medical centers and killing dozens of Palestinians, making it the fiercest fighting in the area so far.
The Israeli army, meanwhile, suffered its deadliest single attack on Monday, in which 21 soldiers were killed in central Gaza.
The soldiers were preparing explosives to demolish two buildings when militants launched a rocket-propelled grenade at a nearby tank, triggering a premature explosion that resulted in the collapse of the buildings while the soldiers were either inside or nearby.
According to official Israeli figures, a total of 219 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the country waged a war against Hamas, following the Hamas-led assault on southern Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 Israelis were killed and more than 200 were taken as hostages to Gaza.
DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 19,2023: Saudi Arabia is still considering an invitation to become a member of the BRICS bloc of countries after being asked to join by the group last year, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Thursday.
The group in August invited Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Iran, Argentina, and Ethiopia to join starting Jan. 1, although Argentina signaled it would not take up the invitation in November.
The two sources said Jan. 1 was not a deadline for a decision, with one adding there were strong benefits to joining the bloc as members China and India are the kingdom’s biggest trading partners.
“Saudi Arabia is assessing the benefits and then will make a decision, there is a process happening,” one of the sources said.
The expansion of the group would add economic heft to the BRICS, whose current members are China, Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa. It could also amplify its declared ambition to become a champion of the Global South.
Faisal Alibrahim, Saudi Arabia’s economy minister, later confirmed the kingdom was still in a decision-making process on joining the bloc.
“The kingdom is a part of many multilateral platforms and multilateral institutions and whenever the kingdom is invited into one of them it goes through a process that is a multi-step process and at the end of it a decision is made,” he told Reuters in an interview.
“Right now we are in a similar process and I will comment at the end of it.”
Riyadh is weighing its options against a backdrop of rising geopolitical tensions between the U.S., China and Russia, and as the kingdom’s warming ties with Beijing have caused concern in Washington.
Despite its strong ties with the U.S., Saudi Arabia has increasingly pursued its own path out of concern that Washington is less committed to the Gulf’s security than in the past.
New Delhi, Jan 19,2023: The Central government on Thursday announced a half-day holiday for its employees ahead of the consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22.
All central government offices will remain shut till 2:30 PM on January 22, the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions said in a statement.
“The Ram Lalla Pran Pratishtha at Ayodhya will be celebrated on 22nd January across India. To enable employees to participate in the celebrations, it has been decided that all Central Government Offices, Central Institutions and Central Industrial Establishments throughout India will be closed for half day till 1430 hours on 22d January,” the statement said.
The Ministry further advised all ministries and Departments of the Government of India to bring the above decision to the notice of all concerned.
Jan 16,2023: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched ballistic missiles at what it claimed were Israeli “spy headquarters” in Iraq’s Kurdish region and hit targets allegedly linked to ISIL (ISIS) in northern Syria, saying it was defending its security and countering terrorism.
At least eight explosions were heard in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, early on Tuesday. Four people were killed and six were wounded, the regional security council said.
“Ballistic missiles were used to destroy espionage centres and gatherings of anti-Iranian terrorist groups in the region,” the IRGC said, adding that it fired 11 missiles, state media reported.
The Iraqi government condemned what it called Iran’s “aggression” on Erbil that led to civilian casualties in residential areas, calling it a violation of the country’s sovereignty and the security of its people, according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The government said it would consider various actions, including filing a complaint at the United Nations Security Council.
The IRGC claimed that it had hit the headquarters of Israeli spy agency Mossad in Erbil, Iran’s IRNA news agency reported.
“We assure our nation that the Guards’ offensive operations will continue until avenging the last drops of martyrs’ blood,” it said.
Masrour Barzani, prime minister of the Kurdish region, condemned the attack on Erbil as a “crime against the Kurdish people”.
The Kurdish regional government said it shot down three bomb-laden drones at 5:05am (02:05 GMT) that were targeting a United States-led coalition base in Erbil, near the city’s international airport, from where air traffic was briefly diverted.
KATHMANDU, Jan 10.2023: A liberal political party led by a former prime minister was set to form a new government in Bhutan after winning its fourth free vote since democratic elections began 15 years ago, provisional results by the country’s election body showed on Wednesday.
Nestled between China and India, Bhutan is known for its pioneering of a Gross National Happiness (GNH) index, an alternative economic gauge that takes into account factors normally ignored by gross domestic product measures, such as recreation and emotional well-being.
The tiny Himalayan kingdom of fewer than 800,000 people is struggling to revive its aid-and-tourism dependent economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) won 30 seats in Tuesday’s elections for the 47-member parliament, or National Assembly, with the remaining seats going to the Bhutan Tendrel Party (BTP), an early tally by the Election Commission of Bhutan (ECB} showed.
Final results are expected on Wednesday.
The BTP, formed in 2022 by a former bureaucrat, will be the main opposition in the parliament, analysts say.
The PDP was formed in 2007 by Tshering Tobgay, 58, who was prime minister from 2013 to 2018. Tobgay is set to become the new prime minister, for a second five-year term.
“Heartiest congratulations to my friend @tsheringtobgay and the People’s Democratic Party for winning the parliamentary elections in Bhutan,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post on X late on Tuesday. “Look forward to working together again to further strengthen our unique ties of friendship and cooperation.”
During campaigning, Tobgay has vowed to promote the investment needed to boost the country’s $3 billion economy and address the unemployment that is driving an increasing number of young Bhutanese abroad, mainly to Australia, in search of better opportunities.
Majority-Buddhist Bhutan, roughly the size of Switzerland, has deep economic and trade relations with its southern neighbour, India, which is also its biggest donor.
It has no formal diplomatic relations China but is in talks with Beijing to resolve border disputes.
SEOUL, Jan 10,2024: South Korea’s main opposition party leader, Lee Jae-myung, said on Wednesday he hoped a stabbing attack he suffered could mark the end of the “politics of hate” in the country.
He was speaking to reporters and supporters after he was discharged from a hospital in Seoul, where he has been recovering since last week’s attack in the southern city of Busan.
“I hope this case which shocked everyone can serve as a milestone to end the politics of hate and confrontation and restore proper politics,” said Lee, who thanked medical staff at the hospital and vowed to serve his country.
The attack was widely condemned as an “act of terror” and a challenge to democracy by President Yoon Suk Yeol and politicians from both the ruling and opposition parties.
Police are due to announce the outcome of an investigation into the attack later on Wednesday.
Earlier, the alleged assailant told reporters he was sorry over the fallout from the attack as he was leaving a police station.
Three members of the main opposition Democratic Party announced they would leave the party citing disagreements over Lee’s leadership while wishing him a swift recovery.
Though the Democratic Party and Yoon’s conservative People Power Party account for the majority of lawmakers in parliament, a number of politicians on both sides of the aisle have indicated they plan to break away to form new parties to run in general elections due in April.
WASHINGTON, Jan 10,2024: The United States and China wrapped up two days of military talks in Washington on Tuesday, the Pentagon said, the latest engagement since the two countries agreed to resume military-to-military ties.
Washington and Beijing are at loggerheads over everything from the future of democratically ruled Taiwan to territorial claims in the South China Sea. Ties are still recovering after the U.S. downed an alleged Chinese spy balloon in February.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed late last year to resume military ties, severed by Beijing after a visit in August 2022 by then-House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan.
The 17th round of the talks saw Michael Chase, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for China, Taiwan, and Mongolia, meet China’s Major General Song Yanchao, deputy director of the central military commission office for international military co-operation, the Pentagon said.
“The two sides discussed U.S.-PRC defense relations, and Chase highlighted the importance of maintaining open lines of military-to-military communication in order to prevent competition from veering into conflict,” the statement added, using an acronym for the People’s Republic of China.
Pentagon officials say communication between the two militaries is key to preventing a miscalculation from spiraling into conflict.
The top U.S. military officer, General Charles Q. Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff held a virtual meeting last month with his Chinese counterpart, General Liu Zhenli.
China is willing to develop healthy and stable military-to-military relations with the U.S. “on the basis of equality and respect”, its defence ministry said in a statement on Wednesday, citing the meeting.
It urged the U.S. to cut military deployment and “provocative actions” in the South China Sea, as well halt support for such actions by “certain countries”, but did not identify them.
It asked the U.S. to abide by the one-China principle and stop arming Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, despite Taiwan’s strong objections, and vowed never to compromise on the issue.
“The United States should fully understand the root causes of the maritime and air security issues, strictly restrain its front-line forces, and stop hyping up (the issues),” it added.
Taiwan is holding presidential and parliamentary polls this weekend amid a ramped-up war of words between Taiwan and China.
U.S. officials have cautioned that even with some restoration of military communications, forging truly functional dialogue between the two sides could take time.