The Nation Newspaper

Category: Foreign

  • Fighting escalates in south Lebanon after Hezbollah fighters killed

    Fighting escalates in south Lebanon after Hezbollah fighters killed

    Two pro-Iranian Hezbollah fighters were killed  yesterday in an Israeli attack in southern Lebanon, escalating an already tense situation in the area.

    The Israeli army said it attacked members of Hezbollah in Houla in southern Lebanon.

    It added that military targets in other places along the border with Israel also struck.

    The Lebanese Health Ministry had earlier said that two people had been killed in an Israeli attack in Houla.

    Hezbollah later said, in a statement, that the dead were two of its fighters.

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    The group usually does not elaborate on when, where and how its members die.

    Hezbollah  yesterday claimed several attacks on Israeli troops and military positions in northern Israel, including a drone strike on a base and an attack on Israeli soldiers.

    Hezbollah claimed that the soldiers were trying to “infiltrate” the Lebanese border.

    Since the war in the Gaza Strip began more than eight months ago, there have been daily military confrontations between the Israeli army and the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.

  • Biden to pass torch to Harris in bittersweet convention farewell

    Biden to pass torch to Harris in bittersweet convention farewell

    US President Joe Biden will give a bittersweet farewell address at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Monday, passing the torch to Kamala Harris as the party’s nominee for November’s election.

    Less than a month after his stunning withdrawal and Harris’s astonishing ascent, Biden can expect a hero’s send-off from many of the same people who helped push him out due to concerns about his age.

    The 81-year-old is expected to say that Harris — America’s first female, Black and South Asian vice president — is the best person to finish the job he started of protecting American democracy from Republican rival Donald Trump.

    Harris is set to briefly appear with her boss on stage for his primetime speech in a symbolic moment designed to show unity among Democrats over his succession.

    One hangover from his time in office, however, is a huge planned protest in Chicago against the Biden-Harris administration’s support for Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

    Biden said on Sunday he felt “good, real good” about his speech, after spending the weekend at the Camp David presidential retreat in rural Maryland fine-tuning his address with top aides.

    Now a lame-duck single-term president, Biden will be all too aware that his legacy hinges on whether Harris can go on to beat Trump — and that if she doesn’t, many will blame him for clinging on so long.

    First Lady Jill Biden, 73, a staunch defender of her husband who was with him throughout the final stages of his fateful decision on July 21, will also take to the stage in Chicago.

    But there will undoubtedly be mixed emotions for the ageing president, who has watched Harris chase down Trump in the polls and enthuse voters in a way that he never managed during his time as candidate.

    Biden now also finds himself as the warm-up act for Harris, who will give her headline speech on Thursday in a slot that just a few weeks ago would have been his.

    He won’t be hanging around for her big night, and is instead heading off immediately after his speech to start a six-day holiday in California while the conference continues without him.

    Yet as he enters the final stretch of a five-decade political career, Biden will also be assured of a warm welcome from Democrats in Chicago.

    “I’m nostalgic,” said LaurieBeth Hager, a state representative from North Dakota in Chicago for the convention, hailing Biden as a “great president.”

    “I’ll have Kleenexes packed along with me tomorrow, but I also am amazed at the courage, political courage it took for him to make this decision.”

    Biden is still remembered fondly by his party as the man who beat Donald Trump in 2020, and then guided America out of the trauma of the January 6, 2021 pro-Trump Capitol assault and the Covid pandemic.

    Read Also: Biden announces plan to reform Supreme Court

    And while Biden’s initial determination to stay in the race despite a disastrous debate performance against Trump in June smacked of pride, there is widespread gratitude for his eventual sacrifice.

    Harris has managed to turn the White House race on its head since Biden stepped aside, reaching out to young, female and Black voters who had switched off from a battle between two elderly men.

    Former president Trump, meanwhile, has been sent into a tailspin by what he calls the “coup” by Democrats.

    Just over a month ago he seemed to be cruising to victory after escaping an assassination attempt, and then making a triumphant, ear-bandaged appearance at the Republican convention in Milwaukee.

    But he has since struggled to recalibrate his campaign to deal with Harris, falling back instead on personal insults and rambling speeches despite appeals from top Republicans to focus.

    While Democrats meet in Chicago, Trump will be crisscrossing the country, with rallies scheduled in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina and Arizona through the week.

    NEWSNOW

  • Sudan sending delegation to Cairo to meet U.S., Egyptian mediators

    Sudan sending delegation to Cairo to meet U.S., Egyptian mediators

    Sudan’s government said it will send a delegation to Cairo for discussions with U.S. and Egyptian officials on Monday, keeping open the question of participation in peace talks aimed at ending a 16-month war.

    The government, controlled by the army which is fighting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for control of the country, has said it would not attend the peace talks in Switzerland unless a previous agreement struck in Jeddah is implemented.

    The U.S.-led talks, which the RSF is attending, aim to end the devastating war that broke out in April 2023, and address the crippling humanitarian crisis that has left half of Sudan’s population of 50 million facing food insecurity.

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    A statement from the ruling Transitional Sovereign Council said the decision to go to Cairo came after contacts with the US special envoy and the Egyptian government, which is an observer in the talks, and was limited to discussing implementation of the Jeddah agreement, under which the RSF would leave civilian areas.

    High-level government sources told Reuters that the government had presented its vision on that and other topics to U.S. and Saudi mediators, and that its approach to further talks would be based on their response.

    The sources denied media reports that the government had already sent a delegation to Geneva.

  • Blinken seeks ceasefire momentum as talks resume

    Blinken seeks ceasefire momentum as talks resume

    United States (U.S.) Secretary of State Antony Blinken will use his ninth diplomatic mission to the Middle East since the start of the Israel-Hamas war to press for the quick conclusion of an elusive ceasefire agreement.

    Blinken arrived in Israel yesterday before what mediators have billed as a last push to reach a deal that will take place in Cairo later this week. He will meet with top Israeli officials today before travelling to Egypt tomorrow.

    Late last week, the three countries mediating the proposed ceasefire reported progress on a deal under which Israel would halt most military operations in Gaza and release a number of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of hostages held by Hamas.

    Read Also: U.S. not involved in Hamas leader Haniyeh’s killing – Blinken

    A senior official travelling with Blinken said his arrival in the region comes at a “critical time” in the ceasefire talks and the secretary will press all parties on the importance of concluding it quickly to end civilian suffering in Gaza and prevent the conflict from engulfing the region. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to preview Blinken’s travels.

    Shortly before Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a Cabinet meeting there are areas where Israel can be flexible and unspecified areas where it won’t be. “We are conducting negotiations and not a scenario in which we just give and give,” he said.

  • Putin ally claims third of Belarus Army deployed to Ukraine’s border

    Putin ally claims third of Belarus Army deployed to Ukraine’s border

    Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said that he deployed nearly a third of Belarus’ armed forces to its border with Ukraine earlier this summer following a buildup of Kyiv’s troops.

    Lukashenko, a staunch ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said that Ukraine maintains more than 120,000 soldiers on its northern border with Belarus as they believe “(Russian President Vladimir) Putin will attack again from Belarusian territory.”

    “Seeing their aggressive policies, we introduced and stationed our forces along the whole border at strategic spots to provide defence in the event of a war,” he said in an interview with Rossiya TV channel, according to the Belarusian state news agency BelTA.

    “Moreover, special forces units like Alpha, Almaz, and others – the most well-trained – are operating there, doing their jobs.”

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    Lukashenko claimed that tensions escalated in late June when preparations got underway for Belarus’ Independence Day celebrations in the capital Minsk.

    A large number of aircraft, military equipment and troops were transferred within Belarus and from Russia. “It is clear that they saw the movement to us, and the Americans give them all the information. And they thought that, as they said, ‘Putin will attack again from the territory of Belarus,’ from Gomel, as it was at the beginning of the special military operation. And they began to transfer 120,000 servicemen,” he said.

    “In response, I was forced to transfer almost a third of the army to strengthen what was there.”

  • Shinawatra’s daughter becomes Thai PM after royal signoff

    Shinawatra’s daughter becomes Thai PM after royal signoff

    Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, became Thailand’s prime minister after receiving a royal letter of endorsement Sunday, two days after she was chosen by Parliament following a court order that removed her predecessor.

    She replaces another leader from the same Pheu Thai Party, at the head of a coalition that includes military parties associated with the coup that deposed the party’s last government.

    Read Also: Thailand court ousts PM Shinawatra

    Paetongtarn is the third Shinawatra to hold the job, after her billionaire father and her aunt Yingluck Shinawatra. Both were removed from office and forced into exile in coups, although Thaksin returned to Thailand last year as Pheu Thai formed a government.

    She received the letter of appointment in a ceremony at the party’s headquarters in Bangkok, attended by senior members of parties in the governing coalition and her father, who has no formal role but is widely seen de facto leader of Pheu Thai.

    The father and daughter held hands as they walked in with beaming smiles. Both wore white civil servants’ uniforms, which are used for royal and state ceremonies.

  • Death toll rises from an Israeli strike on south Lebanon

    Death toll rises from an Israeli strike on south Lebanon

    The death from an Israeli airstrike on an area in southern Lebanon has risen to 10, among them two children, the Lebanese Health Ministry and state-media said on Saturday.

    Those killed were mostly Syrian nationals, the ministry said.

    The National News Agency said the raid hit a brick mill at the outskirts of the northern town of Al-Kafour in the Natabtiyeh districy.

    Earlier reports from the area said it was a residential building.

    It said among the dead was the caretaker of the mill who is a Syrian national and his whole family.

    Five others were injured in the Israeli strike, the ministry said in a statement, adding that some are in critical condition.

    The Israeli army said the air force had attacked a Hezbollah militia weapons depot in the Nabataea area.

    The military also struck with artillery to eliminate a threat in other areas of southern Lebanon, the army said.

    The reports that civilians were injured as a result of the strike is under review, the Israeli army said.

    On Friday, at least one person was killed and another wounded in an Israeli strike that hit the village of Aitaroun in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.

    Read Also: UN condemns Israeli strikes at Gazan school

    Meanwhile, the Lebanese pro-Iranian Hezbollah movement said that one of its fighters was killed, but did not say when or where.

    The Israeli army said the place it hit in the Aitaroun area was a military structure in which Hezbollah terrorists were operating.

    Hezbollah in Lebanon and Israel have been engaged in daily firefights since the Gaza war began in October.

    More than 120 civilians have been killed, most of them on the Lebanese side.

    (dpa/NAN)

  • Hamas rejects new conditions as Israel demands release of 33 hostages

    Hamas rejects new conditions as Israel demands release of 33 hostages

    The Islamist Palestinian movement Hamas on Thursday said it will not negotiate any new conditions for a ceasefire or the release of hostages, as a new round of negotiations began in Qatar.

    “We in the Hamas movement do not see the need for a new agreement,’’ Osama Hamdan, a high-ranking Hamas official.

    “More negotiations are no longer required, but rather an American decision to pressure Israel to accept’’ the proposal presented by U.S. President Joe Biden few months ago, he added.

    A Hamas source earlier said the movement has made clear to mediators that it “will not accept more manoeuvering’’ by Israel.

    Hamas said that the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is attempting to secure the release of 33 hostages in an initial phase.

    Qatar, Egypt and the U.S. have been acting as mediators for months between Israel and Hamas.

    Hamdan blamed the U.S. for failing to pressure Israel to agree to a deal.

    “ In spite of efforts by Qatar and Egypt, the U.S. administration, while it made commitments and pledges.

    “Could not succeed or perhaps did not want to in pressuring the occupation to abide by the initiatives it presented,’’ he said.

    He also said Israel has always obstructed the negotiation process, by sending delegations unauthorised to negotiate, setting new conditions, and refusing to withdraw from the Philadelphi corridor.

    He neither said a narrow stretch on the Gaza-Egypt border nor withdraws from the Rafah crossing was necessary.

    Thursday’s discussions are seen as a pivotal moment in the attempt to secure a ceasefire and facilitate a hostage exchange in the Gaza conflict, which began after the unprecedented Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.

    It is hoped that a breakthrough could also prevent a significant retaliatory strike by Iran against Israel and a substantial escalation of the war.

    Read Also: Hamas blasts Israel’s ‘false’ narrative around school massacre

    CIA chief William Burns, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egypt’s intelligence chief Abbas Kamel are reportedly involved as they have in past talks, sources said.

    David Barnea, head of the Mossad foreign intelligence service, believed to be representing Israel.

    The Israeli Yediot Ahronoth newspaper earlier said Israel has given representatives a list of 33 names reportedly women, children and elderly or sick people it wants released as a condition for an agreement.

    According to Israeli calculations, Hamas still holds 115 hostages, of whom Israel has declared 41 dead.

    Other hostages whose fate is unknown are presumed dead.

    (dpa/NAN) 

  • Massive protests in India over alleged rape, murder of doctor

    Massive protests in India over alleged rape, murder of doctor

    Thousands of people protested in the eastern city of Kolkata to condemn the rape and murder of a doctor in a state-run hospital that also provoked demonstrations across India demanding better safety for women.

    The protests were held at more than 100 locations across Kolkata and spread to surrounding towns in the state of West Bengal late on Wednesday and rallies took place in several other Indian cities early into Thursday morning.

    The 31-year-old trainee doctor was raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, her brutalised body discovered last week.

    Large crowds of women and men marched through the streets of Kolkata, with a candlelight rally at midnight coinciding with the start of India’s Independence Day celebrations on Thursday.

    The protesters in Kolkata and other cities, who marched under the slogan “reclaim the night”, called for a wider tackling of violence against women and held up handwritten signs demanding action.

    “We want justice,” read one sign at a Kolkata rally. “Hang the rapist, save the women,” read another.

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    Many government hospitals in cities across India suspended all services except emergency departments earlier this week, as junior doctors sat outside in protest, demanding justice for the victim.

    “Doctors nationwide are questioning what is so difficult about enacting a law for our security,” Dhruv Chauhan, from the Indian Medical Association’s Junior Doctors’ Network, told the Press Trust of India news agency. “The strike will continue until all demands are formally met.”

    “It is not just about one night. Every night, women should have this freedom and choice to go out, so that in future no girl child’s parents have to think in case it gets late in the evening, whether their child shall return home safe or not,” Shalini Datta, one of the demonstrators, told The Telegraph newspaper, which is based in Kolkata.

    Tanushree Das attended one rally with her daughter. “I believe the night is not just for men to enjoy, women also have equal rights. We have come out to claim this space for ourselves so that women no longer have a sense of fear associated with nights,” she said.

    Newsnow

  • Taiwanese in Nigeria celebrate team’s wins at Paris Olympics

    Taiwanese in Nigeria celebrate team’s wins at Paris Olympics

    The members of Taiwanese community in Lagos have celebrated the performance of the country’s team at the Paris Olympics.

    They noted that the country’s team took home two gold and five bronze medals, ranking 35th out of the 206 participating nations. 

    The team performance, they said, showed the resilience of the Taiwanese spirit.

    Speaking on behalf of the community, Representative and Chief of Taiwan Mission in Nigeria, Mr. Andy Yih-Ping Liu, said the Taiwanese in Nigeria were happy that Boxer Lin Yu-ting and “Taiwan’s Fastest Man” Yang Chun-han were the flag bearers at Sunday’s closing ceremonies for the Paris Olympics, which saw Taiwan winning seven medals.

    According to Liu, the members of the team, through their performance, showed the time-tested Taiwanese spirit.

    “We are very happy here with their performance and we hope our team to the next Los Angeles Olympic will also make our country and the people proud,” the envoy said.

    The two gold medals tied Taiwan’s record for the most gold medals, while the total medal haul was Team Taiwan’s second-most. The nation won 12 medals in Tokyo.

    The gold medals were won by the men’s badminton duo of Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin and Lin in the women’s boxing 57kg weight class. Kuo Hsing-chun could not repeat her gold medal performance from Tokyo due to injuries and settled for the bronze in the women’s 59kg weightlifting competition, but was the first Taiwanese to medal in three straight Olympics.

    Boxer Chen Nien-chin also competing in her third Olympics, took bronze in the women’s 66kg class. Gymnast Tang Chia-hung captured the bronze in the men’s horizontal bar.

    Wu Shih-yi boxed her way to bronze in the women’s 60kg weight class. Sharpshooter Lee Meng-yuan bagged Taiwan’s first medal, a bronze, in the men’s skeet event.

    Speaking further, Liu said team’s performance emphasized the background of Taiwan’s development into modern and well-balanced society.

    The envoy said: “Taiwan, a small island with population of 24 million people and lack of any natural resources, has demonstrated its resilience and development through multi-facet endeavours in education, innovation, research and science-based technology developing, trading and industrial production.

    “Taiwan nowadays has reached the high standard of nation-building with the one of the top democratic countries, less than 2% of illiteracy, the most advanced economy of semiconductor industry and IT technology, one of the best orchids and single-malt whisky production countries, and yet the same time one of the finest performing members of Olympic Games of athletics in decades.

    “Without generations after generations of devoted Taiwanese people and governing leaders pouring their wisdom and strength, it would not be possible for Taiwan to go this far. Not to mention that there’s always a ‘Big Brother’ bullying and threatening to ‘liberate’ Taiwan while the big Goliath has trapped himself in tyranny and disrespect for basic human rights.

    “Taiwan’s new generation of fine athletes showcase there’s always young people in Taiwan making their choices, with their own free will, of devoting into fine sportsmanship. And their fine examples will continuously encourage more and more young people putting energy and enthusiasm in developing their own sport skills, while the whole Taiwan society appreciates their efforts and supports them wholeheartedly.

    “This is what Taiwan, a democratic and free country, would do for its citizens.”