Indonesia denies reports of recognizing Israel, vows to stay at forefront defending Palestine

Indonesia denies reports of recognizing Israel, vows to stay at forefront defending Palestine
An Indonesian woman holds up a poster during a rally against Israel’s attacks on Gaza, outside the US embassy in Jakarta on May 21, 2021. (AP/File)
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Updated 12 April 2024
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Indonesia denies reports of recognizing Israel, vows to stay at forefront defending Palestine

Indonesia denies reports of recognizing Israel, vows to stay at forefront defending Palestine
  • Establishing ties with Israel would mean ‘political suicide’ for Indonesian leadership
  • Israeli media reports claim Indonesia has started OECD-brokered talks with Tel Aviv

JAKARTA: Jakarta has denied plans to establish diplomatic ties with Tel Aviv, following viral Israeli media reports claiming it was part of a deal to smooth Indonesia’s entry into the Organization for Economic Cooperation.

Indonesia is the first Southeast Asian nation to apply for the membership of the 38-nation forum. Accession talks began in February but, according to local Israeli media, were objected to by Tel Aviv over the lack of diplomatic ties with Jakarta.

Countries need unanimous approval from all OECD members, including Israel, to join the bloc.

Citing anonymous sources, the Israeli media reports claimed that Indonesia had started OECD-brokered talks with Israel, which in exchange for recognition would give its nod for the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation to join the group.

The Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs debunked the claims.

“There are no plans to open diplomatic ties with Israel, especially in the wake of Israel’s atrocities in Gaza. Indonesia’s stance has not changed, and we remain consistent in supporting Palestine’s independence within the framework of the two-state solution,” Lalu Muhamad Iqbal, the ministry’s spokesperson, told reporters Thursday evening.

“Indonesia will always be consistent and at the forefront of defending the rights of the Palestinian people.”

One of the staunchest supporters of Palestine, the Indonesian government has repeatedly called for an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and for a two-state solution based on pre-1967 borders.

Since the beginning of Israel’s deadly invasion of Gaza in October, it has also been vocal on the international stage, demanding a stop to military support and weapons sales to Tel Aviv.

In January, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi called on the UN Security Council to make no exceptions in upholding international law and to bring Israel to accountability over mass killing and atrocities.

Israeli ground and air attacks have in the past six months killed at least 33,400 Palestinian citizens — nearly half of them children. Over 70,000 have been injured, mutilated and disabled by the strikes, while thousands of others remain missing under the rubble.

The Israeli military has also levelled large parts of Gaza, destroyed most of its civilian and medical infrastructure, and blocked water, food and aid supplies to the territory, bringing its more than 2 million inhabitants to the verge of famine.

Since the beginning of the onslaught, mass public protests in support of Palestine have been regular in Indonesia, where the people see Palestinian independence as mandated by their own constitution, which calls for the abolition of colonialism.

“If the government takes the opposite step by recognizing the state of Israel and tolerating colonialism and oppression, that will cause political suicide, given that such a thing would lead to political delegitimization and loss of public trust,” Dr. Airlangga Pribadi Kusman, political science lecturer at Airlangga University in Surabaya, told Arab News.

“The current and future Indonesian government should continue its policy of supporting Palestinian independence as has been the commitment of previous governments.”

 


Indian villagers kill last wolf from man-eating pack

Indian villagers kill last wolf from man-eating pack
Updated 4 sec ago
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Indian villagers kill last wolf from man-eating pack

Indian villagers kill last wolf from man-eating pack
LUCKNOW: Villagers in India have beaten to death a wolf believed to be the last of a six-member pack that killed nine people, eight of them children, wildlife officials said on Sunday.
The grey wolves sparked hysteria among residents in Bahraich district of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, where the animals were said to have attacked more than 40 people.
More than 150 armed personnel and dozens of government forestry officials were deployed to capture the wolves last month.
Five of the animals were trapped, with drones and surveillance cameras suggesting only one remained free.
Government forest officer Ajit Singh said villagers had contacted his team on Sunday after they killed a prowling wolf.
"We were informed about a dead animal in the village, and upon reaching the scene, we found a wolf with clear signs of physical injuries," Singh told AFP.
"It seems it is part of the same pack of wolves," Singh said.
Further investigations were needed to verify that no more wolves remained in the area, he said.
Experts say wolves attack humans or livestock only as a last resort when they are starving, preferring less dangerous prey such as small antelopes.
However, wildlife officials say heavy flooding from extreme torrential rains had swamped the wolves' usual territory, depriving them of hunting grounds, and driving them into areas of more populated farmland.
Some of those killed or injured were attacked while sleeping on the veranda of their homes, a common practice during the hot and humid days of the monsoon rains.
The grassland plains of Bahraich district lie about 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of the border with Nepal, where thick forests cover Himalayan foothills.
The majority of India's roughly 3,000 wolves survive outside protected areas, often in close proximity to people.
Numbers have been dwindling due to the loss of habitat and a lack of wild prey, experts say.
The animals, also known as the plains wolf, are smaller than the stronger Himalayan wolf and can be mistaken for other species such as jackals.
In Rudyard Kipling's 1894 novel The Jungle Book, the "man-cub" Mowgli was raised in the jungle by grey wolves.

India’s ruling party set to lose two state elections, exit polls show

India’s ruling party set to lose two state elections, exit polls show
Updated 42 min 52 sec ago
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India’s ruling party set to lose two state elections, exit polls show

India’s ruling party set to lose two state elections, exit polls show
  • Congress holds clear advantage in northern state of Haryana, local media reports say 
  • Reports say opposition also holds edge in Himalayan territory of Jammu and Kashmir

NEW DELHI: India’s ruling party is projected to have lost two key provincial elections to the main opposition Congress party and its allies, exit polls showed, suggesting another setback after the party fared poorly in national elections.

Local media reported that Congress had a clear advantage in exit polls in the northern state of Haryana, indicating an end to a decade of rule by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state. The opposition also held an edge in the Himalayan territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

The two elections were held in phases that ended on Saturday. Votes will be counted on Tuesday and results will be announced the same day. The exit poll results were released late on Saturday.

Exit polls, conducted by private polling firms including TV broadcasters, have a patchy record in India, which analysts say poses a particular challenge due to its large and diverse voting population.

The exit polls had projected Modi’s BJP would win a large majority in the general election in June, but it fell short and had to depend on regional parties to secure a majority and form a coalition government.

The two Indian territories are the first to go to the polls since the national elections.

India’s industrial hub of Maharashtra and the mineral-rich eastern state of Jharkhand, next up in provincial elections, are awaiting the announcement of poll dates that are expected to be in November.

The Jammu and Kashmir election was the first in a decade in the Himalayan region, which has endured years of militant violence. It is India’s only Muslim-majority territory and has been at the center of a dispute with neighboring Pakistan since 1947.

Its status as a special semi-autonomous entity was revoked in 2019 by Modi’s government, which says the move has helped to restore normalcy in the area and boosted development. 


DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak

DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
Updated 06 October 2024
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DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak

DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
  • Since the start of the year, DR Congo has recorded more than 30,000 mpox cases, with 988 deaths
  • Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba only "people most at risk" are to be vaccinated

GOMA, DR Congo: The Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicentre of an mpox epidemic, launched a vaccination campaign against the virus on Saturday in the eastern city of Goma, AFP journalists said.
The launch, initially scheduled for last Wednesday, was delayed by three days amid logistical difficulties delivering the vaccines across the sprawling, infrastructure-poor central African country.
The first vaccines were administered to hospital staff, with the program due to target the general population from Monday in the east of the country, where the current outbreak started a year ago.
"As a doctor, I'm on the front line and in constant contact with those who are sick... I want to protect myself," the first to be vaccinated, Jeannine Muhavi, told journalists.
Local health officials and NGO workers had set up large tents to administer the vaccines, unfurling banners with the message: "mpox exists."
Romain Muboyayi, chief of staff at the health ministry, said Saturday in Goma the country would lead a "full-out combat" against this "treatable and avoidable disease".
In a posting on X, the World Health Organization (WHO) said the vaccination campaign adds "a crucial measure to complement ongoing outbreak control efforts and protect lives."
The DRC has so far received 265,000 vaccine doses, including donations from the United States and European Union.
But it is still waiting for millions more promised doses to arrive from France, Japan and the United States.
Since the start of the year, the country, one of the world's poorest, has recorded more than 30,000 mpox cases, with 988 deaths, according to Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba.
Seventy percent of the deaths have been children under five.
"It will not be a mass vaccination campaign... the strategy is to vaccinate people most at risk," Kamba told a press conference Friday in the capital, Kinshasa.
"As you can imagine, in a country of 100 million people, we're not going to solve the problem with 265,000 doses."
He said the aim was to target priority groups, such as those with existing health conditions and medical workers.

The DRC's current vaccine doses, manufactured by Danish drugmaker Bavarian Nordic, are only intended for adults.
The DRC has been in talks to secure further supplies from Japan, where another mpox vaccine has been approved for use on both adults and children.
Japan has promised to send three million doses, Kamba said.
President Joe Biden said last month the United States plans to donate one million doses of the mpox vaccine to African nations.
"We are ready to commit $500 million to help African countries prevent and respond to mpox and to donate one million doses of mpox vaccine, now," he told the UN General Assembly in New York.
The WHO said Friday it had approved the use of the first diagnostic test for mpox.
The test allows for the detection of the virus from swabs taken from human lesions.
Kamba said the WHO had pledged around 4,500 tests for the DRC, but did not give an arrival date.
Scientists discovered the disease, formerly called monkeypox, in 1958 in Denmark among monkeys kept for research.
It was first spotted in humans in 1970 in what is now the DRC.
The disease can cause painful rashes, fever, aches and lethargy, and in some cases can be deadly.
Mpox has been detected in 16 African countries so far this year, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
The virus gained international prominence in May 2022, when a strain known as clade 2b spread around the world, mostly affecting gay and bisexual men.
In July 2022, the WHO declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, its highest level of alarm.
The virus is currently circulating in 16 African countries, according to Africa CDC.
 


UN chief calls for end to ‘shocking violence’ on Hamas attack anniversary

UN chief calls for end to ‘shocking violence’ on Hamas attack anniversary
Updated 06 October 2024
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UN chief calls for end to ‘shocking violence’ on Hamas attack anniversary

UN chief calls for end to ‘shocking violence’ on Hamas attack anniversary
  • Israel’s subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry
  • Hamas militants abducted 251 people on October 7, 97 of whom are still captive in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military has said are dead

UNITED NATIONS, United States: The UN secretary-general denounced Hamas and called for an immediate end to the “shocking violence and bloodshed” in Gaza and Lebanon in a statement Saturday ahead of the anniversary of the Palestinian group’s October 7 attack.
Monday marks one year since the devastating assault on Israel that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza, with Lebanon now also pulled into the fray and world leaders warning of a potential all-out regional crisis.
“This is a day for the global community to repeat in the loudest voice our utter condemnation of the abhorrent acts of Hamas, including the taking of hostages,” UN chief Antonio Guterres said in an anniversary message released Saturday evening.
While demanding the hostages’ “immediate and unconditional release,” Guterres also implored Hamas to allow the hostages to be visited by Red Cross personnel.
Hamas militants abducted 251 people on October 7, 97 of whom are still captive in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military has said are dead.
Guterres additionally voiced concern over the conflict spreading to Lebanon, where Israel in recent days has pounded the Hamas-allied group Hezbollah, killing over a thousand people and forcing more than a million to flee their homes.
“The war that has followed the terrible attacks of one year ago continues to shatter lives and inflict profound human suffering for Palestinians in Gaza, and now the people of Lebanon,” Guterres said.
The October 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures that include hostages killed in captivity.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive on Gaza has so far killed at least 41,825 people, a majority of them civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory. The UN has said those figures are reliable.
“Since October 7th, a wave of shocking violence and bloodshed has erupted,” said Guterres.
“It is time for the release of the hostages,” he said. “Time to silence the guns. Time to stop the suffering that has engulfed the region. Time for peace, international law and justice.”
 

 


Russian prosecutors seek 7-year sentence for US man accused of fighting for Ukraine

Russian prosecutors seek 7-year sentence for US man accused of fighting for Ukraine
Updated 06 October 2024
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Russian prosecutors seek 7-year sentence for US man accused of fighting for Ukraine

Russian prosecutors seek 7-year sentence for US man accused of fighting for Ukraine
  • In Russia, participating in mercenary activities is a criminal offense punishable by imprisonment for a term of 7-15 years

MOSCOW: Russian prosecutors asked for a seven-year sentence in the trial of a US citizen accused of fighting as a mercenary in Ukraine against Russia, Russian news agencies reported Saturday.
Prosecutors asked the court to take into account 72-year-old Stephen Hubbard’s age and said he has admitted guilt, according to Interfax. They asked that Hubbard serve the sentence in a maximum-security penal colony.
In Russia, participating in mercenary activities is a criminal offense punishable by imprisonment for a term of 7-15 years.
Prosecutors accuse Hubbard of signing a contract with the Ukrainian military after Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, for which he allegedly was to receive at least $1,000.
He reportedly underwent training, received a personal firearm and fought in the Ukrainian military as a mercenary until April 2022, when he was detained by the Russian military.
The US Embassy in Moscow told The Associated Press it was “aware of the reports of the arrest of an American citizen,” but said it could not comment any further “due to privacy restrictions”.
Russian courts convict more than 99 percent of defendants, and prosecutors can appeal sentences that they regard as too lenient.
Arrests of Americans have become increasingly common in Russia in recent years. Concern has risen that Russia could be targeting US nationals for arrest to later use as bargaining chips in talks to bring back Russians convicted of crimes in the US and Europe.
The US and Russia in August completed their largest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history, a deal involving 24 people, many months of negotiations and concessions from other European countries who released Russians in their custody as part of the exchange. Several US citizens remain behind bars in Russia following the swap.