Iranian leader Khamenei calls on Muslims to confront Israel

Iranian leader Khamenei calls on Muslims to confront Israel
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei earlier said Israel's killing of top Hezbollah commanders couldn't bring the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group to its knees. (File/AFP)
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Updated 28 September 2024
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Iranian leader Khamenei calls on Muslims to confront Israel

Iranian leader Khamenei calls on Muslims to confront Israel
  • He condemned Saturday what he described as Israel’s “short-sighted” policy after strikes on Lebanon that Israel said killed Nasrallah

TEHRAN: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Muslims on Saturday “to stand by the people of Lebanon and the proud Hezbollah with whatever means they have and assist them in confronting the ... wicked regime (of Israel).”
Khamenei, in a statement after the Israeli army said it had killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, said: “The fate of this region will be determined by the forces of resistance, with Hezbollah at the forefront,” state media reported.
He condemned Saturday what he described as Israel’s “short-sighted” policy after strikes on Lebanon that Israel said killed Nasrallah.
“The massacre of the defenseless people in Lebanon once again revealed the ferocity of the Zionist rabid dog to everyone, and proved the short-sighted and stupid policy of the leaders of the usurping regime,” Khamenei said in a statement.

Khamenei’s statement gave no mention of Nasrallah but he said Israel was “too weak to cause significant damage to the solid construction of Hezbollah in Lebanon.”
He called on the “Axis of Resistance”, Iran-aligned armed groups across the Middle East that have targeted Israel and its US ally, to stand with Hezbollah.
“Lebanon will make the aggressor and the evil enemy regretful,” said Khamenei.

Reuters earlier reported that Khamenei has been transferred to a secure location inside the country with heightened security measures in place, citing two regional officials briefed by Tehran.
The sources said Iran was in constant contact with Lebanon’s Hezbollah and other regional proxy groups to determine the next step after Israel announced that it had killed Nasrallah in a strike on south Beirut on Friday.


Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas opens new embassy building in Vatican City

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas opens new embassy building in Vatican City
Updated 26 sec ago
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas opens new embassy building in Vatican City

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas opens new embassy building in Vatican City
  • Abbas calls on countries to recognize Palestine
  • President meets Pope Francis, senior Vatican officials

LONDON: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas officially inaugurated the new building of Palestine’s Embassy in Vatican City on Thursday.

Abbas called on countries that have not yet recognized Palestine to do so, and to acknowledge the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, the news and information agency WAFA reported.

After raising the Palestinian flag, Abbas spoke of efforts to gain full UN membership and achieve greater international recognition for Palestine.

The Vatican officially recognized the State of Palestine on May 13, 2015. On June 26 of the same year, the Vatican’s Holy See and the Palestinian Authority signed a comprehensive agreement for mutual recognition.

Armenia was the last country — the 149th — to recognize Palestine, on June 21, 2024. There are Palestinian embassies, consulates, and diplomatic missions in 110 countries.

The opening ceremony of the new embassy building was attended by several Palestinian Authority officials, including Ziad Abu Amr, the first deputy prime minister, and Issa Kassissieh, the Palestinian ambassador to the Vatican.

Earlier, Abbas had a private audience with Pope Francis and senior Vatican officials. He is also scheduled to meet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella in Rome.


Blinken says US working to bring home US citizen found in Syria

Blinken says US working to bring home US citizen found in Syria
Updated 9 min 47 sec ago
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Blinken says US working to bring home US citizen found in Syria

Blinken says US working to bring home US citizen found in Syria
  • In media reports, the man was identified as Travis Timmerman

AQABA, Jordan: The United States is working to get a U.S. citizen found on Thursday in Syria out of the country and bring him home, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Jordan, where he held meetings to discuss the situation in Syria.
In media reports, the man was identified as Travis Timmerman. Blinken said he had no update on American journalist Austin Tice, who was abducted in Syria in 2012, but said the U.S. was continuing work to find him.


At least nine die, six missing as migrant boat sinks off Tunisia

At least nine die, six missing as migrant boat sinks off Tunisia
Updated 48 min 58 sec ago
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At least nine die, six missing as migrant boat sinks off Tunisia

At least nine die, six missing as migrant boat sinks off Tunisia
  • The coast guard has so far rescued 27 people
  • The boat had been carrying at least 42 people when it sank

TUNIS: Tunisia’s coast guard has recovered the bodies of nine migrants while six others are still missing after their boat sank off the Tunisian coast, a judicial official said on Thursday, in the latest migrant boat disaster in the Mediterranean.
The coast guard has so far rescued 27 people who were on the boat when it broke down and took on water due to bad weather. According to survivors’ testimonies, the boat had been carrying at least 42 people when it sank.
Judge Farid Ben Jha told Reuters that a search was underway for at least six migrants who had been on the boat when it sank off the coast of Chebba.
All the migrants on the boat were from sub-Saharan African countries.
Tunisia is grappling with an unprecedented migration crisis and has replaced Libya as the major departure point for both Tunisians and people from elsewhere in Africa seeking a better life in Europe.


Pope meets Palestinian leader Abbas at the Vatican

Pope meets Palestinian leader Abbas at the Vatican
Updated 12 December 2024
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Pope meets Palestinian leader Abbas at the Vatican

Pope meets Palestinian leader Abbas at the Vatican
  • The pair, who have previously met several times, discussed peace efforts during a private half-hour audience according to the Vatican
  • Abbas then met the Holy See’s Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and the Vatican’s equivalent of a foreign minister, Paul Richard Gallagher

VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis, who has recently intensified criticism of the Israeli offensive in Gaza, on Thursday received Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, with whom he discussed the “serious” humanitarian situation.
The pair, who have previously met several times, discussed peace efforts during a private half-hour audience according to the Vatican, which released images of them smiling together.
Abbas then met the Holy See’s Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and the Vatican’s equivalent of a foreign minister, Paul Richard Gallagher.
The discussions focused on the Church’s assistance in “the very serious humanitarian situation in Gaza,” the hoped-for ceasefire, release of all hostages, and “achieving the two-state solution only through dialogue and diplomacy,” a Vatican statement said.
The meeting comes a few days after the release of a photo showing Pope Francis praying in front of a nativity scene at the Vatican, where the baby Jesus’s manger is covered with a black and white keffiyeh scarf, the symbol of Palestinian resistance.
The photo prompted a protest from the Israeli embassy to the Holy See, which asked for the keffiyeh to be removed, diplomatic and Vatican sources told AFP.
Francis has called for peace since Hamas’s unprecedented attack against Israel on October 7, 2023, and the Israeli retaliatory campaign in Gaza.
In recent weeks he has hardened his remarks against the Israeli offensive.
At the end of November, he said that “the invader’s arrogance... prevails over dialogue” in “Palestine,” a rare position that contrasts with the tradition of neutrality of the Holy See.
In extracts from a forthcoming book published in November, he called for a “careful” study as to whether the situation in Gaza “corresponds to the technical definition” of genocide, an accusation firmly rejected by Israel.
Francis denounced an “immoral” use of force in Lebanon and Gaza at the end of September.
The Holy See has recognized the State of Palestine since 2013, with which it maintains diplomatic relations, and it supports the two-state solution.
Abbas is also due to meet Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella in Rome.


Syria’s new government says to suspend constitution, parliament for three months

Syria’s new government says to suspend constitution, parliament for three months
Updated 12 December 2024
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Syria’s new government says to suspend constitution, parliament for three months

Syria’s new government says to suspend constitution, parliament for three months
  • Mohammed Al-Bashir named as the country’s transitional prime minister until March 1

DAMASCUS: Syria’s new government spokesman said on Thursday the country’s constitution and parliament would be suspended for the duration of the three-month transition period following president Bashar Assad’s ouster.
“A judicial and human rights committee will be established to examine the constitution and then introduce amendments,” Obaida Arnaout said.
The current constitution dates back to 2012 and does not specify Islam as the state religion.
Militants led by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham seized the capital Damascus on Sunday, sending Assad fleeing into exile.
On Tuesday, they named Mohammed Al-Bashir, who headed the militants’ self-proclaimed “Salvation Government” in their northwestern bastion of Idlib, as the country’s transitional prime minister until March 1.
Arnaout said a meeting would be held on Tuesday “between Salvation Government ministers and the former ministers” of Assad’s administration to carry out the transfer of power.
“This transitional period will last three months,” he added in an interview with AFP. “Our priority is to preserve and protect institutions.”
Speaking at the state television headquarters, now seized by the new militant authorities, Arnaout pledged that they would institute “the rule of law.”
“All those who committed crimes against the Syrian people will be judged in accordance with the law,” he added.
Asked about religious and personal freedoms, he said “we respect religious and cultural diversity in Syria,” adding that they would remain unchanged.
The Sunni majority country was ruled with an iron fist by Assad, a follower of the Alawite offshoot of Shiite Islam who sought to project himself as a protector of minority communities.