Ƶ

Kremlin, asked if Trump’s Gaza plan is acceptable, says it is waiting for more details

Kremlin, asked if Trump’s Gaza plan is acceptable, says it is waiting for more details
A Palestinian man wearing a red shirt, left, stands amidst the rubble of destroyed buildings, watching Israeli soldiers, bottom right, take position in the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel. (AP)
Short Url
Updated 10 February 2025

Kremlin, asked if Trump’s Gaza plan is acceptable, says it is waiting for more details

Kremlin, asked if Trump’s Gaza plan is acceptable, says it is waiting for more details
  • Asked whether Trump’s plan was acceptable for Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that 1.2 million people lived in Gaza

MOSCOW: The Kremlin said on Monday it was waiting for more details on USpresident Donald Trump’s plan to buy the Gaza Strip, an idea which has sparked condemnation from many countries.
Trump said on Sunday he was committed to buying and owning Gaza, but could allow sections of the war-ravaged land to be rebuilt by other states in the Middle East.
Asked whether Trump’s plan was acceptable for Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that 1.2 million people lived in Gaza.
“It’s worth waiting for some details here if we’re talking about a coherent plan of action. We are talking about almost 1.2 million Palestinians who live there, and this is probably the main issue,” Peskov told a conference call.
“These are the people who were promised a two-state solution to the Middle East problem by the relevant Security Council resolutions, and so on and so forth. There are a lot of questions like that. We don’t know the details yet,
so we have to be patient,” said Peskov.


UN’s top court decides what polluting countries should do about climate change

UN’s top court decides what polluting countries should do about climate change
Updated 59 min 15 sec ago

UN’s top court decides what polluting countries should do about climate change

UN’s top court decides what polluting countries should do about climate change
  • Judges at the UN’s highest court are set to issue a decision Wednesday that could set a legal benchmark for action on the climate crisis

THE HAGUE: The UN’s highest court is handing down a historic opinion on climate change Wednesday, a decision that could set a legal benchmark for action around the globe to the climate crisis.
After years of lobbying by vulnerable island nations who fear they could disappear under rising sea waters, the UN General Assembly asked the International Court of Justice in 2023 for an advisory opinion, a non-binding but important basis for international obligations.
A panel of 15 judges was tasked with answering two questions. First, what are countries obliged to do under international law to protect the climate and environment from human-caused greenhouse gas emissions? Second, what are the legal consequences for governments when their acts, or lack of action, have significantly harmed the climate and environment?
“The stakes could not be higher. The survival of my people and so many others is on the line,” Arnold Kiel Loughman, attorney general of the island nation of Vanuatu, told the court during a week of hearings in December.
In the decade up to 2023, sea levels rose by a global average of around 4.3 centimeters (1.7 inches), with parts of the Pacific rising higher still. The world has also warmed 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 Fahrenheit) since preindustrial times because of the burning of fossil fuels.
Vanuatu is one of a group of small states pushing for international legal intervention in the climate crisis but it affects many more island nations in the South Pacific.
“The agreements being made at an international level between states are not moving fast enough,” Ralph Regenvanu, Vanuatu’s minister for climate change, told The Associated Press.
Any decision by The Hague-based court would be non-binding advice and unable to directly force wealthy nations into action to help struggling countries. Yet it would be more than just a powerful symbol, since it could serve as the basis for other legal actions, including domestic lawsuits.
“What makes this case so important is that it addresses the past, present, and future of climate action. It’s not just about future targets — it also tackles historical responsibility, because we cannot solve the climate crisis without confronting its roots,” Joie Chowdhury, a senior attorney at the Center for International Environmental Law, told AP.
Activists could bring lawsuits against their own countries for failing to comply with the decision and states could return to the International Court of Justice to hold each other to account. And whatever the judges say will be used as the basis for other legal instruments, like investment agreements, Chowdhury said.
The United States and Russia, both of whom are major petroleum-producing states, are staunchly opposed to the court mandating emissions reductions.
Simply having the court issue an opinion is the latest in a series of legal victories for the small island nations. Earlier this month, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights found that countries have a legal duty not only to avoid environmental harm but also to protect and restore ecosystems. Last year, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that countries must better protect their people from the consequences of climate change.
In 2019, the Netherlands’ Supreme court handed down the first major legal win for climate activists when judges ruled that protection from the potentially devastating effects of climate change was a human right and that the government has a duty to protect its citizens.


Ukraine hopes for ‘constructive’ position from Russia at talks

Ukraine hopes for ‘constructive’ position from Russia at talks
Updated 23 July 2025

Ukraine hopes for ‘constructive’ position from Russia at talks

Ukraine hopes for ‘constructive’ position from Russia at talks
  • “Everything will depend on whether Russia stops speaking in ultimatums,” said the source

ISTANBUL: Ukraine is ready to agree a ceasefire with Russia at talks in Istanbul on Wednesday but results from the meeting will depend on whether Russia takes a “constructive position,” a source in the Ukrainian delegation told AFP.

“Everything will depend on whether Russia stops speaking in ultimatums and takes a constructive position. This will determine whether results can be achieved at this meeting,” the source told AFP.


Afghanistan to send 700 workers to Qatar in first labor deal under Taliban

Afghanistan to send 700 workers to Qatar in first labor deal under Taliban
Updated 23 July 2025

Afghanistan to send 700 workers to Qatar in first labor deal under Taliban

Afghanistan to send 700 workers to Qatar in first labor deal under Taliban
  • Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs says registration for Qatar jobs to ‘start very soon’
  • Many Afghan households rely on remittances sent by relatives as unemployment rate is high

KABUL: Afghanistan is set to send 700 workers to Qatar under a new agreement marking the first formal deployment abroad since the Taliban takeover in 2021.

The Afghan Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs said on Monday that the agreement was reached between a joint public-sector company from Qatar and private employment firms in Afghanistan and the placement process will be supervised by the Afghan government.

“Based on this agreement, an initial 700 job opportunities have been allocated for Afghan workers,” it said. “The core objective is the legal, safe, and dignified deployment of Afghan workers abroad, with the necessary future support to uphold their rights.”

Samiullah Ebrahimi, the ministry’s spokesman, told Arab News on Wednesday that the “registration process will start very soon” and that the government “will identify in which sectors Qatar needs laborers.”

As Afghanistan faces very high unemployment, with many daily wage earners struggling to find work or earn a living inside the country, sending labor abroad could provide immediate economic relief.

“This agreement will bring continued and sustainable income to Afghan families. A major factor is that our economy is currently based on remittance. With more labor going abroad, the volume of remittance gets increased, helping the economy stabilize,” Abdul Hameed Jalili, former refugee affairs attache to Pakistan, told Arab News.

The new agreement will not only provide jobs but also help elevate Afghanistan’s standing in the international labor market, potentially opening doors for more Afghan workers abroad.

“Afghanistan is home to a skilled and talented workforce and enabling these individuals to work overseas can showcase the strength and professionalism of our labor force. This, in turn, could enhance the country’s reputation and encourage other nations to consider recruiting Afghan workers,” Jalili said.

Remittances have played a vital role in supporting both Afghan households and the national economy and used to contribute 4 percent to GDP, according to data from the Assessment Capacities Project, a non-governmental organization hosted by the Norwegian Refugee Council, which provides humanitarian analysis.

They dropped in 2021, when Afghanistan was hit with sanctions after US-led forces left the country and its Western-backed administration collapsed as the Taliban took control.

While since 2022 they have been on the rise, they are still below the pre-2021 level, according to ACAPS, also due to the reliance on unofficial hawala transfers, which are difficult to track.

Many households are reliant on these transfers as job opportunities in Afghanistan have shrunk.
 
It is unclear how high the unemployment rate currently is, but various reports suggest it has skyrocketed over the past four years with the withdrawal of foreign projects and aid. The UN Development Program warned in May that 75 percent of the Afghan population was subsistence-insecure, lacking access to adequate housing, health care, and essential goods.

With no job prospects at home and no labor deals between the Taliban administration and foreign governments, many Afghans have illegally traveled abroad in search of employment, often taking dangerous routes.

According to the International Organization for Migration, over 1.6 million Afghans left the country between 2021 and 2023.

Agreements like the one signed with Qatar could pave the way for essential protections of those working abroad.

“Expanding official labor agreements with additional countries could help slow the migration trend that followed the collapse of the former government by offering safe and legal pathways for work abroad,” Jalili said.

“This would also reduce the risks associated with human trafficking and irregular migration, allowing Afghans to pursue opportunities overseas through regulated and secure channels.”


Tunisia leader shows Trump adviser images of starving Gaza children

Tunisia leader shows Trump adviser images of starving Gaza children
Updated 23 July 2025

Tunisia leader shows Trump adviser images of starving Gaza children

Tunisia leader shows Trump adviser images of starving Gaza children
  • Tunisian President Kais Saied presented US counterpart Donald Trump’s senior Africa adviser with photographs of starving children in Gaza

TUNIS: Tunisian President Kais Saied presented US counterpart Donald Trump’s senior Africa adviser with photographs of starving children in Gaza, official video of their meeting posted late Tuesday showed.
Saied told US envoy Massad Boulos, who is also the father-in-law of Trump’s daughter Tiffany, that “it is time for all of humanity to wake up and put an end to these crimes against the Palestinian people.”
“I believe you know these images well,” Saied was seen telling the envoy as he showed a photograph of what he described as “a child crying, eating sand in occupied Palestine.”
Saied showed Boulos several more images, saying that Palestinians in Gaza were subjected to crimes against humanity.
Israel is facing mounting international pressure over the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory, where more than two million people have endured 21 months of devastating conflict.
“It is absolutely unacceptable,” Saied was heard saying as Boulos stood silently, occasionally nodding. “It is a crime against all of humanity.”
More than 100 aid organizations warned on Wednesday that “mass starvation” was spreading across the Gaza Strip and that their own colleagues were suffering acutely from the shortages.
The head of Gaza’s largest hospital said on Tuesday that 21 children had died from malnutrition and starvation in the Palestinian territory in the previous three days.
Israel says humanitarian aid is being allowed into Gaza and accuses Hamas of exploiting civilian suffering, including by stealing food handouts to sell at inflated prices or shooting at those awaiting aid.
Following his visit to Tunisia, Boulos flew on to the Libyan capital Tripoli on Wednesday, Tunisian media reported.


Teacher dies saving students from inferno in Bangladesh jet crash

Teacher dies saving students from inferno in Bangladesh jet crash
Updated 23 July 2025

Teacher dies saving students from inferno in Bangladesh jet crash

Teacher dies saving students from inferno in Bangladesh jet crash
  • The 46-year-old English teacher went back again and again into a burning classroom to rescue her students
  • Maherin died on Monday after suffering near total burns on her body

DHAKA: When a Bangladesh Air Force fighter jet crashed into her school and erupted in a fireball on Monday, Maherin Chowdhury rushed to save some of the hundreds of students and teachers facing mortal danger, placing their safety before her own.

The 46-year-old English teacher went back again and again into a burning classroom to rescue her students, even as her own clothes were engulfed in flames, her brother, Munaf Mojib Chowdhury, told Reuters by telephone.


Maherin died on Monday after suffering near total burns on her body. She is survived by her husband and two teenaged sons.

“When her husband called her, pleading with her to leave the scene and think of her children, she refused, saying ‘they are also my children, they are burning. How can I leave them?’” Chowdhury said.

At least 29 people, most of them children, were killed when the F-7  BGI crashed into the school, trapping them in fire and debris. The military said the aircraft had suffered mechanical failure.


“I don’t know exactly how many she saved, but it may have been at least 20. She pulled them out with her own hands,” he said, adding that he found out about his sister’s act of bravery when he visited the hospital and met students she had rescued.

The jet had taken off from a nearby air base on a routine training mission, the military said. After experiencing mechanical failure the pilot tried to divert the aircraft away from populated areas, but it crashed into the campus. The pilot was among those killed.

“When the plane crashed and fire broke out, everyone was running to save their lives, she ran to
save others,” Khadija Akter, the headmistress of the school’s primary section, told Reuters on phone about Maherin.

She was buried on Tuesday in her home district of Nilphamari, in northern Bangladesh.