Headline

Pope Calls For End To Gaza War As World Celebrates Christmas

Published

5 months ago

December 25, 2023

Editor

Red and white Santa outfits appeared on surfers from Australia to Florida, on bicyclists in the smog-filled streets of New Delhi and intrepid souls braving chilly Channel waters for a holiday dip near Britain’s Dover.

In his annual Christmas Day “Urbi and Orbi” mass at the Vatican, Pope Francis called for an end “to war, to every war, to the very mindset of war, an aimless voyage, a defeat without victors, an inexcusable folly”.

May peace “come in Israel and Palestine, where war is devastating the lives of those peoples”, he said.

“I reiterate my urgent appeal for the liberation of those still being held hostage. I plead for an end to the military operations with their appalling harvest of innocent civilian victims, and call for a solution to the desperate humanitarian situation by an opening to the provision of humanitarian aid”, he said.

“I implore peace for Ukraine. Let us renew our spiritual and human closeness to its embattled people”, he said, also calling for the resolution of conflicts simmering in the Middle East, Africa and the Caucasus.

The Gaza war made for a sombre Christmas in Bethlehem, the biblical city in the occupied West Bank where Christians believe Jesus Christ was laid in a manger after being born more than 2,000 years ago.

The town did away with its giant Christmas tree, marching bands and flamboyant nativity scene that normally draw tourists, settling for just a few festive lights.

In the centre of town, a huge Palestinian flag had been unfolded with a banner declaring that “The bells of Bethlehem ring for a ceasefire in Gaza”.

“A lot of people are dying for this land,” said Nicole Najjar, an 18-year-old student.

“It’s really hard to celebrate while our people are dying.”

Inside Gaza, the horrid conditions were driving “rising desperation due to acute hunger,” World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday.

The Gaza war started after a Hamas attack on October 7 left around 1,140 people dead in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on the latest official Israeli figures.

The Palestinian militants also abducted around 250 people, 129 of whom Israel says remain in Gaza.

Israel retaliated with a sustained bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza, that has killed more than 20,400 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

– New Christmas Day –

Ukraine, invaded by Russia nearly two years ago, this year is celebrating Christmas on December 25 for the first time, jettisoning the traditional Orthodox date of January 7, which is feted in Russia.

“We believe that we really should celebrate Christmas with the whole world, far away, far away from Moscow. For me that’s the new message now,” said one smiling parishioner in Odesa, Olena, whose son is a medic on the front line.

The date change — moving away from the Julian calendar favoured by the Orthodox Church — is part of numerous moves since the invasion to remove traces of the Russian and Soviet empires.

The Ukrainian military said that it had shot down 28 of the 31 drones that Russia launched on Christmas day at its neighbour, with no casualties reported.

– Surfing Santas –

In countries not afflicted by war, festive revellers opened presents and donned the red and white Santa hats for a shot of holiday cheer.

In Sydney, Australia, residents and tourists headed to the beach to enjoy the heat of the Southern Hemisphere’s summer.

In Florida, thousands descended on Cocoa Beach for the annual “Surfing Santas” celebration that raises funds for a charity helping cancer patients travel for treatment and the local surf museum.

In Sri Lanka, the president granted an amnesty to more than 1,000 convicts across the country to mark Christmas, prison officials said.

– Prayers in Turkey –

In southern Turkey, much of which was devastated by an earthquake in February, faithful prayed for new beginnings.

“It’s important for us to celebrate the birth of Jesus. but it’s a very sad Christmas,” said Vehbi Tadrasgil, a 55-year-old who lost his wife and two of his three children in the quake that killed at least 50,000 people in Turkey and more than 5,000 in neighbouring Syria.

“I hope that their souls are here, I am certain that our prayers rise to them,” he said in front of the ruins of a church at Antakya.

Twenty kilometres (12 miles) down the coast in Samandag, a generator powered the lights on a tree in front of the Saint-Ilyas church, which survived.

“After the earthquake, our community — 400 families — was annihilated. With this Christmas, we want to wish everyone rebirth, love, joy and peace. We must move forward, rebuild a new life,” said Father Yumurta.

“They say that with the birth of the child Jesus, a new life begins, a new beginning. For us too, here, it will be a new beginning,” he said.

Headline

Iran Gets Interim President After Raisi’s Death

Published

11 mins ago

May 20, 2024

Editor

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei assigned vice president Mohammad Mokhber to assume interim duties after the death of president Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash a day earlier.

“In accordance with Article 131 of the constitution, Mokhber is in charge of leading the executive branch,” said Khamenei in a statement, adding that Mokhber will be required to work with the heads of legislative and judicial branches to prepare for presidential elections “within a maximum period of 50 days”.

Recall that President Raisi was confirmed dead on Monday after his helicopter crashed in a mountainous region of the country.

Raisi was travelling with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian who also died in the accident.

Rescue teams had been scouring the area since Sunday afternoon after a helicopter carrying Raisi, the foreign minister and other officials had gone missing.

Early Monday, relief workers located the missing helicopter, with state TV saying the president had died.

“The servant of Iranian nation, Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi has achieved the highest level of martyrdom whilst serving the people,” state television said Monday, with Mehr news agency also saying he was dead.

State television broadcast photos of Raisi, with the voice of a man reciting the Koran playing in the background.

Iran’s vice president for executive affairs Mohsen Mansouri posted on X a Koranic verse used to express condolences.

Meanwhile, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has announced a five days of mourning for President Raisi.

“I announce five days of public mourning and offer my condolences to the dear people of Iran,” said Khamenei in an official statement a day after the death of Raisi and other officials in the crash in East Azerbaijan province.

Headline

UK Threatens To Deport Physically-challenged Nigerian After 38 Years

Published

32 mins ago

May 20, 2024

Editor

The United Kingdom has threatened to deport a physically-challenged Nigerian man, Anthony Olubunmi George, over an alleged forged entry stamp in his passport.

George who has lived in the UK for 38 years, after he left Nigeria at the age of 24 in 1986, according to the Guardian UK.

The 61-year-old Nigerian has no criminal convictions and made several applications for leave to remain in the UK, which the Home Office has rejected, most recently on 7 May.

George’s case became the second African facing a huge disappointment with the UK Home Office after spending several years in Britain.

Vanguard reported last week that a 74-year-old Ghanaian Nelson Shardey, who has resided in the UK since 1977, was refused indefinite leave to remain despite being in the country for most of his adult life.

As the case of the Nigerian, he has never left the UK and has no criminal convictions, with the reports of having two strokes, which left him with problems with speech and mobility in 2019.

When George arrived, Margaret Thatcher was prime minister and Rishi Sunak is the ninth to hold office since George has lived in the UK.

He has endured many periods of homelessness and disclosed he has lost count of the number of friends who have given him shelter over the years, adding that he no longer has any close family in Nigeria.

The Guardian UK said in 2005, his previous solicitors submitted a forged entry stamp in his passport and have subsequently been reported to the police and the legal regulatory bodies.

George told the Guardian he knew nothing about the passport stamp until many years later. His current lawyer, Naga Kandiah of MTC Solicitors, cited his poor previous legal representation as the reason for George’s problems.

In his most recent refusal, Home Office officials said: “Unfortunately this is not something that is considered an exceptional circumstance.”

Kandiah has lodged an appeal against the latest refusal.

A previous Home Office rejection of his case states: “It’s open to your family and friends to visit you in Nigeria.”

George said, “I don’t know how many different sofas I’ve slept on – too many to count. I don’t have my life, living the way I’m living now. My health problems since I had my stroke are my biggest worry. All I’m asking for is some kindness from the Home Office.”

Headline

JUST IN: ICC Prosecutor Seeks Arrest Warrants For Netanyahu, Hamas Leaders

Published

2 hours ago

May 20, 2024

Editor

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has applied for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas’s leader in Gaza for war crimes.

According to BBC, Karim Khan said there were reasonable grounds to believe that both men bore criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity from at least 7 October 2023.

The ICC, based in The Hague, has been investigating Israel’s actions in the occupied territories for the past three years – and more recently the actions of Hamas as well.

Mr Netanyahu recently called the prospect of senior Israel figures joining the ICC’s wanted list “an outrage of historic proportions”.

Last week, 13 Western countries including the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Italy, Japan and others cautioned Israel over its resolve to launch a full-scale operation in Rafah.