International News
Russia ready to continue high-level negotiations with Ukraine
Following a new round of negotiations between Moscow and Kiev amid the ongoing war between the two sides, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that his country is prepared to continue high-level trilateral negotiations with Ukraine mediated by Turkey.
“If such initiatives appear, we would only be happy to continue communicating in this format,” Xinhua news agency quoted Lavrov as saying at a press conference following his talks with Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Moscow.
He explained that Russia would only be interested in talks with Ukraine if these would lead to concrete results and solve existing problems.
According to Cavusoglu, Turkey is ready to host a potential meeting between the presidents of Russia and Ukraine.
Lavrov met his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in Turkey’s southern province of Antalya last week on the sidelines of an international forum.
This was the first high-level meeting between Moscow and Kiev since Russia launched a “special military operation” in Ukraine on February 24.
Earlier on Wednesday, Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky said Russia and Ukraine have achieved some progress on a number of issues during the new round of talks.
“Some progress has been achieved on a number of positions, but not all. The positions of the parties are quite clear, we are moving slowly,” local media reported, citing Medinsky, who is also the head of Moscow’s delegation.
“The preservation and development of Ukraine’s neutral status, Ukraine’s demilitarisation along with a whole range of issues related to the size of the Ukrainian army are being discussed,” Medinsky said, adding that the Ukrainian side had proposed a Swedish or Austrian example of a neutral demilitarised state.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict continues on Thursday as relevant parties are working to broker a peaceful solution.
For South Africa’s Deputy President David Mabuza, diplomacy remains “the key tool” to end the Ukraine-Russia conflict and no amount of condemnation and side taking will resolve this problem.
South Africa continues to call for the parties to work together towards building trust and confidence by “intensifying existing peace mechanisms and dialogue” in order to achieve long-lasting solutions to the conflict, he said.
In another development, NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday in Brussels that the organization is working on resetting its deterrence and defense in the context of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
“We face a new reality for our security. So we must reset our collective defence and deterrence for the longer term,” said Stoltenberg following the extraordinary meeting of NATO ministers of defence, of which Defence Ministers from Ukraine, Georgia, Finland and Sweden also participated.
The NATO’s military commanders have been tasked with developing options on land, in air, at sea, in the cyber space, and in space, according to Stoltenberg.
The process for the reset started with a political decision, which is now followed by a consultation of the military commanders, who should issue their advice within weeks, he said, adding that leaders of NATO member states will make a decision by June.
Crime
At least 18 killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza
Gaza, Dec 21: At least 18 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on the central and northern Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian sources.
Local sources and eyewitnesses reported that Israeli warplanes targeted an apartment in the multi-story “Yaffa” tower in the al-Nuseirat camp, located in central Gaza.
A statement from Al-Awda Hospital in the camp confirmed that eight people were killed and 14 others injured, some seriously, in the attack.
In northern Gaza, Israeli shelling struck a house belonging to the “Khilla” family in Jabalia Al-Balad, killing 10 people and injuring several others, according to the Gaza Strip’s Civil Defence.
The Israeli army has not commented on these incidents.
Also on Friday, the military wing of Hamas, Al-Qassam Brigades, announced that one of its fighters had carried out a suicide attack targeting an Israeli force of six soldiers in Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza.
The Israeli army has not issued a comment on this incident.
Earlier on Thursday at least 16 Palestinians were killed by Israeli bombings in northern Gaza, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported.
At least 10 people were killed on Wednesday night and some others injured when the Israeli aircraft bombed the house of the Al-Najjar family in the town of Jabalia, WAFA said.
Six more people were killed due to Israeli bombing on the house of the Al-Zaytouniya family near the Al-Tabi’in School in the Al-Daraj neighborhood, east of Gaza City, it added.
The Israeli army has not commented on these incidents.
Israel has been conducting a large-scale offensive against Hamas in Gaza in retaliation for the October 7, 2023 Hamas assault on southern Israel, which resulted in approximately 1,200 deaths and 250 hostages taken.
As of Friday, the Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks in Gaza has risen to 45,206, according to Gaza-based health authorities.
International News
Khalistani separatist Pannun’s threat to Indian ambassador ‘serious’ issue, taken up with US: MEA
New Delhi, Dec 20: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday revealed that New Delhi has taken “seriously” the latest threat issued by the US-based Khalistani separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun against India’s Ambassador to the US, Vinay Mohan Kwatra and raised it accordingly with the authorities in Washington.
In a recent video, Pannun threatened that Kwatra is on the radar of pro-Khalistani Sikhs in America for allegedly coordinating with Russian authorities, who in turn were providing inputs to Indian intelligence agencies on the Khalistani network in the United States.
“As and when such threats are issued, we take them very seriously and raise them with the US government. In this particular case also, we have raised it with the US government and it is our expectation that the United States government will take our security concerns seriously and act on it,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during a weekly media briefing in New Delhi on Friday.
A former Foreign Secretary, Kwatra took charge as India’s Ambassador to the United States in August this year, succeeding Taranjit Singh Sandhu.
His appointment came at a time when Khalistani separatists continue to target Hindu community in the country and also the Indian missions.
Khalistanis have been found to be involved in incidents of defacement of temples, including in California and New York, and also in acts of arson and vandalism at the Indian embassy in San Francisco.
Several lawmakers, including Shri Thanedar – a Democrat elected to the House of Representatives from Michigan state – have raised alarm over the “substantial increase” in attacks on Hindus and their places of worship in the United States.
The lawmaker had recently expressed frustration with the investigating agency for their failure to find the culprits behind the incidents at the temples and the consulate.
“It appears to be a very coordinated effort to attack these places of worship which has created a lot of fear in the community. And often what we have seen is that the law enforcement, the local law enforcement enters into these investigations and rarely any suspects have been identified, and that investigation goes nowhere.
“What that does is that it leaves the community feeling like nobody cares about them. Nobody reports back to them on what’s going on. And that means that the community continues to live in fear, the computing community continues to live in an adverse situation with essentially no help from law enforcement,” he said.
The lawmaker went on to state that he and his colleagues are asking the US Department of Justice for “coordinated efforts between the local law enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Department of Justice, and higher priority needs to be assigned to such hate crimes against this peaceful community”.
International News
Yemen’s Houthis claim fresh drone attack on Israel’s Tel Aviv
Sanaa, Dec 20: Yemen’s Houthi group said it launched a drone attack against a military target in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv and “successfully achieved its goal.”
“We are ready for a long war with the Israeli enemy,” Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a televised statement aired by the Houthi-run al-Masirah TV on Thursday, adding, “Our operations will not stop until Israeli aggression on Gaza stops.”
Israel has not yet commented on the Houthi claim. Earlier in the day, Israel launched a series of airstrikes against Houthi targets in northern Yemen, destroying two major power stations in the capital city, Sanaa, and bombing imported fuel storage in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah.
The Houthi group said nine people were killed by the Israeli airstrikes at dawn on Hodeidah’s ports of Ras Isa and As-Salif, and three others were injured.
The strikes at dawn dealt a major blow to the Houthi group, which controls much of northern Yemen, as it uses the ports of Ras Isa and As-Salif to import fuel and cooking gas and sell them to the residents in the areas under their control.
Israeli Defense Forces Spokesperson Daniel Hagari said on the social media platform X that the Israeli army had conducted “precise strikes on Houthi military targets in Yemen,” which came after the Houthis launched a long-range rocket at Tel Aviv on Wednesday night.
The Houthi group has been controlling much of northern Yemen since late 2014, forcing the internationally recognised Yemeni government out of Sanaa.
Since November 2023, the Houthi group has been carrying out rocket and drone attacks against Israeli cities and disrupted “Israeli-linked” shipping in the Red Sea, allegedly to show solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza amid their ongoing conflict with Israelis.
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