Security Alert As Agencies Flag ISI-Backed Terror Push From Bangladesh Into Northeast
New Age Islam News Bureau
25 December2025
Protesters inside former Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's vandalised home in Dhaka last week.
Handout via PTI
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· Security alert as agencies flag ISI-backed terror push from Bangladesh into Northeast
· 14 countries condemn Israel’s expansion of West Bank settlements
· How private Christmas celebrations in Saudi Arabia offer moments of cultural exchange
· Why is it so uncomfortable to say a 'Muslim saved lives'
· CAIR ISLAM-OPED: Love for Jesus Can Bring Christians and Muslims Together
· No One Should Suffer For Practicing Their Faith – Tinubu Sends Christmas Message To Nigerians
· Muslim mob blocks Christians from Christmas worship in Indonesia
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India
· What UP government’s attempt to withdraw cases against Akhlaq case accused tells us about state’s bias
· Pune techie ‘Al-Qaeda link’ case: ATS probing Telegram IDs from Afghanistan, Hong Kong; congregation and ‘sports camp’ also under scanner
· Nothing to show membership of IM, SIMI or plot: Court on terror suspect
· Allah told me to drag her: UP man harasses sister-in-law, blames 'divine voices'
· School teacher shot dead on Aligarh Muslim University campus
· Jamia suspends Dalit professor over Muslim atrocities question in semester exam row
· Army JCO dies of gunshot wound at military camp in Samba, terror angle ruled out
· Mehbooba Mufti lauds Dadri lynching case order, swipe seen at J&K high court rebuke
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Mideast
· Why Jordanian Christians are marking Christmas with quiet solidarity and hope for peace
· Why Christmas joy flickers in Lebanon — even in the shadow of war
· ‘Christianity in Palestine is not separate from Palestinian identity,’ Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac tells Arab News
· Syria says detained senior Daesh jihadist in Damascus
· Jordanian forces destroy arms and drug trafficking workshops
· EU backs UN efforts for Yemen peace
· How shared relief and unity are defining the Christmas season in Syria
· Israel reverses decision to block Palestinian VP from entering Bethlehem
· Israel to invest $110bn in arms industry
· Thousands flock to Bethlehem to revive Christmas spirit after Gaza war
· Israel accuses Hamas of violating Gaza truce
· Turkiye, Hamas discuss Gaza ceasefire deal’s second phase
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Arab World
· Saudi Arabia condemns militant attack on Pakistani police
· Commander of Royal Saudi Air Force receives Military Order of Oman
· Former UAE ambassador to Saudi Arabia receives King Abdulaziz Second-Class Scarf
· Saudi Arabia’s Sharaan and Wadi Nakhlah nature reserves win Dark Sky recognition
· How chefs in Saudi Arabia are reimagining Christmas classics with local ingredients
· Saudi deputy ministers meet El Salvador, Uzbekistan envoys
· Riyadh exhibition brings Saudi and Chinese contemporary art into dialogue
· Saudi hospital pioneers preventive type 1 diabetes treatment
· Smart mangrove restoration initiative launched along the beaches of Rabigh
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Europe
· Two found guilty of planning mass attack on Jews in England
· Zelensky issues veiled insult at Putin in ‘Christmas’ address
· Muslim gravestone at Lancaster cemetery daubed in Star of David graffiti
· 'Deep upset' as vile graffiti sprayed on walls of Muslim centre in Manchester
· Zelensky moves towards demilitarised zones in latest peace plan for Ukraine
· Algerian law declares France's colonisation a crime
· Two police officers killed in explosion in Moscow
· Ukraine talks must be behind closed doors – Kremlin
· 40% of Ukrainians think Zelensky involved in corruption – poll
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North America
· 'We don't want you here.' Passaic restaurant goes viral after receiving anti-Muslim letter
· CAIR Welcomes Arrest of Utah Man for Alleged Antisemitic Threats
· 'Many Hindu Americans....': Ro Khanna calls out Nick Fuentes' anti-India rhetoric targeting Vivek, Usha Vance
· CAIR Welcomes Ruling Granting Attorney’s Fees in Case Over Right of Arkansas Muslim Incarcerees to Gather for Communal Prayer in Prison
· BREAKING: CAIR, CAIR-Texas Address Texas AG Paxton’s Attempt to Avoid Judicial Ruling on Merits of ‘Unconstitutional’ Abbott Proclamation
· Watch: Trump’s ‘bad Santa’ warning on Christmas Eve; how US President and Melania marked the holiday
· 'If you spend your career....': Who is Imran Ahmed? Why is he not allowed to enter the US?
· 'Radical activists and weaponized NGOs': US denies visas to EU ex-commissioner, four others over tech rules — who are they
· Democratic lawmaker sues to remove Trump's name from Kennedy Center
· Macron accuses US of ‘intimidation’ against EU
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Africa
· God Has Not Abandoned Nigeria – CAN Declares In Christmas Message
· PDP condemns Maiduguri mosque bombing, accuses Tinubu govt of failing on security
· Four killed, 32 injured in Borno mosque explosion
· Ethnic nationalism and national development
· Three Arrested As Soldiers Attack Police Patrol Team
· CVR Integrity: INEC Vows Only Eligible Nigerians Will Be Registered
· ‘I Will Never Support Extrajudicial Measures Despite Buhari, Malami’s Actions Towards Me’ – Sowore
· Sudan's health system faces total collapse as war grinds on
· US doubts M23’s full withdrawal from key Congo town
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Southeast Asia
· Jais: Claims of palace protection for Qadiani teachings are baseless and insulting to Sultan
· Schools barred from rejecting pupils over health or discipline records, says Education DG
· Christians in Sarawak kick off Christmas with early church services and family celebrations
· Malaysian embassy in Cambodia offers help for citizens in conflict zones
· Johor police issue over 4,400 summonses in festive road safety ops
· PAS terminates membership of three Perlis state assemblymen
· PM Anwar urges Malaysians to reject hatred, embrace empathy
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South Asia
· Nightmare of the South Asian Springs Bangladesh’s descent into Islamist extremism
· ISIS Member Arrested in Pakistan Based on IEA’s Intelligence Report, Mujahid
· Meeting Held in Helmand on Better Implementation of Supreme Leader’s Decrees
· Omari, Iranian Ambassador Discuss Legal Labor Migration, Protection of Afghan Workers
· Afghan Ambassador Visits Chabahar Port for Trade, Transit Cooperation
· First-Ever Herat’s Industrial Machinery Exported to Tajikistan
· Iran Executes Afghanistan Citizen, Raising Human Rights Concerns
· Khawaja Asif Calls Kabul Airstrikes ‘Legitimate’, Opposition Leader Fazl-ur-Rehman Criticizes Action
· Unite to protect press freedom
· Islamist bloc wrangling over seat-sharing
· Jamaat chief condemns crude bomb attack that killed youth in Dhaka
· Expressing dissent through use of force is barbaric: Islami Andolon Bangladesh
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/security-flag-isi-terror-bangladesh/d/138165
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Security alert as agencies flag ISI-backed terror push from Bangladesh into Northeast
Imran Ahmed Siddiqui
25.12.25
Protesters inside former Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's vandalised home in Dhaka last week.
Handout via PTI
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Central security agencies have sounded an alert on the volatile situation in Bangladesh following inputs suggesting that Pakistan’s ISI and other Islamist terror outfits could try to export terror to India through the Bangladesh border and create a major disturbance in the Northeast, sources said on Wednesday.
“Intelligence inputs suggest that terrorist organisations are regrouping along India’s eastern frontier. Amid the ongoing unrest in neighbouring Bangladesh, the ISI and other terrorist groups are eyeing to push terrorists into India to create instability, especially in the Northeast,” said a security official in the Union home ministry.
The Border Security Force and other agencies, he said, had been put on high alert along the eastern frontier following inputs of possible security threats from Islamist terrorists against the backdrop of the fresh violence that has erupted in Bangladesh following the death of student leader Sharif Osman Hadi.
“The increased extremist rhetoric in Bangladesh and the anti-India narrative as the situation deteriorates is a major cause of concern for India. This could lead to anti-India activities from across the border and terrorist groups might use it to push in terrorists,” he said.
India and Bangladesh share a 4,096km international border that runs through Bengal, Tripura, Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram. Strict vigil is being maintained along the entire India-Bangladesh border, and orders have been issued to strongly deal with anyone engaging in suspicious activity or attempting to cause untoward incidents along the frontier, the official said.
On December 19, Eastern Command commander Lt Gen. R.C. Tiwari, along with senior military officers, had visited India-Bangladesh border areas in Mizoram and Tripura to review the prevailing security situation and preparedness along
the frontier.
They visited the company operating base of the Assam Rifles and the BSF under the Spear Corps at Parva in Mizoram and lauded the troops for their “steadfastness, resilience and a high level of operational preparedness”.
Last week, a parliamentary standing committee report had flagged how the developments in Bangladesh posed the “greatest strategic challenge” to India since the Liberation War of 1971.
The report covered the turbulent India-Bangladesh relations of the past two years and said Bangladesh was witnessing a “shift” and that New Delhi could end up losing the “strategic space” in Dhaka without necessary recalibration.
“The collapse of the Awami League dominance, the surge of youth-led nationalism, the re-entry of Islamists, and intensifying Chinese and Pakistani influence collectively marked a turning point,” said the report, adding: “If India fails to recalibrate at this moment, it risks losing strategic space in Dhaka not to war, but to
irrelevance.”
Sources said after the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government was dislodged in August last year, several Islamist terror groups, including the al Qaida-linked Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami-Bangladesh (HuJI-B), Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), the Jamaat-ul-Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya (JAFHS) and others had become active.
Extremist elements have allegedly gained strength under the Muhammad Yunus-led regime.
Recently, National Citizen Party leader Hasnat Abdullah said that Bangladesh can shelter separatist forces from India and sever the seven northeastern states from the rest of the country. He warned that India’s northeastern states would be isolated if Bangladesh was destabilised.
Source: telegraphindia.com
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https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/india-alerts-on-bangladesh-unrest-as-isi-terror-push-threat-looms-in-northeast-prnt/cid/2139477
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14 countries condemn Israel’s expansion of West Bank settlements
December 24, 2025
A statement from 14 countries said new settlements in the occupied West Bank violated international law. (AFP/File)
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LONDON: Fourteen countries, including France, Britain, and Germany, condemned on Wednesday Israel’s recent approval of new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.
“We, States of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom condemn the approval by the Israeli security cabinet of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank,” said a joint statement released by the French foreign ministry.
“We recall our clear opposition to any form of annexation and to the expansion of settlement policies,” it added.
On Sunday, Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced the authorities had greenlit the settlements, saying the move was aimed at preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state.
In their statement, the countries stressed such unilateral actions “violate international law” and risk undermining a fragile ceasefire in Gaza as mediators push for the implementation of the second phase of the truce.
The countries urged Israel “to reverse this decision, as well as the expansion of settlements.”
They also reaffirmed their “unwavering commitment to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on the two-state solution... where two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, live side-by-side in peace and security.”
Israel has occupied the West Bank following a war in 1967.
Excluding east Jerusalem, which was occupied and annexed by Israel in 1967, more than 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank, along with about three million Palestinian residents.
Earlier this month, the United Nations said the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank — all of which are illegal under international law — had reached its highest level since at least 2017.
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2627371/middle-east
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How private Christmas celebrations in Saudi Arabia offer moments of cultural exchange
TAMARA ABOALSAUD AND RAHAF JAMBI AND AFSHAN AZIZ
December 24, 2025
Christmas celebrations at Vives Compound complete with “amazing” Christmas tree lighting. (Supplied)
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RIYADH: As the days get colder and the year comes to an end, people across Saudi Arabia are looking to their families for warmth and their faith for comfort. For the Kingdom’s Christian residents, the holiday cheer has never been louder.
The Christmas spirit in major cities is growing as Saudi Arabia continues to embrace its religious diversity. One of Riyadh’s decorations was held privately in a residential compound.
The compound’s general manager, Jean Noujaim, told Arab News: “Christmas is being celebrated more and more … things that were frowned upon are now becoming less so.”
Guests were wrapped in fake snow while shopping around the Christmas market, admiring the illustrious decorations, enjoying the live choir, and entertaining their children with a host of games and activities.
The event also included a few very special guest stars including elves, the Grinch, and the season’s hero, Santa Claus.
The compound’s largest event thus far, approximately 1,500 residents and 2,000 visitors were in attendance.
“It showed how much people were missing these types of events,” Noujaim said.
Breaking records in “every way,” the event also saw its highest number of Saudi attendees for a Christmas celebration, having hosted similar festivities on an annual basis.
Noujaim wanted those of all faiths to feel welcome, emphasizing that it was a celebration centered around children and joy.
“Everyone who came told me they had goosebumps during the event. They felt it was magical … their children were very happy.”
The Vives Compound Christmas celebration was held on Nov. 20 and will be held annually.
While celebrations in the Kingdom remain low-key and largely private, they are increasingly shaped by a sense of community, cultural exchange, and shared hospitality, often extending to Saudi friends and colleagues.
For many expats, Christmas in Saudi Arabia is marked by intimate gatherings at home or within residential compounds. Decorations are modest, featuring Christmas trees, lights, and small festive touches that recreate a sense of home far from home.
Jazmin Soledad Huanca, a Peruvian expatriate working in Saudi Arabia, described Christmas as one of the most anticipated moments of the year for foreigners living in the Kingdom.
“Christmas represents unity and family,” she said. “The first thing many of us do is decorate our space, whether with a tree, lights, or a small reminder of Christmas. We prepare to visit close friends or family, exchange secret gifts, and share food together.”
Food, she added, plays a central role in the celebrations, ranging from cookies and hot chocolate to baked turkey served with salads. For many expats who arrived in Saudi Arabia alone, the occasion carries an added emotional weight.
“Here, many of us came individually, which makes Christmas different but equally beautiful,” Huanca said. “In some compounds, activities are organized for children, families, and single people. On that day, we all become one community.”
Inviting Saudi friends to join the celebrations has become increasingly common. “Yes, we invite Saudis,” Huanca said. “For us, Christmas is about unity and family. We want them to feel that.”
She added that hosting Saudi guests brings a special sense of joy. “It feels like having an important guest at home. You want them to feel comfortable, like this is their home too.”
International schools across Saudi Arabia have also been embracing the festive season with inclusive and joyful Christmas celebrations.
At the American International School of Jeddah the campus has been filled with holiday cheer through festive bazaars, extensive decorations including seven Christmas trees, daily morning musical performances by students and teachers, and even a surprise visit from Santa Claus.
Superintendent Robert Rinaldo said: “With more than 1,500 students representing 68 nationalities, we see Christmas celebrations as a true reflection of our diverse community. The festive atmosphere on campus, from holiday-themed decorations to daily musical performances, highlights that diversity and helps create an environment where everyone feels a genuine sense of belonging and can come together to share in the joy of the season.”
Raza Ali, headmaster of Jeddah Prep and Grammar School, said: “As a British school overseas, we appropriately acknowledge Christmas during this time of year through school decorations, a winter musical, and references within certain class lessons, while always ensuring that we respect all cultural backgrounds within our community.”
Parents also value this balance. AISJ parent Victoria Joseph said: “Even though we are far from our home in California, my son is able to experience and understand the holiday season just as he would in the United States. It’s wonderful to see how the school embraces the festivities while showing such respect and adaptability toward the celebration in the Kingdom.”
As Saudi Arabia continues to grow as a multicultural society, these understated celebrations reflect a broader story of coexistence, where traditions are preserved, shared, and respectfully experienced across cultures.
Source: arabnews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2627368/saudi-arabia
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Why is it so uncomfortable to say a 'Muslim saved lives'
24TH DECEMBER
By Hameeda Khan
Ahmed Al Ahmed did not hesitate. He ran towards danger, disarmed a gunman, and put his own life at risk so others could live (Image: Eyepress)
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On Bondi Beach, in the middle of terror, a Syrian Muslim immigrant chose courage.
Ahmed Al Ahmed did not hesitate. He ran towards danger, disarmed a gunman, and put his own life at risk so others could live. Jewish families were targeted that day. Some lost loved ones.
Some survived because a stranger intervened. That matters. Jewish lives matter. And the fact that a Muslim man placed himself between violence and a Jewish community celebration matters too.
But what has stayed with me is not only what Ahmed did. It is what did not happen afterwards.
This should have been a moment of leadership.
A moment where political leaders, commentators, and those shaping public discourse paused and said clearly: this is why targeting Muslims as a group is wrong. This is why collective blame is dangerous. This is why faith and immigration status do not determine values, morality, or humanity.
That conversation never came.
When Muslims are suspected, identity arrives instantly. Muslim. Islam. Immigrant. Refugee. These labels are often deployed early and loudly, sometimes before facts are settled. Identity becomes shorthand for threat.
Yet when a Muslim does something unquestionably good, something heroic, something that saves lives, identity suddenly becomes irrelevant. He is described as a man, a bystander, a shop owner, a local hero. His faith disappears. His migration story becomes optional.
Almost as if naming them would make people uncomfortable.
I am not asking for Ahmed’s faith or background to be sensationalised. I am asking why this moment was not used to correct a long standing wrong.
That selectiveness shows up clearly in the headlines. The BBC led with phrases such as “Bondi Beach hero who tackled gunman” and “man praised for bravery after Bondi attack”.
The Guardian described Ahmed Al Ahmed as “the man who disarmed the attacker” and “a local hero”. Sky News and CNN followed similar framing, referring to him as a “bystander”, a “shop owner”, or simply “a man who intervened”. All factually correct. Yet noticeably stripped back.
In a media and political culture that rarely hesitates to foreground Muslim identity when fear is involved, the sudden decision that faith and immigration status no longer matter feels less like balance and more like avoidance.
This was the moment to say: at a time when Islam is constantly hijacked to justify suspicion, here is a Muslim acting with courage.
At a time when immigration is framed as a threat, here is a migrant saving lives. At a time when communities are blamed wholesale, here is proof that those narratives collapse under scrutiny.
Instead, silence.
And silence is not neutral.
We do not live in a neutral environment. Muslims are routinely asked to apologise for violence they did not commit. Migrants are expected to prove their worth. Entire communities are judged by the actions of individuals. In that context, choosing not to name identity when it challenges prejudice is a decision, not an accident.
If leaders truly believed identity should not define us, they would say so consistently. They would say it when Muslims are attacked in the press, and they would say it when Muslims are heroes. They would use moments like this to actively dismantle harmful narratives, not quietly sidestep them.
There is another uncomfortable truth here. A Syrian Muslim immigrant saving Jewish lives disrupts too many political talking points at once. It complicates the story. So, the safer option is to reduce him to something less challenging. Just a man. Just a hero. Detached from the identities that are otherwise so heavily scrutinised.
Ahmed did not pause to consider how his faith would be received. He did not weigh up how his immigration status might be interpreted. A Syrian Muslim immigrant saw people in danger and acted.
The least we can do is stop missing these moments.
Because when leadership fails to say “this disproves the lie”, the lie survives.
And if we cannot say “Muslim” alongside bravery, compassion, and moral clarity, then we must be honest about what the word has been allowed to become.
That is the reckoning we keep avoiding.
Source: asianimage.co.uk
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https://www.asianimage.co.uk/news/25722453.uncomfortable-say-muslim-saved-lives/
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CAIR ISLAM-OPED: Love for Jesus Can Bring Christians and Muslims Together
December 24, 2025
IMPORTANT NOTE: This commentary was very popular with readers nationwide when it was first distributed before Christmas a number of years ago. It is being offered again this year for those publications that were unable to publish it previously.
ISLAM-OPED is a syndication service of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) designed to offer an American Muslim perspective on current political, social and religious issues. ISLAM-OPED commentaries are offered free-of-charge to one media outlet in each market area. Permission for publication will be granted on a first-come-first-served basis.
Love for Jesus Can Bring Christians, Muslims Together
By Ibrahim Hooper
[Ibrahim Hooper is National Communications Director for the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil liberties group. He may be contacted at: ihooper@cair.com ]
“Behold! The angels said: ‘O Mary! God giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him. His name will be Jesus Christ, the son of Mary, held in honor in this world and the Hereafter and in (the company of) those nearest to God.’”
Before searching for this quote in the New Testament, you might first ask your Muslim co-worker, friend or neighbor for a copy of the Quran, Islam’s revealed text. The quote is from verse 45 of chapter 3 in the Quran.
It is well known, particularly in this holiday season, that Christians follow what they believe to be the teachings of Jesus. What is less well understood is that Muslims also love and revere Jesus as one of God’s greatest messengers to mankind.
Other verses in the Quran, regarded by Muslims as the direct word of God, state that Jesus was strengthened with the “Holy Spirit” (2:87) and is a “sign for the whole world.” (21:91) His virgin birth was confirmed when Mary is quoted as asking: “How can I have a son when no man has ever touched me?” (3:47)
The Quran shows Jesus speaking from the cradle and, with God’s permission, curing lepers and the blind. (5:110) God also states in the Quran: “We gave (Jesus) the Gospel (Injeel) and put compassion and mercy into the hearts of his followers.” (57:27)
As forces of hate in this country and worldwide try to pull Muslims and Christians apart, we are in desperate need of a unifying force that can bridge the widening gap of interfaith misunderstanding and mistrust. That force could be the message of love, peace and forgiveness taught by Jesus and accepted by followers of both faiths.
Christians and Muslims would do well to consider another verse in the Quran reaffirming God’s eternal message of spiritual unity: “Say ye: ‘We believe in God and the revelation given to us and to Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to (all) Prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and it is unto Him that we surrender ourselves.’” (2:136)
The Prophet Muhammad himself sought to erase any distinctions between the message he taught and that taught by Jesus, who he called God’s “spirit and word.” Prophet Muhammad said: “Both in this world and in the Hereafter, I am the nearest of all people to Jesus, the son of Mary. The prophets are paternal brothers; their mothers are different, but their religion is one.”
When Muslims mention the Prophet Muhammad, they always add the phrase “peace be upon him.” Christians may be surprised to learn that the same phrase always follows a Muslim’s mention of Jesus or that we believe Jesus will return to earth in the last days before the final judgment. Disrespect toward Jesus, as we have seen all too often in our society, is very offensive to Muslims.
Unfortunately, violent events and hate-filled rhetoric around the world provide ample opportunity for promoting religious hostility. And yes, Muslims and Christians do have some differing perspectives on Jesus’ life and teachings. But his spiritual legacy offers an alternative opportunity for people of faith to recognize their shared religious heritage.
America’s Muslim community stands ready to honor that legacy by building bridges of interfaith understanding and challenging those who would divide our nation along religious or ethnic lines.
We have more in common than we think.
Source: cair.com
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https://www.cair.com/press_releases/cair-islam-oped-love-for-jesus-can-bring-christians-and-muslims-together-8/
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No One Should Suffer For Practicing Their Faith – Tinubu Sends Christmas Message To Nigerians
December 24, 2025
By Doris Ijeoma Israel
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has sent warm Christmas greetings to Christians in Nigeria and across the world, calling for peace, unity, and care for one another during the festive season.
Naija News reports that in a statement released on Christmas Eve, the president said the period should remind everyone of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and the need to live in love and patience.
In his message, the President thanked God for the chance to serve the nation and prayed for peace among people of different faiths.
He restated his pledge to protect the rights of all Nigerians to worship freely and live without fear, regardless of belief or background.
Tinubu praised Christians in the country for their role in nation-building and for supporting the weak and less privileged in society.
He said many citizens continue to show kindness and goodwill, inspired by the example of Christ, especially in communities facing hardship and insecurity.
The President said that since taking office in 2023, his administration has continued to work to keep the country safe and united.
He said every Nigerian deserves dignity and protection under the law and called for stronger cooperation among religious groups to prevent conflict and promote peaceful living.
Tinubu also urged Nigerians travelling for the holidays to be patient and orderly on the roads so they can return safely to their families and daily lives.
He expressed hope that, with faith and joint effort, the country will keep moving toward a better future for the coming generations.
The President wished all citizens a joyful Christmas celebration and a happy New Year in advance.
Source: naijanews.com
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https://www.naijanews.com/2025/12/24/no-one-should-suffer-for-practicing-their-faith-tinubu-sends-christmas-message-to-nigerians/
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Muslim mob blocks Christians from Christmas worship in Indonesia
12/24/2025
Christians attempting to attend a Christmas service in West Java Province, Indonesia were blocked by a group of Muslims on December 14 as police officers stood nearby, according to local media and videos posted online. The Muslims locked arms and would not let the Christians through.
The incident took place in Jayasampurna village, Serang Baru Sub-District, Bekasi Regency, near Jakarta. Muslims, some from outside the village, formed a human chain to prevent members of the Huria Kristen Batak Protestant Church (HKBP) from reaching a prayer post near the Green Cikarang housing complex where the congregation planned to hold a Christmas service, reports Morning Star News.
The outlet reports that dozens of Muslim men and women holding hands to block access to the site. Participants shouted “Allahu Akbar” and made anti-Christian remarks while police officers and bystanders observed. Some members of the church were pushed back as they attempted to pass through the human wall.
In one video, a Christian man is heard saying, “We only want to worship peacefully – we have no intention of disturbing anyone.”
Another video shows a banner held by protesters reading, “We, the Muslim residents of Jayasempurna village, firmly reject the construction of illegal houses in our neighborhood forever.”
According to harianterbit.com, the HKBP congregation has used the prayer post for worship services for approximately seven years. The same outlet reported that Muslims also blocked the church from holding services at the location on November 30 and December 7.
Following the Dec. 14 incident, local authorities convened a mediation meeting on Dec. 15 led by the Regent of Bekasi. As a result of the meeting, both sides agreed that the HKBP congregation would temporarily relocate services to the Interfaith Harmony Forum office in Jababeka city.
A second mediation effort took place on Dec. 18, led by the Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs. According to the state-run news agency Antara, the meeting resulted in eight agreements between the parties. These included commitments to forgive one another, resolve permit-related issues for prayer house construction, and assistance from the Ministry of Religion to allow the church to celebrate Christmas.
The incident prompted criticism on Indonesian social media, with users pointing to ongoing concerns about religious freedom in the country. One post by rights activist Permadiarya2 addressed West Java Governor Dedi Mulyadi directly.
“Kang Dedi, don’t just stay silent, Bro,” the post read. “This kind of intolerance happens too often in your province…They are not second-class citizens, Sir. They have the same right to worship, and the state is obliged to protect and defend them.”
According to the Christian advocacy group Open Doors, Indonesia has seen increased religious conservatism in recent years. The group has reported that churches involved in evangelistic outreach face a higher risk of being targeted by Islamic extremist groups.
Source: humanevents.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://humanevents.com/2025/12/24/muslim-mob-blocks-christians-from-christmas-worship-in-indonesia
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India
What UP government’s attempt to withdraw cases against Akhlaq case accused tells us about state’s bias
December 25, 2025
By Ganesh Gaigouria
The lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh, in September 2015 remains one of the most disturbing symbols of the politics of cow vigilantism in the recent past. Akhlaq, a 50-year-old Muslim man, was dragged out of his home by a mob after an announcement from a local temple alleged that he had slaughtered a cow and stored beef in his refrigerator. He was beaten to death while his son, Danish, was left grievously injured. The crime was a product of an atmosphere of hatred in which rumours, religious symbolism, and political sanction merged into lethal force. Nearly a decade later, the struggle for justice for Akhlaq has exposed both judicial and executive faultlines.
In a move that shocked legal observers and civil rights groups, the Uttar Pradesh government sought to withdraw the prosecution against the accused by invoking Section 321 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The state argued that there were inconsistencies in witness statements, a lack of prior enmity between the victim and the accused, and insufficient recovery of weapons. The trial court’s rejection of the government’s plea to withdraw charges on December 23 is therefore a crucial, if belated, reaffirmation of the rule of law. The court found no legal justification for abandoning prosecution in a case involving murder and communal violence, and directed that the trial proceed expeditiously, with daily hearings and protection of witnesses. This decision stands in sharp contrast to the conduct of the state, which appeared more invested in shielding the accused than in securing justice for the victim’s family. While the court’s order restores some faith in judicial independence, it also highlights how precarious justice becomes when executive power is exercised in a biased manner.
Why does the state show such solicitude in cases involving accused persons aligned with majoritarian sentiment, while countless individuals from marginalised communities languish in jail for years without trial under far weaker evidence? For instance, activists like Umar Khalid and others have been incarcerated for years without trial. The contrast is stark with the 2018 Unnao rape case, where a BJP MLA was accused, and initial police action was delayed despite public allegations, and the Lakhimpur Kheri violence of 2021, in which protesters were allegedly mowed down by a vehicle linked to the son of a Union minister. In these matters, investigations moved slowly, accountability came only after national outrage, and the state appeared reluctant to act decisively against the accused. This reveals a troubling truth: The state is no longer acting as a neutral prosecutor.
The conduct of the Uttar Pradesh government in the Akhlaq case must be viewed within this broader context of a political order. Cow protection has been aggressively mobilised as a cultural and electoral tool, transforming vigilante violence into a form of ideological enforcement. In such an environment, Muslim victims are routinely portrayed as suspects rather than citizens deserving of protection. The defence’s arguments, now mirrored by the state, as reported in this newspaper, rely heavily on technicalities while ignoring the social reality of mob violence. Lynching is rarely accompanied by neat forensic trails or individualised intent; it thrives on collective aggression, fear, and public sanction. To demand the same evidentiary neatness as an ordinary crime is to misunderstand — or deliberately obscure — the nature of hate violence. By adopting the defence’s reasoning, the state effectively delegitimised the lived experience of the victim’s family and the broader pattern of cow-related lynchings.
For India to reclaim secularism and equality before law, justice in cases like Akhlaq’s must be pursued without hesitation or prejudice. The present moment offers an opportunity for the legal system to correct course. Whether this case ends in genuine accountability will determine not only the fate of one family, but the credibility of India’s constitutional promise of unbiased justice. Thus, in a true sense, we should also move beyond procedural legality and consider human civility. A renowned lawyer, Clarence Darrow, in defence of a young Black man, Henry Sweet, in a case of mob violence, stated, “I would like to see a time when man loves his fellow-man, and forgets his colour or his creed……the last analysis is, what has man done? — and not what has the law done?”
Source: indianexpress.com
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Pune techie ‘Al-Qaeda link’ case: ATS probing Telegram IDs from Afghanistan, Hong Kong; congregation and ‘sports camp’ also under scanner
December 25, 2025
The Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) is probing into the IDs from Afghanistan and Hong Kong found in the Telegram group of IT professional Zubair Hangargekar, who is alleged to have links with the Al-Qaeda terror group.
A Pune ATS team led by assistant commissioner of police Anil Shevale produced Hangargekar, 37, before a special court Wednesday and sought his custody for further investigation.
The ATS submitted to the court that details 102 IDs in Hangargekar’s Telegram group have been received from Instagram. Of these IDs, three have Afghanistan Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, while one IP address is of Hong Kong. ATS said Hangargekar’s custody was required for probing into these suspicious Telegram IDs.
The ATS also told the court about the information gathered from Hangargekar regarding an “Ijtema” and a “physical, sports activity camp” held for youngsters at Padgha in Thane district in 2021. ATS has conducted a “discovery panchanama” of the spot.
Earlier, in separate cases, the ATS as well as the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had arrested multiple ISIS terror operatives from Padgha, who had allegedly self-declared the village as a ‘liberated zone’ named ‘Al Sham” and motivated other impressionable Muslim youth to relocate there to strengthen their base. ATS is now probing Hangargekar’s links with the alleged terror activities in Padgha.
Also, according to the ATS, a probe into Hangargekar’s activities revealed details about a location where a person named “Abu Anas”, a suspected terror operative, had shown videos of Khilafat and ISIS and also given some data in 2015.
Besides, ATS has found objectionable information in Hangargekar’s “YouTube search history” and in other data seized from him and the suspicious persons in his contact list. The court remanded Hangargekar to ATS custody till January 3 for further investigation.
The ATS arrested Hangargekar on October 27 from Pune, under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). ATS has alleged that Hangargekar was trying to recruit people for the banned terror groups “Al-Qaeda/ Al-Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and all its manifestations”.
A native of Solapur district in Maharashtra, Hangargekar was working with a software company at Kalyani Nagar in Pune city on a salary of Rs 22 lakh per year. Hangargekar studied at the Solapur Social Association Urdu High School, before completing his BE degree from the Walchand Institute of Technology, Solapur. After shifting to Pune, he initially worked at a prominent IT company in Hinjewadi.
ATS sources said that for over 15 years, Hangargekar has worked in the software industry but still has an orthodox mindset, adhering strictly to Sharia, the Islamic religious law.
The ATS probe revealed that he was preaching to youngsters that “democracy is against Shariat”. The probe also revealed that Hangargekar created Telegram groups in which topics such as “Ghazwa-e-Hind” and “replacing democracy with Shariat” were allegedly discussed.
ATS officials said Hangargekar allegedly got radicalised after meeting terror suspects from Pune and Hyderabad in 2015. “Hangargekar was extensively reading books and content produced by radical preachers from the Middle East, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, including top-tier Al-Qaeda ideologues. He has studied major Al-Qaeda attacks in depth, including the 9/11 attack in the USA,” ATS sources said.
ATS probing over 1 TB data
The ATS is probing over 1 terabyte (TB) of data recovered from Hangargekar’s electronic devices, like his cell phone and laptop. According to the ATS, an Urdu translation of a speech given by Osama Bin Laden was retrieved from Hangargekar’s cell phone recovered from his residence at Zamir Apartment in Kondhwa Khurd, Pune.
Also, the ATS claims to have recovered from his devices multiple Al-Qaeda and AQIS magazines that glorify “martyrdom through jihad” and openly urge the readers to “establish Khilafat rule in India through violent jihad”.
A publication called ‘Inspire Magazine’, retrieved from Hangargekar’s cell phone, had information such as “OSJ Gun School”, with photographs of “training with AK 47 rifles” and “OSJ Bomb School” as well as details about making acetone peroxide IEDs, ATS told the court.
The ATS received a confidential report from the High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL) of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in Pune regarding the bomb-making procedure mentioned in the magazine.
Aggressive speeches
According to the ATS, Hangargekar spoke “aggressively” during his “Dars” (lectures) on the Quran, Hadith, as well as Khilafat at a location in Kondhwa. According to the ATS, a day after his arrest, a person in his contact allegedly shifted some suspicious literature and documents from this location and burnt them at a madrasa in the Kalepadal area.
Sources said he also conducted “Dars” sessions in Solapur and Thane for indoctrinating youths.
The ATS zeroed in on Hangargekar after the October 9 raids at Kondhwa and other locations in Pune, during which 18 people, including him, were searched, and their devices were sent for forensic examination.
Source: indianexpress.com
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Nothing to show membership of IM, SIMI or plot: Court on terror suspect
by Mahender Singh Manral
December 25, 2025
A Delhi court has acquitted Abdul Subhan Qureshi — accused of being a key Indian Mujahideen (IM) operative behind the 2006 Mumbai train blasts and the 2008 Gujarat blasts — and his associate, Ariz Khan, in a case of alleged conspiracy to revive the IM and the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).
The court noted that there was “no admissible material on record” to show that they were members of the banned outfits or that they had “entered into any conspiracy against the sovereignty and security of India”.
While Qureshi was arrested from Ghazipur area of East Delhi on January 23, 2018, Khan, who was reported to have fled the country after the 2008 Batla House encounter, was arrested from the India-Nepal border on February 14, 2018.
The case under Section 18 of UAPA (conspiracy related to terrorist act) and 120B IPC (criminal conspiracy) in which they have been acquitted was registered in 2014.
“…In the said circumstances, there is absolutely no admissible material on record in the charge sheet of the present case to show or raise a grave suspicion against both the accused persons that they entered into a conspiracy to revive activity of banned terrorist organisation SIMI and IM in India, or that they were members of the said banned terrorist organisations SIMI and IM, or that they entered into any conspiracy against the sovereignty and security of India in order to set up the base of the said terrorist outfits in India,” Additional Sessions Judge (Patiala House Courts) Amit Bansal said in an order on December 20.
“It seems from the chargesheet that the main material on record against the accused persons is their disclosure/ confessional statements and further list of cases and copy of charge sheets of other cases wherein accused are involved. It is a settled law that disclosure/ confessional statements as made to police officers or made by a person while he is in custody of a police officer are inadmissible in the absence of any discovery of any fact in consequence of the said information,” the court said.
“…In the present case, it is an admitted position that no fact was deposed to as discovered in consequence of the said disclosure/ confessional statements of both the accused persons and hence, the said disclosure/ confessional statements are inadmissible in this case. Further, the list of the cases wherein accused are involved in different cases along with copy of their charge sheets would also not help the prosecution as no grave suspicion of commission of any offence in the present case would arise from them,” the order said.
“It is also an admitted position that the list of witnesses of the present charge sheet mainly includes duty officers/ record clerks to prove the FIRs of other cases against the accused persons herein, which does not raise any suspicion… against the accused persons of commission of offences in the present case,” the court said.
“Brief facts as mentioned in the charge sheet for that purpose are that after an accidental blast in Bijnor on September 12, 2014, efforts were renewed in Delhi and bordering districts of UP to extract information regarding the absconding SIMI terrorist and their contacts/ sympathisers. On October 20, 2014, source information was received that the accused involved in Bijnor accidental blast were also moving along with SIMI suspects and were planning to carry out terrorist activities in Delhi and adjoining areas,” the court said.
The court further ordered that both the accused persons should be released from judicial custody if not required to be detained in any other case. Both are facing proceedings in other cases.
Source: indianexpress.com
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https://indianexpress.com/article/india/nothing-to-show-membership-of-im-simi-or-plot-court-on-terror-suspect-10437834/
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Allah told me to drag her: UP man harasses sister-in-law, blames 'divine voices'
Dec 25, 2025
A 46-year-old man from Uttar Pradesh was arrested for repeatedly harassing his sister-in-law in Ahmedabad, with police saying he claimed he acted on instructions from “divine voices”.
The accused, Ehraaj Hussain Sheikh, has been living in the Jamalpur area of Ahmedabad for the past three years. Police said Ehraaj developed a one-sided obsession with his aunt’s daughter-in-law in 2024 and began stalking her.
According to police, after objections were raised, Ehraaj openly told the woman’s husband that he was in love with her, followed her to see her, and would continue to do so. He allegedly threatened to kill anyone who tried to stop him. An FIR was registered against him in 2024 at the Dani Limda police station, and the case is currently under trial.
Despite being released on bail, Ehraaj allegedly did not change his behaviour and again started following the woman. On December 23, he reportedly went to his aunt’s house, where the woman lives. When his aunt asked him to leave, he refused and allegedly grabbed the woman’s hand, saying he loved her and asking her to come with him. He also allegedly told her to withdraw the case by telling the judge it was false and said he would keep her with him.
Police said that when Ehraaj tried to drag the woman towards himself, her mother-in-law intervened and freed her. The accused then allegedly threatened to kill the woman’s husband. Following this, the woman lodged another complaint of harassment at the Gaekwad Haveli police station.
A video of Ehraaj Hussain Sheikh in police custody has gone viral, in which he claims he heard voices instructing him to act. “I hear voices telling me, ‘Ehraaj, where are you roaming around? The control of this matter is in your hands. I’m being told to go and drag her here,’” he says in the video. He further claims, “This is the voice of Allah Allah tells me, ‘Ehraaj, go there again go and drag her.’”
Police said Ehraaj repeated the same claim during questioning, insisting that Allah had told him to act in this manner.
An ACP said a case has been registered against Ehraaj for stalking the woman, threatening her, and pressuring her to give a false statement in court.
“Ehraaj was in one-sided love with the woman. A year ago, he stalked her and molested her, for which an FIR was registered and the trial is ongoing. Even after that, he kept pressuring the woman to change her statement and leave her husband and children to live with him. After he again followed and harassed her, considering the seriousness of the matter, police arrested him. Necessary legal action is being taken,” the ACP said.
Source: indiatoday.in
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https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/ahmedabad-up-man-arrested-harassing-sister-in-law-divine-voices-allah-told-me-to-drag-her-2841562-2025-12-25
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School teacher shot dead on Aligarh Muslim University campus
December 25, 2025
A school teacher was shot dead by unidentified assailants on the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) campus, police said on Thursday.
AMU Proctor Mohammad Waseem Ali identified the deceased as Rao Danish Ali, a teacher at ABK Union High School, affiliated with the university.
On Wednesday (December 24) night, Rao Danish Ali was walking near the Kennedy Auditorium with two of his colleagues when some masked men accosted him and fired at him from point-blank range after briefly talking to him, the proctor told PTI.
He collapsed on the spot and was rushed to the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival, Mohammad Waseem Ali said.
The incident occurred after 9 p.m.. Rao Danish had gone to the AMU canteen for tea, which was part of his daily routine, he said.
Though the shooting was captured on CCTV cameras installed near the canteen, the footage was unclear due to darkness and fog, the proctor said.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Neeraj Kumar, along with police personnel, rushed to the spot and an alert was issued to trace the assailants.
Mr. Kumar told reporters late Wednesday night that police have spoken to the victim's family and colleagues to ascertain the motive behind the killing.
Police are scanning CCTV footage from the surrounding areas to track the movement of the attackers, he said.
Source: thehindu.com
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Jamia suspends Dalit professor over Muslim atrocities question in semester exam row
25.12.25
The government-funded Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) has suspended a Dalit professor and decided to file a police complaint against him for a question on “atrocities” on Muslims in India in the semester exam.
The question paper on “Social Problems in India” for BA (Honours) in social work had asked students to “discuss the atrocities against Muslim minorities in India giving suitable examples”.
The university on Tuesday issued an order suspending Prof Virendra Balaji Shahare, a Dalit faculty member in the department of social work, for setting the question paper.
“And whereas the competent authority, JMI, has taken serious view on the negligence and carelessness on the part of Prof Virendra Balaji Shahare, department of social work. In this matter, on instruction of competent authority, the paper setter Prof Virendra Balaji Shahare, department of social work, JMI, is placed under suspension till further order and Police FIR will be filed as per rules,” the order said.
An inquiry has also been instituted against Shahare.
Four JMI faculty members have decried the action as “un-academic”. They said the question was aimed at assessing the students’ understanding of social problems, which was part of the course.
“The question paper is finalised by the moderation committee headed by the head of the department. Did the university enquire from the moderation committee about this question? Why has no action been taken against members of the moderation committee?” asked a faculty member.
Another faculty member said the suspension and the FIR were not justified in
this case.
“Prof Shahare faced action because he is a Dalit faculty member. The Dalit faculty members are being targeted because they raise critical issues concerning society,” said the faculty member.
An email by The Telegraph seeking vice-chancellor Prof Mazhar Asif’s comments on criticism of the university action is awaiting a response.
A university source said the VC on Wednesday decided to soften his stand and the professor might not be subjected to harassment.
Source: telegraphindia.com
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Army JCO dies of gunshot wound at military camp in Samba, terror angle ruled out
24.12.25
A Junior Commissioned Officer of the Indian Army died in a firing incident inside a military camp in Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir, a defence spokesperson said on Wednesday.
The incident occurred late Tuesday night and is under investigation, the spokesperson said, while ruling out any terror angle.
“A JCO of an Army unit in Samba sustained a gunshot wound while on duty in Jammu and unfortunately succumbed to his injuries in the line of duty. At this stage, the terror angle has been ruled out.
“The incident is under investigation and further details will be shared as facts are established,” the spokesperson said.
The Army’s Rising Star Corps later identified the deceased as Subedar Surjeet Singh and paid tributes to him.
“Rising Star Corps pays solemn tribute to braveheart Subedar Surjeet Singh, who made the supreme sacrifice while on operational duty in Jammu. The Indian Army stands firmly with the bereaved family in this hour of grief and assures unwavering support,” the Corps said in a post on X.
Source: telegraphindia.com
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Mehbooba Mufti lauds Dadri lynching case order, swipe seen at J&K high court rebuke
Muzaffar Raina
25.12.25
Former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday heaped praise on the Uttar Pradesh fast-track court for rejecting the state government’s plea to close the Dadri lynching case, her comments being viewed as an indirect swipe at the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh that has told her off for “misusing courts to meet her political ends”.
Mehbooba praised the Surajpur court in Gautam Buddha Nagar for “standing up to power” amid “growing politicisation” of institutions meant for “safeguarding fundamental rights of people”.
The Jammu and Kashmir court on Tuesday dismissed a PIL by Mehbooba seeking the transfer of Kashmiri undertrials lodged in jails outside back to Jammu and Kashmir. The court chastised her for dragging the judiciary into “partisan” political agendas. PDP sources said the judgment had caused unease among
the party rank and file, although they had issued no official statement.
Mehbooba has drawn attention to the Surajpur court verdict, which rejected the Uttar Pradesh government’s plea to withdraw all charges against the accused in the 2015 lynching of Mohammad Akhlaque on the suspicion of storing beef. The judge also said the trial should be fast-tracked and directed daily hearings.
“The Surajpur district court’s decision to reject the withdrawal of the Akhlaque lynching case comes as
a breath of fresh air,” she wrote on X.
The former chief minister then launched a scathing critique of “institutions meant to safeguard our fundamental rights” facing “growing politicisation”.
“This judgment reassures us that integrity still matters and that there are those like Judge Saurabh Dwivedi within the system willing to stand up to power in defence of justice and the rule of law,” she said.
On Tuesday, a Jammu and Kashmir High Court division bench of Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal held that Mehbooba’s petition seeking transfer of Jammu and Kashmir undertrials from outside jails back to the Union Territory’s prisons was vague, unsubstantiated and politically driven
and failed to meet the legal standards required for entertaining a PIL.
The petition had said the undertrials should be sent back to Jammu and Kashmir jails unless authorities could demonstrate “unavoidable and compelling necessity” for such detention.
Mehbooba had also sought weekly family meetings, unrestricted lawyer-client interviews, constitution of oversight committees, monitoring by legal services authorities and travel reimbursement for families of prisoners.
Hundreds of Kashmiris are believed to be lodged in jails outside the Union Territory. Both the PDP and the ruling National Conference favour their return to Jammu and Kashmir.
The high court observed that the petitioner had failed to provide specifics of affected families or prisoners, the nature of cases, or any transfer orders.
Source: telegraphindia.com
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Mideast
Why Jordanian Christians are marking Christmas with quiet solidarity and hope for peace
RAWAN BAYBARS
December 24, 2025
AMMAN: As Christmas approaches in Jordan, Fairouz’s popular Christmas hymn “Laylet Eid” (Jingle bells) plays softly in shopping malls, while large, brightly decorated Christmas trees dominate hotel lobbies and public spaces in Amman.
The festive atmosphere is familiar, but for many Jordanian Christians, celebrations this year feel more restrained, shaped by economic pressures and the continued weight of regional conflict.
“This must be at least the fifth year in a row that the world feels sad and chaotic,” said Diana Haddad, a 32-year-old active member of her church community in Amman.
“After the pandemic, then the cost-of-living crisis, and now ongoing wars in the region, it hasn’t felt right to be fully joyful when so much suffering is happening around us.”
Since 2023, the war in Gaza and the broader situation in Palestine have had a particular impact on how Christmas is marked in Jordan.
While the holiday has traditionally been a time of family gatherings, church activities, and public celebrations, many families have opted for quieter observances as an expression of solidarity and reflection.
In 2023, Jordan’s Council of Church Leaders announced the cancellation of all Christmas festivities, including bazaars, scout parades, children’s gift distributions, and decorative initiatives, in solidarity with the people of Gaza.
“I really respected that decision,” Haddad said. “It felt like the right thing to do.”
Although some public celebrations have gradually returned, churches continue to place greater emphasis on community support rather than festivity as the region reels from political turmoil.
Haddad and her 36-year-old husband Peter Nimri, both actively involved in church initiatives, said that while charity work continues throughout the year, the Christmas season traditionally includes winter aid distributions, food parcels, bazaars, and children’s activities.
In recent years, however, many of these initiatives have been adapted to offer support to regional neighbors.Nimri explained that gift boxes prepared for children attending Christmas prayers were instead sent to children in Gaza and Syria for the second year in a row.
In another case, a planned children’s lunch at a fast-food franchise was canceled, with the allocated budget redirected to families in Gaza.
“The community supported this decision,” Haddad said. “They appreciated that their children were being introduced to empathy and solidarity at a young age.”
Nimri added that churches in Jordan view all residents within their parish areas as their responsibility, regardless of faith.
Aid is provided regularly to families in need, though distribution methods have changed. “Instead of cash, we now use supermarket and clothing vouchers to ensure basic needs are met,” he said.
Christmas in Jordan also reflects a contrast between public and private celebrations. Aws Shawareb, a 21-year-old university student working as an usher at a Christmas market in Amman, described the festive season as one embraced by Jordanians from all religions.
“Christians and Muslims enjoy the season together,” he said. “Even in small shops around Amman, you see elements of Christmas. It’s a nice demonstration of unity.”
In a sign of this unity and harmony, Jordan’s Crown Prince Al-Hussein bin Abdullah II, joined the festive Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Peace Square in Madaba last week, with performances by Latin and Orthodox scout bands.
Despite the flashy public celebrations, Shawareb believes that “the real Christmas happens at home with family and friends.”
This sentiment resonates beyond the capital. Mary Giragossian, a 42-year-old Armenian Jordanian who grew up in Aqaba, said the Christmas atmosphere there has always felt more subdued compared to Amman.
“Still, I loved Christmas growing up,” she said. “It was about family gatherings, being together, and the feeling of warmth, even without big decorations.”
From elaborate decorations and expensive gifts to carefully styled Christmas dinners, Giragossian said while joyfulness is important, it is important not to lose the essence of Christmas or forget its spiritual meaning.
Nimri agreed, noting that Christmas has become part of a broader trend of seasonal consumerism. “It’s similar to how Ramadan or Mother’s Day are used as promotional opportunities,” he said.
For many families, Christmas Day itself reflects this balance. Shawareb spends the morning with his family and the evening celebrating with friends. Yet he expressed discomfort with the influence of social media on the holiday.
“Some people post just to show off outfits and expensive gifts,” he said. “Christmas should be about family togetherness.”
Social media has also reshaped how traditions are presented, particularly when it comes to food. Haddad laughed as she referenced the popularity of sophisticated cheese platters online.
“They’re chic, but completely new to our celebrations,” she said.
Some traditions, however, remain unchanged. Christmas Eve dinners still feature roasted turkey and large pots of waraq dawali — stuffed grape leaves — prepared for family gatherings.
Nimri, who grew up in Zarqa, recalled that his experience of Christmas as a child differed significantly from that of his cousins in the US.
Today, he believes his four-year-old son Amir enjoys greater exposure to festive celebrations, particularly since the family lives in Amman, where public decorations and events are more visible.
While Amman remains the center of Christmas activity, Haddad noted that social media has narrowed the gap between the capital and other cities by giving more people access to festive ideas and decorations.
Still, caution remains. “It’s important to preserve the spiritual meaning and the story behind Christmas,” she said.
For many Jordanian Christians, Christmas this year is less about spectacle and more about continuity, maintaining faith, community, and compassion amid uncertainty.
Reserved celebrations, they say, have become a way to hold on to hope while remaining mindful of the suffering that continues to shape the region.
Source: arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2627361/middle-east
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Why Christmas joy flickers in Lebanon — even in the shadow of war
NAJIA HOUSSARI
December 24, 2025
BEIRUT: Even under the weight of political and economic turmoil, the Christmas season continues to bring moments of light, joy, and resilience to Lebanon.
Amid rising tensions with Israel and ongoing instability, this year’s holiday season offers many Lebanese a rare reprieve, cutting through daily hardships with scenes of celebration, renewal and hope.
In Beirut, the festive spirit stretches across neighborhoods regardless of religious confession, with both Christian and Muslim-majority areas lit up and imbued with cheer.
In the city’s Achrafieh and downtown, trees dusted with artificial snow and adorned with ornaments, bells, stars, and ribbons, stand proudly in storefronts, on balconies, and outside restaurants and hotels.
From the capital’s high-end boutiques to its corner cafes, the sound of Christmas music fills the air, offering a glimmer of hope and rekindling a long-lost sense of warmth and unity.
The holiday celebrations extended to the Presidential Palace, which has joined the mood with lights and decorations lining its corridors.
In preparation for the holiday season, the management of Beirut Souks announced it had cleared key passageways in the downtown area, removing barriers that had obstructed vehicle and pedestrian movement.
The move came under the directives of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.
“The plan is to turn downtown into an open space with interconnected streets, allowing for smooth movement at the heart of the capital and toward neighboring areas,” the management said in a statement.
“The goal is to ease mobility for citizens, especially during the holiday season.”
Downtown Beirut has endured years of upheaval since 2019, when street protests were sparked by the collapse of the Lebanese pound.
During the unrest, demonstrators smashed the facades of shops, restaurants, and hotels, contributing to the area’s prolonged decline.
The following year, the devastating Beirut port explosion inflicted further damage, leaving much of the area in ruins. Recovery has been slow and uneven.
Despite these hardships, the holiday season has revived the spirit of the city. Religious celebrations, carol singing, and local festivals are once again drawing people from across faiths, reflecting Lebanon’s rich cultural and religious diversity.
Since mid-December, crowds have been gathering every night at churches, theaters, and public squares to share in moments of joy and unity.
Jean Beiruti, secretary-general of the Tourism Syndicates Union, noted a resurgence of activity in the streets and bustling markets, where shoppers are making the most of the holiday sales.
“Some are buying luxury gifts, while others opt for simple ones, both reflecting the spirit of giving despite the tough economic conditions,” he told Arab News.
Across Lebanon, communities have embraced a friendly competition to showcase the most beautiful Christmas tree and festive decorations.
Local authorities in Beirut, Jbeil, Batroun, Zgharta in the north, Faraya in the mountains, Maghdouche in the south, and Zahle in the Bekaa, have spared no effort to transform public spaces with dazzling displays that reflect local pride.
“Jbeil is a city of coexistence and unity — a model of the peace envisioned by the Pope,” Ziad Hawat, a local lawmaker, told Arab News, citing the recent visit to Lebanon by Pope Leo XIV.
“It is a peace built on dialogue, understanding, and love; a peace that brings stability, prosperity, and hope. A peace of the heart — one that paves the way for the birth of a nation worthy of our hopes, aspirations and the potential of our youth.”
Meanwhile, the aroma of traditional sweets drifts from pastry shops, where holiday-themed cakes sit in chilled displays, awaiting final touches.
Restaurant reservations are rising, home banquet preparations are in full swing, and New Year’s Eve booking announcements continue to circulate on social media and television.
Pierre Achkar, president of the Syndicate of Hotel Owners, warned that ongoing Israeli strikes are dampening holiday tourism, even if the attacks remain limited to southern Lebanon. At the same time, he noted that flights into the country are fully booked for the season.
While many Lebanese expatriates are returning to spend the holidays at home, Achkar said this does not necessarily translate into high hotel occupancy, as most stay with family or in their own residences. He also noted that Gulf visitor numbers remain limited.
“Christmas is typically celebrated in homes with family,” he said. “Our hopes are pinned on New Year’s Eve, which usually brings a stronger tourism boost. However, the delayed start of the ski season has further hindered activity in mountain resorts.”
Achkar said the sector is looking forward to February, when Saudi Arabia marks a second official holiday. “We hope that will encourage more Saudi tourists to visit Lebanon,” he said.
Despite ongoing security concerns, Lebanon continues to defy expectations, thanks to both its residents and returning expatriates. The atmosphere of reassurance created by Pope Leo’s visit in late November may have helped project a brighter image of the country.
His repeated messages calling for tolerance, coexistence, and peace may have also encouraged collective holiday festivities.
For observers, however, this year’s celebrations feel unusually extravagant in Lebanon. While the holidays are typically a time for rest and renewal, they now seem to serve as compensation for the psychological, political, and social strain weighing on the country.
Hoda Rizk, a researcher in social sciences and political sociology, said Pope Leo’s visit delivered “a living message of coexistence, religious diversity, and interfaith dialogue,” calling for stronger social cohesion.
His meetings with religious and civil society leaders “offered a beacon of hope and recognition of shared resilience,” she said, reinforcing coexistence and national unity while giving Lebanese Christians renewed confidence in their role within Lebanon’s diverse fabric.
“This helps discourage migration by reaffirming the importance of their presence alongside other sects in preserving the country’s identity and social cohesion,” Rizk said.
While the pope’s visit contributed to the atmosphere of celebration, “decorating public spaces during the holidays is a deeply rooted Lebanese tradition,” she said.
Still, the exuberant displays seen this year in every neighborhood and street “are an attempt to escape the dark shadow of war and a way for communities to resist the sadness and fear that has gripped the country,” she added.
While some regions, particularly those affected by recent bombardments, may experience more subdued festivities than in previous years, Rizk said a “festive touch” remains. “It carries the spirit of the holiday even amid grief and sorrow.”
She believes Beirut’s multi-sectarian celebrations reflect the capital’s enduring drive to bring people together despite Lebanon’s overlapping crises.
“This resilience is rooted in the Lebanese people’s will to live,” Rizk said. “This is what the Lebanese people have demonstrated throughout the long years of war. Solidarity emerges in times of hardship, and joy is reborn with the holiday.”
Lebanon’s Interior Minister Ahmad Al-Hajjar announced heightened security measures for the holiday season, calling for maximum readiness across all security, military, and civil defense bodies, along with tighter coordination and rapid emergency response mechanisms.
The measures include streamlined procedures at Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport to ease holiday arrivals, increased security deployment around churches, places of worship, and nightlife venues, as well as stricter enforcement of public order and enhanced traffic controls to facilitate movement across major roads.
Al-Hajjar also confirmed the intensification of intelligence operations to preempt any threats to public safety, with a particular focus on preventing celebratory gunfire. Offenders, he said, would be tracked down and referred to judicial authorities.
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‘Christianity in Palestine is not separate from Palestinian identity,’ Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac tells Arab News
DAOUD KUTTAB
December 24, 2025
RAMALLAH: When Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac speaks about resistance, he does not begin with theology. He begins with memory.
Growing up in the Palestinian town of Beit Sahour, often referred to as the Shepherd’s field, during the First Intifada, Isaac remembers fear and excitement intertwined — the thrill of collective action and the dread of military retaliation.
Beit Sahour, a predominantly Christian town southeast of Bethlehem, became known internationally in the late 1980s for its campaign of nonviolent civil disobedience under the slogan “No taxation without representation.”
“I was a child,” Isaac recalls. “I remember the excitement of participating in the popular committees — and the fear. Fear of being shot, fear of soldiers coming to the house.”
The resistance was not abstract. It reached directly into his family’s life. Israeli authorities confiscated the family car in exchange for unpaid taxes from their pharmacy.
Soldiers raided homes across the town, seizing televisions and appliances. When they came to the Isaacs’ house, they found little — the family had hidden their belongings at a relative’s home.
“They asked my father where the television was,” Isaac told Arab News. “He told them it was broken.” The Israeli soldiers scoffed, saying it seems “all the televisions in Beit Sahour are broken.”
These childhood memories — of curfews, neighbors sharing bread, families running from house to house to survive — would later form the emotional foundation of Isaac’s theology: a faith inseparable from lived reality.
Though young, Isaac remembers clearly the first martyrs of Beit Sahour.
He recalls Edmond Ghanem, who was killed when a stone dropped by Israeli soldiers from a rooftop struck his head, and Iyad Abu Sa’da, who was shot by Israelis and whose death left a deep mark on the community.
“These were not distant events,” Isaac said. “They happened in front of our homes, in our streets. Even as children, we felt it.”
The First Intifada shaped not only Isaac’s political consciousness, but his understanding of faith as something public, communal, and rooted in responsibility and sacrifice. That understanding would later define his ministry.
Long before his sermons reached global audiences, Isaac was known locally for something quieter: music.
As a young man, he led the Bethlehem Bible College choir which participated in Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem’s Manger Square. The choir members sang carols wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh and traditional embroidered Palestinian dress.
“This was intentional,” he said. “Christianity in Palestine is not separate from Palestinian identity. We are as proud of our nationality as we are of our faith.”
For Isaac, hymn-singing was never escapist. It was rooted in place and history.
“Singing was born here,” he said. “David sang in Bethlehem. The angels at Christmas sang praises for the birth of Christ. So we have been continuing a tradition thousands of years old.”
Years later, Isaac would co-lead one of the most consequential faith-based initiatives to emerge from Palestine: the “Christ at the Checkpoint” conference.
Launched with Alex Awad, a Palestinian-American pastor and dean of students at the Bethlehem Bible College, the conference posed a deceptively simple question: If Christ were standing at a military checkpoint today, where would he stand?
“The idea was to connect faith to reality,” Isaac said. “To challenge theological interpretations that ignore the lived experience of Palestinians.”
The conference directly confronted Christian Zionism — a theological movement, particularly influential among Western evangelicals, that offers unconditional religious support for Israel.
Rather than engaging in abstract doctrinal debates, “Christ at the Checkpoint” focused on consequences: how theology shapes policy, politics, and daily life.
Over time, the conference grew beyond evangelical dialogue. It became a platform for Palestinian Christian voices to challenge racism, colonialism, and theological frameworks that sanctify oppression.
“Hundreds participated in each edition,” Isaac said. “And I am convinced it planted seeds. What we see today — cracks in the once-solid wall of evangelical Zionism — did not happen overnight.”
If “Christ at the Checkpoint” challenged theology, “Christ in the Rubble” shattered complacency.
The phrase emerged from a sermon Isaac delivered in Bethlehem shortly after the Israeli bombing of Gaza’s St. Porphyrius Church, one of the world’s oldest Christian sites, in October 2023.
Members of his own congregation were grieving. A woman had lost her sister in the attack.
Isaac turned to the crucifix. “I see God under the rubble, in the operating rooms, with the afflicted,” he told the congregation.
The phrase spread rapidly. “God is under the rubble” became a viral expression, adopted far beyond its original context.
When Bethlehem’s churches debated whether to cancel Christmas celebrations amid the devastation in Gaza, Isaac proposed an alternative: a nativity scene made of rubble. The infant Jesus was wrapped in a keffiyeh.
“It wasn’t meant as a political provocation,” he said. “It was a message of faith. Christ stands in solidarity with the suffering — because he was born into suffering.”
The image reverberated around the world, transforming Isaac into an unexpected global figure.
“Suddenly there were cameras everywhere,” he said. “And I remember telling journalists: ‘Why are you here? The story is Gaza. My soul is in Gaza.’”
Yet the visibility mattered. For many, the image became an entry point — not only into Gaza’s suffering, but into the existence of Palestinian Christians.
“It reached people who had never paid attention before,” Isaac told Arab News. “Unfortunately, an image in Bethlehem moved them more than real images from Gaza.”
The response was not limited to the West. Across the Arab world, many expressed surprise — and gratitude — at seeing Palestinian Christian voices so clearly aligned with their people.
“There is still a lack of awareness about Palestinian Christians,” Isaac said. “This moment helped change that.”
The symbolism drew criticism. During a visit to Bethlehem, Germany’s ambassador questioned Isaac for dressing Christ in a keffiyeh rather than an Israeli flag after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack.
Isaac’s response was measured but firm.
“When Israeli children were killed, the world showed solidarity. Israeli flags were placed on landmarks across Europe, including the Berlin wall,” he told the diplomat. “Thousands more children have since been killed in Gaza. Where is that solidarity?”
For Isaac, the keffiyeh represented humanity, not exclusion.
“I see the image of Christ in every child in Gaza,” he said, invoking the Gospel of Matthew: “Whatever you did for the least of these, you did for me.”
The momentum culminated in a landmark collective statement signed by Arab evangelical leaders across the Middle East, rejecting Christian Zionism and affirming Palestinian rights.
The Aug. 5, 2024, document, “A collective call to the global church from Middle East evangelical leaders,” called on Christians everywhere to restore unity in the body of Christ, which has been hurt due to the distorted view of Western church leaders.
Isaac insisted that this was not just a Palestinian document. “It was a Middle Eastern evangelical one arguing that Christian Zionism undermines the credibility and safety of Christians throughout the region — and contradicts the Gospel itself.”
Many supporters, Isaac said, were private rather than public. Financial ties, political resentments, and Western institutional influence all play a role, he believes, in silencing dissent.
Despite continued high-profile visits by pro-Israel evangelical leaders to Jerusalem, including 1,000 US pastors that came in solidarity with the Israeli government, Isaac sees these as signs of decline rather than strength.
“They are trying to salvage what they can,” he said. “But the change is real, especially among young Christians.” The task ahead, he argued, is theological.
“We must provide material for those who feel this alliance is wrong but lack the language to challenge it,” Isaac said. “The Bible does not command Christians to support injustice.”
xmas2025Now based in Ramallah, Isaac continues his pastoral work amid new opportunities and challenges. Lighting a red Advent candle as part of a global church campaign, he emphasized continuity and presence.
“The message is simple,” he said. “We are still here.”
While Ramallah offers greater diplomatic and media exposure, Isaac insisted his priorities remain pastoral — especially youth ministry.
“I don’t want to be known only as a public figure.” He said: “What matters to me is being a good pastor.”
From Beit Sahour’s nonviolent resistance to Gaza’s rubble, Munther Isaac’s journey reflects a theology forged not in abstraction, but in lived Palestinian reality — a faith that insists God is found not in power, but in solidarity.
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Syria says detained senior Daesh jihadist in Damascus
December 25, 2025
DAMASCUS: Syrian authorities have arrested a senior Daesh group official in the Damascus region in a joint operation with a US-led international coalition, a security official said on Wednesday.
Taha Al-Zoubi, also known as Abu Omar Tabiya, an Daesh leader in Damascus, was detained with several of his men, General Ahmad Al-Dalati was reported as saying by state news agency SANA.
The arrest came less than two weeks after a December 13 attack killed two US soldiers and a US civilian that Washington said was carried out by a lone Daesh gunman in central Syria’s Palmyra.
“Our specialized units, in cooperation with the General Intelligence Directorate and and International Coalition forces, carried out a precise security operation targeting” an Daesh hideout, Dalati said.
On December 20, a Syria monitor said that five Daesh members were killed in US strikes in retaliation for the December 13 attack.
It was the first such incident since the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar Assad in December last year, and Syrian authorities said the perpetrator was a security forces member who was due to be fired for his “extremist Islamist ideas.”
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Jordanian forces destroy arms and drug trafficking workshops
December 24, 2025
LONDON: The Jordanian military conducted a crackdown on several drug gangs involved in smuggling weapons and narcotics along the northern border with Syria.
The military announced on Wednesday that it targeted several factories and workshops used by gangs involved in arms and drug trafficking, which they used as bases for launching unlawful operations toward the heart of Jordanian territory.
Armed Forces destroyed the sites after receiving intelligence in coordination with regional partners, according to the Petra news agency.
Syrian state media broadcaster Al-Ikhbariya reported on Telegram that the Jordanian army targeted “drug smuggling networks and storage farms in the southern and eastern countryside” of Sweida, in southern Syria.
The Jordanian Army is prepared to confront anyone threatening the security of the homeland and its citizens, addressing any threats with force as needed, The Petra added.
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EU backs UN efforts for Yemen peace
December 24, 2025
RIYADH: The EU has reaffirmed its support for the efforts of the UN special envoy for Yemen and its commitment to working toward lasting peace and prosperity for the Yemeni people.
The bloc has called for de-escalation and encourages enhanced diplomatic efforts by all parties and regional stakeholders.
It welcomed the agreement reached in Muscat on a new phase of releasing conflict-related detainees from all sides.
It reaffirms its commitment to the unity, sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of Yemen, and to the government of Yemen.
The EU also condemned the continued detention of UN staff and NGO workers by the Houthis and called for their unconditional release.
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How shared relief and unity are defining the Christmas season in Syria
ALI HAJ SULEIMAN AND HEBAA SHEHADE
December 24, 2025
DAMASCUS: Twinkling trees, festive markets, and decorations hanging from shop doors and balconies mark the Christmas season this year in Syria’s Christian neighborhoods — though celebrations remain more modest than before the war.
“The atmosphere is better than last year,” said Sahar Safar, a member of the Sisterhood of Our Lady of Damascus Church, recalling the air of uncertainty after the swift and sudden fall of the Assad regime’s 55-year strangle of the country on Dec. 8, 2024.
“Back then people were afraid, but this year there is relief and joy.”
Opposition factions, followed by the new Syrian government, have repeatedly assured Christian communities of their safety and pledged protection after the 14-year civil war. With that, Christmas festivities spread across Syria, with Muslims and Christians joining together to express a renewed desire for peace and fraternity.
Safar smiled as she photographed the Nativity scene set up in the basement of St. Elias Church in Damascus’s Dweilaa district, a site struck by a terrorist attack on June 22 that killed 25 people and injured at least 63 others.
However, the attack did little to sow sectarian violence among Muslims and Christians. “We celebrate together every year. Muslims visit our church, light candles, and God accepts prayers from everyone,” she told Arab News.
At the Greek Orthodox Church, parishioners continued their tradition of building Damascus’s largest Nativity grotto, a project that took two months. “This is our 21st grotto — we make one every year,” said Samir Dieb, a scout group member.
Visitors, both Muslim and Christian, flocked to see it. “We were shaken by the bombing, but we must be strong, rejoice, and spread joy,” Dieb added.
The Syrian government, at the time, condemned the attack and offered condolences. In a statement, Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa condemned the “heinous” attack and vowed that those involved would face justice.
“We all stand today as one, rejecting oppression and crime in all its forms, and we pledge to the afflicted that we will work day and night,” said Al-Sharaa.
A day after the bombing, two of the suspects were killed and six others arrested in a security operation on a Daesh cell in Damascus.
In the months that followed, security forces accompanied Christians during their holidays across Syria to ensure their protection, though their presence left some feeling uneasy.
Syria hosts some of the world’s oldest Christian communities, with 11 denominations including Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant, as well as some of the oldest towns and places of worship.
Among the most notable is Maaloula, a town near Damascus where residents who follow Islam and Christianity still speak Aramaic, the language of Christ.
Lina Haddad and her sister Nasreen prepared handmade decorations for their small shop on the hillside.
“The key elements of Syrian Christmas decor are the grotto and the tree topped with a star,” Lina said, noting that this year’s tree was adorned with butterflies instead of traditional ornaments. “In the past, people cared more about decorations than they do today.”
Nasreen recalled how Maaloula once glowed during the holidays, with Muslims and Christians decorating homes together. “The former regime fueled hostility between communities for its own benefit,” she said.
The regime had invoked minority protection to justify its crackdown on the reform-driven uprising, using clerics of all faiths to bolster its image as a legitimate ruler — forcing Christians into a position supporting its brutal campaign against the opposition.
Since then, economic hardship has overshadowed festivities. “Priorities changed,” Nasreen said. “People focused on food and children’s education rather than decorations.”
The World Bank estimates the Syrian pound lost more than 300 times its value between 2011 and 2024, with more than 69 percent of Syrians living in poverty since 2022 and one in four suffering extreme poverty — unprecedented before the war.
Each Damascus neighborhood has its own character. Some show no signs of Christmas or New Year, while others sparkle with lights and music.
In Mezzeh, a “Christmas Village” featured fireworks, dance troupes dressed as snowmen and cartoon characters, and bustling crowds shopping and taking photos.
In Bab Touma, Qassaa, and Bab Sharqi, decorations were more traditional, with wreaths, red and white ornaments, and men dressed as Santa greeting families.
Aya Al-Mahdi, a Muslim university student, paused with friends near the Roman Catholic Church to admire the lights. “This Christmas feels special — the air even seems cleaner after the regime’s fall,” she said.
“We grew up together as Muslims and Christians in Damascus. Our holidays are shared.”
Nearby, Siham Shaar enjoyed the charity bazaar organized by the church. “Most of my friends are Christian. I love the atmosphere, the joy, and walking these streets with loved ones,” she said.
At the Syriac Catholic Church, Father Boutros Harira spoke of hope for Syria’s future. “The main fear is domination by the Muslim majority without giving the minorities their rights, but we are all citizens of one homeland. Some have stirred sectarianism, but we must live in peace,” he said.
He praised President Al-Sharaa’s approach as “excellent,” while stressing the need for patience until security is restored and Christians who emigrated during the war return. “We want those who left to come back so we can build Syria into a modern nation together.”
On a hilltop in Saydnaya stands the Church of the Lady of Saydnaya, much of its old halls carved into the stone, beside the town’s grand mosque. The call to Maghrib prayer mingled with church bells and scout music as crowds gathered around the region’s largest Christmas tree.
Sheikh Abdullah Ismail joined Christian clergy and nuns to watch the lighting ceremony. “All believers should rejoice in the birth of Christ,” he told Arab News. “Holding to Muslim identity does not conflict with exchanging greetings during social holidays, especially Christmas.”
The evening included a play on Christ’s birth, dances, fireworks, and the tree lighting. Muslims and Christians cheered together. “Our joys and sorrows are shared — we gather out of love and harmony,” Sheikh Abdullah said. “We all pray for peace and security across our land.”
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Israel reverses decision to block Palestinian VP from entering Bethlehem
December 24, 2025
RAMALLAH: Following US intervention, Israeli occupation authorities on Wednesday evening reversed their decision and allowed Vice President Hussein Al-Sheikh entry to the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem to attend Christmas Eve mass.
The occupation authorities initially prohibited Vice President Hussein Al-Sheikh from entering Bethlehem to attend the midnight Christmas Mass at the Church of the Nativity, barring his motorcade from entering the city.
Al-Sheikh has been assigned by President Mahmoud Abbas to attend the midnight mass, which will be celebrated by His Beatitude Card. Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, at the Church of Saint Catherine, followed by the procession to the Grotto of the Nativity.
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Israel to invest $110bn in arms industry
December 24, 2025
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that the country would invest $110 billion over the next 10 years to develop an independent arms industry.
“I approved a total of 350 billion shekels over the coming decade to build an independent arms industry for the State of Israel,” Netanyahu said during a military ceremony at an air base in the country’s south.
“We want to reduce our dependence on any party, even on friends. The finest minds in our defense industries are hard at work developing weapons systems that will guarantee Israel’s advantage on the battlefield of the future.”
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Thousands flock to Bethlehem to revive Christmas spirit after Gaza war
December 24, 2025
BETHLEHEM, West Bank: Thousands of people flocked to Bethlehem’s Manger Square on Christmas Eve as families heralded a much-needed boost of holiday spirit. The giant Christmas tree that was absent during the Israel-Hamas war returned on Wednesday, overlooking a parade of scouts playing songs on bagpipes.
The city where Christians believe Jesus was born canceled Christmas celebrations for the past two years. Manger Square had instead featured a nativity scene of baby Jesus surrounded by rubble and barbed wire in homage to the situation in Gaza.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Catholic leader in the Holy Land, kicked off this year’s celebrations during the traditional procession from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, calling for “a Christmas full of light.”
Arriving in Manger Square, Pizzaballa said he came bearing greetings from Gaza’s tiny Christian community, where he held a pre-Christmas Mass on Sunday. Among the devastation, he saw a desire to rebuild.
“We, all together, we decide to be the light, and the light of Bethlehem is the light of the world,” he told thousands of people, Christian and Muslim.
Despite the holiday cheer, the impact of the war in the Israeli-occupied West Bank is acute, especially in Bethlehem, where around 80 percent of the Muslim-majority city’s residents depend upon tourism-related businesses, according to the local government.
The vast majority of people celebrating were residents, with a handful of foreigners in the crowd. But some residents said they are starting to see signs of change as tourism slowly returns.
Loss of tourism
“Today is a day of joy, a day of hope, the beginning of the return of normal life here,” said Bethlehem resident Georgette Jackaman, a tour guide who has not worked in more than two years.
She and her husband, Michael Jackaman, another guide, are from established Christian Bethlehem families that stretch back generations. This is the first real Christmas celebration for their two children, aged 2 1/2 and 10 months.
During the war, the Jackamans pivoted to create a website selling Palestinian handicrafts to try to support others who have lost their livelihoods.
During the Gaza war, the unemployment rate in the city jumped from 14 percent to 65 percent, Bethlehem Mayor Maher Nicola Canawati said earlier this month.
A visitor from France, Mona Riewer, said that “I came because I wanted to better understand what people in Palestine are going through, and you can sense people have been through a very hard time.”
Although friends and family cautioned her against coming due to the volatile situation, Riewer said being in Bethlehem helped her appreciate the meaning of the holiday.
“Christmas is like hope in very dark situations, a very vulnerable child experiencing harshness,” she said.
Despite the Gaza ceasefire that began in October, tensions remain high across much of the West Bank.
Israel’s military continues to carry out frequent raids in what it says is a crackdown on militants. Attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians have reached their highest level since the United Nations humanitarian office started collecting data in 2006. Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war.
The internationally recognized Palestinian Authority has limited autonomy in parts of the territory, including Bethlehem. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to attend midnight Mass for the first time in two years, the mayor said.
As poverty and unemployment have soared, about 4,000 people have left Bethlehem in search of work, the mayor said. It’s part of a worrying trend for Christians, who are leaving the region in droves.
Christians account for less than 2 percent of the West Bank’s roughly 3 million residents. Across the Middle East, the Christian population has steadily declined as people have fled conflict and attacks.
Return to normal life
Fadi Zoughbi, who previously worked overseeing logistics for tour groups, said his children were ecstatic to see marching bands streaming through Bethlehem’s streets.
The scouts represent cities and towns across the West Bank, with Palestinian flags and tartan draped on their bagpipes, drummers spinning mallets adorned with pompoms. For the past two years, the scouts marched silently as a protest against the war.
Irene Kirmiz, who grew up in Bethlehem and now lives in Ramallah, said the scout parade is among her favorite Christmas traditions. Her 15-year-old daughter plays the tenor drum with the Ramallah scouts.
But her family had to wake up at 5 a.m. to arrive in time for the parade and waited upwards of three hours at Israeli checkpoints. The drive previously took 40 minutes without the checkpoints that have increasingly made travel difficult for Palestinians, she said.
“It’s very emotional seeing people trying to bounce back, trying to celebrate peace and love,” Kirmiz said.
The Israeli Ministry of Tourism estimates 130,000 tourists will visit Israel by the end of December, including 40,000 Christians. In 2019, a banner year for tourism before the pandemic, the tourism ministry said 150,000 Christian tourists visited during Christmas week alone.
During the previous two years, the heads of churches in Jerusalem urged congregations to forgo “any unnecessarily festive activities.” They encouraged priests and the faithful to focus on Christmas’ spiritual meaning and called for “fervent prayers for a just and lasting peace for our beloved Holy Land.”
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Israel accuses Hamas of violating Gaza truce
December 24, 2025
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Israel would retaliate after a military officer was wounded by a blast ?in Gaza, while Hamas denied responsibility, suggesting the explosive device had been left over from the conflict.
In a speech at a graduation ceremony for Air Force pilots, Netanyahu mentioned the incident in Rafah, part of Gaza where Israeli forces still operate, and said Hamas had made clear it had no plan to disarm as foreseen under the October truce deal.
“Israel will respond accordingly,” he said.
The Israeli military earlier said that an explosive device had detonated against a military vehicle in the Rafah area and that one officer had been lightly injured.
Hamas said the incident had taken place in an ?area where the Israeli ?military was in full control and that it had warned ?that explosives ?remained ?in the ?area and elsewhere since the war, reiterating its commitment to the October 10 ceasefire.
Hamas official Mahmoud Merdawi said in an earlier post on X that mediators had been informed about the issue.
Meeting in Cairo
A 20-point plan issued by US President Donald Trump in September calls for an initial truce followed by steps toward a wider peace. So far, only the first phase has taken effect, including a ceasefire, release of hostages and prisoners, and a partial Israeli withdrawal.
An Israeli delegation met officials from mediating countries in ?Cairo on Wednesday to discuss efforts to return the remains of the last Israeli hostage, police officer Ran Gvili, from Gaza, Netanyahu’s ?office said later on Wednesday.
The delegation included officials from the ?Israeli military, the Shin Bet domestic intelligence service ?and the Mossad intelligence service.
Trump’s plan ultimately calls for Hamas to disarm and have no governing role ?in Gaza, and for Israel to pull out. Hamas has said it will hand over arms only once a Palestinian state is established, which Israel says it will never allow.
Violence has subsided but not stopped since the Gaza truce took effect, with the sides regularly accusing each other of violations. Gaza’s health ministry says Israel ?has killed more than 400 people in the territory while Israel says three soldiers have been killed in militant attacks.
Hamas “openly declares it has no intention of disarming, in complete ?contradiction to President Trump’s 20-point plan,” Netanyahu said.
Hezbollah warning
Netanyahu said Hezbollah in Lebanon, which Israel severely weakened in strikes last year that also ended in a US-brokered truce, also had no intention to disarm “and we are addressing that as well.”
Israel still needs to settle accounts with Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen as well as Iran itself, he added.
“As these old threats change form, new threats arise morning and evening. We do not seek confrontations, but our eyes are open to every possible danger,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu is set to meet with Trump next week, mainly to discuss the next phase of the US president’s Gaza plan.
Hamas said in a statement later on Wednesday that a delegation led by its chief negotiator Khalil Al-Hayya had discussed Gaza with Turkiye’s foreign minister in Ankara.
Al-Hayya warned against what he described as the continuation ?of Israeli violations of the ceasefire, saying they were aimed at hindering the move to the next phase of the ceasefire deal.
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Turkiye, Hamas discuss Gaza ceasefire deal’s second phase
December 24, 2025
ANKARA: Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Wednesday ?met with Hamas political bureau officials in Ankara to discuss the ceasefire in Gaza and advancing the ?agreement to ?its ?second ?phase, ?a ?Turkish Foreign Ministry source said.
The source said the Hamas officials told Fidan that they had fulfilled ?their requirements as ?part of the ?ceasefire ?deal, but that Israel’s ?continued targeting of Gaza aimed to prevent the agreement from ?moving to the next phase.
The Hamas members ?also said humanitarian aid entering Gaza was not sufficient, and that goods like medication, equipment for housing, and fuel were needed, the source ?added.
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Arab World
Saudi Arabia condemns militant attack on Pakistani police
December 24, 2025
RIYADH: The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday has condemned an attack that targeted Pakistani police in the country's northwest, killing five personnel.
Five Pakistani police personnel were killed on Tuesday when their van was ambushed in a bombing and shooting attack claimed by the militant Pakistani Taliban.
“The Kingdom reiterates its total rejection of all terrorist and extremist acts and its condemnation of attempts to undermine the security and stability of Pakistan and it’s brotherly people,” a statement by the foreign ministry said.
The ministry also expressed the kingdom’s “sincere condolences and sympathy to the families of the victims and to the government and people of Pakistan in this painful loss.”
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Commander of Royal Saudi Air Force receives Military Order of Oman
December 24, 2025
LONDON: Lt. Gen. Turki bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, the commander of the Royal Saudi Air Force, received on Wednesday the Military Order of Oman (Second Class) in recognition of his efforts and contributions in strengthening military cooperation between Oman and Saudi Arabia.
The order was presented by Sayyid Shihab bin Tarik Al-Said, the deputy prime minister for defense affairs, when he received the Saudi Air Force commander in his office at Al-Murtafa’a Camp in Muscat.
Sultan Haitham bin Tariq of Oman conferred the order upon Lt. Gen. Abdulaziz, according to the Oman News Agency.
Several Omani officials, including Air Vice Marshal Khamis bin Hammad Al-Ghafri, the Commander of the Royal Air Force of Oman, attended the ceremony. Also present were the Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Oman Ibrahim bin Saad bin Bishan, and the military attache from the Saudi Embassy in Muscat.
In a separate meeting on Wednesday, Lt. Gen. Abdulaziz and his Omani counterpart Al-Ghafri discussed training and drills between the two air forces, as well as aspects of military cooperation.
Source: arabnews.com
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Former UAE ambassador to Saudi Arabia receives King Abdulaziz Second-Class Scarf
December 24, 2025
LONDON: The Saudi Ambassador to the UAE Sultan bin Abdullah Al-Anqari presented the King Abdulaziz Second-Class Scarf to Sheikh Nahyan bin Saif Al-Nahyan, the former UAE ambassador to the Kingdom.
The award at the Saudi Embassy in Abu Dhabi was for Sheikh Nahyan’s efforts to develop and strengthen relations between the two countries during his tenure in the Kingdom.
Sheikh Nahyan is currently the deputy minister of state in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the UAE.
The presentation was made in accordance with an order issued by King Salman. Several Saudi and Emirati diplomats and officials attended it on Wednesday.
Source: arabnews.com
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Saudi Arabia’s Sharaan and Wadi Nakhlah nature reserves win Dark Sky recognition
December 25, 2025
ALULA: Two more nature reserves in Saudi Arabia’s AlUla have won recognition as Dark Sky Places, joining more than 250 locations worldwide that are protected from light pollution.
The official accreditation of Sharaan National Park and Wadi Nakhlah reserves from the DarkSky International builds on AlUla’s 2024 achievement, when AlUla Manara and AlGharameel Nature Reserve became the first sites in the Kingdom and the Gulf region to receive Dark Sky Park designations.
The latest recognition further strengthens AlUla’s position as a leading global destination for night sky protection and astronomical tourism, said the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
Dark Sky International also announced the recognition in an earlier report, noting that the Sharaan and Wadi Nakhlah’s combined area of 6,146 square kilometers reflects the “expanded scope of environmental protection efforts aimed at preserving AlUla’s pristine night skies and reducing light pollution across a vast geographical area.”
DarkSky International works to reduce light pollution in both urban and rural areas and to raise global awareness of the importance of protecting the night sky.
AlUla’s protected areas are located in the heart of northwest Arabia, near the ancient oasis city of AlUla in Madinah Province.
“Towering sandstone cliffs, labyrinthine canyons, tranquil basins, and volcanic formations create a dramatic setting where geological diversity, cultural heritage, and thriving biodiversity converge beneath exceptionally dark, open skies,” Dark Sky said.
Scientists have noted that AlUla’s natural isolation from urban light sources, combined with ideal atmospheric conditions, makes it a world-class destination for stargazing, astronomy education, and immersive dark-sky experiences.
With the phased development of its reserves, AlUla is now ranked 3rd globally in the Dark Sky Park category, solidifying its status as one of the world’s premier destinations for astronomical discovery.
The RCU reaffirmed its commitment to protecting the natural environment, preserving the night sky, and promoting sustainable tourism, further positioning AlUla as a leading global destination for astronomy, scientific research, and advanced environmental experiences, in line with AlUla Vision and the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.
Source: arabnews.com
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How chefs in Saudi Arabia are reimagining Christmas classics with local ingredients
NADA HAMEED AND RAHAF JAMBI
December 24, 2025
JEDDAH/RIYADH: Across the Kingdom, chefs are reimagining traditional Christmas dishes by infusing them with local flavors, ingredients and narratives, offering festive menus that blend global culinary traditions with Saudi Arabia identity.
From hotel lobbies in Jeddah and Riyadh to refined Arabic flavors and dessert plates inspired by the Kingdom’s southern regions, the trend reflects a growing confidence among Saudi chefs to reinterpret international occasions through a local lens.
Saudi pastry chef and chocolatier Rida Al-Amri is among those leading the movement. This season, he is overseeing the Christmas lobby display at Assilah Hotel in Jeddah, while also preparing festive brunch and New Year offerings for guests.
Al-Amri said the concept emerged from a desire to create a festive experience that feels both familiar and rooted in place.
“The idea came from our desire to offer a unique experience that combines the global festive spirit of Christmas with the rich Saudi identity,” he told Arab News. “We wanted guests to feel they are celebrating an international occasion, but in the spirit of the place they are in.”
For this year’s menus, Al-Amri is incorporating locally sourced ingredients, including Saudi spices, dates and varieties of local honey, blending them into classic Christmas dishes with a contemporary approach that respects the original flavors.
Beyond the menus, Al-Amri is also responsible for designing the hotel’s festive lobby display, a process he says depends on subtle detail rather than overt symbolism.
“The balance lies in the details,” he said. “We keep the essential Christmas elements like colors and lighting, while adding touches inspired by Saudi culture, such as patterns, materials or heritage symbols, presented in an elegant and indirect way.”
He said what distinguishes this year’s Christmas and New Year brunches is the emphasis on a holistic experience.
“This year focuses on a complete experience, not just the food, but also presentation, variety and guest interaction,” Al-Amri said. “The menus have been carefully crafted, integrating new flavors and local touches, with close attention to visual details.”
He added that adaptations require respect for diversity. “The challenge lies in maintaining the identity of the global dish while adjusting the flavors to suit local tastes,” he said.
He said Saudi chefs today play an expanding role as cultural ambassadors. The dish that best represents this philosophy, Al-Amri said, is a festive plum cake made with dates.
“I am offering it this year because it embodies the concept of the entire menu, a mix of a global recipe with a clear Saudi touch,” he said.
A similarly personal and culturally rooted approach defines the work of Asma Al-Khan, a Saudi chef and Le Cordon Bleu Paris graduate, whose Christmas-inspired dessert was shaped by family experience and regional inspiration.
“This dish was born from a personal experience, not only for Christmas dinner,” Al-Khan told Arab News. “My daughter has celiac disease, and I wanted to create a gluten-free dessert that is truly safe, without compromising flavor.”
Al-Khan drew inspiration from southern Saudi Arabia, while applying classical French techniques. “The biggest challenge was balancing kadi in a dessert,” she said. “Achieving that harmony became a moment of success.”
Known as Hidden Honey, the gluten-free dessert features layered elements including gavotte honey, millet and pecan sponge, millet crumble, orange gel, kadi cream, bee pollen and honey tuile.
For Lebanese chef Joseph Bazi, Christmas in Saudi Arabia is not about recreating traditions exactly but reimagining them.
Growing up with rich Levantine flavors, Bazi wanted to create something that speaks to both Christmas nostalgia and Middle Eastern identity.
One of his standout creations is Mohamara Mont Blanc, a surprising twist on the classic French dessert. Instead of chestnuts, he uses mohamara, the beloved Levantine bell pepper and walnut spread, transforming it into a refined, creamy dish with just enough heat and depth.
“I wanted to take a flavor everyone in the region knows and elevate it into something unexpected,” Bazi told Arab News.
“Christmas is the perfect moment to play with comfort and creativity.”
He followed it with Kunafa Creme Brulee, a dish that instantly captured attention. Crispy kunafa strands replaces the traditional sugar crust, while the custard underneath stays silky and classic, bridging East and West in one spoonful.
“Kunafa is emotional,” he said. “Everyone has a memory with it. Turning it into a creme brulee makes it festive, modern, and still deeply familiar.”
For Bazi, these dishes reflect how Christmas is celebrated in Saudi Arabia today — intimate, multicultural, and driven by food that tells a story.
“In Saudi Arabia, Christmas isn’t about one tradition,” he added. “It’s about people coming together, sharing flavors, and creating new memories around the table.”
Source: arabnews.com
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Saudi deputy ministers meet El Salvador, Uzbekistan envoys
December 24, 2025
Saudi Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Economic and Development Affairs Abdullah bin Zarah received Ambassador of El Salvador to the Kingdom Ricardo Ernesto Cucalon Levy in Riyadh, the Foreign Ministry said on X on Wednesday.
Separately, Saudi Deputy Minister for Consular Affairs Ehab Al-Najjar recently met with Deputy Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan Olimjon Abdullaev in Riyadh.
During the meetings, all sides discussed bilateral relations and reviewed various topics of mutual interest.
Source: arabnews.com
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Riyadh exhibition brings Saudi and Chinese contemporary art into dialogue
December 24, 2025
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Culture has announced that the Common Ground Festival, produced by Benchmark, will take place from Dec. 24, 2025 to Jan. 6, 2026 at Misk City, Riyadh.
The exhibition celebrates the Saudi-Chinese Cultural Year 2025 and 35 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
The Sigg Art Foundation presents “When the Wind Turns East,” a landmark exhibition as part of the festival, featuring works by more than 60 contemporary artists from Saudi Arabia and China.
Among the works on display are significant pieces from the Uli Sigg Collection composed of Chinese contemporary art and the Pierre Sigg Collection of Saudi contemporary art, alongside works from other important collections and directly from artists’ studios.
The Uli Sigg Collection, one of the most comprehensive assemblages of Chinese contemporary art in the world, chronicles the evolution of Chinese artistic practice from the late 20th century to the present.
Uli Sigg, former Swiss ambassador to China, began collecting in the 1980s, with much of his collection donated to Hong Kong’s M+ museum.
The Pierre Sigg Collection encompasses a large body of works, from Modern Art and Post War work to very young artists.
It also documents the dynamic evolution of Saudi artistic practice, capturing a generation of Saudi artists engaging with heritage, innovation, and contemporary identity.
Founded by Pierre Sigg, the collection represents a commitment to preserving and promoting Saudi contemporary art.
“For these two collections to contribute to this exhibition in Riyadh, at a moment celebrating Saudi-Chinese cultural exchange, feels like a natural evolution of what we have always believed: that art transcends borders and speaks a universal language,” Pierre Sigg said.
Among the 60-plus artists presented in “When the Wind Turns East,” these works from the Uli Sigg and Pierre Sigg collections exemplify the exhibition’s dialogue between Saudi and Chinese contemporary art:
From the Pierre Sigg Collection (Saudi artists): Nabila Abuljadayel — The Kiswa, Threads of Faith Crafted in Silk; Manal Al-Dowayan — The Emerging VIII, acrylic on natural linen; Lulwah Al-Homoud — The Language of Existence Series – Al Qudous, mixed media archival paper; and Rashed Al-Shashai — Brand 5, lightbox and mixed media.
From the Uli Sigg Collection (Chinese artists): Gao Weigang — Mountainside, oil on canvas; and Xue Feng — Domains, oil on canvas.
These works, alongside pieces by more than 55 other artists, span painting, textile, photography, sculpture, mixed media, and light-based installation, reflecting the extraordinary diversity of contemporary practice in both artistic communities.
“When the Wind Turns East” is the art centerpiece of the Common Ground Festival, a multidisciplinary cultural celebration exploring Saudi-Chinese exchange through visual arts, performing arts, culinary traditions, and craft demonstrations.
Source: arabnews.com
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Saudi hospital pioneers preventive type 1 diabetes treatment
December 24, 2025
RIYADH: King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center introduced a groundbreaking preventive treatment aimed at slowing the progression of type 1 diabetes, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Wednesday.
The new therapy is designed for adults and children aged eight years and older who are diagnosed at stage two of the disease. It marks the first time such a treatment has been implemented in the Kingdom.
The initial application involved two patients who met all the criteria outlined in the approved protocol. The step represents a major advance in early preventive care for one of the most common autoimmune conditions affecting children and adolescents.
Both cases were treated at the hospital’s Department of Pediatrics. For families already managing type 1 diabetes, the innovation brings new hope.
Siblings of affected children often face increased risk due to shared genetic and immune factors. Preventive options like this could significantly lower those risks in the future.
The treatment targets the early, pre-type 1 diabetes stage when insulin-producing pancreatic cells begin to deteriorate. Through early intervention, doctors can slow this damage, delay the onset of symptoms and help extend the time before full disease progression.
Implementing the therapy required careful preparation. The drug was compounded in the hospital pharmacy under a precise protocol, while nursing teams received training on administration, monitoring and managing possible reactions.
Medical staff were also briefed on patient selection and follow-up criteria based on the latest clinical guidelines.
According to the SPA, experts expect the program to inspire national research focused on the early stages of the disease and on developing preventive approaches that enhance quality of life for at-risk groups.
KFSH&RC continues to gain recognition on the global stage. It was ranked first in the Middle East and Africa, and 15th worldwide among the top 250 academic medical centers for 2025.
The hospital was also named the most valuable healthcare brand in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East by Brand Finance 2025.
Additionally, Newsweek included KFSH&RC on its lists of the World’s Best Hospitals (2025), the World’s Smartest Hospitals (2026) and the World’s Best Specialized Hospitals (2026).
Source: arabnews.com
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Smart mangrove restoration initiative launched along the beaches of Rabigh
December 24, 2025
JEDDAH: An initiative to plant 400,000 mangrove trees along the beaches of Rabigh that will be digitally monitored was launched by Governor Khalid Al-Mubairik.
The scheme involves the Makkah branches of the National Center for Vegetation Cover Development and Combating Desertification, the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, and the environmental consultancy Netzero, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
According to the SPA, the initiative seeks to expand vegetation cover, mitigate the effects of climate change, and enhance carbon absorption, thereby directly supporting the objectives of the Saudi Green Initiative, which aims to increase green cover, protect the natural environment, and advance the Kingdom’s transition toward net-zero carbon emissions, while serving as a model for smart afforestation solutions grounded in impact measurement and enhanced transparency.
The initiative builds on a previous effort launched last November, which aimed to plant 175,000 digitally monitored mangrove trees with an estimated carbon absorption capacity of up to 21,000 tonnes over six years, raising the combined goal of both initiatives to 400,000 digitally monitored mangrove trees.
The two initiatives will be implemented in partnership with the private sector through an integrated model that reflects public-private collaboration and strengthens the role of high-quality initiatives in advancing environmental sustainability, in line with the objectives of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.
Source: arabnews.com
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Europe
Two found guilty of planning mass attack on Jews in England
By Vivek Mishra
Dec 24, 2025
TWO men were found guilty on Tuesday of plotting to kill hundreds of people in an Islamic State-inspired gun attack targeting the Jewish community in England, a case investigators said highlights renewed concerns about the militant group.
Police and prosecutors said Walid Saadaoui, 38, and Amar Hussein, 52, were Islamic extremists who planned to use automatic firearms to kill as many Jews as possible. Their trial began a week after an unrelated fatal attack on a synagogue in the northwest city of Manchester in October.
Had the plan been carried out, it would have been “one of, if not the, deadliest terrorist attacks in UK history”, said Assistant Chief Constable Robert Potts, who leads Counter-Terrorism Policing in northwest England.
The convictions come little more than a week after a mass shooting at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration on Sydney’s Bondi Beach that killed 15 people. Islamic State said the Australian attacks were a “source of pride”. While the group did not claim responsibility, its reaction has raised concerns about a rise in violent Islamist extremism.
European security officials say Islamic State does not pose the same threat as it did a decade ago, when it controlled large areas of Iraq and Syria, but warn that it and affiliated al Qaeda groups are again seeking to inspire attacks abroad through online radicalisation.
“You can see signs of some of those terrorism threats starting to grow again and starting to escalate,” British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said last week.
Two men prepared to become martyrs
Prosecutors told jurors that Saadaoui and Hussein had “embraced the views” of Islamic State and were prepared to risk their own lives to become “martyrs”.
Prosecutor Harpreet Sandhu said Saadaoui had arranged for two assault rifles, an automatic pistol and almost 200 rounds of ammunition to be smuggled into Britain through the port of Dover when he was arrested in May 2024. Sandhu said Saadaoui also planned to obtain two more rifles, another pistol and at least 900 rounds of ammunition.
Police said the plan never came close to being carried out because the man Saadaoui was trying to source the weapons from, known as “Farouk”, was an undercover operative.
Sandhu said the assault rifles Saadaoui sought were similar to those used in the 2015 attack on the Bataclan concert hall in Paris that killed 130 people. He said Saadaoui “hero-worshipped” Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who coordinated that attack.
Saadaoui said in a message to “Farouk” that the Paris attack was “the biggest operation after that of Osama (bin Laden)”, an apparent reference to the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.
“Based on Walid’s communications and interactions with the undercover operative, and some of the things he said, that made it very clear that he regarded a less sophisticated attack with less lethal weaponry as not being good enough,” Potts said.
“Because, in effect, it was his role and his duty to kill as many Jewish people as he could, and that wasn’t going to be achieved via the use of a knife or, for example, potentially a vehicle as a weapon.”
Both Saadaoui and Hussein pleaded not guilty. Saadaoui said he had played along with the plot out of fear for his life. Hussein did not give evidence and was largely absent from the trial after shouting from the dock on the first day, “how many babies?”, an apparent reference to Israel’s war in Gaza.
They were convicted at Preston Crown Court on a single charge of preparing terrorist acts.
Walid Saadaoui’s brother, Bilel Saadaoui, 36, was found guilty of failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism, although prosecutors said he had been reluctant to join the plot.
Islamic State threat growing
The case is the latest in Britain and elsewhere to be inspired by Islamic State, which emerged in Iraq and Syria a decade ago and declared a “caliphate”, largely displacing al Qaeda.
At its height from 2014 to 2017, the group controlled large areas of both countries, ruled over millions of people and imposed a strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law. Its fighters also carried out or inspired attacks in dozens of cities worldwide, often claiming responsibility even when there was no direct link.
The SITE Intelligence Group said after the Bondi Beach attack in Australia that Islamic State had encouraged Muslims to take action elsewhere, particularly highlighting Belgium.
A European intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Islamic State was flooding social media with propaganda. While this influenced only a small number of people, it had led to more terrorism investigations than last year.
Ken McCallum, head of Britain’s domestic intelligence agency MI5, said in October that the security services had stopped 19 late-stage attack plots since the start of 2020 and disrupted hundreds of other terrorism threats.
“Terrorism breeds in squalid corners of the internet where poisonous ideologies, of whatever sort, meet volatile, often chaotic individual lives,” McCallum said.
Source: easterneye.biz
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Zelensky issues veiled insult at Putin in ‘Christmas’ address
24 Dec, 2025
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky used his Christmas Eve address to wish for a certain unnamed man, presumably Russian President Vladimir Putin, “to perish,” before urging Ukrainians to pray for a greater wish – peace for the country.
In a video message published on Wednesday on his Telegram channel, Zelensky linked his remarks to Russian strikes on Ukrainian territory and framed the holiday as a moment of national unity.
“Today, we all share one dream … ‘May he perish,’ each of us may think to ourselves,” Zelensky said, in a veiled reference to the Russian president, without naming him.
“But when we turn to God, of course, we ask for something greater,” he added.
Despite the ongoing Russia-US efforts to reach a peaceful settlement to the conflict, Zelensky and Kiev’s European backers have been undermining the process by repeatedly making unacceptable demands.
On Wednesday, Zelensky unveiled a 20-point draft peace framework which he claims Kiev has been discussing with the US, presenting the document as a proposed basis for ending the hostilities.
The proposal fails to address some key Russian concerns, such as Kiev’s claims to former Ukrainian territories that joined Russia in 2022, and its insistence on maintaining an 800,000-strong standing army supported by NATO nations.
Moscow has yet to officially respond to the proposal. Putin has repeatedly stated that Russia is open to negotiations but insists that any settlement must address the root causes of the conflict and reflect the territorial reality on the ground.
Ukraine used to celebrate Christmas on January 7 in line with Orthodox tradition, but in 2023 Zelensky proposed observing the holiday on December 25, like in Catholic and Protestant churches. He claimed that the move would help “abandon the Russian heritage… reject Russian traditions, and fortify national unity in Ukraine.”
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) said it will not abide by the order to celebrate Christmas on a new date. Ukraine has been experiencing religious tensions for years, with the Kiev government openly supporting the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU), which the UOC and Russian Orthodox Church view as schismatic.
Last year, Zelensky signed legislation allowing the state to ban religious organizations affiliated with governments that the Ukrainian authorities deem “aggressors,” effectively banning the UOC, which Kiev accuses of links with Moscow. A number of UOC properties have been seized and criminal cases opened against some of its clerics since the escalation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in February 2022.
Source: rt.com
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Muslim gravestone at Lancaster cemetery daubed in Star of David graffiti
Jon Macpherson
24 Dec 2025
Police have launched a 'hate crime' investigation after a Muslim gravestone at a cemetery in Lancaster was vandalised.
Officers were called to Scotforth Cemetery, to reports that a gravestone in the Muslim section of the graveyard had been daubed with a Star of David in yellow spray paint.
The Star of David is recognised as a powerful symbol of Judaism and the Jewish identity.
The incident happened overnight on Thursday, December 18, and an appeal has been launched to identify the offenders.
In a statement on Facebook today (December 24), Lancaster Area Police said: "We’re asking for your help after receiving a report of criminal damage in Scotforth Cemetery. It’s reported that a grave stone in the Muslim section of the graveyard had yellow spray paint sprayed on it.
"The criminal damage was thought to have happened overnight on Thursday 18th December. We’ve included an image of the headstone, so that you can see the extent of the damage caused.
"We are taking this report incredibly seriously, and any hate crime will not be tolerated in Lancashire. If you have any information that could assist our enquiries, please get in touch.
"If you have CCTV or dashcam that covers the cemetery that you think we need to see, please let us know. You can get in touch on 101 quoting log 0338 of 21st December."
Commenting on the post, one person said: "Nobody should have their grave defaced, nor should remembrance cenotaph’s be targeted. Unfortunately people can’t keep their opinions to themselves."
Another said: "An absolute disgrace, we don’t want this in our community." A third wrote: "Disgusting, total morons."
Source: lancs.live
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'Deep upset' as vile graffiti sprayed on walls of Muslim centre in Manchester
Ashlie Blakey
24 Dec 2025
A charity has described the 'deep upset' after vile graffiti was sprayed on the walls of a Muslim centre in Manchester. The graffiti was sprayed in red on the external walls of the British Muslim Heritage Centre (BMHC) on College in Whalley Range. It included a vile anti-Islamic slur and a star.
The Manchester Evening News has chosen not to repeat the slur and to blur photos of the graffiti. Leaders at the BMHC described the graffiti as 'hateful and deeply upsetting' but praised the wider community for coming together in the wake of the incident.
Greater Manchester Police have been informed, the charity said in a post on Facebook, and are 'taking the incident seriously'. The charity said neighbours have also 'reached out' after seeing the graffiti on the walls of the grade II listed building.
In full, the post on the BMHC Facebook page on Tuesday evening (December 23), said: "Following the vile graffiti attack on the external walls of the British Muslim Heritage Centre, we would like to offer our heartfelt thanks to our local neighbours, councillors, council officers, and Greater Manchester Police for the swift action and support shown.
"The messages painted were hateful and deeply upsetting, but the response from the wider community has been reassuring. The kindness and solidarity we have received have meant a great deal to all BMHC stakeholders.
"We are especially grateful to the police for taking the incident seriously and to the council for their support and guidance. Thank you also to neighbours who reached out, offered help, and made it clear that hatred and intimidation have no place in Whalley Range.
"BMHC exists to promote understanding, heritage, and community cohesion. Coming together at these times gives us the strength to continue with the excellent work being done and is a testament to how strong our local community is, when we stand together. Thank you again to everyone who has shown support. It has not gone unnoticed."
According to the website, the BMHC is a 'vibrant cultural hub and charity dedicated to showcasing Islam's rich history, fostering community cohesion, and providing educational, social, and economic opportunities for Muslims and the wider public'.
GMP's City of Manchester Neighbourhood Inspector Ian Haselden said: "We are aware of a report of graffiti that appeared outside a premises on College Road, Whalley Range. Following the report, neighbourhood officers attended to provide reassurance and support to the community, as well as working with the premises to establish lines of enquiry.
"There is absolutely no place in our communities for hate speech or discrimination in any form. We take incidents of this nature extremely seriously and if you have any information which may assist, please contact the police by calling 101 quoting log 1099 of 15.12.25."
Source: manchestereveningnews.co.uk
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Zelensky moves towards demilitarised zones in latest peace plan for Ukraine
Paul Kirby
24 Dec 2025
Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky has given details of an updated peace plan offering Russia the potential withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the east and the creation of a demilitarised zone in their place.
Detailing the 20-point plan agreed by US and Ukrainian envoys in Florida at the weekend, Zelensky said the Russians would respond on Wednesday once the Americans had spoken to them.
Describing the plan as "the main framework for ending the war", he said it proposed security guarantees from the US, Nato and Europeans for a co-ordinated military response if Russia invaded Ukraine again.
On the key question of Ukraine's eastern Donbas, Zelensky said a "free economic zone" was a potential option.
He told journalists that as Ukraine was against withdrawal, US negotiators were looking to establish a demilitarised zone or a free economic zone. Any area that Ukrainian troops pulled out of would have to be policed by Ukraine, he stressed.
"There are two options," Zelensky said, "either the war continues, or something will have to be decided regarding all potential economic zones."
The 20-point plan is seen as an update of an original 28-point document, agreed by US envoy Steve Witkoff with the Russians several weeks ago, which was widely seen as heavily geared towards the Kremlin's demands.
The Russians have insisted that Ukraine pulls out of almost a quarter of its own territory in the eastern Donetsk region in return for a peace deal. The rest is already under Russian occupation.
Sensitive issues including questions over territory would have to be resolved "at the leaders' level", but the new draft would provide Ukraine with strong security guarantees and a military strength of 800,000, Zelensky explained.
Much of the updated plan resembles what came out of recent talks in Berlin involving US negotiators Witkoff and Jared Kushner with Ukrainian and European leaders. The setting then moved to Miami last weekend where US President Donald Trump's team spoke separately to Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev and then Ukrainian and European officials.
There now appears to be far more detail on the territorial issue, although it is clear the Ukrainian side was unable to reach a consensus with the Americans.
Zelensky explained that if Ukraine was prepared to pull its heavy forces back by five, 10 or 40km in the 25% of Donetsk it still held to create an economic zone, making it virtually demilitarised, then Russia would have to do the same "accordingly by five, 10, or 40km".
Russian troops are currently about 40km (25 miles) east of Ukraine's "fortress belt" cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, having captured the town of Siversk.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is unlikely to be impressed by the kind of compromise being proposed for Donetsk. He said this month that Russia would take control of the entire east of Ukraine by force if Ukrainian troops did not pull out.
However, Trump is pushing for a deal to end almost four years of full-scale war and the Ukrainian president believes Russia cannot afford to reject the US plan.
"They cannot tell President Trump, 'look we're against a peaceful settlement'," Zelensky told reporters. "If they try to obstruct everything, then President Trump would have to arm us heavily, while imposing all possible sanctions against them."
Zelensky made clear that if a free economic zone were established in Donetsk it would have to be under Ukrainian administration and police - "definitely not the so-called Russian police". The current front line would then become the boundary of the economic zone with international forces on the ground along the contact line to ensure no Russian infiltration.
Russia has so far rejected a European proposal to police any peace deal through a Coalition of the Willing as a "brazen threat".
A referendum would need to be held on the whole peace plan, Zelensky said, and only a referendum could decide on the idea of a potential free economic zone in Donbas.
He emphasised that an economic zone would also have to be set up around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant currently occupied by Russia, and that Russian troops would have to pull out of four other Ukrainian regions - Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Sumy, and Kharkiv.
The current US proposal for the nuclear plant would be for Ukraine, the US and Russia to operate it jointly, but Kyiv disagreed with that, Zelensky said.
The main points of the plan reaffirm Ukraine's sovereignty and propose a non-aggression pact between Russia and its neighbour with a monitoring mechanism.
As well as strong security guarantees mirroring Nato's Article Five, which requires members to aid an ally under attack, Ukraine is to be allowed a maximum military strength of 800,000 in peacetime.
Discussions are still going on over a US plan to receive compensation in return for security guarantees, so Zelensky says it is not currently part of the document.
There is no reference barring Ukraine from joining Nato, which was in the original 28-point plan and something Russia has consistently demanded.
And the latest framework proposes that Ukraine joins the European Union with a defined date of accession. It is currently a candidate, but a number of other candidate countries are seen as first in line, such as Albania.
There are plans for a Ukraine investment fund of about $200bn (£150bn) involving both the US and Europe.
Among the other points is a requirement for Ukraine to hold elections as soon as possible after the deal is signed. Russia and the US have both pushed for a vote, even though Ukraine is under martial law because of the full-scale invasion.
Source: bbc.com
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https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9d9wg2pwl1o
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Algerian law declares France's colonisation a crime
24 Dec 2025
Farouk Chothia
Algeria's parliament has unanimously passed a law declaring France's colonisation of the North African state a crime, and demanding an apology and reparations.
The law also criminalises the glorification of colonialism, state-run TV reports.
The vote is the latest sign of increasingly strained diplomatic relations between the two countries, with some observers saying they are at their lowest since Algeria gained independence 63 years ago.
France's colonisation of Algeria between 1830 and 1962 was marked by mass killings, large-scale deportations and ended in a bloody war of independence. Algeria says the war killed 1.5 million people, while French historians put the death toll much lower.
France's President Emmanuel Macron has previously acknowledged the colonisation of Algeria was a "crime against humanity" but has not offered an apology.
Lawmakers wore scarves in the colours of the national flag and chanted "long live Algeria" as they applauded the bill's passage through parliament, AFP news agency reports.
It says the legislation states that France has "legal responsibility" for the "tragedies it caused", and "full and fair" compensation was an "inalienable right of the Algerian state and people".
France has not yet commented on the vote.
It comes at a time of growing pressure on Western powers to offer reparations for slavery and colonialism, and to return looted artefacts still kept in their museums.
Algerian lawmakers have been demanding that France return a 16th Century bronze canon, known as Baba Merzoug, meaning "Blessed Father", that was regarded as the protector of Algiers, now Algeria's capital.
French forces captured the city in 1830, on their third attempt, and removed the cannon - which is now in the port city of Brest in north-western France.
In 2020, France returned the remains of 24 Algerian fighters who were killed resisting French colonial forces in the 19th Century.
Last month, Algeria hosted a conference of African states to push for justice and reparations.
Algeria's Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf said that a legal framework would ensure that restitution was neither regarded as "a gift nor a favour".
Diplomatic relations between between Algeria and France soured last year, when Macron announced France was recognising Moroccan sovereignty of Western Sahara and backed a plan for limited autonomy for the disputed territory.
Algeria backs the pro-independence Polisario Front in Western Sahara and is seen as its main ally.
French-Algerian novelist Boualem Sansal was then arrested at Algiers airport in and jailed for five years, before being pardoned by Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune last month.
Prosecutors said he had undermined national security for making remarks that questioned Algeria's borders.
Source: bbc.com
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https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c14vdpyj1vjo
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Two police officers killed in explosion in Moscow
24 Dec 2025
Gabriela Pomeroy
Three people - including two police officers - have been killed in an explosion in Moscow, Russian authorities have said.
Two traffic police officers saw a "suspicious individual" near a police car on the city's Yeletskaya Street, and when they approached the suspect to detain him, an explosive device was detonated, Russia's Investigative Committee has said.
Reports in Russia say the third person killed was the suspect, but this has not been officially confirmed.
The blast took place close to the location where a senior Russian general was killed in a car bombing in the capital on Monday. Lt Gen Fanil Sarvarov died after an explosive device - which had been planted under a car - was detonated.
Investigate Committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko said in a statement on Telegram that a criminal case was being investigated in Moscow "regarding an attempt on the lives of traffic police officers".
The officers have been named by Russian media as Ilya Klimanov, 24, and Maxim Gorbunov, 25.
Sources in Ukraine's military intelligence agency, HUR, told the BBC that a local resident, eliminated two representatives of the Russian law enforcement agency, "as a sign of disagreement with the Kremlin's aggressive policy" and said that a man "threw an explosive package through the car window, causing an explosion".
According to the HUR sources, two other people were taken to hospital with serious injuries.
Ukrainian military sources also told the BBC on Wednesday that the two officers killed had "participated in hostilities against Ukraine," and added there was "evidence of their involvement in the torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war".
There are no details and Moscow has not commented.
Speaking to Reuters news agency, Alexander, a resident who lives close by, said: "There was an explosion.
"It was loud bang - like with the car a few days ago."
Russia said it suspected Ukraine was behind Monday's explosion, without providing any evidence.
However Ukraine has not said whether it was involved in Fanil Sarvarov's death.
It is also not known whether the two explosions are linked.
Sarvarov, 56, was the head of the armed forces' operational training department.
He was the third military official to have been killed in bomb attacks in the Russian capital over the last year.
Source: bbc.com
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https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz68z3wn1e3o
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Ukraine talks must be behind closed doors – Kremlin
24 Dec, 2025
Any Ukraine peace talks should be held “behind closed doors” rather than through megaphone diplomacy, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
Speaking to Russian business daily RBK on Wednesday, Peskov declined to weigh in on a Bloomberg report claiming that Moscow is seeking changes to a 20-point peace plan draft, which was purportedly negotiated by US and Ukrainian delegations.
“No, there will be no comments here. We continue to believe that everything should be conducted behind closed doors,” he said.
On Wednesday, Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky unveiled a plan that would require Russian forces to withdraw from Ukraine’s Kharkov, Dnepropetrovsk, Sumy, and Nikolayev regions, while freezing the conflict along current front lines in Russia’s Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye, and Kherson regions. Zelensky has also demanded “Article 5-like” security guarantees from the US, NATO, and European states.
According to Bloomberg, Moscow views the 20-point peace plan as a “starting point for further negotiations” but “lack[ing] provisions important for Russia” and “fail[ing] to answer many questions.” Moscow in particular is reportedly seeking guarantees against future NATO expansion and on Ukraine’s neutral status if it joins the EU.
It also reportedly wants stricter limits on Ukrainian armed forces, while believing that the document does not provide clear assurances on the status of the Russian language in Ukraine. Bloomberg also reported that Russia wants clarity on the issue of removing sanctions and on frozen Russian state assets.
Zelensky’s roadmap is a far cry from the initial 28-point version of the US-drafted plan, which was leaked to the media last month. The plan reportedly required Kiev to relinquish parts of Russia’s Donbass region still under Ukrainian control, pledge not to join NATO, and cut the size of its armed forces. Kiev has repeatedly rejected any concessions.
Moscow has said the US-drafted document could serve as a basis for future negotiations. Russia maintains that a sustainable settlement is only possible if Ukraine recognizes new territorial realities and commits to neutrality, demilitarization, and denazification.
Source: rt.com
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https://www.rt.com/russia/629990-ukraine-talks-closed-doors-peskov/
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40% of Ukrainians think Zelensky involved in corruption – poll
25 Dec, 2025
Four in ten Ukrainians believe that Vladimir Zelensky was implicated in a large-scale corruption scandal in the energy sector involving a former long-time associate, a new poll has indicated.
The Zelensky administration and the Ukrainian leader have found themselves under increased scrutiny after anti-corruption authorities opened a case last month centering on charges against businessman Timur Mindich and several other senior officials over a $100 million kickback scheme.
Several ministers resigned following the scandal, including Andrey Yermak, Zelensky’s influential chief of staff, who was allegedly aware of the graft. Zelensky distanced himself from the controversy while publicly supporting law-enforcement action.
According to a Socis poll, 38.9% of respondents say Zelensky was “part” of the corruption, while 29.3% think he knew but did not take direct part, 18.8% believe he did not know, and 13.1% were undecided.
Regarding responsibility, 30% say he should bear full responsibility before a court, while 28.4% favor “political responsibility” and a ban on him running for office again. However, 30% say there is no proof of his involvement, with 11.6% being on the fence.
The poll was conducted between December 12 and 18 and surveyed 2,000 respondents.
Meanwhile, an Info Sapiens poll from earlier this month indicated that Zelensky’s approval rating dropped to 20.3% following the corruption scandal. The same survey also suggested that Valery Zaluzhny, Zelensky’s potential primary rival for the Ukrainian presidency and former top commander, who now serves as Kiev’s ambassador to the UK, is polling at 19%. While Zaluzhny has dismissed rumors of political ambitions, media reports have claimed he is secretly laying the groundwork for an electoral campaign.
Source: rt.com
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https://www.rt.com/russia/629991-ukraine-poll-zelensky-corruption-mindich/
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North America
'We don't want you here.' Passaic restaurant goes viral after receiving anti-Muslim letter
Dec 25, 2025
The owners of a Passaic County restaurant received an anti-Islamic letter in the mail, and their social media post about it is gaining a lot of attention.
Owners of Chocolate House, Hazem Asad and Rashad Alawi, said they received an anonymous letter at their Totowa store earlier this week.
The letter had no return address.
"You could tell it was an uneducated person from the grammar. Just the last line, 'all you Muslims are this and that,' generalizing us," Asad told News 12 about the contents of the letter.
It included insults and profanity, featured a series of questions about the Halal products Chocolate House sells.
"They don't even understand what the term Halal means. It's just that there's no gelatin for the customers that only eat Halal or Kosher," Asad said.
Both owners said this wasn't the first time their business has encountered this type of hate.
"People know that we started our first location in Paterson, which is a very densely high populated Muslim community. They're like, 'go back to Paterson. We don't want you here,'" Asad said. "I just posted it on social media honestly not expecting the feedback and the support from the community."
The two men said they'd had enough of the hate mail.
"It hasn't even been 48 hours I think, and it has around 4 million views. A lot of people are commenting positive things, saying that we stand with you guys, we support you guys. We really appreciate that," Alawi said.
The letter also caught the attention of CAIR NJ, the Council on American Islamic Relations.
"We really need our officials to come forth and condemn this whether it's issuing a statement, whether it's posting a video on social media, whether it's going to the mosque and speaking to the community," said Aya Elamroussi, the communications manager at CAIR NJ. "Right now, the hate against Muslims has been normalized for too long."
Asad and Alawi's message to the author of the letter is simple.
"You can come, I'll give you a hug bro. If you're a lady, I'll say hi to you, I'm not going to hug you. We'll have a cup of coffee together, and I'll educate you," Alawi said.
Source: newjersey.news12.com
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https://newjersey.news12.com/we-dont-want-you-here-passaic-restaurant-goes-viral-after-receiving-anti-muslim-letter
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CAIR Welcomes Arrest of Utah Man for Alleged Antisemitic Threats
December 24, 2025
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today welcomed the arrest of a Utah man who allegedly made antisemitic threats on X (formerly Twitter) and was reportedly in possession of multiple homemade bombs and an assault rifle.
Skyler Rose, 21, was arrested on suspicion of committing several felonies, including manufacturing or possessing a weapon of mass destruction, threat of terrorism and prohibited conduct with a dangerous weapon.
“Alleged threats of violence motivated by antisemitism or any other form of bigotry must be taken seriously and addressed swiftly by law enforcement,” said CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper. “We welcome this arrest and reaffirm that hate-fueled threats and violence have no place in our society.”
He said CAIR and the American Muslim community stand in solidarity with all those challenging antisemitism, systemic anti-Black racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, white supremacy, and all other forms of bigotry.
Source: cair.com
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https://www.cair.com/press_releases/cair-welcomes-arrest-of-utah-man-for-alleged-antisemitic-threats/
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'Many Hindu Americans....': Ro Khanna calls out Nick Fuentes' anti-India rhetoric targeting Vivek, Usha Vance
Dec 25, 2025
Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna came out in support of Vivek Ramaswamy and Usha Vance and called out Nick Fuentes' dangerous anti-Indian rhetoric, where he is attacking Vivek Ramaswamy to target Vice President JD Vance.
"Nick, your campaigning against @VivekGRamaswamy because he is Hindu & of Indian heritage to send a message to @JDVance in 28 is chilling. I reject your bigotry against Vivek & Usha Vance. Many Hindu Americans, including my family, love celebrating Christmas. Merry Christmas," Ro Khanna said. Nick Fuentes in his latest hate speech said if Ramaswmay becomes the Governor, there will be no Christmas celebration at the Governor house to which Ro Khanna objected and said many Hindu Americans do celebrate Christmas.
Nick Fuentes again called Vivek Ramaswamy an 'anchor baby' and said he should not become the Ohio Governor. He said it is the only election that Fuentes cares about because Ramaswamy is not even a Christian.
Why Nick Fuentes is targeting Usha Vance and Vivek Ramaswamy
Nick Fuentes recently hurled racial abuse at Second Lady Usha Vance because of her Indian origin. Vivek Ramaswamy objected to it and said Nick Fuentes does not represent America. This riled up a section of MAGA that said they won't accept an Indian-origin individual dictating them about America. The anchor baby can't become the Ohio Governor, Nick Fuentes said adding that if Ramaswamy becomes the Ohio Governor it will be a disrespect to Americans. Fuentes said if Ramaswamy wins the 2026 election and becomes the Governor, there will be no Christmas at the Guv mansion, but they will be celebrating Diwali.
"Could you imagine? No nativity, no Christmas carol, no consecration at the alter of the Christ, no reverence for the newborn king! What a world! He has to be denied next year," Fuentes said adding that he would tell people to vote for anyone but Ramaswamy, even Right-wingers should vote for the Democrat but not Ramaswamy. By defeating Ramaswamy in 2026, the message will be delivered to JD Vance in 2028, Fuentes elaborated.
Source: indiatimes.com
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https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/many-hindu-americans-ro-khanna-calls-out-nick-fuentes-anti-india-rhetoric-targeting-vivek-usha-vance/articleshow/126165186.cms
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CAIR Welcomes Ruling Granting Attorney’s Fees in Case Over Right of Arkansas Muslim Incarcerees to Gather for Communal Prayer in Prison
December 24, 2025
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights organization, today welcomed a ruling granting attorney’s fees to CAIR and another legal group in the case in which they represented a Muslim incarceree in a case alleging that the Arkansas Department of Corrections (ADC) failed to accommodate his religious practices.
Earlier this year, CAIR announced a major federal court order requiring the ADC to provide Muslims their own weekly prayer service, or Jummah.
CAIR and Professor Douglas Laycock filed the lawsuit in 2019 on behalf of three incarcerated Muslims, Gregory Holt, Wayde Stewart, and Rodney Martin challenging ADC’s policy of requiring Muslims to pray with others who did not share their religion. The lawsuit challenged ADC’s policy under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which requires jails and prisons to accommodate the sincerely-held religious beliefs of incarcerees.
“This ruling affirms that protecting religious freedom behind prison walls is not optional and that institutions will be held accountable when they violate federal law,” said Gadeir Abbas, Deputy Litigation Director at CAIR National. “Muslim incarcerated people do not lose their right to practice their faith simply because they are in custody, and Jummah prayer is a core religious obligation that must be respected.”
He added that Washington, D.C., based CAIR offers an educational toolkit, called “A Correctional Institution’s Guide to Islamic Religious Practices,” to help correctional officers and administrators gain a better understanding of Islam and Muslims.
Source: cair.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.cair.com/press_releases/cair-welcomes-ruling-granting-attorneys-fees-in-case-over-right-of-arkansas-muslim-incarcerees-to-gather-for-communal-prayer-in-prison/
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BREAKING: CAIR, CAIR-Texas Address Texas AG Paxton’s Attempt to Avoid Judicial Ruling on Merits of ‘Unconstitutional’ Abbott Proclamation
December 24, 2025
Muslim civil rights group responds to Paxton’s claim that the proclamation does not apply to CAIR-Texas and that the order raises a political question courts cannot resolve.
The Texas chapter and national headquarters of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today said Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s response to CAIR’s lawsuit challenging Governor Abbott’s Nov. 18th proclamation targeting CAIR is further evidence that the proclamation is unconstitutional.
Instead of defending the merits of Governor Abbott’s Nov. 18th proclamation, which unilaterally declared CAIR a “foreign terrorist organization” without any due process, Attorney General Paxton is now arguing that the proclamation does not apply to CAIR’s Texas chapters and that they therefore cannot sue to block its enforcement, that the Attorney General is immune from being sued because he has not yet taken any action against CAIR, and that the court should not rule on the order’s constitutionality at all because, he claims, it raises a “political question” that courts cannot resolve.
In a joint statement, CAIR-Texas said:
“Although Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s is now claiming that Governor Abbott’s unconstitutional order does not apply to CAIR-Texas, the sweeping order makes no such distinction and this backtracking will not restore our ability to fully, freely and fearlessly serve the people of Texas so as long as the executive order remains in place. We look forward to seeing Governor Abbott and Attorney General Paxton in court and defeating this unconstitutional attack on the rights of all Texans.”
In a statement, Washington, DC-based CAIR said:
“Attorney General Paxton’s response to CAIR’s lawsuit is another clear sign that the proclamation issued by Governor Abbott is unconstitutional. By trying to argue that the proclamation does not apply to CAIR-Texas and by arguing that the order raises a political question courts cannot resolve, Mr. Paxton has signaled the weakness of this proclamation. We look forward to arguing that the judiciary has the power to decide whether the governor of a state can unilaterally label any American organization he dislikes a ‘terrorist group’ and impose sweeping punishments on that group without any process.”
In a joint statement, CAIR Legal Defense Fund and the Muslim Legal Fund of America, which represent CAIR-Texas, said:
“Attorney General Paxton now argues that Governor Abbott’s proclamation was directed at CAIR as a national civil rights organization. But the proclamation names CAIR without any such distinction and has immediate, foreseeable effects on CAIR’s Texas chapters and the Texans they serve—by stigmatizing the organization, deterring association, and inviting exclusion.
“A state official may not publicly brand a domestic civil rights organization a “terrorist” entity without any process and then disclaim responsibility for the foreseeable harm that follows—particularly where the designation is used to stigmatize, deter association, and justify exclusion.
“Courts routinely review executive actions that impose sweeping legal and reputational consequences while attempting to avoid accountability through technical distinctions. CAIR looks forward to seeing Mr. Abbott in court and arguing that our judicial system has the authority to review this proclamation on the merits.”
BACKGROUNDER:
Last month, the Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA), the CAIR Legal Defense Fund (CAIR LDF) and Akeel & Valentine, PLC announced the filing a federal lawsuit against Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton to block enforcement of Abbott’s similar “unconstitutional and defamatory” Nov. 18th proclamation, which decreed CAIR a “foreign terrorist organization” and threatened various civil penalties against the civil rights organization if it continues to serve the people of Texas.
CAIR Op-Ed: Abbott’s attacks on Muslims draw on an old religious bigotry playbook
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.
La misión de CAIR es proteger las libertades civiles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y empoderar a los musulmanes en los Estados Unidos.
Do you like reading CAIR press releases and taking part in our action alerts? You can help contribute to CAIR’s work of defending civil rights and empowering American Muslims across the country by making a one-time contribution or becoming a monthly donor. Supporters like you make CAIR’s advocacy work possible and defeating Islamophobia an achievable goal. Click here to donate to CAIR.
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Source: cair.com
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https://www.cair.com/press_releases/breaking-cair-cair-texas-address-texas-ag-paxtons-attempt-to-avoid-judicial-ruling-on-merits-of-unconstitutional-abbott-proclamation/
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Watch: Trump’s ‘bad Santa’ warning on Christmas Eve; how US President and Melania marked the holiday
Dec 25, 2025
US President Donald Trump marked Christmas Eve in a light-hearted mood, joking with children about Santa Claus, coal-filled stockings and even a “bad Santa” infiltrating the country. He joined first lady Melania Trump for the annual NORAD Santa-tracking calls from their Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
acationing at his Palm Beach resort, Trump took part in the Christmas Eve tradition on Wednesday that allows children who call the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) to track Santa Claus as the US military playfully follows his journey around the world.
Some of these calls are patched through to the president, giving youngsters a chance to speak directly with the commander-in-chief.
Speaking to children from several US states, the president struck a jovial tone and said he enjoyed the interaction so much that he “could do this all day long.” However, he further highlighted that he would eventually have to return to pressing global issues, including efforts to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.
“We want to make sure that Santa is being good. Santa’s a very good person,” Trump said while speaking to children aged between four and ten. “We want to make sure that he’s not infiltrated, that we’re not infiltrating into our country a bad Santa.”
US President and Melania Trump sat side by side and took around a dozen calls between them. While the first lady spoke quietly with children, advising them to sleep early so Santa could arrive, the president joked about her focus.
“She’s able to focus totally, without listening,” Trump said as Melania remained on her call.
During the conversations, Trump mixed humour with reassurance. When an eight-year-old girl from North Carolina asked whether Santa would be angry if children did not leave cookies for him, Trump replied, “He won’t get mad, but I think he’ll be very disappointed.”
“You know, Santa — he tends to be a little bit on the cherubic side. You know what cherubic means? A little on the heavy side,” he added. “I think Santa would like some cookies.”
In another call, an eight-year-old girl from Kansas said she hoped Santa would not leave coal in her stocking.
“You mean clean, beautiful coal?” Trump responded, invoking a phrase he has frequently used while promoting domestic coal production. Laughing, he added, “I had to do that, I’m sorry.”
“Coal is clean and beautiful. Please remember that, at all costs,” Trump said, before acknowledging that the child preferred a Barbie doll, clothes and candy.
At several points, Trump referenced the military updates on Santa’s location, relayed by a general overseeing the NORAD operation, telling children when Santa would be reaching their homes.
Despite the festive tone of the calls, Trump later returned to his familiar political messaging. Shortly after wrapping up the Christmas Eve conversations, he posted on his Truth Social platform: “Merry Christmas to all, including the Radical Left Scum that is doing everything possible to destroy our Country, but are failing badly.”
Trump contrasted his administration’s achievements with policies he opposes.
“We no longer have Open Borders, Men in Women's Sports, Transgender for Everyone, or Weak Law Enforcement. What we do have is a Record Stock Market and 401K’s, Lowest Crime numbers in decades, No Inflation, and yesterday, a 4.3 GDP, two points better than expected,” he added.
Trump has a history of using Christmas messages to criticise political opponents. In past years, he has posted holiday greetings aimed at what he has described as the “Radical Left Lunatics.”
On Christmas Eve, however, the president appeared to enjoy the lighter moment, telling reporters watching nearby at Mar-a-Lago that speaking with children during the Santa-tracking calls was a welcome break from global affairs.
Source: indiatimes.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/watch-trumps-bad-santa-warning-on-christmas-eve-how-us-president-and-melania-marked-the-holiday/articleshow/126169350.cms
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'If you spend your career....': Who is Imran Ahmed? Why is he not allowed to enter the US?
Dec 24, 2025
The US State Department banned several influential Europeans from entering the United States citing their anti-American stance where they wanted to harm Amercians. Manchester's Imran Ahmed, the CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, is one of them. The organization has previously listed Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, as a director. The State Department called Ahmed a key collaborator with the Biden administration who wanted to kill Elon Musk's Twitter.
"WE’VE SANCTIONED: Imran Ahmed, key collaborator with the Biden Administration’s effort to weaponize the government against U.S. citizens. Ahmed’s group, Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), created the infamous “disinformation dozen” report, which called for platforms to deplatform twelve American “anti-vaxxers”, including now-HHS Secretary @SecKennedy . Leaked documents from CCDH show the organization listed “kill Musk’s Twitter” and “trigger EU and UK regulatory action” as priorities. The organization supports the UK’s Online Safety Act and EU’s Digital Services Act to expand censorship in Europe and around the world," the department said.
“For far too long, ideologues in Europe have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to punish American viewpoints they oppose. The Trump Administration will no longer tolerate these egregious acts of extraterritorial censorship," Marco Rubio said.
List of other European figures banned by Marco Rubio
Thierry Breton
Clare Melford
Anna-Lena von Hodenberg
Josephine Ballon
"None of those sanctioned is a current UK or EU official—however, we know that foreign government officials are actively targeting the United States. This week, the UK’s Liberal Democrats claimed President’s Trump National Security Strategy amounts to “foreign interference” by a “hostile foreign state” because it correctly identifies mass migration and decaying national sovereignty as existential European security concerns," the department said.
"These sanctions are visa-related. We aren't invoking severe Magnitsky-style financial measures, but our message is clear: if you spend your career fomenting censorship of American speech, you're unwelcome on American soil," the department said.
Source: indiatimes.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/if-you-spend-your-career-who-is-imran-ahmed-why-is-he-not-allowed-to-enter-the-us/articleshow/126161065.cms
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'Radical activists and weaponized NGOs': US denies visas to EU ex-commissioner, four others over tech rules — who are they
Dec 24, 2025
The United States denied visas to five European figures for seeking to "coerce" American social media platforms into censoring viewpoints they oppose.
The US state department on Tuesday said, "These radical activists and weaponized NGOs have advanced censorship crackdowns by foreign states—in each case targeting American speakers and American companies."
Who are they?
The measure targeted Thierry Breton, the former top tech regulator at the European Commission, who often clashed with tech tycoons such as Elon Musk over their obligations to follow EU rules. Breton was described by the State Department as the "mastermind" of the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), a major piece of legislation that imposes content moderation and data protection standards on major social media platforms, AFP news agency reported.
The DSA has become a bitter rallying point for conservatives in the US who see it as a weapon of censorship against right-wing thought in Europe and beyond—an accusation the EU furiously denies.
The visa ban also targeted Imran Ahmed of the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a nonprofit that fights online hate, misinformation, and disinformation that also fell in the crosshairs of Musk after his takeover of Twitter, later renamed X.
Also subject to the ban were Anna-Lena von Hodenberg and Josephine Ballon of HateAid, a German organisation that the State Department said functions as a trusted flagger for enforcing the DSA.
Clare Melford, who leads the UK-based Global Disinformation Index (GDI), rounded out the group. The US is also attacking the UK’s Online Safety Act, Britain’s equivalent of the DSA that seeks to impose content moderation requirements on major social media platforms.
European Union 'strongly condemns' US sanctions
The European Commission said that the European Union “strongly condemns” US sanctions imposed on five European figures.
“We have requested clarifications from the US authorities and remain engaged. If needed, we will respond swiftly and decisively to defend our regulatory autonomy against unjustified measures,” said a statement from the Commission.
“Our digital rules ensure a safe, fair, and level playing field for all companies, applied fairly and without discrimination.”
The statement also said: “Freedom of expression is a fundamental right in Europe and a shared core value with the United States across the democratic world. “The EU is an open, rules-based single market, with the sovereign right to regulate economic activity in line with our democratic values and international commitments,” the Commission said.
Macron condemns US sanctions
French President Emmanuel Macron denounced a US decision to deny visas to five European figures, saying the move amounted to "intimidation" and "coercion".
"France condemns the visa restriction measures taken by the United States against Thierry Breton and four other European figures. These measures amount to intimidation and coercion aimed at undermining European digital sovereignty. The European Union’s digital regulations were adopted following a democratic and sovereign process by the European Parliament and the Council," Macron said in a post on X.
"They apply within Europe to ensure fair competition among platforms, without targeting any third country, and to ensure that what is illegal offline is also illegal online. The rules governing the European Union’s digital space are not meant to be determined outside Europe. Together with the European Commission and our European partners, we will continue to defend our digital sovereignty and our regulatory autonomy," he added.
Source: indiatimes.com
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https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/radical-activists-and-weaponized-ngos-us-denies-visas-to-eu-ex-commissioner-four-others-over-tech-rules-who-are-they/articleshow/126160513.cms
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Democratic lawmaker sues to remove Trump's name from Kennedy Center
Madeline Halpert
Dec 25, 2025
Democratic US Representative Joyce Beatty has filed a lawsuit seeking to remove President Donald Trump's name from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Last week, the board of the Kennedy Center - which Trump filled with allies - voted to rename the performing arts centre the Trump-Kennedy Center.
Beatty is one of several Democratic lawmakers designated as members of the board by US law. She claimed in her lawsuit that the renaming was illegal because changing the name requires "an act of Congress".
The suit says Beatty had called into the meeting about the name change but was muted when she tried to voice her opposition.
Beatty argues that Congress intended for the centre to be a "living memorial" to former President Kennedy.
"[I]n scenes more reminiscent of authoritarian regimes than the American republic – the sitting President and his handpicked loyalists renamed this storied center after President Trump," the lawsuit states.
In a statement provided to the BBC, the White House said Trump had "stepped up" and saved the Kennedy Center "by strengthening its finances, modernizing the building, and ending divisive woke programming".
"As a result, the Board of the Kennedy Center voted unanimously to rename it the Trump-Kennedy Center — a historic move that marks a new era of success, prestige, and restored grandeur for one of America's most iconic cultural institutions," White House spokesperson Liz Huston said.
On Friday, the president's name was added to the exterior of the building, and the centre's website logo now reads "The Trump Kennedy Center".
The name change has been met with harsh criticism, particularly in Washington DC where the centre has been an iconic landmark since it was built and named for Kennedy.
Construction began on a performing arts centre in the 1950s and after Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, Congress decided to name it after him.
Shortly after taking office, Trump fired a slew of the centre's board members and replaced them with allies, who then voted to make him chairman of the board. His close adviser Richard Grenell became board president.
The centre's board of trustees currently has 34 members appointed by Trump and 23 others designated as members by US law, according to the centre's website.
Trump also secured about $257m (£190m) in congressional funding to pay for major renovations and other costs at the venue, saying it was in "bad shape".
Several members of the Kennedy family took to social media to criticise the name change.
Joe Kennedy III, a former House member and grandnephew of the late president, said that "the Kennedy Center is a living memorial to a fallen president and named for President Kennedy by federal law".
"It can no sooner be renamed than can someone rename the Lincoln Memorial, no matter what anyone says," he added.
Source: bbc.com
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https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c79x0x7v70go
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Macron accuses US of ‘intimidation’ against EU
25 Dec, 2025
US visa restrictions against several senior EU officials amount to “intimidation and coercion” aimed at undermining the bloc’s digital policies and sovereignty, French President Emmanuel Macron has said.
On Tuesday, the administration of US President Donald Trump announced new sanctions targeting Thierry Breton, the former European Commissioner for Internal Market appointed by Macron himself, and four other officials over what it described as “efforts to coerce American platforms to punish American viewpoints they oppose.”
At the core of the dispute are the EU’s Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act, which impose strict competition and transparency obligations on large online platforms. Given that most such firms – including Microsoft, Google, Meta, and Amazon – are headquartered in the US, American officials have argued the framework is discriminatory. Breton in particular was among the officials who played a pivotal role in establishing the EU digital rulebook.
Tensions escalated after the EU Commission fined Elon Musk’s social media platform X €120 million ($130 million) earlier in December under the Digital Services Act. US officials criticized the move as harmful to free speech and unfairly targeting an American company.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Macron said the US sanctions “amount to intimidation and coercion aimed at undermining European digital sovereignty.” He added that the EU’s rules were adopted democratically and “are not meant to be determined outside Europe,” while insisting that they are designed to “ensure fair competition among platforms, without targeting any third country.”
The EU Commission also condemned the US move, warning that it “will respond swiftly and decisively to defend our regulatory autonomy against unjustified measures.”
The rift between the US and EU, including over digital rules, spilled into the new National Security Strategy released by Washington this month. The document warned the EU that it is facing potential “civilizational erasure” due to suppression of political opposition, curbs on free speech, and what it described as “regulatory suffocation.”
Source: rt.com
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https://www.rt.com/news/629992-macron-accuses-us-intimidation-digital/
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Africa
God Has Not Abandoned Nigeria – CAN Declares In Christmas Message
December 25, 2025
By Oladipo Abiola
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has congratulated all Nigerians on the occasion of another Christmas celebration.
The CAN message, in a statement released by its president, Archbishop Daniel Okoh, called for the celebration to be done with wisdom, vigilance, and a deep sense of responsibility.
Okoh acknowledged the security and economic challenges facing the country, but said the Christmas celebration is a reminder that God has not forgotten Nigeria and His abiding love, and the gift of hope triumphs over darkness
The CAN president urged church leaders, particularly those in remote areas, to practically ensure worshippers are safe as they gather to celebrate Christmas.
“The message of Christmas calls us to live out the values Christ represents—love, peace, patience, sacrifice, and compassion. Even in the face of economic difficulties and security concerns confronting our nation, the birth of Christ reassures us that God has not abandoned His people and that hope remains alive.
“As churches gather to worship and rejoice during this festive season, I urge Christian leaders and congregations to do so with wisdom, vigilance and a deep sense of responsibility. The protection of human life is sacred and must remain paramount. Churches, especially those located in areas prone to security threats, are encouraged to take practical steps to ensure the safety of worshippers,” he said.
In areas where adequate security presence is lacking, the CAN President advised church leaders to prayerfully consider holding services in safer locations or organising smaller gatherings that would allow for better protection of members.
He also appealed to security agencies to enhance their presence around places of worship during the Christmas season and encouraged churches to maintain close collaboration with law enforcement agencies to ensure peaceful and hitch-free celebrations.
In the spirit of Christmas, Okoh urged that thoughts be spared for those who may be affected by the security challenges affecting parts of the country.
“As we celebrate, let us remember all Nigerians who are grieving, displaced, or affected by violence and hardship. At this season of goodwill, I call on all Nigerians to work together in the spirit of peace, justice, and unity.
“United by our shared humanity and common destiny, we must renew our commitment to peaceful coexistence, mutual respect, and national cohesion, mindful that Nigeria is our only home and that its future depends on our collective resolve.
“May the joy, peace, and hope of Christmas fill our homes, our churches, and our land. I pray that the New Year will usher in renewed faith, healing, and lasting peace for Nigeria,” Archbishop Okoh added.
Source: naijanews.com
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https://www.naijanews.com/2025/12/25/god-has-not-abandoned-nigeria-can-declares-in-christmas-message/
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PDP condemns Maiduguri mosque bombing, accuses Tinubu govt of failing on security
December 25, 2025
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned Wednesday’s bomb explosion at a mosque in Maiduguri, Borno State, describing the attack as unacceptable and blaming the administration of President Bola Tinubu for what it called a failure to protect the lives and property of Nigerians.
In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Ini Ememobong, the opposition party said the incident was a grim reminder of the worsening security situation across the country.
“The news of an explosion at a mosque in Gamboru Market, Maiduguri, is another sad reminder of the rising insecurity that has become the unfortunate contemporary reality Nigerians face,” the party said.
Describing the attack as “totally unacceptable,” the PDP argued that the primary responsibility of any government is the protection of citizens.
“The irreducible minimum the government should offer its people is the protection of lives and property. This administration has failed woefully in this respect and should rise to the occasion rather than resort to rhetoric and playing politics with security,” the statement added.
The PDP also commiserated with families of those who lost their loved ones in the attack, stressing that no Nigerian should be killed while worshipping.
“No one should lose their life while worshipping God,” the party said.
The opposition party further warned that continued attacks on places of worship could undermine constitutional rights and deepen fear across religious communities.
“If attacks on places of worship continue unchecked, they would not only violate the constitutional right of Nigerians to freely practise their faith but also create an atmosphere of fear that threatens the fabric of our religious society,” it stated.
Calling for urgent action, the PDP urged both the Federal and Borno State governments to move beyond promises and deploy effective security measures, especially during the yuletide season.
“We call on the Federal and State Governments to take immediate and practical steps to protect our citizens throughout this yuletide season and beyond. Nigerians deserve more than empty promises and political rhetoric,” the party said.
According to reports, suspected Boko Haram insurgents detonated an improvised explosive device at a Juma’at Mosque in Gamboru Ward, near the Customs area in Maiduguri, on Wednesday evening, as Muslim worshippers were observing the Maghrib prayer.
The Police Public Relations Officer in Borno State, ASP Nahum Daso, said preliminary investigations confirmed that five people were killed, while about 35 others sustained varying degrees of injuries in the explosion.
Source: vanguardngr.com
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https://www.vanguardngr.com/2025/12/pdp-condemns-maiduguri-mosque-bombing-accuses-tinubu-govt-of-failing-on-security/
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Four killed, 32 injured in Borno mosque explosion
December 25, 2025
By Hadiza Musa
The Nigerian Army has confirmed that four people were killed and 32 others injured following a bomb explosion at a mosque inside Gamboru Market in Maiduguri, Borno State.
The incident happened on Tuesday evening during Maghrib prayers.
The confirmation was made by the Joint Task Force North East, Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), through its Media Information Officer, Lt.-Col. Sani Uba, in a statement issued on Wednesday.
Uba said the explosion occurred at about 6:00 p.m. while worshippers were observing prayers at the mosque.
According to him, initial investigations showed that the blast was caused by a suspected Boko Haram suicide bomber who detonated an improvised explosive device.
“Preliminary findings indicate that the explosion was caused by a suspected Boko Haram terrorist suicide bomber who detonated an IED, killing himself and two civilians at the scene,” Uba said.
He explained that troops of Operation Hadin Kai, working alongside the Nigeria Police Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team, other security agencies, the Borno State Government and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), responded immediately to the attack.
“The affected area was quickly secured and cordoned off to prevent further harm, while casualties were evacuated to the General Hospital and the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital for treatment,” he added.
Uba said that although 32 civilians sustained injuries, two of them later died at the hospital, bringing the total number of civilian deaths to four.
He noted that two of the injured victims were in critical condition, while the remaining patients were stable and responding to medical care.
Following the attack, the OPHK spokesman said security had been tightened across Maiduguri and surrounding areas to prevent further incidents, especially during the festive season.
He urged residents to remain calm but vigilant, advising them to avoid crowded places and report any suspicious movement or activity to security agencies.
Uba also expressed condolences to the families of those who lost their lives and reassured residents of the military’s commitment to protecting lives and property across the North-East.
Source: dailypost.ng
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https://dailypost.ng/2025/12/25/four-killed-32-injured-in-borno-mosque-explosion/
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Ethnic nationalism and national development
by Jide Osuntokun
December 25, 2025
The First World War had ramifying effects on the world including the people of Africa and Nigeria was not an exception. In the case of Nigeria, the colonial administration feared that Islam could be exploited to rally the defeated Muslims in Northern Nigeria against the British because of Turkish propaganda calling for jihad against infidels all over the world. This was the only major threat to British hold on Nigeria but by this time the Fulani rulers who were united in sharing with the British the booty of the Native Treasuries (Beit-el-mal) which were taxes on cattle (jangali) and crops had something in common. This commonality of interest between the colonial powers and the native rulers was to, by and large, draw a wedge between the Northern Effendiyyah and the educated elite in the south before and after independence and possibly till today.
The idea of native treasuries were extended to the South where it largely met resistance and even uprising in the East which had no hierarchy of chiefs because it was sociologically a chiefless or headless society or what anthropologists call an acephalous society and attempts to create chiefs among the Igbo by colonial administrators by giving warrants to some identified supporters to act as chiefs led to uprising in many parts of Igboland. In Yorubaland where there were chiefs, some of them were elevated beyond their traditional status. This also led to armed resistance in upper Ogun area of former Oyo Empire.
The effects of the First World War were accompanied by several political and economic ramifications in Nigeria. The Nigerian soldiers and carriers came back with natural exaggerations of themselves in the face of enemy fire while their white colonial officers ran away. Their stories spread to their home cities and friends who demanded rights and better salaries and more respect from their rulers. Political parties initially confined to Lagos and other coastal cities like Calabar began to spread into the hinterland that by the outbreak of the Second World war, the demands and influence of the educated Nigerians in Lagos and the urban centres began to be echoed by illiterate Nigerians saying that service must deserve its rewards. Their leaders began to be known and cultivated by the colonial rulers and their bosses In London.
Newspapers that had been in reasonable numbers but whose interest and influence were confined to Lagos colony alone began to have wider readership and credibility in regional hubs and places like Ibadan, Abeokuta, Benin, Enugu, Port Harcourt, Kano, Bauchi, and Jos. The Second World War which began in 1939 and ended in 1945 began with a muffle but ended with a bang in terms of its influence in Nigeria. Tens of thousands of Nigerian troops fought under the Union Jack in the jungles of Burma against tough and intrepid Japanese troops sworn to fight for victory or death in defence of Japan and its emperor Hirohito and its people s ‘interest in Asia particularly in the pacific islands of the Philippines and Taiwan as well as mainland China, Korea and Burma. Nigerian troops saw action mostly in Burma.
On returning home, many of the ex-servicemen were courted by the main political parties in existence. Particularly, the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) which was formed in 1944 mainly by former students of Kings College who then surrendered leadership to Herbert Macaulay as president and the America-educated Nnamdi Azikiwe as Secretary General. The NCNC was like the various Rassemblement Africain in several French African countries. It was hoped it will be an umbrella political organisation for the various existing African parties some of them existing since the Lugardian years. Unfortunately, this hope was not realised because Herbert Macaulay, the president of the NCNC died in 1948 and Azikiwe, the fiery journalist and nationalist took over and gave the leadership more élan and vigour but in the process, he was accused of leaning too much on Igbo tribal support. This led to the emergence of the Action Group which had its roots in the Egbe Omo Oduduwa formed in1950 and eventually the Action Group (AG) by Obafemi Awolowo, a journalist and trade unionist in 1951 and the Northern Peoples Congress, NPC ( jamiyyar Mutanen Arewa or JMA. These two parties representing the West and the Northern peoples tried unsuccessfully to make the NCNC look as a tribal Igbo party without effect until independence in Nigeria.
The issue of tribalism or ethnic differences have largely ruined the success of the country. It has infected our politics to the extent that people either vote along ethnic lines and where they tried to look at issues rationally and nationally, they are immediately slapped back into supposedly tribal redoubts or ostracized as traitors or saboteurs. There is widespread rigging of votes to enhance ethnic figures in the census which are usually rigged because revenue sharing is tied to census. This is a problem that affects states creation, education, financial allocation and inability to have genuine democracy and stability which have been the bane of our society.
The constitution which was a negotiated federal constitution before independence has been undermined by the military dictatorship egged on by civilian politicians who have less than noble or patriotic motives. Most of the political problems Nigeria has had since independence are traceable to tribalism or ethnic parochialism. Example of this can be seen in the Action Group crisis of 1961 to 1963 which split the party into two rival groups which indirectly led to the incarceration in 1963, of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the then leader of opposition in the federal parliament. The ruling NCNC/ NPC coalition government combined the forces of the tribally rooted Northern politicians and their collaborators from the Eastern Region to remove Awolowo from the political scene.
.Awolowo may have been ambitious, but it is doubtful that he would have tried to violently overthrow the federal government of Nigeria with a few party toughies trained in Kwame Nkrumah’s WINNEBA ideological school where the likes of Samuel Grace Ikoku, a former Secretary General of the Action Group was a lecturer. The evidence presented at the famous trial for reasonable felony were not overwhelming enough to condemn a major political leader without upsetting the equilibrium of the country and its stability. The reaction of the people of the West got to a crescendo in 1965 when the Chief S.L. Akintola’s government which was obviously unpopular, decided to manipulate the voting process when the Deputy Premier Chief Remi Fani-Kayode boasted that whether the people voted for their party or not “… angels would vote for them” took laws into their hands, burning and looting while the cabinet prepared for the worst.
When some elements in the army struck at dawn of January 15, 1966 ,some of the ministers felt that their opponents were behind the “attempted coup d’état while the BBC radio network was telling the whole world that there had been an attempted coup and the prime minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa seemed to have been kidnapped and two regional premiers namely Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto and Chief S.L.Akintola, the Are ona Kakanfo of Yoruba land had been killed and many senior army officers seemed to have been killed. When the news were confirmed, and regional and ethnic dimensions of the killings were analysed, the original cheering for the army putsch petered out in fear of what may happen because Nigeria had never seen anything like this before. The counter coup of July 1966 about half a year later appeared as if the equation was balanced by the number of army officers who were killed. But sadly the situation got out of hands when the pogroms against the Igbo in the North began and the whole country became destabilised setting the stage for the three year civil war after the mediation by Ghanaian military leaders failed and General Gowon on return from the Aburi reconciliation meeting in Ghana, appeared to have been outflanked by those who wanted to militarily sort out the issue.
Going to war was a terrible denouement for which Nigeria is yet to recover. Previous opportunities for Nigeria to be more united had been missed in 1954 and 1959 to form a forward looking governments and the July coup of 1966 tragically followed the same trajectory.
Source: thenationonlineng.net
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https://thenationonlineng.net/ethnic-nationalism-and-national-development/
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Three Arrested As Soldiers Attack Police Patrol Team
December 24, 2025
By George Oshogwe Ogbolu
Three personnel of the Nigerian Army have been arrested following an attack on police officers on duty along the Shao–Malete Expressway in Kwara State.
A situation report from the Shao Police Unit said the incident occurred at about 5:45 p.m. on December 23, 2025, when a police patrol team intercepted two motorcycles along the route.
According to the report, three occupants, later identified as soldiers, disembarked from the motorcycles and confronted the policemen, attempting to disarm and physically assault them.
One of the officers, PC Abdulganiyu Abdullateef, sustained injuries during the confrontation.
“The patrol team quickly called for reinforcement from the division, but before the backup team arrived at the scene, the three army personnel had fled,” the report stated.
The police said one Saka Suleiman, a resident of Shao who rode one of the motorcycles, was arrested at the scene.
“During investigation, he identified one of the fleeing soldiers as Saka Jamiu, a native of Shao,” the report added.
Following a manhunt, police operatives arrested the remaining suspects in the early hours of December 24, 2025.
“At about 1:00 a.m., the remaining suspects — Atunwa Adekunle, Ishola Awolola and Saka Jamiu — all male natives of Shao and members of the Nigerian Army, were successfully arrested,” the report said.
Police also recovered a dagger knife from the suspects during the operation.
According to Sahara Reporters,the report noted that arrangements are underway to transfer the arrested soldiers to the State Criminal Investigation Department in Ilorin for further discreet investigation.
The police assured that appropriate action would be taken against the suspects upon the conclusion of investigations.
Source: naijanews.com
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https://www.naijanews.com/2025/12/24/three-arrested-as-soldiers-attack-police-patrol-team/
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CVR Integrity: INEC Vows Only Eligible Nigerians Will Be Registered
December 25, 2025
By Richard Ogunsile
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has intensified efforts to safeguard the integrity of the Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) exercise, vowing to eliminate multiple registrations and ensure that only eligible Nigerian citizens of voting age are enrolled nationwide.
The Commission said it has strengthened collaboration with key institutions, particularly the Judiciary and the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), as part of a broader strategy to protect the credibility of the national voters’ register.
INEC stressed that the renewed partnerships are critical to verifying age, citizenship and identity, describing the CVR as the foundation upon which the entire electoral process is judged.
Naija News reports that the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Sokoto State, Umar Yusuf Garba, disclosed this in Sokoto, noting that the Commission remains firmly committed to delivering a transparent and credible registration process.
According to him, INEC is working closely with courts to validate age declarations and supporting documents, while engaging the NIS to ensure that only Nigerian citizens, especially in border communities, are registered as voters.
“We want to be certain that registrants are Nigerians and that they have attained the constitutional voting age of 18, using verifiable records such as birth documents, primary school certificates and court-issued age declarations,” Garba said.
The REC added that collaboration with immigration authorities has become increasingly important given Nigeria’s porous borders, as the Commission seeks to prevent non-citizens from infiltrating the electoral register.
He explained that such inter-agency cooperation was necessary to protect the integrity of elections and maintain public confidence in the democratic process.
Garba further revealed that the first phase of the CVR recorded strong participation nationwide, with Sokoto State registering over 162,000 new voters.
He noted that Sokoto ranked third nationally in the number of registrants during the phase, behind Osun State, which came first, and Kano State, which placed second.
The REC also disclosed that INEC has stepped up voter education and public awareness campaigns across the state to encourage wider participation while discouraging electoral malpractice.
According to him, the Commission is determined to ensure that eligible citizens not only register but also understand the importance of lawful participation in the electoral process.
Looking ahead, Garba reiterated calls for the establishment of a special electoral offences tribunal, describing it as a critical reform needed to deter violations, strengthen the electoral process and boost public confidence.
“INEC is learning, improving and correcting past mistakes. With dedicated personnel and stronger institutions, we are steadily moving towards a more credible electoral system,” he said.
Source: naijanews.com
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https://www.naijanews.com/2025/12/25/cvr-integrity-inec-vows-only-eligible-nigerians-will-be-registered/
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‘I Will Never Support Extrajudicial Measures Despite Buhari, Malami’s Actions Towards Me’ – Sowore
December 24, 2025
By Rachel Okporu Fadoju
The 2023 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has condemned the continued detention of the former Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, who was granted bail by the Abuja High Court in an order dated December 23, 2025, and is still being detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Malami’s media aide, Bello Doka, described the continued detention of the former AGF as illegal and a violation of due process.
Doka accused the commission of using the media to promote what he called inaccurate narratives about Malami, insisting that the former minister had voluntarily submitted himself for investigation and had met all bail conditions stipulated by the EFCC.
“His continued detention in EFCC facility constitute breach of legal procedures and a blatant abuse of office by the commission who are expected to respect and comply with court orders,” Doka said.
The aide warned that detaining Malami despite a subsisting court order portrays the commission as an institution placing itself above the law.
In a post on Wednesday via 𝕏, Sowore vowed never to support extrajudicial measures against anyone and urged the EFCC to obey the court order granting bail to Malami.
According to him, the late former President, Muhammadu Buhari and Malami governed with arrogance and impunity, recalling his ordeal with the former AGF while he was in detention.
He wrote, “I will never support extrajudicial measures against anyone. I urge the @officialEFCC to obey the court order granting bail to former Nigerian Attorney General, Abubakar Malami. That said, we must also speak honestly about the despicable conduct of the @MBuhari’s and the Malamis who governed with arrogance and impunity, acting as though there would be no tomorrow and no accountability for their actions.
“In 2019 after four months of detention under the Muhammadu Buhari regime, I was granted bail but, Abubakar Malami, SAN and the useless DSS DG Yusuf Bichi demanded that my sureties appear at the DSS office for profiling, a request I refused to comply with.”
Source: naijanews.com
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https://www.naijanews.com/2025/12/24/i-will-never-support-extrajudicial-measures-despite-buhari-malamis-actions-towards-me-sowore/
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Sudan's health system faces total collapse as war grinds on
December 24, 2025
Pain and suffering continue unabated in Sudan after years of civil war and widespread destruction.
As the army consolidates control, some residents have begun returning to the capital, Khartoum, hoping to rebuild their lives. However, the humanitarian crisis is deepening.
Alongside severe food shortages, the collapse of the health system is pushing civilians to the brink.
Authorities are unable to provide adequate support, and a functioning healthcare network is largely absent. Many people are struggling to access even the most basic medical treatment.
Aid organizations are playing a vital role in keeping limited services alive. Speaking to TRT, Sudanese doctor Omar al Derdiri said the health system is currently being sustained almost entirely through volunteer efforts.
Meanwhile, the rise in infectious diseases across Khartoum is placing further strain on already overwhelmed facilities.
The lack of medical equipment remains a critical problem.
Perhaps the most devastating loss is at the Burri Health Center, where the dialysis unit -once a lifeline for kidney failure patients- has completely ceased operations.
The ongoing civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 14 million people, leaving Sudan facing one of the world’s most severe humanitarian emergencies.
Source: africanews.com
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https://www.africanews.com/2025/12/24/sudans-health-system-faces-total-collapse-as-war-grinds-on/
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US doubts M23’s full withdrawal from key Congo town
December 24, 2025
The Trump administration is not satisfied with the Rwanda-backed M23's withdrawal from a strategic town in eastern Congo, a senior US official told Reuters, as residents reported persistent clashes nearby on Tuesday.
M23 seized the town of Uvira, near the border with Burundi, on December 10, days after Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan leader Paul Kagame met President Donald Trump in Washington and reaffirmed a US-brokered peace deal.
The capture marked the rebels' biggest advance in months, fueling fears of regional spillover from fighting that has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands since January.
After US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Rwanda's actions in mineral-rich eastern Congo were violating the peace deal, M23 last week pledged to withdraw to give peace talks a chance.
While most M23 combatants have left Uvira itself, Washington is "not satisfied" that the group has fully withdrawn, the senior US official said.
"There has been some movement, but we don't feel that it really amounts to a complete liberation of the town. We do believe that the M23 continues to be positioned around the city," the official said.
Gunfire in Uvira
Some M23 fighters remain in Uvira wearing police instead of military uniforms, two residents told Reuters on Tuesday.
Sporadic gunfire was heard on Tuesday morning from hills overlooking the Kalundu neighbourhood, one resident said.
Sources from M23 and the Congolese army blamed each other for the violence in recent days.
Rwanda denies backing M23 and has blamed Congolese and Burundian forces for the renewed fighting. A report by a United Nations group of experts in July assessed that Rwanda exercised command and control over the rebels.
M23 is not party to the Washington-mediated negotiations, but is negotiating separately with Kinshasa in Qatar.
Refugees
The recent fighting has sent over 84,000 refugees into Burundi this month, overwhelming its capacity, the UN refugee agency said last week.
About 500,000 people have been displaced in South Kivu province since early December, and the World Food Programme is scaling up aid for 210,000 vulnerable people.
M23's lightning advance this year in North and South Kivu has cost Congo 0.4 percent of GDP, while exceptional security spending nears $3 billion, IMF mission chief Calixte Ahokpossi told Reuters.
"If (insecurity) continues in the medium term and they have to continue cutting spending, particularly on investment and social programmes, it will have an impact on growth and the future of the country," he said.
Source: africanews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.africanews.com/2025/12/24/us-doubts-m23s-full-withdrawal-from-key-congo-town/
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Southeast Asia
Jais: Claims of palace protection for Qadiani teachings are baseless and insulting to Sultan
25 Dec 2025
SHAH ALAM, Dec 25 — Claims that the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) faces difficulty taking legal action against Qadiani teachings because they are protected by influential figures with links to the palace are untrue, said its director Datuk Mohd Shahzihan Ahmad.
He said statements issued by a preacher regarding deviant teachings in Selangor and linked by certain parties to the matter were irresponsible.
He said the claims were also insulting to the Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, as the Head of the Religion of Islam in the state, and disregarded His Royal Highness’ firmness in curbing and combating any deviation of faith and deviant teachings in Selangor.
“The difficulty in taking action against the Qadiani arises because the group was ruled, through fatwas dated September 24, 1998 and August 17, 2000, to be outside the fold of Islam. These fatwa decisions have affected the jurisdiction of JAIS Religious Enforcement, which is only empowered to enforce Syariah criminal law against Muslims, as stated under Subsection 1(2) of the Syariah Criminal Enactment (Selangor) 1995.
“Jais has also never received any complaint or information regarding the existence of any individual closely linked to the palace who is the mastermind behind the presence and entrenchment of Qadiani teachings in Selangor,” he said in a statement.
He added that efforts to combat deviant teachings in Selangor are carried out continuously, based on legal provisions and decisions of the Selangor State Fatwa Committee, taking into account facts, witnesses and admissible evidence.
Meanwhile, Mohd Shahzihan said Jais had earlier referred to a video recording of a sermon uploaded on the TikTok platform by a user on December 8 concerning deviant teachings in Selangor, which linked the issue to certain parties including the palace institution.
Following that, he said Jais conducted a preliminary review and found that the individual delivering the sermon was a preacher holding authorisation to teach Islam in Selangor (M1: Teaching Authorisation for Religious Texts), and the sermon was believed to have been delivered at Masjid Taman Putra Perdana in Puchong.
“In this regard, the secretary of the Teaching Authorisation Committee of the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais) will examine the facts to determine whether the statement contravenes the provisions of the Teaching Authorisation Regulations for the Teaching of Islam (State of Selangor) 2024 or otherwise.
“JAIS reminds all preachers and speakers, as well as any individual, to present facts accurately after thorough examination, with propriety and responsibility, and not to cause public unease, especially when matters involve the status of the palace institution and the Sultan of Selangor as the Head of the Religion of Islam in Selangor,” he said. — Bernama
Source: malaymail.com
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Schools barred from rejecting pupils over health or discipline records, says Education DG
By Malay Mail
25 Dec 2025
PETALING JAYA, Dec 25 — Schools are not permitted to reject the admission of new pupils or transfer students on the grounds of disciplinary issues or records of physical or mental health.
Director-General of Education Dr Mohd Azam Ahmad told Utusan Malaysia that such reports are meant only to guide the management of receiving schools, enabling them to take appropriate action and provide special attention where needed.
“New schools cannot refuse a pupil’s admission. Schools are obliged to accept any of our children who are eligible.
“The health report is to help those children if they require regular treatment, for example, so that their leave dates can be managed properly,” he was quoted as saying.
Mohd Azam added that, beginning next year, all students transferring schools will be required to attach health reports — including mental health status — as well as disciplinary records.
The measure forms part of new guidelines to be issued by the Ministry of Education (KPM) on school safety, covering bullying, sexual harassment and physical security from the 2026 academic session.
He also cautioned schools against disseminating pupil data, particularly records relating to health and discipline.
Schools must never expose pupils’ personal information in a way that could cause embarrassment, he stressed, warning that teachers or administrators who do so risk disciplinary action.
Source: malaymail.com
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Christians in Sarawak kick off Christmas with early church services and family celebrations
25 Dec 2025
KUCHING, Dec 25 — Christians in Sarawak began their Christmas celebrations early today, flocking to churches as early as 7am to attend religious services before spending the day with family and loved ones.
For Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) psychology student Priscilla Michelle Gindal, 21, this year’s Christmas held special meaning, even though she was celebrating far from her parents.
The Bintulu native said the holiday allowed her to strengthen ties with relatives living in Samarahan, as well as friends around Kuching.
“Despite being far away from my family, I am grateful that I can still feel the festive atmosphere and gather with relatives and friends,” she said when met by Bernama after attending a religious service at St Peter’s Church here today.
Priscilla added that Christmas also provided a moment for self-reflection and hope for a better and more blessed future.
Meanwhile, Unimas Strategic Communication student Aloysius Wilson, 21, said this year’s celebration felt more festive despite being observed simply, with no major differences from previous years.
“Even with a simple celebration, the Christmas spirit is still very much felt. This holiday is important for strengthening family ties before returning to focus on our studies,” he said.
The Batu Kawa native added that the festive break gives students a chance to step away from academic commitments and spend quality time with family, relatives and friends.
A Bernama survey also found that many people took advantage of the Christmas holiday to relax and go sightseeing with their families at popular landmarks around the city, including the Kuching Waterfront, Darul Hana Bridge and the Borneo Cultural Museum. — Bernama
Source: malaymail.com
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Malaysian embassy in Cambodia offers help for citizens in conflict zones
25 Dec 2025
Malaysians facing relocation issues due to Cambodia-Thailand conflict urged to contact embassy in Phnom Penh for immediate assistance.
PHNOM PENH: Malaysians experiencing difficulties leaving areas affected by the ongoing conflict between Cambodia and Thailand are advised to seek help from their embassy.
The Embassy of Malaysia in Phnom Penh issued the advisory on Wednesday via its official Facebook page.
It urged Malaysian nationals facing relocation challenges to contact the mission for further assistance.
For help, citizens can email the embassy at mwphnompenh@kln.gov.my.
They may also call the 24-hour hotline at +855 15 216 176.
Source: thesun.my
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Johor police issue over 4,400 summonses in festive road safety ops
25 Dec 2025
Johor police issued 4,433 traffic summonses in two days during Christmas and New Year operations, focusing on accident prevention and public order.
ISKANDAR PUTERI: Johor police issued 4,433 traffic summonses in the first two days of special Christmas and New Year’s Eve operations.
State police chief CP Datuk Ab Rahaman Arsad said the simultaneous operations, running until January 1, involve 1,681 personnel deployed statewide.
Most summonses were for vehicle modifications, missing or altered registration plates, driving without a licence, and lack of insurance coverage.
“The main focus is accident prevention, curbing street crime and maintaining public order amid heavy traffic,” he said at a press conference.
A special motorcycle operation in Iskandar Puteri yesterday saw 52 bikes inspected and 143 summonses issued, with all vehicles seized under the Road Transport Act.
The Department of Environment issued 14 notices for emission and noise offences, while the Road Transport Department issued 32 summonses.
Ab Rahaman added that Ops Lancar will run from today until January 1, focusing on key high-traffic locations.
PLUS data shows an average of 22,000 to 24,000 vehicles entering and exiting Johor daily via the Senai Utara and Lima Kedai toll plazas since December 19.
Police have identified 47 hotspot locations, including highways, city centres, and major entry points like the Sultan Iskandar Building.
“These measures aim to prevent severe traffic congestion during the year-end festive period,” he said.
He also urged the public to use the Volunteer Smartphone Patrol application to register travel plans to help safeguard property.
Source: thesun.my
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PAS terminates membership of three Perlis state assemblymen
25 Dec 2025
PAS terminates membership of three Perlis state assemblymen with immediate effect, citing constitutional clauses and loss of confidence in MB.
KANGAR: PAS has terminated the membership of three of its Perlis state assemblymen with immediate effect.
The decision is based on Clause 76 and Clause 15A(1)(b) of the PAS Constitution (2025 Amendment).
PAS President Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang identified the assemblymen as Chuping’s Saad Seman, Bintong’s Fakhrul Anwar Ismail, and Guar Sanji’s Mohd Ridzuan Hashim.
He stated the decision was made during the PAS Central Working Committee meeting held today.
“PAS will officially notify the Speaker of the Perlis State Legislative Assembly of this decision for the purpose of fulfilling Article 50A(1)(a)(ii) of the Laws of the Constitution of Perlis (Amendment) Enactment 2022 immediately,” he said.
The move follows allegations that Perikatan Nasional state assemblymen in Perlis met with the Raja of Perlis, Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Putra Jamalullail.
A majority were said to have expressed a loss of confidence and withdrawn support for Menteri Besar Mohd Shukri Ramli.
Source: thesun.my
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PM Anwar urges Malaysians to reject hatred, embrace empathy
24 Dec 2025
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim calls for unity and mutual respect this Christmas, highlighting Malaysia’s strength in diversity and the government’s commitment to fair policies.
KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has called on all Malaysians to strengthen their resolve to reject hatred and foster empathy.
In a Facebook post ahead of Christmas, he said this commitment is vital for maintaining mutual harmony in the nation.
Anwar stated that Malaysia’s strength lies in its unity in diversity, particularly among its multi-religious and multi-racial communities.
The MADANI Government believes harmony is built through fair policies, equal opportunities and a culture of mutual understanding.
“In a world facing economic uncertainty, humanitarian conflicts and social divisions, Malaysia has chosen the path of unity, dialogue and mutual respect,” he said.
Anwar added that true unity is reflected when every citizen is respected, protected and given space to contribute to the country’s future.
He extended his Christmas greetings to the Christian community, hoping the celebration brings peace, harmony and prosperity to all Malaysians.
Christmas is celebrated annually on December 25.
Source: thesun.my
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South Asia
Nightmare of the South Asian Springs Bangladesh’s descent into Islamist extremism
25 December 2025
Islamists in Bangladesh have reassembled, organising large rallies that have drawn thousands of crowds. Attacks on the Hindu minority, which account for 8 per cent of the population, and minority Christians have steadily increased
South Asia’s youth revolutions began with the Aragalaya in 2022, followed by deadly protests in Bangladesh that ousted Sheik Hasina last year and in Nepal, where the pro-China government of K.P. Sharma Oli fell this year.
Sometimes, comparisons could be misleading; over 1400 died in Bangladesh when police turned guns on the protesters, and hundreds perished in Nepal. In Sri Lanka, not a single bullet was fired throughout over six months of the protest campaign. One should give credit to Gotabaya Rajapaksa, as well as to the military and police, for the restraint. That might also be proof that, despite two nihilistic terrorist campaigns in the recent past —by the LTTE in the North and the JVP in the South— Sri Lanka has historically offered ample political space for change, through the regular ballet, or even through chaotic street protests, as long as agitators do not resort to ‘Galkatas’ justice and suicide terrorism. Though the JVP had learned that powerful lesson, belatedly and is now in power through elections, I doubt whether the Northern elites did, and might give it a try whenever the state is weak.
However, a far more sinister divergence is emerging. Bangladesh is on a race to the bottom and is in the throes of growing Islamist fundamentalism. It has become increasingly clear that it was the extremist Islamist factions, previously banned by the deposed Sheik Hassina administration, that have most benefited from the regime change. In exchange for freedom from Hassina’s authoritarian, but economically uplifting regime, Bangladesh has bred a monster which threatens to consume the state- and beyond.
Last week, a Hindu devotee was lynched in Dhaka—his body was tied to a tree and set on fire by the angry mobs after his colleagues accused him of blasphemy. In the same week, protesters set ablaze the office of the Daily Star and Bengali language Prothom Alo, two independent newspapers that had always been in the crosshairs of the previous regime. In both cases, arrests had been made, though police had been accused of inaction leading up to both attacks.
The arson attack on the newspaper house followed the killing of a firebrand student leader Sharif Osman bin Hadi, who was also a virulent anti-India activist. His supporters had accused India of the murder, alleging
that the assailants had taken refuge in India.
Anti-India sentiments are on the rise, partly owing to Hasina’s flight to India and her government’s pro-Indian policy. However, an increasingly religious, Islamist ideological bent guiding anti-India sentiments is also evident and is a cause for worry.
The post-Hasina political vacuum has been worsened by the timid and ineffective transitional government of Nobel Prize-winning economist Mohammed Yunus, which relies on the good graces of the protest leaders. The vacuum has been exploited to devastating consequences by the Islamist groups, such as the banned Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh (HIB) and Anser al Islam, which campaign for Sharia law and capital punishment for blasphemy. Islamists have reassembled, organising large rallies that have drawn thousands of crowds. Attacks on the Hindu minority, which account for 8 per cent of the population, and minority Christians have steadily increased. Though most past attacks were associated with the political loyalists of the deposed Awami League, the new bout of attacks had taken an increasingly sectarian line. The tightening grip of Islamism on the country of 170 million is partly owing to the controversial bail release of known Islamist leaders and around 300 rank-and-file activists, previously held under terrorism charges. In the meantime, intelligence agencies have noted that transnational terrorist groups Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), the Islamic State of Khorasan (ISK), and the Pakistan Taliban (TPP) are making inroads into Bangladesh.
Officially too Bangladesh is straying away from its constitutional secularism towards a more pronounced Islamist identity.
The key officials drafting the constitutional amendments have announced plans to drop ‘secularism’ as a defining characteristic of the nation. Earlier, Islamists took to the streets when the government proposed legal changes granting equal property rights for women.
In the public space too, Bangladesh had all gone all out Burka— perhaps the most potent sign of the grassroots Islamisation of any society, which Sri Lankans familiar with the run-up to the Easter Sunday attack would know.
Unveiled women have been assaulted, and moral policing by the Islamists, have become increasingly common. While the hardline Islamists remain a minority and would not draw enough votes, their electoral alliance with the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami magnifies their influence. Bangladesh is expected to schedule general elections in February next year.
Meanwhile, Sheik Hasina has been sentenced to death in absentia for her role in the killings of protestors, and the Awami League has been banned. Experience in Bangladesh may not always apply to Sri Lanka. Still, it fits into general practice in the Muslim world, where political vacuum and political change are often followed by heightened Islamist takeover, ranging from post-American Iraq to the Arab Spring.
Another lesson might be that nations are often built by flawed leaders, much less by self-righteous demigods. For all her imperfections, Hasina oversaw an economic miracle in Bangladesh, which had not long ago been viewed as a basket case.
Now, she is gone, and it is at risk of falling back to become not just that, but also a dangerously Islamist one.
Source: dailymirror.lk
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ISIS Member Arrested in Pakistan Based on IEA’s Intelligence Report, Mujahid
December 25, 2025
KABUL: Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesperson for the Islamic Emirate, has said that the recent arrest of an ISIS member in Pakistan, who is reportedly a Turkish national, was carried out based on intelligence provided by the IEA.
In an interview with TOLONews, Mujahid has stated that the Islamic Emirate had shared relevant information that led to the arrest.
He added that Afghan authorities have long been aware of the presence of ISIS members operating inside Pakistan.
His remarks come amid continued regional efforts to counter extremist groups and address cross-border security threats.
Source: thekabultimes.com
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Meeting Held in Helmand on Better Implementation of Supreme Leader’s Decrees
December 25, 2025
KABUL: The Directorate of Information and Culture of Helmand Province held a meeting with officials of the state and private media outlets, as well as local journalists, to strengthen the implementation of key decrees issued by the Amir al-Mu’minin.
The meeting focused on the enforcement of decrees related to preventing the smuggling of food items, medicines, and health products, as well as the law endorsed by the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the Ministry of Information and Culture said in a statement on Wednesday.
Hafiz Abdul Bari Rashid, the provincial Director of Information and Culture, said the directorate consistently works to facilitate media activities and noted that the primary aim of the meeting was to ensure the effective implementation of the relevant laws.
He provided comprehensive information on both decrees and urged media officials to use their platforms to raise public awareness so the directives could be fully implemented.
During the session, media representatives and journalists expressed appreciation for the efforts of the Information and Culture Directorate and pledged full cooperation in implementing the decrees.
They also committed to publishing programs and announcements in line with the policies of the Islamic Emirate to help inform the public and support compliance.
Source: thekabultimes.com
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Omari, Iranian Ambassador Discuss Legal Labor Migration, Protection of Afghan Workers
December 25, 2025
KABUL: Mullah Abdul Manan Omari, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, met with Alireza Bikdeli, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Afghanistan, to discuss strengthening bilateral cooperation in labor and social affairs.
During the meeting, both sides exchanged views on expanding joint cooperation, the legal deployment of Afghan workers to Iran, better regulation of the labor force, and particularly the situation of Afghan migrants, according to a statement from the ministry on Wednesday.
Minister Omari emphasized the need to facilitate the issuance of legal work permits for Afghan migrants.
He also called for enhanced cooperation in expanding technical and vocational training programs in Afghanistan, both in quantity and quality, and the implementation of joint vocational programs through proper coordination.
Omari stressed that the rights of Afghan workers in Iran must be fully guaranteed, including fair wages, safe and healthy working conditions, and the establishment of a joint commission to resolve labor disputes and address the problems of both resident and newly arrived Afghan workers.
The minister further stated that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan seeks to reach a mutual understanding with Iran on the orderly, legal, and beneficial transfer of skilled and professional workers, the protection of their rights, and the enhancement of professional capacities, paving the way for labor exchange between the two countries.
Iranian Ambassador said that Iran is ready to cooperate with Afghanistan through the implementation of joint projects related to the organized transfer of migrants and social support for them.
Bikdeli added that Iran is interested in labor exchange with Afghanistan and prefers creating opportunities for skilled Afghan workers in Iran’s labor market, as well as for skilled Iranian workers in Afghanistan.
He reaffirmed Iran’s commitment to continued cooperation and stressed the importance of strengthening the historical, cultural, and religious ties between the two nations.
Source: thekabultimes.com
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Afghan Ambassador Visits Chabahar Port for Trade, Transit Cooperation
December 25, 2025
TERAN: Mawlavi Fazl Mohammad Haqqani, the country’s Ambassador to Iran, visited Chabahar Port to strengthen bilateral trade and transit cooperation, the embassy said in a statement on Wednesday.
During the visit, the ambassador held discussions with Afghan traders and port officials, emphasizing the expansion of trade and economic relations between Afghanistan and Iran.
The statement said that the talks focused on facilitating exports, improving utilization of Chabahar Port, increasing trade exchange, and expanding transit cooperation.
Officials from both sides highlighted the strategic importance of Chabahar Port for regional trade connectivity.
Source: thekabultimes.com
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First-Ever Herat’s Industrial Machinery Exported to Tajikistan
December 25, 2025
HERAT: A shipment of industrial machinery worth 23.45 million Afghanis has been exported from Herat to Tajikistan for the first time, the provincial governor’s press office said in a statement on Wednesday.
According to the statement, the shipment includes specialized machinery for gypsum and cement factories and was sent under a contract to Tajikistan.
“The total value of the contract is reported to be 80.45 million Afghanis, with the first shipment worth 23.45 million Afghanis delivered to Tajikistan,” the statement said.
The relevant officials said that government facilitation for industrial investors has helped boost domestic exports to nearly two billion dollars.
The development follows recent exports from Herat, including a 10-container shipment of batteries to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Source: thekabultimes.com
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Iran Executes Afghanistan Citizen, Raising Human Rights Concerns
By Fidel Rahmati
December 25, 2025
Iran has executed an Afghanistan citizen, Nazir, raising international concerns over capital punishment, human rights, and the treatment of foreign prisoners in Iranian jails.
Iran has executed 12 prisoners, including an Afghanistan national, across several facilities in the country, according to human rights organisation Hengaw.
Hengaw reported on Wednesday, December 24, that the executions were carried out in prisons located in Karaj, Rasht, Bushehr, Shahrekord, Sabzevar, Kashmar, Malayer, and Shiraz.
The Afghanistan citizen, identified as Nazir, was executed at Adelabad Prison in Shiraz. According to Hengaw, the prisoners had been sentenced to death on charges including “intentional murder” and “drug-related crimes.”
Human rights organisations have long criticised Iran for its use of capital punishment, pointing to concerns over transparency, access to legal defence, and fair trial standards for prisoners.
Hengaw reported that since the start of the year, Iran has executed at least 1,002 individuals, including 65 citizens of Afghanistan, highlighting the country’s persistently high execution rate.
The executions have drawn international concern over Iran’s human rights record, particularly the treatment of foreign nationals and individuals convicted in politically or legally sensitive cases.
Human rights advocates have urged Iranian authorities to halt the use of capital punishment and adhere to international human rights standards, stressing the need for fair judicial processes and protection for vulnerable prisoners.
Source: khaama.com
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Khawaja Asif Calls Kabul Airstrikes ‘Legitimate’, Opposition Leader Fazl-ur-Rehman Criticizes Action
By Fidel Rahmati
December 24, 2025
Pakistan’s Defence Minister has defended recent airstrikes in Kabul as legitimate, asserting they target militants, while opposition leader Fazl-ur-Rehman criticized the attacks as disproportionate and provocative.
Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif described comparisons of Islamabad’s military operations against Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Afghanistan territory with India’s recent strikes on Pakistan as “incorrect and inappropriate,” emphasizing Pakistan’s justified response to cross-border threats.
The leader of Pakistan’s Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam yesterday strongly criticized recent actions by the Pakistan Army, condemning its airstrike on Kabul and comparing it to India’s attacks on Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Fazl-ur-Rehman said: “When you attack Kabul, it is like India attacking Islamabad. Pakistan’s attack on Kabul is equivalent to India striking Kashmir or any other part of Pakistan. If this strike had been anywhere else in Afghanistan, it might have been understandable; but in Kabul, it is not acceptable.”
Asif stated on Tuesday on X that India has so far provided “no credible evidence” linking Pakistan to the April attack on tourists in Pahalgam, Indian-administered Kashmir, which killed 26 civilians. India responded with airstrikes targeting alleged militant bases in Pakistan, prompting Islamabad to launch a counter-response.
Pakistan has long expressed concerns over militant groups operating across the Afghanistan border, repeatedly urging Talibanauthorities to prevent TTP from using Afghanistan territory as a launchpad for attacks on Pakistani soil. The Taliban have denied any support for Pakistani militants, accusing Pakistan of violating Afghanistan sovereignty.
UN reports have previously highlighted the risks of escalatory cross-border actions in South Asia. Aggressive airstrikes or missile operations, if unchecked, could increase regional instability, raising concerns among neighboring countries and international observers.
Asif stressed that Pakistan’s response was “fully justified and lawful” under international assessments, highlighting Islamabad’s legitimate security concerns and its efforts to protect civilians from cross-border terrorism.
Fazl Rehman reiterated that indiscriminate military action risks destabilizing the region further. He urged Pakistan to pursue diplomatic solutions and coordinate with Afghanistan authorities to reduce tensions and avoid civilian harm.
Relations between Pakistan and Taliban administration have sharply deteriorated in recent months, largely due to continued TTP activity in Afghanistan territory. Earlier attempts at dialogue following October border clashes have yet to produce concrete outcomes, leaving tensions high along the frontier.
Source: khaama.com
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Unite to protect press freedom
Dec 25, 2025
Journalist leaders yesterday termed the recent attacks on the offices of The Daily Star and Prothom Alo direct assaults on free and independent journalism, demanding swift justice and exemplary punishment for those responsible.
They made the remarks while participating in a human chain organised by the Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) on its premises, calling on journalists to remain united so that vested interests cannot attack media workers or press institutions in the future.
Speakers said attacks on the media are not new, noting that previous incidents, including the shutdown of newspapers, went unpunished, which emboldened miscreants to target The Daily Star and Prothom Alo.
The protest was held against the attacks on the offices of The Daily Star and Prothom Alo, the harassment of New Age Editor Nurul Kabir, and what organisers described as a "false case" filed against the DRU general secretary and its administrative officer.
The human chain was presided over by DRU President Abu Saleh Akon.
Addressing the programme, Abu Saleh said many of those involved in the attacks and arson had already been arrested, but demanded the immediate arrest of the remaining perpetrators as well as those who incited and instigated the violence.
He issued a 72-hour ultimatum to the government, warning that if the attackers and their instigators are not produced before the media within this timeframe, journalists would launch a tougher movement.
Referring to past incidents, he said, "Newspapers such as Sangram, Naya Diganta and Amar Desh were attacked under previous governments, while editors Abdul Asad and Mahmudur Rahman were humiliated. At that time, journalists failed to unite and demand justice. These incidents are a continuation of that impunity. Now is the time for journalists to stand united so that no one dares to attack us again."
Dhaka Journalists Union (faction) General Secretary Khurshid Alam, former DRU president Shafikul Karim Sabu, Prothom Alo Head of Online Shaukat Hossain, senior reporters Nazrul Islam and Najnin Akhter, and The Daily Star staff correspondent Dipon Nandy, among others, also condemned the attacks and demanded justice.
Source: thedailystar.net
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https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/crime-justice/news/tayims-killing-ict-2-presses-charges-against-11-former-cops-4065711
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Islamist bloc wrangling over seat-sharing
Dec 25, 2025
The eight-party bloc, which includes Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Andolan Bangladesh, has yet to agree on seat-sharing for the general election, with the deadline for nomination papers set for December 29.
However, its leaders refuted speculations of rift over the deal and said the candidate list will be announced soon.
The bloc plans to contest the polls under what it calls a "one-box policy", fielding a single candidate in each constituency through mutual understanding.
Formal talks among top leaders began on November 9 to pick candidates for all 300 seats. Islami Andolan Bangladesh submitted more than 100 names, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis (Mamunul Haque) around 45, and other parties between 10 and 20 each. Jamaat sources said the party is unwilling to give up more than 60-70 seats.
Bloc sources said several rounds of meetings and lengthy discussions over the past few days have brought them close to finalising the list.
"Our candidate list is almost finalised. The top leaders of the parties will sit again tomorrow. We hope to make a formal announcement by Friday or Saturday," Ahsanul Mahbub Zubayer, Jamaat's assistant secretary general and head of its central publicity department, told The Daily Star yesterday.
Explaining the delay, he said, "We wanted to select candidates in a way that would maximise our chances of winning the highest number of seats. That required lengthy discussions. We carefully reviewed who would be best suited for which constituency, how they compare with potential candidates of other parties, and what the mindset of voters in each seat is. All this took some extra time."
Islami Andolan Bangladesh Secretary General Maulana Yunus Ahmed echoed the view, adding, "At the same time, we are also verifying whether the candidates we are selecting have had any form of affiliation with the Awami League."
Amid the ongoing negotiations, Jamaat leaders collected nomination forms in several constituencies in the capital on December 17.
Dismissing speculations about tensions between Jamaat and Islami Andolan over seat-sharing, Yunus Ahmed said, "These discussions are mostly centred on social media and have no basis in reality. The notion that such issues are causing delays in announcing the final candidate list is also incorrect."
Besides Jamaat and Islami Andolan, the bloc includes Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis, Khelafat Majlis, Jatiya Ganatantrik Party (Jagpa), Nezame Islam Party, Development Party and Bangladesh Khelafat Andolan.
Since September 18, the eight parties have jointly carried out a movement around largely identical demands, alongside behind-the-scenes talks on forming an electoral understanding. Due to ideological differences, particularly between Jamaat and parties from the Qawmi stream, the idea of a formal alliance was eventually dropped.
Instead, they agreed to contest the election under their respective party symbols without appointing an alliance leader. Under the arrangement, only one party will field a candidate in each constituency, while the others will support that nominee.
"Since there are eight parties involved, it is only natural that reaching an understanding will take some time," Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis Secretary General Maulana Jalaluddin Ahmed said. "Now we are at the final stage of discussions."
Jagpa Co-Vice President and spokesperson Rashed Pradhan said, "We really do not want to make mistakes. The list we announce will be final, and that is the list with which we want to go into the national election."
"With very little time left for submission of nomination forms, we have asked all our prospective candidates to keep their documents ready so that once the list is finalised, those selected can quickly collect nomination forms and submit them within the stipulated time," he added.
Source: thedailystar.net
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https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/elections/news/islamist-bloc-wrangling-over-seat-sharing-4065756
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Jamaat chief condemns crude bomb attack that killed youth in Dhaka
Dec 24, 2025
Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Shafiqur Rahman has strongly condemned the crude bomb explosion at Moghbazar in Dhaka this evening that killed a young man named Siam.
In a post on his verified Facebook page, Shafiqur expressed profound grief over the incident and prayed for the deceased.
"I pray for the maghfirat of Siam. May Allah forgive him, shower His mercy upon him, and grant patience to his bereaved family," he wrote.
The Jamaat chief blamed the tragedy on the authorities' failure to arrest and bring to justice the killers of Sharif Osman Bin Hadi, saying an innocent life had been lost as a result.
"A sinister group is carrying out covert attacks to destabilise the country," he said.
The Jamaat chief urged the administration to discharge its responsibilities with sincerity and called on citizens to build resistance against such acts of violence.
Source: thedailystar.net
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https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/jamaat-chief-condemns-crude-bomb-attack-killed-youth-dhaka-4065546
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Expressing dissent through use of force is barbaric: Islami Andolon Bangladesh
Dec 24, 2025
Islami Andolon Bangladesh (IAB) today strongly condemned the attack on The Daily Star office.
A three-member IAB delegation led by Central Organising Secretary Shah Iftekhar Tariq visited The Daily Star Centre in Dhaka this evening.
"We believe that expressing dissent through the use of force is entirely barbaric. If there is opposition, it must be expressed intellectually and through logic," said Iftekhar.
He added that the attack came at a time when the country is moving forward, stressing that those who attempt to drag the nation back must not be given any opportunity.
Calling the media one of the key pillars of a civilised nation, he said, "What we call the fourth pillar of the state cannot be dismantled if we are to build a civilised nation. Attacks on newspapers are deeply regrettable."
The IAB leader further urged conscious citizens to remain cautious and said opportunists must be monitored and restrained by the state.
Kamal Ahmed, consulting editor of The Daily Star, thanked the delegation for expressing solidarity.
"We certainly hope that healthy debate will continue. Political differences will exist, and differing opinions are normal," he said.
He added, "The kind of violence we are witnessing is in no way acceptable. If you take a strong stand against terrorism -- at home and abroad, both online and offline -- it will serve the interests of the country. We hope you will continue to play that role."
Source: thedailystar.net
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/expressing-dissent-through-use-force-barbaric-islami-andolon-bangladesh-4065511
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/security-flag-isi-terror-bangladesh/d/138165