Author: Babomsar

Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh resigned on February 26 in anticipation of postwar governance challenges. “I see that the next stage and its challenges will require new governmental and political arrangements,” Shtayyeh said, emphasizing “the emerging reality in the Gaza Strip, the national unity talks, and the urgent need for an inter-Palestinian consensus.” American and Palestinian officials expect that Abbas will nominate Mohammed Mustafa, the chairman of the Palestine Investment Fund, as Shtayyeh’s successor. Expert Analysis “Bringing in Palestine Investment Fund chief Mohammed Mustafa and pushing out the current prime minister Mohammed Shtayyeh is the rearranging of the…

Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service reported on January 23 that Tajikistan in 2010 raised the minimum age for marriage from 17 to 18. Authorities said the move was to protect women’s rights and ensure their well-being. The government also warned religious figures not to conduct a “nikah” (Islamic marriage, a contract exclusively between a man and woman. Both the groom and the bride are to consent to the marriage of their own free wills) to anyone below 18. Tajiks, however, can still marry at 17 with a court’s permission. Official statistics show that underage marriages with court permission have rising steadily in Tajikistan…

“I knew you would come back,” said the little boy, a Syrian refugee who had intercepted me in Ras Beirut. Then the young philosopher told me a story, in a serious tone, about a doctor who gave him 1,000 lira (at the time 66 cents). What is 1,000 lira to him? It is normal to give 2,000, which is fair. “It is not what I am worth, it reflects on him. When you give, you give your own worth.” That was at the end of October 2012. He would now be older than 21 and probably still in Lebanon, where…

Lebanon’s authorities on Friday issued “precautionary” guidance on evacuating Beirut’s international airport in the event that exchanges of fire across the Lebanese-Israeli border escalate into full-blown conflict. The caretaker Minister of Works and Transport, Ali Hamieh, said the guidelines were issued as a “precautionary measure” under the government’s national emergency plan in case of further conflict. He said the airport was continuing to operate normally. The guidelines include instructions for people in the airport to follow specified paths to safe places without using elevators “in the event that the airport or its surroundings are subjected to any external attack”. “The circular issued by…

President Isaac Herzog has invited ruling parties and the opposition to meet on Tuesday, a day after the planned judicial overhaul was delayed. Israel’s far-right government and opposition parties are set to open talks on controversial judiciary reforms that have sparked a general strike and mass protests, the presidency said. President Isaac Herzog invited the working teams representing the ruling coalition and the first two opposition parties for a first meeting at the president’s residence in Jerusalem at 7:30pm (16:30 GMT) on Tuesday, his office said. It added that Herzog was expected to meet with representatives of the other parties later in…

BEIRUT: Patriarch Bechara Al-Rai has praised Christian politicians as they united around a presidential candidate, in a move that could end a nearly eight-month power vacuum in Lebanon. His blessings during Sunday sermon came after opposition parliamentary blocs agreed to support the nomination of Jihad Azour, a former minister who is the director of the International Monetary Fund’s Middle East and Central Asia department. He is expected to contest the presidency against Suleiman Frangieh, the preferred candidate of Hezbollah, the Amal Movement and their allies. Al-Rahi also sent Bishop Paul Abdel Sater on Sunday to meet Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah…

French President Emmanuel Macron has appointed former Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian as his personal envoy to Lebanon. The appointment comes a year after the senior diplomat stepped down after failing to make any inroads in Lebanon’s political deadlock. Macron appointed his former foreign minister as personal envoy to Lebanon just a year after he stepped down and having previously not been able to make any inroads in the political deadlock in the country. Macron led international efforts after a massive explosion that killed more than 200 people in Beirut in 2019 and destroyed swathes of the capital city. But…

Israel has signed a free trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates, its first big trade accord with an Arab state and a move aimed at boosting trade between the two Middle Eastern nations. The pact was signed in Dubai by Israel’s Minister of Economy and Industry Orna Barbivai and her counterpart, UAE Minister of Economy Abdulla bin Touq al-Marri, on Tuesday after months of negotiations. “Done,” Israel’s Ambassador to the UAE Amir Hayek said on Twitter, replying to another tweet he posted earlier saying “the UAE and Israel will sign FTA in the next hour”. President of the UAE-Israel Business…

Berlin (25/7 – 16.67) The table is set for the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast to remain a geopolitical hotspot. Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (GBAO), eastern Tajikistan, is the home to the Pamir Mountains, also called “the roof of the world”, whose sharp mountain ranges and deep valleys resemble a lunar landscape. A far-flung frontier, situated in a troubled neighborhood, next to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, GBAO is a geopolitical treasure tethered to exterior interests: the authoritarian central Tajik government in Dushanbe, Chinese economic and military interests, and Russia, which historically frames the Pamirs as a part of its…

Colombo (25/7 – 30.77) In his book “Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday Massacre: Lessons for the International Community,” terrorism expert Dr. Rohan Gunaratna emphasizes the importance of de-radicalizing Islamic ideology to effectively combat Islamic terrorism. He identifies Wahhabism or Salafism as the root of Islamic terrorism, rapidly spreading worldwide through modern communication tools. Gunaratna warns that merely arresting perpetrators after attacks is insufficient; the focus should be on preventing radicalization in the first place. The Easter Sunday bombings in April 2019, which claimed over 200 lives, were fuelled by extremist ideologies inspired by events in the Middle East and Islamic extremists…