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Israel releases 26 Palestinian prisoners ahead of Kerry visit
Freed Palestinian prisoner Rami Barbakh, who was held by Israel for 20 years, is hugged by his mother at his house in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday. Reuters
Pak’s sharia court gets first female judge in 33 yrs
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Queen’s New Year honour list has 15 of Indian-origin
Russia buries its dead as bombings toll hits 34
DR Congo ‘prophet’ on the run after attacks kill 100
Lanka, India to swap detained fishermen
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Israel releases 26 Palestinian prisoners ahead of Kerry visit
Jerusalem, December 31 Three of the prisoners released were from Gaza, 18 from the West Bank and five from east Jerusalem. They departed on buses from Israeli jails overnight and received hero’s welcome on their return to the West Bank and Gaza, with jubilant relatives and officials lining up to greet them. Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas waited at his headquarters in Ramallah to meet the released prisoners in the middle of the night. “This is day of happiness for our nation, our families and our prisoners, the heroes, who have seen the light of freedom. We are guaranteeing that this won’t be the last time that prisoners are freed,” Abbas said. He vowed that there will be no peace agreement with Israel if all Palestinian prisoners are not released. “There won’t be a final agreement with Israel until all the prisoners are released,” Abbas asserted. Meanwhile, members of the bereaved families that lost relatives under attacks from Palestinians protested the release by marching from Netanyahu’s Jerusalem residence to the Old City home of one of the freed prisoners. An Israeli High Court earlier rejected a petition by an organisation representing the bereaved families against the release. The release came as Secretary of State Kerry planned a New Year’s Day trip to push forward the peace process and find a lasting solution to decades-old conflict in the region. This would be Kerry’s tenth visit to the region since March. His last visit, a week-long trip, began on December 11. This was the third batch of prisoners to be freed since August when Israel agreed to release 104 Palestinians in four phases to push ahead peace talks with the Palestinians that was resumed in July under US mediation after three years. Other groups of prisoners have been freed on August 13 and October 30. The Ministerial Committee for Prisoner Releases approved late on December 28 the release of the 26 Palestinians who were imprisoned before the 1993 Oslo Accords. The prisoners had served sentences of between 19-28 years, the Prime Minister’s Office said. They had been sentenced to life imprisonment and were convicted of murder or accessory to murder. — PTI
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Pak’s sharia court gets first female judge in 33 yrs
Karachi, December 31 Ashraf Jehan, who was serving as an additional judge at the Sindh High Court, took oath, becoming the first female judge to be appointed in the court’s 33-year history. The court was established in 1980 during the rule of military dictator Ziaul Haq as part of his policy towards Islamisation of Pakistan’s institutions. The sharia court examines the country’s laws to check them for conformity with Islamic injunctions and hears appeals under religious legislation known as the ‘Hudood Laws’, which run parallel to the penal code. Chief Justice of the Shariat Court Agha Rafiq Ahmed said, “I took the initiative as it would send the message in the world that we are enlightened people and would dispel many misconceptions.” — PTI |
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Queen’s New Year honour list has 15 of Indian-origin
London, December 31 Khemka has been named a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for her service to the deprived areas of the West Midlands as principal of West Nottinghamshire College for the last eight years. “Under her leadership, it has become one of the most eminent further education colleges in the UK. She has embraced the apprenticeship agenda, leading the college to become the largest 16-18 provider in the UK and finding jobs for 700 young people in the first year,” read a special citation accompanying the higher awards in this year’s list. A total of 1,195 candidates have been selected for honours this year, with 610 successful women candidates representing 51% of the total. Actresses Angela Lansbury and Penelope Keith become dames in a list which features more women than men for the first time in history. However, Wimbledon champion Andy Murray and former England soccer captain David Beckham were two surprising omissions from the list. The duo, who both have Order of the British Empire (OBE), were tipped to be knighted. Murray, 26, became the first Briton in 77 years to win the Wimbledon men’s singles title in the summer, while Beckham, 38, retired from football in May after a 20-year career. In line with the overall theme this year, women are well represented among the Asian set too with OBE for Gill Harjagbir Bal, headteacher of Wembley High Technology College in London, for services to education, and entrepreneur Priya Lakhani for services to business, community and voluntary initiatives. Others on the OBE list include pharmacist Ashok Soni for services to community pharmacy and the NHS, and Shahed Ahmed Battiwala, head teacher at Elmhurst Primary School in Newham, London, for services to education. —PTI
Recognising achievers
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Russia buries its dead as bombings toll hits 34
Moscow, December 31
The southern city of Volgograd began to bury the first victims of Sunday’s bombing of the heartland hub’s main railway station that killed 18 persons and which officials have provisionally blamed on a young woman from the restive North Caucasus region of Dagestan. A second suicide attack on a trolleybus packed with students yesterday that investigators pinned on a male assailant has now claimed 16 lives. The blasts are Russia’s deadliest since a suicide bombing at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport that was claimed by Islamic insurgents from the North Caucasus killed 37 people in January 2011. The latest attacks have laid bare the unchecked threat posed by guerrillas who have vowed to target civilians in a bid to undermine President Vladimir Putin as he welcomes world guests to Sochi for the Game’s opening ceremony on February 7. — AFP
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DR Congo ‘prophet’ on the run after attacks kill 100 Kinshasa, December 31 Supporters of Joseph Munkugubila Mutombo, who describes himself as God's "last envoy to humanity after Jesus Christ and Paul of Tarsus", said it was the army that triggered the deadly unrest in Kinshasa and Lubumbashi. The government said its forces fought back a "terrorist offensive" yesterday, including attacks on the airport and main army headquarters in the capital. Government spokesperson Lambert Mende said a total of 103 persons were killed, 95 attackers and eight members of the armed forces. Mukungubila, who ran for president in 2006, had charged in a December 5 open letter that President Joseph Kabila was colluding with the regime of neighbouring Rwanda and argued he should not remain head of state. — AFP
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Musharraf challenges treason trial special court Coalition casualties in Afghanistan drop in 2013 UN destroys 5.7 tonnes of explosives found in Mali Northern Ireland talks end without deal It's official: Pope has not abolished sin, says Vatican UK Sikhs, Hindus flay use of ‘Asian’ in criminality talk |
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Israel today released the third batch of 26 long-serving Palestinian prisoners under a US-brokered deal to push ahead faltering peace talks with the Palestinians ahead of Secretary of State John Kerry’s tenth visit to the region.
