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Pompeo warns of Hezbollah's 'destabilizing activities' during Lebanon visit

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Mike Pompeo meets with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, in Beirut. (Reuters)
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Mike Pompeo meets with Lebanon's President Michel Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda, Lebanon. (Reuters)
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Mike Pompeo meets with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri at the governmental palace in Beirut. (Reuters)
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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meets with Lebanon's Interior Minister Raya al-Hassan at the Interior Ministry in Beirut, Lebanon March 22, 2019. (Reuters)
Updated 22 March 2019
AFP
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Pompeo warns of Hezbollah's 'destabilizing activities' during Lebanon visit

  • US secretary of state flew in from Israel for two days of meetings in Lebanon
  • Holds meeting with parliament speaker Nabih Berri
Updated 22 March 2019
AFP

BEIRUT: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned on Friday of Hezbollah's "destabilising activities" as he visited Lebanon on the latest leg of a regional tour to build a united front against Iran.
He flew in from Israel a day after he became the first high-ranking American official to visit the Western Wall in annexed east Jerusalem with an Israeli prime minister.
His visit also comes just hours after US President Donald Trump said Washington should recognise Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights, breaking with the policy of successive administrations as well as UN Security Council resolutions.
In a meeting with parliament speaker Nabih Berri Pompeo warned of the "destabilising activities" of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed group that is targeted by US sanctions but holds cabinet posts in Lebanon.
"He highlighted US concerns about Hezbollah's destabilising activities in Lebanon and the region and the risks posed to Lebanon's security, stability and prosperity," US deputy spokesman Robert Palladino said.
Hezbollah has backed government forces in neighbouring Syria in the civil war that broke out in 2011

But Berri, a political ally of Hezbollah, also told Pompeo sanctions on Hezbollah were having a "negative impact on Lebanon and the Lebanese". He said Hezbollah's "resistance" against Israel was a result of continuing Israeli occupation of Lebanese territory, his office said in a statement.
Pompeo and Berri also discussed "the need to maintain calm along the boundary between Lebanon and Israel", Palladino said.
Lebanon and its southern neighbour are still technically at war, even after Israeli troops withdrew from the south of the country in 2000.
Israel and Hezbollah fought a devastating month-long war in 2006, and skirmishes still erupt along a UN-patrolled demarcation line.
The secretary of state then met Prime Minister Saad Hariri to discuss "the latest developments in Lebanon and the region", according to the premier's office.
Earlier, he met the country's first female interior minister.
"Pompeo met in Beirut today with Lebanese Minister of the Interior Raya Al-Hassan," Palladino said.
They "discussed the regional and internal security challenges facing Lebanon and how the United States can help support the interior ministry's efforts to maintain safety and stability inside Lebanon."
Hassan became the first woman interior minister in Lebanon and the Middle East in a cabinet line-up unveiled in late January following an eight-month delay.
The United States considers Hezbollah a "terrorist" organisation, and has targeted it with tough sanctions.
Lebanon's new cabinet includes three posts for Hezbollah, including at the helm of the health ministry.
The Shiite movement is the only group that did not disarm after Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.
Earlier this week, Lebanese intelligence said a Lebanese-Canadian dual national had been arrested on suspicion of spying for Israel.
Pompeo is expected to leave Lebanon on Saturday.

Topics: Isreal pompeo Lebanon

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Kite-making picks up in India’s Gujarat as harvest festival nears

Updated 16 min 36 sec ago
Reuters
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Kite-making picks up in India’s Gujarat as harvest festival nears

  • People in Gujarat celebrate Uttarayan, a Hindu festival, in mid-January that marks the end of winter by flying kites
  • At least 18 people died from injuries related to kite flying across Gujarat during this year’s Uttarayan festival
Updated 16 min 36 sec ago
Reuters

AHMEDABAD: Huddled over piles of colorful paper, Mohammad Yunus is one among thousands of workers in India’s western state of Gujarat who make kites by hand that are used during a major harvest festival.

People in Gujarat celebrate Uttarayan, a Hindu festival in mid-January that celebrates the end of winter by flying kites held by glass-coated or plastic strings.

“The kite may seem like a small item but it takes a long time to make it. Many people are involved in it and their livelihoods depend on it,” Yunus, a Muslim who comes to Gujarat from neighboring Rajasthan state to make kites during the peak season, told Reuters.

Kite enthusiasts fly kites during the eight-day-long International Kite Festival in Ahmedabad, India, on January 7, 2024. (REUTERS)

More than 130,000 people are involved in kite-making throughout Gujarat, according to government estimates, many of whom work from homes to make kites that cost as little as five rupees (6 US cents).

At the start of the two-day festival, people rent roofs and terraces from those who have access to them, and gather there to fly colorful kites that criss-cross each other in the sky.

Gujarat is a hub of the kite industry in the country, boasting a market worth 6.50 billion Indian rupees ($76.58 million), and the state accounts for about 65 percent of the total number of kites made in India.

A woman makes kites inside her house in Ahmedabad, India, on October 10, 2024. (REUTERS)

While the kite flying season in the state is limited to almost just 2 or 3 days in January, the industry runs year-round providing employment to about 130,000 people in the state, according to government figures.

But these paper birds are also harmful and can be fatal, especially kites that have plastic strings, which can cause serious cuts to birds in the sky, killing and injuring thousands of them during the festival.

At least 18 people died from kite related injures across Gujarat during this year’s Uttarayan festival, including being cut by a string and getting electrocuted while trying to extricate a kite from an electric pole, local media reported.

A worker applies colour to strings which will be used to fly kites, at a roadside kite market in Ahmedabad, India, on December 31, 2023. (REUTERS)

 

Topics: India Gujarat Kite-making

Pakistan’s Jacobabad reports fourth polio case, takes nationwide tally to 64 this year

Updated 48 min 24 sec ago
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Pakistan’s Jacobabad reports fourth polio case, takes nationwide tally to 64 this year

  • The development comes amid a countrywide drive to vaccinate 44 million children
  • Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two polio-endemic countries in the world
Updated 48 min 24 sec ago
NAIMAT KHAN

KARACHI: Pakistan’s southern city of Jacobabad has reported its fourth polio case this year, the country’s polio program said on Wednesday, amid an intense resurgence of the virus in the South Asian country.

Polio is a paralyzing disease that has no cure. Multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five is essential to provide children high immunity against this terrible disease.

Pakistan is responding to an intense resurgence of wild poliovirus type 1, with 64 cases reported this year, according to the polio program. Of these, 26 are from Balochistan, 18 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 18 from Sindh, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.

“It is crucial for parents to ensure vaccination for all their children under the age of five to keep them protected,” the polio program said in a statement.

Pakistan on Monday launched the latest nationwide anti-polio drive to vaccinate 44 million children in 143 districts. The drive will continue till Dec. 22. The South Asian country’s polio eradication efforts have faced several challenges in recent years, including militant attacks and misinformation spread by militants and conservative clerics.

Pakistan, along with neighboring Afghanistan, remains the last polio-endemic country in the world. In the early 1990s, the country reported around 20,000 cases annually but in 2018 the number dropped to eight cases. Six cases were reported in 2023 and only one in 2021.

Topics: Pakistan Jacobabad Polio in Pakistan Arab News Pakistan

Oil Updates — crude retreats on demand concerns after Fed signals slower easing ahead

Updated 51 min 26 sec ago
Reuters
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Oil Updates — crude retreats on demand concerns after Fed signals slower easing ahead

Updated 51 min 26 sec ago
Reuters

LONDON: Oil prices fell in Asian trade on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve signaled it would slow the pace of interest rate cuts in 2025, which could slow economic growth and reduce fuel demand.

Brent futures fell 47 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $72.92 a barrel by 8:15 a.m. Saudi Time. US West Texas Intermediate crude fell 39 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $70.19.

The declines reversed most of the benchmark contracts’ gains from Wednesday when prices settled higher as US crude stocks fell and the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 25 basis points as expected.

Prices weakened after US central bankers issued projections calling for two quarter-point interest rate cuts in 2025 on concerns about rising inflation. That was half a point less than they had anticipated as of September.

Lower rates decrease borrowing costs, which can boost economic growth and demand for oil.

“The demand-supply balance going into 2025 continues to look unfavorable and predictions of more than 1.0 million bpd demand growth in 2025 look stretched in our opinion. Even if OPEC+ continues to withhold production, the market may still be in surplus,” DBS Bank’s energy sector team lead Suvro Sarkar said.

Meanwhile, although demand in the first half of December rose year-on-year, volumes remained lower than expected by some analysts.

JP Morgan analysts said in a note that global oil demand growth for December so far was 700,000 barrels per day less than it had expected, and for the year-to-date, global demand had risen by 200,000 bpd less than it had forecast in November 2023.

Official data from the Energy Information Administration on Wednesday showed US crude stocks fell by 934,000 barrels in the week to Dec. 13, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.6 million-barrel draw.

While the drawdown was less than expected, the market found support in the data as US crude exports rose by 1.8 million bpd last week to 4.89 million bpd.

Topics: Oil US Federal Reserve energy oil prices oil updates Brent crude

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Five suspected militants killed in Indian-administered Kashmir

Updated 19 December 2024
AFP
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Five suspected militants killed in Indian-administered Kashmir

  • The disputed region is home to a 35-year insurgency in which tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers and militants have been killed
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government canceled the territory’s partial autonomy in 2019, bringing the region under its direct rule
Updated 19 December 2024
AFP

SRINAGAR: Security forces in India-administered Kashmir on Thursday killed at least five suspected militants in ongoing clashes, the army said, the latest outbreak of violence in the disputed Muslim-majority Himalayan region.

Kashmir has been divided between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan since their partition at the chaotic end of British rule in 1947, and both countries claim the territory in full.

“Five terrorists have been neutralized by the security forces in the ongoing operation,” the Indian army’s Chinar Corps said, adding that two soldiers had been wounded in the firefight.

Half a million Indian troops are deployed in the far northern region, battling a 35-year insurgency in which tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers and militants have been killed, including at least 120 this year.

Separatist groups demand either independence or the region’s merger with Pakistan.

New Delhi regularly blames Pakistan for arming militants and helping them launch attacks, an allegation Islamabad denies.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government canceled the territory’s partial autonomy in 2019, bringing the region under its direct rule.

The territory of about 12 million people has since been ruled by a New Delhi-appointed governor who oversees a local government that voters elected in October in opposition to Modi.

Topics: Kashmir India Arab News Pakistan

5 suspected militants killed in Kashmir fighting, Indian military says

Updated 47 min 15 sec ago
AP
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5 suspected militants killed in Kashmir fighting, Indian military says

  • India and Pakistan each administer a part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety
  • Militants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989
Updated 47 min 15 sec ago
AP

SRINAGAR, India: Government forces in Indian-controlled Kashmir killed five suspected militants in a gunbattle on Thursday, the Indian military said.
Soldiers and police launched a joint operation after receiving a tip that rebels were hiding in a village in southern Kulgam district, the military said in a statement. The militants opened “indiscriminate and heavy volumes of fire” at the raiding troops, leading to a gunbattle, it said.
Five militants were killed in the fighting, the statement said, adding that two soldiers were also injured. Troops continued to search the area. There was no independent confirmation of the battle.
India and Pakistan each administer a part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety.
Militants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989. Many Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels’ goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.
India insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Pakistan denies the charge, and many Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.

Topics: Kashmir India

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