Israeli strikes kill six in Syria after Palestinian rocket barrage

A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency on February 24, 2020, reportedly shows Syrian air defense intercepting an Israeli missile over Damascus. (SANA/AFP)
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Updated 25 February 2020
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Israeli strikes kill six in Syria after Palestinian rocket barrage

  • Residents said multiple explosions shook Damascus and lasted for about 15 minutes as air defenses fired back
  • Israel claimed responsibility, saying it staged a series of strikes targeting the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad in Syria and the Gaza Strip

JERUSALEM: Israeli air strikes targeting the Islamic Jihad militant group in the Gaza Strip and Syria killed at least six fighters, a war monitor said Monday, after the militants fired a barrage of rockets at Israel.

In the latest tit-for-tat violence ahead of a March 2 general election in the Jewish state, the Israeli Air Force targeted “Islamic Jihad terror sites” throughout Gaza and near the Syrian capital Damascus, a military statement said.

It followed more than 20 rockets and mortars fired from the Palestinian enclave, themselves a response to the killing of an Islamic Jihad militant along the Gaza-Israel border.

Islamic Jihad, which along with allied group Hamas has fought three wars with Israel since 2008, operates in both the Gaza Strip and Syria.

The Israeli army said it had struck Islamic Jihad targets on the outskirts of Damascus, including a base “used as a hub” for the group’s activities in the country.

Islamic Jihad, which is allied with Syrian President Bashar Assad, confirmed early Monday that two of its fighters were killed.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, later confirmed that four additional pro-Assad, Iran-backed fighters died in the strike.

At least one of the Iran-backed fighters was Syrian, while the nationalities of the others remained unknown, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

Since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011, Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria, mainly targeting government troops as well as allied Iranian forces and fighters from the Lebanese group Hezbollah.

It is rare for them to claim such strikes directly.

Earlier on Sunday, Israel’s military said it had killed a militant in Gaza who had tried to plant an explosive device near the border fence.

Israel later confirmed that it extracted the militant’s body with a bulldozer.

Israel’s hawkish Defense Minister Naftali Bennett has pursued a policy of retaining the bodies of militants from Gaza as bargaining chips to pressure Hamas, which has held the bodies of two Israeli soldiers since 2014.

A video emerged later on social media, which was authenticated by AFP, showing a bulldozer approaching a body while a group of young, apparently unarmed men, were trying to retrieve it.

The sound of gunfire is heard and the men ultimately run away as the bulldozer scoops up the body.

Hours later, more than 20 rockets and mortars were launched from Gaza toward Israel, setting off warning sirens in the southern city of Ashkelon and several other locations.

More than a dozen were intercepted by the Jewish state’s Iron Dome missile defense system, the Israeli army said, adding there were no reports of serious injuries in Israel.

Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the rockets, calling them a response to the killing of one its fighters along the Gaza border early Sunday.

Israeli military said it responded to the rocket fire by targeting “dozens” of Islamic Jihad targets throughout Gaza.

Health officials in Gaza said four people were wounded.

Hamas and Israel last fought a full-scale war in 2014, but smaller flareups are relatively common.

In November, Islamic Jihad and Israel fought a three-day conflict that left 35 Palestinians dead and more than 100 wounded, according to official figures.

Under the informal agreements in the past year, Israel has slightly eased a blockade of the impoverished Palestinian enclave in exchange for relative calm.

 


Trump and Harris await results with battleground polls closing

Updated 3 min 26 sec ago
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Trump and Harris await results with battleground polls closing

  • Trump plans to impose tariffs on allies and foes, stage the largest deportation from the US
  • Harris wants to tackle economic challenges without departing from the course set by Biden

WASHINGTON: Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris notched early wins in reliably Republican and Democratic states, respectively, as a divided America made its decision in a stark choice for the nation’s future Tuesday.
Polls closed in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, North Carolina and Nevada, the seven closely fought battlegrounds expected to decide the election, but the results there were too early to call. Balloting continued in the West on Election Day, as tens of millions of Americans added their ballots to the 84 million cast early as they chose between two candidates with drastically different temperaments and visions for the country.
Trump won Florida, a one-time battleground that has shifted heavily to Republicans in recent elections. He also notched early wins in reliably Republican states such as Texas, South Carolina and Indiana, while Harris took Democratic strongholds like New York, Massachusetts and Illinois.
The fate of democracy appeared to be a primary driver for Harris’ supporters, a sign that the Democratic nominee’s persistent messaging in her campaign’s closing days accusing Trump of being a fascist may have broken through, according to AP VoteCast. The expansive survey of more than 110,000 voters nationwide also found a country mired in negativity and desperate for change. Trump’s supporters were largely focused on immigration and inflation — two issues that the former Republican president has been hammering since the start of his campaign.
Those casting Election Day ballots mostly encountered a smooth process, with isolated reports of hiccups that regularly happen, including long lines, technical issues and ballot printing errors.
Harris has promised to work across the aisle to tackle economic worries and other issues without radically departing from the course set by President Joe Biden. Trump has vowed to replace thousands of federal workers with loyalists, impose sweeping tariffs on allies and foes alike, and stage the largest deportation operation in US history.
Harris and Trump entered Election Day focused on seven swing states, five of them carried by Trump in 2016 before they flipped to Biden in 2020: the “blue wall” of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin as well as Arizona and Georgia. Nevada and North Carolina, which Democrats and Republicans respectively carried in the last two elections, also were closely contested.
Trump voted in Palm Beach, Florida, near his Mar-a-Lago club. He called into a Wisconsin radio station Tuesday night to say: “I’m watching these results. So far so good.”
Harris, the Democratic vice president, did phone interviews with radio stations in the battleground states, then visited Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington carrying a box of Doritos — her go-to snack.
“This truly represents the best of who we are,” Harris told a room of cheering staffers. She was handed a cellphone by supporters doing phone banking, and when asked by reporters how she was feeling, the vice president held up a phone and responded, “Gotta talk to voters.”
The closeness of the race and the number of states in play raised the likelihood that, once again, a victor might not be known on election night.
Trump said Tuesday that he had no plans to tell his supporters to refrain from violence if Harris wins, because they “are not violent people.” His angry supporters stormed the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, after Trump tried to overturn his loss in 2020. Asked Tuesday about accepting the 2024 race’s results, he said, “If it’s a fair election, I’d be the first one to acknowledge it.” He visited a nearby campaign office to thank staffers before a party at a nearby convention center.
After her DNC stop, Harris planned to attend a party at her alma mater, Howard University in Washington.
Federal, state and local officials have expressed confidence in the integrity of the nation’s election systems. They nonetheless were braced to contend with what they say is an unprecedented level of foreign disinformation — particularly from Russia and Iran — as well as the possibility of physical violence or cyberattacks.
In Georgia’s Fulton County, a Democratic stronghold that includes most of the city of Atlanta, 32 of the 177 polling places received bomb threats Tuesday, prompting brief evacuations at five locations, county Police Chief W. Wade Yates said. The threats were determined to be non-credible but voting hours were extended at those five locations.
Bomb threats also forced an extension of voting hours in at least two Pennsylvania counties — Clearfield, in central Pennsylvania, and Chester, near Philadelphia.
Both sides have armies of lawyers in anticipation of legal challenges on and after Election Day. And law enforcement agencies nationwide are on high alert for potential violence.
Harris, 60, would be the first woman, Black woman and person of South Asian descent to serve as president. She also would be the first sitting vice president to win the White House in 36 years.
Trump, 78, would be the oldest president ever elected. He would also be the first defeated president in 132 years to win another term in the White House, and the first person convicted of a felony to take over the Oval Office.
He survived one assassination attempt by millimeters at a July rally. Secret Service agents foiled a second attempt in September.
Harris, pointing to the warnings of Trump’s former aides, has labeled him a “fascist” and blamed Trump for putting women’s lives in danger by nominating three of the justices who overturned Roe v. Wade. In the closing hours of the campaign, she tried to strike a more positive tone and went all of Monday without saying her Republican opponent’s name.
Voters nationwide also were deciding thousands of other races that will decide everything from control of Congress to state ballot measures on abortion access in response to the Supreme Court’s vote in 2022 to overturn Roe v. Wade.
In Florida, a ballot measure that would have protected abortion rights in the state constitution failed after not meeting the 60 percent threshold to pass, marking the first time a measure protecting abortion rights failed since Roe was overturned. Earlier Tuesday, Trump refused to say how he voted on the measure and snapped at a reporter, saying, “You should stop talking about that.”
In reliably Democratic New York and Maryland, voters approved ballot measures aimed at protecting abortion rights in their state constitutions.
JD Jorgensen, an independent voter in Black Mountain, North Carolina, which was hit hard by Hurricane Helene, said voters should have made up their minds before Tuesday.
“I think that the candidates, both being in the public eye as long as they both have been, if you’re on the fence, you hadn’t really been paying attention,” said Jorgensen, 35.


‘Kabhi Main Kabhi Tum,’ Pakistan’s most talked-about drama, concludes with cinematic finale

Updated 13 min 43 sec ago
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‘Kabhi Main Kabhi Tum,’ Pakistan’s most talked-about drama, concludes with cinematic finale

  • Starring Fahad Mustafa and Hania Aamir, the drama’s final episode sold out cinema tickets in advance
  • Kabhi Main Kabhi Tum earned a 9.2 rating on IMDb and trended on social media in India and Bangladesh

KARACHI: The makers of Pakistan’s most talked-about drama serial, Kabhi Main Kabhi Tum, attributed its success to content that resonated deeply with viewers, as its final episode screened in cinemas nationwide on Tuesday.
Starring leading actors Fahad Mustafa and Hania Aamir as Mustafa and Sharjeena, the drama has been a topic of discussion since its debut in July.
The 34-episode series aired twice a week, with the grand finale reaching audiences on the big screen along with television.
Each new episode kept the show trending on Twitter, not only in Pakistan but also in India and Bangladesh, sustaining its popularity across borders. The drama earned a 9.2 rating on IMDb, an exceptional achievement for Pakistani TV productions.
“What’s happening with Kabhi Main Kabhi Tum is unprecedented,” Jerjees Seja, CEO of ARY Digital Network, the channel that the drama, said. “This has never happened before [in the history of Pakistani television plays] and I wonder if this will happen again.”
“It’s [all about] how people resonate [and] how they associate with the content,” he continued. “It’s amazing how audiences have connected with the drama [and] with Sharjeena and Mustafa.”
Tickets for the final episode were sold out in advance for shows in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Faisalabad and other cities, he informed. Shows were extended to midnight considering the demand for tickets.
“It’s a great thing to air the last episodes [of our dramas] in cinemas,” Pakistani artist Mehwish Hayat told Arab News on the sidelines of the finale. “There is no harm if cinemas are being revived through drama serials. The way people have filled the cinema halls across Pakistan to watch this last episode [of this play], it’s phenomenal. This trend should continue.”
Written by seasoned writer Farhat Ishtiaq and directed by Badar Mehmood, Kabhi Main Kabhi Tum followed the different stages of love in the life of lead characters Mustafa and Sharjeena.
“I think the story was quite relatable,” said Mehmood.
“Everyone was relating to one character or the other, be it Adeel, Mustafa, Sharjeena or Rubab,” he continued. “It was a very household story that happens in every home at different moments so that was very relatable.”
The ensemble cast, including Emmad Irfani, Naeema Butt, Bushra Ansari and Jawed Sheikh, was equally incredible and impactful.
“The love I am getting from all the people, not just in Pakistan [but] all over the world, it has absolutely taken me from my lowest low to the highest high in a matter of a few months,” Irfani, who played anti-hero Adeel, told Arab News.
“His capriciousness, his unpredictability [made Adeel resonate with audiences],” he added. “His antics are so volatile, he says something [and then] he does something else. I think that is what captivated the audience’s imagination and that is what inspired me to play Adeel in the first place.”
Those in attendance at the screening of the final episode said the drama resonated with them on multiple levels.
“It was a very family-oriented [drama],” Fauzia Mehtab, who came to the cinema but didn’t get the ticket to watch the show, told Arab News. “We could relate to it. It seemed like it’s the story of our house. And now we are going to get so bored on Monday and Tuesday because there will be no ‘Kabhi Main Kabhi Tum.’”
Fans at the screening could not contain their excitement to see Fahad Mustafa among them. Most of them were eager to click selfies with him, as he could be seen getting truly overwhelmed by the response.
“I came [to the cinema] to see the actors because I really like Fahad Mustafa,” Mehtab said. “I wanted to meet him, but you know you can’t meet him in these circumstances.”


Real Madrid, Manchester City both humiliated in Champions League, Liverpool enjoy Alonso’s return

Updated 06 November 2024
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Real Madrid, Manchester City both humiliated in Champions League, Liverpool enjoy Alonso’s return

  • Liverpool moved top of the league phase table with four wins from four games, followed by Sporting and Monaco, both on 10 points after three wins and a draw
  • German forward Nicolas Kuhn scored twice as Celtic defeated Leipzig 3-1 at home, and Juventus drew 1-1 at Lille

LONDON: European heavyweights Real Madrid and Manchester City both suffered big defeats in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Defending champions Madrid were humbled 3-1 at home by AC Milan, while Erling Haaland missed a penalty and City squandered a fourth-minute lead as they lost 4-1 at Sporting Lisbon, whose coach will soon take charge of their crosstown rival.

It was a much better evening for Liverpool, as Luis Diaz scored a hat trick and Cody Gakpo grabbed another goal in a 4-0 win over German champion Bayer Leverkusen at Anfield that marred Xabi Alonso’s return to his old home.

The Leverkusen coach was given a warm welcome on his return to the club where he became a fan favorite as a player over five seasons between 2004-09. Alonso won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005.

Liverpool moved top of the league phase table with four wins from four games, followed by Sporting and Monaco, both on 10 points after three wins and a draw. Under the new 36-team format introduced by UEFA this season, the top eight teams advance directly to the next round, and those from ninth to 24th enter playoffs to reach it, while the bottom 12 are eliminated.

Amorim’s audition

Before their game, Sporting fans displayed a huge tifo thanking Ruben Amorim in his last home game before he takes over Manchester United.

Phil Foden then got City off to a flying start in the fourth minute, only the second goal Sporting has conceded in four games of the competition.

But Swedish forward Viktor Gyokeres scored a hat trick as Sporting came roaring back. Gyokeres first equalized in the 38th after a perfect through ball from Geovany Quenda, before Maximiliano Araujo made it 2-1 right after the break. Gyokeres then made it 3-1 from the penalty spot after Josko Gvardiol was penalized for a shove on Francisco Trincão in the area.

Haaland’s penalty hit the crossbar, before Gyokeres showed the Norwegian how it’s done with another spot kick at the other end to complete the scoring.

It is the first time since 2018 that City have lost three straight games, coming off a defeat to Tottenham in the English League Cup and a loss to Bournemouth in the Premier League.

“In my seven and a half years at the club, I don’t remember losing three games in a row,” City midfielder Bernardo Silva said.

Madrid faltering

In Spain, Christian Pulisic sent in a corner for Malick Thiaw to head Milan into a 12th-minute lead, ensuring Madrid trailed in a third straight game in the Champions League this season. The 15-time champion had already lost to surprise team Lille in their second game.

Vinícius Junior equalized from the penalty spot in the 23rd after he’d been tripped, but Alvaro Morata pounced on the rebound after Andriy Lunin saved Rafael Leão’s shot to restore the visitors’ lead against his former club.

Morata had already been given a hostile reception from the home fans, who evidently remember the goal he scored to take Juventus through to the 2015 final at their team’s expense.

Tijjani Reijnders scored Milan’s third goal as the home fans made their frustrations known at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

“The last two defeats are inexplicable. We have to analyze and react quickly,” Lunin said, referring to Madrid’s 4-0 loss to Barcelona in its previous Spanish league game.

It’s the first time since 2009 that Madrid have lost two successive games at home with at least three goals conceded in each, according to Opta.

“We have to get back on track,” Lunin said.

Other results

German forward Nicolas Kuhn scored twice as Celtic defeated Leipzig 3-1 at home, and Juventus drew 1-1 at Lille.

Lille midfielder Edon Zhegrova eluded two defenders before playing a perfect pass for Jonathan David, who fired inside the far post, but Dusan Vlahovic equalized with a penalty for the Italian club.

Donyell Malen scored late for Borussia Dortmund to beat Sturm Graz 1-0 at home, and Thilo Kehrer did likewise for Monaco to win at Bologna 1-0.

US midfielder Malik Tillman scored one goal and set up another as PSV Eindhoven beat Spanish team Girona 4-0.

Dinamo Zagreb dealt Slovan Bratislava their fourth straight defeat in the competition as the visitors came from behind to win 4-1 in Bratislava.


Real Madrid and AC Milan pay tribute to victims of deadly Valencia floods in Champions League match

Updated 06 November 2024
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Real Madrid and AC Milan pay tribute to victims of deadly Valencia floods in Champions League match

  • Players from both teams entered the field wearing shirts with the words “We are all Valencia,” written in Spanish on Madrid’s kits and in Italian on AC Milan’s
  • Madrid’s organized fan group also displayed a “We are all Valencia” banner behind one of the goals at the Bernabeu
  • More than 200 people were killed when flash floods caused by heavy downpours in eastern Spain devastated the Valencia region last week

MADRID: Real Madrid and AC Milan honored the victims of the deadly floods in Valencia before their Champions League match on Tuesday.

Players from both teams entered the field wearing shirts with the words “We are all Valencia,” written in Spanish on Madrid’s kits and in Italian on AC Milan’s.

A huge banner of the Valencia region was displayed in the stands at midfield, covering several sitting sections at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium while a moment of silence was observed before kickoff.

Madrid’s organized fan group also displayed a “We are all Valencia” banner behind one of the goals at the Bernabeu.

Spain international Alvaro Morata, who scored one of the goals for Milan in the team’s 3-1 win against Madrid, said soccer has become secondary after the tragedy.

“What’s happening in Valencia is the most important thing,” he said. “Hopefully the situation will improve, because we can’t enjoy a soccer match with a situation like that happening in our country.”

More than 200 people were killed when flash floods caused by heavy downpours in eastern Spain devastated the Valencia region last week, destroying almost everything in their path and leaving people trapped in vehicles, homes and businesses.

Real Madrid had donated 1 million euros to help the victims affected by the unprecedented floods.

Madrid hadn’t played a match since its 4-0 loss to Barcelona in the Spanish league “clasico” on Oct. 26. Their weekend game at Valencia in the league was postponed because of the floods.

Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said in his news conference on Monday that he didn’t “feel like talking about soccer” with everything that was happening in Valencia.

Several other sporting events across Spain were affected by the deadly floods.

Before the match, Madrid fans at the Bernabeu loudly jeered when UEFA’s Champions League anthem was played. That came after the club decided not to attend the Ballon d’Or awards ceremony last week whentheir forward Vinicius Junior did not win the prestigious prize.


Pakistan forms seven-member constitutional bench following reforms in superior judiciary

Updated 06 November 2024
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Pakistan forms seven-member constitutional bench following reforms in superior judiciary

  • Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan is chairman of the bench which has representation from all four provinces
  • The bench has been formed after parliament adopted the 26th constitutional amendment last month

ISLAMABAD: The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), established under the 26th amendment passed by parliament last month, nominated a seven-member bench on Tuesday to take up constitutional cases amid recent Supreme Court verdicts widely viewed as opposing the interests of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s administration.

The government initially planned to establish a separate constitutional court to address high-profile cases with potential impacts on national politics through the 26th amendment, which introduced judicial reforms, though it ultimately opted for a constitutional bench within the apex court.

Senior Pakistani minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif defended the government’s decision to introduce the amendment, which required a two-thirds majority, citing the need to reinforce parliamentary supremacy and “eliminate the encroachment on our turf.”

However, the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of former prime minister Imran Khan argued that the government aimed to influence the judiciary’s functioning to secure favorable verdicts in constitutional and political matters.

“The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), reconstituted under the 26th Constitutional Amendment, convened its first meeting today at the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Islamabad,” said a notification circulated after the meeting chaired by Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi.

“Following a vote, the majority (7 out of 12) approved a seven-member Constitutional Bench with representation from all the four provinces for a term of two months,” it added.
The commission designated Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan as the chairman of the bench comprising Justices Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Ayesha Malik, Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Musarrat Hilali and Naeem Akhtar Afghan.

At the outset of the meeting, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Umar Ayub Khan, who is also a JCP member, objected to its quorum, highlighting the absence of one member.

However, this objection was later put to a vote and by majority, the meeting affirmed that the proceedings were in keeping with the constitution and could continue in the absence of a member.

Earlier this year, before the adoption of the 26th constitutional amendment, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the opposition PTI party in an important case involving the reserved parliamentary seats for minorities and women, asking the Election Commission of Pakistan to revisit their allocation.

The implementation of the ruling could have deprive the ruling coalition of some of the seats and benefited the PTI.

Such high-profile cases with political implications will now be brought before the separate constitutional bench that will adjudicate such matters.