RAMALLAH: Jordan’s King Abdullah II landed in Ramallah on Monday to meet Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, in his first trip to the Israeli-occupied West Bank since 2017, Abbas’s office said.
Abdullah’s visit comes as foreign ministers from four Arab states joined an unprecedented meeting hosted in Israel, a gathering Israel hailed as “historic,” following a series of normalization agreements last year, which angered the Palestinians.
The visit also comes less than a week before Ramadan, the Muslim holy month which last year saw waves of violence across the West Bank and Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.
The Jordanian king met Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid earlier this month to discuss strategies for containing unrest during Ramadan.
Palestinian officials have repeatedly warned that the West Bank, which Israel captured from Jordan in 1967, was on the verge of “exploding.”
Tensions in the occupied territory remain high between Palestinian residents and Jewish settlers, who live in communities widely regarded as illegal under international law.
Palestinians also regularly clash with Israeli security forces in the West Bank, often resulting in Palestinian deaths.
Jordan’s king lands in Ramallah on rare trip to meet Abbas
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Jordan’s king lands in Ramallah on rare trip to meet Abbas
Djokovic hints at possible Roland Garros farewell after semifinal loss to Sinner
- ‘This could have been the last match ever I played here, so I don’t know’
- Djokovic has appeared in the last 21 editions of the French Open, winning in 2016, 2021 and 2023
PARIS: Novak Djokovic suggested he may well have bidden adieu to Roland Garros after the 38-year-old was defeated in the semifinals by Jannik Sinner on Friday.
Following his 6-4, 7-5, 7-6 (7/3) loss to world number one Sinner, Djokovic stopped briefly on his way off Court Philippe Chatrier and took a moment to “show his gratitude” to the Paris crowd.
“This could have been the last match ever I played here, so I don’t know. That’s why I was a bit more emotional even in the end,” said three-time champion Djokovic.
“But if this was the farewell match of Roland Garros for me in my career, it was a wonderful one in terms of the atmosphere and what I got from the crowd.
“Not the happiest because of the loss, but, you know, I tried to show my gratitude to the crowd, because they were terrific.”
Djokovic has on occasion had a fraught relationship with the Parisian public, but hailed the backing he received against Sinner.
“I don’t think I have ever received this much support in this stadium in my career in big matches against the best players in the world. So very, very honored to experience that,” he added.
However, the Serb allayed fears he would be calling time on his career just yet.
He stills stands on the brink of history after his latest tilt at a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title was foiled.
One more major victory would take him beyond Margaret Court and into outright-first on the list of players with the most Grand Slams.
“At the moment I will try to stick with the plan what I had, which is play the Grand Slams,” he said.
“Those tournaments are the priorities of my schedule, my calendar. Wimbledon and US Open, yes, they are in plans. That’s all I can say right now.
“I’m going to, unless something, I don’t know, happens, whatever. But I feel like I want to play Wimbledon, I want to play US Open. Those two, for sure. For the rest, I’m not so sure.”
Despite the latest setback, Djokovic insisted he still has the record in his sights and hoped it will be seventh time lucky when Wimbledon starts on June 30.
“Obviously Wimbledon is next, which is my childhood favorite tournament. I’m going to do everything possible to get myself ready,” he said.
“I guess my best chances (of winning) maybe are Wimbledon, you know, to win another Slam, or faster hard court, maybe Australia or something like that.”
Djokovic has won the title at Wimbledon seven times and is the most dominant men’s player in the history of the Australian Open with 10 victories in Melbourne.
When asked how long he had been considering his future at Roland Garros, Djokovic cryptically replied: “Not long. You know, I don’t know.
“I don’t know really what tomorrow brings in a way at this point in my career. You know, I going to keep on keeping on.”
Djokovic has appeared in the last 21 editions of the French Open – lifting the Coupe des Mousquetaires in 2016, 2021 and 2023.
Last summer, he secured the only big title to have eluded him through the majority of his career when he won Olympic gold on center court at Roland Garros.
“We hope that it’s not the case, because I feel like tennis needs him in a way,” said Sinner when told of Djokovic’s comments.
“He said ‘maybe’, so you never know.”
Kyrgyzstan dismantles Central Asia’s tallest Lenin statue
- Officials said the statue was quietly taken down overnight and is set to be relocated
BISHKEK: Russian ally Kyrgyzstan on Saturday quietly dismantled Central Asia’s tallest monument to Vladimir Lenin, the revolutionary founder of the Soviet Union.
Ex-Soviet states across the region are seeking to strengthen their national identities, renaming cities that have Russian-sounding names and replacing statues to Soviet figures with local and national heroes.
Russia, which has military bases in Kyrgyzstan, is striving to maintain its influence there in the face of competition from China and the West and amid its invasion of Ukraine.
Officials in the city of Osh — where the 23-meter (75 foot) high monument stood on the central square — warned against “politicizing” the decision to “relocate” it.
Osh is the second largest city in the landlocked mountainous country.
The figure was quietly taken down overnight and is set to be “relocated,” Osh officials said.
The decision “should not be politicized,” city hall said, pointing to several other instances in Russia “where Lenin monuments have also been dismantled or relocated.”
“This is a common practice aimed at improving the architectural and aesthetic appearance of cities,” it said in a statement.
Despite some attempts to de-Sovietise the region, memorials and statues to Soviet figures are common across the region, with monuments to Lenin prevalent in the vast majority of cities in Kyrgyzstan.
Kyrgyzstan was annexed and incorporated into the Russian Empire in the 19th century and then became part of the Soviet Union following the 1917 Bolshevik revolution.
It gained independence with the collapse of the USSR in 1991.
Pakistan reiterates desire to resolve outstanding issues with India via dialogue
- PM Shehbaz Sharif exchanges Eid greetings with Malaysian counterpart, discusses strengthening bilateral ties
- Pakistan and India engaged in worst fighting between nuclear-armed neighbors since 1999 for four days last month
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday reiterated his country’s desire to resolve its outstanding issues with India, state-run media reported, as tensions simmer between the two neighbors following their armed conflict last month.
India and Pakistan engaged in the worst fighting between the two countries since 1999, raising fears of the prospects of an all-out nuclear war. After both countries traded heavy fire for four days, pounding each other with missiles, fighter jets and drone strikes, US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between them on May 10.
Speaking to his Malaysian counterpart Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim over the phone, Sharif thanked him for Kuala Lumpur’s “support and balanced stance” during Pakistan’s conflict with India.
“The prime minister underscored that Pakistan had always strived for regional peace and stability,” state-run Radio Pakistan said. “He reiterated that Pakistan was ready for dialogue with India on all outstanding issues, including Jammu and Kashmir.”
Sharif separately wrote on social media account X that he looks forward to Islamabad and Kuala Lumpur deepening and strengthening their bilateral ties.
“I greatly look forward to my visit to Malaysia later this year,” he wrote.
India and Pakistan, bitter rivals since they gained independence in 1947 from British rule, have fought two out of three wars over the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir.
Both countries administer Kashmir in parts but claim the region entirely. Pakistan accuses India of occupying Kashmir and denying its people their right to self-determination. It regularly calls on India to abide by the United Nations Security Council resolutions and hold a transparent plebiscite in the territory.
India, on the other hand, accuses Pakistan of arming and funding militant separatists in the part of Kashmir it administers. Islamabad has denied the allegations and says it extends only diplomatic and moral support to the people of Indian-administered Kashmir.
An electric scooter is blamed for a violent fire that killed 4 in a French city
PARIS: Four people were killed in an “extremely violent” blaze seemingly caused by a battery-powered electric scooter that tore through a 10-story housing block in Reims, the capital of France's Champagne region, authorities said Saturday.
A 13-year-old jumped to his death from the 4th-floor apartment where the fire started in the early hours of Friday and a burned body found inside is believed to be that of his older brother, aged 15, said Reims prosecutor François Schneider.
An 87-year-old woman and her 59-year-old son who lived on the 8th floor suffocated to death in the smoke, he said.
Two people were seriously injured, including the dead boys' stepfather who was badly burned, and 26 others were treated in hospital for lighter injuries, he said.
Schneider said there is “no doubt” that the blaze was accidental, spreading quickly from the scooter that caught fire for reasons unknown.
Battery fires “are extremely difficult to extinguish” and fire officers battled the blaze for more than three hours, the prosecutor said.
Bangladesh to hold national elections in April 2026, interim leader Yunus says
- Yunus took over three days after former PM Sheikh Hasina was ousted in uprising last year
- Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Hasina’s rival, eyes forming new government after polls
DHAKA: Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus on Friday said that the country will hold national elections in the first half of April 2026.
In a televised address to the nation on Friday, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate said that the Election Commission would roll out a detailed roadmap for the election in due course.
Yunus took over three days after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted in a student-led mass uprising in August 2024, ending her 15-year rule. Hasina has been in exile in India since.
The interim government banned Hasina’s Awami League party, which is one of the country’s two largest political parties. Hasina faces trial for hundreds of deaths related to the uprising in July and August last year.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, or BNP, headed by Hasina’s archrival and former prime minister Khaleda Zia, had been demanding the elections be held in December. The BNP is the main political party and is hoping to form the next government in the absence of Hasina’s party.
Salahuddin Ahmed, a spokesman for BNP, criticized Yunus for failing to “to meet the expectation of the nation” about the polls schedule.
He told Channel 24 television that April is not ideal for an election because the annual month of fasting that starts in mid-February makes campaigning challenging. He said it would also be difficult for a new government to formulate the year’s budget, usually announced in June.
The Jamaat-e-Islami party, the country’s largest Islamist party, may also be able to take part in the elections after the country’s Supreme Court on June 1 cleared the path for the party to regain its registration as a political party.
Hasina’s party had fiercely criticized it for its opposition to Bangladesh gaining independence from Pakistan in 1971. Hasina’s father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was the country’s independence leader.
Yunus had earlier said that the election would be held between December and next June. The relationship between Yunus and the BNP has been frosty in recent months over a disagreement about the election schedule. Zia’s party accused Yunus of tactics to delay a vote.
In February, a new party was formed by student leaders who led the anti-Hasina uprising. Yunus’ critics say the party had backing from him, and Hasina’s party calls the new National Citizen Party a “king’s party.”
