LONDON: Rishi Sunak will become British prime minister on Monday after other candidates quit the race to lead the Conservative Party, leaving him with the task of steering a deeply divided country through an economic downturn set to leave millions of people poorer.
Sunak, one of the wealthiest politicians in Westminster, will be asked to form a government by King Charles, replacing Liz Truss, the outgoing leader who only lasted 44 days in the job.
He defeated centrist politician Penny Mordaunt, who failed to get enough backing from lawmakers to enter the ballot, while his rival, the former prime minister Boris Johnson, withdrew from the contest saying he could no longer unite the party.
“This decision is a historic one and shows, once again, the diversity and talent of our party. Rishi has my full support,” Mordaunt said in a statement as she withdrew from the race just minutes before the winner was due to be announced.
The pound and British government bond prices jumped briefly on news of Mordaunt’s withdrawal, but soon returned to their previous levels.
Sunak, the 42-year-old former finance minister, becomes Britain’s third prime minister in less than two months, tasked with restoring stability to a country reeling from years of political and economic turmoil.
The multi-millionaire former hedge fund boss would be expected to launch deep spending cuts to try to rebuild Britain’s fiscal reputation, just as the country slides into a recession, dragged down by the surging cost of energy and food.
Britain has been locked in a state of perma-crisis ever since it voted in 2016 to leave the European Union, unleashing a battle at Westminster over the future of the country that remains unresolved to this today.
The latest bout of drama has drawn dismay in foreign capitals and ridicule from the world’s press.
Sunak came to national attention when, aged 39, he became finance minister under Johnson just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit Britain, developing the successful furlough scheme.
The former Goldman Sachs analyst will be the United Kingdom’s first prime minister of Indian origin.
His family migrated to Britain in the 1960s, a period when many people from Britain’s former colonies moved to the country to help it rebuild after the Second World War.
After graduating from Oxford University, he went to Stanford University where he met his wife Akshata Murthy, whose father is Indian billionaire N. R. Narayana Murthy, founder of outsourcing giant Infosys Ltd.
Rishi Sunak becomes Britain’s prime minister
https://arab.news/v4yb3
Rishi Sunak becomes Britain’s prime minister
- Sunak has the task of steering a deeply divided country through economic downturn set to leave millions of people poorer
- Sunak, one of the wealthiest politicians in Westminster, will be asked to form a government by King Charles, replacing Liz Truss
Father accused of murder of British-Pakistani girl blames stepmother
- Giving evidence for a third day, Sharif admitted slapping Sara “multiple times” but denied beating, burning, or biting her
LONDON: The father of a 10-year-old British-Pakistani girl on Thursday denied her murder and instead blamed the girl’s stepmother, calling her “evil” and “psycho.”
Sara Sharif was found dead in her bed in Woking, southwest of London, on August 10, 2023 with injuries including broken bones, burns and bite marks.
Her father, Urfan Sharif, 42, had fled to Pakistan a day before the body was found, along with his wife Beinash Batool, 30, and the girl’s uncle, Faisal Malik, 29.
Sharif then called police in the UK shortly after arriving in Islamabad and said he had “beat her up too much.” During the trial, Sharif said he made up this and another confession to “protect my family.”
All three adults were arrested upon their return to the UK a month later. They deny charges of murder and allowing the death of a child.
Details of the extent of Sara’s injuries have been detailed at London’s Old Bailey court, including claims from Batool that Sharif would beat his daughter badly.
Giving evidence for a third day, Sharif admitted slapping Sara “multiple times” but denied beating, burning, or biting her, insisting that he was “never at home” when she was injured.
Sharif broke down when his lawyer, Naeem Mian, questioned him about beating Sara, who was home schooled, with a cricket bat.
The taxi driver denied burning his daughter with an iron and instead said he was “made to” slap Sara by Batool, who constantly accused the girl of behaving badly.
Pointing to Batool sitting in the dock, Sharif shouted: “I should not have believed her... I didn’t realize I’m living with evil and a psycho.”
He also suggested that Batool was the one who bit her “like an animal.”
The jury was previously told that Sharif and Malik had provided their dental impressions but Batool had refused.
“I didn’t do it. Faisal didn’t do it. Who else was at home?” Sharif said.
He denied ever being aware of Sara being in pain. “She never told me that,” he said and indicated that he did not see injuries because Sara wore full-sleeve tops and long bottoms as well as a hijab head covering.
In the month leading up to Sara’s death, Mian said Sharif was out of the house at work from early in the morning to late at night while holing frequent telephone conversations with Batool, who would largely be at home.
Sharif wept as he recalled a time he came home and saw that Sara’s hands had been tied behind her back with brown packaging tape, accusing Batool of the act.
Asked why he did not call the police or ask Batool to leave, Sharif said that his wife was “manipulative” and that he believed her apology.
“I have been an idiot,” he added.
Forensic evidence shown to court included bundles of packaging tape and a white plastic carrier bag fashioned into a hood that could have been used on Sara’s head.
The bag had packaging tape stuck to it as well as long, brown hairs that matched Sara’s DNA, the court was told.
Both the bag and the non-sticky side of the tape had fingerprints that matched Sharif’s, who denied fashioning a hood out of the plastic bag or using it on Sara.
He said the fingerprints could be a result of him handling the items while sorting the garbage.
Sharif had previously accused Batool of being abusive toward him and preventing him from asking Sara about how she obtained her injuries.
In 2022, Batool texted her sister that Sharif had suggested using make-up to cover up bruises after beating Sara, to which the sister replied: “LOL it was going to happen you can tell.”
In the days before her death, Sharif said Sara, who did chores around the house, had asked him to “not go to work.”
German parliament passes controversial antisemitism text
- Critics of the resolution — including voices from the Jewish community — say it could restrict artistic and academic freedom
BERLIN: The German parliament on Thursday overwhelmingly backed a resolution aimed at tackling a spike in anti-Semitism linked to the war in Gaza.
However, critics of the resolution — including voices from the Jewish community — say it could restrict artistic and academic freedom.
The text calls for a ban on public funding for any group “that spreads anti-Semitism, calls into question Israel’s right to exist or calls for a boycott of Israel.”
In cases of anti-Semitic acts in schools and universities, it calls for those responsible to be excluded from classes or even expelled.
The resolution was proposed and supported by MPs from the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), the conservative CDU-CSU, the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats (FDP).
About 100 Jewish artists and intellectuals living in Germany said in a statement that the resolution would “weaken, rather than strengthen, the diversity of Jewish life in Germany by associating all Jews with the actions of the Israeli government.”
The general secretary of Amnesty International’s Germany chapter, Julia Duchrow, said that while Amnesty “explicitly welcomes the goal of adopting measures to fight anti-Semitism... the resolution adopted today not only fails to achieve this, it could lead to serious violations of basic human rights and legal uncertainty.”
“This resolution leaves space for abuse, criminalizes legitimate criticism of Israeli government policy and serves the racist narrative of ‘imported anti-Semitism’,” she said.
In an open letter in October 2023, Amnesty and 103 other civil society organizations had warned against conflating anti-Semitism and criticism of the policies of the Israeli government.
“Branding legitimate criticism of Israel’s human right record as anti-Semitic also undermines the fight against genuine anti-Semitism,” they pointed out.
While also mentioning anti-Semitism from the far right and far left, the German parliament’s resolution says that “in recent months the alarming extent of anti-Semitism based on immigration from North Africa and the Middle East has become clear.”
This accusation against immigrants from North Africa and the Middle East — who could be Christian, Jewish or Muslim and might either support or oppose the policies of the Israeli government — was criticized by some in the Greens.
But it was backed by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), whose MPs also voted for the text.
AfD lawmaker Juergen Braun called “mass immigration... the central problem endangering Jewish life in Germany.”
The far-left Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) was the only party to vote against the resolution, with the other far-left Die Linke party abstaining.
Arab American US election successes marred by claims of Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias
- Several Arab Americans candidates were reelected despite growing concerns about anti-Arab sentiment amid ongoing wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran
- Syrian American candidate for Illinois House of Representatives says she was targeted by anonymous Islamophobic and anti-Arab attacks during campaign
CHICAGO: Alongside Donald Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris in the US presidential election on Tuesday, and amid ongoing tensions in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, several Arab American incumbents won reelection to their offices at state and congressional levels, some of them unchallenged.
Four Arab American members of Congress will return to the Capitol to represent their districts in California, Illinois, Minnesota and Michigan, while five were reelected to State House seats in Illinois, Michigan, Colorado and Iowa.
In some places, however, there were allegations of Islamophobia and anti-Arab sentiment as opponents sought to capitalize on voter concerns about terrorism and foreign conflicts.
Suzanne Akhras, a Syrian American Democrat who lost to Republican incumbent Nicole La Ha in the race to represent the 82nd District in the Illinois House of Representatives, said she was targeted by anonymous text messages and phone calls falsely linking her to Islamic terrorism, including claims of ties to Hamas.
“These calls and texts tried to portray me as a danger to the community I love,” she said in a campaign video message to voters in September. “I have lived in Burr Ridge for nearly 20 years. I have been a PTA parent. I have spent my life advocating for vulnerable people and being of service. I founded a very successful non-profit organization.
"I am a proud American. I cherish our shared values of freedom; freedom to express our diverse faiths and freedom to celebrate the diversity of our backgrounds and cultures. Those freedoms I hold dear are under attack in our district. These attacks against me are based on racism, Islamophobia and are xenophobic.”
Akhras, who said she has been recognized as an “upstander” by the Illinois Holocaust Museum for confronting hate speech and crime, said the “disturbing calls and text messages” began shortly after she began campaigning door-to-door. She criticized the Republican Party in the state for failing to denounce the attacks, and accused La Ha of running an “abhorrent and dangerous, xenophobic” smear campaign.
Akhras, who wears a hijab and whose husband, Dr. Zaher Sahloul, helps provide humanitarian medical services to refugees and displaced people in conflict zones, including Gaza, also said that despite winning the Democratic primary in March, she received no support from the Illinois Democratic Party.
Elsewhere, Darrell Issa, who is of Syrian-Lebanese heritage, was reelected to Congress as the representative for California’s 48th district, defeating Democrat Stephen Houlahan with 60.2 percent of the vote.
In Minnesota, Democrat Ilhan Omar, who is of Somali descent, was reelected as the member of the House of Representatives for the 5th District with 75 percent of the vote, easily defeating her Republican rival, Arab American Dalia Al-Aqidi.
Democrat Rashida Tlaib, who is Palestinian American , defeated Republican James Hopper with 69.7 percent of the vote in Michigan’s 12th Congressional District. Republican Darin LaHood, who is of Lebanese heritage, ran unopposed in Illinois’ 16th District.
Two Arab American members of Congress, Democrat Anna Eshoo from California and Republican Garret Graves from Louisiana, did not seek reelection.
At the state level, Democrat Nabeela Syed, who is of Indian heritage, secured a second term in the State House as the representative for the 51st District with 55 percent of the vote, ahead of Republican rival Tosi Ufodike.
In Michigan’s 3rd District, Democrat Alabas Farhat defeated Republican Richard Zeile with 67.9 percent of the vote. Democrat Iman Jodeh was reelected in Colorado’s 41st District, gaining 61 percent of the vote against Republican Robert McKenna.
Palestinian American Abdelnasser Rashid and Syrian American Sami Scheetz, both Democrats, retained their seats without a challenge in Illinois’ 21st District and Iowa’s 78th District respectively.
US military judge reinstates 9/11 mastermind plea deal — official
- Prosecution can appeal decision but it was not immediately clear if they would do so
- Agreements triggered anger among some relatives of victims of the 2001 attacks
WASHINGTON: A US military judge has reinstated plea agreements for 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other defendants, an official said Thursday, three months after the deals were scrapped by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
The agreements — which are understood to take the death penalty off the table — had triggered anger among some relatives of victims of the 2001 attacks, and Austin said that both they and the American public deserved to see the defendants stand trial.
“I can confirm that the military judge has ruled that the pretrial agreements for the three accused are valid and enforceable,” the US official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The prosecution has the opportunity to appeal the decision, but it was not immediately clear if they would do so.
The plea deals with Mohammed and two alleged accomplices were announced in late July in a step that appeared to have moved their long-running cases toward resolution after years of being bogged down in pre-trial maneuverings while the defendants remained held at the Guantanamo Bay military base in Cuba.
But Austin withdrew the agreements two days after they were announced, saying the decision should rest with him given its significance.
He subsequently told journalists that “the families of the victims, our service members and the American public deserve the opportunity to see military commission trials carried out in this case.”
Much of the legal jousting surrounding the men’s cases has focused on whether they could be tried fairly after having undergone methodical torture at the hands of the CIA in the years after 9/11 — a thorny issue that the plea agreements would have avoided.
US military ready to carry out lawful orders of next administration, Pentagon chief says
- “The US military will also continue to stand apart from the political arena;,” Austin wrote
WASHINGTON: US Défense Secretary Lloyd Austin told troops that the Pentagon was committed to an orderly transition to the incoming administration of Donald Trump, adding that the military would not get involved in politics and was ready to carry out “all lawful orders.”
“The US military will also continue to stand apart from the political arena; to stand guard over our republic with principle and professionalism; and to stand together with the valued allies and partners who deepen our security,” Austin wrote in a memo to troops that was sent out on Wednesday night.
