KARACHI, Pakistan: From Berlin to London and Limassol to Karachi, tens of thousands of people took to the streets Sunday to mark the 100th day of Israel’s war with Hamas. Opposing demonstrations either demanded the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas or called for a cease-fire in Gaza.
In the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, protesters waved Palestinian flags or wore the keffiyeh, the traditional Palestinian scarf, to express their solidarity with Palestinians in a rally organized by the country’s largest religious political party, Jamaat-e-Islami.
The party’s Karachi chief, Hafiz Naeem Ur Rehman, called on the US to stop backing Israel and compensate Palestinians for their losses. He also criticized Muslim leaders and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation for not doing enough to help stop the war.
“Resolutions will not solve this problem,” Rehman said, adding that all “conscientious people” should support South Africa’s action to launch legal action against Israel for allegedly committing genocide in Gaza.
Karachi resident Ishrat Zahid took Muslim leaders to task for “peacefully sleeping in their homes (but) not even thinking about protesting.”
“This is why we have gathered here, to tell our Palestinian brothers and sisters that we are with them,” he said.
In the heart of the British capital, thousands of people chanted “Bring them home now” in a demonstration to demand the freedom of 132 remaining hostages taken by Hamas militants in the Oct. 7 attacks that also killed some 1,200 Israelis and touched off the war.
Gaza health authorities say the death toll in the enclave has already eclipsed 23,000 people, roughly 1 percent of the Palestinian territory’s population. Thousands more remain missing or badly wounded, while 80 percent of the population has been displaced.
Protesters in London held posters with photos and the words “100 days in hell” to express their solidarity with Israel.
Ayelet Svatitzky, the sister of a hostage still in captivity, warned “there is no more time” for those captured, and called for their release ahead of the 100th day since Hamas launched its attack on Israel.
“My biggest fear is, I don’t know how long it’s going to last, I don’t know how long he can hold on and I don’t know what his condition is,’’ she said of her brother Nadav Popplewell, 51, one of two UK nationals who remain hostage.
Popplewell was captured alongside his 79-year-old mother, Channah Peri. Though Peri was released during a November cease-fire, Svatitzky’s elder brother, Roi Popplewell, was found dead near his home just after the attacks.
The demonstration comes just a day after thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrated in London, Dublin and Edinburgh, calling for a permanent cease-fire in the conflict — part of a global day of action involving 30 countries.
In a reflection of ongoing tensions, members of the crowd Sunday had to wait in line to get their bags searched before entering the square. Barricades were erected on the square’s perimeter, lined by police officers and security guards.
A similar demonstration was held in Berlin, where pianist Igor Levit played a yellow piano as part of an initiative to keep the memory of the Israeli hostages alive.
Played in public places from Tel Aviv to Tokyo, the yellow grand piano aimed to bring to mind 22-year-old hostage Alon Ohel, a pianist who was abducted by Hamas militants during the Oct. 7 attack on the Nova Music Festival.
Alon’s mother Idit Ohel who was on hand for the demonstration said the piano is symbolic of “something bigger.”
“Music is something that is beyond Religion. Beyond gender. And it’s something that we can understand,” she said.
In the French capital, several hundred protesters converged in the city center holding placards with the faces of Israeli hostages, singing for their release around a large banner strewn on the ground reading, “Bring them home now!”
About 100 motorcyclists waved Israeli flags and sported stickers of Israeli hostages on their bikes as they cruised around Paris in a ride to express support for Israel. The motorcycle ride followed an earlier, pro-Israeli bicycle procession around the city with cyclists waving Israeli flags and chanting “Free the hostages.”
On Cyprus’ southern coastline outside the town of Limassol, several hundred protesters waved Palestinian flags and held placards outside the entrance of a British air force base calling for a “Free Palestine” and an end to the “siege of Gaza.”
Protesters handed authorities at RAF Akrotiri a petition demanding an end to the use of the air base as a launchpad for airstrikes in the region and the alleged transfer of arms to Israel from there.
British aircraft had taken off from RAF Akrotiri — one of two military bases that Britain maintains in Cyprus — to strike Houthi targets in Yemen in recent days.
A British Ministry of Defense spokesperson said that no UK aircraft have delivered any lethal cargo to Israel and that the UK government is “focused on getting significantly more aid to Gaza” after delivering about 96 tons of British and Cypriot aid from Cyprus to Egypt for the people in the Palestinian enclave.
In neighboring Turkiye, about 2,000 marchers waved Palestinian and Turkish flags in Istanbul while paying homage to nine Turkish soldiers who were killed in northern Iraq last week.
Similar demonstrations organized by Turkiye’s Humanitarian Relief Foundation were held in other Turkish cities. Foundation representative Osman Delibas linked the war in Gaza and hostilities in Iraq. Turkiye holds Kurdish militants in Iraq responsible for the death of its soldiers.
“Those who supported terrorist organizations and unleashed them on us are the same ones who committed genocide in Gaza,” state-run Anadolu news agency quoted Delibas as saying.
At the Vatican, Pope Francis told the faithful in St. Peter’s Square that modern warfare is “a crime against humanity” because it “sows death among civilians and destroys cities and infrastructure.” In his weekly appearance at the Vatican window overlooking the Square, the pope lamented that “arms continue to kill and destroy” when at the start of the year “we exchanged wishes for peace,” urging people not to forget those who “suffer the cruelty of war” around the world especially in Ukraine, Palestine and Israel.
In Lisbon, Portugal, ballet dancer Irina Almeida joined several thousand marchers to demand a cease-fire in Gaza as they made their way from the US to the Israeli embassies, chanting “Yes to peace” and “No to war.”
“It’s not about 100 days, it’s 75 years,” said Almeida. “This is the 21st century and this should have never happened in the history of humankind, let alone at a time when we say we are so developed.”
From Berlin to Karachi, thousands demonstrate in support of either Israel or the Palestinians
https://arab.news/b2cdb
From Berlin to Karachi, thousands demonstrate in support of either Israel or the Palestinians
- Opposing demonstrations either demanded the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas or called for a cease-fire in Gaza
UK considers envoy for Britons held abroad
High-profile cases like jailed Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abdel Fattah and imprisoned Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai have spotlighted the plight of Britons held in jails overseas.
The UK foreign ministry insists it continues to press such cases with governments, but relatives of detainees and human rights organizations complain of a lack of urgency and transparency.
“The government is committed to strengthening support for British nationals, including through the appointment of a new envoy,” a Foreign Office spokesperson told AFP.
Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer has said an “Envoy for Complex Consular Detentions” is expected to be appointed “before the summer.”
The government has not specified the terms of the role but it could be similar to America’s Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, a position created in 2015.
Unlike the United States though, Britain does not take part in prisoner exchanges.
Professor Carla Ferstman, an expert on arbitrary detentions at the Human Rights Center at Essex Law School, said appointing someone would be the “clearest thing that the UK can do that it hasn’t done yet.”
“When you have someone at the highest level they command a certain level of respect,” she told AFP.
Abdel Fattah was arrested in September 2019 and sentenced to five years in prison on charges of “spreading false news” after sharing a Facebook post about police brutality.
He is still imprisoned despite a hunger strike by his mother and Britain’s foreign ministry saying it is pushing for his release “at the highest levels of the Egyptian government.”
His sister Sanaa Seif said an envoy would mean “a proper continued focus on” freeing detainees.
“It’s also important to have a focal point that can help coordinate between different government bodies so that they all work in synchronization,” she told AFP.
Seif believes the government should consider revising travel advice to Egypt too, a call also made by lawmakers who have suggested the government should sanction Egyptian officials as well.
“Is it not clear that words are no longer sufficient?” Conservative peer Guy Black asked in parliament’s House of Lords recently.
Ferstman said tightening travel guidance can be a powerful tool.
“It’s a big deal because all of a sudden tourists can’t get insurance and it’s harder for business travel to happen. There’s all kinds of implications,” she explained.
Amnesty International recently called for the government to develop a “clear strategy” to support arbitrarily detained Britons, including by demanding that UK officials attend trials.
The Labour government pledged in its general election-winning manifesto last year that it would introduce “a new right to consular assistance in cases of human rights violations.”
Amnesty also wants the government to call for a person’s “immediate release,” including publicly when it is requested by the family.
It said London took three years to publicly call for Lai to be freed, something his son Sebastian said “sends the wrong message” to “autocratic states.”
“The quicker we have the government speak out post-arrest, that’s the window of opportunity to have people released,” Eilidh Macpherson, Amnesty’s campaigns manager for individuals at risk told AFP.
UK officials say the government can be wary of accusations it is interfering in another country’s judicial system.
“Sometimes it may need to be quiet about what it’s doing, but this shouldn’t come at the expense of transparency,” said Ferstman.
Jagtar Singh Johal, a Sikh blogger from Scotland, was arrested in India in November 2017 while there for his wedding on accusations of being part of a terror plot against right-wing Hindu leaders.
He has not been convicted of a crime and in March was cleared in one of the nine charges against him.
The foreign ministry spokesperson said Foreign Secretary David Lammy “continues to raise concerns” about the detention with India’s government “at every appropriate opportunity.”
But his brother, Gurpreet Singh Johal complains of being kept in the dark.
“We don’t know what’s actually being said,” he told AFP.
Gurpreet said an envoy would be a “good thing” but until the position is in place, “We won’t know exactly what it means.”
Russia’s ‘Mr Nobody’ gambles all with film on Kremlin propaganda
- Local officials banned Talankin's former colleagues from contacting him, he became a hate figure for supporters of the war
PARIS: When Moscow invaded Ukraine, Pavel Talankin, a staff member at a secondary school in Russia’s Ural Mountains, was ordered to film patriotic lessons, songs and morning drills.
Talankin, the school’s event organizer and also a keen videographer, found the propaganda work so depressing that he wanted to quit his job in the industrial town of Karabash.
Then he received what he says was the strangest message of his life.
A Europe-based filmmaker got in touch, offering to collaborate on a project to document the abrupt militarization of Talankin’s school in the wake of Russia’s February 2022 invasion of its neighbor.
Talankin had earlier seen a post from a Russian company looking for people whose jobs had been affected by the war. Talankin said he was ready to talk.
After receiving the foreigner’s offer Talankin did not sleep all night.
The project changed his life forever.
After teaming up with David Borenstein and shooting many hours of footage, Talankin last summer fled Russia with seven hard discs, leaving behind his mother, brothers and sisters and the town he loved.
Using the smuggled-out footage Borenstein, a Denmark-based US filmmaker, directed what became “Mr Nobody Against Putin,” an award-winning 90-minute documentary which exposes the intensity of the propaganda at Talankin’s school and throughout Karabash.
It premiered at the 2025 Sundance film festival in January.
The project cost Talankin dearly. Local officials banned his former colleagues from contacting him, he became a hate figure for supporters of the war and his school librarian mother was upset.
“I have become a persona non grata,” Talankin, 34, told AFP from Prague, where he is now based.
Russia outlawed all criticism of the Russian military and the Kremlin and Talankin knew he had taken huge risks.
But he has no regrets.
“I would do it all over again.”
He has been buoyed by the support of people featured in the film including those who lost their loved ones in the war.
One former colleague said she became ashamed that she, too, was “part of the system.”
The documentary reaped awards at festivals and the film crew hopes it will be available to wider audiences in Europe later this year. Borenstein said the film’s success had been a “relief” because the multi-national crew overcame numerous obstacles including communication and security.
But above all he was “really scared” that if the film flopped Talankin’s sacrifice would come to nothing.
“I knew the whole time that Pasha would have to leave Russia to make this project happen,” Borenstein told AFP, referring to his co-director by his diminutive.
“That is a huge sacrifice for him, because his mum is there, his whole life is there, he does not speak English, not at that time.”
Talankin has not been able to join the crew to present the film at the Sundance festival in Utah and elsewhere due to paperwork issues, but the team hopes this will soon change.
For now he is learning English and adjusting to his new life in Prague.
Talankin said he was heartened by the reactions at the screenings.
One viewer in the Czech Republic said he hated Russians but the film made him reconsider. “We knew nothing about what was happening to you,” Talankin quoted the Czech as saying.
“It is a powerful and poetic piece of cinema,” said producer Alexandra Fechner, who is promoting the film in France.
“This film shows the hidden side of propaganda in Russia, which targets the youngest members of society, children who are being taught a rewritten version of history and given guns!” she said.
With the war in its fourth year, Moscow has put society on a war footing and leveraged the educational system to raise a fiercely pro-Kremlin generation.
The film features Wagner mercenaries telling children about hand grenades and teachers calling Ukrainians “neo-Nazi,” and includes an audio recording of a wailing mother at her soldier son’s funeral.
But critics also point to the documentary’s empathy and light touch.
In one episode, a history teacher tells pupils that the spiralling prices could soon make gas unaffordable for Europeans.
“The French will soon be like musketeers, riding horses, and the rest of Europe too,” he said.
Borenstein said that by viewing the footage sent by Talankin nearly every day, he understood the effect of the dehumanizing war-time propaganda.
While at the beginning he found some of the clips shocking, months later his mind had become so used to the onslaught of the propaganda that he did not see the footage depicting the Wagner mercenaries as something abnormal.
“I was able to replicate among myself some of the feelings that maybe the students and people in the school felt,” he said. “Looking at this propaganda every single day was a lesson in how desensitised you can become to it.”
A lot of the footage had not made it into the film, including the school’s preparations for the possibility of a nuclear attack.
Karabash is located close to one of Russia’s most sensitive sites, the Mayak nuclear reprocessing plant.
Talankin said Borenstein did not want the viewers to “drown in the enormous amount of negative material.”
“I have plans for this footage,” Talankin said. “Sooner or later I will start slowly releasing it.”
Morocco’s Atlantic gambit: linking restive Sahel to ocean
- The “Atlantic Initiative” promises ocean access to Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger through a new $1.3-billion port in the Western Sahara
- But the project remains fraught with challenges at a time when military coups in the Sahel states have brought new leaderships to power
EL ARGOUB: A planned trade corridor linking the landlocked Sahel to the Atlantic is at the heart of an ambitious Moroccan project to tackle regional instability and consolidate its grip on disputed Western Sahara.
The “Atlantic Initiative” promises ocean access to Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger through a new $1.3-billion port in the former Spanish colony claimed by the pro-independence Polisario Front but largely controlled by Morocco.
But the project remains fraught with challenges at a time when military coups in the Sahel states have brought new leaderships to power intent on overturning longstanding political alignments following years of jihadist violence.
The Moroccan initiative aims to “substantially transform the economy of these countries” and “the region,” said King Mohammed VI when announcing it in late 2023.
The “Dakhla Atlantic” port, scheduled for completion at El Argoub by 2028, also serves Rabat’s goal of cementing its grip on Western Sahara after US President Donald Trump recognized its sovereignty over the territory in 2020.
Morocco’s regional rival Algeria backs the Polisario but has seen its relations with Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger fray in recent months after the downing a Malian drone.
Military coups over the past five years have seen the three Sahel states pivot toward Russia in a bid to restore their sovereignty and control over natural resources after decades within the sphere of influence of their former colonial ruler France.
French troops were forced to abandon their bases in the three countries, ending their role in the fight against jihadists who have found sanctuary in the vast semi-arid region on the southern edge of the Sahara.
After both the African Union and West African bloc ECOWAS imposed economic sanctions on the new juntas, Morocco emerged as an early ally, with Niger calling the megaproject “a godsend.”
“Morocco was one of the first countries where we found understanding at a time when ECOWAS and other countries were on the verge of waging war against us,” Niger’s Foreign Minister Bakary Yaou Sangare said in April during a visit to Rabat alongside his Malian and Burkinabe counterparts.
The Sahel countries established a bloc of their own — the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) — in September 2023 but have remained dependent on the ports of ECOWAS countries like Benin, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Togo.
Rising tensions with the West African bloc could restrict their access to those ports, boosting the appeal of the alternative trade outlet being offered by Rabat.
Morocco has been seeking to position itself as a middleman between Europe and the Sahel states, said Beatriz Mesa, a professor at the International University of Rabat.
With jihadist networks like Al-Qaeda and the Daesh group striking ever deeper into sub-Saharan Africa, the security threat has intensified since the departure of French-led troops.
Morocco was now “profiting from these failures by placing itself as a reliable Global South partner,” Mesa said.
Its initiative has won the backing of key actors including the United States, France and the Gulf Arab states, who could provide financial support, according to specialist journal Afrique(s) en mouvement.
But for now the proposed trade corridor is little more than an aspiration, with thousands of kilometers (many hundreds of miles) of desert road-building needed to turn it into a reality.
“There are still many steps to take,” since a road and rail network “doesn’t exist,” said Seidik Abba, head of the Sahel-focused think tank CIRES.
Rida Lyammouri of the Policy Center for the New South said the road route from Morocco through Western Sahara to Mauritania is “almost complete,” even though it has been targeted by Polisario fighters.
Abdelmalek Alaoui, head of the Moroccan Institute for Strategic Intelligence, said it could cost as much as $1 billion to build a land corridor through Mauritania, Mali and Niger all the way to Chad, 3,100 kilometers (1,900 miles) to the east.
And even if the construction work is completed, insecurity is likely to pose a persistent threat to the corridor’s viability, he said.
Trump’s sweeping tax-cut, spending bill clears first US Senate hurdle
- Lawmakers voted 51-49 to open debate on the 940-page megabill
- Trump on social media hails ‘great victory’ for his ‘great, big, beautiful bill’
WASHINGTON: The Republican-controlled US Senate narrowly advanced President Donald Trump’s, sweeping tax-cut and spending bill on Saturday, during a marathon weekend session marked by political drama, division and lengthy delays as Democrats sought to slow the legislation’s path to passage.
Lawmakers voted 51-49 to open debate on the 940-page megabill, with two of Trump’s fellow Republicans joining Democrats to oppose the legislation that would fund the president’s top immigration, border, tax-cut and military priorities.
Trump on social media hailed the “great victory” for his “great, big, beautiful bill.”
After hours of delay, during which Republican leaders and Vice President JD Vance worked behind closed doors to persuade last-minute holdouts to support the measure, Democrats demanded that the megabill first be read aloud in the chamber — a task that could delay the start of the debate until Sunday afternoon.
Democrats say the bill’s tax cuts would disproportionately benefit the wealthy at the expense of social programs for lower-income Americans.
“Senate Republicans are scrambling to pass a radical bill, released to the public in the dead of night, praying the American people don’t realize what’s in it,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor.
“Democrats are going to force this chamber to read it from start to finish,” he said.
Once the bill has been read, lawmakers will begin up to 20 hours of debate on the legislation. That will be followed by a marathon amendment session, known as a “vote-a-rama,” before the Senate votes on passage. Lawmakers said they hoped to complete work on the bill on Monday.
Republican Senators Thom Tillis and Rand Paul voted against opening debate, a move that seemed for a time to be in danger of failing.
Trump attacked Tillis, who opposed the bill’s cuts to the Medicaid health care program for lower-income Americans, which he said would be devastating for his native North Carolina. Tillis is up for reelection next year.
“Numerous people have come forward wanting to run in the Primary against ‘Senator Thom’ Tillis. I will be meeting with them over the coming weeks,” the president posted.
Paul opposed the legislation because it would raise the federal borrowing limit on the $36.2 trillion US debt by an additional $5 trillion.
“Did Rand Paul Vote ‘NO’ again tonight? What’s wrong with this guy???” Trump said on social media.
In limbo
Saturday’s vote was in limbo for hours as Vance, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and other top Republicans sought to persuade last-minute holdouts to support the legislation. It was not clear what deals if any were struck to win over their support.
Hard-line Republican Senators Rick Scott, Mike Lee and Cynthia Lummis, who want deeper cuts in federal spending, voted to support the bill in the end. Another hard-liner, Senator Ron Johnson, initially voted no but flipped his vote and backed the legislation.
Trump was monitoring the vote from the Oval Office late into the night, a senior White House official said.
The megabill would extend the 2017 tax cuts that were Trump’s main legislative achievement during his first term as president, cut other taxes and boost spending on the military and border security.
The nonpartisan Joint Tax Committee released an analysis projecting that the Senate bill’s tax provisions would reduce government revenue by $4.5 trillion over the next decade, increasing the $36.2-trillion US government debt.
The White House said this month the legislation would reduce the annual deficit by $1.4 trillion.
The world’s richest person, Elon Musk, also took a swipe at the bill, which would end tax breaks for the electric vehicles that his automaker Tesla manufactures.
Calling the bill “utterly insane and destructive,” he risked reigniting a feud with Trump that raged earlier this month, before Musk backed down from his rhetoric.
“The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country!” Musk wrote in a post on his social media platform X.
Medicaid changes
Republicans from states with large rural populations have opposed a reduction in state tax revenue for Medicaid providers, including rural hospitals. The newly released legislation would delay that reduction and would include $25 billion to support rural Medicaid providers from 2028 to 2032.
The legislation would raise the cap on federal deductions for state and local taxes to $40,000 with an annual 1 percent inflation adjustment through 2029, after which it would fall back to the current $10,000. The bill would also phase the cap down for those earning more than $500,000 a year.
That is a major concern of House Republicans from coastal states, including New York, New Jersey and California, who play an important role in keeping the party’s narrow House majority.
Republicans are using a legislative maneuver to bypass the Senate’s 60-vote threshold to advance most legislation in the 100-member chamber.
Democrats will focus their firepower with amendments aimed at reversing Republican spending cuts to programs that provide government-backed health care to the elderly, poor and disabled, as well as food aid to low-income families.
The bill also would raise the Treasury Department’s debt ceiling by trillions of dollars to stave off a potentially disastrous default on the nation’s debt in the coming months.
If the Senate passes the bill, it will then return to the House of Representatives for final passage before Trump can sign it into law. The House passed its version of the bill last month.
Trump slams Israel’s prosecutors over Netanyahu corruption trial
- “The United States of America spends Billions of Dollar a year, far more than on any other Nation, protecting and supporting Israel
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said Saturday the United States was “not going to stand” for the continued prosecution of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on corruption charges.
“The United States of America spends Billions of Dollar a year, far more than on any other Nation, protecting and supporting Israel. We are not going to stand for this,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
An Israeli court on Friday rejected Netanyahu’s request to postpone giving testimony in his corruption trial, ruling that he had not provided adequate justification for his request.
In one case, Netanyahu and his wife Sara are accused of accepting more than $260,000 worth of luxury goods such as cigars, jewelry and champagne from billionaires in exchange for political favors.
In two other cases, Netanyahu is accused of attempting to negotiate more favorable coverage from two Israeli media outlets.
Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing and has thanked Trump for his support in Israel’s war with Iran, which saw a ceasefire agreement earlier this week.
His lawyer had asked the court to excuse the leader from hearings over the next two weeks, saying he needs to concentrate on “security issues.”
Trump on Wednesday sprung to Netanyahu’s defense, describing the case against him as a “witch hunt.”
On Saturday, he described Netanyahu as a “War Hero” and said the case would distract the prime minister from negotiations with Iran and with Hamas, the Gaza-based Palestinian armed group that Israel is at war with.
“This travesty of ‘Justice’ will interfere with both Iran and Hamas negotiations,” said Trump, although it was unclear what negotiations he was referring to with regards to Iran.
Hamas took 251 hostages during its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, with 49 still believed to be held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.
Negotiations are ongoing for the return of the remaining hostages and the bodies of those killed, while Israel’s punishing war on Gaza continues unabated.
The US leader also likened Netanyahu’s legal troubles to his own before he took office for his second term.
“It is a POLITICAL WITCH HUNT, very similar to the Witch Hunt that I was forced to endure,” said Trump.
The Republican was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records in May 2024 in a case related to hush money payments to a porn star.
Trump also faced two federal cases, one related to his alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
