NAIROBI: Riot police patrolled Kenya’s capital Nairobi on Tuesday morning as young activists called for more protests following last week’s deadly clashes.
Members of the protest movement, which has no official leaders and largely organizes via social media, have rejected appeals from President William Ruto for dialogue, even after he abandoned proposed tax hikes.
Infuriated by the deaths last week — at least 39 according to the government-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNHCR) — many are now demanding that Ruto step down.
“We are determined to push for the president’s resignation,” Ojango Omondi, an activist in Nairobi, said. “We hope for a peaceful protest and minimal casualties, if any.”
The protests that started as an online outpouring of anger over nearly $2.7 billion of tax hikes in a proposed finance bill have grown into a nationwide movement against corruption and misgovernance, and become the most serious crisis of Ruto’s nearly two-year-old presidency.
He has been caught between the competing demands of lenders such as the International Monetary Fund, which are urging the heavily-indebted government to cut deficits, and a hard-pressed population reeling from the soaring cost of living.
Ruto has directed the treasury to come up with ways to cut spending to fill the budget gap caused by the bill’s withdrawal, and also said more borrowing will be required.
The protests, which began in mid-June, were mostly peaceful until last Tuesday, when police clashed with demonstrators. Some protesters briefly stormed parliament and set part of it ablaze. The police opened fire, killing many, human rights group said.
The KNHCR said on Monday that 39 people have been killed and 361 people injured since the first protest on June 18.
Ruto has defended the police’s actions, saying they were doing their best under difficult circumstances. He blamed violence on “criminals” who he said had hijacked the demonstrations.
“It’s a beautiful day to choose patriotism. A beautiful day to choose peace, order and the sanctity of our nationhood,” State House communications director Gerald Bitok wrote on X on Tuesday morning, adding in Swahili: “Violence is not patriotism.”
It was not clear to what extent people would respond to the new calls for protests. There were no reports of demonstrations early in the morning.
Shops were opening as usual in downtown Nairobi, the site of the most intense protests last week. Police had erected roadblocks leading to the president’s official residence.
“I think it’s not going to be maandamano (protest) because maybe people are afraid, because some people have been shot,” said Kennedy Otwal, who was walking through downtown.
Riot police patrol Nairobi as Kenyan activists call for more protests
https://arab.news/97e2m
Riot police patrol Nairobi as Kenyan activists call for more protests
- Members of the protest movement have rejected appeals from President William Ruto for dialogue
- Protests started as an online outpouring of anger over nearly $2.7 billion of tax hikes in a proposed finance bill
Afghan Taliban leader dismisses foreign ‘threats’ after ICC warrant
Since sweeping back to power in 2021, the Taliban authorities have implemented a strict interpretation of Islamic law
KABUL: Afghanistan’s supreme leader has said the Taliban will not be intimidated by “threats” in a speech given days after the International Criminal Court prosecutor requested a warrant for his arrest over the persecution of women in the country.
“Whether Westerners or Easterners, how could we believe them and not almighty God’s promises! How can we allow ourselves to be affected by their threats!” Hibatullah Akhundzada said in a recording of a speech shared with journalists on Tuesday.
The address was given at a graduation ceremony for religious scholars in southern Kandahar province on Monday, said the governor’s spokesman, Mahmood Azzam.
The reclusive Taliban leader, who rules by decree from Kandahar, has made only a handful of appearances since inheriting the Islamist movement’s leadership, with only audio recordings released of his rare speeches given in closed settings.
Taliban members are “Muslims who stand for what is right and cannot be harmed by anybody. If anyone stands against them, from the West or East, nobody can harm them,” Akhundzada said.
Akhundzada did not reference specific countries, bodies or “threats,” but the speech came days after the ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan said he was seeking arrest warrants for the Taliban supreme leader and chief justice over the persecution of women.
Since sweeping back to power in 2021 — ousting the Western-backed government and ending a 20-year insurgency — the Taliban authorities have implemented a strict interpretation of Islamic law.
They have imposed restrictions on women and girls the United Nations has characterised as “gender apartheid.”
Afghanistan is the only country in the world where girls and women are banned from education.
Women have been ordered to cover their hair and faces and wear all-covering Islamic dress, have been barred from parks and stopped from working in government offices.
The Taliban government claims it secures Afghan women’s rights under sharia but many of its edicts are not followed in the rest of the Islamic world and have been condemned by Muslim leaders.
Danish FM says ‘Trump will not have Greenland’
- “Greenland is Greenland. And the Greenlandic people are a people, also in the sense of international law,” Lars Lokke Rasmussen said
COPENHAGEN: Denmark’s foreign minister on Tuesday said that Donald Trump “will not have Greenland,” following the US president’s expressed desire to control the Danish autonomous territory.
“Trump will not have Greenland. Greenland is Greenland. And the Greenlandic people are a people, also in the sense of international law,” Lars Lokke Rasmussen told reporters, adding that “this is also why we have said time and again that it is ultimately Greenland that decides Greenland’s situation.”
Serbia’s prime minister resigns as anti-corruption protests grow
- “It is my appeal for everyone to calm down the passions and return to dialogue,” Vucevic told a news conference announcing his resignation
- Novi Sad Mayor Milan Djuric also stepped down on Tuesday
BELGRADE: Serbia’s populist Prime Minister Milos Vucevic resigned Tuesday in an attempt to calm political tensions and pressure roiled by weeks of massive anti-corruption protests over the deadly collapse of a concrete canopy.
The canopy collapse in November, which killed 15 people in the northern city of Novi Sad, has become a flashpoint reflecting wider discontent with the increasingly autocratic rule of Serbia’s populist President Aleksandar Vucic. He has faced accusations of curbing democratic freedoms in Serbia despite formally seeking European Union membership for the troubled Balkan nation.
“It is my appeal for everyone to calm down the passions and return to dialogue,” Vucevic told a news conference announcing his resignation.
Novi Sad Mayor Milan Djuric also stepped down on Tuesday.
Vucevic’s resignation could lead to an early parliamentary election. The resignation must be confirmed by Serbia’s parliament, which has 30 days to choose a new government or call a snap election.
Pro-government media said President Vucic will attend a Cabinet session on Tuesday evening to decide whether a new prime minister-designate will be appointed or an early election called.
Opposition parties have said they would insist on a transitional government that would create conditions for a free and fair election. Vucic’s populists have faced accusations of irregularities during past elections.
Vucevic became the prime minister in April 2024, after the Serbian Progressive Party won most votes in an election marred by tensions.
“They (ruling party) have been in a free fall since the Novi Sad tragedy,” journalist Slobodan Georgiev said on N1 television, adding that Vucic was seeking a “buffer” with the prime minister’s resignation.
Protests are the biggest challenge yet to the ruling populists
Vucic in the past had managed to cushion the impact of anti-government street protests, but the current student movement has garnered widespread support from all walks of life, including actors, farmers, lawyers, and judges.
The students’ call for justice has resonated in a country where corruption is widespread and few feel that the state institutions work in the interests of citizens.
Branimir Jovancicevic, professor at the Faculty of Chemistry in Belgrade, expressed hope that Vucevic’s resignation is a first step toward further political changes in Serbia, where power is concentrated in the hands of the president although his constitutional role is largely ceremonial.
“If the president thinks that by replacing one, essentially, unimportant figure ... will solve the problem ... he is deeply mistaken,” said Jovancicevic. ”This must lead to total political changes because autocracy and dictatorship in Serbia, in the heart of Europe, must be stopped.”
On Monday, tens of thousands of people joined striking university students in a 24-hour blockade of a key traffic intersection in the Serbian capital. Serbia’s students are demanding accountability for the canopy collapse that critics have blamed on rampant government corruption.
Classes at Serbia’s universities and dozens of schools have been blocked for two months with students camping inside their faculty buildings.
In another attempt to defuse tensions, Vucic, Vucevic and Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic on Monday evening urged dialogue with the students, who have so far rebuffed such invitations. They say Vucic shouldn’t be the one holding talks with them but that government institutions such as police and the judiciary should do their job.
Another student is assaulted
Vucevic said the immediate cause for his quitting was an attack on a female student in Novi Sad early Tuesday by assailants allegedly from the ruling Serbian Progressive Party. Vucevic said that “whenever it seems there is hope to return to social dialogue, to talk ... it’s like an invisible hand creates a new incident and tensions mount again.”
But the outgoing prime minister also said that the street protests “undoubtedly” have been organized from abroad “with an aim to directly jeopardize Serbia as a state.” Vucevic offered no evidence for his claims that echoed earlier similar statements by Vucic.
“I can never justify or understand many of these protests, blockades of lives, of roads and the freedom of movement of other citizens,” he said.
Students in Novi Sad said they were horrified by the assault they said was carried out by thugs with baseball bats. They attacked two groups of students and chased them in their car, the students said. Prosecutors later said that four people have been detained.
“We are horrified over the state of our society where such a situation is possible,” the students said in an Instagram post. “We have had enough of blood.”
The students called a big rally in Novi Sad later Tuesday in response to the attack.
Doubts over prosecutions
Serbia’s prosecutors have filed charges against 13 people, including a government minister and several state officials for the November canopy collapse. But the former Construction Minister Goran Vesic, who had resigned shortly after the canopy crash, has been released from detention, fueling doubts over the investigation’s independence.
The main railway station in Novi Sad was renovated and inaugurated twice in recent years as part of a wider infrastructure deal with Chinese state companies and a fast railway link with neighboring Hungary.
Several incidents have marred the street demonstrations in the past weeks, including drivers ramming in to the crowds on two occasions, when two young women were injured.
Students and others have been holding daily 15-minute traffic blockades throughout Serbia at 11:52 a.m., the exact same time the concrete canopy crashed down on Nov. 1. The blockades honor the 15 victims, including two children. The blockades were also held on Tuesday.
How Arab cuisine is influencing the dining scene in Philippine capital
- Family-style Middle Eastern meals align with Filipino get-together traditions
- Exposure to Arab cuisine is making Filipinos appreciate its nutritional value
MANILA: More and more Middle Eastern restaurants are popping up across Manila, influencing Filipino dining with flavors and styles that differ from local food traditions.
Everywhere you turn, there is a new spot serving comforting, smooth, creamy hummus, perfectly grilled juicy kebabs, shawarma with tender, seasoned meat wrapped in pita, and more.
“They’re everywhere and I love it,” said Jacob Lazaro, a journalist in the Philippine capital, who has developed a taste for Arab food over the past few years. And he is far from alone.
For fellow Manilenos, Trisha Santa Cruz and her husband, a trip to Meshwe — a Lebanese restaurant in the capital region’s Quezon City — has become a habit, especially after workout, when they want to eat healthy food.
“It’s complete with protein, there are carbs, and there are always vegetables. So it’s complete, very palatable to our taste,” Santa Cruz said.
The owner of Meshwe, Nathaniel Mounayer, who opened the restaurant in 2013, has in recent years noticed a growing interest in Middle Eastern food among Filipinos.
“When I was still a college student, Middle Eastern food was a very niche market ... but the Filipino palate has been growing ever since, and we’re getting more and more newcomers — not necessarily people who have visited the Middle East, just people who want to explore and try different cuisines,” he said.
Filipino customers were initially most interested in barbecued meat dishes, and the restaurant catered to them. This is also reflected in its name, which is Arabic for “grilled.” Over time, however, especially when the spot became popular with Arab students, Mounayer started cooking traditional Levantine home meals for them, which included vegetable specialties.
“Filipinos were like: ‘Hey, can we try?’ From then, it grew, and it grew, and we started adding them into our menu regularly,” he said.
“Filipinos have always been very adventurous in trying different cuisines. So, it gives us, as a restaurant, as a chef, more confidence to introduce not only the typical Middle Eastern dishes, but (also) dive into more regional, more traditional home cooking.”
More exposure to Arab cuisine has allowed Filipinos to also appreciate its nutritional value and the way the dishes are cooked.
“I like Middle Eastern food because I know it’s halal and healthy. I trust the way it was prepared. My introduction to Middle Eastern food was through the shawarma. Then I tried hummus and kebab. I also discovered mulukhiyah, or we call it saluyot, and their special desserts,” Baleno Reyes, a government worker, told Arab News.
“Now, I usually order Middle Eastern food online instead of pizzas, which used to be my go-to food when I didn’t feel like cooking. Growing up, it was always pizza for me ... as a kid I always loved pizza. But now, it’s time to go healthy.”
In their weekend evening outings, Filipinos most often opt for shawarma. Friends Weng, Rissa, Joey and Hannah, who were enjoying the dish at The Melting Potluck in Quezon City, said they were “team shawarma” and would not pass up any opportunity to have it together.
“Whenever we get together, it’s not possible without shawarma. It’s automatic,” Weng said, as the others laughed.
“It’s filling, not oily, and of course it’s delicious,” Hannah added. “Especially when there’s garlic sauce and it’s spicy.”
The Palestinian owner of The Melting Potluck, Khaldoun Asad, estimated that 99 percent of his customers were Filipinos.
When he opened the restaurant eight years ago, shawarma was the only dish he sold.
“It was a shawarma wrap with pita bread, and then we introduced rice. The Filipino people love rice. After that we put up another dish, hummus, and they loved it. And then we put up biryani and kebab, and all these dishes are our best sellers,” he said.
The flavors that he offered were the same as those he would prepare for his children at home. He believed that authenticity of flavor was what would attract Filipinos most.
“I did not make any adjustments. I stick to the originality of our food and that’s what the people love about it,” he said. “If you taste our shawarma, it’s very authentic ... and they love the authentic flavor.”
Middle Eastern restaurants are giving Filipinos a taste of something new, and they’re embracing it — along with the shared, family-style meals that perfectly align with the Filipino “salu-salo” (get-together) traditions.
Mohamed Al-Malek, a restaurant owner from Saudi Arabia who opened Arabic House in Manila two years ago, said the Arab style of dining “aligns perfectly” with Filipino culture.
“Filipinos love family-style meals, and sharing platters like what we have in our menu makes Middle Eastern cuisine a natural fit,” he told Arab News.
“Over the years, I’ve seen a growing curiosity and appreciation for international cuisines, including Middle Eastern dishes, as Filipinos become more adventurous with their dining choices. Middle Eastern cuisine has seen remarkable growth.”
Besides Filipino expats returning from Arab countries and Arabs settling in the Philippines, the driving factor for this growth has also been a “mix of curiosity about international flavors” and the “rise of health-conscious eating,” which boosts interest in dishes such as hummus, moutabal and mulukhiyah, Al-Malek said.
“Middle Eastern cuisine is carving its own niche. While Japanese and Italian are staples, Middle Eastern food offers something unique with its bold flavors and communal style. The future looks exciting.”
Pakistan outlaws disinformation with 3-year jail term
- The law was rushed through the National Assembly with little warning last week
ISLAMBAD: Pakistan criminalized online disinformation on Tuesday, passing legislation that enshrines punishments of up to three years in prison, a decision journalists say is designed to crack down on dissent.
“I have heard more ‘yes’ than ‘no’, so the bill is approved,” Syedaal Khan, deputy chair of Pakistan’s Senate, said amid protest from the opposition and journalists, who walked out of the gallery.
The law targets anyone who “intentionally disseminates” information online that they have “reason to believe to be false or fake and likely to cause or create a sense of fear, panic or disorder or unrest.”
The law was rushed through the National Assembly with little warning last week before being presented to the Senate on Tuesday, and will now pass to the president to be rubber stamped.
