Thousands rally in support of Chechen leader Kadyrov

Updated 24 January 2016
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Thousands rally in support of Chechen leader Kadyrov

GROZNY: Tens of thousands of people rallied in the capital of Russia’s Chechnya republic in support of strongman leader Ramzan Kadyrov and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Kadyrov in recent weeks has been speaking out against independent journalists and opposition activists, calling for them to be sent to psychiatric hospitals or prosecuted as traitors in the service of a hostile West.
His comments have an ominous ring. In the past, Russian journalists or opposition leaders have been killed after challenging Putin or Kadyrov, who describes himself as the president’s loyal “foot soldier.” Some of the slaying were preceded by similar threats and some of the suspected killers have been Chechens.
Rights activists in Russia and the West have criticized Kadyrov, with some demanding that he be fired.
Participants at Friday’s rally in Grozny praised Kadyrov for bringing stability to the predominantly Muslim region after two separatist wars, punctuating their speeches with cries of “God is great!” and “Kadyrov is a Russian patriot.”
Malika Murtaeva, a 53-year-old homemaker, said she came to show her support for Kadyrov, who took over the leadership of Chechnya after the assassination of his father in 2004 and rebuilt the war-torn republic with generous funding from Moscow.
“But some don’t like his good deeds and come up with various accusations against him,” Murtaeva said. “Everything they say against Kadyrov, I take as a personal attack against me, because their goal is to deprive me of the person who brought peace and stability to me and everyone in our republic, independent of nationality or creed.”

The rally, organized by Chechen trade unions, drew people from across Chechnya and neighboring regions. Chechen police put the size of the crowd at 1 million, a figure that was not possible to confirm independently. But the entire population of Chechnya is 1.3 million.
In a commentary in the Izvestia newspaper this week, Kadyrov called opposition leaders “jackals” intent on destroying the strong Russian state. He suggested sending them to a psychiatric hospital in Chechnya, saying, “I could help them deal with this clinical problem and I promise we won’t stint on injections. Where one is prescribed, we could do two.”
The Chechen leader also condemned independent media organizations, including the respected Ekho Moskvy radio, for giving air time to opposition leaders.
Alexei Venediktov, the longtime Ekho Moskvy editor, attributed the verbal attacks to the station’s coverage of the investigation into the killing of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was shot dead Feb. 27 last year just outside the Kremlin.
The suspects under arrest in Nemtsov’s slaying are all Chechens, including the suspected triggerman, a former officer in Kadyrov’s security forces. Nemtsov’s family has petitioned investigators to look into Kadyrov’s possible role, but he has not been officially linked to the killing and has denied any involvement.
Amnesty International and the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists have urged Putin and his government to respond to Kadyrov’s statements. Amnesty noted that the killings of journalist Anna Politkovskaya in 2006 and Chechen rights defender Natalya Estemirova in 2009 were preceded by similar threats.
Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stopped just short of defending Kadyrov, saying the Chechen was referring to opposition activists who work outside the system and “are ready to break the law, including in ways that damage the country.” Friday’s mass rally served as Kadyrov’s response.
“Those who are against Kadyrov are against Russia,” said Ibrahim Khasanov, 55. “And patriots of Russia should remember all of this.”


EU chief von der Leyen faces no confidence vote

Updated 7 min 15 sec ago
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EU chief von der Leyen faces no confidence vote

  • A major complaint is that von der Leyen’s center-right camp has increasingly teamed up with the far-right to further its agenda, most notably to roll back environmental rules

STRATSBOURG: EU chief Ursula von der Leyen faces a confidence vote Thursday that has little chance of succeeding but has exposed frictions between her backers and complaints about her leadership style.
European lawmakers will vote on the rare challenge pushed by a far-right faction against the European Commission president at around midday (1000 GMT) in Strasbourg.
Addressing parliament this week, von der Leyen dismissed the no-confidence motion as a conspiracy theory-laden attempt to divide Europe, dismissing its supporters as “anti-vaxxers” and Russian President Vladimir “Putin apologists.”
She urged lawmakers to renew confidence in her commission arguing it was critical for Europe to show unity in the face of an array of challenges, from US trade talks to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The no-confidence motion was initiated by Romanian far-right lawmaker Gheorghe Piperea.
He accuses von der Leyen of a lack of transparency over text messages she sent to the head of the Pfizer pharmaceutical giant when negotiating Covid vaccines.
The commission’s failure to release the messages — the focus of multiple court cases — has given weight to critics who accuse its boss of centralized and opaque decision-making.
That is also a growing refrain from the commission chief’s traditional allies on the left and center, who have used the vote to air their grievances.


A major complaint is that von der Leyen’s center-right camp has increasingly teamed up with the far-right to further its agenda — most notably to roll back environmental rules.
Centrist leader Valerie Hayer told parliament this week that von der Leyen’s commission was “too centralized and sclerotic” before warning that “nothing can be taken for granted.”
“Pfizergate” aside, Romania’s Piperea accuses the commission of interfering in his country’s recent presidential election, in which pro-European Nicusor Dan narrowly beat EU critic and nationalist George Simion.
That vote came after Romania’s constitutional court scrapped an initial ballot over allegations of Russian interference and massive social media promotion of the far-right frontrunner, who was barred from standing again.
Piperea’s challenge is unlikely to succeed.
It has support from some groups on the left and part of the far right — including the party of Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
“Time to go,” Orban tweeted on Wednesday alongside a photo of von der Leyen.
But Piperea’s own group, the ECR, is split. Its largest faction, the party of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, said it would back the EU chief.
The two largest groups in parliament, the center-right EPP and the center-left Socialists and Democrats, have also flatly rejected the challenge, which needs two-thirds of votes cast, representing a majority of all lawmakers to pass.


Israel’s Bedouin communities use solar energy to stake claim to land

Updated 19 min 4 sec ago
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Israel’s Bedouin communities use solar energy to stake claim to land

  • Bedouin families have for years tried and failed to hold on to their lands, coming up against right-wing groups and hard-line government officials
  • For the solar panels to be built, the land must be registered as part of the Bedouin village, strengthening their claim over it

TIRABIN-AL-SANA, Israel: At the end of a dusty road in southern Israel, beyond a Bedouin village of unfinished houses and the shiny dome of a mosque, a field of solar panels gleams in the hot desert sun.
Tirabin Al-Sana in Israel’s Negev desert is the home of the Tirabin (also spelled Tarabin) Bedouin tribe, who signed a contract with an Israeli solar energy company to build the installation.
The deal has helped provide jobs for the community as well as promote cleaner, cheaper energy for the country, as the power produced is pumped into the national grid.
Earlier this month, the Al-Ghanami family in the town of Abu Krinat a little further south inaugurated a similar field of solar panels.

Children play beneath a scaffolding holding photovoltaic solar panels in the yard of a kindergarten in the recognized but unplanned Bedouin village of Umm Batin near Beersheva in Israel's southern Negev Desert on June 11, 2025. (AFP)

Bedouin families have for years tried and failed to hold on to their lands, coming up against right-wing groups and hard-line government officials.
Demolition orders issued by Israeli authorities plague Bedouin villages, threatening the traditionally semi-nomadic communities with forced eviction.
But Yosef Abramowitz, co-chair of the non-profit organization Shamsuna, said solar field projects help them to stake a more definitive claim.
“It secures their land rights forever,” he told AFP.
“It’s the only way to settle the Bedouin land issue and secure 100 percent renewable energy,” he added, calling it a “win, win.”
For the solar panels to be built, the land must be registered as part of the Bedouin village, strengthening their claim over it.

Rise in home demolitions
Roughly 300,000 Bedouins live in the Negev desert, half of them in places such as Tirabin Al-Sana, including some 110,000 who reside in villages not officially recognized by the government.
Villages that are not formally recognized are fighting the biggest battle to stay on the land.
Far-right groups, some backed by the current government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have stepped up efforts in the past two years to drive these families away.

This aerial view shows solar panels at an electricity-generation plant for the Bedouin community in the village of Tirabin al-Sana in Israel's southern Negev Desert on June 11, 2025. (AFP)
 

A sharp increase in home demolitions has left the communities vulnerable and whole families without a roof over their heads.
“Since 2023, more than 8,500 buildings have been demolished in these unrecognized villages,” Marwan Abu Frieh, from the legal aid organization Adalah, told AFP at a recent protest in Beersheva, the largest city in the Negev.
“Within these villages, thousands of families are now living out in the open, an escalation the Negev has not witnessed in perhaps the last two decades.”
Tribes just want to “live in peace and dignity,” following their distinct customs and traditions, he said.
Gil Yasur, who also works with Shamsuna developing critical infrastructure in Bedouin villages, said land claims issues were common among Bedouins across the Negev.
Families who include a solar project on their land, however, stand a better chance of securing it, he added.
“Then everyone will benefit — the landowners, the country, the Negev,” he said. “This is the best way to move forward to a green economy.”

Fully solar-energized
In Um Batin, a recognized village, residents are using solar energy in a different way — to power a local kindergarten all year round.
Until last year, the village relied on power from a diesel generator that polluted the air and the ground where the children played.
Now, a hulking solar panel shields the children from the sun as its surface sucks up the powerful rays, keeping the kindergarten in full working order.
“It was not clean or comfortable here before,” said Nama Abu Kaf, who works in the kindergarten.
“Now we have air conditioning and a projector so the children can watch television.”
Hani Al-Hawashleh, who oversees the project on behalf of Shamsuna, said the solar energy initiative for schools and kindergartens was “very positive.”
“Without power you can’t use all kinds of equipment such as projectors, lights in the classrooms and, on the other hand, it saves costs and uses clean energy,” he said.
The projects are part of a pilot scheme run by Shamsuna.
Asked if there was interest in expanding to other educational institutions that rely on polluting generators, he said there were challenges and bureaucracy but he hoped to see more.
 


Israel’s Bedouin communities use solar energy to stake claim to land

Updated 18 min 47 sec ago
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Israel’s Bedouin communities use solar energy to stake claim to land

  • Roughly 300,000 Bedouins live in the Negev desert, half of them in places such as Tirabin Al-Sana, including some 110,000 who reside in villages not officially recognized by the government
  • Tirabin Al Sana in Israel’s Negev desert is the home of the Tirabin Bedouin tribe who signed a contract with an Israeli solar energy company to build the installation

TIRABIN AL SANA: At the end of a dusty road in southern Israel, beyond a Bedouin village of unfinished houses and the shiny dome of a mosque, a field of solar panels gleams in the hot desert sun.
Tirabin Al-Sana in Israel’s Negev desert is the home of the Tirabin (also spelled Tarabin) Bedouin tribe, who signed a contract with an Israeli solar energy company to build the installation.
The deal has helped provide jobs for the community as well as promote cleaner, cheaper energy for the country, as the power produced is pumped into the national grid.
Earlier this month, the Al-Ghanami family in the town of Abu Krinat a little further south inaugurated a similar field of solar panels.
Bedouin families have for years tried and failed to hold on to their lands, coming up against right-wing groups and hard-line government officials.
Demolition orders issued by Israeli authorities plague Bedouin villages, threatening the traditionally semi-nomadic communities with forced eviction.
But Yosef Abramowitz, co-chair of the non-profit organization Shamsuna, said solar field projects help them to stake a more definitive claim.
“It secures their land rights forever,” he told AFP.
“It’s the only way to settle the Bedouin land issue and secure 100 percent renewable energy,” he added, calling it a “win, win.”
For the solar panels to be built, the land must be registered as part of the Bedouin village, strengthening their claim over it.


Roughly 300,000 Bedouins live in the Negev desert, half of them in places such as Tirabin Al-Sana, including some 110,000 who reside in villages not officially recognized by the government.
Villages that are not formally recognized are fighting the biggest battle to stay on the land.
Far-right groups, some backed by the current government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have stepped up efforts in the past two years to drive these families away.
A sharp increase in home demolitions has left the communities vulnerable and whole families without a roof over their heads.
“Since 2023, more than 8,500 buildings have been demolished in these unrecognized villages,” Marwan Abu Frieh, from the legal aid organization Adalah, told AFP at a recent protest in Beersheva, the largest city in the Negev.
“Within these villages, thousands of families are now living out in the open, an escalation the Negev has not witnessed in perhaps the last two decades.”
Tribes just want to “live in peace and dignity,” following their distinct customs and traditions, he said.
Gil Yasur, who also works with Shamsuna developing critical infrastructure in Bedouin villages, said land claims issues were common among Bedouins across the Negev.
Families who include a solar project on their land, however, stand a better chance of securing it, he added.
“Then everyone will benefit — the landowners, the country, the Negev,” he said. “This is the best way to move forward to a green economy.”


In Um Batin, a recognized village, residents are using solar energy in a different way — to power a local kindergarten all year round.
Until last year, the village relied on power from a diesel generator that polluted the air and the ground where the children played.
Now, a hulking solar panel shields the children from the sun as its surface sucks up the powerful rays, keeping the kindergarten in full working order.
“It was not clean or comfortable here before,” said Nama Abu Kaf, who works in the kindergarten.
“Now we have air conditioning and a projector so the children can watch television.”
Hani Al-Hawashleh, who oversees the project on behalf of Shamsuna, said the solar energy initiative for schools and kindergartens was “very positive.”
“Without power you can’t use all kinds of equipment such as projectors, lights in the classrooms and, on the other hand, it saves costs and uses clean energy,” he said.
The projects are part of a pilot scheme run by Shamsuna.
Asked if there was interest in expanding to other educational institutions that rely on polluting generators, he said there were challenges and bureaucracy but he hoped to see more.
“We need people to collaborate with us to move this forward,” he said, adding that he would “love to see a solar energy system in every village.”


Trump praises Liberian leader on English — his native tongue

Updated 40 min 55 sec ago
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Trump praises Liberian leader on English — his native tongue

  • “It’s beautiful English. I have people at this table can’t speak nearly as well,” Trump said after hearing Liberia's President Joseph Boakai speak
  • Boakai, like most Liberians, speaks English — the country’s official tongue and lingua franca

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump complimented the president of Liberia Wednesday on his English-speaking skills — despite English being the official language of the West African nation.
Trump was hosting a White House lunch with African leaders Wednesday, and — after brief remarks from President Joseph Boakai — asked the business graduate where he had picked up his linguistic know-how.
“Thank you, and such good English... Where did you learn to speak so beautifully? Where were you educated?” Trump said.
Boakai — who, like most Liberians, speaks English as a first language — indicated he had been educated in his native country.

US President Donald Trump participates in a multilateral lunch with visiting African Leaders at the White House in Washington on July 9, 2025. (AFP)

He was facing away from the media, making his countenance hard to gauge — but his laconic, mumbled response hinted at awkwardness.
Trump, who was surrounded by French-speaking presidents from other West African nations, kept digging.
“It’s beautiful English. I have people at this table can’t speak nearly as well,” he said.
US engagement in Liberia began in the 1820s when the Congress- and slaveholder-funded American Colonization Society began sending freed slaves to its shores.
Thousands of “Americo-Liberian” settlers followed, declaring themselves independent in 1847 and setting up a government to rule over a native African majority.
The country has a diverse array of indigenous languages and a number of creolized dialects, while Kpelle-speakers are the largest single linguistic group.
Boakai himself can read and write in Mendi and Kissi but converses in Liberia’s official tongue and lingua franca — English.
 


Pakistani startup Bookme eyes $20 million annual revenue from Saudi Arabia expansion

Updated 49 min 4 sec ago
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Pakistani startup Bookme eyes $20 million annual revenue from Saudi Arabia expansion

  • Bookme is a Pakistani e-ticketing platform that offers online tickets for movies, events, flights and hotels
  • Bookme founder eyes expansion further into Middle East, African countries after gaining foothold in Kingdom 

ISLAMABAD: The founder of a Pakistani leading e-ticketing platform, Bookme, said this week he expects the startup to generate $20 million annually from its expansion into Saudi Arabia, following its recent deal with the Kingdom’s leading delivery platform, Mrsool. 

Founded in 2013, Bookme is Pakistan’s leading cashless e-ticketing platform, offering users online bookings for train and bus travel, flights, hotels, cinemas and other events. The startup has quickly gained a foothold across Pakistan, forging partnerships with major transport and fintech companies. Today, Bookme says it has over 14 million users. 

Bookme entered the Saudi market in 2024 via a strategic partnership with Mrsool, a leading food and package delivery app in the Kingdom, and the Saudi Tourism Ministry (STA). In early 2025, it also signed a deal with flyadeal, a low-cost Saudi airline, to facilitate direct flight bookings between Pakistan and the Kingdom’s cities.

“Bookme expects to generate around $20 million in additional annual revenue from its expansion in Saudi Arabia,” the company’s founder and Chief Executive Officer Faizan Aslam told Arab News via telephone.

“The Mrsool contract alone is worth around $5 million annually and the flyadeal partnership is valued at approximately $4 million,” he added. 

He said Bookme’s integration with Mrsool was completed, adding that it was expected to go live by the end of July.

“Mrsool is one of the most popular mobile applications in Saudi Arabia and very soon, its users will also be able to book airline tickets and make hotel reservations across the globe directly within the Saudi Mrsool app,” Aslam said.

Aslam said Mrsool was the first “drop of the rain,” adding that Bookme had several other partnerships in the pipeline, including ones with the Kingdom’s leading banks and fintech companies.

Without disclosing any names, Aslam said Bookme had already signed three contracts, including ones with two banks that were pending approval from Saudi Arabia’s central bank.

Aslam said the users of these banks would soon be able to access similar services from their respective applications.

On its flyadeal collaboration, the Bookme founder said the platform had aimed to support the airline’s growth by tapping into its large user base built through strong traction within the Pakistani market.

He noted that flyadeal recently began flight operations from Karachi, adding that it is also set to launch services from Lahore and Islamabad soon.

“Through this partnership, Bookme can help drive a significant number of new passengers to flyadeal,” Aslam said. 

Aslam shared that Bookme’s ticket fares were around 6–7 percent lower than the market average, with discounts rising to as much as 15 percent during seasonal promotions.

Aslam highlighted the e-ticketing platform’s partnership with the STA to promote the Kingdom as a top destination for Pakistani travelers.

“We are not a Hajj or Umrah operator or a traditional group travel agency,” he said. “We focus on business travelers, families and leisure passengers moving between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia,” Aslam added. 

He explained that Bookme runs campaigns, events and influencer marketing initiatives with the STA to position the Kingdom as a preferred destination for Pakistani travelers.

The startup is currently growing at approximately 130 percent year-on-year basis, Aslam said. He said the platform was expected to reach greater heights through its expansion into Saudi Arabia.

“With the full-scale launch of operations in Saudi Arabia, our growth is expected to accelerate significantly, potentially reaching three to four times the current levels annually,” the Bookme founder said. 

Bookme has raised around $10 million in funding to date and plans to raise another funding round to support its broader regional expansion. Aslam, however did not disclose further details.

While Saudi Arabia remains its primary focus, Bookme is also targeting expansion across the Middle East and Africa, using Saudi Arabia as its regional base.

“We are trying to sign deals in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar through our Saudi office, with plans to expand into Africa— starting with South Africa and Tanzania— while our primary focus remains on the GCC and broader Middle East region,” he said.