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Armenia accuses Azerbaijan of attacking settlements in disputed region

Mobile artillery units of the self-defence army of Nagorno-Karabakh hold a position outside the settlement of Hadrut. (File/AFP)
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Updated 28 September 2020
Agencies
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Armenia accuses Azerbaijan of attacking settlements in disputed region

  • Armenia’s Defense Ministry said its troops downed 2 Azerbaijani helicopters and 3 drones in response to an attack
  • Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry said it launched a military operation along the “contact line”
Updated 28 September 2020
Agencies

YEREVAN: Armenia said early on Sunday that neighboring Azerbaijan had attacked civilian settlements in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and urged the population in the disputed region to seek refuge in shelters.
Armenia’s Defense Ministry said that its troops had downed two Azerbaijani helicopters and three drones in response to an attack it said began at 0410 GMT against civilian settlements, including the regional capital of Stepanakert.
“Our response will be proportionate, and the military-political leadership of Azerbaijan bears full responsibility for the situation,” the Armenian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry also said it was checking reports about combatants from Syria who are allegedly fighting for the Azerbaijan’s side.
Hikmet Hajjiyev, the foreign policy aide to the Azeri president, dismissed the report carried by the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights as “nonsense.”
Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry, in turn, said it had launched a military operation along the “contact line,” a heavily-mined no-man’s-land that separates the Armenian-backed forces from Azeri troops in the region, Russian news agencies reported.
The ministry said that an Azerbaijani helicopter had been downed but that its crew had survived.
Azerbaijan’s general prosecution office also said on Sunday that five people from one family have been killed by the shelling from Armenia’s forces, the first civilian casualties from Baku.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Sunday warned the international community of Turkish interference in fresh fighting that erupted between his country and Azerbaijan over the breakaway Nagorny Karabakh region.
“I call on the international community to use all existing levers to prevent Turkey’s meddling (in the conflict) which can once and for all destabilize the (Caucasus) region,” Pashinyan said in a televised statement.
He added that Turkish “aggressive behavior causes serious concerns,” and denounced Ankara’s support for its ally Baku.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “extremely concerned over the fresh resumption of hostilities” between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
“The Secretary-General strongly calls on the sides to immediately stop fighting, de-escalate tensions and return to meaningful negotiations without delay,” Guterres’s spokesman said in a statement.
Guterres “condemns the use of force and regrets the loss of life and the toll on the civilian population,” the statement said, adding that the secretary-general would speak to the president of Azerbaijan and the prime minister of Armenia.
France, Germany, Italy and the European Union also urged an immediate cease-fire, while Pope Francis prayed for peace.

The US condemned the escalating violence and called on both sides to cease hostilities immediately.
The State Department said in a statement that both sides should immediately end the violence, as well as any rhetoric or other actions that could worsen tensions. It also said any participation in the escalating violence by outside parties would be “deeply unhelpful.”
Meanwhile, Turkey vowed complete support for Baku and called on Armenia to give up its “aggression.”
“We will support our Azerbaijani brothers with all our means in their fight to protect their territorial integrity,” Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said in a statement.
Turkey is a key ally of Baku with close cultural and linguistic ties with Azerbaijan.
Ankara has no diplomatic relations with Yerevan due to a dispute over the mass killings of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire which Armenia says is a genocide.
“The greatest obstacle to peace and stability in the Caucasus is Armenia’s aggression, and it should give up this aggression which will throw the region into fire,” Akar said.
Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin “strongly” condemned the clashes and said Armenia “once again violated international law and (has) shown that it has no interest in peace and stability.”
He called on the international community to “say stop to this dangerous provocation” in a tweet.
“Azerbaijan is not alone. It has Turkey’s full support,” Kalin added.
The Turkish foreign ministry in a statement went further, promising: “However Azerbaijan wants, we will stand by Azerbaijan in that manner.”
The Nagorno-Karabakh leader Arayik Harutyunyan said that the breakaway region has lost some positions to Azerbaijan’s army amid renewed clashes.
He also said there were dead and wounded both among civilians and military personnel. 
The two former Soviet countries have long been in conflict over Azerbaijan’s breakaway, mainly ethnic-Armenian region of Nagorno-Karabakh, and border clashes have intensified in recent months.
Armenia’s Foreign Ministry condemned what it called the “aggression of the military-political leadership of Azerbaijan” and said the Armenian side would deliver an appropriate military and political response.
Ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh declared independence during a conflict that broke out as the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.
Though a cease-fire was agreed in 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia frequently accuse each other of attacks around Nagorno-Karabakh and along the separate Azeri-Armenian frontier.
(With Reuters and AFP)

Topics: Armenia Azerbaijan

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UK opposition suffers major Muslim vote losses in local elections

Updated 5 sec ago
Arab News
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UK opposition suffers major Muslim vote losses in local elections

  • Shadow home secretary: ‘Many people feel really strongly’ about Gaza ‘and rightly’
  • Labour MP: ‘It’s not just Muslims. On our doorknocks, we’ve had a lot of middle-class white voters raise it as well’
Updated 5 sec ago
Arab News

LONDON: A series of local election victories by the UK’s opposition Labour Party has been overshadowed by a major fall in support among Muslim voters, leading to concern within the party ahead of a general election later this year.

After local elections were held across the country on Thursday, Labour suffered key losses in areas with high Muslim populations due to controversies over the party’s stance on the Gaza war.

Labour must do some “searching” in response to “questions” over its performance, one MP said.

The potential loss of Labour candidate Richard Parker in the West Midlands mayoralty election led to a racism row after an unnamed party source blamed “the Middle East” on deciding the race.

In total, the party gained more than 140 council seats during the elections, The Guardian reported.

But those gains are overshadowed by the potential West Midlands defeat and the Conservative candidate for mayor of London, Susan Hall, running a closer race against incumbent Sadiq Khan than previously expected.

Labour have “trouble brewing on their left flank” after focusing on traditionally rural and whiter areas, said Rob Ford, a politics professor at the University of Manchester.

“There has been a substantial loss of support in heavily Muslim areas and they are going backwards a bit in progressive areas and areas with students. It is progress at a price,” he added.

By offsetting urban losses with gains among rural voters, Labour would win about 34 percent of votes at a general election compared to 25 percent for the Conservatives, the BBC reported.

Yet fear of bleeding urban voters, including Muslims, is driving anxiety in the party ahead of the general election, sources told The Guardian.

“The polls (which predicted a 20-point lead for Khan) were completely wrong, this is going to be much closer than expected,” one source said.

A source in Birmingham, where independent candidate Akhmed Yakoob stood as a spoiler to Labour, said: “Yakoob is picking up over 50 percent in some inner-city wards, so the Gaza impact may be bigger than first estimated.”

Labour also suffered a shock loss in Oldham, losing control of the council after a number of seats were taken by pro-Palestinian independent candidates.

In Manchester, the party lost its deputy leader to a candidate from MP George Galloway’s Workers Party of Britain.

Jess Phillips, Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley, told the “Electoral Dysfunction” podcast in the wake of the vote that the party will have to “wake up and face” the issues that led to losses against independent and Workers Party of Britain candidates.

“I very much expect, as the mayoral votes come in, that in places like Birmingham, Bradford, places with high Muslim populations, as we’ve seen overnight in Oldham, that the Labour Party will have some questions that they have, and some searching to do themselves,” she added, according to Sky News.

Areas with a proportion of Muslim voters higher than 20 percent recorded average losses of 17.9 points for Labour.

The comments by a party source concerning the West Midlands race have led to a post-election race row.

“It’s the Middle East, not West Midlands that will have won (Conservative Mayor Andy) Street the mayoralty. Once again Hamas are the real villains,” the Labour source reportedly told the BBC.

The remarks were condemned by figures including Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy, the Daily Telegraph reported.

“This is a disgusting way to talk about Muslim voters, conflating them with Hamas and treating them as a monolith,” she said. “It reeks of racism and entitlement. Such comments should have no place in the Labour Party.”

According to The Times, MP Zarah Sultana said: “Once again, I’m deeply disturbed by Islamophobic quotes given to the media by ‘Labour sources.’

"When politicians are confronted with racist bile, it should be immediately condemned. As a party we need to listen to and acknowledge concerns, not hold British Muslims in contempt.”

Yvette Cooper, Labour’s shadow home secretary, conceded that the party’s stance on a Gaza ceasefire was “partly” a factor in the surprise defeats.

“Many people feel really strongly about this — and rightly, because tens of thousands of people have been killed, including the majority of them women and children,” she said.

Muslim vote organizers hailed the success of the elections in sending a message to Labour leader Keir Starmer.

Party sources warned that Labour must work overtime to regain the trust of Muslim voters ahead of a general election expected later this year.

“People use local elections to send the government — and sometimes the opposition — a message,” a senior Labour source told The Times.

“The damage is done and even though our position is much better now, if Israel pushes into Rafah people will say we didn’t do enough to urge restraint right at the start.”

A Labour MP added: “It’s terminal with a lot of people, and it’s not just Muslims. On our doorknocks, we’ve had a lot of middle-class white voters raise it as well.”

Topics: UK Labour Party

KFC stores in Malaysia shutter amid anti-Israel boycott

Updated 7 min 25 sec ago
Patrick Lee
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KFC stores in Malaysia shutter amid anti-Israel boycott

  • KFC is not on Malaysian boycott movement’s list, but consumers see it as linked to Israel
  • Franchise operator cites ‘challenging economic conditions’ as reason for closures
Updated 7 min 25 sec ago
Patrick Lee

KUALA LUMPUR: Scores of KFC outlets have closed in Malaysia amid calls to boycott the chain and other brands accused of links with Israel.

Since the outbreak of Israel’s deadly attacks on Gaza in October, many Malaysian citizens have backed a growing refusal to buy products from the Western companies seen as having relations with Tel Aviv.

KFC is among a number of brands that have been reeling from falling revenues, as those who join the boycott movement see them facilitating the Israeli strikes, which have already killed nearly 35,000 people in the Palestinian territory, mostly women and children.

The US-origin fast-food chain has closed more than 100 outlets across Malaysia since October, according to local media estimates.

KFC Malaysia operator QSR Brands Holdings admitted in a statement earlier this week to a temporary closure to “manage increasing business costs,” which it attributed to “challenging economic conditions.”

QSR Brands did not say how many outlets had been closed or if the action was due to a loss in sales caused by the boycott.

The company, which runs over 600 KFC restaurants across the Southeast Asian nation, said staff from affected outlets were given the opportunity to “relocate to busier” stores.

Major companies with international brand names in Malaysia have in recent months reported losses due to the boycott, even if they were not original targets of the action.

In February, the parent company of the US-origin coffee chain Starbucks in Malaysia said the snub by customers led to a near 40 percent drop in revenue. The news followed an earlier claimed loss of profits and job cuts by the country’s McDonald’s franchise.

The anti-Israel boycott in Malaysia has been spearheaded by the local chapter of the global Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement. Besides McDonald’s, other popular brands it listed included Burger King, Puma, Airbnb and Pizza Hut.

BDS Malaysia Chairman Mohd. Nazari Ismail told Arab News that KFC was not on the group’s boycott list, but it might be targeted because of its US origins.

“Many Malaysians perceive any American fast-food operator to be related to Israel including KFC,” he said.

“KFC is not on our list because BDS’s strategy is to focus on a limited number of companies to maximize the impact of our efforts. But it is on the list of other organizations that call for boycott of all companies that are related to Israel.”

Many Malaysians who reacted on social media to the news of the outlets closing commented “alhamdulillah,” or “thank God,” with some singling out KFC’s parent company in the US, the American fast-food multinational Yum Brands.

“KFC’s parent company, Yum Brands, invests in Israeli startups,” said X.com user meraungkesepian.

Others targeted the chain’s quality, saying it had fallen off the mark, leading to their shunning of the brand.

“Many have boycotted KFC not 100 percent because of Israel. But because KFC doesn’t have any quality,” said X.com user tonnychua9988 in Malay.

The boycott of KFC was expected, according to Syaza Farhana Mohamad Shukri, associate professor of political science at the International Islamic University Malaysia.

“I think the KFC boycott was inevitable because what is more American than Kentucky Fried Chicken?” she said.

“It is all based on sentiment ... companies that appear to be American-based get the brunt of the people’s anger.”

More than 60 percent of Malaysia’s 33 million people are Muslim, and the country has been fiercely supportive of the Palestinian struggle for decades.

It has no formal relations with Israel and bars Israeli nationals from entering its territory.

In December, Malaysia also barred Israeli and Israel-bound ships from docking at its ports.

Topics: War on Gaza Malaysia KFC

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Hectoliters of purple ink mark voters in India’s colossal poll

Updated 4 min 26 sec ago
Sanjay Kumar 
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Hectoliters of purple ink mark voters in India’s colossal poll

  • Ink started to be used in 1962, during India’s 3rd general election
  • 2.65m vials of ink produced for the 2024 parliamentary vote
Updated 4 min 26 sec ago
Sanjay Kumar 

NEW DELHI: Every election in India leaves a mark on its people, not only in political terms, but also literally, in the form of purple stains on their index fingers.

As voters register in booths and have their ID verified to cast ballots, election officers paint a streak of ink across the top of their left index finger, leaving a dark purple stain that usually stays on the skin for more than two weeks.

The exercise started in 1962, during India’s third general election, to prevent fraud and duplicate votes, after the country’s first two polls were marred by complaints of voter impersonation.

One manufacturer was chosen to supply the ink and, as the country’s 18th parliamentary vote is underway, it is still the same one: Mysore Paints and Varnish, from Mysore city in the southern state of Karnataka.

The company was founded in 1937 by the then ruler of Mysore, Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV, and became a public sector company after India gained independence from British rule in 1947.

Operated by the Karnataka state government, it is the only company authorized to produce the voter ink.

“From 1962, we have been the exclusive supplier of ink to the election commission of India,” K. Mohammed Irfan, the company’s managing director, told Arab News.

“At that time, Sukumar Sen was the chief election commissioner, and the inventor of the ink is by the name of Dr. Mathur.”

The inventor worked at the National Physical Laboratory, one of India’s earliest national laboratories, and the manufacturing process is based on a guarded chemical formula that has never changed.

“This ink cannot be erased easily,” Irfan said. “It is made of silver nitrate. Once the ink comes into the light it forms bluish and brownish stains, which remain from three days to more than one month.”

More than 968 million people are registered to vote in the world’s biggest election, which started on April 19 and will run in six phases until June 1. The Election Commission has ordered hectoliters of the indelible ink as part of the process.

“For this parliamentary election, we have taken around 80 days to manufacture 2.65 million bottles of ink,” Irfan said, adding that each vial is 10 ml.

“The total cost of manufacturing is 55 crore rupees ($6.6 million).”

A worker fills indelible ink into vials that is used during elections to prevent duplication of voting, at the government-run Mysore Paints and Varnish company in Mysore, India, March 12, 2024. (REUTERS)

Inked fingers are flashed by all those who cast their vote — from Bollywood stars and politicians to common citizens who take pride in being part of elections, which the Indian government usually refer to as “the festival of democracy.”

Shashank Aggarwal, 19, a first-time voter from Noida city, went to the polls on April 26 in the second phase of the vote.

“When the ink got marked on the finger, I felt that I had become part of the festival,” he said. “It felt nice.”

Kapil Sharma, who also voted last week, said that the purple pigment was still clear on his skin.

“The mark is still fresh and has not disappeared,” he said. “I proudly display my inked finger. I don’t mind if it sticks with me for the next five years. It’s a symbol and color of our democracy.”

Topics: India

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Pakistan records ‘wettest April’ in more than 60 years: weather agency

Updated 16 min 42 sec ago
AFP
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Pakistan records ‘wettest April’ in more than 60 years: weather agency

  • Pakistan received more than twice as much rain as usual for the month
  • Pakistan is increasingly vulnerable to unpredictable weather, as well as often destructive monsoon rains that usually arrive in July
Updated 16 min 42 sec ago
AFP

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan experienced its “wettest April since 1961,” receiving more than twice as much rain as usual for the month, the country’s weather agency said in a report.
April rainfall was recorded at 59.3 millimeters, “excessively above” the normal average of 22.5 millimeters, Pakistan’s metrology department said late Friday in its monthly climate report.
There were at least 144 deaths in thunderstorms and house collapses due to heavy rains in what the report said was the “wettest April since 1961.”
Pakistan is increasingly vulnerable to unpredictable weather, as well as often destructive monsoon rains that usually arrive in July.
In the summer of 2022, a third of Pakistan was submerged by unprecedented monsoon rains that displaced millions of people and cost the country $30 billion in damage and economic losses, according to a World Bank estimate.
“Climate change is a major factor that is influencing the erratic weather patterns in our region,” Zaheer Ahmad Babar, spokesperson for the Pakistan Meteorological Department, said while commenting on the report.
While much of Asia is sweltering dure to heat waves, Pakistan’s national monthly temperature for April was 23.67 degrees Celsius (74 degrees Fahrenheit) 0.87 degrees lower than the average of 24.54, the report noted.

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Students erect pro-Palestinian camp at Ireland’s Trinity College

Updated 45 min 20 sec ago
Reuters
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Students erect pro-Palestinian camp at Ireland’s Trinity College

Updated 45 min 20 sec ago
Reuters

DUBLIN: Students at Trinity College Dublin protesting Israel’s war in Gaza have built an encampment that forced the university to restrict campus access on Saturday and close the Book of Kells exhibition, one of Ireland’s top tourist attractions.
The camp was set up late on Friday after Trinity College’s students’ union said it had been fined 214,000 euros ($230,000) by the university for financial losses incurred due to protests in recent months not exclusively regarding the war in Gaza.
Students’ union President Laszlo Molnarfia posted a photograph of benches piled up in front of the entrance to the building where the Book of Kells is housed on the X social media platform on Friday. The illuminated manuscript book was created by Celtic monks in about 800 A.D..
“The Book of Kells is now closed indefinitely,” he said in the post.
Trinity College said it had restricted access to the campus to students, staff and residents to ensure safety and that the Book of Kells exhibition would be closed on Saturday.
Similar to the student occupations sweeping US campuses, protesters at Trinity College are demanding that Ireland’s oldest university cut ties with Israeli universities and divest from companies with ties to Israel.
Protests at universities elsewhere have included Australia and Canada.
In a statement last week, the head of the university, Linda Doyle, said Trinity College’s was reviewing  its investments in a portfolio of companies and that decisions on whether to work with Israeli institutions rested with individual academics.
More than
34,600 Palestinians
have been killed in Israel’s seven-month-old assault on the Gaza Strip, say health officials in the Hamas-ruled enclave. The war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and abducting 253 others, of whom 133 are believed to remain in captivity in Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
Ireland has long been a champion of Palestinian rights, and the government has pledged to formally recognize Palestine as a state soon.
($1 = 0.9295 euros)

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