25-10-2025

Month: December 2022

US allocates $200m for gender equality, democracy in Pakistan

WASHINGTON: The United States senators on Friday approved a sweeping annual spending package, allocating $200 million for gender equality and strengthening democracy in Pakistan.

The $1.7 trillion omnibus bill includes the allocation of $45 billion Ukraine aid and reforms to election law aimed at avoiding a repeat of last year’s assault on the Capitol.

Pakistan’s allocation is under the US fund for gender equality, which is a 20-fold increase from the funds reserved in 2020.

In December 2020, the US congress cleared $10m for addressing gender disparity and $15m for strengthening democracy in Pakistan. While in 2000, Pakistan received $25 million for the same purpose.

The sweeping annual spending package on Friday was rubber-stamped by the House of Representatives just hours ahead of a midnight deadline to keep the federal government open — although a damaging holiday season shutdown was never a serious threat.

“This bill is a critically important piece of legislation not only to keep our government funded, keep our people being served but also to show that the United States of America’s government works,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said ahead of the vote.

Failure to get the package to Joe Biden’s desk would have been an embarrassment for the president, days after his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky visited the White House to argue for the $44.9 billion emergency military and economic aid proposed as part of the legislation.

But it ultimately enjoyed a smooth passage through the lower chamber, where Democrats have a slim majority for a few more days, until the Republican-led 118th Congress opens for business.

Ten Republicans cast votes in favour to help see the package cross the line by 225 votes to 201.

The giant bill keeps the lights on until next October, paying for almost every aspect of the day-to-day management of the federal government, from law enforcement to printing money.

But it also features add-ons less obviously connected to funding, such as a reform tightening a 19th-century election law to make clear that vice presidents do not have the power to overturn election results.

Defeated president Donald Trump exploited the loose wording of the text to argue that his deputy Mike Pence could halt the transfer of power after the 2020 election, amid bogus claims of voter fraud.

Pence rebuffed Trump’s entreaties and the billionaire Republican’s vilification of his vice president was the cornerstone of his speech that allegedly incited a mob to storm the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Trump, who has launched a run to regain the White House despite being the focus of several criminal and civil investigations, released a statement on Thursday describing the package as a “monstrosity… crammed with left-wing disasters.”

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy had also urged his party to vote no, arguing that his side would have more sway in negotiating the size and scope of federal spending when they wrest the lower chamber from the Democrats in early January.

The House was half empty on Friday, with more than 200 representatives using an absentee voting provision, strictly meant only for those with Covid-19, to stay home and cast their ballots by proxy.

Republicans there in person lined up to bemoan the lack of time they had been given to study the bill — it was finalised just three days ago — and the “woke” previsions it contained.

There were rumours circulating among congressional staffers and media that McCarthy would use his so-called “magic minute” privilege to spend hours lambasting the bill.

McCarthy held up a budget vote last November with a rambling address lasting a record eight-and-a-half hours.

But he took pity Friday on colleagues trying to get home amid a once-in-a-generation winter storm, reining in his criticism of the legislation to just 25 minutes.

“We are two days away from Christmas,” he said. “The Christmas season is the season of giving, but in Congress it appears the season of giving will line the pockets of Democrats’ special interests and stick the hard-working Americans with the tab.”

Indonesian families sue officials over deadly stadium disaster

The stampede in the Javan city of Malang in October left 135 people dead, including more than 40 children.

It has been primarily blamed on an excessive use of tear gas by police, according to a preliminary investigation.

The civil lawsuit targets eight parties, including Indonesia’s football association, the national police, league organiser PT Liga Indonesia Baru, and the owners of Malang football club Arema FC.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo is also listed as a co-defendant.

Imam Hidayat, a lawyer representing the families, said they were demanding accountability and compensation.

“We have to consider the livelihood of the families of those who died or were heavily injured,” Hidayat said.

“They, in our view, need compensation, although lives cannot be exchanged with money.” The families are seeking around 62 billion rupiah ($3.9 million) in damages, he said.

The suit was filed to a court in Malang on Wednesday, Hidayat added. A court spokesman confirmed it had been received.

The plaintiffs also asked the government to cancel a plan to demolish the Kanjuruhan stadium, arguing it should be made a museum as a reminder of the tragedy.

Widodo has pledged to rebuild the structure according to FIFA standards.

The stampede took place after police fired tear gas into packed stands when supporters invaded the pitch at the end of a league match between Arema FC and Persebaya Surabaya.

The government suspended competitive football games after the incident but league matches resumed early this month without fans in the stands.

Hidayat, part of an advocacy team for those affected by the tragedy, has also sent a letter to Widodo demanding the creation of an investigative team independent from police to ensure a transparent and objective probe.

After a police-led investigation, six people including three police officers were charged with negligence causing death.

But on Wednesday police released one suspect _ a former director of PT Liga Indonesia Baru _ after he was detained for the maximum period without charge.

Local media quoted a police official as saying he remained a suspect.

A task force investigating the stampede earlier called on the football association chief and all its executive committee members to resign, but they remain in their positions, as do senior police.

A gunman has opened fire in central Paris, killing three people and wounding three others.

The attacker targeted a Kurdish cultural centre and shot members of the local community. A possible racist motive is being investigated.

A suspect, aged 69, was quickly arrested and it soon emerged he had been freed from prison recently.

Clashes later broke out between police and a group who had gathered at the scene in the aftermath of the attack.

Footage showed people starting fires in the middle of the street and smashing car windows, with officers in riot gear responding by throwing tear gas.

The unrest came after a man, described by witnesses as tall, white and elderly, shot dead two men and a woman on Rue d’Enghien in the 10th district of Paris.

Of the three people injured, one was said to be in a critical condition and the others were receiving treatment for serious injuries.

There is no confirmed motive for the shooting, but Paris Prosecutor Laure Beccuau said the suspect had previously been charged with racist violence.

That incident – in which he attacked tents at a migrant camp in Paris with a sword – took place at Bercy on 8 December 2021. It was not clear why he had recently been released.

French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, who earlier travelled to the scene, said there was currently no known link between the suspect and “ultra-right” groups.

Local Mayor Alexandra Cordebard said the gunman was also wounded in the shooting and that three places had come under fire: the Kurdish community centre, a restaurant and a hairdresser.

“We were walking in the street and heard gunshots,” a witness, Ali Dalek, told the BBC. “We turned around and saw people running left and right.

“And then, five or six minutes later, because we know people who work at the hair salon, we went in and we saw that they had arrested a guy.”

Another witness, a shopkeeper, told AFP she had locked herself in. She said she had heard seven or eight bursts of gunfire.

Police eventually detained the suspect without resistance and reportedly recovered the weapon used in the attack. Prosecutors said they had opened a murder investigation.

The Kurdish Democratic Council in France (CDF-K), which runs the Ahmet-Kaya Kurdish centre that was hit, condemned the attack in a short statement.

Le Monde newspaper quoted Agit Polat, a spokesperson for the centre, as saying French authorities had “once more” failed to protect Kurds living in Paris.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the capital’s Kurdish community had been the “target of a heinous attack” and praised police for their “courage”.

The shooting came almost 10 years after the murder of three Kurdish women activists in Paris in January 2013, including a co-founder of the militant nationalist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

A Turkish man was charged with the killings but he died in 2016 before being tried.

The CDF-K referred to the historic case in its statement, saying the attack on Friday occurred “shortly before the 10th anniversary of the the triple assassination of Kurdish activists in Paris on 9 January 2013”. No official link between the two incidents has so far been identified.

A meeting is due to take place on Saturday morning between Laurent Nunez, head of the Parisian police, and leaders of the Kurdish community, the force said in a statement.

Some 200 million Americans are feeling the icy grip of a massive winter storm that has been linked to at least 12 deaths ahead of the holiday weekend.

More than 1.5 million people lost power and thousands of flights were cancelled on Friday.

The vast storm extends more than 2,000 miles (3,200km) from Texas to Quebec.

A bomb cyclone, when atmospheric pressure plummets, has brought blizzard conditions to the Great Lakes on the US-Canada border.

In Canada, Ontario and Quebec were bearing the brunt of the Arctic blast, with power cut to hundreds of thousands.

Much of the rest of the country, from British Columbia to Newfoundland, was under extreme cold and winter storm warnings.

The US National Weather Service (NWS) said its Friday map “depicts one of the greatest extents of winter weather warnings and advisories ever”.

Temperatures in Elk Park, Montana, dropped to -50F (-45C), while the town of Hell, Michigan, has frozen over.

It was 1F (-17C) in the snow-covered community on Friday night. Emily, a bartender at Smitty’s Hell Saloon, told the BBC: “It’s pretty cold here, but we’re having a hell of a time.”

In South Dakota, snowed-in Native Americans burned clothes for warmth after running out of fuel, said tribal officials.

Heavy snowfall was forecast in areas of Pennsylvania and Michigan. Buffalo, New York, was expecting at least 35in (89cm). More than eight million people remained under blizzard warnings, said the NWS.

Coastal flooding has been seen in New England, New York and New Jersey.

Cows walk in the snow following a blizzard in Sturgis, South Dakota

In the Pacific Northwest, some residents ice-skated on frozen streets in Seattle and Portland.

Even the usually milder southern states of Louisiana, Alabama, Florida and Georgia were experiencing hard-freeze warnings.

 

A number of the storm-related fatalities have involved road traffic accidents, including a 50-car pile-up in Ohio that killed two motorists.

Travel problems across the country were being exacerbated by a shortage of snow plough operators, with low pay rates being blamed.

Watch: Flooding pours through the streets of New York and New Jersey

More than 5,600 US flights were cancelled on Friday, according to the tracking site FlightAware, as flyers battled to make it home for Christmas.

By Friday night one million customers had no electricity across the US, according to PowerOutage.us.

Utilities throughout the Tennessee Valley were implementing rolling blackouts to save power.

The NWS says more than 100 daily cold temperature records could be tied or broken over the next few days. Decades-old records have already been matched:

  • Denver, Colorado, dropped to -24F on Thursday, its lowest point since the 1990s. Craig McBrierty, 34, who is originally from Scotland, but now lives in Denver, told the BBC it is “colder than I have ever experienced”
  • Wichita, Kansas, recorded its coldest wind chill (-32F) since 2000
  • Nashville, Tennessee, saw its temperatures plunge to below zero for the first time in 26 years
  • Casper, Wyoming, set a new record low on Tuesday of -42F

Rishi Sunak has surprised public servants working across the world over Christmas with a personal phone call to thank them for their efforts.

Instead of a traditional message to the nation, the PM called diplomats, Royal Navy crew and a childcare provider in Pakistan, Somalia, Ukraine and the UK.

Mr Sunak said he was grateful for their “sacrifice” over the festive period.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer used his message to pay tribute to the Ukrainian people and those working at Christmas.

In the UK, Mr Sunak spoke to Chris Mitchell, who runs Smart Play, a government-funded holiday activities and food programme in Barnet, north London.

The prime minister also called Svita Yavorska, who works for the UK’s embassy in Ukraine. She told Mr Sunak how she had fled to Poland, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, helping to set up a temporary base there, before returning to the city of Lviv in western Ukraine.

Speaking to diplomat Nic Guffog, who is based in Mogadishu, Mr Sunak heard how staff at the UK’s diplomatic compound were living in containers under the threat of terror attacks, as they supported the Somalian government to counter the militant Al-Shabaab group and deal with the hunger crisis facing the country.

He also spoke to some of the crew of HMS Protector, which is currently deployed off the coast of the South Sandwich islands in Antarctica.

It comes as the UK is facing a wave of industrial action, including by NHS and Border Force staff, with members of the armed forces stepping in to cover striking workers.

The prime minister was joined by the top civil servant at the Foreign Office, Sir Philip Barton, and First Sea Lord Admiral Ben Key to make the calls

Although Mr Sunak did not follow the tradition of recording a Christmas message that is broadcast to the UK, he did issue a statement.

Mr Sunak said: “Whether you are working in Mogadishu or Milton Keynes this Christmas, I want you to know that I am personally grateful for your sacrifice.

“This year has been an extraordinary year for so many reasons, but most of all, it’s been a year in which the true spirit and resilience of the United Kingdom has been on show, from the support given to our Ukrainian friends, to the work being done to ensure essential aid reaches the most vulnerable overseas.

“And closer to home, those who have checked on friends and neighbours, volunteers, public servants and essential service staff all working over Christmas – I am truly humbled by your dedication and I know your selflessness this festive season will spread cheer across the country.”

Mr Sunak also tweeted a short video to the people of Ukraine, writing: “This Christmas, we’re with you…”

And in a Christmas message on Twitter, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the prime minister and British public, saying he was “grateful” for their support and “warmth of your hearts”.

Sir Keir used his Christmas message to pay tribute to “our friends in Ukraine”

In his annual Christmas message, Labour’s leader acknowledged that for many people in Britain “life is tough at the moment”.

“But Christmas is a reminder that we will endure, that things will get better,” Sir Keir Starmer added.

“I hope this Christmas is a joyous and relaxing time for you, however you are spending it. I’m looking forward to sharing my time with my family, away from the day to day of work,” he said.

“But as I do I will be keeping in my heart all those who are working to keep us safe. Those looking after the less fortunate, and our friends in Ukraine, facing the horror of Putin’s appalling attacks. Their struggle for freedom inspires us all.”

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon used her festive message to offer a “heartfelt thanks” to public sector workers and noted “tough times” for Scotland.

She said: “Especially after the past two Christmases, I know most of us will be really looking forward to this festive period.

“Of course, the cost-of-living crisis is making this a very hard winter for many. So this Christmas, it’s important for all of us to also think about how we can help others.”

In his message, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: “For me, the message of Christmas is for us to treat others as we would wish to be treated and the symbol of Christmas is light – the light of hope, in the darkest week of the year.

“Hope that we all desperately need for these most challenging of times.”

King Charles is set to include a tribute to his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in his first Christmas message as monarch.

An image of Charles delivering his speech, which is due to be broadcast on Christmas Day at 15:00 GMT, shows the King in St George’s Chapel, Windsor.

In her final Christmas message, the late Queen spoke of “passing the baton” to the next generation.

And her son’s first Christmas Day message will remember her legacy.

This will be the first televised annual royal Christmas Day broadcast not to be presented by the late Queen, who appeared in the first TV message in 1957.

The photo of the King shows him recording this year’s message in the chapel where a committal service was held during the Queen’s funeral in September.

Both his mother and father, Prince Philip, are buried in the George VI Memorial Chapel within St George’s Chapel.

The picture, released by Buckingham Palace, shows King Charles standing in front of a Christmas tree with plastic-free, recyclable decorations and arrangements of holly and ivy in the background.

This year sees the King and Camilla the Queen Consort return to the tradition of spending Christmas in Sandringham, Norfolk, after concerns about Covid and Queen Elizabeth’s health kept the Royal Family in Windsor last year.

The Prince and Princess of Wales are among the senior royals expected to be with King Charles for Christmas.

In her 2021 Christmas message, the Queen gave a highly personal tribute to her “beloved” Prince Philip, who died in April of that year.

Her broadcast was the most watched programme on Christmas Day in 2021, drawing almost nine million viewers.

Queen Elizabeth presented the first televised Christmas message in 1957

The King’s Christmas Day broadcast continues a tradition going back 90 years.

The first royal Christmas broadcast was a live radio speech in 1932, delivered from Sandringham by George V, with the script written by the author Rudyard Kipling.

In 1957, Elizabeth II delivered the first televised message, saying that it was a technological landmark that “television has made it possible for many of you to see me in your homes on Christmas Day”.

The message became part of many families’ Christmas celebrations and the first televised broadcast in 1957 set a familiar pattern.

The national anthem was followed by the monarch speaking directly to the camera, with a speech that included Christmas greetings, a religious lesson, support for the Commonwealth, a round-up of the royal year and a moral message for the times.

In 1957 it meant a warning about values in public life, criticising a culture of “self-interest”.

The timing of the Christmas broadcast was originally set for 15.00 GMT as best for reaching the most countries in different time zones around the world.

US ‘continuing to discuss ways’ to help Pakistan deal with TTP threats

WASHINGTON: The US Friday reiterated that it seeks a “strong partnership” with Pakistan on counterterrorism and said that it is “continuing to discuss ways that we can be most effective” to eliminate all regional and global terrorist threats.

When asked to comment on Washington’s calls to assist Islamabad to deal with TTP threats amid a spike in terror incidents, a State Department spokesperson, in an email response to Geo.tv, said, “We seek a strong partnership with Pakistan on counterterrorism and expect sustained action against all militant and terrorist groups without distinction.”

The official said that both countries have suffered terribly from the scourge of terrorism.

“We look forward to cooperative efforts to eliminate all regional and global terrorist threats and are continuing to discuss ways that we can be most effective in this regard,” the spokesperson added.

The US has said on multiple occasions that it is ready to help Pakistan as the country deals with resurgent TTP. The banned outfit has launched attacks on the security forces using Afghanistan’s soil.

The matter also came up during Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto’s phone call with his US counterpart Antony Blinkon this week.

Blinken, according to a statement, offered his condolences for lives lost in recent terrorist attacks and underscored the United States’ resolute support for Pakistan as its combats terrorism.

Earlier this week, the State Department maintained that Pakistan remains a partner of the US when it comes to shared challenges, including the challenge of terrorist groups — terrorist groups inside Afghanistan, and terrorist groups along the Afghan-Pakistan border.

During a press briefing on Monday, Spokesperson Ned Price said that the department has been following reports that militants have seized control of the counterterrorism centre in Bannu and offered deepest sympathies to those injured.

“We have partnered with our Pakistani friends to take on — to help them take on this challenge. We stand ready to assist, whether with this unfolding situation or more broadly,” the spokesperson had said.

The spokesperson had further said that there were terrorist groups present in Afghanistan, in the Afghan-Pakistan border region that present a clear threat not only to Pakistan but potentially to countries and people beyond.

“We are in regular dialogue with our Pakistani partners. We are prepared to help with taking on the threats they face,” the spokesperson had said.

PM visits injured soldiers, lauds courage for successful Bannu operation

RAWALPINDI: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday paid tribute to the courage and valour of troops who cleared the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) complex during the Bannu operation.

The premier’s words of praise for the troops came during his visit to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Rawalpindi where he met officers and soldiers injured in an anti-terrorist operation at CTD complex in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu city, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.

He praised the martyrs and their families for rendering supreme sacrifices to ensure the nation’s safety and security.

Premier Shehbaz had earlier made it clear that the state will not surrender or bow down before any terrorist outfit or organisation.

Three days ago, a hostage crisis took place at the CTD compound when proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan’s (TTP) terrorists took over the centre and made several security personnel hostages. However, security forces carried out a successful operation, killing 25 militants.

“We are determined to fight out terrorism in its all forms and manifestations and breaking nexus between terrorists, their supporters and sympathisers till achieving peaceful and stable environment,” the premier said, according to the ISPR.

Flanked by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir, PM Shehbaz added that the writ of the state will be established at all costs and no one will be allowed to derail the hard-earned gains of the war on terror, which Pakistan achieved after the nation and armed forces unparalleled sacrifices.

In the wake of the Bannu operation, a Pakistan Army soldier, Haleem Khan, embraced martyrdom as he succumbed to injuries sustained while taking down terrorists in the CTD complex.

After being severely injured, the 29-year-old troop was admitted to the CMH in Rawalpindi where he breathed his last today.

The military’s media wing stated that the soldier was a resident of Hijira in district Ponch and has been survived by three children.

Philippines boosts military in disputed sea after Chinese ‘encroachment’

It comes two days after media reported that Beijing has begun reclaiming more land in the contested Spratly Islands, a major archipelago in the South China Sea that hosts military installations by a number of countries.

“Any encroachment in the West Philippine Sea or reclamation on the features therein is a threat to the security of Pagasa Island,” the Philippine defence department said.

Manila refers to the waters immediately west of the Philippines as the West Philippine Sea, while Pagasa Island, the second biggest in the Spratlys, is also known as Thitu Island.

The defence department said it had directed the armed forces “to strengthen the country’s presence in the West Philippine Sea, following the monitored Chinese activities close to Pagasa Island”.

The agency did not specify the nature of the “monitored Chinese activities”, but the Philippine military said its air and naval patrols had observed “China militia vessels” in these areas.

Beijing claims almost all of the resource-rich South China Sea, through which trillions of dollars in trade passes annually.

Along with the Philippines, rival claimants are Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. China has ignored a 2012 ruling from a UN-backed tribunal that its claim is without basis.

In recent years it has built artificial islands on reefs while constructing military facilities and airstrips. Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing satellite images from US officials, that new land formations have emerged in the Spratlys, on Eldad Reef, Whitsun Reef, Lankiam Cay and Sandy Cay. China’s foreign ministry called the report “completely groundless”.

A Philippine military statement said Thursday its regular air and naval patrols have “observed the persistent presence of China militia vessels around areas stated in the Bloomberg article”. The statement did not say if the patrols monitored the reported reclamations themselves.

“WESCOM (the Philippines’ Western Military Command) shall continue conducting maritime patrols and sustaining our presence in the WPS (West Philippine Sea) to protect our nation’s territory and sovereign rights,” it said.

Right-wing Israeli govt sparks fear of escalation in occupied areas

The incoming government, which veteran hawk Netanyahu announced he had formed late on Wednesday, is expected to be the most right-wing in Israel’s history.

It has sparked fears of military escalation in the West Bank amid the worst violence in the Pale­stinian territory for nearly 20 years.

Netanyahu’s Likud party secured the mandate to form a government in the Nov 1 election, with backing from ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties and Religious Zionism, an extreme-right alliance of minor parties.

Leading voices within the new coalition will include Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, two leaders of the Religious Zionism bloc who occupy the extremity of Israel’s political right. Both live in Israeli settlements inside the West Bank, and will respectively take charge of settlement policy and national security. At least three senior Western diplomats have said they are concerned about the security impact of Ben Gvir’s role within the government.

‘Escalation’

Ben Gvir’s post as national security minister will include responsibility for Israel’s police, which includes the border guard who, along with the Israeli army, operate inside the West Bank.

In recent weeks Israel’s press has highlighted the risk of having “two” separate armies in the West Bank, with the army on one side and the border guard on the other.

But former Israeli general Amir Avivi, who now runs a network for former security officials, believes the command structure of Israel’s forces will not be threatened. “I don’t see any scenario in which Ben Gvir will lead border guard operations” in the West Bank, he said.

However, Palestinian analyst Khaldoun Barghouti said the question was not about the structure of Israel’s security forces — but rather Israel’s policies on settlements and annexations of Pales­ti­nian territories in the West Bank.

“This Israeli government will lead to an escalation, because the position of Ben Gvir and Smotrich will destroy the possibility of a Palestinian state,” he said. At least 150 Palestinians and 26 Israelis have been killed this year across Israel and the West Bank, including Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.

A further 49 Palestinians were killed during three days of fighting between Gaza militants and Israel in August.

According to United Nations data, 2022 has been the deadliest year since the 2002-2005 Palestinian uprising, known as the Second Intifada.

‘Third intifada’ fear

More than 475,000 Israeli settlers live in the occupied West Bank, and the UN warns their presence threatens the viability of a two-state solution to the decades-long conflict. Smotrich has already signposted an intention to legalise a number of “wildcat” settlements that are not currently recognised by Israel.

Washington, Israel’s foremost ally, said it will “unequivocally oppose” moves to expand settlements, annex areas of the West Bank or disrupt the status quo of holy sites, Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned.

A point of frequent tension in annexed east Jerusalem is the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Under a historical status quo, non-Muslims can visit the sanctuary but not pray there.

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