Israel:

Top US diplomat Antony Blinken was due to travel to Egypt on Tuesday for talks on a Gaza ceasefire after saying Israel had accepted a US “bridging proposal” for a deal and urging Hamas to do the same.

Blinken, on his ninth visit to the Middle East since the Palestinian operative group’s October 7 attack triggered the war with Israel, was scheduled to fly from Tel Aviv to El Alamein, the Mediterranean city famous for a World War II battle in 1942, to speak to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at his summer palace.

Afterwards, he will head to a meeting with Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, in Doha, the scene of ceasefire talks last week.

Both Egypt and Qatar are working alongside the United States to broker a truce in the 10-month Gaza conflict.

Washington put forward the latest proposal last week after the talks in Doha.

Blinken said Monday he had “a very constructive meeting” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who “confirmed to me that Israel accepts the bridging proposal”.

Ahead of those talks, Hamas called on the mediators to implement the framework set out by US President Joe Biden in late May, rather than hold more negotiations.

The movement said on Sunday that the current US proposal “responds to Netanyahu’s conditions” and leaves him “fully responsible for thwarting the efforts of the mediators”.

Earlier on Monday, the US secretary of state had said: “This is a decisive moment — probably the best, maybe the last, opportunity to get the hostages home, to get a ceasefire and to put everyone on a better path to enduring peace and security”.

Months of on-off negotiations with US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators have failed to produce an agreement.

Israel and Hamas have blamed each other for delays in reaching an accord that diplomats say would help avert a wider conflagration in the Middle East that could draw in Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“There is, I think, a real sense of urgency here, across the region, on the need to get this over the finish line and to do it as soon as possible,” Blinken said.

The Biden administration is under domestic pressure over Gaza, with pro-Palestinian protests taking place outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Monday.

Biden said in his farewell speech to the convention that the protesters “have a point”, adding that “a lot of innocent people are being killed, on both sides”.

Permanent ceasefire

Israel and Hamas have traded blame for delays in reaching a truce deal.

Hamas insisted on “a permanent ceasefire and a comprehensive (Israeli) withdrawal from the Gaza Strip”, saying Netanyahu wanted to keep Israeli forces at several strategic locations within the territory.

Western ally Jordan, hostage supporters who protested in Tel Aviv during Blinken’s visit, and Hamas itself have called for pressure on Netanyahu in order for an agreement to be reached.

Far-right members crucial to the prime minister’s governing coalition oppose any truce.

The October 7 attack on southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,198 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed at least 40,139 people, according to the territory’s health ministry, which does not give details of civilian and operative deaths.

Out of 251 hostages seized during Hamas’s attack, 111 are still held in Gaza, including 39 the military says are dead.

The Biden framework would freeze fighting for an initial six weeks while Israeli hostages are exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and humanitarian aid enters Gaza.

Netanyahu said on Monday that negotiators were aiming to “release a maximum number of living hostages” in the first phase of any ceasefire.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

A proposed bill in Iraq’s parliament has sparked widespread outrage and concern, as it seeks to reduce the legal age of marriage for girls to just 9 years old. The controversial legislation, introduced by the Iraq Justice Ministry, aims to amend the country’s Personal Status Law, which currently sets the minimum age for marriage at 18.

The bill would allow citizens to choose between religious authorities or the civil judiciary to decide on family affairs. Critics fear this will lead to a slashing of rights in matters of inheritance, divorce, and child custody.

If passed, the bill would allow girls as young as 9 and boys as young as 15 to wed, sparking fears of increased child marriage and exploitation. Critics argue that this regressive move would undermine decades of progress in promoting women’s rights and gender equality.

Human rights organizations, women’s groups, and civil society activists have vehemently opposed the bill, warning of serious consequences for young girls’ education, health, and well-being. They argue that child marriage leads to increased dropout rates, early pregnancies, and a heightened risk of domestic violence.

According to the United Nations children’s agency, UNICEF, 28 percent of girls in Iraq are already married before the age of 18.

“Passing this law would show a country moving backward, not forwards,” Human Rights Watch (HRW) researcher Sarah Sanbar said.

Amal Kabashi of the Iraq Women’s Network also voiced strong opposition, stating that the amendment “provides huge leeway for male dominance over family issues” in an already conservative society.

In late July, parliament withdrew the proposed changes when many lawmakers objected. They resurfaced in an August 4 session after receiving the support of powerful Shia blocs that dominate the chamber.

The proposed changes would mark a shift from the 1959 legislation. This law, enacted after the fall of the Iraqi monarchy, transferred family law authority from religious figures to the state judiciary. The new bill would reintroduce the option to apply religious rules, primarily from Shia and Sunni Islam, but does not mention other religious or sectarian communities within Iraq’s diverse population.

Proponents of the bill claim it aims to standardize Islamic law and protect young girls from “immoral relationships.” However, opponents counter that this reasoning is flawed and ignores the harsh realities of child marriage.

By giving power over marriage to religious authorities, the amendment would “undermine the principle of equality under Iraqi law,” Sanbar of HRW said.

It also “could legalise the marriage of girls as young as nine years old, stealing the futures and well-being of countless girls.”

“Girls belong on the playground and in school, not in a wedding dress,” she said.

It is still unclear if this bid to change the law will succeed where several earlier attempts have failed.

Baghdad:

An army officer and four soldiers were killed in an attack on their post in Iraq’s central province of Salaheddin on Monday, officials said.

Iraq’s ministry of defence said that an officer and several members of his regiment were killed “while thwarting a terrorist attack”.

“Daesh terrorists launched an attack” on an army post in the village of Mtebija “killing four soldiers and the regiment commander,” said a security source, using an alternate name for the Islamic State group.

The jihadist group overran large swathes of Iraq and neighbouring Syria in 2014, proclaiming its “caliphate” and launching a reign of terror.

It was defeated in Iraq in 2017 by Iraqi forces backed by a US-led military coalition, and in 2019 lost the last territory it held in Syria to US-backed Kurdish forces.

But its remnants continue to carry out deadly hit-and-run attacks and ambushes, particularly from remote areas and desert hideouts.

In a report published in January, the United Nations said IS has “between 3,000 and 5,000 fighters” across Iraq and Syria.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Ten fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) were killed, Iraqi Kurdish authorities said Thursday, as Turkey said it launched renewed air strikes on northern Iraq.

Turkey has intensified its cross-border air raids against Kurdish targets in northeastern Syria and northern Iraq in retaliation for an October 1 suicide bombing in Ankara which injured two policemen.

That attack was claimed by a branch of the outlawed PKK, which has waged a decades-long insurgency against Turkey and is considered a “terrorist” group by Ankara and its Western allies.

“Nine PKK fighters were killed in a series of air strikes launched by Turkish warplanes and drones” in Arbil province in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, the Kurdish counter-terrorism service said in a statement.

A tenth PKK member was killed and three others wounded in “the bombing of several locations” belonging to the group in Dohuk province, it added.

Turkey’s defence ministry on Thursday confirmed conducting air strikes on targets in five areas of northern Iraq, saying “many terrorists were neutralised”.

“A total of 19 targets including caves, shelters and depots used by terrorists.. were successfully destroyed and many terrorists were neutralised,” it said of the strikes which were carried out on Wednesday.

The Turkish military rarely comments on its operations in Iraq but it frequently carries out ground and air offensives against the PKK and its positions in northern Iraq.

Earlier this month, Turkey’s parliament extended the military’s authorisation to launch cross-border operations in Syria and Iraq by two more years.

Such operations were first approved in 2013 to support the international campaign against the Islamic State group, and have since been renewed annually.

Over the past 25 years, Turkey has installed dozens of military bases in Iraqi Kurdistan to fight against the PKK, which also has outposts there.

The Iraqi federal government in Baghdad and Kurdish authorities in Arbil have for years been accused of turning a blind eye to the Turkish bombardments to preserve their strategic alliance with Ankara, a key trading partner, despite statements protesting violations of Iraqi sovereignty and harm to civilians.

In summer 2022, nine people died when artillery shells hit a recreational park in the Iraqi Kurdish border village of Parakh, with most of those killed holidaymakers from southern Iraq.

Baghdad blamed Turkey for the strike but Ankara denied responsibility and pointed the finger at the PKK.

In late July, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani’s office announced that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would visit Iraq but so far, no date has been set.

Raghad Saddam Hussein, the daughter of executed ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.
| Photo Credit: AFP

A Baghdad court on Sunday sentenced in absentia the exiled daughter of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to seven years in prison for “promoting” her father’s outlawed Baath party.

The party was dissolved and banned after Hussein was toppled during the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

According to the ruling, which AFP was able to review, Raghad Saddam Hussein was found guilty of the crime of “promoting the activities of the banned Baath party”, during television interviews she gave in 2021.

In Iraq today, anyone showing photos or slogans promoting the ousted regime can be subject to prosecution.

The ruling does not indicate the exact interviews over which she was convicted.

But in 2021, Hussein spoke on the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya channel about Iraq’s conditions under her father’s iron-fisted rule from 1979 to 2003.

“Many people told me that our period was indeed a time of glory, of pride,” she told the Saudi channel. “Of course, the country was stable and rich.”

Hussein lives in Jordan, along with her sister Rana. Their brothers, Uday and Qusay, were killed by the US army in Mosul in 2003.

For the majority of Iraqis, the quarter century during which Saddam Hussein ruled is still seen as a time of brutal repression.

An exchange of fire began in Rajouri’s Kalakote between hiding militants and security forces. File representative image
| Photo Credit: PTI

Jammu encounter: Army launches major anti-militancy operation in Rajouri

An exchange of fire started on Monday night in Rajouri’s Kalakote between hiding militants and security forces, led by the Army who launched a major anti-militancy operation in the area during the day. Officials said the encounter was reported in Tatapani area of Kalakote. “An operation that started during the day continues in the area,” an official said.

INDIA bloc cites Bihar data to reiterate demand for nationwide caste census

Citing the findings of the Bihar caste survey, leaders of the Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) on October 2 reiterated their demand for conducting a countrywide caste census to ensure “social justice” to the deprived classes. In the run-up to the Lok Sabha election next year, parties belonging to the INDIA bloc have made the demand for a caste census and OBC outreach their most visible political strategy. 

Oxford-Serum institute malaria vaccine recommended for use by WHO

The R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and the Serum Institute of India, leveraging Novavax’s adjuvant technology, has been recommended for use by the World Health Organisation (WHO) after meeting required safety, quality and effectiveness standards, on Monday. 

Over 100 aircraft, including Rafales, to be part of air show in Prayagraj: IAF officer

Over 100 aircraft, including the Rafale fighter jets, will be part of an air show to be held in Prayagraj next week to commemorate the completion of the 91st year of the Indian Air Force, Air Marshal R.G.K. Kapoor said on October 2. Mr. Kapoor, who is Air Marshal, Headquarters, Central Air Command, reached the Sangam area in Prayagraj with a cycle rally to spread awareness about the air show to be held on October 8.

Online auction of gifts, mementoes received by PM Modi begins

An array of gifts and mementos received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during various programmes and events across the country has been put up for e-auction, which began on October 2 .The 912 items are on display at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) in Delhi.

Trinamool begins two-day protest in Delhi over fund cuts; Union Minister Giriraj Singh threatens CBI probe 

Escalating their ongoing power tussle with the BJP over alleged denial of funds to West Bengal by the Union government, Trinamool Congress leaders began their two-day protest in New Delhi on October 2, while Union Minister Giriraj Singh alleged that the Trinamool government had created 25 lakh fake job cards to siphon off Central funds, and a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) could be ordered. 

North Dakota state senator, his wife and 2 children killed in Utah plane crash

A state senator from North Dakota, his wife and their two young children died when the small plane they were riding crashed in Utah, a Senate leader said on October 2. Doug Larsen’s death was confirmed on October 2 in an email that Republican Senate Majority Leader David Hogue sent to his fellow senators and was obtained by The Associated Press.

Donald Trump attends court, calls New York fraud trial a ‘scam’

The fraud lawsuit that could cost former U.S. President Donald Trump control of some of his most prized properties went to trial on Monday, with New York State lawyers vowing to hold him accountable while he denounced the case as a politically motivated “scam.”

U.S., Philippines begin annual drills in disputed South China Sea

The United States and the Philippines launched annual joint naval war games on Monday, days after the latest diplomatic row between Manila and Beijing over the disputed South China Sea. More than a thousand sailors from the two allies are taking part in the annual “Samasama” (Tagalog for Together) anti-submarine, surface and electronic warfare drills off Manila and the south of Luzon, the main island of the Philippines.

After Ankara bombing, Turkiye hits back in Iraq and at home

Turkiye said it unleashed air strikes on militant targets in northern Iraq and detained suspects in Istanbul overnight, hours after Kurdish militants said they orchestrated the first bomb attack in the capital Ankara in years. On Sunday morning, two attackers detonated a bomb near government buildings in Ankara, killing them both and wounding two police officers. The outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group claimed responsibility.

Hangzhou Asian Games table tennis | Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee lose in semifinals; settle for bronze

The North Korean pair of Chu Suyong and Pak Sugyong came up against the yellow wall of Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee. They looked to play their fast natural game; firing in smash after smash only to find the Mukherjees – not related – to get into position and block. Ten errors from the North Koreans, who looked to force the issue and a backhand winner from Sutirtha Mukherjee in the opening game gave India a 1-0 lead as it looked set for another huge scalp.

Cricket World Cup 2023 warm-up | Rain thwarts South Africa again

The heavens opened just when Quinton de Kock (84 not out) and David Miller (18 not out) had lined up for the final assault in pursuit of the tall target (322) set by New Zealand and brought a pre-mature end to ICC Cricket World Cup warm-up match at the Greenfield Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on October 2. South Africa appeared to be on course for victory and de Kock had warmed up for the kill with two boundaries off Daryl Mitchell when rain stopped play and the Proteas fell short of the DLS par score (218) by seven runs.

Baghdad, Iraq:

An Iraqi court on Thursday sentenced an Islamic State group member to death after convicting him of involvement in a 2014 suicide bombing that killed 17 pilgrims, the judiciary said.

The attack in Taji district north of Baghdad targeted a “mawkeb”, one of the many stalls providing free food and drinks to pilgrims during Shiite Muslim festivals.

The pilgrims had been heading on foot to Samarra, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of Baghdad, to commemorate the anniversary of the death of Hassan al-Askari, one of 12 imams revered by Iraq’s Shiite majority.

A criminal court in Baghdad on Thursday sentenced “a terrorist to death for the explosion of a mawkeb in 2014” during the pilgrimage in Samarra, the judiciary said on its website.

The statement did not name the convict but said he had “filmed the tragedy because he was a member of the terrorist groups of Daesh,” using the Arabic acronym for IS.

The convict has the right to appeal the verdict.

After rapidly taking over large swathes of territory in Iraq and neighbouring Syria, IS saw its self-proclaimed “caliphate” collapse under successive offensives in both countries.

Iraqi authorities declared “victory” over the Sunni Muslim extremist group at the end of 2017, but jihadist cells continue to sporadically launch attacks, particularly on military and police personnel in remote areas of central and northern Iraq.

In late August, three people were hanged in Iraq after being convicted over an IS attack that killed 323 people in Baghdad in July 2016.

Amnesty International said Iraq was the world’s sixth biggest executioner last year, with at least 11 carried out.

More than 41 death sentences were issued in 2022, and more than 45 people were executed in 2020, according to the London-based human rights group.

 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)