Jan 31,2023: Spanish lawmakers on Tuesday rejected a deeply divisive Catalan amnesty bill with the hardline separatist party that demanded it voting against it on the grounds it did not go far enough.
The bill will now be sent back to a parliamentary commission in a major setback for Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez that highlights the fragility of his parliamentary support.
The bill was rejected by 179 votes to 171 in the 350-seat parliament where Sanchez’s left-wing minority government is dependent on a patchwork of support to pass legislation.
The law will apply to those wanted by the justice system over the 2017 Catalan independence bid, first and foremost the exiled leader of the hardline separatist JxCat party, Carles Puigdemont.
He was Catalan regional leader in 2017 and fled to Belgium to avoid prosecution.
Although JxCat had demanded the law in exchange for its parliamentary support to secure Sanchez another term in office, it tipped the balance by voting against the bill on Tuesday after its last-minute amendments were rejected.
The move angered the government, with Justice Minister Felix Bolanos saying it was “incomprehensible” they voted against a bill they had agreed on, siding with the right wing parties that sought “to imprison and outlaw them”.
JxCat wanted to amend the text to guarantee the amnesty would apply to anyone accused of “terrorism” or “treason” — wording absent from the current bill — over allegations raised in two separate legal probes into Puigdemont.
“This text is a good starting point… but it has holes that Spain’s prejudiced justice system can use to leave the amnesty in tatters,” JxCat lawmaker Miriam Nogueras told lawmakers in the debate.
Both investigating magistrates have been accused by the left of harbouring politically-motivated ulterior motives after announcing on Monday they would be extending their probes.
“We are not terrorists,” said Nogueras, warning lawmakers “not to embarrass the Europeans by trivialising terrorism.”
Gaza, Jan 31,2023: A Hamas delegation will visit Egypt on Wednesday to discuss the framework agreement on a truce in the Gaza Strip issued by the recent Paris meeting, a Palestinian source said on Tuesday.
The delegation will hold a meeting in the Egyptian capital of Cairo with Abbas Kamel, head of Egypt’s General Intelligence Service, the source, speaking on conditions of anonymity, told Xinhua.
The meeting in Egypt will discuss the outcome of the Paris meeting, which outlined several stages for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Earlier in the day, Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas political bureau, announced that Hamas received the proposal hashed out at the Paris meeting, which involves halting the violence in Gaza and releasing the hostages held by Hamas, in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.
“Our response to the proposal will be based on stopping Israeli aggression against Gaza and withdrawing their forces from the Gaza Strip,” he said.
He added that Hamas is open to any discussions, provided that “they lead to a comprehensive cessation of aggression and providing shelter for our displaced people.”
A meeting was held on Sunday in the French capital of Paris, attended by senior intelligence and government officials from the U.S., Israel, Qatar and Egypt, to discuss a deal to end the Hamas-Israel conflict in Gaza.
The Israeli delegation was led by David Barnea, chief of the Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, and Ronen Bar, head of the Shin Bet, the Israeli internal security agency.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Tuesday that his government will not release Palestinian prisoners or withdraw forces from Gaza, despite the international efforts to achieve a ceasefire deal.
New Delhi, Jan 24,2023: The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the scheme on Wednesday for the promotion of coal gasification projects by state-owned companies and the private sector, with an outlay of Rs 8,500 crore towards incentives for coal gasification projects under three categories.
Coal gasification is considered a cleaner option compared to the burning of coal. Gasification facilitates the utilisation of the chemical properties of coal.
“The Cabinet today sanctioned Rs 8,500 crore in viability gap funding for coal gasification. Out of the sanctioned amount, Rs 4,050 crore will be for joint ventures between Coal India and GAIL and Coal India and BHEL,” Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi said while briefing the media on Cabinet decisions.
As per the scheme, financial assistance for coal gasification projects would be provided under three categories. In the first category, Rs 4,050 crore has been provisioned for government PSUs, in which up to 3 projects will be supported by a lump-sum grant of Rs 1,350 crore or 15% of capex, whichever is lower.
In category II, Rs 3,850 crore has been provisioned for private sector as well as government PSUs in which lump-sum grant of Rs 1,000 crore or 15% of capex, whichever is lower would be provided for each project. At least one project will be bid out on a tariff-based bidding process, and its criteria will be designed in consultation with NITI Aayog.
“In category III, Rs 600 crore has been provisioned for demonstration projects (indigenous technology) and/or small-scale product-based gasification plants, under which a lump-sum grant of Rs 100 crore or 15% of capex, whichever is lower, will be given to the selected entity, which will have a minimum capex of Rs 100 crore,” said an official statement.
The government had earlier launched the National Coal Gasification Mission to achieve coal gasification and liquefaction of 100 million metric tons (MT) of coal by 2030.
Gaza, Jan 23,2023: The Palestinian death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip has risen to 25,490 since October 7, 2023, the Hamas-run health ministry said on Tuesday.
The Israeli army killed 195 Palestinians and wounded 354 others over the past 24 hours, the ministry said in a press statement.
“A number of victims are still under the rubble, and ambulances and the civil defense crew cannot reach them,” the ministry added.
On Monday, the Israeli army intensified its assault on the southern Khan Younis city, storming medical centers and killing dozens of Palestinians, making it the fiercest fighting in the area so far.
The Israeli army, meanwhile, suffered its deadliest single attack on Monday, in which 21 soldiers were killed in central Gaza.
The soldiers were preparing explosives to demolish two buildings when militants launched a rocket-propelled grenade at a nearby tank, triggering a premature explosion that resulted in the collapse of the buildings while the soldiers were either inside or nearby.
According to official Israeli figures, a total of 219 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the country waged a war against Hamas, following the Hamas-led assault on southern Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, in which about 1,200 Israelis were killed and more than 200 were taken as hostages to Gaza.
DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 19,2023: Saudi Arabia is still considering an invitation to become a member of the BRICS bloc of countries after being asked to join by the group last year, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Thursday.
The group in August invited Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Iran, Argentina, and Ethiopia to join starting Jan. 1, although Argentina signaled it would not take up the invitation in November.
The two sources said Jan. 1 was not a deadline for a decision, with one adding there were strong benefits to joining the bloc as members China and India are the kingdom’s biggest trading partners.
“Saudi Arabia is assessing the benefits and then will make a decision, there is a process happening,” one of the sources said.
The expansion of the group would add economic heft to the BRICS, whose current members are China, Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa. It could also amplify its declared ambition to become a champion of the Global South.
Faisal Alibrahim, Saudi Arabia’s economy minister, later confirmed the kingdom was still in a decision-making process on joining the bloc.
“The kingdom is a part of many multilateral platforms and multilateral institutions and whenever the kingdom is invited into one of them it goes through a process that is a multi-step process and at the end of it a decision is made,” he told Reuters in an interview.
“Right now we are in a similar process and I will comment at the end of it.”
Riyadh is weighing its options against a backdrop of rising geopolitical tensions between the U.S., China and Russia, and as the kingdom’s warming ties with Beijing have caused concern in Washington.
Despite its strong ties with the U.S., Saudi Arabia has increasingly pursued its own path out of concern that Washington is less committed to the Gulf’s security than in the past.
New Delhi, Jan 19,2023: The Central government on Thursday announced a half-day holiday for its employees ahead of the consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22.
All central government offices will remain shut till 2:30 PM on January 22, the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions said in a statement.
“The Ram Lalla Pran Pratishtha at Ayodhya will be celebrated on 22nd January across India. To enable employees to participate in the celebrations, it has been decided that all Central Government Offices, Central Institutions and Central Industrial Establishments throughout India will be closed for half day till 1430 hours on 22d January,” the statement said.
The Ministry further advised all ministries and Departments of the Government of India to bring the above decision to the notice of all concerned.
Jan 16,2023: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched ballistic missiles at what it claimed were Israeli “spy headquarters” in Iraq’s Kurdish region and hit targets allegedly linked to ISIL (ISIS) in northern Syria, saying it was defending its security and countering terrorism.
At least eight explosions were heard in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, early on Tuesday. Four people were killed and six were wounded, the regional security council said.
“Ballistic missiles were used to destroy espionage centres and gatherings of anti-Iranian terrorist groups in the region,” the IRGC said, adding that it fired 11 missiles, state media reported.
The Iraqi government condemned what it called Iran’s “aggression” on Erbil that led to civilian casualties in residential areas, calling it a violation of the country’s sovereignty and the security of its people, according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The government said it would consider various actions, including filing a complaint at the United Nations Security Council.
The IRGC claimed that it had hit the headquarters of Israeli spy agency Mossad in Erbil, Iran’s IRNA news agency reported.
“We assure our nation that the Guards’ offensive operations will continue until avenging the last drops of martyrs’ blood,” it said.
Masrour Barzani, prime minister of the Kurdish region, condemned the attack on Erbil as a “crime against the Kurdish people”.
The Kurdish regional government said it shot down three bomb-laden drones at 5:05am (02:05 GMT) that were targeting a United States-led coalition base in Erbil, near the city’s international airport, from where air traffic was briefly diverted.