President gives assent to three laws replacing IPC, CrPC, Evidence Act
The three new criminal laws will be called Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023, and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023.
‘Squad’ member blasted for anti-Israel message on Christmas, likening Jesus to Palestinian people
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., faced blowback for her social media post that tried to liken Jesus to the Palestinian people and criticize Israel but made no mention of Hamas or their hostages. “In the story of Christmas, Christ was born in modern-day Palestine under the threat of a government engaged in a massacre of innocents,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote, referencing Jews who lived in the land over 2,000 years ago under Roman control. “He was part of a targeted population being indiscriminately killed to protect an unjust leader’s power.” “Thousands of years later, right-wing forces are violently occupying Bethlehem as similar stories unfold for today’s Palestinians, so much so that the Christian community in Bethlehem has canceled this year’s Christmas Eve celebrations out of both [fear for their] safety and respect,” she added, although the area is currently under the control of the Palestinian Authority. “The entire story of Christmas and Christ himself is about standing with the poor and powerless, the marginalized and maligned, the refugees and immigrants, the outcast and misunderstood without exception,” she concluded. JESUS WAS BORN IN THIS VILLAGE. NOW THEY’VE CANCELED CHRISTMAS. ARE HIS FOLLOWERS NO LONGER WELCOME? Jacob Kornbluh, a senior political reporter at The Forward, responded with a post on X that called out the representative for making “no mention of Hamas terror” or “the victims of Oct. 7 attack.“ Pro-Israel activist Andrea Karshan lamented that some people are not enjoying Christmas, instead seeking to get “so social justice political about it,” The New York Post reported. NYC COUNCILWOMAN’S GLAMOROUS GOWN SENDS MESSAGE TO ‘THE SQUAD’ Ocasio-Cortez in November joined with 23 Democrats to ask President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken for details about their plans to de-escalate violence in the region as Israel continued its invasion of the Gaza Strip. “We reaffirm our unequivocal condemnation of the Hamas attacks on Israel that took place on October 7th, in which Hamas killed over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, and captured over 200 hostages, who were subsequently taken to Gaza,” the Democrats wrote. “We also share dire concerns with the ongoing Israeli response, in which the Israeli Defense Forces have killed over 11,078 Palestinians, nearly half of whom have been children,” they continued, citing numbers provided by Hamas. BERNIE SANDERS OPPOSES ‘SQUAD,’ REJECTS PERMANENT CEASE-FIRE BETWEEN ISRAEL, HAMAS Bethlehem, the long-held birthplace of Jesus Christ, announced it would not hold its usual Christmas festivities in solidarity with Gaza and the ongoing violence. Regularly displayed decorations were also removed “in honor of the martyrs,” the city council wrote in a post on Facebook. Theologian Jonathan Morris told Fox News that the whole decision amounted to “a political statement overtaking something that we Christians and that Christians of Bethlehem consider to be so sacred.” However, a spokesperson for the Bethlehem city council told the Telegraph in November that celebrating “is not appropriate … while there is a massacre happening in Gaza and attacks in the West Bank.” Fox News Digital’s Megan Myers contributed to this report.
America and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Congress
Not much has gone right on Capitol Hill this year. America, it’s been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad Congress in 2023. And that’s before getting to former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y. We knew that 2023 would be a mortifying year on Capitol Hill from the moment the First Session of the 118th Congress commenced in January. The House quickly incinerated parts of five days and 15 ballots before presenting former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., with the gavel. It was a tense, rocky period. A foreshadowing of what was to come. THE LEAST MERRY CHRISTMAS? KEVIN MCCARTHY’S ROUGH 2023 McCarthy’s election served as the longest speaker election in 164 years. By October, McCarthy’s colleagues ousted him in an extraordinary vote. McCarthy repeatedly spoke throughout the year of never quitting. Never bending. Never yielding. Well, McCarthy finally quit this month. His last day is next week. And we still haven’t even gotten to Santos. The public often derides lawmakers for being part of a “do nothing Congress.” That refrain sometimes rings hollow, but voters certainly have a case after 2023. Congress approved a meager 30 bills this year which President Biden signed into law. Two were bills to avert government shutdowns. Another was to suspend the debt ceiling. But Congress doesn’t have much to show for its work this year. “Sometimes it takes us weeks, months, even a year around here to getting nothing done,” opined Sen. John Kennedy, R-La. Kennedy’s criticism isn’t lost on Democrats. “This do nothing Republican Congress right now is the least productive in modern American history,” said House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. But don’t take Jeffries’ word for it. Listen to Rep. Chip Roy, R-Tex. “I want my Republican colleagues to give me one thing – one — that I can go campaign on and say we did!” thundered Roy on the House floor. DEMS, GOP BOTH WON BIG VICTORIES AND SUFFERED DEFEATS IN 2023. HERE ARE THE YEAR’S TOP ELECTION TAKEAWAYS In fact, Roy’s speech epitomizes of the First Session of the 118th Congress. “To anybody sitting in the complex, if you want to come down to the floor and come explain to me one material meaningful, significant thing the Republican majority has done besides ‘Well, I guess it’s not as bad as the Democrats!” hollered Roy. The vote to strip McCarthy of his gavel could have defined the year. But it was only rivaled by an exasperating, 22-day, political odyssey where House Republicans churned through three nominees to serve as McCarthy’s successor before finally settling on House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. And we still haven’t even gotten to Santos. “We have horrible Congresses and wonderful Congresses. You have meaningful policymaking and then you have the utter depths of stupidity,” observed House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry, R-N.C. But this truly is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year in Congress. In the children’s book “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,” author Judith Viorist ushers us through all of the things which go wrong for a young schoolboy. There are parallels between Alexander’s frustrating, quotidian sojourn and what’s happened this year on Capitol Hill. In art class, the teacher chastises Alexander for turning in a blank sheet of paper. Alexander protests that he drew an “invisible castle.” 2023’S BIGGEST LOSERS IN POLITICS That might be kind of like Congress producing 12 appropriations bills to fund the government. Lawmakers have all touted various spending proposals all year. The next deadline for a shutdown is January 19. And like Alexander’s castle, a funding program appears to be invisible. In math, the teacher upbraids Alexander for always skipping 16 when counting. In the House, Republicans sometimes do the same thing. Only the number they sometimes miss is 218. That’s the magic number in the House to pass most pieces of legislation. The coup de grâce in 2023 may have been an aide recording themselves having sex in a Senate room of the Hart Senate Office Building. In fact, we’ll take practically any of the other abominable events in Congress this year over whatever unfolded in the Hart hearing room. “Certainly anything like that defiles the room, and it certainly is not what the room was ever intended for,” said former Senate Historian Don Ritchie. “These rooms are used for historical purposes. For major events in history. And they’re going to be recorded and remembered that way.” The Hart hearing room has hosted multiple Supreme Court nominee confirmation hearings. Inquiries into 9/11. Whitewater. The war in Iraq. Russiagate. Major Congressional events. So it’s only fitting that this illicit sexual romp was 2023’s contribution to the long and storied history of that room. It was unclear this year if lawmakers may soon start to use hearing rooms for dual purposes. Say MMA fights. Such was the case when Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., challenged a witness at a hearing to a fight. Mullin even started to take off his wedding ring to prevent swelling, should he land a few blows. OUTGOING HOUSE LAWMAKERS LAMENT CHAOS IN CONGRESS: ‘A BIT OF A CARNIVAL’ Of course, Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., one of the eight Republicans who voted to extract McCarthy from the speakership, accused the California Republican of elbowing him in the kidneys after he strolled by in a Capitol basement. Burchett then chased McCarthy and his security detail down a Congressional tunnel. Burchett ultimately called the former speaker “a jerk.” And we still haven’t even gotten to Santos yet. There was other zaniness in Congress this year. Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., pulled a false fire alarm. The House then censured Bowman after he pleaded guilty in Washington, D.C., court and had to write an apology to the U.S. Capitol Police. Bowman is a former elementary school principal and teacher. Perhaps as punishment, the judge could have required Bowman to write “sentences” on the Congressional chalkboard, Bart Simpson style. “I will not pull a fire alarm while the House is taking a quorum call
Grounded plane with 275 Indians leaves France, to reach Mumbai tomorrow
The flight that took off from Dubai carrying 303 passengers was grounded at the Vatry airport, France, on Thursday over suspected ‘human trafficking’.
Egypt sets out ambitious Israel-Gaza ceasefire plan
Israel’s divided war cabinet to discuss proposal. Hamas reported to reject suggestion of sharing power in Gaza. Egypt has presented what is described as an ambitious plan to end the war in Gaza with a ceasefire. The proposal, which was presented to Israel, Hamas, the United States and European governments on Monday would see Israel fully withdraw from the Gaza Strip, all captives held by Hamas, and many Palestinian prisoners, freed, and a united technocratic Palestinian government installed in the enclave. The proposal, developed with the Gulf state of Qatar, includes several rounds of captive and prisoner exchanges, reports Al Jazeera’s Bernard Smith from Tel Aviv. In the first phase, Hamas would free all civilian captives in return for the release of Palestinian prisoners over a truce of 7-10 days. During the second stage, Hamas would release all female Israeli soldiers in return for more Palestinian prisoners, taking place during another weeklong truce. In the final phase, the warring parties would engage in “a month of negotiations to discuss the release of all military personnel held by Hamas in exchange for a lot more [Palestinian] prisoners and Israel pulling back to Gaza’s borders”, said Smith. Close to 8,000 Palestinians are held by Israel on security-related charges or convictions, according to Palestinian figures. Throughout the ceasefire, Egypt would also lead talks to reunite Palestinian factions Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, who would then jointly appoint a government of experts to run the West Bank and Gaza, ahead of future elections, reports The Times of Israel. Traction The plan appears to be preliminary, and there are already suggestions that it could struggle to gain traction with either side. Israel’s war cabinet was due to discuss the proposal on Monday, even as its military continued pounding Gaza over the Christmas holiday, killing at least 100 Palestinians within 12 hours. Experts noted that the cabinet, which has been under intense pressure to bring home the remaining captives, is divided and may struggle to accept some of the deal’s terms. “One challenge is a ceasefire versus a truce,” Mohammed Cherkaoui, a professor of conflict resolution at George Mason University, told Al Jazeera. “Palestinians are talking about a full-fledged ceasefire. The Israelis are hearing a ‘truce,’ a pause.” Cherkaoui added that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would also have to pull back from its stated mission of eradicating Hamas. “On the one hand [Netanyahu] is still negotiating with Hamas indirectly, but at the same time his main dream is to eradicate Hamas.” “He lives in two separate worlds and he needs to unify them,” said Cherkaoui. A Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Associated Press that Netanyahu and his hawkish government were unlikely to accept the full proposal. Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Hamas and the allied Islamic Jihad have rejected the proposal that they relinquish power in the Gaza Strip, quoting Egyptian security sources. Israel is entering its 12th week of a devastating air and ground campaign in Gaza that has killed more than 20,400 Palestinians, including 8,200 children. Air strikes have wrecked much of the besieged enclave, taking out entire blocks and neighbourhoods, and displaced 1.9 million Palestinians who now live in “catastrophic” conditions with little food, water and medicine, the United Nations warns. There are still 129 captives thought to remain captive in Gaza following Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israeli territory, which also killed nearly 1,200. Adblock test (Why?)
Amid uptick in kidnappings, Colombian family receives ‘biggest gift of all’
Chia, Colombia – Decnis Diaz was at home in Chia, Colombia, on November 18 when she received a call from her siblings: Her beloved younger brother, Jhon Jairo Diaz, had been kidnapped. A 34-year-old store manager, Jhon Jairo was ending his shift at a meat market in Cucuta, a border town near Venezuela, when four masked men held him at gunpoint and dragged him inside a black sedan. Security cameras captured the vehicle speeding away. “I couldn’t believe it. It always seemed to me that kidnappings were a terrible crime, but I never thought that our family would be a victim of it,” said Diaz. Jhon Jairo was the latest victim in an unexpected crime trend: The number of kidnappings has shot up recently in Colombia. Between January and October, a total of 287 people were abducted, a 73-percent increase over the same period the previous year, according to the Defence Ministry. Once a widespread tactic in Colombia’s decades-long internal conflict, kidnapping has long been a source of income for the country’s armed groups, who charge an extortion fee in exchange for the hostage’s safe return. The ransom, in some cases, can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars. But the rate of kidnapping had plunged following a 2016 peace deal between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the country’s largest rebel group at the time. The practice is once again on the rise, though. The number of abductions this year — expected to be the highest since 2016 — has shocked many Colombians, some of whom believed the crime had all but died out. “We thought that kidnappings were something from our parents’ generation,” said Ana de la Peña, whose husband Fabián Arias was kidnapped on October 2 outside his mother’s house in Ocaña. “But the dark past that we didn’t want to remember has returned.” A cellphone, perched atop a pile of missing persons posters, displays a photo of Jhon Jairo Diaz, dressed in white, together with family members [Christina Noriega/Al Jazeera] A dip and a rise in cases For decades, the FARC had been the primary perpetrator of kidnappings in Colombia, responsible for an estimated 40 percent of the abductions between 1990 and 2018. But the 2016 peace deal resulted in the FARC disbanding as an armed force. Immediately afterwards, kidnappings started to dip, reaching a low of 92 in 2019. That downward trend, however, reversed as Colombia experienced renewed violence. Rival armed groups and criminal networks rushed to fill the power vacuum the FARC had left behind, capitalising on the opportunity to take over its illegal drug and mining ventures. Kidnapping, experts say, became an important tool to finance their growing ranks. Critics have also blamed the increase on President Gustavo Petro, who took office in 2022 as Colombia’s first left-wing leader. A former rebel fighter himself, Petro pledged to improve security through peace talks, a strategy he calls “Total Peace”. To participate, armed groups had to agree not to murder, torture or “disappear” civilians during the negotiations. But the agreement does not explicitly ban kidnapping — a loophole that critics say groups may be exploiting to maintain control over populations and turf. “What we’ve seen in a lot of cases is that [armed groups] have traded that overt, visible violence for much more silent and invisible social control,” said Elizabeth Dickinson, a senior analyst for the think tank Crisis Group. Kidnappings are “extremely powerful in silencing the population because you create an atmosphere of fear and of compliance”, she added. Many abductions unfold without much public pushback because they are often kept out of the news, said Tatiana Prada, a researcher at the Ideas for Peace Foundation. Relatives are usually afraid to speak out, for fear their words could endanger the hostage’s life. The mother of Liverpool football star Luis Diaz, Cilenis Marulanda, protests on November 5 for the release of her kidnapped husband, Luis Manuel Diaz [Ivan Valencia/AP Photo] Lobbying for a loved one’s freedom But one high-profile case catapulted the issue to national attention. In late October, the National Liberation Army (ELN) — Colombia’s largest remaining rebel group — kidnapped the parents of Liverpool FC striker Luis Diaz, a popular Colombian football player. While his mother was found within hours, his father remained missing for 12 days, sparking a nationwide manhunt. Public outrage reached such a fever pitch that the ELN released Diaz’s father, calling the abduction a mistake. “It brought to light what was already the reality, which is that kidnappings had continued unabated despite negotiations,” said Dickinson. “The question that comes up is: ‘Why are we negotiating with these groups if they’re not changing their behaviour?’” Fearing government inaction, families have since taken it upon themselves to organise grassroots campaigns to bring their loved ones home. Diaz, for instance, spoke about her brother Jhon Jairo on the Senate floor, calling on politicians to act faster to save her brother. If public pressure could help secure the release of a football player’s father, she figured it could work for her brother, too. “With all my heart and tears in my eyes, I beg you to help me,” Diaz told a room full of senators. “Do not leave us alone.” Jhon Jairo’s family and friends also hosted a vigil in his hometown Cucuta, using hundreds of candles to spell a message: “Liberate him.” The local priest even held a mass in his name. De la Peña, whose husband Arias was kidnapped, likewise launched a campaign to push for her spouse’s freedom. On the social media platform X, de la Peña shared photos of their five-month-old daughter wearing a white onesie stamped with a picture of Arias and a message: “Free my dad. We want him home.” The Office of the High Commissioner for Peace confirmed in November that Arias was being held by the ELN — the same group that kidnapped the football player’s parents. Antonio Garcia, a leader in the National Liberation Army (ELN), has said his
Ukraine secures desperately needed funds from World Bank
Ukraine has received a vital $1.34bn in funds from the World Bank. The funding has been paid out to support non-security related financial and economic stability, Ukraine’s Ministry of Finance said on Monday. The cash boost will be welcomed by Kyiv, which warns that its ability to defend against the Russian invasion could soon be impacted by delays in funding from the United States and the European Union. In a statement, the ministry noted that the financing, which is the Sixth Additional Financing under its Public Expenditures for Administrative Capacity Endurance in Ukraine (PEACE) project, consisted of a $1.086bn loan from the World Bank, a $190m grant from Norway, a $50m grant from the United States and a $20m grant from Switzerland. The funds are expected to be used to partially compensate for non-security and defence-related expenditures of the Ukrainian state budget, including old-age social payments and payments to employees of the state emergency service, the ministry added. “International financial assistance is a significant contribution to maintaining Ukraine’s financial and economic stability and allows us to provide priority social expenditures during the war,” said Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko. “Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the governments of Japan, the United States, Norway and Switzerland have repeatedly demonstrated their unwavering support and solidarity for Ukraine. I am grateful to our partners for their willingness to cooperate and help us at a crucial time for Ukraine.” Funding difficulties for Ukraine It has been nearly two years since Russia invaded Ukraine, and as the war continues to rage uncertainty is growing over Western backing for Ukraine. Earlier this month, the White House warned the United States Congress that funds designated for providing aid to Ukraine would run out by the end of the year, amid Russia’s intensifying campaign to knock out the country’s energy infrastructure. The US, Ukraine’s biggest single-country donor, has sent more than $40bn in aid since Russia’s invasion in February 2022. But right-wing congressional Republicans have expressed increasing scepticism towards approving more funds for Ukraine. The United States Senate has said they will vote on an aid package for Ukraine in 2024. But Congress could continue to hold up the money. The impasse over US aid to Kyiv is mirrored in the European Union, where Hungary is blocking a 50 billion euro ($55bn) aid package. The bloc is due to revisit the issue in January. The difficulties in securing the funds in Washington and Brussels have raised concerns in Kyiv that Western backers are experiencing “fatigue” with the drawn-out battle, as fighting on the front line becomes bogged down. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has noted that Kyiv’s “foreign policy will be active” with many international activities in January. “We make every effort to strengthen Ukraine and ensure that everyone is confident about the coming year, about military aid, macro-financial assistance, and political support,” he said. We continue to work with partners in order to maintain unity in support for Ukraine. With those in Europe, America, and around the world who support us, our state, and international law. Our foreign policy will be active in the coming weeks, and we are already planning… pic.twitter.com/YmNta6e5gV — Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) December 15, 2023 Drone attacks continue Russian attacks against Ukraine continued over Christmas. On Monday, the Ukrainian military said that Russia launched 31 drones and two missiles from the annexed Crimean Peninsula overnight. The military said the attack mostly targeted the south of Ukraine. Kyiv’s air defences “destroyed 28 Shahed attack drones in Odesa, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Donetsk, Kirovohrad and Khmelnytskyi regions” and also destroyed the missiles, it said. Meanwhile, Russian-installed authorities reported one person killed in Ukrainian shelling of the Russian-occupied eastern town of Horlivka. [embedded content] The latest assaults come as Ukraine marks Christmas on December 25 for the first time, after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a law moving the celebration from the January 7 date observed by the Russian Orthodox Church. In an address to mark Christmas Eve, Zelenskyy assured Ukrainians fighting against Russia that “step by step, day by day, the darkness is losing”. “Today, this is our common goal, our common dream. And this is precisely what our common prayer is for today. For our freedom. For our victory. For our Ukraine.” Adblock test (Why?)
Pope decries ‘appalling harvest’ of civilian deaths in Gaza
In Christmas message, Pope Francis says Israeli strikes are reaping an ‘appalling harvest’ of innocent civilians. Israel’s bombardment of Gaza is reaping an “appalling harvest” of innocent civilians, Pope Francis said in his Christmas message. In his Christmas Day “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and world) address on Monday, the head of the Catholic Church also called the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas “abominable” and again appealed for the release of about 100 hostages still being held in Gaza, as he appealed for an end to hostilities. Speaking from the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica to thousands of people in the square below, the 87-year-old Francis called for an end to conflicts, political, social or military, in places including Ukraine, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, Armenia and Azerbaijan, and he defended the rights of migrants around the world. “How, many innocents are being slaughtered in our world! In their mothers’ wombs, in odysseys undertaken in desperation and in search of hope, in the lives of all those little ones whose childhood has been devastated by war. They are the little Jesuses of today,” he said. He gave particular attention to the Holy Land, including Gaza. Overnight on Christmas Eve, Israeli air raids killed at least 78 people in one of the besieged enclave’s deadliest nights of Israel’s 11-week-old battle with Hamas, according to Palestinian health officials. “May it [peace] come in Israel and Palestine, where war is devastating the lives of those peoples. I embrace them all, particularly the Christian communities of Gaza and the entire Holy Land,” Francis said. ‘Puppet strings of war’ “I plead for an end to the military operations with their appalling harvest of innocent civilian victims, and call for a solution to the desperate humanitarian situation by an opening to the provision of humanitarian aid,” he said. Last week, a United Nations-backed body said in a report that the entire 2.3 million population of Gaza was facing crisis levels of hunger and that the risk of famine was increasing every day. The Vatican, which has diplomatic relations with both Israel and the Palestinian Authority, believes a two-state solution is the only answer to the long-running conflict. Francis called for “persevering dialogue between the parties, sustained by strong political will and the support of the international community”. Dedicating an entire paragraph of his message to the weapons trade, Francis said: “And how can we even speak of peace, when arms production, sales and trade are on the rise?” He called for more investigation of the armaments trade. “It should be talked about and written about, so as to bring to light the interests and the profits that move the puppet strings of war,” he said. Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since the cross-border attack by Hamas on October 7, killing at least 20,424 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injuring 54,036 others, according to local health authorities. About 1,140 people were killed in Israel in the Hamas attack. The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, with half of the coastal territory’s housing damaged or destroyed and nearly two million people displaced within the densely populated enclave amid shortages of food, clean water and medicines. Adblock test (Why?)
Israeli bombardment devastates Maghazi refugee camp
NewsFeed Israeli air strikes have killed at least 70 people, including a two-week-old baby, as they hit housing in the Maghazi refugee camp, in one of the deadliest attacks in Gaza since the start of the war on October 7. Published On 25 Dec 202325 Dec 2023 Adblock test (Why?)
‘Just like Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya I also got chance to serve Kashi…’, says PM Modi
Addressing at the event of releasing the first series of 11 volumes of ‘Collected Works of Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya’, PM Modi said that today is like a festival of inspiration for people who believe in India and Indianness.