Syrian intelligence says it thwarted ISIL attempt to blow up Shia shrine
The Sayyida Zeinab shrine in Damascus has previously been targeted by ISIL and other armed groups in Syria. Syrian authorities have foiled an attempt by ISIL (ISIS) fighters to blow up a revered Shia shrine in a Damascus suburb, state news agency SANA has reported. Intelligence and security forces “succeeded in thwarting an attempt by ISIL to carry out a bombing inside the Sayyida Zeinab shrine”, a source within Syria’s intelligence agency told SANA on Saturday, adding that several people have been arrested. “The General Intelligence Directorate is utilising all its resources to confront all attempts to target the Syrian people in all their diversity,” the intelligence official told SANA. The interior ministry posted pictures of four men it said were members of an ISIL cell who had been arrested in the countryside outside the capital. It also published images of equipment allegedly seized from the suspects, including smartphones, two rifles, three explosive devices and several hand grenades. The photos showed the identity papers of two Lebanese and a Palestinian refugee living in Lebanon. “The shrine they were trying to target is on the southern outskirts of Damascus,” Al Jazeera’s Hamza Mohamed said, reporting from Damascus. Advertisement “It’s an important religious site for Shia Muslims. They believe the granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad is buried [there].” Mohamed noted that it is not the first time this shrine has been targeted. “In 2008, there was a car bomb … [in which] 17 people were killed,” he said. ISIL also previously targeted the Damascus shrine, Syria’s most visited Shia pilgrimage site, claiming responsibility for a double suicide attack in February 2016 close to the mausoleum that killed 134 people. The group had also claimed a triple blast near the sanctuary several weeks earlier that took the lives of at least 70 people. A July 2023 bombing killed at least six people near the mausoleum. Shia shrines have been a frequent target of attacks by Sunni groups such as ISIL, both in Syria and neighbouring Iraq. Iran-backed guards used to be deployed at the gates of the Sayyida Zeinab mausoleum, but they fled last month, shortly before Sunni-led rebels swept into the Syrian capital and toppled President Bashar al-Assad. Iran-backed fighters had been key supporters of al-Assad since the war broke out in 2011. Adblock test (Why?)
Delhi assembly polls 2025: ‘What is the secret of Kejriwal’s love for…’? asks BJP amid allegations of ‘fake votes’
In a fresh attack against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleged that the Delhi government is counting on support from “anti-national” forces in a bid to secure victory in the upcoming Delhi assembly polls.
Ahead of Delhi Assembly Election 2025, AAP slams BJP, accuses PM Modi of ‘trying to deceive election commission’ by..
“The BJP and its leaders are trying to deceive the Election Commission. This is BJP’s election scam, being carried out by their Union ministers and MPs, and they are undermining the integrity of the Election Commission,” AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh added.
‘Space coast’ congressman sets bold goal for American moon missions
The Space Coast’s new congressman wants the U.S. to set bold goals for exploration beyond our Earth, believing the country’s potential will take Americans sky-high – literally. “We need to do everything we can to make sure it’s safe, but it’s done in a way that removes some of the superfluous red tape so that we can get out there, compete and beat China and beat any other nation,” Rep. Mike Haridopolos, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital in an interview. “Because the moon and beyond is not a cliché from a Disney movie. It is the future.” Haridopolos said he would “love” to see the U.S. return to the moon in the next four years of the Trump administration. The Florida Republican was careful not to speak in absolutes, noting, “We can’t guarantee anything,” but credited billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos with revitalizing the science and space sector to make such conversations possible. JOHNSON BLASTS DEM ACCUSATIONS HE VOWED TO END OBAMACARE AS ‘DISHONEST’ “It’s a stepping stone,” he said. “For example, as we’re starting to move towards [nuclear power], with the need for more and more energy here in the United States…There’s particles that are on the moon that they would bring back because they’re very scarce here in America [and] around the world.” Helium-3 is a highly coveted resource found on the moon known to be key in nuclear fusion processes. “From that point, you settle the moon, and then you go on to Mars, which has been, of course, Elon Musk’s vision,” Haridopolos said. “When he thought of things like SpaceX, it was, how do I get to Mars? And then how do you pay to get to Mars? That was the inspiration behind a lot of the new technologies he helped create. And now he’s got a fellow zillionaire in Jeff Bezos dreaming of the same type of things. It’s really exciting” DANIEL PENNY TO BE TAPPED FOR CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL BY HOUSE GOP LAWMAKER In Congress, the first-term lawmaker represents part of the country that’s famous for being home to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The Space Coast broke its all-time annual record with 93 orbital launches last year, according to Florida Today. Just this week it’s scheduled to host launches by both Musk’s SpaceX Falcon 9 and Bezos’ Blue Origin rocket. He lauded both President-elect Trump’s vision for space as well as new House Space Science and Technology Chairman Brian Babin, R-Texas. NASA’S MARTIAN HELICOPTER PROMISES UNPRECEDENTED VIEWS OF THE RED PLANET “Donald Trump has proven day-one and officially in 2019 that he loves space,” he said, referring to Trump’s creation of the Space Force. He suggested that the U.S. approach to the final frontier may not be dissimilar to the optimism and pride seen in 1969, when Americans landed a team of astronauts on the moon. “It was an inspiration for my parents’ generation,” Haridopolos said. “Now, of course, Elon Musk gave us this whole new vision of landing potentially, in our lifetime, on Mars. It’s remarkable. And so the president said this is the future.”
Schools nationwide brace for Trump, including measures compelling teachers not to cooperate with ICE
School districts, universities and state-level education leaders around the country are preparing their schools for the incoming Trump administration, including efforts to protect illegal immigrant children. Many school districts are focusing on efforts to bolster protections for migrant students and families. These include mandatory teacher training on what to do if immigration officials arrive at their schools and new rules that bar them from showing up in the first place. Other districts are readying measures to guarantee funding in case President-elect Trump cuts it. “We will not allow any law enforcement entity to take any type of immigration action against our students or their families within our care,” Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said Monday at a press conference. Carvalho has committed to using all legal options available to protect illegal immigrants attending school in the district, according to local reports. BIDEN EDUCATION DEPARTMENT SPENT OVER $1 BILLION ON DEI GRANTS: REPORT Shortly after Trump’s election victory in November, the district’s governing board passed a resolution prohibiting district employees from voluntarily complying with immigration authorities, including sharing information about a student’s immigration status. Part of the resolution includes teacher training instructing educators on the proper ways to respond to law enforcement. “Get ready to deal with misinformation. Get ready to deal with any action from Washington, and be prepared,” LAUSD board member Monica Garcia said. Several districts are offering training for immigrant students and families as well. In Washington, the Edmonds School District planned a “Know Your Rights Session” led by officials from the local Mexican consulate for immigrant members of its community. The event was later canceled due to backlash, but an official flyer for the event said the Mexican consulate would be on hand to share with community members “how to prepare for immigration raids and your individual rights when approached, detained or incarcerated by police or immigration agents.” Oregon’s largest school district, Portland Public Schools, passed a resolution earlier this month reaffirming its commitment to designate itself a sanctuary school for undocumented students. Under the updated resolution, employees are still not permitted to share a student’s immigration status without parental consent. And the district said it would not allow immigration officials into school buildings beyond the front office. FIVE WAYS TRUMP AND MCMAHON CAN MAKE EDUCATION GREAT Nicole Neily, the president and founder of the nonprofit Parents Defending Education (PDE), said “without a doubt” the increase in illegal immigration has put a negative strain on schools, not helped them. She said the incoming administration will not put up with schools ignoring its policies. “Given the poor state of civics education in America, it’s little wonder that administrators are laboring under the misimpression that they are above the law. But after Jan 20, they should be aware that the incoming administration will not look favorably on these transgressions,” Neily said. In addition to measures aimed at flouting federal immigration authorities, some schools are preparing for possible funding cuts. Trump has signaled he is open to potentially dissolving the Department of Education and has said in the past he would strip federal funds from schools that do not follow the law. Richmond Public Schools in Virginia is planning to fund student lunches locally over fears the Trump administration could get rid of the Community Eligibility Provision, a program that helps pay for meals for students. NEW JERSEY ENDS BASIC READING AND WRITING SKILLS TEST REQUIREMENT FOR TEACHERS “We delivered millions of meals during the pandemic,” Superintendent Jason Kamras said. “So, we’ll have to figure this one out, too, if necessary.” In California, state Superintendent Tony Thurmond said his school system is “prepared to introduce legislation that would guarantee funding for California schools and California education” in case Trump gets rid of it. Colleges and universities are also taking steps to shield their international students from potential deportations under Trump, several of which have encouraged their students from overseas to return to campus ahead of Trump’s inauguration later this month. They have also offered resources for students who are not natural-born citizens. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “A travel ban is likely to go into effect soon after inauguration,” Cornell University’s Office of Global Learning said in a message to students after Trump won.
AAP MLA Gurpreet Gogi found dead in Ludhiana, family claims he…
The incident reportedly occurred around 12 am Gogi was rushed to Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMC), where he was declared dead
Meta, Amazon nix diversity, inclusion programmes ahead of Trump term
Conservative groups have denounced the programmes and threatened to sue companies over them. Facebook owner Meta Platforms and Amazon are winding down diversity programmes ahead of Republican Donald Trump’s return to the United States presidency, amid growing conservative opposition to such initiatives. Some of the US’s biggest businesses have been scaling back their diversity initiatives, years after pushing for more inclusive policies in the wake of protests that followed the police killings of George Floyd and other Black Americans in 2020. Meta is ending its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programmes, including those for hiring, training and picking suppliers, it said in an internal memo to employees on Friday – the latest in a series of actions cheered by conservatives. In less than two weeks, Meta has scrapped its US fact-checking programme, elevated prominent Republican Joel Kaplan to be its chief global affairs officer and elected Dana White, CEO of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and close friend of Trump, to its board. Amazon, in a December memo to employees seen by Reuters on Friday, said it was “winding down outdated programs and materials” related to representation and inclusion, aiming to complete the process by the end of 2024. Advertisement ‘Signaling a shift’ Conservative groups have denounced the programmes and threatened to sue companies over them, emboldened by a US Supreme Court ruling in 2023 that struck down affirmative action in university admissions decisions. Just this week, Elon Musk and other Trump allies blamed DEI programmes for hindering the response to raging wildfires in Los Angeles, without evidence. “The legal and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion efforts in the United States is changing,” Janelle Gale, vice president of human resources at Meta, said in the memo, which was seen by Reuters and originally reported by Axios. Gale cited recent Supreme Court decisions “signaling a shift” in how US courts will approach DEI programmes going forward. “The term ‘DEI’ has also become charged, in part because it is understood by some as a practice that suggests preferential treatment of some groups over others,” she wrote. In practice, this means Meta will no longer have a team focused on diversity and inclusion, and the company said it will instead “focus on how to apply fair and consistent practices that mitigate bias for all, no matter your background.” The company will also end its “diverse slate approach” to hiring, a strategy that incorporates candidates from a diverse pool to be considered for every open position. One employee comment on Gale’s memo called it “upsetting to read”. Other companies that have ended DEI programmes recently include McDonald’s, automaker Ford, Walmart and farm equipment maker, John Deere. Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)
Guantanamo at 23: What’s next for the ‘lawless’ detention facility?
Washington, DC – The detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, turns 23 on Saturday. For Mansoor Adayfi, a former inmate at the prison, the anniversary marks 23 years of “injustice, lawlessness, abuse of power, torture and indefinite detention”. Only 15 prisoners remain at the United States military prison, known as Gitmo, which once held about 800 Muslim men — a dwindling number that gives advocates hope that the facility will eventually be shut down, turning the page on the dark chapter of history it represents. But Adayfi, who now serves as a coordinator for the Guantanamo Project at the advocacy group CAGE International, says truly closing down Gitmo means delivering justice to its current and former detainees. “The United States must acknowledge its wrongdoing, must issue a formal, official apology to the victims, to the survivors,” Adayfi told Al Jazeera. “There must be reparation, compensation and accountability.” Guantanamo opened in 2002 to house prisoners from the so-called “war on terror”, a reaction to the attacks on September 11, 2001, in the US. Advertisement Detainees were arrested in countries across the world on suspicions of ties to al-Qaeda and other groups. Many endured horrific torture at secret detention facilities, known as black sites, before being transferred to Guantanamo. At Gitmo, detainees had few legal rights. Even those cleared for release through Guantanamo’s alternative justice system, known as military commissions, remained imprisoned for years with no recourse to challenge their detention. And so, the prison has become synonymous with the US government’s worst abuses in the post-9/11 era. In recent weeks, the administration of outgoing President Joe Biden has accelerated the transfer of inmates out of Guantanamo, ahead of the end of his term on January 20. On Monday, the US government freed 11 Yemeni detainees and resettled them in Oman. Last month, two inmates were transferred to Tunisia and Kenya. ‘Insane’ Daphne Eviatar, director of the Security with Human Rights (SWHR) programme at Amnesty International USA, said closing down the facility is possible. She said the remaining detainees could be transferred to other countries or to the US, where they would go through the American justice system. Congress imposed a ban in 2015 on transferring Gitmo prisoners to US soil. But Eviatar believes the White House can work with lawmakers to lift the prohibition, especially with so few prisoners left at the facility. “It’s a symbol of lawlessness, of Islamophobia,” Eviatar said of Guantanamo. “It’s a complete violation of human rights. For the United States, which has detained so many people for so long without rights, without charge or trial, it is just horrific. And the fact that it’s ongoing today, 23 years later, is insane.” Advertisement Barack Obama made closing down the prison one of his top promises when he was running for president in 2008, but after taking office, his plans faced strong Republican opposition. Towards the end of his second term, Obama expressed regret over failing to shut down the facility early in his presidency. Of the 15 remaining Gitmo inmates, three are eligible for release, according to the Pentagon. Three others can go in front of Guantanamo’s Periodic Review Board, which assesses whether detainees are safe to transfer. “We’re still hopeful that President Biden can transfer more detainees out before he leaves office,” Eviatar told Al Jazeera. While President-elect Donald Trump has previously pledged to keep the prison open, Eviatar said he may view the facility as inefficient. Plea deals But the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), a Quaker social justice advocacy group, underscored the urgency for Biden to act before Trump takes office. “With President-elect Trump strongly opposed to closing Guantanamo, the need to President Biden to shut the prison down is more urgent than ever,” Devra Baxter, a programme assistant for militarism and human rights at FCNL, said in a statement. “Closing Guantanamo will only happen through the transfer of the final three men who have yet to be charged with a crime and finalizing plea deals with those who have.” However, rather than completing plea deals for the inmates, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has sought to nix agreements for three 9/11 suspects, which had been reached with military prosecutors to spare the prisoners the death penalties, in exchange for guilty pleas. Advertisement Now courts are assessing the validity of the agreements and Austin’s veto against them. Eviatar said Austin’s push to scuttle the plea deals amounts to political interference. “It’s a very strange situation. I don’t understand why the Biden administration, which says it wanted to close Guantanamo, would then have the secretary of defence come in and stop the plea agreements. It makes no sense.” CAGE’s Adayfi said the debacle over the plea agreements shows that there is no functioning justice system at Guantanamo. “It’s a big joke,” he said. “There’s no justice in Guantanamo. There’s no law. There is absolutely nothing. It’s it is one of the biggest human rights violations in the 21st century.” Adayfi added that the US can have its ideals about freedom, democracy and human rights or Guantanamo, but not both. “I believe they have Guantanamo,” he said. Adblock test (Why?)
Myanmar’s rebels liberate territory – administrating it is the next battle
Karen State, Myanmar – Thaw Hti was a tiny speck amid a march of hundreds of thousands that snaked its way through the streets of Yangon in 2021, demanding a return to democracy after the Myanmar military seized power. “We had signboards and they had guns,” she said, recounting with bitterness the events of March 2021. In the intervening four years, much has changed for Thaw Hti and her generation in Myanmar. After the military slaughtered hundreds in bloody crackdowns on those pro-democracy protests, young people fled to territory controlled by ethnic armed groups in Myanmar’s border regions with Thailand, India and China. Thaw Hti went, too. Ethnically part Karen, her choice was obvious. She sought refuge with the Karen National Union – Myanmar’s oldest ethnic armed group, which has been fighting for political autonomy for the Karen people since the 1940s in Myanmar’s eastern Karen State, also known as Kayin State. Speaking during an interview with Al Jazeera in Karen State recently, Thaw Hti told how she was so furious at the military for seizing power that she wanted to become a rebel soldier. Advertisement All new arrivals in KNU territory had to undergo a survival course, which included weapons training, marching long distances in rugged terrain and basic self-defence. Firing a gun, Thaw Hti remembers, gave her a feeling of strength after powerlessly watching the military massacre her fellow protesters. Now, her face crinkles into a huge smile when she says: “I love guns”. But, being short and slight, she struggled to complete even the basic survival course and knew that she would not pass the KNU’s real military training. “I came here to join the revolution but as a woman, there are more barriers,” she said. “Mentally I want to do it but physically I can’t.” Lessons in oppression With a background in education and the ability to speak Karen, Thaw Hti and her husband instead opened a school accredited by the KNU where they teach more than 100 children who have been displaced by conflict. The school is concealed in the forest in eastern Myanmar because of the military’s tendency to launch air strikes on the Karen’s parallel public services – including schools and hospitals. The bombing aims to destroy the emerging administrative structures that lend legitimacy to Karen autonomy. Unlike schools under the military regime’s control, Thaw Hti explained that her school teaches children in the Karen language and teaches a Karen-centred version of Myanmar history that includes the decades of oppression the Karen faced, which is often left out of official narratives. The Karen have fought for their autonomy for decades, but as newer, pro-democracy forces team up with ethnic armed groups, the Karen’s long-simmering conflict with Myanmar’s military – a majority, ethnic Bamar force – has exploded in intensity. Advertisement Particularly in the last year, the military has lost huge swaths of territory in the borderlands – including nearly all of Rakhine State in the west and northern Shan State in the east – as well as large chunks of Kachin State in the north, and also more of Karen State. But as fighters take more and more territory, they are faced with a new challenge: administering it. Parallel administration Seized from the military in March, Kyaikdon in Karen State has been spared the devastating air strikes that have plagued other large towns won by resistance forces. During Al Jazeera’s recent visit to Kyaikdon, the town’s restaurants were filled with civilians and Karen troops eating Burmese curry. Shops were open and selling household goods and traditional Karen fabrics, while the main road was backed up with traffic. Soe Khant, the town’s 33-year-old KNU-appointed administrator, said he had big plans for the liberated territory. “I would like to finish public works, get electricity and water running and clean up the plastic and the overgrown areas,” said Soe Khant, who was officially appointed interim administrator, with an election planned after one year. He agrees with eventually being popularly elected, rather than appointed. “If it’s what the people want, I will take the position. If they choose somebody else, I will pass it on,” he told Al Jazeera. KNLA troops on patrol in November, 2024 at a military base seized from the Myanmar military in the Thin Gan Nyi Naung area of Karen State [Andrew Nachemson/Al Jazeera] Soe Khant said the military regime “totally neglected the people of this town”. Advertisement Growing up in Kyaikdon, Soe Khant told how he would hike to the top of a hill near the town with a friend. From there they would sketch the cluster of buildings around the dusty main road, the winding river that nourishes the farms, and the nearby mountain range that forms the border with Thailand. When he got older, he turned to photography, making a living from wedding shoots. But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit Myanmar in 2020, he answered another calling, launching a social welfare organisation. After the military coup, the situation worsened further. “The healthcare system broke down, so my friends and I volunteered to help take care of people,” he said. While Soe Khant is relatively new to the business of running a parallel administration, the KNU has been doing this for decades – albeit usually in smaller, rural pockets of territory. ‘Going so fast, but we don’t go very far’ Kawkareik township’s secretary Mya Aye served as a village tract leader for 12 years before being elected to his current role, the third most senior in the township. He told Al Jazeera how years of war and a lack of human resources had hampered the local economy and undermined the KNU’s ability to provide public services. “There are no factories, no industry, you can’t work here to support your family,” he said, explaining that because of the conflict and hardships, young people would move to live in nearby Thailand. But the military regime’s cruelty is often its own worst enemy. It has inspired more fervent resistance and driven human resources
Gov. Newsom cut fire budget by $100M months before lethal California fires
A review of last year’s California state budget shows California Gov. Gavin Newsom cut funding for wildfire and forest resilience by more than $100 million. The budget, signed in June and covering the 2024-25 fiscal year, eliminated $101 million from seven “wildfire and forest resilience” programs, according to a report from Newsweek. The California fires, responsible for destroying more than 10,000 buildings in the Los Angeles area, are still not contained. CALIFORNIA WILDFIRES DEVASTATE LOS ANGELES COUNTY, KILLING 5 AND THREATENING THOUSANDS OF HOMES Cal Fire had a $5 million reduction in spending on fuel reduction teams, including funds used to pay for vegetation management work by the California National Guard, the report noted. LA FIRE SOUNDED ALARM ON BUDGET CUTS IMPACTING WILDFIRE RESPONSE: MEMO Other changes: Newsom’s director of communications, Izzy Gardon, called the budget cuts a “ridiculous lie,” in a statement to Fox News Digital Friday night. ESSENTIAL PHONE NUMBERS FOR LOS ANGELES-AREA RESIDENTS AND HOW YOU CAN HELP “The governor has doubled the size of our firefighting army, built the world’s largest aerial firefighting fleet and the state has increased the forest management ten-fold since he took office,” she wrote. “Facts matter.” His office attached statistics that refer to the overall increase in spending and personnel over a number of years since he took office in 2019, as opposed to commenting on the most recent cuts. Cal Fire did not immediately respond to a request for comment as of 8 p.m. Friday.