Author:

Hungary, Sweden sign fighter jet deal before NATO membership vote

Hungary, the last NATO country to approve Sweden’s membership bid, will hold a parliamentary vote on Monday. Hungary has signed a deal to buy four fighter jets from Sweden, as Budapest finally prepares to approve Stockholm’s bid to join NATO after nearly two years of delays. “We not only keep our air defence capability but will increase it,” Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in a news conference alongside Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Friday of the agreement to buy four Saab JAS Gripen fighter jets. This “means our commitment to NATO will strengthen and so will our participation in NATO’s joint operations,” Orban added. Hungary will also expand a related logistics contract. It currently leases Gripen aircraft under a contract signed in 2001. Kristersson welcomed the deal and said that “the conversation has been constructive, and we have agreed to move forward in fields of common interests”. “We do not agree on everything, but we do agree that we should work more actively together when we have common ground,” he added. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in Budapest, Hungary, February 23, 2024 [Bernadett Szabo/Reuters] Hungary, the final country to approve Sweden’s bid to join the transatlantic military alliance, will hold a vote in parliament on Monday after Turkey’s ratification last month. The delay in ratifying Sweden’s NATO application soured Budapest’s relations with the United States and raised concerns among its allies. Sweden sought to join the military alliance in 2022 along with Finland following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Finland became the 31st member of the alliance last April, which doubled the length of NATO’s border with Russia. It also strengthened the defences of three small Baltic countries that joined the bloc after the collapse of the Soviet Union more than three decades ago. Earlier Friday, Orban told state radio that “some pending [bilateral] military and arms issues” had to be resolved before the vote. “We are pro-peace, and the Swedes are pro-war in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict,” Orban said. adding the “clear differences in values” could be bridged. Sweden, which has a long coastline on the Baltic Sea, could become a vital logistics hub for NATO in Northern Europe if it manages to join the bloc. Military non-alignment had once been a point of pride for Swedes, with a clear majority against NATO membership, which changed once the Ukraine war started. Sweden has already regularly participated in NATO exercises in the region. Orban, who had maintained close economic ties with Russia, had repeatedly delayed Sweden’s ratification citing grievances over Stockholm’s criticism of the rule of law and the state of democracy in Hungary. The Hungarian leader, who has also refused to send weapons to Ukraine and slammed Western sanctions against Russia, urged for a ceasefire earlier on Friday. He said a truce was the only solution as “Russia cannot be forced on its knees in the military sense … This conflict [in Ukraine] has no solution on the battleground”. Adblock test (Why?)

Hundreds of mourners attend funeral for marathon star Kiptum in Kenya

The 24-year-old set the world record in Chicago in October before his death in a car accident this month. Marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum, whose dreams of breaking the race’s two-hour barrier were ended by a fatal car crash this month, has been remembered for his talent and humility at a funeral in western Kenya. The service on Friday in his hometown, the Rift Valley village of Chepkorio, was attended by hundreds of mourners, including political and sporting dignitaries like President William Ruto and World Athletics President Sebastian Coe. The 24-year-old Kiptum had run only three international marathons, but each was among the fastest seven ever recorded. He set the world record in Chicago in October in two hours and 35 seconds, shaving 34 seconds off his compatriot Eliud Kipchoge’s mark. Anglican Bishop Paul Korir, who presided over the service, emphasised Kiptum’s humility and ties to the local community, where he had worked as a livestock herder and trained as an electrician before becoming a professional runner. “He dined with the high and mighty, and at the same time, he came to play pool at Chepkorio,” Korir said. His sudden death has left Kenya and the wider athletics community reeling. “He was a real superstar whose path was on a spectacular upward trajectory,” said Jack Tuwei, president of Athletics Kenya. “All indications were he was going to beat the two-hour barrier.” “Fare thee well champ,” was the front-page headline of Kenya’s leading Daily Nation newspaper on Friday. A woman mourns after viewing Kiptum’s body [Reuters] Mourners, including 1,500-metre record holder Faith Kipyegon, started arriving for the funeral at dawn, some wearing black T-shirts with a picture of Kiptum on the front. They viewed the body, laid out in a half-open coffin on a red carpet as a choir sang religious songs. Four giant screens streamed the service for the many villagers gathered outside the venue. Kiptum will be buried later on Friday in a family plot near the city of Eldoret, where the government is now building a house for his wife and two children. His widow, Asenath Cheruto, said she and Kiptum, who had a traditional marriage in 2017, had planned to hold a “colourful wedding ceremony” in April. “You have been the best husband and father to our children,” she said, breaking down into sobs. Kiptum had hoped to break two hours at a marathon in Rotterdam in April and was also expected to make his Olympic debut in Paris this year in what could have been his first head-to-head match-up with Kipchoge. He and his coach Gervais Hakizimana, a 36-year-old Rwandan, were killed when the runner lost control of the vehicle he was driving. Adblock test (Why?)

Shamima Begum loses appeal against removal of British citizenship

Begum is now effectively stateless and will likely stay in a detention camp in Syria for the foreseeable future. Shamima Begum, the British national who travelled to Syria as a schoolgirl to join ISIL (ISIS), has lost her latest appeal attempt to regain citizenship stripped by the United Kingdom. The Court of Appeal ruled on Friday that Shamima Begum was lawfully deprived of her British citizenship. The court said it could be argued that the decision to strip the 24-year-old of her citizenship may be “harsh” but it could also be argued that Begum is “the author of her own misfortune”. “But it is not for this court to agree, or disagree with either point of view,” the ruling said. “Our only task is to assess if the deprivation decision was unlawful. We have concluded it was not, and the appeal is dismissed.” Reporting from outside the court in London, Al Jazeera’s Harry Fawcett said this is not necessarily the end of the road for Begum’s case. “Her lawyers have a week now to consider this judgement. The chief justice said, if necessary, they can take more time to come back to the court,” he said, adding that lawyers can now take the case to the country’s highest court, the Supreme Court. Begum, born and raised in east London, left her home in Bethnal Green to travel to Syria and join the group. She was accompanied by two other schoolgirls, Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase, with Sultana believed killed in an explosion and the fate of Abase remaining unknown. Begum’s lawyers had argued that she was trafficked to Syria and the fact that she was a minor when it happened must be considered, but were rejected by government lawyers who argued she did it with full knowledge. “On both the legislation relating to the European Convention on Human Rights and British common law the judges here determined that it was some four years after [she went to Syria] that the declaration on citizenship took place” and that the home secretary had the right to strip her of citizenship, Al Jazeera’s Fawcett reported. Her British citizenship was revoked on national security grounds in 2019 after she was found in a Syrian refugee camp. She was pregnant at the time, and the baby, along with her two other children, have died. She had admitted that she joined the organisation knowing it was proscribed as a “terror” group, and has said she was “ashamed” and regretted joining the group. Begum, who lived under ISIL rule for more than three years and was married to a Dutch member of the group, has since appealed the decision and says she wants to come back to Britain. She was born in the UK to parents of Bangladeshi origin but does not have Bangladeshi citizenship. She could have applied for Bangladeshi citizenship until she was 21, but did not, and the South Asian country has said there is “no question” of her obtaining citizenship now. The UK Home Office stripped her of citizenship when she was 19 years old, meaning she still had time to file for Bangladeshi citizenship, something that appeared to strengthen the legal basis for revoking her citizenship. Begum now lives in the al-Roj detention camp in northeastern Syria, where she is likely to stay for the foreseeable future since she is effectively stateless. Adblock test (Why?)

German lawyers sue politicians including Scholz over ‘complicity’ in Gaza

Lawyers representing Palestinians file criminal complaint against the chancellor and other top politicians, accusing them of abetting ‘genocide’. Berlin, Germany – A group of lawyers has filed a criminal complaint with the German federal prosecutor against senior German politicians, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, accusing them of “aiding and abetting” the genocide they say is being committed by Israel in Gaza. The case against several members of the country’s Federal Security Council, which directs national security policy and authorises weapons exports, was filed on Friday. In addition to Scholz, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Economics Minister Robert Habeck, Finance Minister Christian Lindner and others stand accused. The lawyers behind the case represent families of two Palestinians with roots in the Gaza Strip, including that of Palestinian-German migration scholar Nora Ragab. “We, Palestinians in the diaspora, will not stand by and watch a genocide being committed against our families and our people,” Ragab said in a statement. “We will use all means at our disposal. … Today we aim to hold the German government accountable for its complicity in the genocide in Gaza.” The European Legal Support Center, the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy and the UK-based Law for Palestine are among the civil society organisations backing the case. In a jointly written statement, they said: “The German state is one of the countries that has shown some of the strongest political and material support to Israel in its assault on the Gaza Strip and the Palestinians.” Alexander Gorski, one of the lawyers supporting the case, acknowledged that “from a legal point of view and given the political landscape in Germany, this case will be a difficult one.” “But we believe it’s our responsibility as people working in the judicial sector to try to do something,” he told Al Jazeera. “We are seeing a genocide being livestreamed around the world, and despite this, the Israeli government is still being supported by other countries and is still receiving weapons from them.” After the October 7 attacks by Hamas, during which 1,139 people were killed in southern Israel, the Israeli government retaliated with a military campaign in Gaza that has to date killed more than 29,000 Palestinians, the majority of them women and children. Israel has said it wants to crush Hamas, which governs the densely populated strip, but after four months of war, the devastating civilian toll is causing alarm among world leaders. In late January, the United Nations’ top court, the International Court of Justice, or ICJ, found it was “plausible” that Israel was committing acts in Gaza that violated the international Convention on Genocide. Since the court’s decision, Germany and all other third-party states should have been trying to stop Israel from committing such acts, the lawyers behind Friday’s case said. However since October, many German officials have “incited” genocide with their statements, they alleged. The legal case will also focus on German weapons exports to Israel. These increased significantly in 2023, compared with the previous year, and most of that increase was approved by the German government after October 7. Despite the ICJ ruling, Germany has “already agreed in principle” to send more tank ammunition to Israel, they said. Adblock test (Why?)

Weather update: IMD issues snowfall alert in these states for next 5 days, check forecast here

Isolated to scattered light to moderate rainfall is expected over the region on February 24 and 25.

How sudden deaths are being investigated through virtual autopsy

In the last one and a half years, a virtual autopsy of 132 people was done in AIIMS.

Trump’s lawyers push for dismissal of classified documents case, arguing ‘presidential immunity’

Lawyers for Donald Trump have filed multiple motions seeking a Florida judge to toss out the case against the former president charging him with illegally retaining classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, citing “presidential immunity” and the “unlawful” appointment of special counsel Jack Smith.  Attorneys Christopher Kise and Todd Blanche wrote that the charges “turn on his alleged decision to designate records as personal under the Presidential Records Act (PRA) and to cause the records to be moved from the White House to Mar-a-Lago.”   Since Trump made this decision while he was still in office, they wrote, it “was an official act, and as such is subject to presidential immunity.”  Trump faces dozens of felony counts in federal court in Florida accusing him of illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach and obstructing government efforts to retrieve them. The trial is currently set to begin on May 20.  TRUMP DEMANDS JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ‘IMMEDIATELY’ DROP CHARGES AGAINST HIM IN CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS CASE AFTER BIDEN DECISION  Trump’s lawyers also argued that Attorney General Merrick Garland’s appointment of special counsel Jack Smith to investigate the former president was “unlawful” and grounds for dismissal of the documents case, according to The Associated Press.  In a June 2023 indictment charging Trump, prosecutors allege investigators discovered boxes of sensitive documents stored in spaces in Mar-a-Lago including a bathroom and shower, Trump’s bedroom and a storage room.  Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges.  TRUMP SAID HE COULD END UKRAINE WAR NEARLY A YEAR AGO BUT STILL HASN’T LAID OUT SPECIFICS  Trump told Fox News Digital earlier this month that “deranged” Special Counsel Smith needs to “immediately” drop all charges against him in the case following the decision not to bring charges against President Biden for his retention of sensitive national security documents.  “They should immediately drop the case against me,” Trump said at the time. “I am covered by the Presidential Records Act — he wasn’t. He had many, many times more documents — totally unguarded. Mine were always surrounded by Secret Service and in locked rooms.”   Fox News’ Brooke Singman and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Critics of Georgia religious rights protection bill say it would be used for discrimination

Georgia lawmakers are revisiting a nearly decade-old fight over whether the state needs to protect religious rights from being trampled by state and local governments in a measure opponents say would provide a legal shield for people and groups to discriminate against LGBTQ+ people in the name of religion. That religious protection bill resurfaced Thursday eight years after lawmakers passed a different version of the measure. Then-Gov. Nathan Deal, a Republican, vetoed it in 2016 under pressure from Georgia’s business community, who said they feared it would hurt their ability to attract employees and tourists. Also Thursday, a House subcommittee advanced a measure that would ban transgender students in public schools from using the bathroom that meets their current gender identity. Supporters say the measure is needed to protect students who aren’t transgender, while opponents in sometimes tearful testimony told lawmakers the measure would stigmatize and endanger transgender students who are already subject to bullying. GEORGIA PROPOSAL FOR PARENTAL OVERSIGHT OF LIBRARY BOOKS ADVANCES, CRITICS CRY CENSORSHIP Both measures are being pushed in an election year when all of Georgia’s lawmakers are up for reelection and Republican leaders have become more conservative. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 6-3 to pass Senate Bill 180, sending it on to the full Senate for more debate. It mirrors a 1993 federal law, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The bill’s sponsor, Republican Sen. Ed Setzler of Acworth, has pushed for the measure for years, because the federal law doesn’t apply to state and local governments, which might deny things like permission to distribute religious literature or a zoning permit for a church without giving enough deference to religious freedom. “Every Georgian should be free to worship and exercise their faith without unfair federal, state or local government intrusion,” Setzler said. But opponents warn that private businesses will use the law to do things like deny birth control coverage to their employees, and the legislation could blow holes in local laws that ban discrimination. Georgia has no statewide law banning discrimination. “It seems like some people have a hate agenda in their religious practices, to deny jobs, housing and dignity to gays and lesbians,” said Michael Rohtbaum, senior rabbi at Congregation Bet Haverim, an Atlanta synagogue. Setzler, though says claims that the bill would enable discrimination are spurious. “What they’re saying is just simply not so,” he said. “The parade of horribles you heard is just simply not so when you look at the states that this applies to.” The current bill has 23 other Republican senators as cosigners, but the issue has languished, seen as politically radioactive after Deal’s veto. The debate over the bill to regulate student bathroom use has the same outlines, with Republicans saying Georgians need protection and opponents saying the law will be weaponized against transgender students. “The issue is making sure biological males use the male facilities and biological females use the female facilities,” said Rep. Josh Bonner, a Fayetteville Republican who is sponsoring House Bill 936. Elizabeth Wagner of suburban Berkeley Lake told committee members she’s the mother of a transgender boy. She warned the bill would only amp up bullying by forcing him to use the girls’ bathroom. “Anyone with a heart and a handful of brain cells can see this bill for what it is,” Wagner said. “It is open hunting season on trans youth in Georgia.” The measure also covers locker rooms and overnight school trips. It requires that schools find some other bathroom for transgender or other students uncomfortable using the bathroom that matches their birth sex. It was unclear from committee debate whether any Georgia school district has a policy that allows transgender students to use bathrooms corresponding with their current gender identity. But opponents said that alternate restrooms can often involve a trek across a large high school campus, making it hard for students to access during the school day. Ben Ackerley, who helps lead the Georgia chapter of TransParent, a group for parents of transgender youth, said it also adds to students’ isolation. “That accommodation keeps them separate from their peers, and all they want to do is be included,” Ackerley said. The Movement Advancement Project, a group that advocates for LGBTQ+ rights, says 11 states have passed bills regulating bathroom usage since 2021, including neighboring Tennessee, Alabama and Florida. North Carolina passed in 2016 and repealed in 2017 amid the same kind of controversy that led Deal to veto Georgia’s religious liberty bill in 2016. Georgia’s measure would let parents sue school districts if school officials let students use a bathroom that doesn’t match their birth sex, and it would let the Professional Standards Commission, which licenses teachers and administrators, investigate noncompliance.

Kristi Noem offers 5 requirements to serve as Trump’s VP

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem thinks she knows what former President Donald Trump requires in a running mate. During an interview with Fox News host Lawrence Jones, Noem offered her perspective on the accomplishments, qualifications, and attitudes a vice president for Trump would need to bring to the office. “I’m all-in to do what I can to help the team. He needs somebody that actually is not part of the swamp, I think. He needs a business owner,” Noem said. “He needs somebody who’s been a commander-in-chief, somebody who makes decisions when things get tough.”  TRUMP REVEALS VP  SHORTLIST INCLUDES DESANTIS, SCOTT, RAMASWAMY, NOEM, DONALDS, GABBARD She added, “Those are his qualifications, and he needs to know he can have somebody around him that trusts him and he trusts and will fight.” Noem was among at least half a dozen contenders — including three former rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination — revealed to be on Trump’s shortlist for a running mate during a special episode of Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle.” “He’s got a lot of jobs to do when you’re President of the United States. He needs to have people on his team that fight for him every single day,” Noem told Jones. KRISTI NOEM SHARES VISION FOR AMERICA IN NEW BOOK AMID SPECULATION ABOUT RUNNING AS TRUMP’S VP “So, when he picks whoever it is a vice president, I’ll support whoever he picks, and I’m going to make sure that I’m someone who still continues to defend and fight for his policies,” the governor said. During the interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, Trump was asked about half a dozen potential running mate choices: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, multimillionaire biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida, and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, a Democrat turned independent. “Are they all on your shortlist?” host Laura Ingraham asked the former president. “They are,” Trump answered. “Honestly, all of those people are good. They’re all good, they’re all solid.” Trump has a history of making comments off the cuff, and many in the political world claim some of the individuals listed are a stretch as viable options for vice president. Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

Florida lane passes bill to ban left lane driving with few exceptions

The state of Florida is set to crack down on life in the fast lane. The Florida legislature has passed a bill that would ban motorists from cruising in the left lane of highways, sending it to Gov. Ron DeSantis for his signature. The bill passed unanimously in the state Senate 37-0.  “If someone in the left lane is going slower, and you pass them (on the right), you are creating an infraction, and you can get ticketed,” bill sponsor state Sen. Keith Perry (R) said Thursday, according to The News Service of Florida.  Under HB 317, drivers on a road, street or highway “with two or more lanes” where the speed limit is “at least 65 miles per hour … may not operate a motor vehicle in the furthermost left-hand lane, except when overtaking and passing another vehicle; when preparing to exit … or when otherwise directed by an official traffic control device.”  TRAGIC FLORIDA SAND HOLE DEATH COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED: EXPERT The restriction would not apply to high occupancy lanes.  The legislation was sponsored by Republican state Reps. Jenna Persons-Mulicka and Melony Bell in the House and Perry in the Senate.  FLORIDA PAIR CHARGED WITH MURDER AFTER SEX-FOR-HIRE CAR THEFT PLOT WENT AWRY: DEPUTIES Anyone found to be in violation of the law would face fines for a moving violation, with fines up to $158, according to the bill text. There is an exception for authorized emergency vehicles and vehicles “engaged in highway maintenance or construction operations.”  FLORIDA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CONFIRMS 6TH CASE OF MEASLES AMID OUTBREAK Perry said the measure is intended to improve highway safety. “Last year we had 247 instances where people were either incapacitated or deaths that happened from improper passing on the right-hand side on someone’s blindside,” he told Action News Jax last week.  Should DeSantis sign the bill, Florida would join eight other states where it is currently illegal to drive in the left lane except for turning left or passing, according to AutoInsurance.org. States with those restrictions include Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and West Virginia. “Driving is a pretty uniform practice across the United States, so most of us don’t think twice before crossing new state lines. However, many states have their own traffic laws that pose legal penalties and physical dangers if not obeyed,” said Jeffrey Johnson, an insurance lawyer.  For that reason, 27 states require drivers to stay right if they are moving slower than the cars surrounding them.