A court document reveals that the Palestinian Authority (PA) has recently placed a four-month suspension on several Al Jazeera websites in the occupied West Bank.
The Attorney General’s Office demanded that the Palestinian Ministry of Communication follow the court’s order by shutting down Aljazeera in a letter dated Sunday. net, aljazeera. net/live, aljazeera360.com and global. ajplus. net
Under the “under penalty of legal accountability,” the order directed all radio and satellite broadcasting companies to abide by the decree.
The websites that “threaten national security and incite the commission of crimes” were mentioned in the document.
The PA temporarily suspended its work last week by closing Al Jazeera’s office in the occupied West Bank, which the network has denounced.
A PA ministerial committee, including the culture, interior and communications ministries justified that decision, saying the network was broadcasting “inciting material and reports that were deceiving and stirring strife” in the country.
The network criticised the decision, calling it “an attempt to dissuade the channel from covering the rapidly escalating events taking place in the occupied territory” adding that it was “in line with the]Israeli] occupation’s actions against its staff”.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which criticized the closure and warned that Al Jazeera’s reporting in Gaza and the West Bank was “vital,” also criticized the closure.
Analysts and human rights activists claim that the PA’s decisions are a part of a wider campaign to silence criticism of its security measures in the Jenin refugee camp.
Nearly a month after the PA began cracking down on the Jenin Brigades, a coalition of armed groups linked to Palestinian rivals like Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and even Fatah, the party that controls the PA, Al Jazeera’s websites and broadcasts were shut down.
In an ostensible effort to restore “law and order” throughout the West Bank, the PA has besieged the Jenin camp since early December and shut off access to the majority of the camp’s residents.
However, Jenin’s blatantly discriminatory practices coincide with a wider assault on free speech, according to activists and human rights organizations.
In the second innings, Rashid Khan, a star leg spinner, took seven wickets for Afghanistan, who had just 15 balls to win the 72-run victory over Zimbabwe on the final day of their second Test.
At the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo on Monday, Zimbabwe were dismissed for 205 runs, with captain Craig Ervine taking the final wicket as the hosts failed to improve their overnight lead and lost their final two wickets in only 13 minutes.
Before the match’s winner, Rashid trapped Zimbabwe’s top scorer Ervine (53 runs off 103 balls), who was then thrown out for three before taking 11 wickets.
Throughout a match that was repeatedly interrupted by rain, Rashid tormented Zimbabwe.
The 26-year-old deflected attention from himself after receiving the player of the match award, praising second-innings centurions Rahmat Shah (139) – named player of the series – and debutant Ismat Alam (101) instead.
He cited the tourists’ 86-run deficit after the first innings as the reason why they returned to the game.
“Ismat did a fantastic job of letting go of the disappointment of not winning in his first inning. He suffered a broken leg during the second inning for his country, but he persevered.
” I am recovering from back surgery so taking 11 wickets was very encouraging. It was all about adapting to the conditions, which initially favoured the bowlers, then the batters. “
The first test, also in Bulawayo, ended in a high-scoring draw.
On Sunday, photographer and social activist Oleg Pogozhikh went to work at his studio in Kursk, western Russia, to the roar of explosions.
Early in the full-fledged conflict with Ukraine, the Kursk region, which is located along the border, was occasionally bombarded. In August of last year, Ukraine launched a daring invasion into the area, capturing several settlements. Much of the seized territory has since been retaken by Russia.
However, as Ukraine launched a new offensive in Kursk over the weekend, there have been resurgent fighting.
“Everything is as usual: missile warning sirens, explosions somewhere nearby”, Pogozhikh wrote on his Telegram feed, titled Eye of Kursk.
“Today it is especially loud. I’ve been shaking so much that it occasionally blocked out my ears while I’m in the studio. Close. So close that the question arises: what is the enemy trying to achieve? Of course, their goal is to spoil the holiday season, sow panic, distract attention”.
On the way to Kursk, Ukrainian forces began their new offensive at around nine o’clock in Sudzha, moving from their occupied territory to the villages of Berdin and Bolshoye Soldatskoye.
“Events began to occur earlier, namely after midnight”, Yan Furtsev, a local official with Russia’s liberal opposition party Yabloko, told Al Jazeera.
“The use of anti-missile defense systems resulted in explosions that were audible as missile threat warnings started to sound and explosions were reported on Kursk’s streets. However, this night saw more explosions than previous January nights, and even more so in December. In just over 24 hours, almost 16 missile warnings and one drone attack warnings were audible.
Amid the incursion, Deputy Defence Minister Yunus-bek Yevkurov travelled to Kursk and met the local governor. Although the reasons for his visit were not officially disclosed, it is thought he came to personally oversee the region’s defences.
Because the sound and shockwaves from downed drones and missiles are clearly carried throughout the city’s outskirts, Furtsev continued, adding that locals are becoming more anxious because the first week of January in Russia is a government holiday, making information available.
In this August 28, 2024 photo, people wait at a bus stop next to a reinforced concrete bomb shelter installed in a street in Kursk]Maxim Shemetov/Reuters]
Not everyone who lives there is afraid to cower.
“Everything is quiet and good in Kursk”, Pogozhikh told Al Jazeera.
“I have faith in the Russian army.” It may be loud, but people are not worried. The attack of]enemy] troops seems to be only on Telegram. In reality, this is far from the truth. Life is going on as usual. Few people notice that Russia’s air defenses are shooting down their drones and missiles. Of course, when the enemy targets civilian objects and women, children and old folks die, it angers us a little”.
Oleg Ignatov, a senior analyst at Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera the scale of Ukraine’s latest attack is “still small”.
“No significant gains have been made so far”, he said. This time, Russian forces are better prepared to defend themselves. However, it’s possible that what transpired was a distraction or test that would be followed by a major strike attempt, perhaps elsewhere.
He added that Ukraine needs “new successes on the ground” before the administration of United States President-elect Donald Trump begins, a moment many expect will shift the trajectory of the Russia-Ukraine war, possibly towards a ceasefire.
“The goals here are again political, not military, as in the Kursk operation in the summer”, said Ignatov.
Since February 2022, at least 398 civilians have been killed as a result of hostilities in Russian border regions, according to Russian officials’ reports in October.
The city of Kursk has historically been calmer, with one or two missile threat warnings appearing on occasion, according to Furtsev.
The border towns of Rylsk and Lgov, as well as the village of Ivanovskoye in the Rylsk district, were attacked by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the second half of December and in the first days of January in general, leading to significant damage to the cities. The restoration of items that have been destroyed is still being worked on. In the border areas, people are more likely to die from attacks. A combat drone struck a 63-year-old man and killed him on January 3.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defence, Sunday’s incursion consisted of “two tanks, one counter-obstacle vehicle, and 12 armoured fighting vehicles”.
The Russian military has since claimed to have resisted the assault, destroying a portion of Ukraine’s infantry column with heavy aerial and artillery fire.
A significant pipeline that supplies Russia’s gas to Europe was taken over by Ukrainian troops in August of last year, including the town of Sudzha, where it is located. The two warring parties’ agreement expiring on January 1 caused the gas to stop flowing, though.
Ukraine seized mobile phones to deter remaining locals from reporting movements to the enemy while under the occupation of Sudzha, taking on the responsibility of upholding law and order and providing essentials like food, water, and medicine.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, made a hint to NBC in a September interview that Kursk’s fate might influence upcoming ceasefire talks. In Kursk, displaced people from Sudzha began a small protest in November, accusing the authorities of failing to protect them.
Despite Ukraine’s initial success, Russia has slowly gained ground, with Sudzha itself being bombarded as Russia tries to reclaim it.
Despite the Kremlin rejecting all claims about North Korean troops, Russian forces in the area have reportedly received 12, 000 reinforcements from their ally, North Korea. The North Koreans have hardly ever been seen in public if they are present, keeping a low profile.
“There are all sorts of rumours”, , Pogozhikh said.
“I’ve heard about the Koreans, but I take it as a story. However, it is true that the Russians were helped by the gods and the Almighty.
Still, Moscow’s military might have been unable to decisively rout the Ukrainians.
Shin Tae-yong, the nation’s football chief, fired Indonesia’s men’s football coach, with the country’s football minister claiming the team needed stronger leadership as they prepare to compete for the FIFA World Cup in 2026.
The Indonesia Football Association (PSSI)’s head of communication, Erick Thohir, stated at a press conference on Monday that “we need a leadership that implements strategies as agreed with the players, implements better programs, and communicates better.”
Thohir said Shin’s work with the team had “ended” and his replacement, whom he declined to name, would arrive in Indonesia on January 11.
Indonesia, a country with tens of millions of passionate football fans, only made its one World Cup appearance under Dutch rule in 1938, and it has rarely threatened to make a comeback since gaining its independence in 1945.
After six of their ten matches, Indonesia is third in their World Cup group, one point behind Australia in the race to earn the second automatic spot in the finals.
Even if they place third or fourth, they could still advance through additional qualifying rounds and an intercontinental playoff to reach the finals in North America.
Thohir, who claimed to have spoken with three candidates for Shin’s replacement during a recent trip to Europe, was unconcerned about changing coaches’ schedule in the middle of the campaign.
“It’s normal. Lots of countries switch coaches during World Cup qualifiers”, he added.
We’ve been discussing this for a while, but I believe the moment is right because we still have two and a half months to prepare for the upcoming games.
We still have four matches to play for, and we want to score as many points as possible.
In 2019, South Korean Shin took over as the head coach, and Thohir promised to pay for his 2027-year contract.
Shin benefited from a PSSI strategy to entice Indonesian diaspora players who were primarily born in the Netherlands to play for their country.
In a rare move for a disgraced former leader at the center of the country’s biggest scandal, Malaysia’s appeals court accepted former prime minister Najib Razak’s request to see a document he claimed should allow him to serve his sentence at home.
Najib’s appeal was thrown out on Monday by a three-member bench that decided 2-1 to use the decree to bring his case before the High Court.
“Given the fact that there is no challenge]of the existence of the decree], there is no justification that the order has not been complied with”, said Mohamad Firuz Jaffril, one of the three Court of Appeal judges.
The 71-year-old Najib, who was imprisoned over the $1 billion 1MDB scandal, had filed an appeal last July that upheld his request to formally reaffirm and execute a royal order he claimed would have placed him on house arrest.
Malaysia’s pardons board, at the time chaired by then-King Al-Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah, agreed in February last year to halve Najib’s jail sentence to six years from 12 and reduce fines imposed on him, prompting public uproar.
Najib argued, however, that the former king had issued an “addendum order” for house arrest as part of the decree and that it had never been carried out by the authorities.
Malaysia’s home minister claimed the prisons department had not been informed about Najib’s potential home detention last year following the court ruling on Monday.
Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, who presided over the pardons board, stated in a press conference that the home ministry had not received any information from the former king of Malaysia. “The government will fully implement royal orders if received”, he said.
According to the constitution, the monarch, who changes every five years under Malaysia’s unique system of monarchy, has authority to take decisions on granting pardons, upon the advice of the pardons board.
Following Monday’s ruling, “Najib was happy”, his lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah told a news conference. He is relieved that some injustice has been done against him because they finally recognized it.
Najib was found guilty in 2020 of a criminal breach of trust and power abuse for stealing money from 1Malaysia Development Berhad, a subsidiary of the government.
In a number of other 1MDB-related cases, Najib is still facing corruption charges. He has consistently denied wrongdoing.
One of the few journalists in northern Gaza, Moath al-Kahlout, was one of the few who has been affected by an Israeli attack that left 13 members of the same family dead in Gaza City.
