Hamas officials say Israel delaying aid delivery to Gaza, may affect hostages' release

Hamas officials say Israel delaying aid delivery to Gaza, may affect hostages' release
Displaced Palestinians cross a checkpoint manned by Hamas security at the Nezarim corridor as people make their way from the south to the northern parts of the Gaza Strip, on Salah al-Din road, in Mughraqa in central Gaza, on January 29, 2025. (AFP)
Short Url
Updated 29 January 2025
Follow

Hamas officials say Israel delaying aid delivery to Gaza, may affect hostages' release

Hamas officials say Israel delaying aid delivery to Gaza, may affect hostages' release

CAIRO: Two Hamas officials on Wednesday accused Israel of delaying the delivery of vital humanitarian aid to Gaza, as agreed in the ceasefire deal, and warned that it could impact the release of hostages.

"We warn that continued delays and failure to address these points (delivery of key aid) will affect the natural progression of the agreement, including the prisoner exchange," a senior Hamas official told AFP, while another offical said the group had asked mediators to intervene in the issue. Both spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.


Tunisia plastic collectors spread as economic, migration woes deepen

Tunisia plastic collectors spread as economic, migration woes deepen
Updated 1 min 15 sec ago
Follow

Tunisia plastic collectors spread as economic, migration woes deepen

Tunisia plastic collectors spread as economic, migration woes deepen
  • Hamza Jabbari sets bags of plastic bottles onto a scale. He is among Tunisia’s “barbechas,” informal plastic recyclers whose increasing numbers reflect the country’s economy
TUNIS: A towel draped over his head, Hamza Jabbari sets bags of plastic bottles onto a scale. He is among Tunisia’s “barbechas,” informal plastic recyclers whose increasing numbers reflect the country’s economic — and migratory — woes.
The 40-something-year-old said he starts the day off at dawn, hunching over bins and hunting for plastic before the rubbish trucks and other plastic collectors come.
“It’s the most accessible work in Tunisia when there are no job offers,” Jabbari said, weighing a day’s haul in Bhar Lazreg, a working-class neighborhood north of the capital, Tunis.
The work is often gruelling, with a kilogramme of plastic bottles worth only 0.5 to 0.7 Tunisian dinar — less than $0.25.
In Tunis, it’s common to see women weighed down by bags of plastic bottles along the roadside, or men weaving through traffic with towering loads strapped to their motorcycles.
“Everyone does it,” said Jabbari.
Hamza Chaouch, head of the National Chamber of Recyclable Waste Collectors, estimated that there were roughly 25,000 plastic collectors across Tunisia, with 40 percent of them in the capital.
Yet, with the job an informal one, there is no official count of how many plastic collectors operate in Tunisia.
One thing is certain: their number has increased in recent years, said Chaouch, who also runs a plastic collection center south of Tunis.
“It’s because of the cost of living,” he explained.
“At first, it was people with no income, but for the past two years, workers, retirees and cleaning women have also turned to this work as a supplementary job.”
Around 16 percent of Tunisians lived under the poverty line as of 2021, the latest available official figures.
Unemployment currently hovers around 16 percent, with inflation at 5.4 percent.
The ranks of these recyclers have also grown with the arrival of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa — often hoping to reach Europe but caught in limbo with both the EU and Tunis cracking down on Mediterranean crossings.
Tunisia is a key transit country for thousands of sub-Saharan migrants seeking to reach Europe by sea each year, with the Italian island of Lampedusa only 150 kilometers (90 miles) away.
Abdelkoudouss, a 24-year-old from Guinea, said he began collecting plastic to make ends meet but also to save up enough money to return home after failing two crossing attempts to Europe.
For the past two months, he has worked at a car wash, he said, but the low pay forced him to start recycling on the side.
“Life here is not easy,” said Abdelkoudouss, adding he came to the capital after receiving “a lot of threats” amid tension between migrants and locals in Sfax, a coastal city in central Tunisia.
Thousands of migrants had set up camp on the outskirts of Sfax, before authorities began dismantling the makeshift neighborhoods this year.
Tensions flared in early 2023 when President Kais Saied said “hordes of sub-Saharan migrants” were threatening the country’s demographic composition.
Saied’s statement was widely circulated online and unleashed a wave of hostility that many migrants feel still lingers.
“There’s a strong rivalry in this work,” said Jabbari, glancing at a group of sub-Saharan African migrants nearby.
“These people have made life even more difficult for us. I can’t collect enough plastic because of them.”
Chaouch, the collection center manager, was even more blunt: “We don’t accept sub-Saharans at our center. Priority goes to Tunisians.”
In contrast, 79-year-old Abdallah Omri, who heads another center in Bhar Lazreg, said he “welcomes everyone.”
“The people who do this work are just trying to survive, whether they’re Tunisian, sub-Saharan or otherwise,” he said.
“We’re cleaning up the country and feeding families,” he added proudly.

Imperious Pogacar wins Tour de France for fourth time

Imperious Pogacar wins Tour de France for fourth time
Updated 19 min 44 sec ago
Follow

Imperious Pogacar wins Tour de France for fourth time

Imperious Pogacar wins Tour de France for fourth time

The Slovenian has now won the Tour four times in six years and finished runner-up twice

Despite the rain, tens of thousands of spectators packed Montmartre to follow Pogacar’s progress through the narrow streets of the popular tourist spot

AFP PARIS: Tadej Pogacar completed a supreme performance to win the Tour de France in a rainy Paris on Sunday, crushing his rivals to collect a fourth title.

Wout van Aert triumphed in the final-day cliffhanger around Montmartre, but Pogacar was spared any late challenge to his overall lead when the weather forced organizers to neutralize times to avoid accidents on the slippery cobbled roads.

However, Pogacar more than played his part in a thrilling finale before Belgian rider Van Aert pulled away on the last climb.

“I was really happy they neutralized the times of the GC (general classification),” Pogacar said. “Then it was more relaxed to race and you just had to have good legs to be in front. I tried but hats off to Wout, he was incredibly strong. It was a really nice race.”

The Slovenian has now won the Tour four times in six years and finished runner-up twice.

“It’s six years in a row on the podium and this one feels especially amazing,” he said.

Second-placed Jonas Vingegaard was unable to contend with Pogacar, but the winner paid tribute to the Dane.

“I spoke to Jonas today. We’ve been racing each other for five years now and we have raised each other to a higher level,” he said.

Despite the rain, tens of thousands of spectators packed Montmartre to follow Pogacar’s progress through the narrow streets of the popular tourist spot.

He played to the delighted crowds by racing to the head of the peloton near the Moulin Rouge cabaret at the foot of the climb before Van Aert produced a well-timed attack to drop Pogacar and charge to the finish line on the Champs-Elysees avenue.

Pogacar was fourth on the day but after wins in 2020, 2021 and 2024, he again proved untouchable in the world’s greatest bike race.

Vingegaard, the champion in 2022 and 2023, suffered two shocking off-days and ended second overall, 4min 24sec adrift.

“I had some of my worst days here and some of the best,” he said after the race, adding he would turn his attention to the Tour of Spain.

“I’ll have a week off now, and then start training for the Vuelta,” he said.

Breakout German star Florian Lipowitz, 24, took third on his debut, rounding out the podium a distant 11 minutes off the pace in third.

Defending his title, Pogacar embarked from the start in Lille as clear favorite and won four stages along the way.

In the first week, he struck on rolling runs in the north and west at Rouen and the Mur de Bretagne.

He then turned the screw on the slopes of the Pyrenees in week two with his rivals as good as vanquished.

Vingegaard suffered on the stage-five time trial, and again in the second week at the Hautacam mountain, leaving the Dane in shock as his form abandoned him.

In need of a massive turn around in the Alps, Pogacar adopted mature tactics and sat on his rival’s wheel.

After it was all over, a beaming Pogacar said he could finally relax.

“Everybody has different ideas about how to celebrate. I want some peace and beautiful weather, enjoying some quiet days at home,” he said.

A barnstorming first week of the Tour revealed a raft of emerging stars.

Lipowitz was given a run for his money for third place by 22-year-old Scot Oscar Onley, whose steady ride propelled him to fourth overall.

The pair came first and second a minute adrift in the white jersey battle for the best under-26 rider, raising hopes of a new Tour rivalry in the making.

Ireland’s Ben Healy bagged a stage win and a two-day stint in the yellow jersey.

Adding a heroic near-miss on Mont Ventoux was enough to earn Healy the prize for combativity, voted for by the public.

The return of one-time guru Dave Brailsford from his role at Manchester United to Ineos Grenadiers was overshadowed by the team’s Italian powerhouse Filippo Ganna falling early on stage one. He was withdrawn due to concussion.

Having previously masterminded seven overall Tour de France wins, Brailsford dug in and the team’s Dutch climber Thymen Arensman pulled off heists in the Pyrenees and the Alps to win two stages.

France’s sole and unexpected stage win came on the lunar-like summit of Mont Ventoux when Valentin Paret-Peintre won an enthralling war of attrition with Healy.

The 2025 Tour though will be remembered for Pogacar’s all-round dominance.


Pakistan launches week-long polio vaccination drive in Balochistan amid spike in cases

Pakistan launches week-long polio vaccination drive in Balochistan amid spike in cases
Updated 30 min ago
Follow

Pakistan launches week-long polio vaccination drive in Balochistan amid spike in cases

Pakistan launches week-long polio vaccination drive in Balochistan amid spike in cases
  • Drive aims to vaccinate over 500,000 children up to the age of five against poliovirus, says state broadcaster
  • Pakistan reported three new polio cases on Sunday, two from northwestern KP province and one from Sindh 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani authorities will launch a week-long polio vaccination campaign in the country’s southwestern Balochistan province today, Monday, amid a fresh spike in cases of the infection. 

According to state broadcaster Radio Pakistan, the vaccination drive will begin in “sensitive union councils” across Balochistan on Monday to target children under the age of five.

“According to Provincial Polio Emergency Operation Center, more than five hundred thousand children up to the age of five will be vaccinated,” Radio Pakistan said. 

It said the campaign will cover 123 “high-risk” union councils including those in the provincial capital of Quetta, Pishin, Chaman, Dera Bugti, Duki, Zhob and Killa Abdullah districts. 

The polio drive takes place a day after Pakistan’s National Emergencies Operation Center reported three fresh cases of the disease, taking the total tally of polio cases this year to 17. Two of the cases were reported in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province while the third case was reported from the country’s southern Sindh province. 

Polio is a highly infectious viral disease that primarily affects young children and can cause permanent paralysis. There is no cure, but it can be prevented through multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and a complete routine immunization schedule, experts say.

Pakistan, one of only two countries in the world where polio remains endemic, the other being neighboring Afghanistan, has made significant gains in recent decades. Annual cases have fallen dramatically from an estimated 20,000 in the early 1990s to single digits by 2018.

However, the country has witnessed a worrying resurgence recently. Pakistan reported 74 cases in 2024, raising alarms among health officials and global partners supporting the eradication campaign. In contrast, only six cases were recorded in 2023 and just one in 2021.

Despite decades of effort, Pakistan’s polio eradication drive has faced persistent challenges, including misinformation about vaccines and resistance from conservative religious and militant groups who view immunization campaigns with suspicion.

Some clerics have claimed the vaccines are a Western conspiracy to sterilize Muslim children or part of intelligence operations.

Vaccination teams and police providing security have also been targeted in militant attacks, particularly in remote and conflict-affected areas of KP and Balochistan. These threats have at times forced the suspension of campaigns and restricted access to vulnerable populations.


China’s birthplace of kung fu rocked by embezzlement probe

China’s birthplace of kung fu rocked by embezzlement probe
Updated 36 min 10 sec ago
Follow

China’s birthplace of kung fu rocked by embezzlement probe

China’s birthplace of kung fu rocked by embezzlement probe
  • Abbot Shi Yongxin is suspected of “embezzling project funds and temple assets,” the Shaolin Temple said in a statement on WeChat
  • Known as the “CEO monk” for establishing companies abroad, Shi is also alleged to be engaging in “improper relationships” with multiple women

BEIJING: Chinese authorities are investigating the head of the temple where kung fu was born over alleged embezzlement and other misconduct, the monastery said.

Abbot Shi Yongxin, known as the “CEO monk” for establishing dozens of companies abroad, is suspected of “embezzling project funds and temple assets,” the Shaolin Temple said in a statement on WeChat Sunday.

It said Shi had “seriously violated Buddhist precepts,” including by allegedly engaging in “improper relationships” with multiple women.

“Multiple departments” were conducting a joint investigation, the temple said.

In this July 3, 2006 photo, Shi Yongxin, abbot of Shaolin Temple speaks at the Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng in central China's Henan province. (Chinatopix via AP, file) 

Shi has previously been accused by former monks of embezzling money from a temple-run company, maintaining a fleet of luxury cars and fathering children with multiple women.

China’s government exercises authority over the appointment of religious leaders, and “improper” conduct is often grounds for removal from office.

A hashtag related to the temple scandal had been viewed over 560 million times on social media platform Weibo, as of Monday morning.

The last post to the abbot’s personal account on Weibo declared: “when one’s own nature is pure, the pure land is here in the present.”

Shi faced similar allegations in 2015 which the temple called “vicious libel.”

Shi, 59, took office as abbot in 1999 and in the following decades expanded Shaolin studies and cultural knowledge overseas.

He helped the temple establish dozens of companies — but received backlash for commercialising Buddhism.

The temple, established in AD 495, is known as the birthplace of Zen Buddhism and Chinese kung fu.

Shi was first elected vice-chairman of the Buddhist Association of China in 2002 and has served as a representative to the National People’s Congress, the country’s top lawmaking body.

 


Pakistan hopes for ‘meaningful outcomes’ ahead of high-level UN summit on Palestine today 

Pakistan hopes for ‘meaningful outcomes’ ahead of high-level UN summit on Palestine today 
Updated 44 min 26 sec ago
Follow

Pakistan hopes for ‘meaningful outcomes’ ahead of high-level UN summit on Palestine today 

Pakistan hopes for ‘meaningful outcomes’ ahead of high-level UN summit on Palestine today 
  • Saudi Arabia, France to co-chair UN summit seeking peaceful settlement of Middle East crisis involving Palestine
  • High-level conference will convene foreign ministers and diplomats from dozens of countries around the world 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has expressed the hope for achieving “meaningful outcomes” ahead of a high-level United Nations summit on Palestine scheduled to convene today, Monday, at New York. 

The event — officially titled the High-Level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution — will be co-chaired by Saudi Arabia and France from July 28-29. The conference arrives amid worsening humanitarian conditions in Gaza and a historic diplomatic shift: France’s decision to formally recognize Palestine as a state.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed over 57,000 Palestinians since October 7, 2023. The conference takes place a day after Israel declared a “tactical pause” in fighting in parts of Gaza on Sunday and said it would allow the UN and aid agencies to open secure land routes to tackle a deepening hunger crisis.

Dar spoke to Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Sunday to discuss the “grave” humanitarian situation in Gaza impacting millions of Palestinians, Pakistan’s foreign office said on Sunday. 

“He expressed the hope of achieving meaningful outcomes from the high-level international conference on Palestine and implementation of the two-state solution scheduled to be held in New York tomorrow,” the foreign office said. 

The two diplomats also exchanged views about a “high-level visit” to Pakistan in the near future, the statement said without elaborating further. 

One of the most consequential developments ahead of the conference is French President Emmanuel Macron’s July 24 announcement that France will formally recognize Palestine, with the official declaration to be made at the UN General Assembly in September.

Analysts say France’s move could tip the balance internationally. Already, 147 of 193 UN member states — nearly 75 percent — recognize Palestine, including nearly all of Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. France would be the first G7 country to join that group. The US, Canada, Australia, Germany, and the UK still do not, citing the need for direct negotiations with Israel.

The conference will convene foreign ministers and diplomats from dozens of countries and will build upon the work of eight working groups, each focusing on areas such as security, humanitarian aid, and post-war reconstruction.

A follow-up summit is planned in September at the UN General Assembly, to be co-chaired by President Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.