Indian Supreme Court rejects plea to stop implementation of citizenship law

Members of the media gather at the Supreme Court in New Delhi on November 9, 2019. (AFP)
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Updated 18 December 2019
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Indian Supreme Court rejects plea to stop implementation of citizenship law

  • Says it would hear petitions challenging the law on Jan. 22
  • Petitioners argue the legislation violates India’s secular constitution


NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to stall the implementation of a new law that lays out a path for non-Muslim minorities from some neighboring countries for Indian citizenship, despite violent protests across the country.

The top court said it would hear petitions challenging the law on Jan. 22. 

The petitioners argue that it violates India’s secular constitution.
Protests against the law erupted in Assam last week. 

They have since turned violent and spread to universities across the country, where students and the public have come out to chant anti-government slogans and call the law anti-Muslim and anti-constitution.
 


Pakistan, China and Afghanistan hold summit in Kabul to boost cooperation

Updated 3 sec ago
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Pakistan, China and Afghanistan hold summit in Kabul to boost cooperation

  • Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says the talks will cover a wide range of issues, including political and economic cooperation
  • Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs notes that Dar’s discussions will focus on trade, regional connectivity, and counter-terrorism efforts
ISLAMABAD: Top diplomats from Pakistan, China and Afghanistan are meeting on Wednesday in Kabul for a trilateral summit aimed at boosting political, regional and economic cooperation, officials said.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi were received by Taliban officials on arrival in the Afghan capital, according to separate statements issued by Islamabad and Beijing.
Afghanistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement said the talks, hosted by Kabul, will include “comprehensive discussions” on a wide range of issues, including political, economic and regional cooperation.
According to Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dar’s discussions at the meeting would focus on expanding trade, improving regional connectivity and strengthening joint efforts against terrorism.
The last round of the dialogue took place in May in Beijing.
The latest development comes more than a month after Russia became the first country to formally recognize the Taliban’s governmen t in Afghanistan. While no country, except from Russian, has offered formal recognition, the Taliban have engaged in high-level talks with many nations and established some diplomatic ties with countries including China and the United Arab Emirates.

Indonesia to make plastic recycling mandatory for producers

A volunteer from the Ecological Observation and Wetlands Conservation (ECOTON) collects plastic waste from a mangrove swamp.
Updated 10 min 40 sec ago
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Indonesia to make plastic recycling mandatory for producers

  • Indonesia started to ban imports of plastic waste from developed countries on Jan. 1
  • Indonesians are the top global consumers of microplastics, according to a 2024 study

JAKARTA: Indonesia, one of the world’s nations most affected by plastic pollution, will make recycling mandatory for producers, the government has announced in a new move to tackle the crisis, following a ban on shipments of plastic waste from developed countries.

Indonesia produces around 60 million tonnes of waste annually, government data shows, around 12 percent of which is plastic. Less than 10 percent of waste is recycled in the country, while more than half ends up in landfills.

Indonesians are also the top global consumers of microplastics, according to a 2024 study by Cornell University, which estimated that they ingest about 15 grams of plastic particles per month.

“Plastic is problematic for the environment, especially the single-use ones. It creates various problems, and contains hazardous toxic materials,” Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq told reporters earlier this week. Nurofiq was speaking after a UN summit in Geneva failed to produce the world’s first legally binding treaty to tackle plastic pollution.

“We are making an intervention through the Extended Producer Responsibility, or EPR, which is still voluntary at the moment, but we are working to make it mandatory.”

The rules of EPR are in place under a 2019 Ministerial Regulation, which requires producers in Indonesia to take full responsibility for the plastic waste generated by their products.

But the mechanism also encourages producers to design environmentally friendly products and packaging, said Muharram Atha Rasyadi, urban campaigner at Greenpeace Southeast Asia.

“EPR is not only about recycling, it’s also about prioritizing reduction schemes from the very start of the production process, including redesigning the products or transitioning to reuse alternatives,” he told Arab News on Wednesday. 

“The producer responsibility scheme should be made into an obligation that needs to be regulated in the management of plastic pollution and waste. If it’s voluntary in nature as we currently have with the 2019 Ministerial Regulation, implementation will be slow and less than ideal.”

As both a major producer and consumer of plastics, Indonesia has poor waste-management practices that has contributed to its plastic pollution problem over the years.

The country of more than 270 million people is the second-largest ocean plastic polluter, just behind China, according to a 2015 study published in the journal Science.

As the government seeks to tackle the crisis by 2029, it started to ban imports of plastic waste on Jan. 1. This comes after years of being among other Southeast Asian nations receiving this plastic scrap from developed countries including the US, UK and Australia.

Indonesia has also introduced measures to reduce single-use plastics, including Bali province’s 2019 ban on single-use plastic bags, straws, and Styrofoam, and a similar one enforced in the capital, Jakarta, in 2020.


Former US embassy guard in Norway on trial for spying for Russia, Iran

Updated 47 min 34 sec ago
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Former US embassy guard in Norway on trial for spying for Russia, Iran

  • The man, who is in his late 20s, is accused of having supplied information on embassy activities between March 2024 and November 20

OSLO: A Norwegian who worked as a security guard for the US embassy in Oslo went on trial Wednesday, accused of sharing information with Russian and Iranian intelligence, media reported.
The man, who is in his late 20s, is accused of having supplied information on embassy activities between March 2024 and November 20, the date of his arrest, according to the charge sheet.
In return, he was paid in euros and bitcoin.
He is accused of having supplied either the Russians or the Iranians — or both — with the contact details of diplomats, embassy staff and their families.
He is also accused of having supplied the diplomatic license-plate numbers of vehicles used by the embassy.
The charge sheet also alleges he handed over floor plans of the embassy, security routines and a list of couriers Norway’s intelligence service used.
On the first day of his trial, prosecutors presented evidence in the form of an email to the Russian embassy where the man wrote that he had “information that could be useful to you,” public broadcaster NRK reported.
The trial is scheduled to take eight days.
“He acknowledges the facts of the case but denies criminal liability. He is sorry for what he has done, but he is not a spy,” Inger Zadig, the defendant’s lawyer, told news agency NTB.
If convicted of the charges, he could spend up to 21 years in jail, the prosecution service told AFP in July.
Norway’s intelligence service has regularly accused Russia, Iran and China as being the greatest threats to the country so far as spying is concerned.
A member of NATO, Norway shares a land border with Russia in the Arctic.


Belarus seeks closer ties with Iran including on defense, Lukashenko says

Updated 58 min 18 sec ago
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Belarus seeks closer ties with Iran including on defense, Lukashenko says

  • Pezeshkian, on a visit to Belarus, said Iran was ready to help Belarus to “neutralize illegal Western sanctions“
  • Belarus and Iran — two countries that have backed Russia’s war in Ukraine — plan to deepen bilateral ties across all areas including defense

REUTERS: Belarus seeks to deepen ties with Iran in all areas including “military-technical cooperation,” state news agency Belta quoted President Alexander Lukashenko as telling his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday.
It said Pezeshkian, on a visit to Belarus, said Iran was ready to help Belarus to “neutralize illegal Western sanctions.”
Belarus and Iran — two countries that have backed Russia’s war in Ukraine — plan to deepen bilateral ties across all areas including defense, their presidents said at talks in Minsk on Wednesday.
Belarusian state news agency Belta said presidents Alexander Lukashenko and Masoud Pezeshkian agreed to work on a strategic partnership treaty.
“In conditions of geopolitical turbulence, Minsk and Tehran are undertaking consistent and balanced steps to further develop cooperation, and are working hard to turn each new challenge into a new opportunity,” it quoted Lukashenko as saying.
“We are ready to discuss any issues, we have no closed topics,” Lukashenko said, adding that the two countries could partner across a range of areas including “military-technical cooperation.”
Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, allowed Russia to use Belarusian territory as a launchpad for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and later assented to hosting Russian tactical nuclear missiles.
Iran has supplied drones to Russia for use in the war and Pezeshkian signed a strategic cooperation treaty with Putin in January, although it did not include a mutual defense clause.
Both Iran and Belarus are under what Pezeshkian described as “illegal Western sanctions.” Belta quoted him as saying Iran was ready to help Belarus “neutralize” such measures, noting that it had more than 40 years of experience in this area.
Pezeshkian said the two countries needed to build their economic and other ties to a level that matched the high level of trust between them.
“Of course, our common views should be implemented in the economic and cultural spheres, in the development of tourism between our countries, and also, as you noted, in the development of military-technical cooperation,” Belta quoted him as telling Lukashenko.


Pope calls for fasting and prayer for peace in Middle East and Ukraine as he returns to Vatican

Updated 20 August 2025
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Pope calls for fasting and prayer for peace in Middle East and Ukraine as he returns to Vatican

  • Pope Leo XIV has asked people to fast on Friday to pray for peace and justice in the Middle East and Ukraine
  • He issued the special appeal as he returned to the Vatican from summer vacation

VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo XIV asked people to fast on Friday to pray for peace and justice in the Middle East and Ukraine, issuing a special appeal as he returned to the Vatican from summer vacation.
At the end of his weekly general audience Wednesday, Leo recalled that Friday is a special feast day dedicated to the Virgin Mary. He urged Catholic faithful to spend the day fasting and “praying that the Lord grants peace and justice, and dries the tears of all those who are suffering as a result of the armed conflicts underway.”
Leo has called for ceasefires in Gaza and Ukraine and for dialogue to achieve peace.
Wednesday marked Leo’s first day back at the Vatican after a period of vacation at the papal summer retreat in Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome.
Going forward, the pope has some important appointments including special audiences for the Vatican’s 2025 Holy Year and the Sept. 7 canonization of the Catholic Church’s first millennial saint Carlo Acutis.
At the end of Wednesday’s audience, Leo received a special gift: A Ping-Pong table decorated with his papal coat of arms. Leo, an avid tennis player, gamely picked up a paddle and bounced a ball on it, but the ball rolled into the net.