At least 41 people were killed and 14 others injured in separate violent attacks across two Afghan provinces, authorities said on Monday.

In Nangarhar province, 12 civilians were injured after an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported.

No group has claimed responsibility for the blast.

In a different incident also in Nangarhar, 34 Taliban militants were killed after Afghan forces raided a hideout on Sunday night.

In Jawzjan province, seven police personnel were killed and two others injured after Taliban militants attacked a security checkpoint on Sunday night.

The attacks came after the Taliban on June 9 announced a ceasefire in Afghanistan during the three days of Eid-ul-Fitr when no attack will be carried out on Afghan forces.

The Taliban’s announcement came after President Ashraf Ghani on June 7 announced a ceasefire with the militant group and said no operations will be carried out against the fighters of the group starting from the 27th day of Ramadan (June 13) till the fifth day of Eid-ul-Fitr.

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United States President Donald Trump’s call to readmit Russia to the rich nations club G7 failed to yield any result as the European members have unanimously opposed it.

Moscow was expelled from the G7 club over its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region.

French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister Theresa May and new Italian premier Giuseppe Conte unanimously agreed to oppose Trump’s call during joint talks on the sidelines of the G7 summit, being held in Canada.

Hindusthan Samachar/Shri Ram Shaw

The Afghan government on Thursday announced an eight-day ceasefire with the Taliban in response to a historic ruling issued by hundreds of religious scholars.

The ceasefire starting from the 27th day of Ramadan (June 13) will continue until the fifth day of Eid-ul-Fitr, President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani said in a statement.

“With the ceasefire announcement, we epitomize the strength of the Afghan government and the will of the people for a peaceful resolution to the Afghan conflict,” Tolo News quoted Ghani as saying,

“This ceasefire is an opportunity for the Taliban to introspect that their violent campaign is not wining them hearts and minds but further alienating the Afghan people from their cause.”

On Monday, more than 2,000 Afghan religious scholars from across the country gathered in Kabul and issued the ruling, saying “the ongoing war in Afghanistan is forbidden under Islamic law”.

However, at the end of the gathering, a suicide bomber detonated himself where 14 people were killed and 17 others wounded.

The Taliban has denied any involvement in the attack.

The UN General Assembly (UNGA) has unanimously elected Hessa Al Ateibi, Third Secretary of the Permanent Mission of the UAE, as Vice-Chair of the Economic and Financial Committee during its 73rd session.

The Committee addresses topics relating to sustainable development, science, technology and innovation, globalization, eradication of poverty and development and humanitarian assistance.

In this capacity, Al Ateibi could be tasked by the Chair of the Committee to facilitate the negotiations and discussions on UN processes.

The Assembly also elected Maria Fernanda Espinosa, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador, as President for the 73rd Session of the Assembly which will begin in September.

A phone call between US President Donald Trump and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron has been described as being “terrible” after the latter candidly criticised the former’s policies, a media report said.

“Just bad. It was terrible,” an informed source told CNN on Monday.

“Macron thought he would be able to speak his mind, based on the relationship. But Trump can’t handle being criticised like that.”

A White House statement said the call on May 31 with Macron was focused on trade and immigration.

“Both leaders discussed the migration problem in Libya, and timelines to solve it. President Trump underscored the need to rebalance trade with Europe,” the statement said.

The call with Macron came the same day the US announced a unilateral decision to slap steel and aluminium tariffs on American allies, including Mexico, Canada, and the European Union, CNN reported.

In a statement issued by the Elysee Palace ahead of the call, Macron said he “regrets the US decision to confirm tariffs in steel and aluminium.”

“This decision is not only illegal, it is a mistake on many points. It is a mistake because it responds to a worldwide unbalance that exists in the worst ways through fragmentations and economic nationalism,” it added.

Trump held a similar call with British Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday.

According to a Downing Street spokesperson, the two leaders discussed the tariffs as well as other matters.

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The United States has voted against a Kuwait-drafted United Nations Security Council resolution calling for the protection of Palestinian civilians while being the only country to back its own measure condemning Hamas for the recent violence in the Gaza Strip.

More than 120 Palestinians have been killed and thousands wounded by Israeli forces during weeks-long peaceful protests in the besieged Gaza Strip near the fence with Israel. Among the victims have been medical professionals and journalists.

Ten countries, including Russia and France, voted in favor of the Kuwait-sponsored resolution on Friday.

Four others – Britain Poland, the Netherlands, and Ethiopia – abstained, while the US, a major ally of Israel, was the only country to vote against it.

The resolution, which was revised three times and said to have been “watered down”, previously called for international protection for Palestinian people.

The final draft called for “the consideration of measures to guarantee the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in the Gaza Strip”.
Nikki Haley, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said ahead of the vote.

Life in Gaza: Palestinians’ struggle to survive
US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley described the resolution as “grossly one-sided” as she pinned the blame on much of Palestinians’ suffering on the Hamas movement, which runs the Strip.

In a statement later on Friday, Hanan Ashrawi, Palestinian Liberation Organization executive committee member, said the US had once again demonstrated its “blind loyalty to Israel and tried to absolve it of any wrongdoing despite its egregious violations, deliberate massacres and willful killings and war crimes.

“With its veto, the United States is once again attempting to justify the lawlessness and cruelty of Israel’s military occupation, while providing Israel with legal and political cover to pursue its assault on the Palestinian people and on international law and international humanitarian law.”

‘Humiliating vote’
The US was in turn the only country to vote in favour of a revised draft-resolution it submitted subsequent to the Kuwait-sponsored initiative.

The second vote saw 11 countries abstaining and three rejecting it.

The US version had omitted references to Israeli use of force and protecting Palestinians.

It instead demanded that Hamas and other Palestinian groups cease “all violent provocative actions” in Gaza.

Al Jazeera’s James Bays, reporting from the UN headquarters in New York, said the US diplomatic efforts “seemed to have backfired”.

“I don’t know when there was last a resolution put to the Security Council that only got one vote in favour,” said Bays.

“It seems a very humiliating vote for the US, and one that is very starkly showing the divisions around the Security Council table on this issue,” he added.

“The US was not able to muster the support from its normal US allies, they are not coming to their support on this issue. Even though some of them did not support the Kuwait resolution – they abstained because they thought there wasn’t enough language criticising Hamas – they certainly didn’t support the US version of things.”

More than 80 homes have been destroyed by the Kilauea volcano eruption in Hawaii in the four weeks since lava began flowing, a top official said.

The number of homes swallowed by the lava flowing from fissures has jumped to at least 87, up the from the 77 reported destroyed Thursday, Hawaii Civil Defence spokesman Talmadge Mango said Friday.

The report of mounting damage followed a mandatory evacuation order issued on Thursday night for a portion of the Leilani Estates subdivision in the midst of “vigorous lava eruptions” threatening homes, CNN quoted the Civil Defence Agency as saying.

Residents were advised to evacuate by Friday afternoon. Emergency responders have no plans to rescue anyone from the evacuated areas past the deadline.

“They are being asked to leave. Period,” county spokeswoman Janet Snyder told reporters.

Four weeks have passed since the first eruption rocked Hawaii’s Big Island and lava continues oozing from volcanic fissures.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the lava from the Kilauea volcano has covered an area of 5.5 square miles — that’s four times as big as New York’s Central Park.

Fissure 8 remains the most active, the USGS said, sending “persistent fountains” of lava as high as 260 feet into the air.

Lava lobes from Fissure 8 were advancing 100 yards an hour, the USGS said.

“This is the hottest lava we’ve seen during this eruption,” Wendy Stovall, a scientist with USGS told CNN. “Lava can’t get hotter than where we are.”

Besides the lava, there’s also the danger of “vog”, or volcanic smog.

In addition to volcanic particles that can cause eye, skin and respiratory irritation, residents were warned to be on the lookout for sharp, thin strands of volcanic glass fibres known as “Pele’s hair”, a reference to the Hawaiian goddess of fire.

The Civil Defence Agency warned it could cause injury if it got in residents’ eyes or was breathed in.

The Israeli military has conducted overnight air strikes on the Gaza Strip’s northern areas, claiming it was targeting Hamas positions.

The development comes after the Israeli army shot dead 64 Palestinians protesting near the fence with Israel to call for their right of return.

Palestinians were marking 70 years since the Nakba, or Catastrophe, the day on which the state of Israel was established on May 15, 1948, in a violent ethnic cleansing campaign.

Throughout the past seven weeks, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been protesting as part of a weeks-long movement calling for the right of return for Palestinian refugees to the homes and villages they were forcibly expelled from by Zionist militias in 1948.

Since the protests began on March 30, Israeli forces have killed at least 113 Palestinians in the coastal enclave and wounded more than 12,000 people.

US vows to veto UN resolution for protection of Palestinians

The US will “unquestionably veto” a UN draft resolution which calls for “the consideration of measures to guarantee the safety and protection” of Palestinian civilians.

US Ambassador Nikki Haley called the Kuwait-sponsored resolution “grossly one-sided” and “morally bankrupt”.

“The resolution calls on Israel to immediately cease its actions in self-defense, but makes no mention of Hamas’ aggressive actions against Israeli security forces and civilians,” she said in a statement.

The draft resolution “deplores” and calls for a halt to “the use of any excessive, disproportionate and indiscriminate force” by the Israeli military. It also “deplores the firing of rockets from the Gaza Strip at Israeli civilian areas”.

It asks UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for a report on a potential “international protection mechanism”.

A vote on the draft resolution is expected to take place on Friday.

Saturday, May 19

Two Palestinians succumb to wounds

Mouin Abdelhamid al-Saai, a 58-year-old man, died in Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital on Saturday, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.

Israeli forces shot al-Saai on Monday as they fired live ammunition, tear gas and firebombs at protesters during demonstrations that coincided with the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem.

The protests also came a day before Palestinians marked 70 years since the Nakba, or Catastrophe, the day on which the state of Israel was established on May 15, 1948, in a violent ethnic cleansing campaign.

Mohammed Mazin Alian, a 20-year-old man, also succumbed to his wounds on Saturday after he was shot by Israeli forces on Monday east of the al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.

This brings the total number of Palestinians killed since Monday in Gaza to 64.

Thursday, May 17

Israel targets ‘Hamas positions’ in overnight air raids

The Israeli military has said that it launched overnight air strikes on Hamas “infrastructure in military compounds” and “weapons production” facilities in the north of the besieged enclave.

The army alleged the “strikes were conducted in response to the heavy machine gun fire that targeted the city of Sderot” in the south.

While Hamas has not officially responded to the attacks, a security official from the movement told Anadolu Agency that several of its positions had been targeted.

The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip said no one had been injured in the attacks.

Palestinians withdraw envoy to US

The Palestinian envoy to Washington has been recalled to Ramallah in protest over the US

Husam Zomlot was instructed to return by President Mahmoud Abbas, the foreign ministry announced in a statement.

It did not say how long Zomlot would be at headquarters.

Riad al-Malki, the foreign minister, said: “When they [the US] opened their embassy in Jerusalem there was a need for a decision from our side and this was our decision.”

Clashes and arrests near Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate

Israeli border police forces and Palestinian protesters clashed near

Many protesters were removed from the plaza, and others were arrested in the nearby area.

Demonstrators had gathered at the square outside the gate as part of Nakba Day protests.

“The Palestinians have been living here, I was born here, my father, my grandfather, my great great grandfather, I have no other place to go, I don’t even have a passport to go anywhere else,” said Mujid Keluti, a Jerusalem resident.

Netanyahu, Erdogan in Twitter spat as Israel, Turkey expel envoys

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu exchanged heated words on Twitter over Israel’s killing of Palestinian protesters in the Gaza Strip.

Netanyahu, in a Twitter post, said Erdogan “well understands terrorism and slaughter” because of his support for Hamas, a day after the Turkish leader accused Israel of “state terror” and “genocide”.

Pakistan’s Interior Ministry has asked for the suspension of former President Pervez Musharraf’s computerized national identity card (CNIC) and passport, a media report said on Friday.

In compliance with the order of a special court, the ministry on Thursday asked the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) and the Directorate General of Immigration and Passports to carry out the suspensions, the Dawn report said.

After the suspension of his CNIC and passport, Musharraf’s bank accounts would be frozen and his international traveling restricted.

A special court hearing a high treason case against Musharraf had on March 8 directed the ministry to suspend his passport and CNIC.

The court had also ordered the ministry and other departments, divisions and agencies to take steps for the arrest of Musharraf and attachment of his properties abroad.

The former military ruler is facing the treason trial for subverting the Constitution by declaring a state of emergency in November 2007, Dawn News reported.

Ending his self-imposed exile, the former military ruler returned to the country in March 2013 and a ban was imposed on his travel abroad by courts the following month.

After three years, in March 2016, he was able to leave for Dubai seeking medical treatment and has since not returned.

United States President Donald Trump has said that he will pardon Dinesh D’Souza, a controversial conservative Indian-American media personality, who was convicted of making illegal contributions to a Republican Party candidate for Senate.

Trump tweeted on Thursday, “Will be giving a Full Pardon to Dinesh D’Souza today. He was treated very unfairly by our government.”

D’Souza was prosecuted by Indian-American New York federal prosecutor Preet Bharara, and convicted in 2014 of making illegal election contributions of $10,000 to Republican Senate Candidate Wendy Long.

A journalist, author and filmmaker, D’Souza was a harsh critic of former President Barack Obama and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

He is known for stirring controversy with his angry rhetoric.

He was fined $30,000 and sentenced to five years of probation and eight months of overnight detention in a so-called halfway house.

Bharara defended his role tweeting, “D’Souza intentionally broke the law, voluntarily pled guilty, apologized for his conduct & the judge found no unfairness.

However, a Indian-American, Sant Chatwal, who illegally contributed $188,000 illegal election contributions to Clinton was not prosecuted by Bharara, but was taken to court by former Attorney General Loretta Lynch when she was the federal prosecutor in Brooklyn in 2014.

Chatwal on his conviction was not sentenced to overnight detention like D’Souza, but received three years of probation, a fine of $500,000 and $1 million in forfeiture.

Prosecutors kept Clinton’s name off the charges, saying only that Chatwal had made an illegal contribution.

Chatwal, however, named her as the recipient in court papers pleading for leniency.

Republican Senator welcomed D’Souza’s pardon, tweeting, “Dinesh was the subject of a political prosecution, brazenly targeted by the Obama administration bc (because) of his political views.”

D’Souza’s book, “The Roots of Obama’s Rage,” which claimed that Obama was furthering the anti-colonial ideology to run down the US, was later made into a film.

He also produced a scathing documentary on Clinton, “Hillary’s America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party.”

Bharara had also prosecuted Rajat Gupta, Raj Rajaratnam and Mathew Martoma for insider trading on Wall Street, and had Indian diplomat Devyani arrested.