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Suicide blasts strike two mosques in northeast Nigeria

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At least 55 killed and more wounded after explosions hit mosques in state capitals of Adamawa and Borno.

Radio stations called for blood donations to help the victims of the blasts [AP]

Radio stations called for blood donations to help the victims of the blasts [AP]

by Al Jazeera

At least 55 people have died and almost 100 were wounded after suicide bombings that struck two mosques in different cities in northeast Nigeria, officials said.

A massive blast in Yola, the capital of Adamawa state, killed 27 people and wounded about 96 others during a Friday afternoon prayer that included officials helping to inaugurate a new mosque, said Saad Bello of the National Emergency Management Agency.

Earlier on Friday in the city of Maiduguri – the capital of Borno state and birthplace of the armed group Boko Haram, another suicide bomber killed 28 people in an explosion at a mosque.

Radio stations broadcast urgent appeals for blood donations for the victims. “We call on individuals to come and donate blood to save all lives,” Bello said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either attack, but they appeared to bear the hallmarks of Boko Haram.

The group has in recent months resorted to increasingly attacking “soft targets” since the Nigerian army, backed by other African nations, seized large parts of the group’s stronghold in the country’s northeast.

Maldives arrests vice president for ‘assassination bid’

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Ahmed Adeeb detained on suspicion of links to blast on presidential boat which country’s leader escaped unharmed.

Gayoom escaped the blast on his boat unhurt but his wife, an aide and a bodyguard were injured [Waleed Mohamed/Reuters]

Gayoom escaped the blast on his boat unhurt but his wife, an aide and a bodyguard were injured [Waleed Mohamed/Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Maldives police have arrested Vice President Ahmed Adeeb on suspicion of links to a blast on the presidential boat last month that President Yameen Abdul Gayoom escaped unharmed.

Police spokesman Ismail Ali said Adeeb was arrested on Saturday at the airport when he returned from an official visit to China. He said Adeeb has been taken to a detention centre on an island.

Daniel Bosley, a Reuters journalist reporting from the Maldives’ capital Male, told Al Jazeera that it was described as the most anticipated arrival in the country’s history because there was a lot of suspicion and rumours during Adeeb’s week-long visit to China that he would be arrested.

The September 28 explosion took place on board the speedboat when Gayoom and his wife were returning to the capital from the airport after a Hajj journey to Saudi Arabia. The airport of the archipelago state is on a separate island.

Gayoom escaped unhurt but his wife, an aide and a bodyguard were injured.

Authorities said initially the blast could be a result of a mechanical failure.

But they announced later the blast was an attempt to assassinate Gayoom and launched a criminal investigation. The device was placed under the seat usually occupied by the president, who escaped unhurt because he was not sitting there, the government said.

Adeeb has denied that he was linked to the explosion, the AP news agency reported.

Adeeb was a staunch Gayoom loyalist and became the vice president in July at the age of 33. Gayoom was instrumental in promoting Adeeb from tourism minister after the president got his lawmakers in parliament to impeach the previous vice president, Mohamed Jameel.

Lawmakers also lowered the minimum age for president or vice president from 35 to 30 to enable Adeeb to take the position.

Weeks after the blast, however, it was apparent that Gayoom suspected his vice president was involved, orchestrating a series of raids on homes and businesses of Adeeb’s associates.

Gayoom also sacked his defense minister and the police commissioner after the blast.

“At the moment the country is without a defence minister or chief of police, and now it seems (it will lose) its vice president because there has been a huge reshuffle after the explosion,” Bosley added.

 

Jordan to pursue legal actions for Muslim control over Al-Aqsa

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Jordan's foreign minister said Jordan is examining legal options for dealing with Israeli violations in the al-Aqsa Mosque compound. (AFP/File)

Jordan’s foreign minister said Jordan is examining legal options for dealing with Israeli violations in the al-Aqsa Mosque compound. (AFP/File)

by The Jordan Times

Jordan has carefully examined the legal option for dealing with Israeli violations and will forge ahead with it to protect al-Haram al-Sharif/al-Aqsa Mosque, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said Thursday.

Speaking at a UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian issue, Judeh said the past two months saw another extremely dangerous escalation in attacks by the Israeli occupation forces in the West Bank.

There have been acts of aggression and attacks against al-Haram al-Sharif/al-Aqsa Mosque by the Israeli occupation forces or under their protection, he noted, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported from New York.

The minister said all measures by the Israeli occupation in East Jerusalem are in violation of the UN Security Council’s decisions stipulating that East Jerusalem, in its entirety, including al-Haram al-Sharif/al-Aqsa Mosque are within the territories that have fallen under the Israeli military occupation in 1967. 

Judeh added that these Israeli acts of aggression have exacerbated the situation in the region, in a way that could lead to a religious war that will be beyond control; especially since al-Haram al-Sharif is a place for Muslim worshippers, exclusively. 

This is not to mention the devastating impact of these acts of aggression on chances to resume negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis, he added. 

Judeh reaffirmed Jordan’s position in support of the two-state solution, ending the Israeli occupation and establishing a Palestinian state within the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. 

He also reiterated calls to resolve all key issues — such as Jerusalem, refugees, security, borders and water — in a manner that safeguards Jordan’s higher interests. 

Judeh warned that the Israeli violations have sparked tensions in the occupied Palestinian territories that could lead to a volatile situation that could explode beyond the control of any party and extend beyond the Palestinian territories, threatening international peace and security. 

He stressed Jordan’s constant position in denouncing the targeting of civilians, regardless of the motives or reasons for it.

The deputy premier said Israel should free itself of the shackles of internal coalition tactics and pretexts, which can no longer be taken for granted.

The Israeli acts contradict Tel Aviv’s commitments, in accordance with Article 9 of the Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty, and are not in line with Israeli’s legal obligations, as the occupying power, in accordance with international law, he stressed. 

Judeh urged the UN Security Council to shoulder its responsibilities in this regard to record these attacks and prevent their recurrence, after the historic status quo is restored and not the status quo that Israel creates every day at Islamic and Christian sites. 

He highlighted Jordan’s efforts to safeguard Islamic and Christian sites in Jerusalem, which are under Hashemite custodianship.

Refugee crisis and anti-extremism

The impact of the crisis in Syria has extended beyond its borders and neighbours into the international community, Judeh said, citing the increasing influx of refugees. 

Criminal and gangs are controlling large swathes of Syria, he added, threatening its people.

A comprehensive political solution, on the basis of the Geneva I conference, is the sole solution for the crisis, the minister stressed. 

Judeh reaffirmed Jordan’s support for anti-extremism operations in Iraq, stressing the importance of unified efforts and coordination to combat extremism in the entire region.

With regards to the conditions in Yemen, he said Jordan is part of the Arab coalition that is working to restore the legitimate authority in the unrest-ridden state, in the response to the call made by its legitimate government.

Judeh also stressed Jordan’s support for the efforts exerted in Libya to restore stability, urging the different Libyan parties to sign the recently reached UN-brokered peace agreement to safeguard their country. 

This story has been edited from the source material.

IMF: Saudi running on empty in five years

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Gulf kingdom could deplete financial assets within five years as it struggles with slumping oil prices.

The fall in oil prices has led to the Middle East facing export revenue losses amounting to $360bn this year alone [Mosaab Elshamy/AP]

The fall in oil prices has led to the Middle East facing export revenue losses amounting to $360bn this year alone [Mosaab Elshamy/AP]

by Abid Ali, Al Jazeera

Saudi Arabia could burn through its financial assets within five years, as the country grapples with slumping oil prices.

The Middle East’s biggest economy is expected to run budget deficits of 21.6 percent in 2015 and 19.4 percent in 2016, according the IMF’s latest regional outlook.

That means Riyadh needs to find money to meet its spending plans. Just like its oil-exporting neighbours, it plans to make substantial cuts to its budgets.

“For the region’s oil exporters, the fall in prices has led to large export revenue losses, amounting to a staggering $360bn this year alone,” Masood Ahmed, the IMF’s Middle East director, told reporters in Dubai.

There has been a trickle of evidence over the last few months that not all is well inside the kingdom.

The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency has withdrawn $70bn in funds managed by overseas financial institutions. Its foreign reserves have fallen by almost $73bn, since oil prices slumped, leaving it with $654.5bn.

But with a debt-to-GDP ratio of two percent, there is plenty of room for the country to borrow money to fund its growth.

The International Monetary Fund’s regional report also found that.

  1. Syria’s economy has contract as much as 60 percent since the start of the conflict.
  2. Yemen’s economy has slumped nearly 30 percent.
  3. Economic growth for the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan could rise to 3.9 percent in 2016 from 2.5 percent this year.
  4. Oil prices are expected to average $52 a barrel in 2015 and could rise to $63 a barrel next year.
  5. With oil prices languishing around $50 a barrel, oil exporters need to diversify their economies to absorb millions of job seekers. “Achieving fiscal sustainability over the medium term will be especially challenging given the need to create jobs for the more than 10 million people anticipated to be looking for work by 2020 in the region’s oil-exporting countries,” Ahmed said.

Ahmed the clockmaker is moving to Qatar to study

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Teenage student, who was arrested in Texas after taking a homemade clock to school, accepts scholarship offer in Doha.

Many believe Mohamed's arrest was influenced by bias against his Muslim religion [AP]

Many believe Mohamed’s arrest was influenced by bias against his Muslim religion [AP]

by Al Jazeera

An American boy arrested for bringing a homemade clock to his Texas school, that was mistaken for a bomb, is moving to Qatar after accepting a scholarship offer to study there.

Fourteen-year-old Ahmed Mohamed’s family announced the move in a statement on Tuesday, a few hours after he was at the White House for an astronomy night hosted by President Barack Obama.

The bespectacled ninth-grader became a global sensation after his September arrest, which many believe was influenced by bias against his Muslim religion.

Mohamed accepted an offer from the Qatar Foundation to study in its Young Innovators Programme.

“This means, that we, as a family, will relocate to Qatar where Ahmed will receive a full scholarship for secondary and undergraduate education,” his family said in a statement.

Mohamed visited Doha earlier in the month and has been on a worldwide tour, visiting a number of foreign dignitaries, including Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, according to Sudanese media.

A statement released by the Qatar Foundation on Tuesday said the Young Innovators Programme “encourages recipients to follow their aspirations in education while fostering a culture of innovation and creativity”.

Quoted in the Qatar Foundation’s statement , Mohamed said, “I was really impressed with everything that Qatar Foundation has to offer and the campuses are really cool.

“I got to meet other kids who are also really interested in science and technology. I think I will learn a lot and also have lots of fun there.”

At the White House on Monday night, Obama briefly met Mohamed as he shook hands with students at the event, giving the student a hug.

At the time of the arrest, Obama’s Twitter feed had a message of support for Mohammed, which read: “Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It’s what makes America great.”

“It was amazing, and a honour meeting President Obama,” Mohamed said on Twitter after meeting Obama.

Syria’s Assad in surprise visit to Moscow

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President Assad visits Russian President Putin, believed to be his first trip abroad since the start of the war in 2011.

assad-putin

by Al Jazeera

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad flew into Moscow on Tuesday for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in what is believed to be his first trip abroad since start of the war in 2011.

The leaders discussed their joint military campaign against rebels in Syria, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday, calling the meeting a “working visit”.

The Syrian presidency confirmed that Assad and Putin held three meetings in which Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu were present.

After the meetings, Putin said he was hopeful that a solution may be reached for the war in Syria, where Russia has been carrying out air strikes since the end of September.

“We assume that a long-term solution may be reached on the basis of the latest military developments and political process with participation from all political, ethnic and religious groups,” Putin said.

“This decision can be made only by the Syrian people. Syria is a friendly country. And we are ready to support it not only militarily but politically as well.”

It appears the Kremlin waited for the Syrian leader to return home before breaking the news of the one-day visit.

Political steps

The Syrian leader stressed the importance of “further political steps,” according to a Kremlin statement.

He thanked Putin for his decision to launch its air campaign in Syria on September 30, Russia’s first military foray outside the former Soviet Union since its occupation of Afghanistan in 1979.

“I need to say that the political steps which Russia has taken since the start of the crisis prevented the events in Syria from developing along a more tragic scenario,” Assad said in quotes released by the Kremlin.

“Terrorism which has now spread through the region would have consumed much larger areas and would have spread throughout much more territory if it were not for your actions and your decisions,” he said in comments translated into Russian.

About 250,000 people have been killed since the conflict first began in March 2011, and half the population has been made homeless.

Putin said it was the Syrian people that should decide the fate of their country.

“At the end of the day a long-term settlement can be achieved on the basis of a political process with the participation of all political forces, ethnic and religious groups,” the Kremlin strongman said.

“And ultimately, the final word no doubt should rest solely with the Syrian people.”

‘Assad’s departure needed’

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Wednesday said a transition was needed in Syria which guaranteed the departure of Assad.

Davutoglu said there was no change in Turkey’s position that Assad’s government had lost legitimacy.

He was responding to questions from reporters after senior government officials said on Tuesday that Ankara was ready to accept a political transition in which Assad remains in symbolic power for six months before leaving office.

Israeli raid prompts violence in West Bank’s Jenin

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Injuries reported in shootout after Israeli forces detain Hamas operative in Jenin’s al-Hadaf district.

Israeli troops withdrew from the camp after demolishing Majdi Abu al-Heija's home [Mohamad Torokman/Reuters]

Israeli troops withdrew from the camp after demolishing Majdi Abu al-Heija’s home [Mohamad Torokman/Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

Dozens of people have been wounded in a shootout between Israeli forces and Islamic Jihad members in the city of Jenin in the north of the occupied West Bank.

The fighting broke out overnight Monday after about 40 Israeli army vehicles turned up outside the house of the group’s senior commander, Bassam al-Saeedi, in the al-Hadaf neighbourhood of the Jenin refugee camp, sources told Al Jazeera.

A Palestinian security official said that a local leader of Hamas, Majdi Abu al-Heija, his son, and his brother were arrested in the raid.

Israeli soldiers surrounded their home and came under fire from Palestinians protecting the two men. Several Palestinians were wounded and taken to hospital, he said.

Israeli forces then used bulldozers to demolish parts of the home, the source told Al Jazeera.

Soldiers also tried to arrest Islamic Jihad member al-Saeedi but could not find him, he said. He spoke anonymously as he is not allowed to brief the media.

Israeli troops withdrew from the camp after demolishing al-Heija’s home.

Medical sources told Al Jazeera that they have dealt with 12 injures, most due to the effects of tear gas.

Peter Lerner, the Israeli army spokesman, confirmed an “exchange of fire”   but did not elaborate further.

A statement by the Israeli military released later said there had been an “activity to arrest a senior Hamas operative in Jenin.”

“A violent riot of hundreds of Palestinians erupted in the area. The crowd hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails at the forces. A border police officer was moderately injured,” the statement read.

Over 10,000 refugees stranded in Serbia: UNHCR

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A child waits in the rain on the Serbia-Croatia border, October 19, 2015. (AFP/File)

A child waits in the rain on the Serbia-Croatia border, October 19, 2015. (AFP/File)

by ITN

More than 10,000 refugees are currently stranded in Serbia because of restrictions imposed by countries further away in western Europe, according to the UN refugee agency.

“We can only say that there are more than 10,000 refugees in Serbia,” UNHCR spokeswoman Melita Sunjic was quoted by Reuters as saying from the Serbian-Croatian border.

“It is like a big river of people, and if you stop the flow, you will have floods somewhere. That’s what’s happening now.”

Sunjic said there was a shortage of food and blankets. “We are missing everything,” she said.

‘Dozens of ISIL fighters killed’ in air strike in Syria

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At least 40 rebels killed after their convoy comes under attack by unidentified jets in Hama, monitoring group says.

The Syrian government has intensified bombing of rebel-controlled areas since Russia began air campaign on September 30 [Reuters]

The Syrian government has intensified bombing of rebel-controlled areas since Russia began air campaign on September 30 [Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

At least 40 fighters of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have been killed in an air strike on their convoy in the Syrian province of Hama, a UK-based monitoring group has said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Sunday that unidentified warplanes hit the 16-vehicle motorcade overnight on Sunday in Hama province.

The Observatory, which monitors the war in Syria and has a network of sources on the ground, was not immediately able to say whether the raids were carried out by Russian warplanes or Syrian regime ones.

“But they don’t belong to the coalition led by Washington,” Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told the AFP news agency.

Rahman said that the convoy was hit as it was heading from the self-declared ISIL capital of Raqqa in northern Syria to the Hama countryside.

Russia, a key ally of the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad, has been carrying out a campaign of air strikes against his opponents since September 30.

Last year, a US-led coalition launched an air campaign against the group which controls swaths of Syria and neighbouring Iraq.

Eritrean mistaken for Palestinian shot dead in Israel

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Eritrean bystander shot by security guard and beaten by mob after deadly attack on Beersheba bus station.

Eritrean asylum seeker Haftom Zarhum, 29, reportedly was in Beersheba to obtain his visa [Screen grab via YouTube]

Eritrean asylum seeker Haftom Zarhum, 29, reportedly was in Beersheba to obtain his visa [Screen grab via YouTube]

by Al Jazeera

An Eritrean man has died after he was shot and beaten by a mob after he was mistaken for an attacker during a raid in southern Israel, Israeli police say.

The attack on Sunday night at a bus station in the city of Beersheba saw a Palestinian man armed with a rifle and a knife kill an Israeli soldier and wound about 10 other people.

The Palestinian attacker was killed, while a security guard shot the Eritrean bystander, identified by Israeli media as 29-year-old Haftom Zarhum, thinking he was an accomplice of the assailant.

A video circulating online (WARNING – graphic footage) shows that a mob also beat Zarhum, who later died in hospital.

At least one Israeli soldier was filmed kicking Zarhum in the head as he lay bleeding on the floor of the terminal. Another man lifted a bench and dropped it on Zarhum’s head as others tried to protect him by placing a bar stool over his body.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld confirmed Zarhum was “misidentified”.

“The man was hit by bystanders and individual civilians who were in the area. Police are looking into it now and have obtained the CCTV footage of the incident.”

The Israeli IBA network posted footage of the attack, purportedly recorded by a surveillance camera.

Rosenfeld said the “Palestinian attacker stabbed a soldier and stole his M-16 rifle,” opening fire on the crowd at the bus terminal. The soldier died in hospital.

The attacker was named by police as Muhand Alukabi, 21, a resident of Hura in the Negev.

Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, called the attack a “natural response” and Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian group, said it was a “normal answer to Israeli crimes”.

Sunday’s attack brings the total number of people killed in the violence that erupted at the beginning of the month to 52: 44 Palestinians and eight Israelis.

The incident comes just a day after five Palestinians were shot dead during alleged stabbing attacks – three of them in Hebron in the occupied West Bank. Palestinians have disputed the police version of events in at least some of the cases.

Triggered by Israeli incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound last month, violence and protests against Israel’s occupation have increased in frequency across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.

Diplomatic moves to halt the more than two weeks of unrelenting violence has gained steam, with US Secretary of State John Kerry saying he plans to meet both the Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the coming days.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, rejected an idea from France that would see international observers sent to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

Israeli forces have responded with a crackdown on protesters, using tear gas, stun grenades, rubber-coated steel bullets and live ammunition.

Checkpoints have been set up in the occupied East Jerusalem, where some of the attackers have come from, and about 300 soldiers on Sunday began reinforcing the police force.

African asylum seekers in Israel have long been the target of political incitement and discriminatory legislation.

In July, an Israeli court approved the deportation of refugees to countries such as Rwanda and Uganda, and gave a stamp of approval to the indefinite detention of asylum seekers who refuse deportation.

Israeli Culture Minister Miri Regev, a member of Netanyahu’s hardline Likud party, has in the past called African asylum seekers a “cancer in Israel’s body”.

Residences and schools servicing asylum seekers have also been targeted in attacks, including with firebombs, in recent years.

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