Four European countries call for Palestine to be admitted as a full member of the United Nations
Amir Hagag
Four European countries—Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, and Norway—called in a joint statement for Palestine to be admitted as a full member of the United Nations. This call came during the Madrid+ Group meeting.
The four countries emphasized that recognizing Palestine and granting it full membership in the United Nations has become a political and diplomatic necessity, not just a moral position, given the prolonged stalemate in the peace process.
This move comes as part of a growing wave of international recognition of Palestine, with 147 of the 193 UN member states having recognized the State of Palestine to date.
read more
Gold prices rise, 21 Karat at EGP 3685
NATO's Role in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
US Expresses 'Strong Opposition' to New Turkish Military Operation in Syria
Shoukry Meets Director-General of FAO
Lavrov: confrontation bet. nuclear powers must be avoided
News
Iran Summons French Ambassador over Foreign Minister Remarks
News
Aboul Gheit Condemns Israeli Escalation in West Bank
News
Greek PM: Athens Plays Key Role in Improving Energy Security in Region
News
One Person Injured in Explosion at Ukrainian Embassy in Madrid
News
Ayat Khaddoura's Final Video Captures Bombardment of Beit Lahia
News
Australia Fines Telegram $600,000 Over Terrorism, Child Abuse Content
Arts & Culture
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban's $4.7M LA Home Burglarized
Sports
Former Al Zamalek Player Ibrahim Shika Passes away after Long Battle with Cancer
Sports
Neymar Announced for Brazil's Preliminary List for 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers
News
Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly Inaugurates Two Indian Companies
Arts & Culture
New Archaeological Discovery from 26th Dynasty Uncovered in Karnak Temple
Business
Fear & Greed Index Plummets to Lowest Level Ever Recorded amid Global Trade War
Arts & Culture
Zahi Hawass: Claims of Columns Beneath the Pyramid of Khafre Are Lies
News
Flights suspended at Port Sudan Airport after Drone Attacks
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Wakala News
an hour ago
- Wakala News
India's latest coffee hub? Beans and brews offer new hope to Nagaland
Dimapur, Mokokchung, Wokha, Chumoukedima and Kohima, India — With its high ceilings, soft lighting and brown and turquoise blue cushioned chairs, Juro Coffee House has the appearance of a chic European cafe. Sitting right off India's National Highway-2, which connects the northeastern states of Assam, Nagaland and Manipur, the cafe hosts a live roastery unit that was set up in January by the Nagaland state government. Here, green coffee beans from 12 districts in Nagaland are roasted live, ground and served, from farm to cup. On a typical day, the cafe gets about a hundred customers, sipping on coffee, with smoke breaks in between. Those numbers aren't big – but they're a start. For decades, an armed rebellion seeking the secession of Nagaland from India dominated the state's political and economic landscape. Thousands have been killed in clashes between security forces and armed rebels in Nagaland since India's independence, soon after which Naga separatists held a plebiscite in which nearly all votes were cast in favour of separating from the Indian union. India has never accepted that vote. The state's economy has depended on agriculture, with paddy, fruits like bananas and oranges and green leafy vegetables like mustard leaves, the main crops grown traditionally. Now, a growing band of cafes, roasteries and farms across the state are looking to give Nagaland a new identity by promoting locally grown Arabica and Robusta coffee. Juro Coffee House is among them. While coffee was first introduced to the state in 1981 by the Coffee Board of India, a body set up by the Indian government to promote coffee production, it only began to take off after 2014. Helped by government policy changes and pushed by a set of young entrepreneurs, Nagaland today has almost 250 coffee farms spread across 10,700 hectares (26,400 acres) of land in 11 districts. About 9,500 farmers are engaged in coffee cultivation, according to the state government. The small state bordering Myanmar today boasts of eight roastery units, besides homegrown cafes mushrooming in major cities like Dimapur and Kohima, and interior districts like Mokokchung and Mon. For Searon Yanthan, the founder of Juro Coffee House, the journey began with COVID-19, when the pandemic forced Naga youth studying or working in other parts of India or abroad to return home. But this became a blessing in disguise since they brought back value to the state, says Yanthan. 'My father used to say, those were the days when we used to export people,' he told Al Jazeera. 'Now it's time to export our products and ideas, not the people.' 'Back to the farm' Like many kids his age, Yanthan left Nagaland for higher studies in 2010, first landing up in the southern city of Chennai for high school and then the northern state of Punjab for his undergraduate studies, before dropping out to study in Bangalore. 'I studied commerce but the only subject I was good in was entrepreneurship,' said the 30-year-old founder, dressed in a pair of smart formal cotton pants and a baby pink polo neck shirt. The pandemic hit just as he was about to graduate, and Yanthan left with no degree in hand. One day, he sneaked into a government vehicle from Dimapur during the COVID-19 lockdown – when only essential services like medical and government workers were allowed to move around – to return to his family farm estate, 112km (70 miles) from state capital Kohima, where his dad first started growing coffee in 2015. He ended up spending seven months at the farm during lockdown and realised that coffee farmers didn't know much about the quality of beans, which wasn't surprising considering coffee is not a household beverage among Nagas and other ethnic communities in India's northeast. Yanthan, who launched Lithanro Coffee, the parent company behind Juro, in 2021, started visiting other farms, working with farmers on improving coffee quality and maintaining plantations. Once his own processing unit was set up, he began hosting other coffee farmers, offering them a manually brewed cup of their own produce. Gradually, he built a relationship with 200 farmers from whom he sources beans today, besides the coffee grown on his farm. Yanthan sees coffee as an opportunity for Nagaland's youth to dream of economic prospects beyond jobs in the government — the only aspiration for millions of Naga families in a state where private-sector employment has historically been uncertain. 'Every village you go to, parents are working day and night in the farms to make his son or daughter get a government job,' Yanthan told Al Jazeera. Coffee, to him, could also serve as a vehicle to bring people together. 'In this industry, it's not only one person who can do this work, it has to be a community,' he said. Brewing success So what changed in 2015? Coffee buyers and roasters are unanimous in crediting the state government's decision to hand over charge of coffee development to Nagaland's Land Resources Department (LRD) that year. The state department implements schemes sponsored by the federal government and the state government, including those promoting coffee. Unlike in the past, when Nagaland – part of a region that has historically had poor physical connectivity with the rest of India – also had no internet, coffee roasters, buyers and farmers could now build online links with the outside world. '(The) market was not like what it is today,' said Albert Ngullie, the director of the LRD. The LRD builds nurseries and provides free saplings to farmers, besides supporting farm maintenance. Unlike before, the government is also investing in the post-harvest process by supplying coffee pulpers to farmers, setting up washing stations and curing units in a few districts and recently, supporting entrepreneurs with roastery units. Among those to benefit is Lichan Humtsoe. He set up his company Ete (which means 'ours' in the Lotha Naga dialect) in 2016 after quitting his pen-pushing job in the LRD and was the first in the state to source, serve and supply Naga specialty coffee. Today, Ete runs its own cafes, roasteries and a coffee laboratory, researching the chemical properties of indigenous fruits as flavour notes. Ete also has a coffee school in Nagaland (and a campus in the neighbouring state of Manipur) with a dedicated curriculum and training facilities to foster the next generation of coffee professionals. Humtsoe said the past decade has shown that the private sector and government in Nagaland have complemented each other in promoting coffee. Nagaland's growing coffee story also coincides with an overall increase in India's exports of coffee beans. In 2024, India's coffee exports surpassed $1bn for the first time, with production doubling compared with 2020-21. While more than 70 percent of India's coffee comes from the southern state of Karnataka, the Coffee Board has been trying to expand cultivation in the Northeast. Building a coffee culture in Nagaland is no easy feat, given that decades of unrest left the state in want of infrastructure and almost completely reliant on federal funding. Growing up in the 1990s, when military operations against alleged armed groups were frequent and security forces would often barge into homes, day or night, Humtsoe wanted nothing to do with India. At one point, he stopped speaking Nagamese – a bridge dialect among the state's 16 tribes and a creole version of the Indian language, Assamese. But he grew disillusioned with the political solution rooted in separatism that armed groups were seeking. And the irony of the state's dependence on funds from New Delhi hit the now 39-year-old. Coffee became his own path to self-determination. 'From 2016 onwards, I was more of, 'How can I inspire India?'' The quality challenge Ngullie of the LRD insists that the coffee revolution brewing in Nagaland is also helping the state preserve its forests. 'We don't do land clearing,' he said, in essence suggesting that coffee was helping the state's agriculture transition from the traditional slash-and-burn techniques to agroforestry. The LRD buys seed varieties from the Coffee Board for farmers, and growers make more money than before. Limakumzak Walling, a 40-year-old farmer, recalled how his late father was one of the first to grow Arabica coffee in 1981 on a two-acre farm on their ancestral land in Mokokchung district's Khar village. 'During my father's time, they used to cultivate it, but people didn't find the market,' he said. 'It was more of a burden than a bonus.' Before the Nagaland government took charge of coffee development, the Coffee Board would buy produce from farmers and sell it to buyers or auction it in their headquarters in Bengaluru, Karnataka. But the payments, said Walling, would be made in instalments over a year, sometimes two. Since he took over the farm, and the state department became the nodal agency, payments are not only higher but paid upfront with buyers directly procuring from the farmers. Still, profits aren't huge. Walling makes less than 200,000 rupees per annum (roughly $2,300) and like most farmers, is still engaged in jhum cultivation, the traditional slash-and-burn method of farming practised by Indigenous tribes in northeastern hills. With erratic weather patterns and decreasing soil fertility in recent decades, intensified land use in jhum cultivation has been known to lead to further environmental degradation and greenhouse gas emissions, exacerbating climate change. 'Trees are drying up and so is the mountain spring water,' Walling told Al Jazeera, pointing at the evergreen woods where spring leaves were already wilting in March, well before the formal arrival of summer. 'Infestation is also a major issue and we don't use even organic fertilisers because we are scared of spoiling our land,' he added. And though the state government has set up some washing stations and curing units, many more are needed for these facilities to be accessible to all farmers, said Walling, for them to sustain coffee as a viable crop and secure better prices. 'Right now we don't know the quality. We just harvest it,' he said. Dipanjali Kemprai, a liaison officer who leads the Coffee Board of India operations in Nagaland, told Al Jazeera that the agency encourages farmers to grow coffee alongside horticultural crops like black pepper to supplement their income. 'But intercropping still hasn't fully taken off,' said Kemprai. Meanwhile, despite the state's efforts to promote sustainable agriculture, recent satellite data suggests that shifting cultivation, or jhum, may be rising again. The future of Naga coffee Though it is the seventh-largest producer of coffee, India is far behind export-heavy countries like Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia and Italy. And while the Nagaland government maintains that exports have been steadily growing, entrepreneurs tell a different story. Vivito Yeptho, who co-owns Nagaland Coffee and became the state's first certified barista in 2018, said that their last export of 15 metric tonnes (MT) was in 2019, to South Africa. Still, there are other wins to boast of. In 2024, the state registered its highest-ever production at 48 MT, per state department officials. Yeptho said Nagaland Coffee alone supplies 40 cafes across India, of which 12 are in the Northeast region. And Naga coffee is already making waves internationally, winning silver at the Aurora International Taste Challenge in South Africa in 2022 and then gold in 2023. 'To aim for export, we need to be at least producing 80-100 MT every year,' Yeptho told Al Jazeera. But before aiming for mass production, entrepreneurs said they still have a long way to go in improving the quality of beans and their post-harvest processing. With a washing mill and a curing unit in his farm, where he grows both Arabica and Robusta varieties, Yanthan's Lithanro brand is the only farm-to-cup institution in the state. He believes farmers need to focus on better maintenance of their plantations, to begin with. 'Even today, the attitude is that the plants don't need to be tended to during the summers and monsoon season before harvest (which starts by November),' Yanthan told Al Jazeera. 'But the trees need to be constantly pruned to keep them within a certain height, weeding has to be done and the stems need to be maintained as well.' Even as these challenges ground Naga farmers and entrepreneurs in reality, their dreams are soaring. Humtsoe hopes for speciality coffee from Nagaland to soon be GI tagged, like varieties from Coorg, Chikmagalur, Araku Valley and Wayanad in southern India. He wants good coffee from India to be associated with Nagas, not just Nagaland, he said. 'People of the land must become the brand'.
Voice of Belady
an hour ago
- Voice of Belady
The Fate of Iran's Arms
Written by Howayda Awad Ahmad In a powerful message and a clear, brash attack, with a tone that was neither strong nor weak, Sheikh Naim Qassem bluntly declared that Hezbollah would not give up its weapons and that it was Lebanon's only safe haven against Israeli ambitions. He resolutely sought solutions with the Lebanese President and coordination with the Lebanese Army and political parties. This complete rejection is a clear message to the Israeli enemy that the resistance is continuing, renewing itself, and reorganizing its systems after the assassination of most of its senior leaders. A gratuitous abandonment is a figment of the imagination after all this long conflict. This is despite Iran and the United States announcing that they would negotiate in the Sultanate of Oman in a devious manner, studying the issue of Hezbollah's weapons and reducing Hezbollah's regional role, in exchange for the enemy's withdrawal from southern Lebanon. Despite Israel's failure to abide by the agreement concluded in November of last year between the resistance in Lebanon and Israel, brokered by the United States, it continues to refuse to withdraw. Consequently, Lebanese citizens will not trust Hezbollah, nor will they return to the Bekaa Valley and the South, nor will they rebuild as long as the Israeli entity remains present. Israel's presence along the Litani River and its insistence on maintaining a military presence throughout southern Lebanon are in the hope of settling Palestinians and displacing them from Gaza, or of pursuing the Zionist expansionist project, as is currently occurring in Syria. Another goal is to end Hezbollah's influence and surround it from all sides. The Syrian scene has now become a flashpoint for the entire region and an example to follow, as the occupation dismantled and disarmed the Syrian army, encircling Syrian territory and placing it under control without an army, without weapons, and without power. It seems that Al-Qassem has learned his lesson well and is shouldering the responsibility of avenging Hassan Nasrallah, Hashem Safi, all the party's active leaders, and the thousands of civilian martyrs targeted by Israel last year. Loyalty to the resistance's weapons and adherence to the same ideals and sacrifices. A few days ago, Israel responded to Qassem's speech with more bombing and escalation, a sharp response to their continued efforts to clip Hezbollah's claws, or rather, uproot that arm. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun is fully aligned with the resistance, and there are agreements and a comprehensive defense strategy at the diplomatic, military, and economic levels against ongoing Israeli attacks. This coordination between them is aimed at preserving Lebanon's stability. Indeed, research and organization are underway to restructure the resistance, rehabilitate, and organize high-level military courses for some Hezbollah members to integrate them into the Lebanese army, as previously occurred with the integration of the security forces' militias and the army after the end of the civil war in the 1990s. However, this integrated system cannot be restored until Israel withdraws completely from Lebanon. The Lebanese president, who pledged to restrict weapons to the state, contradicts Hezbollah's desires, which completely refuses to disarm before Israel withdraws from the south and completes the return of the residents and reconstruction of the south. Analyzing this vision reveals an imminent merger between the resistance and the army in the coming years. More dangerously, we must not overlook the fact that there is a sovereign movement opposing Hezbollah in the Lebanese government, which emphasizes the complete disarmament of Hezbollah and the removal of its power, in accordance with the UN Charter, by implementing the resolution to disarm all militias from all Lebanese territory and evacuating the area south of the Litani River of all Hezbollah military forces bordering Israel. This vision will, of course, serve to expand and systematically extend the Israeli occupation of Syrian territory. Israel has exploited the presence of Trump in the US, the change of administration from Biden to Trump, and the change of Amos Hochstein to Morgat Otagos to escape and renounce all previous treaties and agreements, including ceasefires and even truces, and to delay the planned withdrawal last February. It continues to carry out carefully targeted intelligence-driven strikes against Hezbollah leaders, bulldoze land, build walls, and organize committees from the United States, France, Lebanon, Israel, and UNIFIL to consolidate and consolidate normalization with the entity... not to appease the situation. Because Iran is now at a crossroads and is on the verge of reviving the Hezbollah file and supporting it as it did before, after the fall of Assad, it is no longer able to provide financial support to revive the party after it has lost those responsible for its management and leadership. On the other hand, it sees the Israeli presence in Syria supported by Ahmed al-Sharaa, who is standing guard to prevent any rise of Shiite support from Assad and Hezbollah supporters. Only the Houthi arm remains, waiting to see what Iran will threaten, how the Iranian-American understandings will end, and what will be the consequences of the current Gulf-American arms deals and the resulting imbalance in the Middle East. Discussions about Iranian nuclear weapons will not be isolated from Iran's militias in the region. Iranian brutality will be met with American-Zionist-European brutality. The Arabs are paying their money, and the arms factories continue to sell weapons to the highest bidder.
Daily News Egypt
2 hours ago
- Daily News Egypt
Israeli strikes intensify in Gaza as humanitarian system nears collapse
Israeli offensive in Gaza intensified Saturday, targeting multiple areas across the besieged enclave, further straining a humanitarian system already on the brink of collapse. The escalation comes amid stalled ceasefire negotiations and mounting international concern over deteriorating living conditions. Heavy bombardment was reported in eastern Gaza City and the north of the Strip, with local officials warning of an unprecedented breakdown in critical infrastructure. In the south, Israeli forces struck civilian sites, including the Martyr Jamal Abu Hamad Mosque in Abasan al-Kabira, east of Khan Younis, according to local sources. The municipality of Khaza'a declared the town 'a completely devastated disaster zone,' citing relentless shelling and widespread destruction of civilian life. Gaza City's municipality warned of a total collapse in public services, citing mass displacement and the paralysis of waste management and water systems. 'More than 250,000 tonnes of waste have accumulated in central Gaza, while clean water is becoming nearly unavailable,' the municipality said in a statement. Officials added that key services—including sewage treatment and garbage collection—are nearing total shutdown due to fuel and equipment shortages. UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini warned that famine in Gaza can only be averted through urgent political action. 'The current trickle of aid mocks the scale of this collective tragedy,' he said. UN agencies and NGOs have been sounding alarms over severe shortages of food, fuel, water, and medical supplies, as access to Gaza remains heavily restricted. Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, sharply criticized the joint U.S.-Israeli aid delivery mechanism, calling it 'humiliating,' 'unsustainable,' and devoid of 'neutrality, fairness, and independence.' In an interview with Anadolu Agency, he warned that the current model hinders rather than helps the humanitarian response. In northern Gaza, Hamas' Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades claimed it had ambushed an Israeli ground unit in Atatra, near Beit Lahia, reporting close-range combat and casualties among Israeli troops. The al-Quds Brigades, affiliated with Islamic Jihad, said it shelled an Israeli troop and vehicle concentration near the Customs Authority compound east of Khan Younis using 60mm mortars. Gaza's Ministry of Health reported that hospitals are operating under 'limited and depleted technical options' amid growing power outages. Dozens of generators have reportedly been destroyed in Israeli strikes, including three high-capacity units recently hit. Officials warned that the collapse of the healthcare system is imminent without immediate fuel and medical equipment resupply. As the crisis deepens, diplomatic efforts continue with few signs of breakthrough. Former U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that a ceasefire deal 'is very close,' hinting that an announcement could come 'today or tomorrow.' According to reports, Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff presented a proposal that includes a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release 28 Israeli captives—both living and deceased—in exchange for the release of 125 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences and the return of 180 Palestinian bodies. A second phase would involve additional exchanges, a permanent ceasefire, and large-scale humanitarian aid deliveries. Hamas confirmed in a brief statement on Friday that it is studying the proposal and consulting with other Palestinian factions before issuing an official response. Meanwhile, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty reaffirmed Egypt's central role in mediation efforts during a meeting with former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Abdelatty emphasized Cairo's continued coordination with the U.S. and Qatar to broker a ceasefire and ensure the safe entry of aid. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tamim Khalaf said Abdelatty condemned Israeli actions as 'flagrant violations of international law and humanitarian principles,' while reiterating Egypt's demand for uninterrupted humanitarian access and protection of civilians.
