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Barnama
28-07-2025
- Politics
- Barnama
M'sia To Voice Out Against Ongoing Oppression In Gaza At Geneva Forum
GENERAL KUALA LUMPUR, July 28 (Bernama) – Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul will underscore Malaysia's position on the ongoing oppression of the Palestinian people in Gaza during his attendance at the 6th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, to be held from July 28 to 31 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. In a statement issued today, the Office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives said Johari is scheduled to deliver a speech during the General Debate session themed 'A World in Turmoil: Parliamentary Cooperation and Multilateralism for Peace, Justice and Prosperity for All' on July 29. According to the statement, Johari will raise Malaysia's voice in advocating for an international system grounded in the rule of law, the principles of justice and resilient and independent parliamentary institutions. 'He will also emphasise Malaysia's firm stance on the continuous oppression of the Palestinian people in Gaza and call upon parliaments around the world not to remain silent when the fundamental principles of humanity and international law are violated,' the statement read. The conference, jointly organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the United Nations (UN), brings together more than 110 parliamentary speakers from across the globe. This year, legislative leaders are expected to engage directly with heads of international organisations, academics, civil society representatives and the media, making the forum a strategic platform to coordinate collective action towards global peace, justice and prosperity. Meanwhile, Johari, who also serves as President of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), is scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with several legislative leaders from around the world, including from Iran, to discuss efforts to strengthen the United Nations Charter and international law in pursuit of global peace and security. 'This inter-parliamentary dialogue is a vital platform for building open channels of communication, aimed at peaceful resolutions based on the UN Charter. 'As Chair of AIPA, the Malaysian Parliament remains steadfast in voicing support for the sovereignty of the Palestinian people and will continue to bring ASEAN's voice to the international stage as a bloc that upholds peace, dialogue and peaceful resolution based on humanitarian principles and international law,' the statement added.
Express Tribune
24-07-2025
- Health
- Express Tribune
Starvation grips Gaza asfood crisis deepens
Seela Barbakh, an 11-month-old Palestinian girl who is malnourished, is held by her mother at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. Photo: REUTERS Listen to article The World Health Organization's chief warned Wednesday of widespread starvation in Gaza, saying food deliveries into the war-ravaged Palestinian territory were "far below what is needed for the survival of the population". "A large proportion of the population of Gaza is starving. I don't know what you would call it other than mass starvation — and it's man-made," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters. His statement added his voice to those of 111 aid organisations and rights groups, including MSF and Oxfam, who warned earlier Wednesday that "mass starvation" was spreading in Gaza. "Our colleagues and those we serve are wasting away," they said in a joint statement. The United Nations and aid groups trying to deliver food to Gaza say Israel, which controls everything that comes in and out, is choking delivery, and Israeli troops have shot hundreds of Palestinians dead close to aid collection points since May. Starvation grips Gaza as food crisis deepens "We have a minimum set of requirements to be able to operate inside Gaza," Ross Smith, the director of emergencies at the UN World Food Programme, told Reuters. "One of the most important things I want to emphasize is that we need to have no armed actors near our distribution points, near our convoys." Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Wednesday urged the international community to deliver justice, freedom, dignity, and a state to the long-suffering Palestinian people. He also called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, unrestricted humanitarian access, a halt to illegal settlements, and post-war reconstruction. "It is time to give the Palestinian people what they have been denied for too long: justice, freedom, dignity, and a state of their own. That is the path to durable peace and stability in the Middle East," Ishaq Dar said while chairing the UN Security Council's "Open Debate on the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question". He emphasized that the path to lasting peace lies in upholding international law, ending foreign occupation, rejecting the use of force, and advancing solutions through dialogue and diplomacy. "Gaza has become a graveyard for innocent lives as well as for international law," Ishaq Dar stated, citing systematic attacks on hospitals, schools, refugee camps, and aid convoys. He emphasized that the unfolding hunger crisis, with a third of Gaza's population going days without food, is a dire warning of catastrophic levels of food restaurants near me Calling the Palestinian issue a litmus test for the UN's credibility, the deputy PM warned that failure to act decisively would embolden impunity and erode the international rules-based order. The deputy PM urged the Security Council to pursue with unity and urgency, concrete measures including immediate, permanent, and unconditional ceasefire across Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including full implementation of Resolution 2735, unfettered humanitarian access and protection for aid workers, with urgent restoration of food and medical supply lines, renewed support for UNRWA, the United Nations agency supporting Palestinian refugees, an end to forced displacement and illegal settlement expansion, particularly in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, implementation of the Arab and OIC-led reconstruction plan for Gaza, and revival of a time-bound political process to achieve a two-state solution in accordance with UN resolutions and international law. Reaffirming Pakistan's support for a sovereign Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif (Jerusalem) as its capital, Dar welcomed recent momentum toward Palestine's recognition and UN membership. He highlighted the upcoming International Conference on the Two-State Solution, co-chaired by Saudi Arabia and France, as a key opportunity for renewed diplomatic progress. Dar also addressed broader regional issues, urging peaceful resolution of conflicts in Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen, and condemn recent Israeli military actions in Iran. He reiterated Pakistan's support for multilateral diplomacy and adherence to international law as the only path to regional peace and stability. Israel is facing mounting international pressure over the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, where more than two million people are facing severe shortages of food and other essentials after 21 months of conflict. Even after Israel began easing a more than two-month aid blockade in late May, Gaza's population is still suffering extreme scarcities. "The 2.1 million people trapped in the war zone that is Gaza are facing yet another killer on top of bombs and bullets: starvation," Tedros said. "We are now witnessing a deadly surge in malnutrition-related deaths," he added. Tedros highlighted that "rates of global acute malnutrition exceed 10 percent, and over 20 percent of pregnant and breastfeeding women that have been screened are malnourished, often severely". The UN health agency has documented 21 deaths in Gaza related to malnutrition of children under the age of five since the beginning of the year, but acknowledges that that the true number is likely higher. The head of Gaza's largest hospital said Tuesday that 21 children had died due to malnutrition and starvation in the Palestinian territory over the previous three days alone. Tedros warned that "the hunger crisis is being accelerated by the collapse of aid pipelines and restrictions on access". The starvation is "man-made" and clearly caused by Israel's blockade on the territory, he said. The WHO chief highlighted how starving people were risking their lives to access aid. The UN rights office said Tuesday that Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians trying to get food aid in Gaza since the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation started operations in late May. "Not only 1,026 were killed while trying to feed themselves or find food for their family. Thousands were also wounded," Tedros said. "We demand that there is full access, and we demand that there is a ceasefire," he said. "We demand that there is a political solution to this problem, a lasting solution." Killings The Al-Shaer family went to bed hungry at their home in Gaza City. An Israeli airstrike killed them in their sleep. The family — freelance journalist Wala al-Jaabari, her husband and their five children — were among more than 100 people killed in 24 hours of Israeli strikes or gunfire, according to health officials. Their corpses lay in white shrouds outside their bombed home on Wednesday with their names scribbled in pen. Blood seeped through the shrouds as they lay there, staining them red. "This is my cousin. He was 10. We dug them out of the rubble," Amr al-Shaer, holding one of the bodies after retrieving it. Iman al-Shaer, another relative who lives nearby, said the family hadn't eaten anything before the bombs came down. "The children slept without food," he said. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strike at the family's home, but said its air force had struck 120 targets throughout Gaza in the past day, including "terrorist cells, military structures, tunnels, booby-trapped structures, and additional terrorist infrastructure sites". Relatives said some neighbours were spared only because they had been out searching for food at the time of the strike. Ten more Palestinians died overnight from starvation, the Gaza health ministry said, bringing the total number of people who have starved to death to 111, most of them in recent weeks as a wave of hunger crashes on the Palestinian enclave.
Business Recorder
19-07-2025
- Politics
- Business Recorder
Pakistan's UNSC Presidency: Dar to attend high-level signature events next week in New York
ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, is set to embark upon a crucial visit to the United States next week to attend the high-level signature events of Pakistan's UN Security Council (UNSC) Presidency in New York, as well as for certain engagements in Washington, said the Foreign Office on Saturday. In New York, as part of Pakistan's Security Council signature events, the DPM/FM will chair a high-level Open Debate on 'Promoting International Peace and Security through Multilateralism and Peaceful Settlement of Disputes'. The high-level debate aims at exploring ways to strengthen multilateralism and at enhancing diplomacy and mediation for peaceful settlement of disputes, FO spokesperson remarked. Pakistan calls for emergency UNSC meeting over Indian aggression In addition, the DPM/FM will preside over the Quarterly Open Debate of the Security Council on the 'Situation in the Middle East including the Palestinian Question'. The DPM/FM will also chair a high-level briefing of the UN Security Council that will focus on enhancing cooperation between the UN and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The meeting is being held as part of Pakistan's efforts to strengthen collaboration between the OIC and the UN for maintenance of international peace and security. To express Pakistan's strong commitment, and unwavering support for the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people, the DPM/FM will also attend the high-level Conference on the 'Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the implementation of Two-State Solution'. During his stay in New York, the DPM/FM is expected to also have several bilateral engagements with his counterparts, as well as senior UN officials. Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar's visit to New York and Washington exemplifies Pakistan's growing role and importance in the multilateral arena as well as its expanding multifaceted relations with the US. Pakistan's high-level participation in the UN Security Council's Quarterly Debate on the Middle East as well as the International Conference on the 'Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of Two-State Solution,' is also a testimony to Pakistan's unwavering commitment to and support for the Palestinian cause. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
CNN
19-07-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Petitioners advocate for open primaries in Pennsylvania
Political Science Professor Seth Masket and Senior Vice-President of Open Primaries Jeremy Gruber join Michael Smerconish to debate the benefits and drawbacks of open primaries in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Fox News
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Kamala Harris had profane message for governors uneasy about supporting Biden
Former Vice President Kamala Harris had a profane message for anxious Democratic governors uneasy about publicly supporting Joe Biden during the 2024 presidential campaign following his disastrous debate against current President Donald Trump, a new book reveals. "This is about saving our f–king democracy," Harris reportedly told the governors at a July 3, 2024, gathering at the White House after numerous officials expressed reservations about supporting Biden over concerns about his cognitive state. The comment is revealed in the upcoming book 2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America by Josh Dawsey, Tyler Pager and Isaac Arnsdorf, according to the New York Post. Biden's campaign was in freefall after the then-81-year-old president appeared tired and disoriented at the June 2024 presidential debate, his only debate against Trump. "I really don't know what he said at the end of that sentence, and I don't think he knows what he said either," Trump remarked at one point. The June debate was held much earlier than presidential debates were traditionally held. According to the book, Biden's aides persuaded him to hold the early debate, claiming doing so would allow him to act from a position of strength. "By holding the first debate in the spring, YOU will be able to reach the widest audience possible, before we are deep in the summer months with the conventions, Olympics and family vacations taking precedence… In addition, the earlier YOU are able to debate the better, so that the American people can see YOU standing next to Trump and showing the strength of YOUR leadership, compared to Trump's weakness and chaos," a campaign memo, published by Politico, reportedly said. Biden's performance created worries in the Democratic establishment that he would lose the election, and the 45th president began facing calls to drop out of the race. On July 10, 2024, the New York Times published an op-ed by the actor George Clooney urging Biden to exit the race. More Democratic politicians began to follow suit until Biden ultimately dropped out of the race on July 21, 2024. Harris succeeded him in the race, mounting a truncated roughly three-month-long campaign that ultimately failed. Harris' comments to the governors, made before Biden dropped out, were part of an effort to salvage his flailing candidacy. Following the meeting, New York Governor Kathy Hochul and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz appeared in the White House driveway to voice their support for the president. Numerous high-profile Democratic governors, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Illinois Gov. Gavin Pritzker Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer – all of whom were touted as possible replacements for Biden – did not appear to vouch for Biden in public. Walz was later tapped to be Harris' running mate when she stepped into the race. Hochul claimed that all of the governors "pledged our support" for Biden, however, according to the book that claim wasn't true and rankled the governors in attendance. "Many of the governors were deeply skeptical that Biden could continue his campaign, and they were furious with Hochul for suggesting otherwise," the book claimed.
