Occupation destroys Saleh Al-Aruri’s house in Ramallah

Israeli occupation bulldozers this morning demolished the house of a member of the Political Bureau of the Hamas movement Saleh Al-Aruri, in Arura, north of Ramallah in the West Bank.

Al-Aruri’s family were informed of the decision to demolish the house late last night after Israeli occupation soldiers stormed it.

Eyewitnesses reported that the Israeli occupation forces carried out air operations on the mountains surrounding the village, as well as numerous soldiers deployed in the streets and neighbourhood searching houses. At the same time as street-lights were turned off and a number of bulldozers headed towards the village.

Israeli occupation forces have threatened to target the houses of senior Hamas leaders in the West Bank following the disappearance of three settlers in Hebron last week.

Witnesses also reported that occupation forces surrounded the town of Beit Rima and Aroura near Ramallah, suggesting that this is likely to be a blockade as a prelude to storming the towns, especially in light of the strict reinforcements dealt by the occupying forces at the entrances to the towns.

Occupation forces raided the suburb of Balou, north of Ramallah, and stormed and searched numerous houses, as well as placing soldiers near the village of Deir Ammar, west of Ramallah with a heavy Israeli aircraft present.

They also stormed the village of Singel and Aboan.

This morning, tens of settlers attacked the cars of Palestinian citizens living in the Jabal Altaweel district in Al-Bireh.

Local sources said that dozens of armed settlers from Bsegut, built on Al-Bireh territory, smashed citizens’ cars with rocks and were rioting in the streets

Achche Din Aane Wale Hain: Rail Fares Hiked by 14 Per Cent

The government today announced a steep hike in train fares in the first dose of the bitter medicine that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said was essential to revive India’s economy.

The move provoked criticism from opposition parties who mocked the ruling BJP’s election slogan – “Achche Din Aane Wale Hain (good times are ahead).”

From Wednesday, rail passenger fares will increase by 14.2 percent and freight rates by 6.5 percent.

The hike in passenger fares could bring nearly Rs. 6000 cr to the Railways, which needs massive funds to upgrade its infrastructure after years of low investment and populist policies.

Among the first to hit out at the Narendra Modi government was Bihar politician Lalu Prasad Yadav, who left train fares untouched during his tenure as railway minister in 2004-2009.

“Acche din. Acche din. The BJP has fired its first salvo at the poor people of this country. Whenever the BJP comes to power, they try and get a few people all the advantage,” Mr Yadav said, demanding a rollback. (Also read: Nitish Kumar Flays Modi Government For Rail Fare Hike Before Budget)

Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh tweeted, “Ab ki bar Double Speak Sarkar” and posted a letter that Mr Modi had written against a hike in freight rates by the UPA. “Modi wrote a letter to PM in 2012 on the Rail fare hike ! ACHHE DIN AA GAYE !

Hiking train fares is an unpopular decision that has always been viewed as politically risky, the reason why most Railway Ministers have steered clear of it.

Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda said he had only taken forward what the previous government had decided. “10% increase in passenger fare and 5% increase in freight was made in the interim budget but the previous government withheld it,” he said.

The previous Congress-led UPA government had left passenger fares unchanged in the interim budget in February, just before the national election.

Indian Railways, which manages the world’s largest network of trains and transports an estimated 25 million each day, is currently facing a severe financial crunch with passenger subsidy touching Rs. 26,000 crore.

Two dead, several injured in Egypt clashes

At least two people have been killed and several others injured in violent clashes that erupted during demonstrations held by supporters of the ousted president, Mohamed Morsi, and the current government.

Egyptian security officials in Cairo’s northern district of al-Marg said at least eight people were wounded in the clashes on Friday.

Police used teargas and fired rubber bullets to break up crowds of protesters

Reports say another 53 people were arrested.

Similar demonstrations have been held against the government of newly elected president and former military chief Abdel Fattah el-Sisi since he won the presidential election in May.

Egypt has been the scene of anti-government protests with persistent clashes between security forces and demonstrators since Sisi led the ouster of Muslim Brotherhood-backed Morsi in July last year.

Following his ouster, the Egyptian army launched a bloody crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood members and supporters.

Over 1,400 people were killed and thousands jailed in the army’s crackdown on the supporters of Morsi, while hundreds of his supporters have been sentenced to death.

The deadly clashes on Friday come days after a dozen supporters of Morsi were sentenced to death on charges of being linked to the deadly shooting of Major General Nabil Farag in 2013.

The presidency of Sisi puts the North African nation back in the hands of a top military official, three years after a popular uprising against former dictator Hosni Mubarak, an air force officer who ruled Egypt for almost three decades.

SZH/HSN

Six Palestinians injured in Israeli raids on Gaza

Six Palestinians were injured following a series of raids by Israeli warplanes in the Gaza Strip early this morning.

According to media sources, at least one rocket targeted a storage unit for food in the Zeitoun neighbourhood, south of Gaza. A number of casualties were reported.

Dr Ashraf Al-Qodra, spokesperson for the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, said that four children were amongst those injured.

In the central province, Israeli planes targeted with rockets at least one site run by Al-Quds, no injuries were reported

In Rafah, rockets struck agricultural land in Moraj, north of Rafah in southern Gaza Strip.

The Gaza Strip is experiencing a heavy presence of occupation planes, with surveillance planes flying at low altitudes.

Three US-led soldiers killed in Afghanistan: ISAF

Three US-led foreign soldiers have been killed in a bomb blast in southern Afghanistan, the US-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) says.

In a statement issued on Friday, the ISAF said that three “service members … died following an improvised explosive device attack in southern Afghanistan today.”

The statement said a bomber on a motorbike detonated his explosives close to an ISAF patrol.

There has been no word on the dead soldiers’ nationalities, but most troops in the region are American. The Taliban were quick to claim responsibility.

The deadly attack came about a month after Taliban militants launched their so-called spring offensive across Afghanistan.

The militant group announced that attacks would target US military bases, diplomatic missions and vehicle convoys.

Meanwhile, the US-led military forces are preparing to withdraw from Afghanistan at the end of the year.

More than 40 foreign troops, mostly American, have been killed in Afghanistan so far this year.

The increasing number of military casualties in Afghanistan has caused widespread anger in the United States and other NATO member states, undermining public support for the Afghan war.

The US and its allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but insecurity continues to rise across the country, despite the presence of thousands of US-led troops.

MSM/MHB/MAM

Israeli troops kills a 14 year old boy, in hunt for missing teens

HEBRON: Israeli soldiers killed a 14-year-old Palestinian in the occupied West Bank on Friday as they pressed a crackdown on Hamas in their search for three missing teenagers.

Troops also wounded two Palestinians in a refugee camp just outside Jerusalem, medical sources said, as clashes flared during the massive military operation in which forces have detained 330 Palestinians over the past week.

Israel accuses Hamas of kidnapping two 16-year-olds and a 19-year-old who went missing at a hitch-hiking stop in the West Bank, an allegation the group has dismissed.

But Israel seized on the opportunity to drive a wedge between Hamas and the Palestinian leadership, who formed a merged administration for the West Bank and Gaza Strip just this month for the first time in seven years.

Palestinian security and medical sources said 14-year-old Mohammed Dudin was shot in the chest in a clash that erupted after Israeli soldiers arrived to conduct arrests in the village of Dura, south of the West Bank city of Hebron.

Dudin was taken to the Alia hospital in Hebron, where he was later pronounced dead.

The army said villagers had thrown stones and Molotov cocktails at troops on an arrest mission in Dura, and that soldiers had responded with live fire.

A spokeswoman told AFP the army was examining the reports of Dudin’s death. In Qalandia refugee camp just north of Jerusalem, troops shot and wounded two young Palestinians, medics said.

Mustafa Aslan, 20, was in critical condition at Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem while Mohammed Shehada, 21, was being treated in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah — the head of the new unity government appointed on June 2 — attended the Friday prayers in Hebron, but the army prevented him from attending Dudin’s burial in Dura.

Hamas has lashed out at the Palestinian leadership for its decision to maintain security coordination with Israel despite the massive wave of searches and arrests.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Malki accused Israel of an “exaggerated” response, and questioned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s assertion that Hamas was behind the abduction. “He cannot keep blaming one side without showing evidence,” Malki told AFP.

“Three kids have disappeared, but in exchange for that the Israeli army has taken 300 Palestinians,” he said. “Their reaction went beyond logic.”

Malki added, however, that “if it comes to be known that Hamas is behind it (the kidnapping), then of course the unity government will be at risk.”

Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said, meanwhile, that Israel’s “working assumption” was that “the abductees are alive, until proven otherwise.”

Israeli troops also carried out search and arrest operations overnight in the Dheisheh refugee camp, near Bethlehem, and in Arura, north of Ramallah, “detaining some 25 suspects and searching approximately 200 locations,” the army said.

Since the start of the operation last week, troops have “scanned about 1,150 locations in search for the abducted boys and for terror elements.”

Sambhal mosque gutted by fire, area tense. Locals suspects hand of right wing

By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,

Sambhal, UP: Local residents clashed in the Western Uttar Pradesh city of Sambhal on Thursday afternoon as they were protesting the burning of a mosque last night, earlier reported by TwoCircles.net,

According to eye witness, after a mosque was gutted by fire last night in Hayat Nagar Colony of Sambhal, angry residents blocked the main roads of the town demanding probe into the causes of the fire, as they suspect hands of some miscreants. Markets in the city were shut from morning fearing backlash.

[Courtesy: Merasambhal.com]

As police tried to clear the roads, on the main road leading to Delhi through Hassanpur, angry protesters clashed with the police. According to eye witness, some police personnel have been injured in the clash and vehicles of police SDPO, who had reached the spot, was also damaged. Roads have now been cleared and there is heavy deployment of police

FIFA to monitor Israeli violations against Palestinian football team

The FIFA Congress decided on June 11 to form a neutral committee to monitor Israeli violations against the Palestinian football team, Deputy Director of International Relations at the Palestinian Federation of Football Muna Dabdoub said in an exclusive interview with the Anadolu news agency.

Dabdoub pointed out that President of the Union of European Football Associations Michel Platini decided to form a special committee to monitor Israeli violations against the Palestinian football team.

The committee will submit its report during FIFA’s executive committee meeting in December.

Dabdoub said: “Sports should not be governed by political disputes. The Palestinians have the right to play football in peace and freedom, especially since the Palestinian territories are often viewed as a place of war and fighting. Therefore football is a means to show the other face of Palestine and that the Palestinians, like others, love football and want to live in peace.”

She noted that the Palestinian delegation “demanded FIFA press the Israeli Union to call on the Israeli government to abide by FIFA’s laws and the International Olympic Charter.”

The Palestinians demanded players’ movement within the Palestinian territories including the West Bank and Gaza Strip be eased as well as the entry of sports equipment and foreign teams and for sports facilities in Palestine to be respected.

The Palestinian football team won the Asia Challenge Cup in May and qualified to play during the 2015 Asian Cup in Australia in January

Heroes set to be honoured with Armed Forces Day events on Teesside

Parades, drills and entertainment all feature in a week-long line-up of events

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Picture by Peter Reimann

Teesside Armed Forces Day celebrations in 2013

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People can pay tribute nation’s military heroes at a series of events across Teesside to mark Armed Forces Day.

The week kicks off today when Middlesbrough’s Centre Square hosts a parade, musical performances and a variety of demonstrations, activities and entertainment.

Middlesbrough’s Armed Forces Day - supported by The Ministry of Defence, the Armed Forces Forum, Middlesbrough College, Teesside University and Middlesbrough Council - runs from 10am to 4pm and is open to all.

In Stockton the borough mayor, Councillor Barbara Inman, will open the celebrations on Monday with a short flag raising ceremony outside Stockton Town Hall at 10.15am which will include members of the Armed Forces, the British Legion and both serving and retired servicemen and women.

Veterans will parade their regimental standards and Retired Lieutenant Colonel Graham Mitchell will make a speech.

On Thursday, June 26, from 9.30am-3pm, Stockton high street will host displays and information stands offering people the opportunity to find out about the past, present and future of the Armed Forces. There will also be an exhibition in the Rediscover Stockton Shop called Remembering Our War.

At 11.45 am to 12.15pm there will be an open-air service of thanksgiving for the Armed Forces in the area to the south of the town hall.

From 2pm to 4pm Stockton’s Tabernacle will host a tea dance.

As part of the celebrations the Mayor of Stockton will be holding a duck race on Stockton’s Riverside to raise money for three armed forces charities - Rifles, The Yorkshire Regiment Benevolent Fund and 1 Close Support Battalion REME. She will launch the ducks into the River Tees from Infinity Marine Café on Saturday 28 June at 1.45pm.

For more information about Armed Forces Day visit http://ift.tt/1qzMAth.

And in Redcar organisers hope their day will be their best ever.

The Redcar Branch of the Royal British Legion in conjunction with Redcar and Cleveland Council and Redcar Rotary have a range of military, charities, music and performances all lined up for Armed Forces Day on Saturday, June 28.

The day starts with a parade which forms up at the Blue Clock at 10.20am ready to start at 10.30am.

At 11am, Whale Hill Children’s Choir will perform a selection of wartime songs in “One Voice”.

Middlesbrough Jazz and Blues Band play at 11.30am and standard bearers will perform a drill display at 12.15pm.

In the afternoon there is a fly past – Battle of Britain Memorial Flight at 12.40pm, drill competition between sea, army and air cadets at 1pm, Middlesbrough Jazz and Blues Band play at 2pm and there will be an air display by Tiger Moth bi-plane at 2.30pm.

The event closes at 3.30 with Evening Colours including a fall of poppy petals.