Turkey ‘source of power’ for Muslims, says Hamas chief

ANKARA: Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal on Saturday praised Turkey as a “source of power” for all Muslims in gratitude to Turkey’s leaders for supporting the Palestinian cause.

“A democratic, stable and developed Turkey is a source of power for all Muslims,” Mashaal said in an address to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) annual congress in the conservative central Anatolian city of Konya.

Mashaal said a “strong Turkey means a strong Jerusalem, a strong Palestine,” voicing hopes to “liberate Palestine and Jerusalem,” according to the state-run Anatolia news agency.

His brief address was interrupted repeatedly by cheering crowds in the hall waving Turkish and Palestinian flags and chanting: “Allahu Akbar (God is greatest)” and “Down with Israel!”

The Hamas chief often shows up at the ruling party’s events. He also attended the AKP’s congress in 2012 when President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was serving as prime minister.

Current Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, in his speech said Turkey’s red flag featuring a crescent with a star was a “symbol of the innocent in the world.”

“God is witness … we will make this red flag a symbol of the innocent. This red flag will fly side by side with the flags of Palestine, free Syria and all other innocents’ flags anywhere in the world,” he told the congress.

A staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause, Erdogan has often blasted the Jewish state over its military assaults on the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by Hamas

Israeli forces target Palestinian fishermen off Gaza

Israeli gunboats have opened fire on Palestinian fishing boats off the northern coast of the Gaza Strip as the Tel Aviv regime’s aggression against Palestinians in the besieged sliver continues unabated.

Witnesses said Israeli forces fired shots at Palestinian fishermen near the shores of Gaza City on Friday, forcing the fishing boats to return. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

On December 3, Israeli warships targeted Palestinian fishing boats off the coast of the Gaza Strip, seriously wounding a fisherman.

The fisherman, identified as 32-year-old Fakher Nizar Abu Riyaleh, was critically injured in the head by shrapnel from Israeli shells. He was taken to al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City to receive medical treatment.

According to the Gaza Fishermen’s Syndicate, the Tel Aviv regime has on numerous occasions violated a ceasefire agreement with the Palestinians that took effect after indirect negotiations in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.

The truce put an end to the 50-day Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, which started on July 8. The onslaught killed at least 2,140 Palestinians and injured thousands of others.

Under the ceasefire agreement, Israel said it would immediately expand the fishing zone off Gaza’s coast and allow fishermen to sail as far as six nautical miles from shore. The Israeli military actions have significantly damaged Gaza’s fishing industry.

The Gaza Strip has been under Israel’s blockade since June 2007. The blockade has caused a decline in the standard of living as well as unprecedented levels of unemployment, and unrelenting poverty.

MP/MKA/KA

View: Thomas William joins The Gazette's Camera Club

VIEW GALLERY

Every day The Gazette features the very best of pictures sent to us from readers around Teesside.

We’ve been so impressed we launched Camera Club, a regular feature in which we profile different photographers, find out a bit more about them and share a selection of their latest shots.

To have your pictures featured visit http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/cameraclub

Name : Thomas William

Where are you from ? Stockton

Tell us a little bit about yourself : I am 73 and retired.

What do you like taking pictures of ?  I like taking pictures of events.

To be featured in Camera Club click on this link

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Grangetown YCC Under 7s hope to score your Wish tokens this year

A team of young Grangetown footballers are hoping for a good result in this year’s Wish campaign.

Grangetown YCC U7s are a newly formed team that came together earlier this year.

The team is mainly made up from children who live in the local area, many of who have progressed from the club’s academy.

Grangetown YCC was originally founded in 1941 and was formerly known as the Grangetown Boys Club. Being a family club, the junior section was formed in 2001. There are currently a total of six junior teams, as well as two senior teams, at the club.

The juniors, including the U7s, are coached by FA qualified coaches and compete in the Teesside Junior Football Alliance.

With the team entering The Gazette’s Wish campaign for the first time, Gavin McDaid, of the club, said: “We would like to invest in new kits, tracksuits and extra equipment like new footballs.”

Every year, The Gazette’s Wish campaign gives away thousands of pounds to not-for-profit groups and organisations benefiting the Teesside community. Each registered group will be guaranteed a share of our £40,000 fund.

The more tokens a group collects, the bigger its share of the prize pot.

Tokens are now appearing daily in The Gazette. The last token will appear on January 21. Submissions for tokens will close at 5pm on Monday, February 23.

To help Grangetown YCC U7s, send your tokens to: 136 Lime Road, Normanby, TS6 0BY.

Man in critical condition after Skelton Christmas Day attack

A man is in a critical condition in hospital after an early hours attack on Christmas Day.

Police are appealing for information after they attended reports of an alleged serious assault in Skelton.

The incident was reported to have occurred at around 6.10am on December 25 on Hylton Avenue in the East Cleveland town.

Police say that several members of the public tried to intervene and help a 49-year-old male victim, who suffered significant head injuries during the alleged attack.

He remains in a critical but stable condition in James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough.

Three men, aged 29, 30 and 51, have been arrested on suspicion of assault and they have been bailed pending further enquiries.

The alleged attack happened on the street and officers know a number of witnesses were present.

Police are grateful for information they have already received from several people but they believe there are others who have not yet spoken to police and they are urging these people to come forward.

Anyone with information should contact Cleveland Police on the non-emergency number 101 or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Israeli police shoot 5-year-old in the face while exiting school bus

JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Israeli forces on Wednesday afternoon shot a 5-year-old Palestinian child in the face with a rubber-coated steel bullet in East Jerusalem as he was getting out of a school bus on his way home, relatives said.

“An Israeli soldier fired a black rubber-coated bullet at the child from a close distance, injuring him under the eye,” the uncle of 5-year-old Muhammad Jamal Ubeid told Ma’an.

The incident reportedly took place in the East Jerusalem village of al-Issawiya, where Muhammad’s family lives.

The child’s uncle said that Muhammad and his 14-year-old sister stepped out of a school bus and had started to walk home when the Israeli forces shot him.

The uncle said there were no confrontations at all in the area between Israeli forces and Palestinians at the time of the shooting.

An Israeli police spokesman did not return a request for comment.

Muhammad was evacuated to the nearby Hadassah Medical Center on Mount Scopus where medical authorities said he had a fracture in the bone below his eye.

The boy was later transferred to the Hadassah Medical Center in the Ein Karem neighborhood in West Jerusalem for treatment.

East Jerusalem neighborhoods like al-Issawiya have seen months of heavy police presence and widespread protests amid increasing anger over the Israeli occupation and perceived discrimination.

Palestinians in East Jerusalem have residency rights but not citizenship since Israel occupied the city in 1967, despite the fact that the vast majority are born and raised in the city and trace their heritage back generations.

Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan in 1967 and later annexed it in a move never recognized abroad. The international community sees East Jerusalem as Palestinian territory

Israeli troops arrest 25 Palestinians across West Bank

Israeli forces have abducted at least 25 Palestinians, including five teenagers, during separate raids on a number of houses across the occupied West Bank.

On Thursday evening, Israeli troopers detained 14 Palestinians in the town of Azzoun, situated 9 kilometers (5.5 miles) west of the West Bank city of Qalqilya, on suspicion of being involved in a Molotov cocktail attack on a settler’s vehicle nearby.

The attack reportedly left two Israeli injured, including an 11-year-old girl, earlier in the day.

Israeli troops also stormed a number of Palestinian houses in al-Issawiya and Sur Baher neighborhoods of East al-Quds (Jerusalem) on Thursday, arresting five Palestinian teenage boys identified as Hasan Jamjum, Ali Ahmad Darwish, Ahmad Uweisa, Khalid Jadallah and Muhsin Attun.

Israeli forces also took away four Palestinian men in the city of Nablus, located approximately 49 kilometers (30 miles) north of al-Quds, early on Thursday.

Scuffles broke out between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian youth in the aftermath of the arrests, with Israeli troopers firing tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the crowd.

In al-Khalil (Hebron), Israeli forces also arrested 23-year-old Mustafa Maharma and Muhammad Jamil Issa Arara, 36.

Israeli forces have abducted dozens of Palestinians across the occupied West Bank since the beginning of December.

According to the Palestinian Prisoners Society, Israel also arrested as many as 549 Palestinians from East al-Quds and the occupied West Bank in November.

There are reportedly over 7,000 Palestinians in 17 Israeli prisons and detention camps. Among Palestinian prisoners behind Israeli bars, there are 18 women, 250 children, 1,500 sick detainees, who are mostly in a critical condition, and 540 Palestinians held without any trial under administrative detention.

MP/MKA/SS

Picture gallery 2: Even more pictures of Boro fans at the Riverside for the game against Forest

VIEW GALLERY

It was the biggest crowd at the Riverside since relegation in 2009 and those who spent their afternoon down by the Tees headed for home delighted.

Boro hit three second half goals to bounce back from the defeat at Ipswich with all three points against Nottingham Forest.

The crowd of 32,277 was the biggest Boro home attendance for a game outside the top flight since 1973.

We published a picture gallery of Boro fans at the game last night but here's even more photos of supporters in the stands for you to enjoy.

UK weather and travel: Latest updates after thousands are stranded overnight as snow closes roads and airports

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Chris was appointed editor of the Gazette in January 2012. He is also a former Gazette news editor. Chris has more than 20 years experience as a journalist and has previously worked in senior positions in Newcastle, Exeter and Nottingham.

If you want to govern India, constitutionally make it a Hindu Rashtra: Togadia

By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,

Wardha (Maharashtra): Aimed at intimidating the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Praveen Togadia has dared the Modi government to “constitutionally recognize India to be a Hindu Rashtra” if it wants to continue governing the country.

Togadia also advocated for immediate passing of the anti-conversion bill so that Hindus cannot change their religion. The VHP leader was here to attend and address a grand convention to celebrate VHP’s golden jubilee year.

VHP is observing 2014-2015 as golden jubilee year of its establishment and organizing a number of conventions throughout the country district wise.

He was very critical during his speech on the already much-debated issue of religious conversion that has stalled both the houses of the Parliament for the whole last and this week.

Asserting that the whole world was once inhabited by Hindus, whose population should have been 700 crore in the world, Togadia said: “Population of Hindus in India needs to be increased from 82 % to 100 per cent in next 1,000 years, for which India needs to be declared a Hindu Rashtra constitutionally. If you want to government the country, then you must do this, you must make India constitutionally a Hindu Rashtra.”

For More: http://twocircles.net/2014dec26/1419612472.html#.VJ2RQ14AMA