Habib Siddiqui

  Though brief, the   exchange   between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Indonesia on November 16 has become a social media sensation. Xi, assertive if not domineering, lectured the visibly apprehensive Trudeau about the etiquette of diplomacy. This exchange can be considered another watershed moment in China’s relationship with the West. “If there was sincerity on your part,” the Chinese President told Trudeau, “then we shall conduct our discussion with an attitude of mutual respect, otherwise there might be unpredictable consequences.” At the end of the awkward conversation, Xi was the first to walk away, leaving Trudeau uncomfortably making his way out of the room. For the significance of this moment to be truly appreciated, it has to be viewed through a historical prism. When western colonial powers began the process of exploiting China in earnest – early to mid-19th century – the total size...

 India has turned out to be an intolerant Hindu fascist state. Can Indians afford such a reality in a world that is increasingly becoming open and multi-religious? ========== A nationwide “unity march” led by India’s main opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has reached its 80th day and is currently winding through the streets of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The  “Bharat Jodo Yatra”  (or Unite India March) started from Kanyakumari, the southernmost point of India in Tamil Nadu state on September 7. It will cover 3,500 kilometres (2,175 miles) to reach Indian-administered Kashmir in the north – entirely on foot – in the next 70 days. Only excerpts of the full report is shared below. For the full report, see, al Jazeera: A ‘march to unite India’, led by Congress, reaches half-way mark | Politics News | Al Jazeera ‘Safe space for Muslims’ Several Hindu right-wing groups operate in Karnataka, where the BJP government has passed a series of laws and orders  banning th...

  An Israeli filmmaker has triggered controversy in India after he denounced a film on the Kashmir dispute as “propaganda” and a “vulgar movie” at a government-sponsored film festival in Goa. Nadav Lapid, who headed the jury at the week-long International Film Festival of India (IFFI) that concluded on Monday, said he was “disturbed and shocked” by the inclusion of  The Kashmir Files  in the event. “That felt to us, seemed to us like a propaganda, vulgar movie, inappropriate for an artistic competitive section of such a prestigious film festival,” he said in his concluding address at a ceremony also attended by India’s federal broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur and top filmmakers from different countries. The Kashmir Files, a 170-minute Hindi-language movie written and directed by Vivek Agnihotri, was released in March this year. It tells the fictional story of a student who discovers that his Kashmiri Hindu parents – known as Kashmiri Pandits – were killed by armed rebe...

  Israeli troops shot dead four Palestinians in the occupied West Bank Tuesday, Palestinian officials said, and a suspected car-ramming attacker was killed after wounding an Israeli soldier, Israeli medics and the army said. The army confirmed its troops had fired on "rioters" who attacked soldiers in two separate clashes in the West Bank overnight. A 20-year-old woman soldier was "moderately injured and evacuated to a hospital for medical treatment" following a suspected car-ramming north of Jerusalem, the army said. Jerusalem's Shaare Tzedek hospital confirmed the alleged attacker had been killed. The West Bank has suffered spiralling violence this year, with near daily Israeli army raids leading to scores of deaths -- of Palestinian fighters and also civilians -- while Jewish settlers have been increasingly targeted by at times deadly Palestinian violence. In Kafr Ein, near Ramallah, two brothers were killed by Israeli fire, the Palestinian health ministry sa...

  Adjusting to reality outside the confines of an Israeli prison is not easy. Alyan al-Amour has found that out. “The sense of freedom I have now is strange,” the 43-year-old said. “When I walk, I find it hard to believe I can move without anyone stopping me.” On the day after his release in September, Alyan met his  fiancee  Deena for the first time. The couple got engaged while Alyan was in prison but Deena was never able to visit him. Alyan and Deena married within a few weeks of their first meeting. It was an important step toward ensuring that Alyan can rebuild his life. The horrors he encountered behind bars cannot be erased from his memory. His long period of detention began in September 2006. Alyan was at home in al-Fukhari – near the Gaza city of Khan Younis – when Israeli troops invaded the area and arrested him. He was quickly brought to Ashkelon prison inside Israel, where he was kept for 35 days. During that period, he was held underground and was repeatedly ...

  Israel's outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid has made concerted efforts to block a Palestinian request at the UN for an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) about the occupation of the Palestinian territories. Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid  on Tuesday urged world leaders to block a  Palestinian  bid at the United Nations for an advisory opinion from the  International Court of Justice (ICJ)  on Israel's occupation, the premier's office has said. In a letter, Lapid asked more than 50 heads of state, including those of the UK and France, to pressure the  Palestinian Authority,  which exercises limited rule in the occupied West Bank, and prevent it from promoting the resolution at the General Assembly. The resolution, approved by a UN committee in early November, asks that the ICJ "urgently" weigh in on Israel's "prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of the Palestinian territory", violating the Palestinians' ...

Protests in China over the government’s Covid-19 restrictions were spreading over the weekend. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images Protests are erupting in major cities in China over President Xi Jinping‘s  zero-tolerance approach to Covid-19 , an unusual show of defiance in the country as the  economic and social costs  from snap lockdowns and other strict restrictions escalate. Demonstrations occurred throughout the weekend in Beijing, Shanghai and the eastern city of Nanjing, according to eyewitness accounts. Video footage and photos circulating on social media, which The Wall Street Journal wasn’t able to independently verify, suggest protests broke out in several other cities, including Wuhan, the original epicenter of the pandemic. 

  Rocketing energy bills are forcing Hungary to shutter libraries, theatres, swimming pools and even its new football stadiums for winter. The state-of-the-art grounds -- symbols of right-wing nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban's 12 years in power -- are among a long list of buildings no longer able to cope with rising energy prices in the central European country. Despite being one of the country's richest cities and being run by Orban's own party, Szekesfehervar is one of many closing its museums, libraries and theatres. Its new 14,000-capacity city-run stadium also pulled down its shutters this month to save costs, said mayor Andras Cser-Palkovics. "Community spaces are what make a city. No one was happy about the measures but they accepted that they are needed," Cser-Palkovics, a member of Orban's ruling Fidesz party, told AFP in Szekesfehervar's City Hall. Szekesfehervar's city-run stadium pulled down its shutters this month to save costs ATT...