French court gives man suspended sentence for Iran consulate intrusion

French court gives man suspended sentence for Iran consulate intrusion
Paris police said they carried out an operation at the Iranian consulate after a witness reported seeing a man outside carrying a grenade and an explosives vest Friday, April 19, 2024. (File/AP)
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Updated 23 April 2024
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French court gives man suspended sentence for Iran consulate intrusion

French court gives man suspended sentence for Iran consulate intrusion
  • The court banned him from carrying a weapon or approaching the consulate again

PARIS: A French court this week handed an Iran-born man a suspended 10-month sentence for entering the Iranian consulate in Paris with fake grenades in what he said was “revenge” for a crackdown at home that targeted his family.
The 61-year-old, a long-time resident of France who regularly attends Iranian opposition demonstrations, told the court he acted on Friday after learning the previous day that his sister had been arrested.
He said he had not wanted to “threaten anyone” but rather “take revenge” on the Iranian authorities, who he described as “terrorist.”
The court, in a ruling late on Monday, also banned him from carrying a weapon or approaching the consulate again.
Soldiers and police descended en masse on the neighborhood around the consulate on Friday after the mission reported an intruder entering with a grenade or explosive belt.
But police found no explosives on him or inside after arresting him.
A police source, who did not wish to be named, said the suspect had been wearing a vest with large pockets containing three fake grenades.
The judge said witnesses recounted the man “tearing down flags” and saying he “wanted to die.” Police negotiators managed to convince him to exit the building without his jacket.
A psychiatric expert found the man was of sound mind.
During his trial, the accused embarked on long tirades about the political situation in Iran, prompting the judge to remind him to “stick to the facts.”
The man had already been convicted for setting fire to tires in front of the entrance of the Iranian embassy in Paris in 2023, prosecutors said.
Citizens in the Islamic republic have endured increased repression since nationwide protests began in September 2022.
The demonstrations were sparked by the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for allegedly flouting the mandatory dress rules for women.
Executions — which activists say are a way to instil fear into Iranian society — have also continued apace.
At least 110 people have been executed this year alone, according to the Norway-based Iran Human Rights group.


Japan’s worst wildfire in 50 years brought under control

Japan’s worst wildfire in 50 years brought under control
Updated 10 March 2025
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Japan’s worst wildfire in 50 years brought under control

Japan’s worst wildfire in 50 years brought under control
  • The fire engulfed about 2,900 hectares (7,170 acres) — around half the size of Manhattan — making it Japan’s largest in more than 50 years

TOKYO: Japan’s worst wildfire in more than half a century, which killed at least one person, has been brought under control, the mayor of the northern city of Ofunato said on Sunday.
The fire had raged in the mountains around the rural region since February 26, killing at least one person, damaging at least 210 buildings and forcing more than 4,200 residents to flee their homes, local officials said.
“Following an aerial survey, we assessed that the fire no longer posed the risk of further spread. I declare that the fire is now under control,” Ofunato Mayor Kiyoshi Fuchigami told a news conference.
The fire engulfed about 2,900 hectares (7,170 acres) — around half the size of Manhattan — making it Japan’s largest in more than 50 years.
It surpassed the 2,700 hectares burnt by a 1975 fire on Hokkaido island.
Wet weather that began on Wednesday following a record dry period helped firefighting efforts.
Japan endured its hottest summer on record last year as climate change pushes up temperatures worldwide.
Ofunato received just 2.5 millimeters (0.1 inch) of rainfall in February, breaking the previous record low for the month of 4.4 millimeters in 1967 and far below the average of 41 millimeters.
The number of wildfires in Japan has declined since a peak in the 1970s.
Wildfires in Japan tend to occur between February and May, when the air dries out and winds pick up. There have been around 1,300 a year in recent years.

 


UN humanitarian agency reports rise in attacks in Congo

UN humanitarian agency reports rise in attacks in Congo
Updated 10 March 2025
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UN humanitarian agency reports rise in attacks in Congo

UN humanitarian agency reports rise in attacks in Congo
  • Security in Goma is threatened by “a resurgence of criminal acts including burgling of homes, thefts and attacks,” it said, adding that hospitals and schools had also been forced to close in other areas

KINSHASA: Escalating attacks have struck hospitals and other civilian infrastructure in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo during the ongoing anti-government assault by the armed group M23, the UN’s humanitarian agency said.
M23 fighters backed by Rwandan troops have made major advances in the region since January, seizing the key cities of Goma and Bukavu and displacing hundreds of thousands of people, according to the UN.
“Between March 1 and 3, several hospitals were targeted by armed actors in an escalation of violence against medical centers and health personnel, the UN Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs, or OCHA, said in a report.
Security in Goma is threatened by “a resurgence of criminal acts including burgling of homes, thefts and attacks,” it said, adding that hospitals and schools had also been forced to close in other areas.
It said at least four civilians were killed in fighting between M23 and rival groups in the Masisi district between Feb. 18 and 25, and more than 100,000 people were newly displaced in Lubero to the north.
DR Congo’s government accuses Rwanda of backing M23 to seize mineral-rich territory.
Rwanda has denied involvement in the conflict and says it faces a threat from ethnic Hutu fighters in DR Congo.

 


US pulls non-emergency staff from South Sudan after clashes

US pulls non-emergency staff  from South Sudan after clashes
Updated 10 March 2025
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US pulls non-emergency staff from South Sudan after clashes

US pulls non-emergency staff  from South Sudan after clashes
  • South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, ended its five-year civil war in 2018 with the power-sharing agreement between bitter rivals Kiir and Machar

NAIRIBI: The US has ordered all non-emergency staff in South Sudan to leave, the State Department said on Sunday, as rising tensions provoke international concern.
A fragile power-sharing agreement between President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar has been threatened by recent clashes between their allied forces in the northeastern Upper Nile State.
On Friday, a UN helicopter came under attack during a rescue mission, which killed a crew member.  An army general also died during the operation, the UN said.

BACKGROUND

President Salva Kiir urged calm and told citizens there would be no return to war, but international observers sounded the alarm.

“Due to the risks in the country, on March 8, 2025, the Department of State ordered the departure of non-emergency US government employees from South Sudan,” the State Department said on Sunday.
“Armed conflict is ongoing and includes fighting between various political and ethnic groups. Weapons are readily available to the population.”
South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, ended its five-year civil war in 2018 with the power-sharing agreement between bitter rivals Kiir and Machar.
But the president’s allies have accused Machar’s forces of fomenting unrest in Nasir County, in Upper Nile State, in league with the so-called White Army, a loose band of armed youths in the region from the same ethnic Nuer community as the vice president.
Kiir urged calm late on Friday and told citizens there would be no return to war, but international observers sounded the alarm.
The UN human rights commission for South Sudan warned on Saturday that the country was seeing an “alarming regression” that threatened to undo years of progress to peace.
The International Crisis Group, a think tank, meanwhile, said: “South Sudan is slipping rapidly toward full-blown war.”
It warned the country risked “large scale ethnic massacres if the situation is not soon contained.”

 


ICE arrests Palestinian activist who helped lead Columbia University protests, his lawyer says

Student negotiator Mahmoud Khalil is seen at the Columbia University campus in New York at a pro-Palestinian protest encampment.
Student negotiator Mahmoud Khalil is seen at the Columbia University campus in New York at a pro-Palestinian protest encampment.
Updated 09 March 2025
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ICE arrests Palestinian activist who helped lead Columbia University protests, his lawyer says

Student negotiator Mahmoud Khalil is seen at the Columbia University campus in New York at a pro-Palestinian protest encampment.
  • One of the agents told Greer by phone that they were executing a State Department order to revoke Khalil’s student visa
  • Informed by the attorney that Khalil was in the US as a permanent resident with a green card, the agent said they were revoking that too, according to the lawyer

NEW YORK: A prominent Palestinian activist who helped lead Columbia University’s student encampment movement was arrested Saturday night by federal immigration authorities who claimed they were acting on a State Department order to revoke his green card, according to his attorney.
Mahmoud Khalil was at his university-owned apartment blocks from Columbia’s Manhattan campus when several Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents entered the building and took him into custody, his attorney, Amy Greer, told The Associated Press.
One of the agents told Greer by phone that they were executing a State Department order to revoke Khalil’s student visa. Informed by the attorney that Khalil, who graduated in December, was in the United States as a permanent resident with a green card, the agent said they were revoking that too, according to the lawyer.
The arrest comes as President Donald Trump vows to deport foreign students and imprison “agitators” involved in protests against Israel’s war in Gaza. The administration has placed particular scrutiny on Columbia, announcing Friday that it would be cutting $400 million in grants and contracts because of what the government describes as the Ivy League school’s failure to squelch antisemitism on campus.
The authorities declined to tell Khalil’s wife, who is eight months pregnant, why he was being detained, Greer said. Khalil has since been transferred to an immigration detention facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
“We have not been able to get any more details about why he is being detained,” Greer told The AP. “This is a clear escalation. The administration is following through on its threats.”
A spokesperson for Columbia said law enforcement agents must produce a warrant before entering university property. The spokesperson declined to say if the school had received a warrant for Khalil’s arrest.
Messages seeking comment were left with the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and ICE.
Khalil had become one of the most visible faces of the pro-Palestinian movement at Columbia. As Columbia students erected tents on campus last spring, Khalil was picked to serve as a negotiator on behalf of students and met frequently with university administrators.
When classes resumed in September, he told The Associated Press that the protests would continue: “As long as Columbia continues to invest and to benefit from Israeli apartheid, the students will continue to resist.”


Saudi Ambassador to Japan highlights the country’s attractions ahead of Osaka Expo

Tour — held in various parts of Japan — aims to show how Saudi Arabia is not just a distant place, but an engaging destination.
Tour — held in various parts of Japan — aims to show how Saudi Arabia is not just a distant place, but an engaging destination.
Updated 09 March 2025
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Saudi Ambassador to Japan highlights the country’s attractions ahead of Osaka Expo

Tour — held in various parts of Japan — aims to show how Saudi Arabia is not just a distant place, but an engaging destination.
  • The tour — held in various parts of Japan — aims to show how Saudi Arabia is not just a distant place, but a relevant and engaging destination for all

TOKYO: Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Japan Dr. Ghazi Faisal Binzagr attended the Tokyo stop of the “Meet Saudi Arabia Tour” to promote the Kingdom’s pavilion at the Osaka Kansai Expo, which opens on April 13.

The tour — held in various parts of Japan — aims to show how Saudi Arabia is not just a distant place, but a relevant and engaging destination for all.

Ambassador Binzagr, emphasizing the unique aspects of Saudi Arabia’s “rich culture and a fascinating history,” believes these elements have a special appeal to the people of Japan.

“We have beautiful, exciting things to showcase, but this is just a small glimpse of what we have to show about the past, the present and the future of Saudi Arabia,” Ambassador Binzagr told Arab News Japan.

“There are lots of things that you can touch and feel about our culture, from our heritage, from the emotion of our cities today and our life in the midst of a very exciting transformation that we are undergoing in Saudi Arabia.”

The Tour offers visitors a chance to experience various aspects of Saudi culture, including Saudi Arabian coffee and date pairing, a cooking demonstration of traditional sweets, and traditional Saudi music and costumes.

“We’re counting down to the last days before our opening in Osaka,” Ambassador Binzagr said about the Expo. “We’re almost completed and ready. I had the privilege of touring the site two days ago, and the final touches are being made now. With glimpses of the future we’re heading towards, I am very excited to welcome everyone to Osaka.”

One of the main themes of the Saudi Arabian pavilion is the building itself. The pavilion has been described as a “masterpiece” and is said to embody the flow of Saudi Vision 2030 and the transformation from past to future, sensitivity to the environment, and design elements that blend heritage with technology and vision.

“Looking at it, I see the transformation of Saudi Arabia and what’s happening in our vibrant country,” Dr. Binzagr said. “But our focus is not just on the present, but also on the promising future of Saudi Arabia. We want to inspire people with the potential and relevance of our future. We want people to see a sample of it so that they think not just about joining us in Osaka, but beyond that to visiting our country.”

Thematically, it projects an invitation to the world to step inside Saudi Arabia and to experience it. The building itself aims to reflect harmony – melding the desert environment with architectural aspects that both shield people from nature’s elements and celebrates those elements at the same time.