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Hamas chief due in Cairo for Gaza truce discussions

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This picture taken from Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip shows smoke rising over buildings in Khan Yunis during Israeli bombardment on January 31, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

The head of the political bureau of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas is due in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, for talks on a new ceasefire proposal, as the Israeli regime continues its brutal war against the besieged Gaza Strip.

Ismail Haniyeh is scheduled to attend a meeting in Cairo on Thursday to discuss the proposal for a six-week truce plan put forward by senior Qatari and Egyptian officials during recent meetings in France.

The three-stage plan would start with an initial six-week halt to the war that would see more aid deliveries into Gaza, AFP quoted a Hamas source as saying.

The source further said that there would also be “negotiations around the withdrawal of Israeli forces,” with possible additional phases involving more captive-prisoner exchanges.

The territory’s rebuilding is also among the issues addressed by the deal, the source said.

In a press statement on Tuesday, Haniyeh confirmed that the movement had received an invitation to visit Cairo in order to reach an “integrated vision” on the new ceasefire proposal and discuss requirements for the implementation of a potential agreement.

The Hamas chief said the movement was reviewing the proposal, stressing that its priority is to end the Israeli aggression and a full withdrawal of occupying forces from Gaza.

In its latest update, the United Nations reported heavy bombardment across the Gaza Strip, particularly in Khan Yunis, saying 184,000 Palestinians from the city were registered to receive humanitarian assistance after fleeing their homes.

The Israeli regime waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after Hamas carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime’s atrocities against Palestinians.

Since the start of the aggression, Israel has killed nearly 27,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the latest count by the Gaza Health Ministry.

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Middle East

UN chief says ICJ decisions binding

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“Int’l humanitarian law, including the principles of distinction, proportionality [and] precautions in attack, must always be upheld,” Guterres said in his recent post on X platform on Thursday, according to Press TV. 

“No party to an armed conflict is above international law. Int’l humanitarian law, including the principles of distinction, proportionality & precautions in attack, must always be upheld. And the binding decisions of the International Court of Justice must be complied with,” he further wrote.

The ICJ last week called on Israel to prevent genocidal acts in its ongoing war in Gaza but stopped short of ordering a ceasefire. It also ordered the regime to ensure humanitarian assistance reaches the population in Gaza.

The order by the UN’s top court was part of its interim ruling on the emergency measures requested by South Africa in its genocide case against Israel over its war on the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, a group of UN experts in a statement released on Wednesday praised the ICJ’s order, saying that it is a “significant milestone in the decades-long struggle for justice by the Palestinian people.”

“The court order is urgently needed to protect the very existence of the Palestinian people from potentially genocidal actions the Court has ordered Israel to halt and prevent,” the statement said.

The experts said the ruling, in which the court ordered Israel to commit to preventing genocide in Gaza, “tilts the balance toward a global order based on justice and international law.”

MNA

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Watch: The Viral Spell From Shoaib Bashir That Made Ben Stokes A Fan

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England on Thursday announced their playing XI for the second Test of a five-match series against India. The visitors made two changes as James Anderson comes in for Mark Wood while the injured Jack Leach is replaced by young spinner Shoaib Bashir, who is all set to make his debut in the second Test, starting February 2 in Vizag. After visa-delay issues, Bashir, who couldn’t arrive in time for the 1st Test against India, landed on Indian soil last month in Hyderabad. Ahead of Bashir’s Test debut, England captain Ben Stokes revealed how he was left impressed by his bowling, which he saw via a clip posted on X (Twitter).

On his First Class debut, Bashir bowled an impressive spell against former England captain Alastair Cook for Somerset against Essex.

Stokes said that he forwarded the clip to head coach Brendon McCullum and director of cricket Rob Key.

“To be perfectly honest, Abu Dhabi was the first real live look I got at Bash,” Stokes said. “The first time I saw him was on Twitter. I think the County Championship [account] put a little clip together of him bowling against Sir Alastair,” Stokes told ESPNcricinfo.

Even though Bashir took just one wicket on his debut, Stokes felt that the 20-year-old could come handy with his off-spin for the India tour.

“I’m in a WhatsApp group with Keysy (Rob Key) and Baz (Brendon McCullum). I actually did forward the clip on and said, ‘have a look at this, this could be something we could work with on our India tour’ and it just progressed from there. He got selected on the Lions tour and obviously, the coaches on that tour fed everything back to us,” he added.

Watch the spell here:

Another spinner Tom Hartley shone on his debut as England won the game by 28 runs last Sunday. Hartley took seven wickets in the second innings as England bundled India out for 202 in pursuit of 231.

England’s playing XI for 2nd Test match against India:  

Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (C), Ben Foakes, Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir, James Anderson.

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World

Iran raps US threat to re-impose sanctions on Venezuelan oil sector

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Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan’ani

Iran says a threat by the United States to reinstate sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector runs counter to the UN Charter and international law.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan’ani on Thursday condemned the US instrumental use of sanctions as a tool to interfere in other countries’ affairs.

“Resorting to such measures is tantamount to direct intervention in the internal affairs of countries and a violation of the United Nations Charter,” he said.

The Iranian spokesman warned that the continuation of such acts would strengthen the will and cooperation of independent countries to resist interventionist policies.

The US on Monday threatened to restore sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector, days after the South American nation’s top court upheld the disqualification of an opposition presidential hopeful.

A statement by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said any US companies doing business with Venezuela’s state-owned mining Minerven have until February 13 to complete a “wind down of transactions” with the company.

US President Joe Biden’s administration broadly eased sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector in response to a deal reached between the government and opposition parties for the 2024 elections.

On Friday, Venezuela’s Supreme Court upheld a 15-year ban on opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and also confirmed the ineligibility of her possible replacement, two-time presidential candidate Henrique Capriles.

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Chinese Couple Killed 2 Children So They Could Start New Family

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Chinese Couple Executed For Killing 2 Children Wanted To Start New Family Together

Zhang Bo and Ye Chengchen’s crime sent shock waves across China.

A Chinese couple who were executed for throwing two children out of the window of an apartment building wanted to start a new family together. The horrific incident caused nationwide outrage, causing the stringent punishment for Zhang Bo and his girlfriend Ye Chengchen. They believed to have died by lethal injection on Wednesday, more than two years after China’s Supreme Court approved their death sentence, according to China Daily. Zhang was convicted for throwing his two children out of a high-rise apartment window from the 15th floor in 2020, while Ye was convicted for forcing her boyfriend to kill the children.

Zhang had a two-year-old girl and a one-year-old boy. The woman asked him to get rid of them because she saw them as an “obstacle” in their relationship.

New York Post said in a report that Zhang started an affair with Ye without telling her that he was married and had two children. He divorced his then-wife Chen Meilin in February 2020, but was forced by Ye to kill his children.

Videos surfaced on Chinese social media that showed Zhang grief-stricken at what he had just done. He was also seen banging his head on the wall and sobbing uncontrollably, according to the outlet.

Zhang told the police that he was sleeping when the children “fell” and said he woke up to people shouting downstairs. The children’s mother said she was shocked to hear what happened with the children.

“The moment I heard my kids were actually thrown out of the 15th floor by their father and the mistress, I couldn’t find any words to describe my feelings,” Chen was quoted as saying by the Post.

“I couldn’t imagine what my kids had experienced from the 15th floor to the ground. Were they desperate? Were they afraid?” she added.

Zhang and Ye’s crime sent shock waves across China for its cold-blooded premeditation, as well as the youth of the victims.

Their executions quickly rose to the top of a list of trending topics on Chinese social media site Weibo on Wednesday, receiving nearly 200 million views.

India

Budget outlines vision for confident India, economy will grow to USD 5 trillion by 2027: Rajnath

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The government is working to make India a developed country by 2047, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday while presenting the interim Budget 2024-25.

Published Date – 1 February 2024, 02:36 PM


Budget outlines vision for confident India, economy will grow to USD 5 trillion by 2027: Rajnath

New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at Parliament House complex during the Budget session, in New Delhi, Thursday. Photo: PTI

New Delhi: Union minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said the interim Union Budget outlines the vision for a “confident, strong and self-reliant Viksit Bharat”, and asserted that he was assured that the size of the Indian economy will grow to more than USD 5 trillion by 2027. In a post on X, he also said there is something in this Budget for “every section of the society”. The government is working to make India a developed country by 2047, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday while presenting the interim Budget 2024-25.

“This is an interim Budget. But this interim Budget that she has presented is very encouraging and raises hope for the way ahead also. And the size of India’s economy at this time… I am assured that whatever indications we have received from this Budget, the size of our economy, which is in top five counties right now, will grow to more than USD 5 trillion by 2027. By 2030, it will grow to more than USD 7 trillion,” Singh told reporters outside Parliament.

Asked about the roadmap laid down by the government for 2047, he said, “We will reach that target. We are fully confident.” Singh later also posted on X to congratulate Sitharaman for “presenting a positive and encouraging ‘interim Budget’ which outlines the vision for a confident, strong and self-reliant #ViksitBharat”.

“Inspired by PM Shri @narendramodi’s vision of making India a developed nation by 2047, this Budget gives the glimpse of India’s rapid economic transformation. There is something in this Budget for every section of the society. There is big push for infrastructure, construction, manufacturing, and housing and technology development in this Budget. “During the COVID pandemic, when the world was faltering, India emerged as the beacon of hope. This Budget is perfectly aligned with PM’s ‘Panchamrit Goals’ and it also paves the way for the next five years of unprecedented growth,” he posted. “This Budget has increased the capital expenditure outlay to 11.1 per cent from FY (financial year) 24 to Rs 11.11 lakh crore for FY 25. This massive capex push will provide a big boost to making India a five trillion dollar economy by 2027,” Singh added in his post.

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Welfare Of Poor, Women, Farmers Centre's Highest Priority: Nirmala Sitharaman

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Welfare Of Poor, Women, Farmers Centre's Highest Priority: Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance Minister Sitharaman said that now resources are distributed fairly.

New Delhi:

Meeting the needs and fulfilling the aspirations of four “major castes” — the poor, women, the youth and farmers — of the country are the government’s highest priority, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman asserted on Thursday. Presenting the interim budget for 2024-25, she said the government is working with an approach to ensure development that is all-round, all-pervasive and all-inclusive.

“It covers all castes and people at all levels. We are working to make India ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047. For achieving this goal, we need to improve people’s capability and empower them,” she said.

There is a need to focus on “four major castes” that are “garib” (the poor), “mahilayen” (women), “yuva” (the youth) and “annadata” (the farmer), the Finance Minister said and asserted that their needs, aspirations and welfare are “our highest priority”.

“The country progresses, when they progress. All four require and receive the government’s support in their quest for better their lives. Their empowerment and wellbeing will drive the country forward,” the finance minister said in her pre-election budget.

She said that earlier, social justice was mostly a “political slogan”. For this government, social justice is an effective and necessary governance model, Finance Minister Sitharaman said.

“The saturation approach of covering all eligible people is the true and comprehensive achievement of social justice. This is secularism in action, reduces corruption and prevents nepotism. There is transparency and assurance that benefits are delivered to all eligible people,” she said.

Finance Minister Sitharaman said that now resources are distributed fairly.

“All, regardless of their social standing, get access to opportunities. We are addressing systemic inequalities that had plagued our society. We focus on outcomes and not on outlays so that the socio-economic transformation is achieved,” she said.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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"Sweet Spot, Many Job Opportunities": PM's Shout-Out For Interim Budget

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The PM said there will be “countless” new employment opportunities for youth.

New Delhi:

Praising his government’s last Budget ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the capital expenditure will touch a record high of 11,11,111 crore while keeping the fiscal deficit in check, achieving a “sweet spot”.

In a speech in Hindi after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Interim Budget for 2024, the PM said the decisions will not only aid the development of advanced 21st-century infrastructure but also lead to the generation of “countless” new employment opportunities for youth. 

Stating that the Budget reflects the young aspirations of young Bharat, PM Modi said two key decisions have been taken in this direction – setting up a Rs 1 lakh-crore fund for research and innovation, and increasing tax exemption for startups. 

The PM also highlighted the decision of upgrading 40,000 railway coaches to Vande Bharat standards and said that this will lead to crores of passengers on various rail routes enjoying a comfortable journey.

Asserting that his government sets high targets, achieves them and then aims even higher, PM Modi said over 4 crore houses have been constructed for the poor in villages and cities, and the government is now aiming to build 2 crore more.

He said a target had been set to make 2 crore women ‘Lakhpati Didis’, which has now been revised to 3 crore. The ‘Lakhpati Didi’ scheme provides skill development training to women in self-help groups (SHGs) to enable every SHG household to earn an income of at least Rs 1 lakh a year.

‘New Income Avenues’

“The Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme has helped the poor in a big way and Anganwadi and ASHA workers will now also benefit from it. In this Budget, there has been a big push for empowering the poor and people from the middle class, and generating new avenues of income generation for them,” the PM said.

“The rooftop solar programme will enable 1 crore families to not only get free electricity but earn an additional Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 a year by selling the surplus power to the government,” he added.

Pointing out that the direct tax demand relief will benefit 1 crore people from the middle class, PM Modi took aim at previous governments and said they had hung a sword over the head of the common man for decades. 

The PM said several key decisions have also been taken to increase the income and reduce expenses of farmers, including the use of Nano DAP (Di-Ammonia Phosphate).

Top News

"Sweet Spot, Many Job Opportunities": PM's Shout-Out For Interim Budget

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The PM said there will be “countless” new employment opportunities for youth.

New Delhi:

Praising his government’s last Budget ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the capital expenditure will touch a record high of 11,11,111 crore while keeping the fiscal deficit in check, achieving a “sweet spot”.

In a speech in Hindi after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Interim Budget for 2024, the PM said the decisions will not only aid the development of advanced 21st-century infrastructure but also lead to the generation of “countless” new employment opportunities for youth. 

Stating that the Budget reflects the young aspirations of young Bharat, PM Modi said two key decisions have been taken in this direction – setting up a Rs 1 lakh-crore fund for research and innovation, and increasing tax exemption for startups. 

The PM also highlighted the decision of upgrading 40,000 railway coaches to Vande Bharat standards and said that this will lead to crores of passengers on various rail routes enjoying a comfortable journey.

Asserting that his government sets high targets, achieves them and then aims even higher, PM Modi said over 4 crore houses have been constructed for the poor in villages and cities, and the government is now aiming to build 2 crore more.

He said a target had been set to make 2 crore women ‘Lakhpati Didis’, which has now been revised to 3 crore. The ‘Lakhpati Didi’ scheme provides skill development training to women in self-help groups (SHGs) to enable every SHG household to earn an income of at least Rs 1 lakh a year.

‘New Income Avenues’

“The Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme has helped the poor in a big way and Anganwadi and ASHA workers will now also benefit from it. In this Budget, there has been a big push for empowering the poor and people from the middle class, and generating new avenues of income generation for them,” the PM said.

“The rooftop solar programme will enable 1 crore families to not only get free electricity but earn an additional Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 a year by selling the surplus power to the government,” he added.

Pointing out that the direct tax demand relief will benefit 1 crore people from the middle class, PM Modi took aim at previous governments and said they had hung a sword over the head of the common man for decades. 

The PM said several key decisions have also been taken to increase the income and reduce expenses of farmers, including the use of Nano DAP (Di-Ammonia Phosphate).