ACTIVISTS HOLD PROTEST AGAINST MILITARY RULE IN SUDAN
Thousands of pro-democracy protesters in Sudan on August 11 marched in the capital of Khartoum and other cities against the ruling military. The protesters, who took to the streets after a short break at the beginning of August, chanted against the army and demanded that military generals step down from power. Police used tear gas and batons to disperse protesters in different parts of Khartoum. Deputy Chairman of the Sovereign Council Mohamed Hamdan Daglo (Hemedti) on August 10 said that the army is ready to hand over power to civilian rulers after talks to achieve a national consensus.
The Sudanese Professional Association, youth and leftist groups have sporadically protested since the army removed former Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok. They have demanded full civilian and democratic rule.
ENNAHDA HAILS DECISION TO SUSPEND DISMISSAL OF JUDGES
The Tunisian Ennahda Movement expressed its satisfaction with the Administrative Court’s decision to suspend the implementation of the presidential dismissal orders against several judges. On August 10, the Administrative Court decided to suspend the implementation of President Kais Saied’s decision to dismiss a number of judges, according to a judicial statement. Ennahda announced in a statement that it “expresses its satisfaction with the Administrative Court’s decision to suspend the implementation of a large number of unjust dismissal decisions issued on 1 June, 2022.” Ennahda considered that: “What the Administrative Court has taken represents fairness to the judges and rehabilitation for them after they were dismissed, defamed, harming the honour of some of them and accusing them of corruption without any grounds or evidence.”
UK LEADERSHIP CANDIDATES MUST ADDRESS ISLAMOPHOBIA
The UK leadership candidates must address Islamophobia within the Conservative Party, according to the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB). That has triggered demands that the next prime minister takes Islamophobia within the Tory party seriously after a silence regarding the issue from outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Zara Mohammed, secretary general of MCB, believes Johnson should have apologised in his resignation speech to the Muslim community and has warned that “no concrete steps” have been taken to tackle the issue, despite the MCB recording more than 300 instances in the Tory party since 2019. Her remarks came after allegations from Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Nusrat Ghani that the party is institutionally Islamophobic and her “Muslimness” was raised when she was fired from her transport minister’s post.
EU HAILS ISTANBUL DEAL FOR HUMANITARIAN GRAIN SHIPMENT
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on August 12 commended a recent deal signed in Istanbul enabling Ukraine to ship grain for the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP). “Thanks to the Istanbul agreement, Ukraine is once again able to deliver grain to the WFP,” Borrell said on Twitter. He hailed the UN shipment of 23,000 tons of Ukrainian products to the Horn of Africa, which was the first humanitarian cargo that set sail since the accord was signed on July 22 between Türkiye, the UN, Ukraine, and Russia.
Borrell noted that Russia has used “food as a weapon” to worsen hunger around the world, calling on Moscow to “respect its commitment so that Ukraine’s exports can continue to reach those in need, mostly in Africa.”
SENIOR ISIS/DAESH MEMBER CHARGED WITH TERROR OFFENCES
Counter-terrorism police charged a former member of an ISIS/Daesh terrorist cell in the UK with terrorism offences after arresting him at London’s airport, where his flight landed on on August 10. Aine Davis, 38, was arrested at Luton Airport by the Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism command and taken to a police station in London. “We will always ensure the safety and security of the UK, and will not allow anything to jeopardise this,” a statement from the Home Office said. According to the Met Police, Davis was charged in accordance with a number of sections of the Terrorism Act 2000. Davis left the UK in 2013 to join ISIS/Daesh in Syria, where he formed the infamous “Beatles cell” that was made up of other UK recruits. In 2015, he was arrested by Turkish authorities in Istanbul. Davis denied being a member of the terror cell but was convicted by a Turkish court in 2017 for being a member of a terrorist organisation.
PAK COURT RELEASES NEWS EXECUTIVE FACING SEDITION CHARGES
A court in Pakistan on August 9 ordered the release of a news channel executive facing sedition charges.
Ammad Yousaf, head of news for local broadcaster ARY News, was arrested in the southern port city of Karachi a day earlier. The charges he faced were in connection with comments made by Shahbaz Gill, an adviser to former Prime Minister Imran Khan, and aired on ARY News on August 8. Gill was apprehended in Islamabad the next day, followed by Yousaf’s arrest in Karachi in the early hours of August 10. Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said that Gill and ARY News would face sedition charges for remarks that aimed to incite mutiny within Pakistan’s powerful military. Pakistan’s state-run media regulator also ordered ARY News to be taken off air for what it said was “highly hateful and seditious” content. The Sindh High Court, however, has directed the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) and cable operators to restore the channel’s transmission.
TWITTER BLOCKS PROMINENT PALESTINIAN ACADEMIC’S ACCOUNT
Twitter blocked the account of prominent Palestinian journalist and author, Dr Ramzy Baroud. It is the latest example of the ongoing crackdown on Palestinian solidarity by social media giants, which over recent years has escalated the targeting of free-speech critical of Israel. Twitter claimed that Baroud’s recent posts about the Israeli war on the Palestinians in besieged Gaza Strip and the West Bank “violated the rules” of the company. His last tweet was a video compilation produced by the Palestine Chronicle showing images and information about the three Palestinians killed in Nablus in an Israeli military raid on August 9. The video was a newsreel that had no violent or bloody images. His account has now been reinstated.
Image with caption: Winterhill Hospitality’s website shows the booking match tickets and hospitality packages at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 listing Palestine as a country instead of Israel
FIFA HOSPITALITY SITE LISTS PALESTINE INSTEAD OF ISRAEL
The official Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup hospitality booking website has listed Palestine as a country option instead of Israel. The listing previously displayed “Palestinian Territory, Occupied” before being changed to “Palestine” and has received mixed reactions across social media, with Palestinian and pro-Palestine activists praising the move and Israelis and Zionist supporters deeming it “anti-Semitic”. Unlike its Gulf Arab neighbours, Bahrain and the UAE, which recently signed normalisation agreements with Israel, Qatar has conditioned normalising relations on the establishment of a Palestinian State.