World
Montenegro government loses no-confidence vote
Legislators vote 50-1 towards PM Abazovic’s authorities weeks after he signed pact regulating place of Serbian Church.
A no-confidence movement has been handed by Montenegro’s parliament, following a rift over a long-disputed deal regulating ties with the highly effective Serbian Orthodox Church.
The movement, which paves the best way for the tip of the present authorities and the start of a brand new spherical of political upheaval within the Adriatic nation, handed shortly after midnight on Saturday (22:00 GMT on Friday) with 50 votes.
Just one legislator voted towards it, whereas the remainder of the 81-seat parliament’s members boycotted the measure.
“We’d like an election and a steady authorities,” mentioned parliamentarian Danijel Zivkovic, who filed the movement and triggered the arrogance vote.
The movement got here simply months after a no-confidence vote in February ended the rule of one other coalition authorities.
It was not instantly clear whether or not the autumn of the federal government would result in snap parliamentary elections or if the events would attempt to type a brand new governing coalition.
Political tensions have been smouldering in Montenegro for weeks after the federal government signed a controversial new settlement with the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC).
The settlement lined a spread of points, together with measures to supply a regulatory framework for the lots of of properties – together with church buildings and monasteries – owned by the SPC.
The nation’s prime minister, Dritan Abazovic, hailed the deal, saying the settlement would hopefully easy over relations between divisive teams inside the nation, notably pro-Serbia and pro-Western events.
Felony teams sponsoring some political events had been behind the no-confidence movement with a purpose to forestall his authorities’s anti-corruption marketing campaign, Abazovic mentioned after the vote.
“This nation will probably be dominated both by criminals or by residents,” he mentioned. “And I’m sorry … that organised crime in Montenegro nonetheless makes use of its tentacles to control political relations.”
“I’m very pleased with every thing we have now accomplished in 100 days,” Abazovic added. “We will probably be remembered as the federal government that lasted the shortest however which made probably the most troublesome selections.”
Flashpoint non secular points
The SPC is the dominant non secular establishment within the state, however opponents accuse it of serving neighbouring Serbia’s pursuits.
The problem is delicate for a lot of within the Balkan nation of 620,000 folks that break up from Serbia in 2006. Nonetheless, a 3rd of the inhabitants establish as Serbs and a few deny Montenegro ought to be a separate entity.
President Milo Djukanovic has lengthy been a fierce opponent of the SPC, and has been accused of eager to nationalise the church’s properties.
For weeks, Djukanovic – who’s at present within the opposition – has used the accord as a cudgel to destabilise the federal government and push for early elections.
Non secular points have been a perennial flashpoint in Montenegro, with previous governments toppled over disputes involving the SPC.
The nation has lengthy witnessed fights over identification, together with final 12 months when protesters calling themselves “Montenegrin patriots” tried to stop the inauguration of a brand new SPC chief in Montenegro.
Djukanovic, the architect of independence, has been wanting to curb the SPC’s clout in Montenegro and cement a separate nationwide identification, together with its personal impartial Orthodox church.
Political bickering in Montenegro has blocked progress in the direction of integration into the European Union. Montenegro in 2017 defied its former ally Russia to turn out to be a member of NATO.
World
Celine Dion Surprises Fans in Strange and Epic Sunday Night Football Promo Set to ‘It’s All Coming Back to Me Now’
Channeling their best, “we come to this place for magic” hopes, NBC and Peacock unleashed a new promo for “Sunday Night Football” with Canadian siren Celine Dion. Because when fans think of football, they think of Deion (Sanders).
The singer appeared suddenly after the opening bars of her iconic song, “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now,” rang out during the broadcast. Dressed in a vintage 1996 Super Bowl sweatshirt, Dion recalled the legendary game when The Cowboys bested The Steelers, hyping tonight’s rematch.
“I think my favorite thing about this game is its power to connect who we are, to who we were.” Dion said. “To prove that our most powerful memories, our most enduring loves, can stay with us forever. You know what I’m talking about, right? Sometimes, some nights, it all just comes back.”
While footage from the former matchup played, Dion continued to narrate, “Their love affair, well maybe not love the way I usually sing about it. But still, work with me here. I mean, ‘When you touch me like this, When you hold me like that’ … it kind of fits, no?”
“But really, what beautiful passion it produced. What painful heartbreak it revealed. So, so long ago,” the singer continued. “Like so many old flames, it always feels right when they’re back together, don’t you think? Like tonight, evoking the kind of magic they once produced. The Cowboys and the Steelers, a timeless classic on Sunday night.”
The Oscar winner was then doused with Gatorade. Fingers crossed, this promo gets us one step closer to Dion returning to her Vegas residency.
Dion’s epic last live performance at the 2024 Olympics opening ceremony stunned the world as she performed an astounding rendition of f Edith Piaf’s “Hymne A L’Amour” at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.
The singer captured the night belting out through the wind and rain on the world’s stage. This was her first performance since her diagnosis with Stiff Person Syndrome in December 2022, which forced her to step out of the spotlight.
In an interview with Hoda Kotb in June, Dion shared how Stiff Person Syndrome affects her singing voice, saying that it feels “like somebody’s strangling you… it’s like somebody’s pushing your larynx, pharynx, this way.”
World
American father of Hamas hostage Itay Chen pushes US, Israel on ‘Plan B’ as negotiations falter
“When was the last time you talked to your kid? Do you know where he slept last night? Do you know what he ate? Do you know if he had a blanket on him?” Ruby Chen, father of Itay Chen who was taken by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, asked in a sit-down interview with Fox News Digital.
“All those types of questions are questions that we ask ourselves constantly,” he said. “The feeling is that we’ve been failed.”
Itay,19 years old when he was taken, has remained a hostage held in Gaza for 365 days after his unit in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) was attacked in southern Israel when Hamas terrorists flooded the border in a series of mass assaults.
Chen, a New York City native, said he and his wife have been given “unprecedented” access to the White House, the CIA and other top agencies throughout the last year to discuss ongoing strategies to try and get the hostages out of Gaza.
ISRAEL SAYS TOP HAMAS RAFAH BRIGADE ‘DISMANTLED’ ON PHILADELPHI CORRIDOR, 2,000 TERRORISTS KILLED
The Chens have not only met with national security adviser Jake Sullivan a dozen times, as well as CIA Director William Burns and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, they also hold a weekly call with the White House.
But ultimately, these supportive efforts have fallen flat when it comes to the real needs of American families whose loved ones are still held hostage by Hamas.
“We have been failed by the Israeli government, we, as U.S. citizens, feel we’ve been failed by the Biden administration despite all of the access that they’ve provided us,” he explained. “They share as much as they can. But at the end of the day, it’s… very black and white.
“Where is he?”
Chen explained that following the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, the Israeli government pushed a strategy to secure the release of the then 251 hostages by bombarding suspected Hamas positions in Gaza.
In the initial weeks following the deadly Hamas attacks, Israel began pounding northern Gaza – a move Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believed would bring Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar “to his knees” and make him be “willing to release hostages.”
A week-long cease-fire in November saw the release of 105 hostages. Twelve other hostages have been freed following negotiations during the immediate aftermath of the attack, or because of IDF rescue operations between February and August.
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None of the eight American hostages that were kidnapped have been released, and only seven continue to be held by Hamas after the body of Hersh Goldberg-Polin was discovered by IDF forces in late August, after he along with five others were killed by the terrorist group.
More than 100 hostages remain in captivity in the Gaza Strip – 97 of whom were abducted on Oct. 7, 2023.
The Chens, other American families and the international community have repeatedly urged Israel and Hamas to reach a cease-fire agreement and return all hostages to their families.
But disagreements over security corridors in Gaza have created a seemingly insurmountable hurdle as U.S., Egyptian and Qatari officials work to get Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement.
The father of the IDF soldier pointed out that so long as no one is discussing a “day after” plan for the Gaza Strip and the Palestinians there, Hamas will continue to hold tightly to its most powerful bargaining chip, the hostages.
“Where is Hamas in the day-after? And if no one is willing to talk about it, then Hamas believes that they are better off holding on to the hostages until something changes,” he explained. “It’s a jihad organization. They wish to have chaos. They are looking for a regional conflict.
“When they see that there’s now a conflict with Lebanon, that does not motivate them to get into a cease-fire agreement. On the contrary, they wish to belong, and have other players join in this jihad against Israel,” Chen continued. “So I question, what is the plan?”
“I am very critical of the time,” Itay’s father said. “The last 10 months, I’ve been asking Mr. Sullivan, What’s plan B?
“I haven’t heard of a Plan B. And that’s unacceptable,” he added.
BLINKEN TRAVELS TO EGYPT FOR CEASE-FIRE TALKS AS ISRAEL ADDS NEW WAR GOAL
Securing peace in the region became even more precarious last week after Israel, against the objections of the U.S. and its international allies, launched an incursion into southern Lebanon with the expressed intent of dismantling the threat posed by Hezbollah.
Chen pointed out that this second front not only added another dimension to securing the release of the hostages, but it also seemingly pushed talks with Hamas on the backburner as concerns remain high over a broader regional conflict.
“If you could follow the news, you could see that the hostage issue has been less prioritized,” he said. “And that’s a very difficult feeling for us and the families.”
Netanyahu has said his top priority is securing the release of the hostages, but his refusal to withdraw from the Philidelphi Corridor due to security reasons has created a negotiation impasse and questions have begun to mount over whether the prime minister is truly prioritizing the hostages over his push to “eliminate Hamas.”
But the parents of Itay – who has been described as a “fun-loving kid,” the “sandwich” of the family with an older sibling and younger sibling, everybody’s “best friend,” and a former Boy Scout turned a young man with a loving girlfriend – cannot allow for him, or the others still in Gaza, to be at the mercy of any political agenda.
“I’m a guy that comes from New York City – and we talk less, we look at actions. The actions of the last year show the opposite.” Chen said. “He can say whatever he wants. I don’t believe a thing that comes out of his mouth, I believe in what he does.”
The father of three also urged the Biden administration to question whether it is still in the U.S.’s strategic interest to unequivocally back Netanyahu.
“There is no accountability from either side for failed negotiation. You do not see any equation that says, ‘OK, if you do not do A, then there’s a consequence’ on either side,” Chen said in reference to both Israel and Hamas. “There’s no consequence associated with a negative action to a strategic interest of the United States.”
Chen also argued that “effective pressure” needs to be put on Hamas by reevaluating what other “pressure points” can be utilized.
The father pointed to the clear need for tougher economic and diplomatic involvement when it comes to international aid sent to Gaza – including tougher sanctions not only on adversarial nations but on partner countries that allow aid to flow into Gaza.
This includes stricter oversight of United Nations-provided humanitarian aid, which though intended for the Palestinian people, is falling into the hands of Hamas, a group that is not designated as a terrorist organization by the UN.
Hamas has long been accused of seizing basic goods in Gaza and then reselling them in a black-market scheme at exuberant prices.
Reports have further indicated that Hamas for years has had substantial access to monetary aid siphoned from funds provided by top organizations like the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which has been directly used for combatant operations against Israel, including tunnel building and access to arms.
But aside from the substantial need to address aid-based concerns, Chen also argued that diplomatic solutions are not being fully recognized by the U.S.
Nations like Russia and Thailand secured the release of their citizens taken by Hamas, and Chen argued Washington – which was able to negotiate with its biggest adversary just months ago to free U.S. citizens from Russian prisons – should be working to do the same to secure the release of those held in Gaza.
“So, it’s possible,” Chen said. “Complicated, yep. Doable, yep.”
“The assumption that was put in front of us at the beginning was that U.S. hostages will come out via a larger deal that Israel will be a part of. And if that assumption is not working out after a year, then yes, we need to challenge the administration and look at that assumption.
“Is that still valid after one year?”
World
Photos: A year of Israel’s devastating war on Gaza
Israel’s war on Gaza, one of the deadliest and most destructive in recent history, has killed nearly 42,000 people, a little over half of them women and children, and wounded more than 96,000, according to Palestinian health officials.
The death toll is likely to be much higher as thousands of people remain buried under rubble or in areas inaccessible to medical teams in a military operation many governments and rights groups have termed a genocide against the Palestinians.
The October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by the Palestinian group Hamas – in which, according to Israeli officials, 1,139 people were killed and about 250 were taken captive – was followed by Israel’s devastating offensive on Gaza.
In the year since, about 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million population has been displaced, most of them multiple times, according to estimates by the United Nations.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian families are crowding in sprawling tent camps near the Mediterranean coast – with no electricity, running water or toilets. Hunger and diseases are widespread.
The Shelter Cluster, an international coalition of aid providers led by the Norwegian Refugee Council, says it has struggled to bring in basic supplies because of Israeli restrictions, the ongoing fighting and the breakdown of law and order in Gaza. It estimates that some 900,000 people need tents and bedding.
The UN says the war has damaged or destroyed over 92 percent of Gaza’s main roads and more than 84 percent of its health facilities. It estimates that nearly 70 percent of Gaza’s water and sanitation plants have been destroyed or damaged. That includes all five of the territory’s wastewater treatment facilities, plus desalination plants, sewage pumping stations, wells and reservoirs.
The UN also estimates that the war has left some 40 million tonnes of debris and rubble in Gaza, enough to fill New York’s Central Park to a depth of 8 metres (about 25 feet). It could take up to 15 years and nearly $650m to clear it all away, it said.
The World Bank estimated damage equivalent to $18.5bn in Gaza from the first three months of the war, before Israel launched most of its fierce operations. That figure is nearly equivalent to the combined economic output of the West Bank and Gaza in 2022.
Israel allowed the entry of construction materials inside Gaza before the war, but there were heavy restrictions and delays. The Shelter Cluster now estimates it would take 40 years to rebuild all of Gaza’s destroyed homes under that system.
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