Hungary Officially Denied a Billion Euros of EU funds

The EU’s black sheep Hungary feels the backlash from Brussels now that it has relinquished the EU presidency.

by AFP | January 1, 2025

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban holds his annual press conference in the Carmelita monastery, the office of the Hungarian premier, in Budapest on December 21, 2024. (Photo by Attila KISBENEDEK / AFP)

Hungary has officially been denied a billion euros of European Union funds that had been frozen because of corruption, the EU said, the first time the bloc has enforced such a move.

Brussels in 2022 began “conditionality” proceedings against Hungary, seeking to block disbursements because of alleged infringements linked to public procurement as well as a lack of control and transparency.

Budapest did undertake reforms that allowed some funds to be unblocked, but a total of 19 billion euros ($20 billion) remain frozen.


Under timelines laid out in the EU’s conditionality regulation, “the first tranche of suspended commitments”, which amounted to 1.04 billion euros, expired at the end of 2024 without the suspension being lifted, the commission said late on Tuesday.
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That meant that Hungary lost that funding.

Since his return to power in 2010, nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban has strengthened his grip on power, allowing some of his allies to become spectacularly rich.

In July, the European Commission concluded in a report that Hungary did not meet EU democratic standards, notably on corruption, political financing, conflicts of interest and media independence.

Orban has promised to fight to protect money “that is ours”.

“They constantly try to take the money of Hungarians by a variety of means and a variety of methods,” he said in December, threatening to veto the EU’s budget to pressure it into relenting.

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US expected to unveil $1.25 billion aid package for Ukraine; Poland ready to boost electricity exports after Slovakia threatens cuts; and Russia promises retaliation for EU block of Telegram.

With Orban under pressure amid an economic downturn, his new political rival Peter Magyar on Wednesday called for early legislative elections, with several opinion polls showing his party in the lead. The vote is currently scheduled for the spring of 2026.

“Time is running out. Let’s bring forward the election date so that the country does not unnecessarily lose another year,” he said in his wishes for 2025.

“We will bring home the billions that the European Union owes us,” he said.

Hungary has also been targeted since September 2018 by an Article 7 procedure, which sanctions member states for “serious violations” of the rule of law and can in theory result in the suspension of a country’s voting rights in the EU Council.
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KCK: Leader Öcalan’s perspective will be the compass of our struggle in the new year

KCK expressed their belief that the new year will bring the liberation of Öcalan, a solution to the Kurdish question, the democratization of Turkey and the region, peace and stability in the region and the whole world.


ANF
BEHDINAN
Tuesday, 31 December 202

The Co-Presidency of the KCK (Kurdistan Communities Union) Executive Council released a statement regarding the current developments in the region, the meeting of the DEM Party MPs with the Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan in İmralı and the upcoming new year.

The KCK statement on Tuesday includes the following:

“Humanity and our people are entering a new year. In the last year, the Third World War of partition continued in the world, in our region, and in our country, deepening, causing great loss of life and injuries, and spreading to new areas. This war is affecting all humanity in the most severe way. Hunger, thirst, inadequate access to health care, poverty, unemployment, and deterioration in living conditions are becoming more widespread.

The colonialist genocidal Turkish state, backed by the conditions arising from the Third World War, has done everything it could to liquidate the Kurdish freedom struggle. It has maintained the isolation of Rêber Apo (Leader Abdullah Öcalan) continued to use all kinds of chemical weapons against the guerrilla, committed endless lawlessness, including the most severe torture of prisoners struggling for freedom and disregarding the universal rights of law, and implemented the state of emergency laws against our people. The oppression of women has continued unabated, and arbitrary arrests, massacres, and rape have become almost commonplace. In particular, the appointment of trustees to many elected municipalities has been the most striking colonialist practice in terms of showing great intolerance to the Kurdish people’s ability to live according to their own identity and free will.

In the course of the developments in Syria, the gangs and mercenaries of the SNA affiliated with the fascist Turkish government have displaced more than a hundred thousand of our people; women and children have been deliberately massacred within the scope of the genocidal practices targeting the Kurdish people in North and East Syria.

The attacks against our people and the Kurdish freedom movement predominantly aim to break the will to resist, to break the hope and belief to live freely and humanely on their own lands. However, the resistance of Rêber Apo under the most unrelenting isolation conditions and the heroic resistance of the Kurdish freedom guerrilla, despite the use of all kinds of banned weapons and the most advanced technology by the Turkish army, have thwarted and devastated all the calculations of the fascist government. We commemorate with respect and gratitude all freedom fighters who were martyred in this resistance and all over Kurdistan. We take responsibility for their memory by raising the struggle and achieving victory.

The resistance of our people, the workers and women under the slogan ‘Jin, Jiyan, Azadi’ prevented the colonialist fascist government from achieving its goals. Especially the struggle in the framework of the global campaign ‘Freedom for Abdullah Ocalan, a Political Solution to the Kurdish Question’ was intensified by our movement, people, and their international friends, and therefore has gained a universal character. It played an important role in dispelling the darkness they tried to force upon us and has revealed freedom on the horizon.

The meeting between Rêber Apo and the DEM Party delegation in Imrali on December 28th was a direct result of Rêber Apo’s unprecedented stance in Imrali prison and the resistance of the Kurdish freedom movement, our people, and its international friends all over Kurdistan and the world. In this meeting, by taking historical responsibility and in contradiction to the darkness they want to impose, Rêber Apo once again put forward his positive, solution-oriented, and horizon-opening point of view. In addition to the solution of the Kurdish question, the democratization of Turkey, and the solution of the problems in the Middle East, he unveiled with great conviction that a just peace is an urgent task all over the world and thereby is creating new hope and faith for all peoples from all cultures, particularly for women and workers. He summarized his ideas in seven points, which define our duties to be fulfilled and give new strength and hope to the movement and people.

As the freedom and peoples' movement, we declare that our leader's views announced at the end of 2024, which are worth a manifesto, will be our compass of struggle in the new year. We call on our people, all our friends, all political segments, and all democratic forces who are in favor of the solution of the Kurdish question and the democratization of Turkey to struggle on this basis. With the belief that the new year will bring the physical liberation of Rêber Apo, the solution of the Kurdish question, the democratization of Turkey and the region, peace and stability in our region and the whole world, we congratulate Rêber Apo, all comrades, women, and workers who struggle for freedom on the new year.”

KNK calls for national unity and solidarity on the occasion of the new year

The KNK Executive Council congratulated the people of Kurdistan and the peoples of the world on the New Year and invited all Kurdistan forces to support Leader Öcalan’s call.


ANF
NEWS DESK
Wednesday, 1 January 2025


The Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) Executive Council issued a message on the occasion of the new year, stating the following:

"For our people, the year we left behind was a year of total resistance. It was a year of great struggle in all four parts of Kurdistan. In Northern Kurdistan, the attacks of the Turkish state continued uninterruptedly. All the dynamics of our people, especially the guerrilla forces, resisted these tough attacks with great sacrifice and heroism. With this resistance, the enemy's attacks and plans were frustrated. Erdoğan and Turkish state officials had frequently stated at the beginning of spring that they would completely liquidate the Kurdish movement. However, the guerrillas and our resilient people put up great resistance and negated these claims. In particular, the legendary resistance in Xakurkê, Metîna, Zap and Avaşîn became the symbol of this year. Newroz, celebrated all over Kurdistan, reflected the spirit of our people’s resistance. In addition, in the local elections, the Kurdish people claimed their will and defended their cities. In Northern Kurdistan, the resistance continues in every field. The resistance in prisons, in the political arena and in guerrilla areas today is sacred and legendary.

Although Southern Kurdistan has a constitutionally federal status, the status of the disputed regions (regions covered by article 140) remains unclear. In Kirkuk, Xaneqîn and other disputed regions, Kurds have been displaced and the demographic structure changed. Since the ISIS attacks, Shengal has still not been liberated and the IDPs have not been able to return. In addition, attacks by the Turkish state continue. There have been no parliamentary elections in Southern Kurdistan for more than two years and so far, no steps have been taken for a parliament, government or regional presidency. The economic crisis is deepening and the people are in a difficult situation. The future of Iraq is also uncertain. Turkey's occupation steps in Southern Kurdistan are increasing. In view of this situation, it is necessary to ensure national unity and to increase the resistance against occupation.

The struggle for freedom in Eastern Kurdistan continues despite all forms of oppression. The Jin, Jiyan, Azadi (Woman, Life, Freedom) revolution continues despite all the obstacles. The Iranian state, like Turkey, has increased its attacks and pressure. However, the hope for a democratic change has also emerged in this process.

A de facto status in Rojava has been in place for 13 years. This is a great achievement and must be protected and recognised in every way. However, the Turkish state takes every opportunity to destroy these gains. Attacks against Rojava continue and the living spaces of the people are targeted. For this reason, the Kurdish people and their friends must take action to protect Rojava. The protection of Rojava is the protection of all Kurdistan.

In the Middle East, a process generally referred to as the 3rd World War is taking place. This war serves the interests of the states that occupy Kurdistan. The Kurdish people should carefully monitor this process and turn these threats into opportunities through national unity.

As the KNK, we believe that the Kurdish people must act in national unity and solidarity in this historic process. We wish 2025 to be a year of peace, freedom and success for our people."

Senator Savodelli calls on France not to abandon its Kurdish allies

French Senator Savoldelli wrote a letter to French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot drawing attention to the attacks on Rojava: “The Rojava model is a reference to the reconstruction of Syria. France cannot abandon the Kurds in the face of the attacks."

SERKAN DEMİREL
GENEVA
Wednesday, 1 January 2025

International reactions to the attacks by the Turkish state and allied mercenary groups against the regions under the control of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (Rojava) continue. French Senator Pascal Savoldelli wrote a letter to French Minister of Foreign Affairs and Europe Jean-Noel Barrot to draw attention to the attacks on Rojava. Savoldelli emphasised that Rojava's democratic and inclusive governance model should be taken as an example for the reconstruction of Syria and called on France not to abandon its Kurdish allies.

Rojava: A reference for the construction of a new Syria

In his letter, Senator Savoldelli stated that the fall of the Assad regime represents hope for the Syrian people: “This hope is the culmination of a revolution that began in 2011 and whose outcome is now highly uncertain. As part of this revolution, for more than a decade, Syrian Kurds have been promoting an inclusive political project based on democratic autonomy and the peaceful coexistence of all communities. Today, this model is a reference for the construction of a new, inclusive and democratic Syria based on justice, equality and the rights of all its components.”

Kurdish forces are a valuable ally for France and the Coalition

Reminding Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot of the fight of the Syrian Kurds against ISIS, Senator Savoldelli said: “The Kurdish forces have been a valuable ally for France and the coalition in the fight against ISIS, especially in the context of the attacks organised by jihadists on French territory and against the French people in 2015.

However, with the seizure of power in Damascus by the radical Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) on 8 December 2024, a number of shadowy and reactionary armed groups, mainly supported by the Republic of Turkey, launched an offensive against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), particularly in Kurdish-majority towns in the north-east of the country. In particular, they have seized control of certain areas in Deir ez-Zor and Manbij. Many witnesses from the region report massacres of the civilian population.”

France cannot abandon its Kurdish allies

In his letter, Senator Savoldelli called on Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot to declare France's side in favour of the Kurds in the face of the attacks on Rojava by the Turkish state and its mercenary groups: “Given the seriousness of the attacks against the Kurds, I would like to ask what weight France intends to put on supporting its Kurdish allies and their democratic model of governance, ensuring their inclusion in any political process for the reconstruction of Syria, and firmly condemning foreign interference, especially from Turkey, which fuels divisions and tensions. At a time when the risk of a new humanitarian catastrophe cannot be ruled out, France cannot abandon its Kurdish allies.”

India carrying out covert assassination campaigns in Pakistan: report

Dawn.com Published January 1, 2025 

A report by The Washington Post published on Tuesday detailed an assassination programme allegedly executed by India’s external intelligence agency to kill about half a dozen individuals in Pakistan from 2021 onwards.

The Post examined six cases in Pakistan through interviews with Pakistani and Indian officials, the militants’ allies and family members, and a review of police documents and other evidence collected by Pakistani investigators. They revealed the contours of an ambitious Indian assassination programme with marked similarities to the operations in North America.

It detailed the attack on Amir Sarfraz Tamba, the man who allegedly killed Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh in Kot Lakhpat prison in 2013.

“The incident appeared to be the most recent example of what Pakistani officials call a striking development in the long-running shadow war between the two South Asian rivals.

“Although India and Pakistan have long used militant groups to sow chaos in each other’s country, India’s intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), has since 2021 deployed a methodical assassination program to kill at least a half dozen people deep within Pakistan, according to Pakistani and Western officials,” the Post said.

The article described Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as portraying himself as the most resolute and confrontational leader against India’s adversaries since the country’s independence.

“Since last year, India’s relations with Western governments have been rocked by allegations that RAW officials also ordered the assassination of Sikh separatists in Canada and the United States — operations that appeared to be an outgrowth of a campaign first tested and refined in Pakistan,” the Post added.

According to officials cited in the article, the killings in Pakistan were executed by local petty criminals or Afghan hired guns, but never by Indian nationals.

“To aid deniability, RAW officers employed businessmen in Dubai, a regional commercial hub, as intermediaries and deployed separate, siloed teams to surveil targets, execute killings and funnel payments from dozens of informal, unregulated banking networks known as hawalas set up in multiple continents, according to Pakistani investigators.

“But the RAW also at times used sloppy tradecraft and poorly trained contractors, mirroring what was observed by U.S. and Canadian law enforcement.”

The article explained that the killings in Pakistan predominantly targeted suspected leaders of two United Nations-designated terrorist groups, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad, which India has accused of attacking its troops or, in the past, its citizens.

“The Sikh separatists who were targeted in Canada and the United States, Hardeep Singh Nijjar and Gurpatwant Pannun, were also designated as terrorists by India, although Western officials and analysts have disputed the persuasiveness of the Indian evidence against them,” it added.

Many aspects of India’s operations in Pakistan had not been disclosed before, per the piece. Both Pakistani and Indian officials, speaking anonymously due to the sensitive nature of intelligence activities and ongoing investigations, provided insights.

The killings remain a sensitive topic in Pakistan, as they challenge the counterintelligence effectiveness of its security agencies and undermine its assertions of not harbouring terrorists. However, some Pakistani officials now contend that as Modi’s India rises as a global power, it must be held accountable for executing extrajudicial killings with impunity, the article added.

The article stated that ISI Director General Nadeem Anjum had voiced significant concerns about Indian assassinations to CIA Director William J. Burns in 2022, according to a former Pakistani official, well before the US and Canadian allegations emerged.

“Our concerns arose independent of the US and Canadian investigations,” said a current Pakistani official. “Can India rise peacefully? Our answer is no.”

India’s Ministry of External Affairs declined to comment on the Post’s article.

The article further noted that Indian officials have historically neither confirmed nor denied involvement in specific killings, asserting that assassinations are not part of Indian policy. However, these officials frequently highlight that Pakistan and Western nations have declined to extradite terrorists despite India presenting evidence of their crimes, and they also point out that many Islamist militants in Pakistan have been eliminated by US drone strikes.

The article revealed that, around the same time, a RAW officer in New Delhi, Vikash Yadav, orchestrated an assassination attempt on Pannun, a Sikh separatist residing in New York, as outlined in a US federal indictment. The officer reportedly instructed his agent, businessman Nikhil Gupta, to hire a local assassin. Similar to Ansari, Yadav managed operations remotely, appeared pressed for time, and made comments hinting at a broader effort to eliminate a substantial list of targets.

“But unlike in Pakistan, US prosecutors said the New York plot was quickly foiled after Gupta unwittingly asked a DEA informant to introduce him to a hit man.

“Canadian officials, at the same time, said they also uncovered a sprawling Indian campaign to surveil, intimidate and even kill Sikhs. While criminal elements were employed, as in Pakistan, Indian diplomats stationed in Canada were also enlisted to monitor members of the Sikh diaspora, according to Canadian officials, who cited the diplomats’ private electronic conversations and text messages. It’s unclear how those conversations were obtained.”

The article stated that Christopher Clary, a professor of political science at the State University of New York at Albany who has studied the alleged Indian operations, remarked that the RAW’s record with targeted killings appeared similar to that of Israel’s external intelligence agency, Mossad. While Mossad successfully carried out assassinations in less-developed countries, its agents were captured on hotel surveillance cameras during a 2010 operation to kill a Hamas leader in Dubai.

“One read is [the RAW] had been succeeding in Pakistan for a full year before they start developing this effort in the West,” Clary said. “But the tactics, techniques and procedures that worked pretty well in Pakistan didn’t necessarily work in the West.”

The article noted that despite the setback, the RAW remained undeterred. Four weeks later, a group led by a labourer named Muhammad Umair shot Shahid Latif, whom Indian officials accused of orchestrating a 2016 raid on an Indian Air Force station that hindered diplomatic efforts between Modi and his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif.

However, this time, the RAW faced a different type of backlash. After his arrest, Umair admitted he had been sent from Dubai to personally kill Latif after several failed attempts by his co-conspirators. According to two individuals familiar with the case, Umair revealed the location of a Dubai safe house, which led Pakistani agents to break into the apartment. They found valuable intelligence but did not locate its two Indian occupants, Ashok Kumar Anand Salian and Yogesh Kumar. (Umair could not be reached for comment.)

“Until that point, Pakistan had rarely acknowledged the Indian operations. But at a news conference in February, Pakistani Foreign Secretary Muhammad Syrus Sajjad Qazi held up scans of passports belonging to Salian and Kumar and accused them of directing the murders of Latif and of Riyaz one month earlier. India dismissed Qazi’s claims as “false and malicious anti-India propaganda.”

Attempts by The Post to locate Salian were unsuccessful. The article mentioned that in April, Salian made his only public appearance during an interview with a pro-government Indian television channel. Sitting in a sparse New Delhi apartment and wearing dark sunglasses indoors, he claimed to be an ordinary business owner in Dubai. He stated that he employed a Pakistani worker at his cyber cafe, who might have acted without his knowledge, and denied any links to the RAW.

“After Pakistan arrested him, they must have seen who was his sponsor in Dubai,” Salian said. “I feel aggrieved that my details are being highlighted and my reputation damaged.”

Salian’s alleged accomplice, Kumar, also could not be located. Anmol Gora, a dairy business owner from the village in Rajasthan state that is listed as Kumar’s birthplace, said Kumar had not been seen there in five years. Residents said he was living in Dubai, Gora said.

“People in the village say he was involved in some shady business, which is why he just disappeared,” Gora said.

According to the piece, Pakistan began publicly calling out India in 2024 after Pakistani officials claimed that a series of assassinations appeared to benefit the Modi government domestically.

By late last year, many Indian pro-government television channels were running glowing programs marvelling at the RAW’s extraterritorial reach and efficiency. Pakistani officials were particularly galled by Indian news reports that emerged almost immediately after some slayings.

“In many cases they celebrated before even our police knew they were killed,” an official said.

A day after the Guardian published a report on assassinations in Pakistan this year, Modi — without explicitly confirming any slaying — boasted during a campaign rally of “entering [India’s enemies’] homes and killing them.”

Indian Home Minister Amit Shah, who Canadian officials say was named by Indian diplomats in their private conversations as the senior government official who directed the covert efforts, was similarly blithe. “Whoever did the killings, what’s the problem?” Shah said in a television interview. “The agency will do their jobs. why should we interfere?”

The article cited Srinath Raghavan, a renowned Indian military historian and former army officer who served in Kashmir, as saying that the Modi government has highlighted special forces raids inside Pakistan and promoted Bollywood films that glorify India’s covert operatives.

“The whole tagline is, ‘This is the New India,’” Raghavan said. “The Modi government came in with the view that you need to strike back, and you need to signal publicly that you’re doing it. It’s aimed at telling Pakistan that we’re willing to come and hit hard, but it also has a domestic component.”

The article stated that Kashmiri fighters, central to the conflict, argue that Indian officials have a motive to exaggerate their own deadly capabilities and that Pakistani officials should not be taken at face value either. Nevertheless, analysts suggest that Indian officials have clearly shown their extensive and lethal reach to both Pakistan and the Indian public.

Asad Durrani, a former director general of Pakistan’s ISI, added that it may serve the interests of certain officials in both India and Pakistan to continue their shadow war, aiming to destabilise each other and gain political advantages.

“Any state, or non-state actor, that can get away with an act would do so,” Durrani said. “Neither side is willing to pay the price of peace.”

Indian Miracle in Rajasthan: 3-year-old girl rescued from 700-ft borewell after 10 gruelling days

 January 01, 2025 | 
Stephen N R., Senior Associate Editor


Dubai: In an extraordinary feat of determination and teamwork, three-year-old Chetna was rescued from a 700-foot borewell in Rajasthan’s Kotputli after a marathon 10-day operation, reports in Indian media said.

The rescue brought relief and jubilation to her family and the nation, as the little girl’s life hung by a thread.

A playful afternoon turned into a nightmare

On December 23, while playing in her village of Kiratpura, Chetna accidentally fell into the uncovered borewell in Badiyali ki Dhani.

Her cries alerted her family, who discovered her trapped deep within the borewell. Panic quickly turned to action as local authorities and disaster relief teams were called in.

Unprecedented rescue efforts

The National and State Disaster Relief Forces, along with medical teams, worked tirelessly to save Chetna.

Early attempts to retrieve her using an iron ring and rope failed. Oxygen was supplied through a pipe to keep her alive, but heavy rains and the tilted borewell complicated the efforts.

When digging commenced to create a tunnel for her rescue, it initially veered off course due to the borewell’s angle, an NDTV report said.

This led to significant delays. Experts from Delhi and Jaipur Metro were brought in to assist, and the tunnel’s width was expanded from 8 feet to 12 feet to facilitate the operation.

Mother’s plea

As days turned into a week, desperation mounted. On December 28, Chetna’s mother, Dholi Devi, made an emotional appeal to authorities. “It has been six days… My daughter is hungry and thirsty. If she were the child of the district collector, would she have been left in the borewell for so long? Please, get my daughter out immediately,” she pleaded.

A race against time

In the final hours of the operation, the situation became dire. Neither food nor oxygen could reach Chetna, and her condition deteriorated. Rescue teams intensified their efforts, and after an arduous struggle, they pulled her to safety just in time.

Safe at last

Chetna was immediately taken to a nearby hospital. Doctors reported that she is stable but will remain under constant observation.

Her grandfather, Dayaram, expressed profound gratitude to the rescue teams for their relentless efforts, despite harsh winter conditions.

He also urged authorities to ensure all open borewells are sealed to prevent future tragedies.

Lessons for the future

Collector Kalpana Agarwal explained that the borewell’s tilt created unforeseen challenges but commended the dedication of the rescue teams.

This incident has reignited calls for stricter regulations to cover open borewells across the country.

India's 2024 was hottest year since 1901: Meteorological office

Annual mean land surface air temperature was 0.65°C above the long-term average

January 01, 2025 |
AFP

Residents fill water from a Delhi Municipal Corp. truck in New Delhi on a sunny day.

Bloomberg file


NEW DELHI: India's meteorological department said Wednesday that 2024 was the hottest year since 1901, with sizzling temperatures in the world's most populous nation following a global pattern of extreme weather sparked by climate change.

"The year 2024 was the warmest year on record since 1901," Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, director general of the India Meteorological Department, told reporters.

"The annual mean land surface air temperature across India in 2024 was 0.65 degrees Celsius above the long-term average, 1991-2020 period."

The United Nations said last month that 2024 was set to be the warmest year ever recorded, capping a decade of unprecedented heat.

Climate change sparked a trail of extreme weather and record heat globally in 2024, fuelling natural disasters that caused billions of dollars worth of damage.

India sweltered through its longest ever heatwave last year, with temperatures soaring over 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit).

A heatwave in May in New Delhi saw temperatures match the capital's previous record high: 49.2 Celsius (120.5 Fahrenheit) clocked in 2022.

Also Read:Tens of millions sizzle in India’s severe heatwave

India is the world's third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases but has committed to achieve a net zero emissions economy by 2070 - two decades after most of the industrialised West.

For now, it is overwhelmingly reliant on coal for power generation.

Global warming, driven largely by the burning of fossil fuels, is not just about rising temperatures, but the knock-on effect of all the extra heat in the atmosphere and seas.

Warmer air can hold more water vapour, and warmer oceans mean greater evaporation, resulting in more intense downpours and storms.

Impacts are wide-ranging, deadly and increasingly costly, damaging property and destroying crops.

'Colonise you right back': Internet abuzz as report claims Indians now own most properties in London

ByMuskaan Sharma
Jan 01, 2025 

A report claims Indians have become the largest group of property owners in London, surpassing native Brits. The findings sparked reactions on social media.

A report by a London-based property developer which has claimed that Indians are now the largest group of property owners in London has drawn a flurry of responses from Indians. The report, released by Barratt London last month, claimed that Indian-origin residents who have lived in the UK for generations, non-resident Indians (NRIs), foreign investors, students, and families migrating for education now own more properties in the UK city as compared to native Brits.

Reports have claimed that Indian-origin residents of London have become the largest group of property owners in the city.(Pixabay)

In the past few years, many reports have claimed that Indian-origin residents of London have gradually become the largest group of property owners in the city

Indian buying properties in London

"Indians make up the largest group of property owners in London, represented by those who have lived in the UK for generations, NRIs, foreign investors, students, and families who come to the UK for education," Barratt London stated in its report. After Indians, the largest groups of property owners are "English and Pakistani people", the report read, adding that Indians are investing between ₹30 million and ₹47 million in buying apartments and houses.

The report's findings were recently shared on X by BRICS News. "Indians are now the largest group of property owners in London, surpassing the Englishmen themselves," read the caption. The post quickly went viral and garnered a staggering 14 million views


‘It’s just karma'

The news delighted users with many of them leaving tongue-in-cheek reactions praising the global power of Indians and hitting out at the British colonial rule. "Colonise you right back," joked one of them.

"They once owned half the world and now they own less than half of London," remarked a user.

"It's just karma... Brits illegally owned India for 200 years, now Indians are owning Britain legally and that is too in completely competitive environment," said another user.

One user summed up her feelings in just one sentence: "What goes around comes around."

A page from history: Jimmy Carter’s visit to Pakistan

As the world bid farewell to Jimmy Carter, the longest-lived president in American history, a poignant piece of history resurfaced—a moment that exemplifies the close ties between the United States and Pakistan during Carter's presidency.

Tooba Masood
1/1/2025

TRT/AA

Jimmy Carter’s 1986 visit to Pakistan strengthened bilateral ties. / Photo: AP

In 1986, a humble peanut farmer from a small town in the United States signed the visitor’s log at a museum tucked away in Pakistan’s northwestern province. But this was no ordinary farmer.

The man behind the signature was none other than James Earl Carter Jr., better known to the world as Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States.

Carter had left the presidential office just four years before he visited Pakistan.

Sharing this piece of history on social media, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Archaeology and Museums director, Abdul Samad, said: “A Page from the Museum Guestbook: Honouring the memory of former US President Jimmy Carter (1924–2024) and his historic visit to the iconic Peshawar Museum with First Lady Rosalynn Carter in 1986. Sharing this historic signature from the visitor's book as we bid farewell to the 39th US President, who passed away yesterday.”

“Jimmy Carter’s time was a historic moment for Pakistan-US bilateral relations, or probably the prime time when we were more than just strategic partners,” Samad told TRT World. During their four-day private visit, Carter and Rosalynn toured Karachi, Peshawar, and Lahore.

In Peshawar, Carter visited the museum and met Afghan refugee leaders at a camp near the city, sharing a message of hope for a free Afghanistan. Carter expressed his wish to visit Afghanistan when the country would be free from Soviet occupation.

Carter’s visit to Karachi included a stop at the mausoleum of Pakistan’s founding father, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. In a show of solidarity, Carter met with General Zia ul Haq, Pakistan’s then-military ruler, discussing future collaborations between the two countries.

One of the most significant agreements reached during this trip was between the Pakistani government and Global 2000, a report commissioned in 1980 by Carter during his presidency, focusing on health and agriculture programmes in Pakistan.

The visit came on the heels of Carter’s two-day stay in Bangladesh, where he called for stronger cooperation between developed and developing nations to combat terrorism


US-Pakistan ties

Carter, who served as US President from 1977 to 1981, developed a close and complex relationship with Pakistan and the country’s leader at the time – General Zia ul Haq.

His approach was diplomatic and pragmatic alliance-building which was driven by their shared geopolitical concerns over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Michael Kugelman, Director of South Asia Institute at The Wilson Centre, said Carter engaged closely with Zia, inviting him to the White House and offering effusive public praise.

“Carter continued this relationship with Zia after his presidency, including travelling to Pakistan in 1986 and meeting with Zia there to discuss opportunities for Carter’s charitable work in Pakistan,” he told TRT World.

Over the years, the two men exchanged several telegrams and letters to discuss what was happening in Pakistan and around its borders. For example, in this letter from 1980, Carter addressed the geopolitical situation following the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in December 1979.

When they met in Washington in 1980, they had a lot of good things to say about each other. Briefing the media after their meeting, Carter said: “On a mutual basis we understand that the relationship between our countries is of the utmost importance. Our commitment to consult very closely with Pakistan was expressed in an agreement signed in 1959; if Pakistan should be in danger, that commitment stands today as it did in 1959 and at the time of the State of the Union message that I delivered this January.”

“And finally let me say that we are honored personally by his visit. He's a military man who received part of his training in our country. He's familiar with our Nation. His knowledge of the sensitivities and ideals of America make him particularly dear to us. And his role now as the President of that great country has shown by all of his actions the political leadership and its worth not only to the people of Pakistan but to that entire troubled region and to our country as well.”

For Kugelman, Carter’s view of Zia was shaped by the realities of the Cold War, including his concerns about Communism and, during the last year of his presidency, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan that began in late 1979.

“This wasn’t the first time that a US president who advocated for democracy abroad sided with an autocrat to pursue a shared interest, in this case anti-Communism. But it was especially striking in Carter’s case given that he was a particularly robust proponent of democracy promotion abroad,” he said.

“Additionally, his administration was deeply concerned about Pakistan’s development of nuclear weapons and was unable to convince Pakistan to change course, something that caused considerable friction in bilateral relations. It’s one more data point that validates the truism that interests trump values in foreign policy,” he added.

Not surprisingly, Kugelman said, Carter condemned the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the strongest possible terms, depicting it not just as a Communist threat but also as a broader strategic danger, given the geography of Afghanistan.

“He dedicated a good part of his 1980 State of the Union address, which he delivered just a month after the invasion, to this issue. He also announced in that speech his intention to provide aid to Pakistan to fend off the Soviet threat,” Kugelman said.

That pledge by Carter, Kugelman explained, set in motion a highly consequential US policy, continued and intensified by the Ronald Reagan administration, to cooperate with Pakistan to push back the Soviets in Afghanistan.

“It was a policy that would have far-reaching implications for US-Pakistan relations and for broader future developments, including the eventual emergence of the Taliban,” he added.

Carter passed away peacefully on December 29 at the age of 100. He was the longest-lived president in American history and the first to live 100 years. He is survived by his three children, 11 grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren.

SOURCE: TRT World

Tooba Masood is a Karachi-based journalist, co-host of Pakistan’s first true crime podcast, and co-author of the upcoming book Society Girl.

Pakistan, India exchange list of nuclear facilities on New Year's Eve

The two countries have been exchanging lists every year since the agreement on the Prohibition of Attacks on Nuclear Installations and Facilities.



AA

Meanwhile, Islamabad and New Delhi also exchanged a prisoner list. / Photo: AA

Pakistan and India exchanged lists of nuclear facilities as well as civilian prisoners, including fishermen, according to official statements from both countries.

A statement from Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday the two South Asian nuclear neighbours exchanged lists of nuclear installations and facilities.

"The exchange took place under the Agreement on Prohibition of Attacks against Nuclear Installations and Facilities between Pakistan and India. Signed on 31 December 1988, the agreement, inter alia, provides that both countries shall inform each other of their nuclear installations and facilities, falling within its definition, on 1st January of each calendar year," it said in the statement.

The list was handed over to an Indian High Commission representative in Islamabad, and India handed it over to a Pakistani representative in New Delhi.

Since the Agreement on Prohibition of Attacks on Nuclear Installations and Facilities between Pakistan and India went into effect on January 27, 1991, the two countries have been exchanging lists every year since January 1, 1992.

Meanwhile, Islamabad and New Delhi also exchanged a prisoner list on Wednesday.

Pakistan handed over a list of 266 Indian prisoners, including 49 civilians and 217 fishermen, to a representative of the High Commission of India in Islamabad.

Simultaneously, India shared the list of Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails with a Pakistan High Commission official in New Delhi. According to the list, there are 462 Pakistanis in Indian jails, including 381 civilian prisoners and 81 fishermen.

Islamabad urged New Delhi to release and repatriate 52 Pakistani civilian prisoners and 56 fishermen who have completed their sentences and whose national status has been confirmed.

"Furthermore, a request for a grant of consular access to 38 missing defence personnel of the 1965 and 1971 wars has been made," said the Pakistani Foreign Ministry.

India, in its statement, also called for the early release and repatriation of civilian prisoners, fishermen along with their boats, and "missing Indian defence personnel from Pakistan's custody."