Day: November 5, 2023

According to a United Nations (UN) report, opium poppy production in Afghanistan has dropped significantly since the Taliban administration banned the cultivation of narcotics in April 2022. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said opium cultivation fell from 233,000 hectares in 2022 to just 10,800 hectares in 2023, a decrease of 95%, Azernews reports.

Shadows over the Caucasus: a primer on the Nagorno-Karabakh …  The Chimes

President: Allocation of at least 2.4 billion US dollars is envisaged …  News.Az

1. Iran says US ‘will be hit hard’ if no ceasefire in Gaza  Deccan Herald
2. Hamas Official Says Haniyeh Met With Iran’s Khamenei  ایران اینترنشنال
3. Iran says US ‘will be hit hard’ if no ceasefire in Gaza  The Jerusalem Post

In one of the largest public gatherings in Indonesia since the Israel-Hamas war broke out, nearly two million people converged at the National Monument on Sunday to express their solidarity with the Palestinians. The peaceful rally was organized by the Indonesian Ulema Council, the country’s highest Islamic authority, and supported by the government and various religious groups.

The protesters, dressed in white robes and black-and-white Palestinian scarves, waved Palestine flags and chanted slogans such as “Free Palestine” and “Indonesia defends Palestine”. They also called for a boycott of Israeli goods and an investigation of Israel’s hostilities in Gaza at the international court.

The rally was attended by several ministers and politicians.

Many protesters had traveled from different cities in Java by buses and motorcycles, and some had spent the night at the Istiqlal mosque, the largest mosque in Southeast Asia, before making their way to the monument square. They expressed their sympathy and anger at the plight of the Palestinians, especially the children, who have suffered from the Israeli bombings in Gaza.

A group of pro-Palestinian protesters vandalized the White House security fence with red paint and tried to climb over it on Saturday night, as they expressed their anger at President Joe Biden’s support for Israel in its war with Hamas. The demonstrators also covered a nearby statue of General Marquis de Lafayette with graffiti and Palestinian flags, according to social media posts and news reports^.

 The protest was part of a larger rally that drew thousands of people to Freedom Plaza in Washington, DC, to demand an end to the Israeli aggression in Gaza and the US complicity in it. 

The protesters chanted slogans such as “Free, free Palestine”, and “Cease-fire now” and waved signs that read “Stop the genocide” and “Biden, you are complicit”.

Russia has sent the third batch of humanitarian aid to Egypt for the residents of the Gaza Strip, this was announced in the Russian Emergencies Ministry, Azernews reports.