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Saudi Arabia slams Netanyahu’s suggestion it should host Palestinian state

Saudi Arabia has condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s suggestion that the kingdom’s land be used to establish a Palestinian state.

In a statement on Sunday, the Saudi Foreign Ministry accused Netanyahu of attempting to “divert attention” from Israel’s ongoing “crimes” in Gaza, including “ethnic cleansing”.

“The kingdom affirms that the Palestinian people have a right to their land, and they are not intruders or immigrants to it who can be expelled whenever the brutal Israeli occupation wishes,” said the Foreign Ministry.

On Thursday, Netanyahu responded to an interviewer on Israel’s Channel 14 who misspoke by saying “Saudi state” instead of “Palestinian state”.

“The Saudis can create a Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia; they have a lot of land over there,” Netanyahu said.

The interviewer replied that it was an idea worth exploring.

The exchange drew angry reactions from Arab states, including Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq, as well as the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

“These dangerous and irresponsible statements confirm the approach of the Israeli occupation forces in their disrespect for international and UN laws and treaties and the sovereignty of states,” said GCC Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry thanked the “brotherly countries” for denouncing Netanyahu’s remarks.

Discussions of the fate of Palestinians in Gaza had already been upended by an earlier shock proposal from United States President Donald Trump for the US to “take over” and “own” Gaza, resettling Palestinians elsewhere in a move that would amount to ethnic cleansing. That suggestion, amid a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, has also been roundly condemned by Arab leaders.

Trump has also said Saudi Arabia would not require the formation of a Palestinian state as a precondition to normalise ties with Israel, a claim Riyadh has repeatedly denied.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 61,700 Palestinians including about 18,000 children, and wrecked much of the enclave’s infrastructure. More than 14,000 more people are missing and are presumed to be dead.

The Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7 that sparked the war killed 1,139 people and seized more than 250 captives, dozens of whom are still believed to be in the enclave. (AlJazeera)

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Man, 22, faces motorcycle theft charge

A 22-year-old man, Muhammed Abdulazeez, on Wednesday appeared before an Ojo Magistrates’ Court in Lagos for allegedly stealing a TVS Motorcycle.

The defendant is standing trial before Magistrate Mr. L.K.J Layeni, on a count charge of stealing.

He, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The prosecutor, ASP Simon Uche, told the court that the defendant committed the offence on Jan. 22, at the Alaba Rago area of Ojo.

He alleged that the defendant stole a red colour of TVS Motorcycle with registration number KSF 704 QH.

According to him, the motorcycle belongs to one Mr. Mohammed Sanni and is valued at N800,000.

The offence contravene the provision of Section 287 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

The court granted the defendant bail in the sum of N500,000 with one surety in like sum.

The magistrate adjourned the case until March 5 for mention. (Guardian)

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Four lawmakers suspended after fight erupts in Ghana’s Parliament

The Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has suspended four lawmakers for two weeks following a violent altercation during a ministerial screening session on Thursday.

The suspended lawmakers, Rockson Dafeamakpor, Frank Annor-Dompreh, Alhassan Tampuuli, and Jerry Shai, were on Friday penalised for what Bagbin described as a “gross affront to the dignity of parliament and a blatant contempt of the House”.

It was gathered that the speaker also announced a two-week suspension of four lawmakers for “contemptus parlamenti in facie parlamenti”.

The clash occurred during the vetting of ministerial nominees from the ruling National Democratic Congress.

Lawmakers from the opposition New Patriotic Party accused the vetting committee of rushing the process, while NDC members alleged that the opposition was deliberately stalling proceedings with prolonged questioning.

Tensions reached a breaking point when NPP’s leader in parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, questioned Samuel George, the nominee for communications minister, for over five hours.

The prolonged interrogation led to frustration among committee members, triggering the brawl.

Furniture was overturned, microphones were destroyed, and lawmakers exchanged blows.

A special seven-member committee has been tasked with investigating the incident and is expected to submit its report within 10 days.

Additionally, the cost of repairs for damaged parliamentary property will be deducted from the allowances of those found responsible.

This marks the third time in four years that Ghana’s lawmakers have resorted to physical confrontations during legislative proceedings.

Similar incidents occurred in 2021 during the election of a new speaker and later that year during debates on the electronic transaction levy bill. (Punch)

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Merkel criticises her party leader after far-right vote

Germany’s former Chancellor Angela Merkel has criticised her own party leader for passing a motion in parliament with support from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

In a statement, Merkel accused CDU leader Friedrich Merz of turning his back on a previous pledge not to work with AfD in the Bundestag.

The parliament descended into heckles on Wednesday after votes from the far-right party meant a non-binding CDU motion on tougher immigration rules was passed.

This is a highly unusual intervention by the woman who led Germany for 16 years, stepping in to criticise the actions of her former political rival.

Merz, who is tipped to be Germany’s next chancellor due to CDU’s lead in the polls, said on Wednesday that a policy was not wrong just because the “wrong people back it” and that he had not sought nor wanted AfD’s support.

But Merkel accused him of breaking a pledge he made in November to work with the Social Democratic Party and the Greens to pass legislation, not AfD.

This was to ensure “neither in determining the agenda nor in voting on the matter here in the House will there be a random or actually brought about majority with those from the AfD,” read a quote from Merz in Merkel’s statement.

The former chancellor said she fully supported this earlier “expression of great state political responsibility”.

“I think it is wrong to no longer feel bound by this proposal and thereby knowingly allow the AfD to gain a majority in a vote in the German Bundestag on 29 January 2025 for the first time.”

She said “all democratic parties” needed to work together “to do everything they can to prevent such terrible attacks in the future as those that took place shortly before Christmas in Magdeburg and a few days ago in Aschaffenburg”.

This is a rare intervention from Merkel.

To openly criticise her own party’s candidate for chancellor – just weeks out from an election – is a big move and will add rocket fuel to a an already explosive story in German politics.

Merkel and Merz go back a long way – and not as the best of friends.

He was famously side-lined by Merkel in the early 2000s after she won out in a CDU power struggle.

Merz would go on to quit front-line politics for many years before making his return. (BBC)