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Interestingly, a new “continent “of multiculturalism is in the making in the shape of a strategic expansion of the BRICS grouping of emerging economies — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — with more countries keen to join

The development seems to fly in the face of concerns raised by Russia in the past about such moves hindering a Middle East peace process.

By World Israel News Staff

In a landmark agreement signed last month, Russia is slated to open a new branch of its embassy in Jerusalem as part of a real estate deal with the municipality.

The Russian Foreign Ministry announced the development on Friday, saying that the deal over a disputed plot of land in central Jerusalem, which Russia acquired in 1885, was signed with Jerusalem’s municipality on May 18.

The new property will serve as the consular section of the embassy, housing a complex of buildings providing consular services to the residents of Jerusalem and its surrounding areas as well as housing diplomats.

The development seems to fly in the face of concerns raised by Russia in the past regarding former President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and his subsequent decision to move the U.S. embassy there. At the time, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the move undermined prospects for a Middle East peace process and in February 2019, Russia formally announced it had no intention of moving its own embassy to Jerusalem.

The statement from Russia’s foreign ministry, which was first published by the Israel Hayom daily, stated that the new embassy branch would, however, open “in line with our country’s unchanging course towards a fair Middle East settlement.”

As part of the deal, the city has pledged not to expropriate the land for the benefit of a forthcoming light rail line, instead opting for alternative transportation arteries. The city will also allow Russia to register as the owners of a 100-meter area to be used for the road to the future diplomatic compound. Moreover, the city has agreed to drop any suits or demands from Russia, which has traditionally avoided paying taxes as legally required.

Under the agreement, the land will be accorded a higher status than that of a consulate and the construction of the compound is expected to be completed within five years.

The agreement, signed in the Mayor’s office on Jerusalem Day, is the result of six months of negotiations involving Mayor Moshe Lion, Foreign Minister Eli Cohen (Likud), Russian Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov, Sergei Makarov acting on behalf of Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, and others.

The post Russia to open embassy branch in Jerusalem appeared first on World Israel News.

Bangladesh is likely to become a member of BRICS in August this year. Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said this while briefing reporters about the outcome of the meeting between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and South African President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa

During the trial of Robert Bowers, prosecutors show court evidence of killer’s antisemitic vitriol, including writing “the only good Jew is a dead Jew.”

By Associated Press

A gunman who killed 11 worshipers at a Pittsburgh synagogue ranted incessantly on social media about his hatred of Jewish people before the 2018 attack, according to evidence introduced at his federal death penalty trial on Tuesday.

Prosecutors are trying to show Robert Bowers was motivated by extreme hostility toward Jews when he opened fire at the Tree of Life synagogue during Sabbath services and committed the deadliest antisemitic attack in US history.

The 50-year-old truck driver is charged with 63 criminal counts, including hate crimes resulting in death and the obstruction of the free exercise of religion resulting in death. Some of the charges carry a potential death sentence.

Prosecutors said they planned to wrap up their case Wednesday afternoon. It wasn’t clear if the defense planned to call any witnesses.

With the trial in its third week, testimony turned toward Bowers’ use of Gab — a social media platform popular with the far right — to advance his antisemitic views.

Bowers’ Gab profile said “Jews are the children of Satan,” and he posted, liked or shared a stream of virulently antisemitic content, according to dozens of examples provided to the jury on Monday and Tuesday. Bowers called Jews “public enemy number one,” according to a post read by an FBI agent, spoke approvingly of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi extermination of Jews, and shared an image that said “the only good Jew is a dead Jew.”

William Braniff, a terrorism expert at the US Department of Homeland Security who reviewed Bowers’ social media activity, told jurors that Bowers used symbols and terms associated with Nazi, antisemitic and white supremacist ideologies.

On the morning of the attack, Bowers posted about HIAS, a Jewish agency that helps refugees resettle in the United States. Dor Hadash, one of the three congregations that shared the Tree of Life building, worked with HIAS.

“HIAS likes to bring invaders in that kill our people. I can’t sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I’m going in,” Bowers posted.

Working to spare his life, Bowers’ lawyers have acknowledged he was the shooter but are trying to raise questions about motive. The defense has suggested he did not act out of religious hatred but rather a delusional belief that Jews were enabling genocide by helping immigrants come to the US.

Survivors have previously testified about the terror they felt that day as Bowers barged into the synagogue and shot everyone he could find, while police officers testified about exchanging gunfire with Bowers, who surrendered after being shot three times. Seven people were wounded in the rampage, including five police officers.

Also Tuesday, the judge denied a request from Bowers’ lawyers to hold a hearing and potentially limit victim impact testimony during the anticipated penalty phase of the trial.

The defense had argued the “inherently emotional and potentially overwhelming nature” of testimony from survivors and victims’ relatives could be prejudicial to Bowers and unfairly influence jurors who must decide whether to sentence him to death or life in prison.

In a ruling, the judge said a hearing to review the government’s proposed evidence at the sentencing phase was not warranted, but cautioned prosecutors to “stay well clear of any testimony that might cross the line.”

The post Tree of Life synagogue shooter called Jews ‘children of Satan’ appeared first on World Israel News.

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The post Selected Articles: Turbo Gastric Cancer: Diagnosis to Death in 12 Days, Tragic Story of a 49-year-old Army Nurse appeared first on Global Research.

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For the past 3 years, the indigenous Armenians of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh)  in the South Caucasus have undergone an aggressive war at the hands of Azerbaijan and its ally, Turkey. According to statements from Azeri state officials, this war’s purpose is to eliminate the Armenian presence in Artsakh. Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, for instance, has repeatedly stated that Armenians in Artsakh “have two options: either they will live under Azerbaijani rule or leave.”  

The war was launched on September 27, 2020 with the support of Turkey and lasted for 44 days. It involved the carpet bombing of cities and villages, the targeting of civilian populations, the recruitment of foreign terrorists from Syria, as well as the systematic perpetration of war crimes and human rights abuses. Azerbaijan used internationally prohibited weapons, and bombed hospitals, kindergartens, and houses during the war.

This aggression has resulted in the deaths of thousands of Armenians, the forceful capture of significant parts of Artsakh territory, the forced displacement of tens of thousands of civilians, as well as the ongoing detention and torture of an unspecified number of Armenian prisoners of war (POWs).

The current official yet approximate number of Armenian prisoners of war in Azerbaijan is 35. But this number keeps rising. Siranush Sahakyan, an attorney who represents Armenia at the European Court of Human Rights, said at a press conference on May 12 that are currently 80 POWs at the hands of Azerbaijan.

Although the trilateral agreement signed on November 9, 2020 meant to suspend the war, Azerbaijan has never ended its aggression. Azerbaijani Armed Forces have continued with unprovoked attacks on Armenian territory, including opening fire on Armenian soldiers carrying out engineering works in the Tegh Community on April 11, 2023, a hostile action which killed four Armenian soldiers and wounded six. Similarly, on March 5, 2023, Azerbaijani troops attacked an Artsakh police car, killing three police officers.

In a separate instance on May 29, 2023, two Armenian soldiers were captured by Azerbaijani forces in a cross-border incursion. The soldiers, Harutiun Hovakimian and Karen Ghazarian, were ambushed and kidnapped after they had delivered water and food to Armenian army units guarding the border with Azerbaijan.

According to unofficial data, around 5000 Armenian soldiers and scores of civilians have been killed by Azerbaijan since the 2020 war. To observe the grief and struggles of Armenian mothers who lost their children due to Azeri aggression, María Luciana Minassian, a human rights lawyer based in Argentina, visited the capital of Armenia (Yerevan) twice this year in March and May.

During those trips, she visited universities, government offices, as well as the Yerablur Military Cemetery, where the Armenian servicemen who lost their lives in defense of the homeland are laid to rest. Minassian also visited the Lachin Checkpoint on the Hakari Bridge recently launched by Azerbaijan and Armenian military positions.

“That was a fact-finding mission which gave me the possibility to get acquainted with the changes Azerbaijan made on the territory,” Minassian told this author in an interview.

“I was very worried that our soldiers were only 400 meters away from the Azerbaijani military positions. Because of the work I have been doing as a lawyer since the 2020 Artsakh War, I know the dangers those soldiers are facing. I felt extremely sad to leave them so close to a barbaric enemy. I know that any of our soldiers who get captured by Azeri forces are subjected to inhuman treatment and torture. I said goodbye to them and by the time I got in the car, I was in tears, devastated.”

Luciana says that the number of Armenian soldiers killed by Azerbaijan is not certain.

“Official statements from the Armenian government placed the number of dead soldiers during Artsakh’s war over 2900; but we usually speak about 5000 casualties.”

Sadly, this number has increased since the end of the war. In September 2022, for instance, Azerbaijan launched another unprovoked assault on sovereign Armenian territory, using combat drones, artillery and large caliber firearms, reportedly resulting in the deaths of dozens of soldiers.

“We have to take into consideration the approximately 95 victims of the September 2022 Azerbaijani aggression against the Republic of Armenia. We also need to take into consideration the identification procedures that are still being processed based on DNA. In many cases, we only have bone as a remnant of an Armenian combatant, and investigations must take place to identify the victim.

“I spoke to many mothers in Yerablur Cemetery. They were very kind and also extremely devastated. The cemetery is the home of everyone who lost a son in the war. I also spoke to the brother of a deceased combatant. He visits his brother’s grave every day and every night. He drives a cab, and in the middle of his work, if he feels like visiting, he stops and spends the rest of his day inside Yerablur. I invited him for lunch, as he was so kind that had offered to get me back to the city. He was so sad the entire lunch, but he was also surprised that his case was brought to my attention.

“When I was in Yerablur, I realized a military burial ceremony was about to take place. The burial ceremony was of a soldier who was identified only by a piece of bone. So it was a controversial case for the mother of the soldier, and it had taken a while to get the information.

“In a sense, the pain and the mourning of those families who lost a loved one during the war has only just begun; parents need to be heard. They gave their most precious treasure to the Armenian Motherland: their sons. And by now they are living lonely lives; many of them don’t work (they do not have the ability to do so). I also witnessed birthday celebrations inside Yerablur. I saw people wearing t-shirts with the fallen soldier´s picture, arriving at a grave, with balloons, and a beautiful cake. This scene is truly sad, very sweet, and filled with love. You get to feel the love, and you get to feel the sadness.

“Mothers only want one thing: they want recognition of their sons’ sacrifices because their lives were lost in territories we may not be allowed to visit for a while, or maybe for a lifetime. In order to honor the lives of these soldiers and their brave efforts, their mothers only ask us not to give up. They want us to continue the freedom struggle for the 120.000 ethnic Armenians who remain under Azeri siege and can´t freely exercise their right to live in their ancestral lands. I would add they also request what in Argentina has called “the right to know the truth”. That is, they are entitled to get informed about the whereabouts and circumstances in which their loved ones perished. 

“When I think about the ongoing Azeri aggression, I also think about all the mothers who at this moment have their sons at the frontlines, at the borders. They are aware of the inhumane, atrocious way Azerbaijani forces treat kidnapped Armenians.”

It is not only Armenian men who are violently targeted by Azerbaijan. Armenian women soldiers have also been subjected to Azeri war crimes. One of the worst atrocities committed by Azerbaijan against Armenia concerns the rape, savage mutilation, and slaughter of a woman who served in the Armenian forces. The soldier was identified as Anush Apetyan, 36, a mother of three children. The Armenian Ministry of Defense confirmed that Apetyan was killed during the Azeri assaults on September 13-14, 2022 along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border.

Author Raymond Ibrahim reported on the brutal murder and torture of Apetyan:

“A video of these atrocities, apparently made by the Azeri soldiers themselves, which was emailed to me, shows piles of mutilated and decapitated Armenian soldiers, including the woman in question.  She appears naked, with both of her arms and legs cut off.  One of her eyes is clearly gouged out.  A severed finger appears sticking out of her mouth, and another appears to be sticking out of her private parts.”

Minossain said:

“We must also remember the lives of the women who served Armenia and gave their lives for the Motherland of the Armenians, some of them are also buried in Yerablur, including the ones who perished during the September 2022 attacks on the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia. When I was there, I paid my respects to them. I was also able to speak to one of the daughters of a killed Armenian woman soldier and she said she will host me in her house the next time I visit Armenia. I will be extremely honored to meet the relative of a brave female combatant. These heroes will remain in our hearts forever.”

Despite all international calls for de-escalation, Azerbaijan continues to flagrantly violate Armenia’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, international law, the political will and the right to self-rule of the Armenians of Artsakh, as well as the November 2020 tripartite statement signed by Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia to end the 2020 Artsakh War. It appears that the only way to stop the killings and torture of Armenians by Azerbaijan is for the civilized world to recognize Artsakh’s right to self-determination.

Garo Ghazarian, a human rights lawyer, and expert on international law, told this author in an interview: 

“The criteria for people to have realized their right to self-determination is when they have either (a) established a sovereign and independent state, or (b) they have freely associated with another state, or (c) they have integrated with another state after having freely expressed their will to do so. 

“While one of these acts is sufficient to trigger the right of self-determination, the indigenous Armenian population of Artsakh has realized all three. 

“Therefore, if there truly is such a thing as an international community, it must not turn a blind eye to the exercise of these fundamental steps undertaken and practiced for the last three decades by the Armenians of Artsakh. 

“And, to be clear, of all nations, the United States of America must lead in this regard. 

“After all, it was U.S. President Woodrow Wilson during World War I promoted the concept of self-determination, whereby a nation made up of a group of people with similar political ambitions can indeed seek to create its own independent government and state.

“Can anyone seriously question the reality of the unjustifiable deprivation of human rights, and the plight of the Armenians of Artsakh today? I think not.” 

It is high time that the United States, the leader of the Free World, took concrete action to stop this ongoing genocide against Armenians. All United States foreign and military assistance to Azerbaijan must be immediately ceased and the government of Azerbaijan must be sanctioned until it stops its attacks on Armenia and Artsakh.  And for durable peace in the South Caucasus, the US government must recognize the right of self-determination of the people of Artsakh.

The post Thousands of Armenian Mothers Mourn Children Killed by Azerbaijan appeared first on Providence.

The relatives of Abby Lutz, one of the two American nationals found dead on Tuesday in Mexico, declared on Thursday that they think she and her partner passed away due to carbon monoxide poisoning.

According to the Baja State Attorney, the two were discovered in a hotel room in El Pescadero, situated on the Baja California peninsula in Mexico. The identity of the man has not been unveiled yet. Results from the initial forensic examination suggested that the couple were killed due to intoxication by an unknown substance, which is yet to be identified by the authorities.

To raise funds for funeral costs, Lutz’s family created a GoFundMe campaign where they said the authorities informed them that the couple might have died because of carbon monoxide poisoning, which was due to inadequate ventilation. Gabrielle Slate, Lutz’s stepsister, stated that the couple had been feeling very sick during the weekend and went to the hospital to be given intravenous fluids.

She said, “On Saturday, she got really sick and assumed it was food poisoning. She didn’t get any better, so they took her to the ER, where she was given help and returned to the hotel feeling better.”

According to Racquel Lutz, the stepmother, her family was sure that the couple was getting better and enjoying the rest of their vacation until they received a call from the U.S. State Department.

Henar Gil, the general manager of Rancho Pescadero, expressed his sympathy for the family in a statement on Thursday. He remarked that their guests and staff’s safety and well-being were their utmost priority. He declined to speculate on the cause of death and suggested further questions be directed to the local authorities.

Racquel Lutz, the stepsister of Abby Lutz, mentioned that they initially thought it was food poisoning. She further stated that none of them had considered the possibility of carbon monoxide since it was odorless. She noted that this incident was senseless and could have been prevented.

On Thursday, the family of Abby Lutz shared their devastation as she had just made plans to visit her father, Tony Lutz, for Father’s Day this weekend. Abby’s stepmother remembered her as an animal lover who was always eager to give presents on Christmas, crafting handmade trinkets for her pottery class. She expressed her joy in having another daughter in Abby.

Her sister, Slate, said she will always remember her for her kindness and the love she had for her nieces and nephews. She said she never heard Abby say a bad thing about anyone, as she was always the happiest and most positive person.