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Afghanistan’s poppy supply on global market plummeted 95% since last year: Report

Taliban

According to the publication, opium output declined throughout the country from 233,000 hectares in 2022 to just 10,800 hectares in 2023. The nation’s global opium supply has shrunk by 95% to 333 tons, with many farmers having switched to growing wheat.

The Taliban’s leader, Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, banned cultivation of poppy in April 2022, and the Interior Ministry said it would destroy any remaining crops.

According to media reports, no such supply reductions were achieved during Washington’s 50-year war on drugs, including two decades of US presence in Afghanistan. The country has historically accounted for more than 80% of global opium production and 95% of European opioid supplies.

Meanwhile, UNODC reported in December that Myanmar has emerged as the world’s new center of opium production and supply after seeing a significant rise in poppy farming. The watchdog announced that the economic, security, and governance disruptions in Myanmar that followed the military takeover in February 2021 “continue to drive farmers in remote areas towards opium to make a living”. Poppy cultivation is expected to accelerate in the near future in the Southeast Asian nation, the UNODC has projected.

Iran says supports Kuwait under new Emir                                       

Hossein Amirabdollahian

Hossein Amirabdollahian  who has travelled to Kuwait held talks with the country’s new Emir Mashaal Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on Sunday.

While offering condolences over the death of Kuwait’s late emir on behalf of the Iranian president, government and people, Amirabdollahian congratulated the new emir on his accession.

Amirabdollahian further reaffirmed Iran’s support for Kuwait.

He then described the Iran-Kuwait ties as good and expressed hope that during the new period bilateral relations between the two countries will expand more than ever before.

The new Kuwaiti emir for his part sent his warm greetings to the leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution and the Iranian president.

He also thanked Iran for its message of condolence and stressed that he has instructed Kuwait’s foreign minister and other cabinet members to push for expanding relations with Iran in all spheres.

Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Sabah, 83, Kuwait’s de facto ruler since 2021, has been named as new Kuwaiti Emir following the passing of Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah on Saturday.

Putin says Russia has no interest or reason to fight NATO

Vladimir Putin

“The entire NATO organization cannot fail to understand that Russia has no reason, no interest – neither geopolitical interest, nor economic, nor political, nor military – to fight with NATO countries,” he said in an interview with Rossiya-1 TV channel journalist Pavel Zarubin.

Washington will have to take Russia into account and find common ground with it, he continued, adding, “They will have to find common ground with us, because they will have to take us into account.”

Western countries, believing that such a big Russia is not needed, want to divide and subdue it, the president stated

“After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, [Western politicians] believed that all they needed was a little patience and Russia would have completely collapsed,” he said, adding that such a relatively large country by European standards – with the largest territory in the world and a fairly large number of inhabitants compared to other European countries – “is generally not needed”.

“It would be better, as suggested by a well-known political figure in the United States [former US presidential adviser Zbigniew] Brzezinski, to divide it into five parts and subdue these parts and use the resources.”

Israel kills 5 Palestinians in drone strike in West Bank

Israeli Army

“The young men Mahmoud Samer Jaber, 22, and Ghaith Yasser Shehadeh, 25, were killed earlier Sunday in an Israeli drone attack on the Nour Shams camp in Tulkarm,” Palestine’s official news agency Wafa reported.

Several people were injured in the attack amid arrests and destruction of infrastructure, it added.

Later, the Palestinian Red Crescent and the Health Ministry announced that the death toll from an Israeli attack in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem has risen to five.

In a separate attack, another Palestinian youth succumbed to his wounds as a result of an Israeli attack on the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank.

Medical sources at Al-Razi Hospital in Jenin announced Sunday that Laith Abu Al-Nimr died due to injuries he sustained during an Israeli attack on the eastern neighborhood of Jenin during a raid by Israeli forces of the city on Dec. 12, which lasted for three days, the agency also reported.

“In a separate incident, the occupation forces arrested a PRCS volunteer from the ambulance while heading to transport a medical case from the camp after obtaining coordination,” the aid organization added.

Two young Palestinian men have been killed by Israeli soldiers in two separate incidents in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

The incidents on Saturday killed 20-year-old Aziz Abdulrahim Ekhlail and 25-year old Salem Nasser Hajar.

Tensions have been running high across the West Bank amid an Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7.

Almost 295 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank since then, in addition to more than 3,500 others injured, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Top Iranian commander: Destroying hospitals in Gaza no remarkable feat, Iran to stand up for Palestine

Hossein Salami

The IRGC chief says the Israeli regime’s killing of civilians, particularly women and children, in Gaza is devoid of any military value, and further said, “Countering children in Gaza is not a big deal; if you are powerful and courageous enough, I dare you to counter Hamas troops.”

“The United States and Israel are repeating the mistakes they have made over the past 45 years and believe they will achieve victory by occupying territories,” said the top commander in a ceremony held in Tehran on Sunday for unknown martyrs killed during the eight-year Iraqi-imposed war in the 1980s.

“Did the invasion of Afghanistan bring them victory? Were they able to stay in Iraq which they had occupied?” he asked rhetorically.

“Their invasion of Syria, too, only incurred costs. They expended money in Syria, Yemen and Iraq, but were defeated, and we will support dear Palestine to the end.”

Major General Salami underscored, “The more Israel causes destruction, the more nails it will drive into its coffin. Turning hospitals into a battlefield is not a feat; rather, it is a crime. I dare you to fight like a man in the battlefield. Rest assured that Palestinians will not die with martyrdom.”

US weighing direct attack on Houthis: Report

Yemeni Forces

Joe Biden administration officials told the news site they are weighing the strategic value of targeting the Houthis against potentially fueling a wider Middle East conflict.

Washington has regularly conducted attacks on what it described as Iran-aligned groups in Iraq and Syria in response to attacks on bases housing US personnel.

US navy ships deployed to the region have also repeatedly shot done drones and missiles launched from Yemen. Officials have repeatedly stated they will not hesitate action against threats to US personnel.

The report came as several major international shipping companies have suspended passage of their cargoes through a key Red Sea strait following attacks by Yemeni armed forces on vessels bound for the occupied Palestinian territories.

Yemen’s Armed Forces have warned that they will target all the vessels that would use the country’s territorial waters in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea to reach Israeli ports.

Yemeni Army announced it will continue its operations as long as the Israeli regime keeps up its all-out onslaught on the besieged Gaza Strip, which started on October 7.

Funeral services held across Iran for 280 unknown martyrs killed in action

Funeral services Iran unknown martyrs

One-hundred and ten of those martyrs belonged to Tehran province, and the remaining 170 martyred war veterans came from other provinces.

Huge crowds of mourners attended the nationwide services. President Ebrahim Raisi is among the mourners in Tehran who have attended the ceremony in the Iranian capital.

The bodies of the unknown martyrs will be laid to rest in pre-determined locations in the coming days.

The funeral ceremonies were held on December 17 to coincide with the anniversary of the martyrdom of Hazrat Fatemeh Zahra, the daughter of the Prophet Mohammad, for which Iranians are in mourning nationwide.

Hamas brands Netanyahu as “Hitler of era”

Benjamin Netanyahu

Osama Hamdan, the movement’s senior representative in Lebanon, made the remarks at a press conference in Beirut on Saturday.

The regime launched its onslaught against Gaza on October 7 in response to an operation by the territory’s resistance movements, dubbed Operation al-Aqsa Storm.

Through its act of aggression, Israel has been pursuing such proclaimed goals as eliminating Hamas, releasing scores of captives who were seized by resistance groups during their operation, and bringing about permanent displacement of Palestinians from Gaza.

Hamdan described as “the failed war trio” the three key Israeli politicians who have been spearheading the war on Gaza; namely Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and two of his war cabinet ministers, Benny Gantz and Yoav Gallant.

The trio, he added, “did not achieve any of their aggressive goals in their ongoing Nazi war against the Gaza Strip and their goals will not be achieved, God willing, and their dreams and illusions will be shattered”.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Hamdan stated that Netanyahu has suffered a “strategic defeat” by failing to bring about the release of the captives, who remain in the hands of the resistance.

“If this Nazi enemy wants to return its captured soldiers alive, this will not happen except after a complete cessation of aggression and then through a negotiated deal according to the resistance’s conditions,” he asserted.

Hamdan described the Israeli prime minister as “the Hitler of our era”, saying that “the fascist” occupation regime “does not care about the lives of its soldiers and officers and throws them into the furnace of this battle knowing that once they enter Gaza alive, they will not leave it except in pieces.”

Nearly 19,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in the Israeli onslaught on Gaza, while thousands more are suspected to be buried under the rubble.

According to the Hamas official, the regime has committed about 1,700 massacres against civilians and defenseless, innocent people over the 71 days that have passed since the onset of its aggression.

He added that Israel continues its indiscriminate bombing of schools that house thousands of displaced people, shelter centers, tents, citizens’ residences, and hospitals that are protected by the international humanitarian law.

Nearly 300 Palestinians have been also killed in the occupied West Bank, where the Israeli regime has similarly ramped up its aggression since it started the onslaught against Gaza, he noted.

“All of this is happening in front of the world with American and British support and [the backing of] some European countries,” the Palestinian official said.

He condemned the United States’ unbridled military and political support for Israel, which has supplied the regime with more than 10,000 tons of military equipment, and has also vetoed all United Nations Security Council resolutions that called for a ceasefire.

“[US] President [Joe] Biden and the American administration are still partners with the occupation in massacres, ethnic cleansing, and killing of women and children [in Gaza],” Hamdan stressed.

“The Unites States’s stance that is ‘shifting’ – we are still doubtful and do not trust the US. Its position is emanating from a crisis that could cost President Biden the upcoming election. If they wanted, they could stop providing weapons to Israel and not use their veto at the UN Security Council,” Hamdan continued.

“They are still complicit in this occupation, ethnic cleansing, and killing of women and children. We call on all European countries that reject this aggression against us to pressure the United States to stop the ‘greenlight’ to Israel for the genocide of our people.”

The senior Hamas official said more than 8,000 people are missing under the rubble from Israeli’s bombardment on top of the death toll of more than 19,000. He added 70 percent of the dead and missing are women and children.

“If the enemy wants to bring back its civilians and soldiers alive, it will never happen unless it stops the aggression completely and negotiates a deal.”

Half of young Americans want Israel given to Hamas: Survey

Pro-Palestinian Rally

The Harvard-Harris poll found that 51% of young Americans believe the Israeli state should be “ended”, compared with 32% who favor a two-state solution. Just 17% said Arab countries should absorb the Palestinians to resolve the conflict. Among all age groups, six in ten Americans call for a two-state deal, while only 19% want Israel to be given to the Palestinians.

The survey marked the latest poll showing a dramatic divide between Americans young and old on issues relating to Israel and the Jewish people amid the ongoing war between West Jerusalem and Hamas. An Economist/YouGov poll found that nearly half of US adults under age 30 either believe the Jewish Holocaust perpetrated by Nazi Germany is a myth or are not sure that it happened.

Two-thirds of 18- to 24-year-olds in the Harvard-Harris poll said they agree that “Jews as a class are oppresses and should be treated as oppressors”. By contrast, 73% of Americans in all age groups – and 91% of respondents ages 65 and older – disagreed with the anti-Jewish statement. Similarly, half of the youngest respondents said they support Hamas in the war, while 81% of overall participants favor Israel. Six in ten young adults – but only 37% of overall respondents – believe Israel is committing genocide against the people of Gaza.

Americans are similarly divided on identity politics. For instance, 79% of young adults believe that “white people are oppressors” and that non-white people should therefore be shown favoritism in college admissions and employment, the poll found. Among all age groups, 65% of Americans oppose such anti-white discrimination.

Just 42% of Americans approve of how US President Joe Biden is handling the Israel-Hamas war, down from 45% in November, the poll showed. Only 32% believe that the country is on the “right track”, and 33% see the nation’s economy as heading in the right direction.

Such perceptions may bode poorly for Biden as he seeks reelection in 2024. The president has a net favorability rating of minus 10%, the poll showed. By comparison, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has the highest favorability rating among all political figures listed in the survey, at plus 18%.

The poll found that if the election were held today, former President Donald Trump would defeat Biden by a margin of 43% to 35%, while Kennedy would garner 17% of the votes. More than seven in ten Americans believe that a vote for Biden would essentially be a vote for Vice President Kamala Harris because the 81-year-old incumbent wouldn’t likely complete a second term.

Iran renews call for lasting ceasefire in Gaza

Gaza War

“Iran’s persistence in the establishment of an immediate and lasting ceasefire means bombardments and killings of civilians in Gaza should stop,” said Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations Amir Saeed Iravani.

“The war between the resistance front and Israel will continue until the [Israeli] occupation [of Palestinian land] ends, but the sphere of this war should not spread to civilians,” he added.

“The military power of the Palestinian resistance front is not aimed at eliminating Israel; rather, it is aimed at stemming the expansion of occupation and forcing this regime to leave occupied territories,” Iravani explained.

He said the Israeli regime has no power to commit acts of aggression without Washington’s support, and warned the Biden administration, “With the Gaza war dragging on, the cost of the US support [for Israel] is increasing exponentially. The US should either restrict this conditional support or fall victim to Israeli rulers’ excessive demands,” he added.

“Israel has become so costly for the United States: material, political and, above all, moral and credit cost in the eyes of the world public opinion,” the Iranian envoy noted.