A bombing killed a prominent Taliban cleric at his religious center in the Afghan capital of Kabul, authorities said, the latest attack to strike the country in the year since the former insurgents seized power. Officials identified the cleric as Rahimullah Haqqani, a name that signifies he graduated from Darul Uloom Haqqania in Pakistan, an Islamic university long associated with the Taliban. Bilal Karimi, a deputy Taliban spokesman, acknowledged Haqqani’s death, calling him a “great personality and academic figure.” Karimi said that Haqqanihad been killed by “a brutal attack of the enemy,” without elaborating. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the killing. Following the bombing, Taliban fighters prevented reporters in Kabul from getting to Haqqani’s religious center. Taliban officials did not say if anyone else had been killed.
Man stabbed to death in Pak for not praising cleric
A 62-year-old man belonging to the Ahmadi community was stabbed to death by a “religious fanatic” for refusing to praise controversial cleric and Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan founder Khadim Hussain Rizvi. Naseer Ahmad was rushed to hospital where he succumbed to his wounds. The suspect is in custody. The TLP chief died in 2020. Rizvi was arrested for asking troops to rebel against the army chief and spent months in jail before being released in 2019. The parliament in 1974 declared the Ahmadi community as non-Muslims. A decade later, they were banned from calling themselves Muslims.
3 Palestinians killed fresh Israeli raid
Three people were killed and dozens wounded as Israeli forces raided the occupied West Bank city of Nablus. The Israeli military said a senior militant commander was among the dead. The latest violence comes two days after deadly fighting between Israel and Islamic Jihad militants in Gaza was halted by a truce. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said its medics treated 69 people for gunshot wounds across the Nablus area, at least four of them in critical condition.
Russians buy last of Western goods
In a last possible attempt to buy the giant retailers’ goods from stores in their country, Russians are snapping up western fashion and furniture this week as Sweden-based H&M and Netherlands-based IKEA sell off the last of their inventory in Russia. The two retail giants are moving forward with their exit from Russia after it sent troops into Ukraine. “I will start looking at Russian brands,” one H&M shopper, who gave only her first name Anya, said after emerging from the store. Another shopper, Leonid, said he was “very hurt” that H&M is closing down: “A good store is leaving. ”
McDonald’s to soon reopen in Ukraine
McDonald’s will start reopening restaurants in Ukraine in the coming months, a symbol of the war-torn country’s return to some sense of normalcy and a show of support after the American fastfood chain pulled out of Russia. The burger giant closed its Ukrainian restaurants after Russia’s invasion nearly six months ago but has continued to pay more than 10,000 McDonald’s employees in the country. McDonald's said that it will begin gradually reopening some restaurants in the capital, Kyiv, and western Ukraine, where other companies are doing business away from the fighting. Western businesses like Spanish clothing retailers Zara and Mango are open in Kyiv. “We’ve spoken extensively to our employees who have expressed a strong desire to return to work and see our restaurants in Ukraine reopen,” Paul Pomroy, corporate senior vice president of international operated markets, said.
Man holds bankers hostage
A Lebanese man armed with a shotgun broke into a Beirut bank, holding employees hostage and threatening to set himself ablaze with gasoline unless he receives his trapped savings, a security official said. The man allegedly entered a branch of the Federal Bank in Beirut’s bustling Hamra district carrying a canister of gasoline and held six or seven bank employees hostage, said the official. The man also fired three warning shots, the official said. Local media reported that he has about USD 200,000 stuck in the bank.
41 die in fire at Coptic church in Cairo
A fire ripped through a Coptic church in the desely populated neighborhood of the Egyptian capital of Cairo on Sunday as congregants worshipped, killing at least 41 and injuring 14. It was one of the worst fire tragedies in Egypt in recent years. An initial investigation pointed to an electrical short-circuit, police said. The Coptic Church cited health officials in reporting that the fire broke out while a service was underway. Fifteen firefighting vehicles were dispatched to the scene. President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi spoke to the Coptic Christian Pope Tawadros II to offer his condolences, the president’s office said.
Big fall in Japan’s population
Japan’s population totaled 125.93 million as of January 1, 2022, representing the largest drop in the overall number and by percentage since comparable data were recorded in 1950, the latest government data revealed. As deaths exceed births and Covid-19 border controls restrict the entry of foreigners, Japan’s overall population fell to 125,927,902, down by 726,342 or 0. 57 per cent from the previous year. The number of Japanese nationals reduced by 619,140 to 123,223,561 in 2021, with births at a record low of around 810,000, outstripped by a record high around 1. 44 million deaths.
S Korea prez pardons Samsung heir
South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol pardoned Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Jay Y Lee, with the justice ministry saying the business leader was needed to help overcome a “national economic crisis”. The pardon is largely symbolic, with Lee already out on parole after serving 18 months in jail for bribery in a scandal that led to massive protests and brought down then-President Park Geun-hye in 2017. However, analysts said the pardon should mean Lee will be able to carry out business activities with fewer legal restrictions, and could herald some large investments from Samsung, the world’s biggest phone maker. South Korea is grappling with soaring inflation.
NZ teen builds record 25-metre Lego train
A New Zealand teenager has set a Guinness World Record (GWR) for the most carriages in a Lego toy train. The 14-year-old Aucklander Alexander Blong constructed a toy train with 101 cars, with support from the All Blocks Lego User Group, Auckland Transport and One Rail. According to GWR, it took Alexander roughly 50 hours to build the 101-carriage locomotive. The record-breaking toy train measured 25 metres long. In order to break the record, the train had to pull the weight of the trailing carriages along a 10-metre plastic track. It also had to be made with a specific type of Lego, be publicly displayed, captured in one single video and have witness statements from an independent judge.
