AFP, Tel Aviv
Israel appointed its first woman judge in its sharia court system on Tuesday, a move hailed as historic.
Hana Khatib, an attorney from the northern town of Tamra, was selected by a justice committee, alongside three men, to become a Qazi (judge for religious matters) in courts that rule on personal law for Muslims inside Israel. Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, from the far right Jewish Home party and head of the committee that selected Khatib, said the appointment of a woman judge “should have happened a long time ago”.
Canadian Senator robbed in Islamabad
Dawn.com, Islamabad
Canadian Senator Salma Attaullah Jan was robbed of cash, a black pearl necklace and her ID cards in Islamabad’s F6 area on Tuesday night.
The senator was reportedly approached by two men on a motorcycle as she was getting into her car near F6 Markaz. The men grabbed her handbag and fled, prompting Jan to register a First Investigation Report (FIR).
Netanyahu refuses to meet German FM
AFP, Jerusalem
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled talks on Tuesday with Germany’s foreign minister in a rare move after the visiting diplomat declined to call off meetings with rights groups critical of the Jewish state.
Netanyahu’s meeting with Sigmar Gabriel was cancelled after the German diplomat decided to go ahead with talks with two Israeli rights groups, Breaking The Silence and B’Tselem.
UN seeks $65 m for DR Congo emergency
AFP, Kinshasa
UN officials launched a bid Tuesday to raise $65.4 million (59.75 million euros) in emergency funds for hundreds of thousands of people displaced by violence in Democratic Republic of Congo’s Kasai region.
Fighting between government troops and tribal militias has forced more than a million people from their homes over the past eight months.
