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UAE Official Visits Mourning Family of Murdered Chabad Rabbi in Israel
Dr Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi flew to Israel to pay a shiva call to the family of Rabbi Zvi Kogan in Kfar Chabad on Nov. 29, 2024. Photo: Provided by Chabad
A senior official from the United Arab Emirates traveled to Israel on Friday to attend the shiva of Chabad-Lubavitch emissary Rabbi Zvi Kogan, who was recently killed in a suspected terror attack in the UAE.
Dr. Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi visited family members of Kogan in Kfar Chabad who are observing the Jewish mourning period that takes place after the burial of a family member. Nuaimi is the chairman of the Manara Center for Coexistence and Dialogue, which is based in Abu Dhabi, and also a member of the UAE Federal National Council, where he chairs the Defense Affairs, Interior, and Foreign Affairs Committee.
During his visit to Israel, Nuaimi condemned the attack that targeted Kogan and reiterated the UAE’s commitment to coexistence and peace.
“The UAE will never allow extremists to divide us,” he said. “The state and its citizens are more committed than ever to the values of openness and peace and will increase their efforts to ensure that Rabbi Zvi’s legacy continues and that all communities live in harmony in the UAE.”
An Israeli-Moldovan national, Kogan, 28, had lived in the UAE for several years. He was an emissary for the Chabad branch in Abu Dhabi and ran a kosher supermarket in the UAE. He was reported missing from a location about an hour and a half from Dubai on Nov. 21, and his body was found by UAE intelligence and security services three days later. He was murdered by terrorists after being abducted, according to Chabad.
The Emirati Ministry of Interior said last week that it had identified and arrested in the UAE three citizens from Uzbekistan as suspects in Kogan’s murder: Olimpi Toirovich, 28, Makhmudjon Abdurakhim, also 28, and Azizbek Kamlovich, 33.
Officials in the UAE said they have not established a motive for Kogan’s murder, but the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a joint announcement that Kogan was murdered in “a heinous act of antisemitic terrorism.” Israel’s President Isaac Herzog also condemned the “vile antisemitic attack.”
Iran has been accused of being involved in Kogan’s murder, but Iran’s embassy in Abu Dhabi has rejected the accusation.
The post UAE Official Visits Mourning Family of Murdered Chabad Rabbi in Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Trump Is Lying When He Speaks of Peace
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with government officials in Tehran, Iran, April 15, 2025. Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Donald Trump on Saturday of lying when the US president said during his Gulf tour this week that he wanted peace in the region.
On the contrary, said Khamenei, the United States uses its power to give “10-ton bombs to the Zionist (Israeli) regime to drop on the heads of Gaza’s children.”
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after departing the United Arab Emirates on Friday that Iran had to move quickly on a US proposal for its nuclear program or “something bad’s going to happen.”
His remarks, said Khamenei, “aren’t even worth responding to.” They are an “embarrassment to the speaker and the American people,” Khamenei added.
“Undoubtedly, the source of corruption, war, and conflict in this region is the Zionist regime — a dangerous, deadly cancerous tumor that must be uprooted; it will be uprooted,” he said at an event at a religious center in Tehran, according to state media.
Earlier on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Trump speaks about peace while simultaneously making threats.
“Which should we believe?” Pezeshkian said at a naval event in Tehran. “On the one hand, he speaks of peace and on the other, he threatens with the most advanced tools of mass killing.”
Tehran would continue Iran-US nuclear talks but is not afraid of threats. “We are not seeking war,” Pezeshkian said.
While Trump said on Friday that Iran had a US proposal about its nuclear program, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in a post on X said Tehran had not received any such proposal. “There is no scenario in which Iran abandons its hard-earned right to (uranium) enrichment for peaceful purposes…” he said.
Araqchi warned on Saturday that Washington’s constant change of stance prolongs nuclear talks, state TV reported.
“It is absolutely unacceptable that America repeatedly defines a new framework for negotiations that prolongs the process,” the broadcast quoted Araqchi as saying.
Pezeshkian said Iran would not “back down from our legitimate rights”.
“Because we refuse to bow to bullying, they say we are source of instability in the region,” he said.
A fourth round of Iran-U.S. talks ended in Oman last Sunday. A new round has not been scheduled yet.
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Hamas Confirms New Gaza Ceasefire Talks with Israel in Qatar on Saturday
Doha, Qatar. Photo: StellarD via Wikimedia Commons.
A new round of Gaza ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel is underway in Qatar’s Doha, Hamas official Taher al-Nono told Reuters on Saturday.
He said the two sides were discussing all issues without “pre-conditions.”
Nono said Hamas was “keen to exert all the effort needed” to help mediators make the negotiations a success, adding there was “no certain offer on the table.”
The negotiations come despite Israel preparing to expand operations in the Gaza Strip as they seek “operational control” in some areas of the war-torn enclave.
The return to negotiations also comes after US President Donald Trump ended a Middle East tour on Friday with no apparent progress towards a new ceasefire, although he acknowledged Gaza’s growing hunger crisis and the need for aid deliveries.
The post Hamas Confirms New Gaza Ceasefire Talks with Israel in Qatar on Saturday first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: ICC’s Khan Goes on Administrative Leave Amid Sexual Misconduct Probe
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan speaks during an interview with Reuters in The Hague, Netherlands, Feb. 12, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
i24 News – Chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan has stepped down temporarily as an investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct by United Nations investigators is nearing its final phase, Reuters reported on Friday citing sources from the international court.
Khan allegedly forced sexual intercourse upon a member of staff on multiple occasions, the Wall Street Journal reported last week, linking the allegations to Khan’s decision to issue arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-defense minister Yoav Gallant.
A statement is expected later today announcing that Khan is going on administrative leave, according to a source in the prosecutor’s office.
The post Report: ICC’s Khan Goes on Administrative Leave Amid Sexual Misconduct Probe first appeared on Algemeiner.com.