US Gen. Soleimani assassination
Iran’s president says top general Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated by the US two years ago, was a hero belonging to the entire Muslim world. Ebrahim Raeisi says the killers of lieutenant general Soleimani should be brought to justice. Raeisi said former US president Donald Trump, who ordered general Soleimani’s killing, must be held accountable. The Iranian president made the comments in an exclusive interview with Russia Today during his trip to Moscow. Raeisi also spoke about the ongoing talks in Vienna to revive the 2015 deal known as the JCPOA. The Iranian president said his country takes the talks very seriously. He said there are real grounds for reaching an agreement if other parties are ready to remove sanctions. Those sanctions were imposed by the US after it unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA in May 2018.
Israel atrocities
Several UN agencies call for the immediate and unconditional release of chronically-ill Palestinian teenager Amal Nakhleh. He’s held in an Israeli jail under the regime’s so-called administrative detention policy. The UN’s children agency, the human rights office as well as the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees have issued a joint statement. They say Amal suffers from a severe autoimmune disease, and needs constant medical care. He was arrested in November 2020 for throwing stones at Israeli soldiers in the occupied west bank. Amal has remained in jail without charge or trial. Two weeks ago, Israel extended his administrative detention. Now, the U-N agencies say his family and lawyers still don’t know why that happened. The agencies have urged Israel to end administrative detention of children under international human rights law.
UK inflation at 30-year high
In the UK, consumer prices are going through the roof, as the country is facing its highest inflation in three decades. Inflation jumped to 5.4% in December. That’s while the latest rise in wages was at an annual rate of 3.8% in the three months to November. The soaring inflation is deepening a cost of living crisis in the UK. Prices of food and energy as well as transportation have already risen and expected to go higher in spring. The Bank of England is now under pressure to raise interest rates to cool spending and bring down inflation towards its 2% target. Several factors are to blame for the situation, including Brexit and global supply shortages fueled by the covid pandemic.