The forced diversion of a Ryanair passenger plane to Belarus's capital Minsk on Sunday, and the arrest of a dissident journalist on board, have caused outrage elsewhere in Europe.
May 26 - The civilian aircraft was flying from Greece to Lithuania, passing through Belarus's airspace, when Belarus sent a fighter jet to intercept it, claiming there was a bomb threat.
The pilots of the Ryanair flight were obliged to follow the instructions of the military plane.
The events have been condemned by the EU and the US. But has a similar intercept happened before?
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Western countries of hypocrisy, saying (in Russian) that nations "had reacted differently to similar events which took place in other countries earlier".
She referred particularly to an incident eight years ago involving the plane of Bolivia's then-President Evo Morales. Here's a look back at previous incidents where planes may - or may not - have been forced to land. source from
Aliyev with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2012Ilham Aliyev has sought to expand relations with the US. In this context, he made his first official visit to Washington at the invitation of former US President George W. Bush on April 25–28, 2006. During the meeting, he discussed issues of oil and gas industry, regional and global energy security, transportation, etc. with his American counterpart.[101][102]
On September 24, 2010, Ilham Aliyev met the 44th US President Barack Obama in New York when he visited the US for the 65th Session of the UN General Assembly.[103] Ilham Aliyev's next official visit to the USA has been made within the framework of Nuclear Security Summit at the invitation of Barack Obama on March 31 – April 1, 2016.[104][105][106] Ilham Aliyev held a bilateral meeting with former Vice President Joe Biden. The parties had discussions on counterterrorism and cooperation in various fields. Joe Biden emphasized the importance of the Southern Gas Corridor to strengthen energy security of Europe.[107]
On September 20, 2017, Ilham Aliyev met US President Donald Trump at the reception hosted by latter in the framework of the 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly in New York.[108]
In his letter to the President Ilham Aliyev on the opening of 24th annual International Caspian Oil and Gas Exhibition and Conference in Baku, Donald Trump mentioned that US is strongly committed to Southern Gas Corridor which ensures energy security of Europe and appreciates Azerbaijan's important role in supporting this global energy security. from Wikipedia
Economic cooperation Azerbaijan-U.S. ICT Forum, December 3, 2013U.S.–Azerbaijani ties in the economic sphere developed primarily in the context of Caspian energy resources and their transportation to Western markets. The U.S. companies are actively involved in the development of Caspian hydrocarbons in offshore Azerbaijani oilfields, and the U.S. government actively supported the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline as the primary route of transportation for Caspian oil.[23]
In January 2008, commenting on a trip to Azerbaijan by Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, John C.K. Daily of UPI called Azerbaijan "the one remaining friend that America has in the Caspian basin".[24] During this visit Sen. Lugar also suggested that he along with fellow Senate Foreign Relations Committee member Joseph Biden, D-Del., endorsed the need for "a special representative focused on energy issues in the Caspian to safeguard long-term U.S. interests" in a letter they sent earlier to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
The United States has signed a bilateral trade agreement with Azerbaijan, granting it the status of a "most favored nation", in 1995; and a bilateral investment treaty with Azerbaijan, naming it a beneficiary country under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program, in 2008.[8] The U.S. also supports Azerbaijan's application for accession to the World Trade Organization. quoted from
May 24, YEREVAN –– Armenia will only agree to start border demarcation negotiations once Azerbaijan fully evacuates the area around Lake Sev and ceases further intrusions into Armenian sovereign territory, officials announced this week.
Azerbaijan sparked this ongoing standoff two weeks ago when several hundred Azerbaijani soldiers infiltrated on foot some 3.5 kilometers (2.1 miles) the international border area around the remote Ishkhanasar in Armenia’s Syunik province before being halted by Armenian forces around Lake Sev (Sev Lij). A similar intrusion was also halted south of the village of Verin Shorja in the Gegharkyunik province.
At a press event on Friday, May 18, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anna Naghdalyan insisted that in addition to Azerbaijani withdrawal to their positions as of May 11, the processes of border delimitation and demarcation between Armenia and Azerbaijan should be part of the comprehensive peace settlement of the conflict. Naghdalyan added that this framework would include the “de-occupation of the territories of the Artsakh Republic” as well as a final settlement to the unrecognized nation’s legal status under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk group. more
跨越17个时区 美军今夏大规模演习针对谁？20210524 |《今日关注》CCTV中文国际 May 25, 2021
South Korean President Moon Jae-in and US President Joe Biden presenting a medal to a US veteran of the Korean War on the weekend.
So why Japan and South Korea? They are the two US treaty allies nearest China. In the meantime Biden is keeping China’s President Xi Jinping waiting. Biden is gathering his friends close as he prepares to confront his rival, exactly as he said he’d do on taking the presidency.
“They have an overall goal to become the leading country in the world, the wealthiest country in the world, and the most powerful country in the world,” Biden said of China. “That’s not gonna happen on my watch.”
The US is “not looking for confrontation”, Biden said he’d told Xi by phone, but that “there’ll be steep, steep competition”. In the interim, Biden created a new coalition of democratic leaders in the region – convening the first summit of the Quad countries of Australia, India, Japan and the US – by video link in March. They committed to a “free and open Indo-Pacific”... more
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (right) and South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong talks during a joint press conference of the two countries' leaders at the White House in Washington on Friday.
May 24 - The US has put the diplomatic ball in Pyongyang’s court, with its Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressing that Washington is prepared to engage with North Korea to discuss denuclearization, but it remains uncertain whether the reclusive regime will respond.
“We are waiting to see if Pyongyang actually wants to engage. The ball is in their court,” Blinken said in an interview with ABC on Sunday, adding that Washington is prepared to pursue diplomacy with the North even as the sanctions remain in place.
Blinken’s remarks come after US President Joe Biden’s summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday. At the meeting Biden demonstrated a clear willingness to engage in dialogue with Pyongyang toward the goal of the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and said he would meet the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, under the right conditions.
The top diplomat echoed Biden’s stance that the best chance of achieving the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula was to “engage diplomatically with North Korea on a deliberate, calibrated approach where we seek to make progress toward that goal”... more
May 22 - President Joe Biden appeared to criticize his immediate predecessor, former President Donald Trump, on Friday while discussing the approach his administration planned to take on North Korea.
Biden gave a joint press conference with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and said he wanted to achieve "total denuclearization" of the Korean Peninsula. North Korea, a dictatorship led by Kim Jong Un, is a nuclear power. The president said he wouldn't meet with Kim unless the North Korean leader made a commitment to discuss the nuclear weapons issue. Former President Trump met with Kim three times.
"If there was a commitment on which we met, then I would meet with [him]," Biden said. "And the commitment has to be that there is discussion about his nuclear arsenal."
Biden then seemed to contrast his approach with Trump's and critique the former president's decision to meet with Kim. "What I would not do is what has been done in the recent past," Biden said.
Trump first met Kim in Singapore in June 2018, becoming the first serving U.S. president to do so. He held summit meetings with Kim on two further occasions, in Hanoi in February 2019 and on the Korean Peninsula itself in June 2019... more EADMOR
美彻底给韩国导弹松绑 半岛局势生变？20210522 |《今日关注》CCTV中文国际 May 24, 2021
“I believe the Palestinians and Israelis equally deserve to live safely and securely, and enjoy equal measures of freedom, prosperity, and democracy,” Joe Biden said, on Thursday. Joe Biden, Crisis Diplomat
Israel was not high on the President’s agenda, but a new Gaza war pulled him in anyway.
May 24 - Early on Thursday evening, President Joe Biden made an unexpected appearance at the White House, in front of a press corps that had been hastily called back to work. Welcoming the apparent end of an eleven-day war between Israel and Hamas, Biden announced that a ceasefire had been achieved after rounds of “quiet, relentless diplomacy” by the United States, including six personal calls with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On Friday, Netanyahu—who so closely identified with Biden’s predecessor that he campaigned for reëlection, in 2019, with a giant billboard of himself with Donald Trump—thanked Biden profusely and hailed him as a “friend of many years” who had “unreservedly” stood by Israel.
Some of Biden’s supporters savored the moment as an example of what constructive American engagement abroad could look like in the post-Trump era. “Diplomacy is back!” Martin Indyk, who served as Bill Clinton’s Ambassador to Israel and Barack Obama’s peace envoy, tweeted. Others, however, saw Biden as a loser, ... quoted from
As part of its 2005 disengagement plan, Israel retained exclusive control over Gaza's airspace and territorial waters, continued to patrol and monitor the external land perimeter of the Gaza Strip, with the exception of its southernmost border (where Egypt retained control of the border and border crossings were supervised by European monitors) and continued to monitor and blockade Gaza's coastline. Israel largely provides and controls Gaza's water supply, electricity and communications infrastructure.[27][28] According to Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, Israel remains an occupying power under international law.[29] The United Nations has stated that under resolutions of both the General Assembly and the Security Council, it regards Gaza to be part of the "Occupied Palestinian Territories".[30] Meanwhile, the Fatah government in the West Bank, internationally recognized as the sole representative of the State of Palestine, refers to the Gaza Strip as part of the Palestinian state and does not recognize the Hamas government. from Wikipedia
The Qur'an is the main holy book in Islam
God and authority in Islam Islam means “submission to God”. Muslims believe in one God, Allah, and follow the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, Allah’s messenger. Muhammad received the Qur’an, the Islamic holy book, from Allah.
Holy books There are five key books of revelation in Islam. Each of them was given to a different prophet by Allah. Muslims believe that these holy books all conveyed the same message from Allah to the humanity, giving guidance to Muslims on how to live their daily life.
The Qur’an The Qur’an is the holy book that contains the teachings of Allah given to the Prophet Muhammad. Many Muslims believe that Allah gave Muhammad these teachings because all earlier religious texts were no longer reliable. The Qur’an is relevant for all people at all times in their life. It is believed to have only come from Allah, which makes it the most important book for Muslims.
Tawrat The Tawrat (also known as the Torah in Judaism) was given to the prophet Musa. It is seen as the main Jewish holy book. It contains the Ten Commandments which are key rules on how to live life. The Tawrat also contains other good teachings and laws. This book is important to Muslims because the Qur’an says it contains the “judgement of Allah”: We revealed the Torah [Tawrat] with guidance and light, and the prophets, who had submitted to God, judged according to it for the Jews (Qur’an, Surah 5:44).
Zabur (Psalms) This book was given to the Prophet Dawud. It is also known as the Psalms of David. It is important within the ChristianBible and the JewishTanakh, as it contains prayers, poems and songs intended to inspire people.
Injil This book was given to the Prophet Isa, who is believed to have predicted the coming of Muhammad.
Sahifah (Scrolls) This book is believed to be the first holy book within Islam. It was given to Ibrahim and Musa. Some parts of the Sahifah are believed to be lost. However, some sections have been preserved and are mentioned in the Qur’an. Has he not been told what was written in the Scriptures of Moses [Musa] and of Abraham [Ibrahim] … that no soul shall bear the burden of another; that man will only have what he has worked towards … that the final goal is your Lord … that it is He who gives death and life (Qur’an, 53: 36-44). source from
