News Dabba for 4 July 2023: Five stories for a balanced news diet

Indie Journal brings you the daily updates that the internet is talking about through various news websites. Here's a glance through some of the National and International news updates, from Maharashtra's political crisis, SCO summit, to Israel's ongoing attacks in the West Bank.

The Hindu: PM says SCO mustn't hesitate to criticise countries supporting terrorism

Food, fuel and fertiliser crisis is a big challenge for all the countries in the world surrounded by controversies, tensions and epidemics. The Hindu reports that there must be united efforts to deal with it, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his opening remarks at the virtual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). He also said that some countries use cross-border terrorism as an instrument of their policy and the grouping must not hesitate to criticise them, in the presence of Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The report says The summit was joined by Chinese President Xi Jinping, his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Sharif and other leaders of the SCO nations. The PM also said that India’s concerns and expectations regarding Afghanistan are similar to those of most SCO countries. Read the full report here.

Thousand flee due to Israel's West Bank attacks: BBC live updates

Thousands of Palestinians have left Jenin refugee camp as Israel continues its major military operation in the occupied West Bank, BBC says in its live report on the attack. Israel launched a large-scale military operation against Palestinian militants in the camp on Monday. On Tuesday, an Israeli adviser said the operation was "close to completing...the goals set", the report adds. The Israeli Defense Forces say they have arrested 120 suspects and have 10 more targets in the centre of the Jenin refugee camp. Palestinian officials say 10 Palestinians have been killed and 100 others wounded, the report adds. Read the full report here.

HT reports Kerala unit of Congress to hold key meeting to plan against UCC

The Kerala unit of the Congress will hold a leadership meeting on Wednesday to chalk out strategies and plan protests against the BJP-led union government’s push for the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), Hindustan Times reports. The meeting was earlier planned to pass resolutions against cases registered by the local police on state Congress president K Sudhakaran and leader of opposition (LoP) VD Satheesan. However, the report says that the agenda was changed Monday night to discuss the UCC issue in light of political developments in the state. Read the full report here.

Turkey and Egypt appoint ambassadors to restore diplomatic ties, Al Jazeera

Turkey and Egypt have appointed ambassadors to restore their relations at the highest diplomatic level. Al Jazeera reports that in a joint statement released by the Turkish foreign ministry on Tuesday, the two governments said Turkey nominated Salih Mutlu Sen as its ambassador to Cairo and Egypt appointed Amr Elhamamy as its envoy to Ankara. Relations between Cairo and Ankara were severed in 2013 after then-military commander and current Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi led a coup to remove President Mohamed Morsi, a former Muslim Brotherhood leader. The report adds that senior foreign ministry officials from the two countries have held talks since 2021. Read the full report here.

NDTV report questions, was Ajit Pawar's faction locked out of new office

NDTV reports that the Ajit Pawar camp was left red-faced this morning over a missing bunch of keys to the new party office. Ajit Pawar, now Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister, is to inaugurate a new party office near the state secretariat. But the report states that when leaders loyal to Ajit Pawar reached the new 'Rashtrawadi Bhavan' this morning, they found themselves locked out and the keys missing. Party leaders were seen sitting on chairs outside the locked doors as calls were made to track down the keys at the earliest. Visuals also showed youth leaders trying to break down a lock. Read the full report here.