Palestinians create role for vice president, possible successor to aging leader Abbas
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Ramallah (AP): The Palestine Liberation Organisation on Thursday announced the creation of a vice presidency under 89-year-old leader Mahmoud Abbas, who has not specified a successor.
The PLO Central Council's decision came as Abbas seeks greater relevance and a role in postwar planning for the Gaza Strip after having been largely sidelined by the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
After a two-day meeting, the council voted to create the role of vice chairman of the PLO Executive Committee. This position would also be referred to as the vice president of the State of Palestine, which the Palestinians hope will one day receive full international recognition.
The expectation is that whoever holds that role would be the front-runner to succeed Abbas — though it's unclear when or exactly how it would be filled. Abbas is to choose his vice president from among the other 15 members of the PLO's executive committee.
The PLO is the internationally recognised representative of the Palestinian people and oversees the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited autonomy in less than half of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Abbas has led both entities for two decades.
Hamas, which won the last national elections in 2006, is not in the PLO. Hamas seized control of Gaza from Abbas' forces in 2007, and reconciliation attempts between the rivals have repeatedly failed.
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Kannada director K Ramnarayan removes Sonu Nigam’s song following language row
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Bengaluru: The director, K. Ramnarayan, has announced the removal of a song sung by Bollywood playback singer Sonu Nigam from his upcoming Kannada film Kuladalli Keelyavudo. The removal follows a backlash over the singer's remarks at a recent Bengaluru concert, in which he allegedly linked a fan's Kannada song request to the Pahalgam terror tragedy.
In an official press statement, the filmmaker said, "There is no doubt that Sonu Nigam is a good singer. But we are very upset by how he spoke about Kannada recently at a concert.”
The removed song, 'Manasu Haadtade,' composed by Manomurthy and penned by Yogaraj Bhat, which was recorded three months ago and gained popularity with the masses, will now be re-recorded with local Kannada singer Chethan, who will lend his voice for the film version.
Director Ramnarayan stressed the team’s stance, saying, “We cannot tolerate the insult that Sonu Nigam has done to Kannada, so we have removed the song.” Producer Santosh Kumar added that the decision is final and that Sonu Nigam will not be considered for any future collaboration.
The Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce also declared on Monday that it would no longer extend cooperation to the singer.
