Over 250 Hate Speech Incidents Reported In India In The Past Six Months: Hindutva Watch Report
New Age Islam News Bureau
27 September 2023
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal weapon worship event in
Jodhpur, Rajasthan.
-----
India
·
Police Arrest 28 Sangh Parivar Activists As
Hate Crimes Resurface In Karnataka
·
Kerala: Soldier arrested for 'faking' assault
by banned Islamist outfit PFI in Kollam
·
Indore: Hindu mob assaults Muslim women over
Eid-e-Milad Un Nabi decorations
·
Christian family holding prayers attacked by
right-wing group in TN village
·
If we can go to Srinagar for G20, my compatriot
in Pakistan can go to PoK: US Ambassador Garcetti
-----
Southeast Asia
·
Judge To
Interview Hindu Mum Loh Siew Hong’s Three Children As Perlis Islamic Council
Seeks Access
·
Ex-CEO of
Melaka GLC claims trial to power abuse charge
·
Male
ex-teacher charged with molesting two 7-year-old girls in school
-----
Europe
·
Sweden
Opens Arson Probe Into Mosque Fire
·
Russian
Black Sea Fleet Commander killed in Ukrainian missile strike
·
Germany to
impose checks on Poland, Czech borders to keep asylum seekers out
·
Commander
of Tavria operations group to announce good news from Tavriia front
·
US to
build defence sector partnership with Ukraine: Pentagon
--------
Mideast
·
World
should stand up to Israel's nuclear rhetoric: Iran
·
UAE
seeking to obstruct Saudi-Yemen peace talks: Report
·
More Than 100 Dead, 150 Injured In Iraq's
Nineveh Province Wedding Inferno
·
Iran
sentences four to death over bootleg alcohol that killed 17
·
Muslims
worldwide to mark Prophet Muhammad's birth
·
Iran
successfully launches Noor 3 satellite into orbit
·
UAE
provides 622 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Libya, benefiting 6,386 families
-------
Pakistan
·
Presence Of Terrorist Groups In Afghanistan
Security Threat For Pakistan: Permanent Representative to UN
·
Pakistan
to evict 1.1m illegal Afghan refugees
·
Pakistan’s
PM claims TTP presence and training camps in Afghanistan
·
Pakistan
Claims Capture of 4 Islamic State Operatives
·
LHC
directs authorities to provide better facilities to Parvez Elahi in jail
·
Recover
Sheikh Rashid in a week, LHC orders police
-------
South Asia
·
Outlawed Ansar Al Islam’s Six Militants
Arrested In Dhaka
·
UN
Security Council Convenes Meeting on Afghanistan: Report
·
60 Afghan
Prisoners Released from Pakistani Jails Return Home
·
Kabul,
Islamabad Discuss Afghan Immigrants' Situation in Pakistan
·
Bilateral
Meeting between Afghanistan and Kazakhstan Attracts Investment Interest
·
One dead,
two hurt in two accidents on Dhaka-Mawa highway in 15 minutes
--------
Africa
·
At
Eid-el-Maulud, Tinubu Charges Muslims to Live By Teachings of Muhammad
·
Brazen
Terrorist Activities Without Hindrance Confirm Deep-rooted Corruption In
Nigerian Defence –Northern Groups
·
Insecurity:
Tinubu approves purchase of 12 Cayuse attack helicopters
·
Legislative
Agenda: Rising cost of living, insecurity, other issues confronting 10th House
of Reps
·
At
Eid-el-Maulud, Tinubu, Shettima, Atiku, Sanwo-Olu, Makinde Felicitate Muslims
-------
North America
·
Syria
Slams US ‘Terrorist War’ In UN Address
·
CAIR-MI Announces Settlement with Detroit
Police Department for Discriminatory Arrest of 3 Muslim Men
·
US judge
drops charges against police officer in motorist's death
·
Trump
‘liable for fraud’ for lying about net worth
·
Exploiting
a "Vast Jihad Arena":
·
US calls
on Azerbaijan to safeguard Armenians as thousands flee Karabakh
-------
Arab World
·
Houthi:
Yemen Will Use All Legal Means To End Saudi-Led War If Peace Talks Fail
·
25 dead in
fierce new fighting in DeirEzzor
·
12th
Conference of Ministers of Culture in the Islamic World wraps up in Doha
·
Saudi
crown prince offers condolences to Bahrain king over military deaths
·
The
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Congratulates Chairman of Yemeni Presidential
Leadership Council on September 26 Anniversary
Compiled by
New Age Islam News Bureau
URL:
https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/hate-speech-hindutva-watch-india/d/130769
------
Over 250 Hate Speech Incidents Reported
In India In The Past Six Months: Hindutva Watch Report
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal weapon worship event in
Jodhpur, Rajasthan.
-----
By Muslim Mirror Staff
September 27, 2023
In a recent report released by the
Washington-based organization Hindutva Watch, alarming statistics reveal a
significant surge in hate speech against Muslims during the first half of 2023
in India. The report indicates that, on average, more than one hate speech
incident against Muslims occurred daily during this period, with a particularly
pronounced increase in states where assembly elections are set to take place in
the coming months.
The organization, which closely monitors
incidents of violence against minorities in India, reported a total of 255
instances of hate speech targeting Muslims during various meetings and events.
Disturbingly, there is no comparable historical data available for reference in
this regard.
The definition of hate speech adopted by
nations worldwide, encompassing communication based on religion, race,
nationality, color, sex, or other identifying factors, underscores the gravity
of the situation. “Hate speech is commonplace now,” warns the report, with
nearly 70 percent of these incidents concentrated in states scheduled for
elections in 2023 and 2024.
The Hindutva Watch report highlights
that Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan witnessed
the highest incidence of hate speech. Maharashtra, where the BJP holds power,
recorded a staggering 29 such incidents alone.
The report sheds light on the alarming
prevalence of conspiracy theories during these hate speech incidents, often
without a solid factual basis. Speakers have reportedly called on Hindus to
avoid violence against Muslims and to socially and economically boycott them.
Significantly, approximately 80 percent of these incidents unfolded in states
governed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party, the BJP,
raising concerns about a potential alignment of Hindu voters through hate
speech tactics in pursuit of electoral success.
Hindutva Watch’s methodology included
tracking online activities of Hindu nationalist groups, verifying videos of
hate speech posted on social media, and compiling their report based on
incidents reported in the media.
While the Modi government has yet to
respond to the Hindutva Watch report, analysts have noted an increase in
incidents of violence and hatred against minorities, particularly Muslims,
since Narendra Modi assumed office as prime minister in 2014. The report
underscores the urgent need for action to address and mitigate the rise in hate
speech and its potential consequences for social cohesion and minority rights
in India.
Source: muslimmirror.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://muslimmirror.com/eng/over-250-hate-speech-incidents-reported-in-india-in-the-past-six-months-report/
-----
‘ISKCON Biggest Cheat, They Sell Cows To
Butchers', Says BJP MP; Temple Authority Reacts
BJP MP Maneka Gandhi(HT Photo)
-----
27th September 2023
By Online Desk
BJP MP and former minister Maneka Gandhi
on Tuesday called the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)
the “biggest cheat” in the country. The video of her remarks have gone viral.
Gandhi, who is also an animal rights
activist, alleged that the ISKCON sells cows from their gaushalas (cowsheds) to
butchers.
Recalling her visit to ISKCON’s cowshed
in Anantapur city of Andhra Pradesh, Gandhi in the video is heard saying that
she couldn't find any cow that doesn't give milk or calves.
“The biggest cheat in India today is
ISKCON. They establish gaushalas for which they get unlimited benefits from the
government to run them. They get huge land...everything. I just visited their
Anantput Gaushala. Not a single dry cow (one that has not been milked) is
present. All are dairies. There is not a single calf. It means all of them were
sold. ISCKON is selling all its cows to the butcher."
She further says, “No one else does this
as much as they do. And they go on and sing ‘Hare Ram Hare Krishna’ on the
roads and say their entire life is dependent on milk. Probably, no one has sold
as many cattle to the butchers as they did. If these people can do it, what
about others?”
The ISKCON, associated with the Hare
Krishna movement, has hundreds of temples and millions of devotees around the
world.
The organisation's national spokesperson
Yudhistir Govinda Das dismissed the allegations.
“ISKCON has been at the forefront of cow
and bull protection and care not just in India but globally. The cows and bulls
are served for their life not sold to butchers as alleged," Das wrote on
X.
He also shared a letter from a
veterinary doctor about the Anantapur cowshed as well as assessment statements
of the local MP and MLA. Das claimed that none of the workers at the Anantapur
cowshed could recall Gandhi visiting the place.
Das also shared CCTV footage of 24
September of the Anantapur goshala with the non-milking cows.
Responding to a question on what they do
with their non-dairy cows, Das on X said, "Depending on the place, some
have mechanisms & volunteers to help make the gobar into manure, others
into panchagavya items like dhoop, diya, jivamrut, cakes for havan, etc. Where
it is feasible some also have biogas plants."
Coordinator of INC Overseas Vijay
Thottathil shared Maneka Gandhi's video on X saying, “This is big as these
allegations are made by a former central minister of BJP, none other than
Maneka Gandhi!”
“Where is the Cow vigilantes? Are they
not keeping an eye on these activities of ISKCON? Will the government probe
these allegations?” he questioned.
Source: newindianexpress.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2023/sep/27/maneka-gandhi-says-iskcon-biggest-cheat-they-sell-cows-to-butchers-temple-authority-reacts-2618678.html
-----
Cops Record Statement From Ipoh Timur MP
Over Use Of His Own Interpretation Of A Quranic Verse (Surah An Nisa’ Ayat 59
Howard Lee
Chuan How is the current Ipoh Timur MP. – Abdul Razak Latif/The Vibes file pic,
September 27, 2023
-----
27 Sep 2023
KUALA LUMPUR – Police have recorded a
statement from Ipoh Timur MP Howard Lee Chuan How yesterday to assist
investigations over allegations that Lee had insulted Islam through his own
interpretation of a Quranic verse (Surah An Nisa’ ayat 59).
Bukit Aman Crime Investigation
Department director Datuk Seri Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain said the statement from
Lee was recorded at 3pm in Ipoh, Perak today under Section 112 of the Criminal
Procedure Act.
“Once investigations are completed, the
papers will be submitted to the Attorney-General’s Office,” he said in a
statement last night.
Shuhaily urged members of the public to
use social media wisely and not use such platforms for issues that can be
offensive or sensitive like 3R (race, religion, royalty).
He warned that action will be taken
against anyone who is deemed to have been detrimental to the peace and harmony
or the security of the country.
Earlier yesterday, Lee apologised openly
for his statement that was his own interpretation of an Al-Quran verse through
a video clip on his social media recently.
Lee reiterated that he had no intention
to touch on the sensitivity of the Muslim community.
Perak Jabat president Amiruddin Mohd
Daud reportedly said the organisation had lodged a police report seeking an
investigation and action to be taken against Lee as they viewed his actions as
an insult to Islam as the MP was not a Muslim but had made his own
interpretation of a Quran verse, which they deemed was a 3R (race, religion,
royalty) issue. – Bernama, September 27, 2023
Source: thevibes.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.thevibes.com/articles/news/99006/cops-record-statement-from-daps-howard-lee-over-his-use-of-quranic-verse
--------
Pig Meat And Paint Thrown At Bournemouth
Mosque During Spate Of Attacks
Bournemouth
Mosque/ Google Map
-----
September 27, 2023
Jamie Guerra
A mosque in Bournemouth has seen its
windows smashed and pig meat thrown at the door in a spate of attacks over the
last year.
The Bournemouth Islamic Centre &
Central Mosque is urging BCP Council to allow it to build taller fences and
install alarms around the site in St Stephen’s Road.
The Imam, Majid Yasin told us what he’s
seen: “We have had many attacks in the past, people have thrown bricks into our
windows, some people have graphitised red paint on the wall, and someone has
even thrown pork at the door.”
We’ve heard that worshippers are worried
for their safety.
Majid Yasin pleaded to the council:
“Please look after our community, don't put them in the corner. I would like to
protect our people. I would like to protect our children. I would like to
protect our ladies.”
In order to be allowed to build the
fence, BCP Council needs to give permission, but the mosque has been waiting
over a year for approval and had two applications rejected in the process.
Now, “time is critical” as Majid Yasin
fears the grant given to them by the Home Office, which the mosque applied to
for the extra security, will expire.
He told us: “We ignore the hate. We don't
do anything or with anything against anybody. We are very positive people with
everybody, we are respect everybody and all we ask is that people do the same.”
The cost of adding a new and larger
fence, similar to their neighbours, as well as an alarm system is estimated to
be around £40,000.
Source: planetradio.co.uk
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://planetradio.co.uk/greatest-hits/dorset/news/gig-meat-paint-thrown-bournemouth-mosque/
--------
Israeli Tourism Ministering First Public
Visit To Saudi Arabia
Israeli
Tourism Minister Haim Katz is in Saudi Arabia to attend a United Nations
conference [File: Menahem Kahana/Reuters]
------
26 September, 2023
Israel's Tourism Minister Haim Katz
arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for the first such high-level public visit
to the kingdom amid talks to secure bilateral ties.
"Katz is the first Israeli minister
to head an official delegation in Saudi Arabia," his ministry said in a
statement, adding he would attend a United Nations World Tourism Organization
event in Riyadh.
During the two-day visit he is due to
hold meetings "with his counterparts", Katz's office said without
specifying which countries will be represented in such talks.
The landmark visit comes as Riyadh sent
its first delegation to the occupied West Bank in three decades.
Nayef al-Sudairi, who was appointed
non-resident ambassador to the Palestinian territories last month, held talks
Tuesday with senior Palestinian officials including president Mahmud Abbas.
The diplomatic travels come as the
United States presses its allies Israel and Saudi Arabia to normalise ties.
Such a move would break Riyadh's
decades-long stance against recognising Israel before it resolves the conflict
with the Palestinians.
Source: newarab.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.newarab.com/news/israeli-minister-first-public-visit-saudi-arabia
-------
India
Police arrest 28 Sangh Parivar activists
as hate crimes resurface in Karnataka
K.M. Rakesh Bangalore, 27.09.23,
A brief lull in communal activities has
been broken by three different hate crime incidents spread across Karnataka
over the past few days.
While a saffron flag was hoisted on a
mosque in Bidar district a few days ago, six pick-up trucks carrying beef from
neighbouring Andhra Pradesh were waylaid, one of them was torched and its
occupants were assaulted early on Sunday near Bangalore. In another incident,
two men barged into a mosque in coastal Karnataka and shouted “Jai Shri Ram”.
Police managed to arrest 28 Sangh
Parivar activists in the three incidents.
Activists of Sangh Parivar outfit Sree
Rama Sene, led by one SundareshNaragal, had waylaid the six pick-up trucks
laden with beef ferried from Hindupur in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh around
5.30am on Sunday. They intercepted the vehicles in Doddaballapur, some 50km
from here. They allegedly assaulted the drivers and other occupants in the
vehicles, paraded them with severed heads of the cattle on their own heads and
set fire to one of the pick-up vans before the police arrived.
The incident sparked tension in
Doddaballapur town, which falls in Bangalore rural police district, for several
hours. Heavy police presence doused the simmering tension.
The police later arrested 21 members of
Sree Ram Sene, one of the several
Sangh Parivar organisations whose
vigilantes often make such interceptions of vehicles carrying cattle or meat,
and attack inter-faith couples.
Mallikarjun Baldandi, Bangalore rural
superintendent of police, told reporters that the pick-up trucks were loaded
with about 18 tonnes of meat.
Seven men, including the six drivers, were
booked under the anti-cow slaughter law enforced by the previous BJP government
for illegal transportation of cattle meat. The Sene activists were booked under
penal sections for dacoity, assault using dangerous weapons, arson, rioting and
unlawful assembly.
A local court remanded all those
arrested to judicial custody pending further investigations.
Weeks after assuming power, chief
minister Siddaramaiah had announced that the government would revisit The
Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Act 2020 enacted
by the BJP government. However, no follow-up action has been taken yet.
The police in Dakshina Kannada district
arrested two suspected Sangh Parivar sympathisers for barging into a mosque in
Kadaba and shouting “Jai Shri Ram” before escaping on their motorbike late on
Sunday.
The police identified the two youths,
both aged about 25, from security cameras in the mosque. The police said the
two men entered the MardhalaBadriya Juma Masjid around 11pm and chanted “Jai
Shri Ram” several times.
They escaped upon seeing the imam of the
mosque. Keerthan and Sachin were arrested on Monday.
The police in Bidar arrested four men
for hoisting a saffron flag atop a mosque in Dhannur, Basavakalyan taluk of the
north Karnataka district. The incident was reported on September 20 when the
four youths removed the saffron flag from a nearby Hanuman temple and hoisted
it atop the mosque.
Bidar superintendent of police
Channabasavanna L. told reporters that the accused had admitted to the act and
said they wanted to disturb peace in the village.
“We held a peace meeting with members of
both communities soon after removing the saffron flag,” said the officer.
Source: telegraphindia.com
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https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/police-arrest-28-sangh-parivar-activists-as-hate-crimes-resurface-in-karnataka/cid/1969191
------
Kerala: Soldier arrested for 'faking'
assault by banned Islamist outfit PFI in Kollam
K.M. Rakesh
Bangalore, 27.09.23
A soldier has been arrested in Kerala
for allegedly faking an assault by a banned Islamist outfit for publicity and
to get a transfer.
The arrest of Shine Kumar, a jawan,
ended two days of high drama during which the BJP had swiftly backed him and given
the allegations a communal turn to besmirch an “INDIA partner-ruled” state.
Sections of the media and the Right-wing social media ecosystem had also begun
whipping up nationalistic sentiments.
Shine, posted at the Indian Army’s
Electronics and Mechanical Engineers (EME) Corps, had claimed he was attacked
by members of the Popular Front of India in Kollam. But inconsistencies in his
account, the confession of his friend Joshi who said he was made to write “PFI”
with green paint on Shine’s back, and the recovery of paint and brush from
Joshi’s home led to the jawan’s arrest and eventual confession.
Shine, 35, had told personnel at
Kaddakkal police station on Monday that he was assaulted on Sunday night by six
men who also inscripted “PFI” with green paint on his back.
Once they left, Shine claimed, he got up
and used his teeth to tear the tape. He then purportedly dialled his friend
Joshi, who rushed to his help.
The police cracked the case by
repeatedly questioning Joshi. In a video clip broadcast by several TV channels,
Joshi is seen telling the police that he had initially written “DFI” instead of
“PFI” and then corrected it on Shine’s instructions.
“He said he wanted to be famous and
handed over a blade to me, asking me to tear his T-shirt. I tore it. I first
wrote ‘DFI’ since that’s what I heard. But he said it was PFI and I corrected
it. He then asked me to hit him. But I couldn’t do that since I was heavily
drunk. He lay on the ground and asked me to drag him. I couldn’t because he was
too heavy. So he asked me to tape his mouth and hands and leave. So I did
that,” Joshi is heard telling the police.
Source: telegraphindia.com
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the full text of the original
https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/soldier-arrested-in-kerala-for-faking-assault-by-banned-islamist-outfit-popular-front-of-india-in-kollam/cid/1969195
-----
Indore: Hindu mob assaults Muslim women
over Eid-e-Milad Un Nabi decorations
September 26, 2023
By Muslim Mirror Staff
In Garib Nawaz Colony in Indore last evening,
tensions flared when a group associated with a Hindu right-wing organization
clashed with Muslim women who had decorated the colony to celebrate Eid-e-Milad
Un Nabi.
Eyewitnesses on the scene recounted that
the altercation ignited when members of the right-wing group voiced objections
to the festive decorations that adorned Garib Nawaz Colony in honor of
Eid-e-Milad Un Nabi.
This disagreement escalated into a
violent confrontation as the Muslim women responsible for the decorations tried
to prevent their removal.
Local authorities responded to the
scene, deploying police officers to intervene in the escalating conflict.
A police spokesperson confirmed, “We are
actively investigating the matter.”
Source: muslimmirror.com
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https://muslimmirror.com/eng/indore-hindu-mob-assaults-muslim-women-over-eid-e-milad-un-nabi-decorations/
-----
Christian family holding prayers
attacked by right-wing group in TN village
IANS
18 Sep 2023, 12:27 PM
The Chenniamalai police in Tamil Nadu's
Erode district have commenced a probe into an attack allegedly by a group of
right extremists on a Christian family in their village.
According to police, the attack came
when the family was holding prayers at their home.
Samuel (33), his wife Jennifer, their
three-year-old son, his father Arujunan, mother Rathinam, and younger sister
Behulasufferred injuries after a group of people allegedly belonging to a right
extreme group assaulted them.
Earlier, the local villagers, including
neighbours, had complained against Samuel and his family for conducting prayers
loudly.
Police sources told IANS that the family
tried to record the assault, but the gang broke the phone.
M.K. Sarvanan, Inspector of Police,
Chenniamalai police station told media persons that the police reached the spot
immediately on getting information but by then the gang had dispersed.
He said that the police is on an
investigation and will bring the culprits before the law.
Sources in the neighbourhood of Samuel
told IANS that many people were of the belief that he was engaged in religious
propaganda and conversion and that the assault may be due to this.
Source: nationalheraldindia.com
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https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/national/christian-family-holding-prayers-attacked-by-right-wing-group-in-tn-village
-----
If we can go to Srinagar for G20, my
compatriot in Pakistan can go to PoK: US Ambassador Garcetti
26th September 2023
By YeshiSeliExpress News Service
NEW DELHI: US Ambassador to Pakistan
Donald Blome tickled a raw nerve in India after he visited Pakistan Occupied
Kashmir (PoK’s) Gilgit Baltistan area a few days back. India considers all of
Kashmir including PoK as a part of India.
However, US Ambassador to India Eric
Garcetti compared Ambassador Blome’s visit to Gilgit Baltistan to US officials
visiting Srinagar for a G20 meeting.
"Part of our delegation went to
Jammu and Kashmir for G20. It is an issue for India and Pakistan to decide,"
said Ambassador Garcetti.
Ambassador Garcetti, who is Jewish, also
said that it was a mistake for the Canadian government to give a standing
ovation to a Nazi veteran.
He declined to comment on intelligence
sharing between the US and Canada over the slain Khalistani extremist HS Nijjar
in British Colombia on June 5th.
"Not my place to speak on another
country," said Ambassador Garcetti.
Meanwhile, speaking at the 20th Indo US
Economic Summit, organised by the Indo American Chamber of Commerce, Ambassador
Garcetti lauded India’s G20 Summit.
"India has demonstrated its global
leadership through the 'most successful' G-20 in the history of the
organisation," he said.
Talking about the India-US partnership,
Ambassador Garcetti said that there may be some challenges between India and
the US, which is common not just amongst nations, but everywhere including
families, but the ties between the two have not been stronger.
"The goal that we should be setting
for each other is how can we be more ambitious. Not just settle for another
deal, not just settle for as we have done in the last few months bringing down
the retaliatory tariffs and trade disputes between our countries. That's not
good enough. I think we need to close our eyes and dream of what this
relationship can be like even more than we would imagine today. How can we
create a frictionless relationship?" Ambassador Garcetti said.
Noting that there is a need to do away
with even the smallest of friction between the two countries in terms of trade,
he called for a reduction of tariffs and the creation of a more predictable
regulatory environment.
He also pitched for a robust agriculture
trade between India and the U.S.
"We want India to be one of our top
three markets in the world. Here, the productivity in dairy and other areas has
levelled off. In addition, there is need to share technology and co-develop in
sectors like defence, in which India and the U.S. already have strong
ties," he added.
Source: newindianexpress.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2023/sep/26/if-we-can-go-to-srinagar-for-g20-my-compatriot-in-pakistan-can-go-to-pok-us-ambassador-garcetti-2618423.html
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Southeast Asia
Judge to interview Hindu mum Loh Siew
Hong’s three children as Perlis Islamic council seeks access
By Ida Lim
27 Sep 2023
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 27 — High Court judge
HayatulAkmal Abdul Aziz will be interviewing Hindu mother Loh Siew Hong’s three
children — who were unilaterally converted to Islam by their father without
their consent — as part of court proceedings on the Perlis Islamic Religious
and Malay Customs Council’s (MAIPs) bid to give Islamic education to the
children.
Today, the High Court heard MAIPs’s application
to vary or make changes to a custody order — which granted Loh full custody
over the three children in her divorce with the Hindu-turned-Muslim ex-husband
— in order to secure access to the children for purposes such as giving them
Islamic lessons and bring them to the mosques for Islamic celebrations.
But early on during the hearing, the
judge said it would be better for her to speak to the children, who had in the
past been interviewed by another High Court judge.
“To my mind, I think it’s better for me
to interview the children again, because this is after all about them,” the
judge said, adding that she will interview the children this afternoon.
“The purpose I would like to interview,
I was a family court judge before for quite a number of years, I make it a
practice — maybe not for all files — to interview the children,” she later
said.
Lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla,
who was representing MAIPs, said his client has no issue with the judge
interviewing the children as it would be fair for the judge to get a full
picture.
Loh’s lawyer J. Gunamalar also said she
had also thought of inviting the judge to interview the children.
The judge then proceeded to hear
arguments from lawyers on MAIPs’ application, before saying she will interview
the children first and may hear further arguments from lawyers for all parties
after that.
The three children are twin girls who
will be turning 15 this year and a boy aged 12.
Loh is still challenging the validity
and legality of the three children’s conversion to Islam, and the Court of
Appeal is set to hear her appeal on this matter on October 19.
On February 17, MAIPs applied to vary
the custody order, by asking to add on court orders, including for MAIPs to be
granted supervised access once every two weeks to provide guidance and basic
Islamic education to the three children.
In the same application, MAIPs also
wants to be given access to bring the son for Friday prayers every week to any
mosque located not more than 10km from the house of Loh and her three children.
In the application, MAIPs also wants to
be given access to bring the three children to celebrate major Islamic
occasions — Aidil Fitri and Aidil Adha — at any mosque, surau or government
venue not more than 10km from their house.
Also in the same application to vary the
custody order, MAIPs wants to be given access to provide financial aid to the
three children who are in the category of asnaf or those eligible to receive
aid from Islamic alms; provide education aid such as books, pens, computer to
the three children; provide financial aid to the mother who is now the sole
guardian as wages or for livelihood over her efforts and responsibility to
raise and care for the three children; and to help Loh in buying food and
drinks that is good and halal (or permissible to consume in Islam) for the
three children.
MAIPs also wants to be given access once
every three months to supervise and provide guidance to Loh to raise her three
children in a conducive environment according to Islam, including but not
limited to eating halal food, and access to go into their house for not more
than an hour for each session.
In the hearing today, MAIPs’ arguments
were based on their stance that the three children’s official status remains as
Muslims, while Loh’s arguments are based on her stance that her three
children’s conversion to Islam was invalid in the first place.
Loh was also represented by lawyer Thian
Yee Chin.
MAIPs was also represented today by
lawyers Datuk Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar, Aidil Khalid, Danial Farhan Zainul Rijal,
and Ali Huzaifah Sharif Ahmed.
Lawyers Malcolm Fernandez and
VhimallMurugesan held a watching brief for the ex-husband Muhammad
NagahswaranMuniandy.
Source: malaymail.com
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Ex-CEO of Melaka GLC claims trial to
power abuse charge
27 Sep 2023
MELAKA: A former chief executive officer
(CEO) of a Melaka government-linked company claimed trial to a charge of power
abuse at the Sessions Court in Ayer Keroh on Wednesday (Sept 27).
Amir Ali, 56, was accused of using his
position to appoint his daughter, Nur Hafizah, to hold the position of
Financial Officer W41.
The accused, who was the CEO of Syarikat
Melaka Halal Hub SdnBhd at that time, had allegedly committed the offence at
the company premises in Anchor Building, Melaka Halal Hub Industrial Area,
Serkam in Jasin on April 1, 2021.
The charge was framed under Section
23(1) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 and can be
punished under Section 24 of the same law which provides for a maximum jail
term of up to 20 years and a fine of not less than five times the value of the
bribe, or RM10,000, or whichever is higher, upon conviction.
The prosecution was carried out by
Deputy Public Prosecutor Mohammad Azriff Firdaus Mohamad Ali while the accused
was represented by counsel AzrulZulkifli Stork.
Judge ElesabetPaya Wan granted a bail of
RM7,000 with one surety as well as ordering the accused to report to the MACC
office at Alai here on a monthly basis until the end of his proceedings.
The next mention date has been set for
Nov 2.
Source: thestar.com.my
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Male ex-teacher charged with molesting
two 7-year-old girls in school
27 Sep 2023
SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/Asia News
Network): A male teacher allegedly molested two seven-year-old girls in a
primary school in 2019.
The 36-year-old man, who is no longer a
teacher, was handed three molestation charges on Tuesday (Sept 26). He is said
to have targeted one of the pupils twice that year.
While there is no specific gag order on
his identity, there is one on the location of the alleged offences to protect
the girls’ identities.
As such, he cannot be named as doing so
will lead to details about the school.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) told The
Straits Times on Wednesday that it dismissed him in April 2022, and he is no
longer teaching in any school.
An MOE spokesperson said: “(The
ministry) takes a serious view of staff misconduct and will take disciplinary
action against those who fail to adhere to our standards of conduct and
discipline, including dismissal from service.”
The man is accused of touching the inner
thigh of one of the girls. He is also accused of touching the other girl’s
private parts on two separate occasions. Both alleged offences took place at
the primary school where he taught.
His case has been adjourned to Oct 23.
For each count of molesting a child
below 14 years old, an offender can be jailed for up to five years, fined,
caned or receive any combination of such punishments.
Source: thestar.com.my
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Europe
Sweden opens arson probe into mosque
fire
September 27, 2023
STOCKHOLM: Swedish police have initiated
investigations to ascertain if the blaze that reduced a mosque to rubble the
previous day in central Sweden was an arson attack, officials said on Tuesday.
“The investigation into the fire is
continuing. Police will question witnesses and verify whether there were security
cameras in the area,” the police said in a statement on their website.
The fire broke out on Monday noon in
Eskilstuna, a town of 108,000 people, some 150km west of Stockholm, causing no
injuries, a police spokesman told AFP.
There are no suspects and no arrests
have been made.
Spokesman believes the blaze was caused
‘deliberately’
“The mosque is almost completely
destroyed, nothing can be saved,” mosque spokesman Anas Deneche told AFP.
Deneche said the mosque had been the
target of several acts of violence in the past year and his family had been
threatened.
“But it’s still too early to draw any
conclusions [about the cause of the fire], we’ll have to wait for the police to
do their work.”
On Monday, Deneche told public
broadcaster Sveriges Radio that he believed Monday’s blaze was deliberately
caused.
He said that police records showed the
mosque had faced threats for over a year and had previously been subjected to
attacks, Middle East Eye reported.
In the recent past, there have been
several desecration incidents in Sweden.
The attacks came months after a man tore
up and burned a copy of the Holy Quran outside Stockholm’s central mosque in
June.
The man was later charged with agitation
against an ethnic or national group.
While Swedish police have rejected
several recent applications for anti-Quran demonstrations, courts have
overruled those decisions, saying they infringed on freedom of speech.
The incidents have evoked strong
reactions from Turkiye, Pakistan and other Muslim countries.
Source: dawn.com
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Russian Black Sea Fleet Commander killed
in Ukrainian missile strike
Fidel Rahmati
September 26, 2023
Following Yevgeny Prigozhin’s death, Wagner
Group alleged that Ukraine had killed the Russian Black Sea Fleet commander in
a separate missile attack.
CNN reported on Tuesday that Ukraine has
alleged that they killed the Russian Black Sea Fleet commander in one of the
boldest attacks in Crimea.
According to the report, Ukrainian
Special Forces claimed this attack occurred on Friday at the Russian Black Sea
Fleet headquarters, resulting in the death of Viktor Sokolov, along with 33
officers of this country.
Moscow has not yet reacted to the
killing of the senior commander of the Black Sea Fleet and the deaths of 33
military officers of this country.
Meanwhile, Viktor Sokolov was appointed
as the commander of the Black Sea Fleet in Russia in September of last year.
Tensions have been on the rise between
Ukraine and Russia in recent times. The most recent incident occurred when
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group, who had overseen Russia’s
most significant military operation in Ukraine, was killed in Russia.
This mysterious event occurred just one
day before Ukraine’s 32nd independence anniversary.
Source: khaama.com
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Germany to impose checks on Poland,
Czech borders to keep asylum seekers out
27 September 2023
The German government is set to impose
police checkpoints on the borders with Poland and the Czech Republic in a bid
to curb an influx of asylum seekers, a German official has said.
The official told POLITICO on Tuesday
that these "temporary controls at selected border crossings" will
begin "within the next days."
German leaders have come under
increasing pressure to crack down on the growing numbers of asylum seekers,
many of whom are now crossing the borders of Poland and the Czech Republic.
Some 204,000 people requested asylum in Germany within the first eight months
of 2023, 77 percent more than the same period last year.
Since Poland and the Czech Republic are
members of the passport-free Schengen area, a visa issued by these countries
grants the holders free access to 27 states across Europe.
At the same time, media reports said
Poland's government was caught in a visa fraud scandal that has led to seven
people being detained and the dismissal of the deputy foreign minister.
Germany, which borders Poland, has asked
Warsaw for an official explanation on the matter. Chancellor Olaf Scholz called
for "clarification" to the accusation that as many as 350,000
migrants bought EU Schengen visas from Polish consulates.
“I don’t want Poland to simply wave
people through and then have a discussion about our asylum policy afterwards,”
Scholz told a crowd in Nürnberg.
European embassies in Tel Aviv record an
unprecedented increase in the number of Israelis applying for a passport or an
immigration visa in recent months.
Members of Poland’s right-wing Law and
Justice (PiS) party hit back to Scholz’s accusations of the visa corruption
scandal, with Poland’s foreign minister, Zbigniew Rau, asking the German
chancellor to “refrain from statements that damage our mutual relations.”
Rau also accused Germany of seeking to
interfere in his country's internal affairs.
The ruling PiS party had previously
admitted the existence of wrongdoing but insisted the scale of the problem was
much smaller than what media reports suggested.
Poland's deputy foreign minister, Piotr
Wawrzyk, was dismissed and later hospitalized after a disturbance triggered by
the scandal led to self-harm.
Meanwhile, Poland’s state prosecutor has
charged seven people suspected of corruption and participation in the
fast-tracked visa scheme.
In this regard, the Embassy of the Czech
Republic in New Delhi cautioned visa applicants against any practice whereby a
third party promises to process visas or secure supporting documents for visa
applications, such as employment permits.
Last year, Czech officials announced
such offers were fraudulent. However, it also insisted that visas and
supporting documents issued by Czech state authorities alone were acceptable,
thus raising suspicion of bribery and corruption.
Reports in Polish media suggest that
about 250,000 visas have been issued since 2021 in return for bribes, which
cost thousands of dollars each. The trip to Poland was seen as an intermediate
step for entering northwestern Europe or the United States, the desired
destinations.
The Onet news portal reported one case
in which a group of Indians paid up to $40,000 for visas an
Source: presstv.ir
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Commander of Tavria operations group to
announce good news from Tavriia front
OLEKSANDR SHUMILIN
27 SEPTEMBER 2023
OleksandrTarnavskyi, Commander of the
Tavria Operational Strategic Group, has announced good news from the contact
zone on the Tavriia front.
Source: post on Telegram by
OleksandrTarnavskyi, Commander of the Tavria Operational Strategic Group
Quote: "Tavriia front. There will
be good news. Our soldiers are steadily advancing and defeating the
Russians."
Details: Tarnavskyi also added a video
of the drone strike on Russian equipment.
Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you
will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war
in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron!
Source: pravda.com.ua
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https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/09/27/7421606/
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US to build defense sector partnership
with Ukraine: Pentagon
Sep 27, 2023
TEHRAN, Sep. 27 (MNA) – The US
Department of Defense has confirmed its determination to strengthen Ukraine’s
military potential and develop partnership in the defense sector, a department
spokesperson has told media outlets.
US Under Secretary of Defense for
Acquisition and Sustainment William LaPlante said on Tuesday that the United
States was set to create joint production of certain types of military
equipment on the territory of Ukraine. He gave no further details of the US
plans.
"The Department of Defense
continues to work with our Ukrainian partners closely to ensure they have what
they need to defend their nation, both for their immediate battlefield needs
and to build Ukraine’s military capacity for the long-term. Although we have no
additional announcements to make at this time, the US is committed to building
a strong Ukrainian defense industrial base, and we are working to enable
industrial partnerships in the coming months," TASS quoted the Pentagon
spokesperson as saying.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky
said in a video address on September 22 that his country was "preparing to
create a new defense ecosystem together with the United States to produce
weapons." The project will create a new industrial base and new jobs,
Zelensky added.
Source: mehrnews.com
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Mideast
World should stand up to Israel's
nuclear rhetoric: Iran
Sep 27, 2023
TEHRAN, Sep. 27 (MNA) – Iran has called
on the international community to stand up to "nuclear rhetoric" by
the Israeli regime, which recently called for a "nuclear threat"
against the Islamic Republic.
Iran’s permanent mission to the United
Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva made the call on
Tuesday, on the occasion of the International Day for the Total Elimination of
Nuclear Weapons.
"September 26, marks the
International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. Iran, as the
victim of WMD (weapons of mass destruction) in contemporary history, is
committed to this end and decisively, along with other peace-loving nations,
will follow the cause of a Nuclear Weapons Free World," the Iranian
mission wrote in a post on X, the social media network used to be known as
Twitter.
Days earlier, the Israeli regime's Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had addressed the 78th session of the United
Nations General Assembly (UNGA), calling for a "credible nuclear
threat" against Iran.
"The international community should
reject and condemn any normalization of nuclear rhetoric and, in particular,
the threat of use of nuclear weapons, as made at #UNGA78 by the Israeli regime
prime minister, which only serves to undermine the international peace and
security," the Iranian mission added.
During his speech, Netanyahu warned
about the "curse of a nuclear Iran," alleging "...as long as I’m
prime minister of Israel, I will do everything in my power to prevent Iran from
getting nuclear weapons."
Iran’s diplomatic delegation at the UN
dismissed Netanyahu’s speech as a "comedy show," saying "The
baseless allegations made by Israeli officials no longer fool anyone."
Speaking on Sunday, Iranian Foreign
Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian also said no one took Netanyahu’s baseless
anti-Iran accusations and threats seriously as the occupying regime was in its
"weakest state" amid internal crises.
Tehran has repeatedly declared that its
nuclear program remains purely peaceful as always and that the Islamic Republic
had no intention of developing nuclear weapons as a matter of Islamic and state
principles.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution
Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has issued an official fatwa (religious decree)
clearly establishing that any form of acquisition, development, and use of
nuclear weapons violated Islamic principles and were therefore forbidden.
Iran proved the peaceful nature of its
nuclear program to the world by signing the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, officially
called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with six world powers,
but the United States later quit it.
Israel, however, which pursues a policy
of deliberate ambiguity about its nuclear weapons, is estimated to harbor 200
to 400 nuclear warheads in its arsenal, making it the sole possessor of
non-conventional arms in West Asia.
The regime has, nevertheless, refused to
either allow inspections of its military nuclear facilities or sign the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Source: mehrnews.com
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UAE seeking to obstruct Saudi-Yemen
peace talks: Report
27 September 2023
The United Arab Emirates has been trying
to hinder the negotiations between Yemen’s Ansarullah resistance movement and
Saudi Arabia aimed at bringing an end to the Riyadh-led coalition’s war on the
Arab world’s poorest nation.
Citing informed sources in the Sana’a
government, the Lebanese al-Akhbar daily reported on Tuesday that Abu Dhabi
wants to create an impediment to the peace talks because a cessation of
hostilities would end its role in southern Yemen.
“The UAE is desperate to obstruct the
peace process through its repeated attempts … to participate in the
negotiations taking place between Sana’a and Riyadh, which achieved great
progress last week,” the report said.
It was pointing to the Saudi-Yemen peace
talks that excluded the Southern Transitional Council (STC), a UAE-backed
militant group that wants the south to separate from the rest of Yemen.
Ansarullah will only negotiate with “the
leader of the coalition,” the report added, in reference to Saudi Arabia and
not the UAE.
“Sana’a is expecting Abu Dhabi to push
the militia parties loyal to it to obstruct any peace agreement, because peace
would strip it of any role in southern Yemen, and would not guarantee its
survival in the Yemeni ports, airports, and islands, especially Socotra
Island,” it said.
In March 2015, Saudi Arabia and the UAE
launched the war on Yemen to restore power to the impoverished country’s
Western- and Riyadh-allied government.
Since 2019, the pair have pursued
contrasting policies, with the UAE withdrawing troops, seeking footholds in the
south and acting as the STC’s patron.
Also in its report, al-Akhbar said that
the STC is trying to reach out to Sana’a for talks, despite previously
denouncing the talks, with STC head Major General Aidarous al-Zubaidi and his
colleagues expressing their keenness to engage in dialogue with Sana’a.
Meanwhile, Madram Abu Siraj, a southern
separatist leader, said that Zubaidi is “only maneuvering” as he “lacks
decision-making power” and only does “what is dictated to him” by the UAE.
Saudi Arabia welcomed the ‘positive
results’ of peace talks with a delegation from Yemen’s Ansarullah resistance
movement.
Saudi Arabia and Yemen have both hailed
progress in their recent peace talks.
Ansarallah officials say Riyadh has
agreed to all of Yemen’s terms, which specifically include the withdrawal of
British, Emirati, and US troops from the country.
Sana’a will not allow any foreign forces
to remain on Yemeni territory under a potential agreement with Saudi Arabia,
al-Akhbar reported.
The former Yemeni government’s
president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, resigned from the presidency in late 2014
and later fled to Riyadh amid a political conflict with Ansarullah. The
movement has been running Yemen’s affairs ever since.
The war and a concomitant siege that the
Saudi-led coalition has been imposing on Yemen has have claimed the lives of
tens of thousands of Yemenis and turned the entire country into the site of
what the United Nations has described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
Source: presstv.ir
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More Than 100 Dead, 150 Injured In
Iraq's Nineveh ProvinceWedding Inferno
27 September 2023
More than 100 people were killed and 150
injured in a fire at a wedding party in Hamdaniya district in Iraq's Nineveh
province that left civil defense searching the charred skeleton of a building
for survivors into the early hours of Wednesday.
Nineveh Deputy Governor Hassan al-Allaq
told Reuters that 113 people had been confirmed dead, with state media putting
the death toll at least 100, with 150 people injured.
The fire ripped through a large events
hall in the north-eastern region after fireworks were lit during the
celebration, local civil defense said, according to state media.
"We saw the fire pulsating, coming
out of the hall. Those who managed got out and those who didn't got stuck. Even
those who made their way out were broken," said Imad Yohana, a 34-year-old
who escaped the inferno.
Video from a Reuters correspondent at
the site showed firefighters clambering over the charred wreckage of the
building, shining lights over smoldering ruins.
Preliminary information indicated that
the building was made of highly flammable construction materials, contributing
to its rapid collapse, state media said.
Ambulances and medical crews were
dispatched to the site by federal Iraqi authorities and Iraq's semi-autonomous
Kurdistan region, according to official statements.
Eyewitnesses at the site said the
building caught fire at around 10:45 p.m. local time (1945 GMT) and that
hundreds of people were in attendance at the time of the incident.
Source: presstv.ir
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Iran sentences four to death over
bootleg alcohol that killed 17
26 September, 2023
Iran has sentenced four people to death
for selling contaminated bootleg alcohol that killed 17 people and sent dozens
more to hospital in June, the judiciary said on Tuesday.
The sale and consumption of alcohol has
been banned in Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution, giving rise to a huge
illicit trade in smuggled or bootleg alcohol, some of it adulterated with
poisonous methanol.
In June, at least 17 people died and 191
were admitted to hospital with symptoms of methanol poisoning after drinking
adulterated alcohol.
Judiciary spokesman Massoud Setayeshi
said 11 defendants had been charged with the capital offence of corruption on
earth over the distribution of the toxic liquor in Alborz province, west of
Tehran.
Of the 11, four were sentenced to death
while the rest received prison sentences of one to five years, Setayeshi said,
adding that the convicts could appeal to the Supreme Court.
In June, authorities said they had
raided a cosmetics factory where they had seized more than 6,000 litres (1,585
gallons) of bootleg alcohol preventing its distribution.
In the year to March, 644 people died
after consuming "counterfeit alcoholic beverages", Iran's forensics
institute said, a 30 percent increase on the previous 12-month period.
At the height of the Covid pandemic in
2020, at least 210 Iranians died after drinking bootleg alcohol, falsely
believing it to be a remedy for the virus.
Only members of Iran's Christian, Jewish
and Zoroastrian minorities are exempt from the alcohol ban. Foreigners are
required to respect it.
Source: newarab.com
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Muslims worldwide to mark Prophet
Muhammad's birth
27.09.2023
Muslims across the world will celebrate
Tuesday, the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad, a day of spiritual
significance in Islam.
Muslims of all ages flock to the mosques
to pray and recite poems dedicated to the Prophet on the occasion known as Mawlid
al-Nabawi.
On this sacred night, Muslims say their
prayers and read the Holy Quran in their homes and mosques. In addition to
praying, they also listen to hymns praising god and his Prophet.
A series of activities, concerts,
exhibitions and religious programs are also organized during the day all around
the world.
Muslims across the world celebrate the
12th of Rabi-ul-Awwal, with the day varying from country to country according
to the lunar calendar. The Prophet passed away on the same day as that of his
birth at the age of 63.
The day is a public holiday in several
Muslim-majority countries, including Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh
and some parts of India.
Source: aa.com.tr
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Iran successfully launches Noor 3
satellite into orbit
27 September 2023
Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps
(IRGC) Aerospace Force successfully launched the homegrown imaging satellite
Noor 3 into orbit on Wednesday morning.
The satellite was launched by satellite
carrier Qased (Messenger) and was placed into low Earth orbit (LEO) 450
kilometers above the Earth’s surface.
“With the efforts of IRGC Aerospace
Force specialists, a few moments ago, the Noor 3 imaging satellite was
successfully placed into a 450 km orbit of the earth with the Iranian Qased
satellite carrier,” Minister of Communications and Information Technology Issa
Zarepour said via X, formerly known as Twitter.
“I congratulate all [Iranian] people,
those active in the country’s space industry, and the IRGC’s space experts for
this success. God willing, this year will be a fruitful year for the country’s
space industry,” he added.
Source: presstv.ir
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UAE provides 622 tonnes of humanitarian
aid to Libya, benefiting 6,386 families
September 26, 2023
Abu Dhabi : Sultan Mohammad Al Shamsi,
Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Development and International
Organizations Affairs, said the UAE’s air bridge to Libya is still in operation
under the directives of the country’s wise leadership.
“The airbridge is part of the UAE’s
relief efforts to stand by Libya and reduce the severity of the humanitarian
situation the Libyan people are facing as a result of Storm Daniel,” added Al
Shamsi in a statement.
The UAE has sent 622 tonnes of humanitarian
and relief aid to Libya onboard 28 planes since launching an airlift on 12th
September. The aid has benefited 6,386 families, following the directives of
UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The UAE aid included food, shelter,
medicine and first aid supplies and was distributed in the areas most affected
by the disaster, especially eastern Libya. The UAE also dispatched search and
rescue teams equipped with modern machinery and equipment to help with the
relief efforts.
Al Shamsi emphasized that the UAE’s
assistance to Libya is aligned with founding father the late Sheikh Zayed bin
Sultan Al Nahyan’s legacy of humanitarianism, which has been continued by the
country’s wise leadership.
On this occasion, Al Shamsi also
expressed his sincere gratitude to the teams of the Emirates Red Crescent
(ERC), who are currently working in the flood-affected areas of eastern Libya.
He praised their efforts to deliver aid to those in need, assess the situation
on the ground, and identify the most pressing requirements, which will be met
through the ongoing airbridge flights from the UAE to Libya.
The UAE’s swift and effective response
to the humanitarian crisis in Libya is a testament to its commitment to helping
those in need. Within hours of the storm, UAE President His Highness Sheikh
Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan ordered the dispatch of urgent relief aid and
search and rescue teams, demonstrating the UAE’s unwavering solidarity with the
Libyan people.
In implementation of the directives of
UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al
Nahyan, Ruler’s Representative in Al Dhafra Region, and Chairman of Emirates
Red Crescent (ERC), ordered the ERC to immediately put in place a relief
programme to provide and send shelter supplies, food, health care, and other
essential needs to the devastated areas.
The ERC is also tasked with dispatching
search and rescue teams equipped with helicopters, boats, vehicles specialized
in rescue missions, generators, and other equipment. Within this context, the
UAE team of Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) – the first to reach Derna to
carry out such specialised tasks – arrived in Libya on Thursday last week. (
with ANI inputs )
Source: muslimmirror.com
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Pakistan
Presence Of Terrorist Groups In
Afghanistan Security Threat For Pakistan: Permanent Representative to UN
September 27, 2023
Permanent Representative of Pakistan to
the United Nations Munir Akram says the presence of terrorist groups in
Afghanistan has posed a major security threat to Pakistan.
Speaking at the UN Security Council in
New York, he said Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan is responsible for a series of
cross-border terrorist attacks inside Pakistan from Afghanistan causing a loss
of brave soldiers and civilians.
He said the border attacks have become
more lethal due to the acquisition and use of advanced military equipment by
the TTP terrorists, apparently from the stocks left behind by foreign forces in
Afghanistan.
Munir Akram said there are over four
million Afghans in Pakistan and another six hundred thousand Afghans have made
their way into Pakistan over the last two years.
In the wake of the terrorist attacks, he
urged international community, and Afghan Interim Government to cooperate with
Pakistan in securing the repatriation of all illegal Afghans.
Munir Akram said that despite the
challenges, Pakistan believes that engagement and cooperation is the only
feasible path to promote to a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan.
He said that Pakistan remains committed
to the goal of a nuclear weapons free world, addressing regional and global
challenges and assuring undiminished security for all States.
He said Pakistan strongly supports all
international efforts that seek to promote fair and equitable solutions to
disarmament and non-proliferation challenges.
Source: radio.gov.pk
Please click the following URL to read
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https://www.radio.gov.pk/27-09-2023/presence-of-terrorist-groups-in-afghanistan-security-threat-for-pakistan-munir-akram
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Pakistan to evict 1.1m illegal Afghan
refugees
Kamran Yousaf
September 26, 2023
ISLAMABAD:Pakistan has decided to send
back all the illegal Afghan refugees in a major policy decision, which is seen
in the context of ongoing tensions between the two countries.
Official sources said that the caretaker
federal cabinet, through a circulation summary, approved the decision to
repatriate as many as 1.1 million Afghan refugees residing in Pakistan
illegally.
However, there was no official
confirmation yet from the interim government. Caretaker Interior Minister
Sarfraz Bugti has yet to respond when approached for his comment.
The sources added that as many as
400,000 Afghans entered Pakistan illegally since the return of the Afghan
Taliban to Afghanistan in August 2021, adding that there have been another 700,000
Afghans identified who have been living in the country illegally.
The cabinet gave authorities the
go-ahead to make arrangements for sending all these Afghans back to their
homeland.
Sources said these 1.1 million Afghan
refugees neither possess any visa nor any valid documents allowing them to stay
in the country. They also claimed that most of these illegal refugees were
involved in anti-state and criminal activities, therefore, they would be sent
back at the earliest.
Sources further said the Afghan Taliban
government was also informed about Pakistan’s decision.
Islamabad has hosted millions of
refugees for decades and at one point five million Afghan refugees were
residing in Pakistan. Some estimates suggested that there were still close to
four million Afghan refugees living in Pakistan. However, the count of
individuals possessing valid refugee cards, as per official records, is
considerably lower.
The crackdown against the illegal Afghan
refugees came against the backdrop of simmering tensions between Pakistan and
Afghanistan on the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Some observers believe that Pakistan’s
stepped-up campaign against illegal Afghan refugees may be linked to the Afghan
Taliban’s reluctance to launch a crackdown against the TTP.
Pakistan is frustrated that despite
repeated demands the Afghan Taliban are reluctant to take action against the
TTP. Last week, a Pakistani delegation led by special envoy on Afghanistan
Ambassador Asif Durrani visited Kabul to press upon the Taliban government to
take action against the TTP.
It was said that the Afghan Taliban
promised to take some tangible steps to neutralise the TTP threat. Officials in
Pakistan, however, are sceptical as the Afghan Taliban previously also made
similar commitments.
The move by Pakistan to evict illegal
Afghan refugees is likely to trigger a response from the Afghan Taliban
government and importantly from the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR),
which is against the policy of forced repatriation of refugees.
Source: tribune.com.pk
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https://tribune.com.pk/story/2437931/pakistan-to-evict-11m-illegal-afghan-refugees
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Pakistan’s PM claims TTP presence and
training camps in Afghanistan
Fidel Rahmati
September 26, 2023
Pakistan’s Caretaker Prime Minister, Anwar ul
Haq Kakar, asserted that Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is within
Afghanistan’s borders and maintains training camps.
In a recent interview with TRT,
Pakistan’s Caretaker Prime Minister stated, “We do raise such issues with them
(Taliban administration); there are training camps over there, on their soil
(Afghanistan), which is a point of concern for us.”
He added, however, that Islamabad is
still determining if this is all intentional and questioned whether the TTP
enjoys the patronage of the Afghan government. He said this situation remains
to be seen, and Islamabad wants to maintain its relationship with Afghanistan
regarding security operations.
Kakar emphasized that Pakistan carefully
analyses the complex situation and aims to formulate its security policy
accordingly. He denied any direct involvement of Pakistan in bringing the
Taliban back into the political arena, asserting that the United States and its
allies recognized the Taliban as a significant player in Afghanistan.
He acknowledged that Pakistan played a
role of encouragement before August 2021, viewing the Taliban as an essential
player in Afghan society. He noted that negotiating with the interim
administration of Kabul had been a global challenge, and Pakistan had
participated in the broader diplomatic efforts.
Kakar clarified that Pakistan provided
input but has no regrets about its actions. He also noted that leading up to
the collapse of the former Afghan government, various powers and international
groups were eager to withdraw from Afghanistan.
They should have pursued a political
settlement and created an environment for negotiations among Afghan groups, but
this did not happen. The rest of the world planned the exit strategy, not
Pakistan, Kakar emphasized.
Meanwhile, Kakar stressed that Pakistan
has lost approximately 90,000 people to terrorism but remains committed to
combating it.
In contrast, the Taliban administration
has consistently denied TTP’s presence in Afghanistan, asserting that no group
will be allowed to threaten other countries from Afghan soil.
Source: khaama.com
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https://www.khaama.com/pakistans-pm-claims-ttp-presence-and-training-camps-in-afghanistan/
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Pakistan Claims Capture of 4 Islamic
State Operatives
September 26, 2023
ISLAMABAD — Authorities in northwestern
Pakistan said Tuesday that a counterterrorism operation resulted in the arrest
of four regional Islamic State-affiliated operatives.
The area’s counterterrorism department
said the operation was carried out in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa province.
It identified the detainees as Afghan
nationals associated with Islamic State-Khorasan, or IS-K. The statement said
that the men plotted attacks in the city, targeting members of religious
minorities and security forces.
IS-K took credit for a suicide bombing
of a minority Shiite mosque in Peshawar in January of this year, killing nearly
100 worshipers.
Tuesday's arrests came hours after the
military said its forces had raided a suspected "terrorist" hideout
near the Afghan border and killed three militants in the ensuing clashes.
A key militant commander was said to be
among those killed in the pre-dawn raid in the Khyber border district, a former
stronghold of the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP.
The group, known as the Pakistani
Taliban, routinely carries out attacks against security forces, mainly in
districts lining the border with Afghanistan and elsewhere in Pakistan.
Stepped up attacks by the TTP and other
insurgent groups in Pakistan this year have killed hundreds of people, mostly
members of the security forces. The military has confirmed the deaths of at
least 220 soldiers.
Pakistan says the TTP operates out of
bases in Afghanistan and the Taliban takeover of the neighboring country two
years ago has emboldened the militants to intensify cross-border terrorism,
allegations de facto Afghan authorities reject.
"We have a concern because groups
like TTP do reside on Afghan soil. There are training camps on their soil,
which is a concern for us," Pakistani caretaker Prime Minister
Anwaar-ul-Kakar said in an interview aired on Monday.
"But whether it is all intentional,
does it enjoy the patronage of that government, that remains to be seen,"
he told the Turkish TRT channel.
Source: voanews.com
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https://www.voanews.com/a/pakistan-claims-capture-of-4-islamic-state-operatives/7284785.html
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LHC directs authorities to provide
better facilities to Parvez Elahi in jail
September 27, 2023
RAWALPINDI: The Lahore High Court (LHC),
Rawalpindi bench, on Tuesday disposed of the petition of PTI president Chaudhry
Parvez Elahi, with the direction to the Punjab home secretary to redress the
grievances of the former chief minister of Punjab.
Justice Sadaqat Ali Khan was hearing the
petition of Mr Elahi seeking better facilities for himself as per his
entitlement.
During the hearing of the case, the
counsel for Mr Elahi, Sardar Abdul Raziq Khan, argued that the petitioner was
not only a former chief minister and also previously held the portfolio of
deputy prime minister. He apprised the court that the jail administration had constructed
a wall along the window of his client’s barrack, allegedly to suffocate the
environment.
He said the PTI leader also complained
that a stranger had been deployed outside his cell to breach his privacy.
The court directed the home department
to provide the facilities Mr Elahi was entitled to under the Prison Rules and
sought a compliance report within a fortnight.
Sheikh Rashid not in police custody
Meanwhile, the same bench directed the
police to find the whereabouts of former minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed.
The counsel for Mr Rashid, Sardar
Abdul Raziq Khan, argued before the court that his client was arrested by
Rawalpindi police.
However, when the police denied that the
former federal minister was in their custody, Justice Khan asked the law
enforcement agency to make all-out effort for the recovery of the politician.
Further proceedings were later adjourned
till Oct 2.
Source: dawn.com
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1778098/lhc-directs-authorities-to-provide-better-facilities-to-parvez-elahi-in-jail
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Recover Sheikh Rashid in a week, LHC
orders police
September 27, 2023
RAWALPINDI: Lahore High Court (LHC),
Rawalpindi Bench, on Tuesday ordered the Rawalpindi Regional Police Officer
(RPO) to immediately recover and release former interior minister Sheikh Rashid
Ahmed within a week and submit a report in this regard to the court. The court
adjourned hearing of the case till October 2.
RPO Khurram Ali appeared in the court
and expressed his ignorance about the kidnappers. He sought one week’s time for
the recovery of the senior politician.
Justice Sadaqat Ali heard the petition
filed against the detention of Sheikh Rashid. The court asked the RPO about the
progress in the case. The police officer replied that Rashid was not in custody
of the Rawalpindi police. He further told the court that the place from where
Rashid was detained did not fall in their jurisdiction.
Rashid’s lawyer said the Awami Muslim
League head was arrested by the Rawalpindi police and they had proof about
that.
The court asked the RPO, “Are you ready
to give us in writing that Rashid is not with you? If he is recovered from
Rawalpindi in future, a case will be filed against you.” Khurram Ali sought one
week’s time from the court.
The court then gave the RPO one week’s
time for recovery and release of the senior politician and two other people and
adjourned case hearing till October 2.
Source: thenews.com.pk
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https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1113723-recover-sheikh-rashid-in-a-week-lhc-orders-police
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South Asia
Outlawed Ansar Al Islam’s Six Militants
Arrested In Dhaka
26 Sep 2023
DHAKA, Sept 26, 2023 (BSS) – Rapid
Action Battalion (RAB) has arrested six members of outlawed Ansar Al Islam including its one of the key leaders
Mejbah Uddin Chowdhury alias Abu
Masrur from different areas of the capital.
“ Members of RAB-1 and Directorate
General of Forces Intelligence
(DGFI) in a joint operation arrested them from city’s Uttara, Banani, Banasree and
Jatrabari areas on Monday night”, said senior police super and senior assistant
director of RAB-1 M Parvez Rana.
The arrestees are identified as Mejbah Uddin Chowdhury alias Abu Masrur, 50,
son of late Shawkat Alam Chowdhury hailed from Cox’s Bazar, Sheikh Ashiqur
Rahman alias Abu Afifa, 49, son of late
Sheikh Shafiqul Islam of Brahmanbaria,
Shadi Mohammad Julkar Nain, 35, son of late JahidHossen of Dhaka
city, M Kamrul Hasan Sabbir, 40, Son of
late Nurul Islam of Chuadanga, M Masum
Rana alias MasumBillah, 26, son of Mansur Ali of Thakurgaon and Sayeed M Rizvi, 35, son of M
Jalal Uddin of Chandpur.
Two laptops, six mobile phone sets,
books, leaflets, diary and notebooks were also
recovered from their possessions.
Necessary legal actions have been taken
against the arrestees.
Source: bssnews.net
Please click the following URL to read
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https://www.bssnews.net/news-flash/149445
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UN Security Council Convenes Meeting on
Afghanistan: Report
Fidel Rahmati
September 26, 2023
The UN Security Council convened a meeting on
Afghanistan on Tuesday, during which the UN Secretary-General’s Special
Representative for Afghanistan presented her report, focusing on the country’s
overall situation with particular emphasis on the status of women and girls.
The report began with a focus on women
and girls in Afghanistan; as the report said, when former Secretary-General
Kofi Annan was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in December 2001, he began his
address with a powerful statement: “Today in Afghanistan, a girl will be born.”
But the question now lingers: Who is that girl today? Is she a university student
forced into exile for an education, a qualified professional now confined to
her home, or a young girl struggling to find water for her family in a country
ravaged by drought? These questions highlight Afghanistan’s complex and
multifaceted challenges, with no easy answers in sight.
On the other hand, the report also
highlighted another pressing issue: the devastating impact of three years of
drought in a country where nearly 80% of the population relies on agriculture.
Climate change and water scarcity are wreaking havoc on people’s lives, leading
to what’s referred to as “upside-down migration,” where families move from
areas with everything but water to places where water is the primary concern.
Regarding human rights, the United
Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has documented numerous
violations by de facto authorities, including those contravening international
law and the Taliban leader’s instructions, such as prohibiting torture and
ill-treatment. These violations undermine the de facto authorities’ claims of
domestic legitimacy.
Meanwhile, the report emphasized the
country’s inclusive and responsive system of government to respect human
rights. In addition, visits by Islamic scholars from the Organization of
Islamic Cooperation have stressed the importance of girls’ education, women’s
rights, and inclusive governance in Islamic governance.
At the subnational level, consultations
between the de facto authorities and local communities are ongoing, although
their effectiveness remains to be seen. Concerns have arisen over the absence
of Shia members in newly created Provincial Ulema Councils for predominantly
Shia provinces.
A Moscow-format meeting in Russia is set
to focus on inclusive government, with the de facto authorities aiming to
demonstrate inclusivity despite growing legitimacy concerns. However,
uncertainty regarding rights, accountability, representation, and justice poses
significant obstacles to internal and international legitimacy.
Despite the challenges, there is positive
news regarding reducing poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, potentially
benefitting Afghan farmers and addressing drug addiction issues. Humanitarian
funding remains a concern, with a significant gap threatening the well-being of
millions facing food insecurity, especially as winter approaches.
UNAMA’s engagement strategy seeks to
moderate the policies of the de facto authorities and align Afghanistan with
international norms. While policies excluding women are unacceptable to the
international community, UNAMA believes that dialogue and engagement remain
crucial to changing these policies without implying recognition or acceptance.
This engagement aims to promote
governance practices that reflect international norms while addressing the de
facto authorities’ concerns. A reframed engagement strategy may require more
structured and purposeful coordination among the international community and
the inclusion of an intra-Afghan dialogue.
Despite the lack of trust on all sides,
the doors to dialogue remain open. Afghanistan has endured decades of conflict,
but this moment offers an opportunity for positive change. The girls born in
Afghanistan today should have the chance to contribute to a peaceful, connected
Afghanistan, free from poverty, discrimination, and hopelessness. The
international community must continue engaging to ensure this vision becomes a
reality.
Source: khaama.com
Please click the following URL to read
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https://www.khaama.com/un-security-council-convenes-meeting-on-afghanistan-report/
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60 Afghan Prisoners Released from
Pakistani Jails Return Home
2023-09-26
KABUL (BNA): The Afghan Consulate in
Pakistan’s Sindh province announced the release of 60 additional Afghan inmates
from the province’s jails.
According to a statement released on
Tuesday by the Afghan Consulate in Karachi, sixty additional Afghan detainees,
including ten children, were freed from various prisons in Karachi and returned
to Afghanistan.
Source: bakhtarnews.af
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https://bakhtarnews.af/en/60-afghan-prisoners-released-from-pakistani-jails-return-home/
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Kabul, Islamabad Discuss Afghan
Immigrants' Situation in Pakistan
September 26, 2023
Following reports about the detention
and mistreatment of Afghan immigrants in Pakistan by the Pakistani police, the
Islamic Emirate's spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said that they have discussed the
issue with Pakistani officials.
Mujahid said that Pakistani officials
pledged that they would not harass Afghan immigrants.
"We have protested both through the
embassy and the institutions and the delegation who came. They promised that
this situation will change. We want the situation to change quickly, and for
the harassing of Afghans to stop,” the spokesman said.
Abdul JabarTakhari, the Islamic
Emirate's consul in Karachi, said that Afghan immigrants are still being
detained in Pakistan and he says he has assisted in the release of over 200 of
them from prison.
"Over 900 people were arrested
during this time, and with the efforts of the consulate, more than 200 of them
were released and returned to their homes, and the rest of them are in prison,”
Takhari said.
The Afghan Refugee Council in Pakistan
criticized the indifference of the international community towards Afghan
migrants and said that the Pakistani police arrests those migrants who also
have legal documents.
"Arrests have intensified and even
those who have legal documents are also arrested. Later, they are released with
the help of some people,” said Zaman Khan, head of the council in Karachi.
"Arresting and torturing Afghan
immigrants in Pakistan due to lack of identity cards and residency documents is
far from human dignity,” said AsefaStanikzai, an expert on the immigrants’
issue.
According to the information provided by
the consul of the Islamic Emirate in Karachi, in the past one month, more than
one hundred thousand Afghan immigrants have been returned to the country
through the Torkham and Spin Buldak crossings.
Source: tolonews.com
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https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-185275
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Bilateral Meeting between Afghanistan
and Kazakhstan Attracts Investment Interest
2023-09-27
KABUL (BNA): In collaboration with the
Ministry of Industry and Commerce, a bilateral meeting was conducted between
representatives of the private sectors of Afghanistan and Kazakhstan.
The primary objective of this meeting
was to encourage increased investment in Afghanistan.
The meeting, as per a statement issued
by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, facilitated a platform for
representatives from both countries to discuss and exchange ideas on potential
investment opportunities.
These opportunities spanned various
sectors including non-alcoholic beverages, precious and mineral stones,
chemical fertilizers, car batteries, clothing and textiles, petroleum products,
flour and wheat, as well as the tourism and food industry.
Kazakh businessmen and investors
expressed their gratitude for Afghan hospitality during the meeting. They
acknowledged Afghanistan as a secure location with a conducive environment for
trade and investment.
Arman Yassin Tayev, speaking on behalf
of the Kazakhstan private sector, revealed ongoing efforts to organize
exhibitions in Kabul, Balkh, and Kandahar provinces. He further disclosed
future plans to host an exhibition of Afghan products in Kazakhstan, followed
by a similar expo showcasing Kazakh products in Afghanistan.
Source: bakhtarnews.af
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https://bakhtarnews.af/en/bilateral-meeting-between-afghanistan-and-kazakhstan-attracts-investment-interest/
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One dead, two hurt in two accidents on
Dhaka-Mawa highway in 15 minutes
Sep 27, 2023
A man was killed and two others were
injured in two separate road accidents that occurred in the span of 15 at the
same place on the Dhaka-Mawa highway early today.
An unidentified man was killed in a
collision between a truck and a fish-laden pick-up at Hasara in
Munshiganj'sSreenagarupazila, our Munshiganj correspondent reports quoting
sources at the local fire service.
About 15 minutes after the accident, two
people were injured when a vehicle hit a Dhaka-bound pickup at the same place.
The injured are Iman, 28, of Khulna and
Subrata, 23, of Bagerhat.
Mahfuz Riben, a warehouse inspector of
Sreenagar Fire Service, said, "A passenger of the pickup was killed in the
first accident. But his identity has not been ascertained."
His body has been sent to Hasara Highway
Police Outpost.
Injured Iman and Subrata have been
admitted to Sreenagar Upazila Health Complex.
Source: thedailystar.net
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https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/accidents-fires/news/lalbagh-fire-six-fall-ill-smoke-inhalation-3428096
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Africa
At Eid-el-Maulud, Tinubu Charges Muslims
to Live By Teachings of Muhammad
26 September 2023
President Bola Tinubu has congratulated
Muslims in Nigeria and beyond on this year’s Eid-el-Maulud celebration,
charging them to live by the teachings of Prophet Muhammad.
The president, in a statement issued Tuesday
by his Media Adviser, AjuriNgelale, said beyond celebrating the day marking the
birthday of the Holy Prophet, the period should be used for deep introspection
and fervent prayers.
“Adherents should make deliberate
efforts to adhere to the teachings of Prophet Muhammad. There are great lessons
of devotion, perseverance, tolerance, humility and selflessness that we can all
learn from the life of the Prophet,” he said.
President Tinubu urged religious leaders
to use the period to pray for the country and to admonish their followers to
take the appropriate lessons from Prophet Muhammad’s life in their commitment
to the country.
According to him, “Nigeria has arrived
at an important juncture. While the government is taking all necessary measures
to make the country secure and economically viable, we need the full support of
the citizenry in the form of patriotism, patience and prayers. The light is
certainly bright at the end of the tunnel.”
President Tinubu also urged Muslims
celebrating the Maulud festival to extend their hand of fellowship to the needy
and vulnerable in the spirit of the season while praying for the country and
her leaders at all levels.
Source: thisdaylive.com
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https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2023/09/26/at-eid-el-maulud-tinubu-charges-muslims-to-live-by-teachings-of-muhammad
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Brazen Terrorist Activities Without
Hindrance Confirm Deep-rooted Corruption In Nigerian Defence –Northern Groups
September 26, 2023
The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG)
on Tuesday called on the Nigerian government and the Zamfara State government
to exercise restraint, face security challenges and ensure the safe return of
abducted university students.
It also noted that the rampant and
brazen activities of terrorists “without any hindrance, even in the presence of
security personnel, indicate a deeply rooted problem of corruption within the
defense system”
The Coalition made this known on Tuesday
when it stormed Gusau on a mission to facilitate synergy and cooperation
between the Zamfara government and the federal authorities for effective
coordination of efforts to end the rampaging insecurity in the state and in the
entire North.
While addressing Zamfara State
government officials led by the Chief of Staff to the governor, CNG's
spokesperson Abdul-Azeez Suleiman said the situation in Zamfara State had
become increasingly alarming with the evident rift between the federal
government and the Zamfara State government, resulting in a repetitive cycle of
blame and counter-blame between the two parties.
According to him, the situation has
thrown the population into further confusion with the potential of exacerbating
the security challenges in the state.
The organisation said it is disheartening
to see that instead of working collaboratively to address the security issues,
both sides have resorted to pointing fingers at each other. It said the blame
game only serves to distract from finding effective solutions and undermines
the trust and confidence that the people of Zamfara desperately need from their
leaders.
He said< “The CNG was in Gusau for a
solemn purpose – to express heartfelt condolences to the government and the
people of Zamfara State following the recent security breach that shook the
Gusau University campus.
“This unfortunate incident involved the
brutal encroachment on the campus premises and the subsequent abduction of
innocent female students by heartless bandits. The general and pervasive
insecurity being experienced in Zamfara and across the Northern region are
cross-regional issues that affect every one of us, regardless of where we live
or come from.
“For this reason, the problem must be
confronted collectively with the entire will and resolve of the various levels
of government behind the effort.
“Failure to do so will indubitably mean
that every effort made in isolation will defeat all our endeavours, and render
the task more difficult and futile.
"We regret to say, until that time
when jointly developed and implemented comprehensive security strategies,
enhanced intelligence sharing, and deployment of adequate resources to tackle
the root causes of the insecurity, the dark clouds hanging over the land would
only grow darker.”
Expressing sympathy and prayers to the
families affected by the recent abduction of female students of the Federal
University Gusau, CNG extended its deepest condolences to the families
“currently enduring unimaginable pain and uncertainty as their loved ones
remain in the hands of their captors”.
The organisation further said, “We
cannot fathom the hardships and fear that these young girls are experiencing,
and it is our hope that they will be returned swiftly, alive, unharmed, and
reunited with their families.
“The abduction at the Gusau University
campus has struck at the heart of our educational institutions, places that
should serve as sanctuaries for learning and growth. Such incidents not only
disrupt the education of our youth but also instill fear and uncertainty among
parents, students, and the wider community
“The CNG views this despicable act as an
assault on the very fabric of our society. Our educational institutions should
be safe havens for learning and personal growth, free from the shadow of
violence and terror. It is deeply disturbing and disheartening to witness the
violation of such sanctuaries, where the promise of a better future is
nurtured. It is high time we acknowledge the gravity of this situation and take
decisive action.
“CNG urges the Federal and state
governments to prioritize the welfare and well-being of students and staff in
our educational institutions.
“Adequate security measures must be put
in place to safeguard these institutions, and the necessary resources allocated
to ensure their effectiveness.
"Government must also work to provide
students with the assurance of their safety by creating an environment
conducive to learning. The ongoing instability has led to numerous challenges,
including threats from insurgent groups, terrorist attacks, and communal
clashes.
"This not only poses a threat to
the lives and properties of the residents but also hampers developmental
efforts and undermines the overall peace and stability of the nation.
“We regret to note that the rampant and
brazen activities of these criminals occurring without any hindrance, even in
the presence of security personnel, indicate a deeply rooted problem of
corruption within the defense system.
“It is therefore crucial to understand
that the security challenges in Zamfara State require a unified and coordinated
effort from both the Federal Government and the Zamfara State government.
"We therefore sound a loud clarion
call on the Federal and the Zamfara State governments to exercise restraint and
the maturity expected in leaders in order to face the security challenges
head-on and ensure the safe return of the abducted students.
"We call on the government,
security agencies, and relevant stakeholders to collaborate effectively in
developing and implementing strategies that will bring an end to this cycle of violence.
It is imperative to prioritize the protection of lives and property, ensuring
that our citizens can go about their daily lives without fear and apprehension.
"It is therefore necessary for the
Zamfara state government to work closely with federal agencies responsible for
security matters, such as the police, military, and intelligence agencies. All
stakeholders should prioritize the overall safety and well-being of the people
of Zamfara State above any political differences.”
Source: saharareporters.com
Please click the following URL to read
the full text of the original
https://saharareporters.com/2023/09/26/brazen-terrorist-activities-without-hindrance-confirm-deep-rooted-corruption-nigerian
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Insecurity: Tinubu approves purchase of
12 Cayuse attack helicopters
SikiruObarayese
September 26, 2023
The Federal Government of Nigeria in
support of the operationalisation of Nigerian Army Aviation has approved the
acquisition of the initial 12 MD 530F Cayuse Attack Helicopters.
The attack helicopters will actualize
the operationalization of the Nigerian Army (NA) Aviation to effectively tackle
security challenges bedeviling the country, the Chief of Army Staff, COAS,
Lt.-Gen. TaoreedLagbaja, said at the opening of the maiden Nigerian Army Aviation
Seminar, on Tuesday in Abuja.
He said the 12 MD 530F Cayuse attack
helicopters would operationalise the Nigerian army aviation unit, which was set
up to improve ground troops’ agility, responsiveness, and efficacy during
operations.
The COAS added that it would also
contribute to the overall operational success of joint and coalition troops.
Lagbaja explained that Army aviation was
generally separate from a nation’s dedicated Airforce but usually equipped with
helicopters and light support fixed-wing aircraft.
He appreciated the president for buying
into the aspiration of the Nigerian Army to have an equipped aviation unit
which would support ground troops as they focus on tactical and operational
engagements.
According to him, the experiences of
nations like the United States, Pakistan, Colombia, Egypt, Kenya, Ethiopia, and
Uganda are instructive in this area.
The Army Chief further revealed that
since 2014, the Nigerian Army has made commendable progress in training pilots,
aircraft engineers, technicians, and other ground support crews, adding that
the Nigerian Army understands the highly technical nature of the aviation
business and the need to be appropriately mentored, hence its international
collaborations and submission of its nascent aviation outfit to the mentoring
of the Nigerian Air Force, as the Service does not have the luxury of making
mistakes when it can learn from other experienced aviation outfits.
The Army Chief noted that the Nigerian
Army Aviation is being proactive by organising the first Nigerian Army Aviation
Seminar, which is in line with his Command Philosophy of “Transforming the
Nigerian Army into a Well-trained, Equipped and Highly Motivated Force towards
achieving its Constitutional Responsibilities within a Joint Environment.”
Source: tribuneonlineng.com
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Legislative Agenda: Rising cost of
living, insecurity, other issues confronting 10th House of Reps
Bakare Majeed
September 27, 2023
“I cannot afford to continue to drive
down to work again, I have packed the car,” Saliu Muhammed, a civil servant at
Nigeria’s Ministry of Education, laments as he struggles to stretch his legs.
He is riding back home from work in the back seat of a saloon car – one of six
passengers in a vehicle designed for four passengers.
Mr Muhammed could not complain about the
overcrowded vehicle’s sitting arrangement. To get the seat, he had fought off
dozens of other people waiting for vehicles in front of the Ministry of
Education at the federal secretariat complex in Abuja. Their 58-kilometre
journey to Gwagwalada will take about one hour; so the six passengers must
endure the discomfort of being cramped in the car.
For Mr Muhammed and millions of
Nigerians, the economic realities in post-subsidy Nigeria are forcing them to
make tough choices as they await the intervention of the government. Many car
owners like Mr Mohammed have been parking their vehicles at home because of the
high cost of fuel.
On Tuesday, members of the House of
Representatives returned from a nine-week recess. Some of them who spent the
holiday in their constituencies would have witnessed first-hand the effects of the
rising cost of living spurred by the removal of petroleum subsidies and the
struggle of the naira in the foreign exchange market.
The National Assembly moved a motion on
the economic hardship before they embarked on their annual recess in July, but
the action seems not to have yielded any result. Since they left Abuja,
inflation has shut up to 25.8 per cent and a dollar now trades for about N1,000
in the parallel market.
Apart from those emergency issues, the
federal lawmakers are yet to present their legislative agenda for the session
that would enable Nigerians to access their plans for the next four years.
Presentation of a legislative agenda at the beginning of an assembly is not
mandatory but it has become a tradition of the House.
During his campaign for the speakership
seat, Mr Abbas spoke very little about his plans for the office. As a matter of
fact, he simply promised continuity of the Femi Gbajabiamila administration.
The first glimpse into his plans emerged
from his first speech after his election when he promised that the 10th House
would follow the tradition of creating a legislative agenda. He promised that
the House would focus on insecurity, economic diversification and employment
opportunities for youth.
“We shall introduce reforms and
innovations for the benefit of Nigerians. In a few weeks, we shall be reeling
out the legislative agenda that will shape the 10th House of Representatives,”
Mr Abbas said.
Over three months later, the House is
yet to roll out the agenda. However, a committee, headed by Julius Ihonvbere,
the majority leader of the House, was charged with the responsibility of
creating the agenda and is expected to submit it on Tuesday when the lawmakers
resume.
X-raying Gbajabiamila’s legislative
agenda
To project into the future of the 10th
House, it may be helpful to review the performance of the 9th House because Mr
Abbas said in his inaugural speech that the performance of the Gbajabiamila-led
House would be the benchmark for his own.
“Honourable colleagues, under my watch,
the 10th House shall sustain and even surpass the gains of the 9th House. That
is my prayer. We shall carry out the task before us jointly. We shall introduce
reforms and innovations for the benefit of Nigerians. In a few weeks, we shall
be reeling out the legislative agenda that will shape the 10th House of
Representatives,” he said after taking his seat as speaker.
The 9th House (2019-2023) under
MrGbajabiamila released a legislative agenda which had 15 issues highlighted as
priorities for the House. These include; reform of the House of
Representatives, social justice, sustainable power, environment and climate
change, economic growth, development and job creation, gender equality,
education reform, anti-corruption, security and public health.
Others are sustainable agriculture
development and food security, open government, transparency and
accountability, internally displaced persons, media for national development
and national budget reform.
Many believe that the performance of the
9th House was modest. Between 2019 and 2023, the House moved several motions on
insecurity, yet banditry and other forms of insecurity intensified during that
period and continue to thrive.
In 2020, former President Muhammadu
Buhari shunned an invitation to the House over the deteriorating security in
the country. Mr Buhari’s refusal to appear before the House provoked an uproar
in the House but no action was taken against him. Furthermore, the report of
the national security summit convened by the House was never considered by the
presidency.
On the reform of the House, the
Gbajabimaila-led House promised the digitalisation of the House and committees’
processes. It even went ahead to install gadgets in the chamber, but the
electronic voting gadget was only used once for the constitution alteration
bills. That was not a feat for the 9th House because it cannot use a voice vote
for constitution alteration, anyway.
On gender equality, the 9th House
rejected the five constitution alteration bills that sought to bridge the gender
gap in the country.
In the area of oversight, many believe
that recent unsavoury revelations from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) point
to the failure of the lawmakers to properly provide checks on the executive.
However, the House made some giant strides
in the budget cycle by maintaining the January to December cycle and also used
“legislative diplomacy” to address some industrial disputes using the
“parliamentary diplomacy schemes” coined by MrGbajabiamila. In terms of bills,
the passage of the Electoral Act, Start-up Act and the Petroleum Industry Act
by the Assembly was well received.
What to expect from the 10th House
Security—beyond motions and resolutions
In the 9th House, motions on insecurity
always appeared on the order paper – on average, they appeared daily, sometimes
more than one motion. However, the summoning of security chiefs and numerous
investigative panels had no tangible effect on the nation’s security
challenges.
This Assembly has also embarked on the
same path of summons and investigations.
Mr Abbas had in his inaugural speech
said “We will focus on strengthening our security apparatus, collaborating with
relevant stakeholders to combat insurgency, terrorism, and all forms of
criminalities. We aim to help create a safe and secure environment that fosters
economic growth and social stability.”
To Nigerians, tackling the security
situation is paramount and must go beyond motions and resolutions.
Economy and Appropriation
There is a consensus on the economy –
that it is ailing. The House is expected to play a major role in whatever
President Bola Tinubu has in stock for the economy. The president had in his
manifesto promised economic reforms that would require some changes to the
existing laws.
For instance, President Tinubu promised
to amend the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to remove bureaucratic impediments to
investments in the sector. Most of what the president plans to do may require
the approval of the legislative arm.
Nigerians believe the 9th House was
complicit in the poor management of the economy, particularly the accumulation
of debt because the Assembly approved almost every loan request by former
President Muhammadu Buhari. Hence, Nigerians will be watching how the 10th
Assembly uses its “stamp” – would it be a “rubber stamp” or “scrutinised
stamp”?
Furthermore, the 10th House will be
expected to maintain the January-December budget cycle. However, it remains
unclear if that will be possible because the executive has yet to submit the
2024 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and the Fiscal Strategy Paper) as
of September.
Anti-corruption
One of the functions of the legislature
is to combat corruption. To do this, the institution has the power to summon
individuals and entities during probes. There are concerns that successive
administrations have failed to utilise legislative oversight to check corrupt
practices. Section 88 of the 1999 Constitution gives the National Assembly the
power to investigate any issue.
However, committees set up to
investigate issues have often found themselves ensnared in corruption cases.
PREMIUM TIMES had in a recent investigation exposed how a committee of the
House tasked to probe alleged job racketeering in the federal civil service
turned into an extortion ring.
In the last assembly, several committees
that investigated corruption issues did not submit reports and there is no
record of anyone or entity that was prosecuted due to the outcome of the
probes.
Similarly, the last House failed to pass
the proceeds of crimes, whistleblower protection and witness protection bills.
Digital Parliament
MrGbajabiamila promised e-parliament on
numerous occasions. “We promised e-voting, seamlessly, the chamber is now more
or less paperless,” MrGbajabiamila said following the installation of the new
digital gadgets in the green chamber in 2020.
He added: “The whole system is based on
the fact that we will soon now be having e-voting in this chamber. Now, this
will not be applicable to all motions and bills, because we have several of
them. For those we consider to be important and of significance, we will be
adopting the e-voting system.”
Well, MrGbajabiamila’s e-parliament
gadget was never in use, as lawmakers still depend on the “papers” for running
activities of the parliament. Also, the House did not vote on any issue using
the electronic gadget, except for the constitutional bills, which are
mandatory. Therefore, Nigerians have no record of how their lawmakers voted on
most issues, and despite the available e-parliament, the “ayes” and “nays” voting
system subsists.
Ali Ahmad, a former Speaker of the Kwara
State House of Assembly and member of the 7th House of Representatives told
PREMIUM TIMES in a telephone interview that it is “unpardonable” that after 24
years of democracy, the National Assembly still does not have records of voting
on issues.
“It is not pardonable that since 1999,
we do not have e-parliament in place to know how every legislator has voted or
is voting. It is not good for research purposes, it is not good for the
development of our democracy. It is not good for representation. How would the
people that sent you to Abuja know how you voted?” Mr Ahmad said.
Mr Abbas on the other hand did not make
any promise regarding e-parliament. So far, there is no sign that he and the
House are interested in e-voting. But it may be too early to judge the 10th
House because they are currently in a makeshift chamber due to the ongoing
renovation of the chambers of the National Assembly.
The two chambers are expected to be
equipped with a digital system that will aid e-voting. However, the obstacle to
e-voting seems not to be technology but a lack of political will. This is
because the adoption of e-voting on all bills may expose the lawmakers to
issues around the quorum. The quorum of the National Assembly is one-third of
all members which is 120 members for the House of Representatives. However, if
voting is done on legislation, Nigerians will realise that most of their
representatives are absent when vital issues are being deliberated.
Mr Ahmad said the fear on the issue of
quorum should not stop the lawmakers from adopting e-voting because “members
are aware of the order paper. Every day the order paper is sent to members. You
scan and look at it, and if you have an issue that is of important value to
your constituency, you will be there. If you are not there, you are on your
own.”
While Nigerians await the development of
e-voting, many would make do with a functioning website that has details of
activities of the National Assembly and other resources like votes and
proceedings, order papers, bills, and motions. As of now, Nigerians depend on
third parties for details of the activities of the National Assembly.
Gender Bills
Last year, five gender-related bills
were rejected by each chamber of the National Assembly during the
constitutional amendment exercise. Despite the protests by women’s groups, the
bills died without any significant effort to revive them.
But there appears to be some room for
optimism because President Tinubu, in his Renewed Hope manifesto, promised to
work with the National Assembly on affirmative action bills. Perhaps the
involvement of the president may help with the passage of the bill.
QueenEstherIroanusi, the political and
development adviser at the Norwegian Embassy in Abuja, said the gender bills
may scale through if the president invests sufficient political capital.
“I am a bit hopeful. One, the First Lady
is a former senator. Hence, he could leverage some political network within the
National Assembly to convince some of her old colleagues.
“Secondly, the current Assembly has a
cordial relationship with the Executive, therefore, we can only hope that they
will use the influence of the good of these bills,” MsIroanusi said.
Feminist Lab, a coalition of gender
advocates, also called on the 10th House to pass bills on gender.
Andrea Kwen of Feminist Lab, who spoke
with PREMIUM TIMES, said bills must not enshrine nepotism.
“We anticipate a more proactive approach
to reforming the entry points for women into public leadership roles. This
should extend beyond individuals loyal to the government. Rather, it should
prioritise qualified women who are genuinely committed to improving the lives
of everyday Nigerian women. A critical avenue for achieving this goal is for
the 10th Assembly to give strong consideration and affirmative support to the
passage of popular gender bills,” she said.
Amendment of the 2022 Electoral Act and
Restructuring
The 2022 Electoral Act has been praised
for some of the improvements in the electoral process, particularly the use of
technology. However, post-election litigations have raised a number of issues
that may require the National Assembly to amend the Act using the lessons and
gains of the 2023 general election.
Also, the last administration made some
progress in the devolution of power to the states. The last alteration moved
some items from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent list which
means that both the federal and state governments can act on such matters.
Electricity, trains and prisons were moved to the concurrent list. Meanwhile,
proponents of restructuring/fiscal federalism may see this moment as an ideal
time to push for more devolution of power because of the history of the current
president on restructuring. MrTinubu when he was Lagos governor, was a major
proponent of restructuring.
To achieve further devolution, the
National Assembly must be at the forefront because it requires a constitutional
amendment, an endeavour that must start from the two chambers.
The 10th House and Mr Abbas have four
years to achieve all these. However, millions of Nigerians are looking to Mr
Abbas and his colleagues to hit the ground running when they come back from
their long holiday.
Source: premiumtimesng.com
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At Eid-el-Maulud, Tinubu, Shettima,
Atiku, Sanwo-Olu, Makinde Felicitate Muslims
September 27, 2023
President Bola Tinubu, Vice President
KashimShettima, former Vice President AtikuAbubakar, Governor of Lagos State, BabajideSanwo-Olu
and his Oyo State counterpart, SeyiMakinde, have congratulated Muslims in
Nigeria and beyond on this year’s Eid-el-Maulud celebration, charging them to
live by the teachings of Prophet Muhammad.
The sent their felicitations in separate
statements yesterday.
The president, in a statement issued by his Media Adviser, AjuriNgelale, said
beyond celebrating the day marking the birthday of the Holy Prophet, the period
should be used for deep introspection and fervent prayers.
“Adherents should make deliberate
efforts to adhere to the teachings of Prophet Muhammad. There are great lessons
of devotion, perseverance, tolerance, humility and selflessness that we can all
learn from the life of the Prophet,” he said.
Tinubu urged religious leaders to use
the period to pray for the country and to admonish their followers to take the
appropriate lessons from Prophet Muhammad’s life in their commitment to the
country.
According to him: “Nigeria has arrived
at an important juncture. While the government is taking all necessary measures
to make the country secure and economically viable, we need the full support of
the citizenry in the form of patriotism, patience, and prayers. The light is
certainly bright at the end of the tunnel.”
Tinubu also urged Muslims celebrating
the Maulud festival to extend their hand of fellowship to the needy and vulnerable
in the spirit of the season while praying for the country and her leaders at
all levels.
Also, Shettima has charged Nigerians to
keep faith with the ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ of President Bola Tinubu’s
government.
In an Eid-el-Maulud message personally signed
by him, the vice president stated, inter alia: “I wish all Muslims happy and
remarkable Eid- el-Maulud celebrations to mark the birth of the Holy Prophet
Muhammad ( Peace be upon him) whose teachings, predominantly on tolerance,
sacrifice, peaceful coexistence, abstinence, honesty and generosity are
engraved in our hearts. The universal truth of the values the Great Prophet
stood for remain unmovable.
“As we harp on this memorable occasion
to reflect on whatever temporary challenges we may be facing, I implore all
Nigerians to keep faith with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed
Tinubu’s administration, which is targeted at making a difference in the lives
of our people.
“We are all part of the vision of a
better Nigeria, and we must show astounding resilience in the responsibility of
building the Nigeria of our dreams.
“I believe strongly, that with mutual
commitment and joint efforts, we will
surmount every setback and collectively walk and march hand in hand our great
nation to its rightful place and position amongst comity of nations.”
Atiku, who was the presidential
candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 election, urged Muslims
to emulate the examples of the noble Prophet Muhammed (SAW) through upholding
teachings of honesty, forbearance, tolerance and commitment to peace.
The former Vice President also said it
was important for religious leaders to use their positions of influence to
spread unity, tolerance, and love for other people of different faiths.
He called on Nigerians not to despair
amidst the uncertainties and difficulties they may be going through at the
moment, but to be prepared to join hands with other compatriots in the task to
reposition and rebuild the country of our dream by manifesting the virtues of compassion
and commitment to peace.
“To celebrate the noble Prophet today is
to acknowledge the positive impact that his teachings brought to us as Muslim
faithful and also sign on to the commitment of following his footsteps
“Therefore, as we celebrate Prophet
Muhammed (SAW) today, it is an opportunity to rededicate ourselves to the
ideals of peaceful co-existence and the absolute submission to the will of the
Almighty,” Atiku said.
For his part, Sanwo-Olu implored
Nigerians, particularly the Muslim faithful to continue on the path of love,
peace, unity, harmony and tolerance in line with the teachings of the Holy
Prophet Mohammed (PBUH).
Sanwo-Olu, in a statement issued by his
Chief Press Secretary, Mr. GboyegaAkosile, also called on Muslims to work with
other religious denominations for peace and sustainable growth and development
of Lagos State.
He said: “I rejoice with millions of
people around the world, particularly Muslim brothers and sisters in Lagos
State and Nigeria on the occasion of this year’s Eid-el-Maulud, which is the
celebration of the birthday of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
“As we celebrate the birth of Prophet Muhammad
today, let us continue to pray and work together for peace in our dear Lagos
State and Nigeria. Let us contribute our quota to the growth and development of
Lagos State by supporting the incumbent administration to achieve the Lagos of
our dreams.
“I want to use this medium to reassure
Lagos residents of our administration’s commitment to the delivery of dividends
of democracy, good governance and people-oriented programmes through the
THEMES+ developmental agenda for Greater Lagos.”
Similarly, Makinde called on the Muslim
Ummah in Oyo State to continue to pray for the leadership of the country and
the state.
Makinde, who charged the Muslim Ummah to
use the blessedness of the occasion to seek the face of Allah for the country
and Oyo State, commended them for their support for his administration.
He said: “I congratulate my brothers and
sisters in Islam on witnessing the 12th of Rabi’ al-Awwal, the blessed day in
which the Holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) was born.
“This is another opportunity for us to
reflect on the majesty of Allah and the favour He bestowed on Prophet Muhammad
(S.A.W) among all his prophets and to use the blessings of the period to make
supplications for our country and our state.
“As an administration, we value the
support and prayers of the Muslim Ummah in Oyo State and we have continued to
see the results of their prayers.
“As we move on in our efforts to develop
our state sustainably, we will continue to need the prayers and support and we
will never take them for granted. Eid Mubarak to everyone.”
Source: thisdaylive.com
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North America
Syria slams US ‘terrorist war’ in UN
address
September 26, 2023
NEW YORK: The US launching a “terrorist
war” in Syria has led to “creative American chaos” and destabilization in the
Middle East, Syria’s vice foreign minister told the UN General Assembly on
Tuesday.
Bassam Sabbagh, who previously served as
Syria’s permanent representative to the UN, condemned the policies of successive
US administrations “to serve geopolitical and selfish interests” and “work to
create and exaggerate problems to ignite tensions and then conflicts.”
The world is facing myriad challenges,
he said, listing “devastating conflicts,” the “continued occupation of some
peoples,” “sharp rises in poverty and hunger” and “economic blockade policies.”
Confronting these challenges requires
global cooperation among all UN member states and the building of a “new
multipolar world order that achieves a new balance,” he added.
Sabbagh accused the US of
misinterpreting the UN Charter to “justify attacks committed against the
sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of other countries.”
This led to Washington spending
“billions of dollars” to “demolish and destroy development achievements (in
Syria) made over decades,” he said.
The emergence of terrorist groups,
including Daesh and Al-Nusra Front, can also be blamed on “creative American
chaos,” Sabbagh added.
“The basic principle affirmed by the UN
Charter is respect for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity
of member states,” he said.
“Therefore, any acquisition of the lands
of others by force is an occupation, and any illegal military presence on the
territory of any sovereign state is a clear violation of this charter.”
He named Israel, the US and Turkiye as
the chief exponents of territory violation, saying the activities of the former
in Palestine are “consistent with the destructive role” played by the latter
two in Syria.
Damascus “spares no effort” in “standing
alongside the brotherly Palestinian people,” Sabbagh said, defining the issue
as “the central Arab cause.”
He condemned Israel’s occupation of
“Arab lands in Palestine and the Syrian Golan” since 1967, demanding that it
end “immediately and unconditionally.”
As part of its occupation, Israel is
committing the “most heinous forms of grave and systematic violations” of the
UN Charter, Sabbagh said.
Israel’s actions this year have pushed
the region to “unprecedented levels of tension and instability,” he added,
naming a litany of policies targeting Palestinians as well as Syrians in the
Golan Heights.
“This is evident in it (Israel)
committing more massacres, the escalation of its military aggression, and its
repeated missile bombing of Syrian cities, ports and civil airports, which
endangered civilian lives and the safety of civil aviation, and hampered United
Nations humanitarian operations,” he said.
“This is in addition to its continuation
of policies of settlement, Judaization, sieges, arbitrary arrest, forced
displacement and racial discrimination in the occupied Arab territories.”
Sabbagh also denounced the “continued
support for such practices and silence about them” by some countries that
“declare themselves protectors of international humanitarian law.”
He repeated Syria’s support for an
independent Palestinian state along the June 1967 borders and the return of the
Golan Heights to Syria, “no matter how long it takes.”
He accused the US of causing $115
billion in losses to Syria’s oil sector since 2011. This “systematic and
exposed American plunder of the Syrian people’s national wealth” also included
gas and wheat, and has led to deprivation and human suffering in an
“unprecedented manner,” Sabbagh said.
He urged the UN to meet its obligation
in holding the US accountable for the “looted money,” demanding its return to
Syria.
As well as siphoning wealth, Sabbagh
accused both the US and Turkiye of “infiltrating” Syrian territory and
launching an illegal military presence as part of a “flagrant interference” in
his country’s internal affairs.
Syria is seeking an end to the
“unilateral coercive measures” of the US and its European allies, including
sanctions on the “public health, banking and energy sectors.”
These “illegal, immoral and inhumane”
measures have only “exacerbated the suffering of Syrians wherever they are,
given that their impact includes third countries,” Sabbagh said.
The devastating earthquakes in Syria
this year added “a new burden and suffering” for its people, he added, saying
Damascus has tried to open all aid tracks for the arrival of humanitarian
relief.
“Syria was one of the most stable and
prosperous countries in the world. It was achieving food self-sufficiency and
providing all the basic necessities of life for its people in a way that was
rarely seen in the region,” Sabbagh said.
“However, the terrorist war launched
against it since 2011 changed this situation and caused a significant
humanitarian crisis.”
He thanked UN Secretary-General Antonio
Guterres for launching a flash funding appeal in the wake of the earthquakes,
but called on international donors to fulfill their funding pledges in order to
improve the humanitarian situation.
Sabbagh declared Syria’s readiness to
“welcome the return of every Syrian refugee who left their home, village or
city” since 2011, including citizens “who were forced by terrorist organizations
to seek refuge.
“I call on Western countries that ask
refugees not to return to their homeland to stop these inhumane practices.”
He hailed the achievements of the Arab
League Summit in Jeddah in May, which “restored to the collective Arab position
its shine, and to Arab joint action its momentum.
“The Arab countries affirmed their
support for Syria in preserving its sovereignty … and overcoming the difficult
circumstances it’s going through.”
Sabbagh also expressed Syria’s “support
and solidarity” with Libya and Morocco in the wake of the recent natural
disasters in the two North African countries.
He ended his address by calling for the
UNGA to be used as a platform for “dialogue and public diplomacy,” not for
“leveling false accusations and launching hostile campaigns.”
Working to translate the UNGA slogan of
“Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity” into “real and serious
action” will ensure no one is left behind, Sabbagh said.
Source: arabnews.com
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CAIR-MI Announces Settlement with
Detroit Police Department for Discriminatory Arrest of 3 Muslim Men
Ibrahim Hooper
September 26, 2023
(CANTON, MI, 9/26/2023) – The Michigan
chapter of Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI). a local chapter of
the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today
announced a settlement has been reached with the city of Detroit for the
discriminatory arrest of three Muslim men in 2020.
In 2021, CAIR-MI filed a lawsuit in the
Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan alleging that two
city of Detroit Police officers falsely arrested three Muslim men after making
bigoted and Islamophobic comments about Muslims.
In the lawsuit, CAIR-MI alleged that one
of the Detroit Police Officers was heard on body camera footage claiming that
“Muslim’s lie a lot,” that “Muslim men are pedophiles,” and making other
comments indicating that Muslim men were controlling of women before saying
that he was going to arrest the three men and allow someone else to figure out
what was going on.
Prior to their arrest, the men had
called 911 to seek assistance from Detroit Police and Detroit EMS with a woman
who was believed to be having a mental health crisis and had become violent,
but instead were arrested with what appears to be no probable cause. After
their arrest, the three men spent three days in the Detroit Detention Center
awaiting a charging decision from the prosecutor’s office. In the end, Wayne
County Prosecutor’s office refused to bring charges against any of the three
men and they were released.
“CAIR-MI is happy to announce that it
has reached a full and satisfactory settlement with the City of Detroit for the
wrongful arrest of these Muslim men that includes monetary compensation,” said
CAIR-MI’s Executive Director, Dawud Walid. “With this settlement, we hope that
the City of Detroit will take the necessary steps and provide the appropriate
training to its officers to ensure that no one is ever again arrested based on
stereotypes surrounding their faith.”
“When citizens of Detroit are in
distress and call 911, they should be able to do so without fear that they will
be profiled and wrongfully arrested based on the bigotry of a responding
officer who took an oath to protect and serve the whole community regardless of
faith,” said CAIR-MI Staff Attorney, Amy V. Doukoure. “Biased policing does not
make any community safer, but instead sows the seeds of mistrust between the
police and the community that they serve.”
Washington, D.C., based CAIR offers a
booklet, “A Law Enforcement Official’s Guide to The Muslim Community,” designed
to assist law enforcement officials in forming and implementing policies to
create a culturally aware environment and cooperative relationship between
American Muslims and law enforcement agencies.
CAIR’s mission is to protect civil
rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American
Muslims.
La misión de CAIR esproteger las
libertadesciviles, mejorar la comprensión del Islam, promover la justicia, y
empoderar a losmusulmanesenlosEstadosUnidos.
Source: cair.com
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https://www.cair.com/press_releases/breaking-cair-mi-announces-settlement-with-detroit-police-department-for-discriminatory-arrest-of-3-muslim-men/
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US judge drops charges against police
officer in motorist's death
27 Sep 2023
NEW YORK, Sept 27, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - A
court in Philadelphia on Tuesday dismissed murder charges against a police
officer who fatally shot a motorist during a traffic stop last month, an
incident that was captured in bodycam footage.
Mark Dial had been charged with murder
and intentional homicide in the August 14 shooting of Eddie Irizarry, 27.
But on Tuesday, Municipal Court Judge
Wendy Pew sided with Dial's attorneys, who argued that Dial had acted in
self-defense, and dismissed all the charges against him.
Controversy over the use of firearms by
police in the United States during contentious traffic stops is widespread,
with officers routinely saying they have acted in self-defense to avoid
charges.
Videos taken from law enforcement
bodycams are rarely immediately made public, and prosecutions on murder charges
are equally uncommon.
In Irizarry's case, the bodycam footage
begins with the officers following him in their car before the two vehicles
stop side by side.
The officers then approach Irizarry --
in the driver's seat of his sedan -- on foot and with their firearms in hand.
Soon after, a man can be heard shouting
"I'm going to shoot you," followed by six shots being fired at the
front window of Irizarry's car.
The two officers are then seen walking
around the vehicle, one of them still pointing his gun, and opening the doors.
The victim can be seen bleeding in his seat.
The wounded man is then dragged out of
his car and lifted by his arms and legs before being placed in the police SUV.
He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
The District Attorney's office said it
disagreed with the court's decision and promised to appeal it.
"In keeping with our oath to seek
justice, we will move to have all criminal charges, including Murder,
reinstated against this defendant," it said in a statement.
Source: bssnews.net
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https://www.bssnews.net/news/149475
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Trump ‘liable for fraud’ for lying about
net worth
September 27, 2023
NEW YORK: Donald Trump and his family
business were found liable for fraud on Tuesday by a New York judge in state
Attorney General Letitia James’ civil lawsuit, accusing the former US president
of illegally inflating his assets and net worth.
The decision was issued by Justice
Arthur Engoron of the New York state court in Manhattan.
James sued Trump in Sept 2022, accusing
him and the Trump Organisation of lying for a decade about asset values and his
net worth to get better terms on bank loans and insurance.
She has said Trump inflated his net
worth by as much as $2.23 billion, and by one measure as much as $3.6 billion,
on annual financial statements given to banks and insurers. The attorney
general said the assets whose values were inflated included Trump’s Mar-a-Lago
estate in Florida, his penthouse apartment in Manhattan’s Trump Tower, and
various office buildings and golf courses.
Lawyers for Trump and the other
defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A Trump spokesperson also did not
immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling.
Engoron said James had established
liability for false valuations of several properties, including Mar-a-Lago and
the penthouse, and chided Trump for offering defenses in a deposition that were
“wholly without basis in law or fact.”
“He claims that if the values of the
property have gone up in the years since the (financial statements) were
submitted, then the numbers were not inflated at that time,” Engoron wrote.
“He also seems to imply that the numbers
cannot be inflated be-cause he could find a ‘buyer from Saudi Arabia’ to pay
any price he suggests.”
A trial is scheduled for Oct 2, and
could last well into December. The ruling by Judge Engoron is being seen a
setback for the former president ahead of the trial, due to begin on Monday.
Source: dawn.com
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1778106/trump-liable-for-fraud-for-lying-about-net-worth
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Exploiting a "Vast Jihad
Arena":
Aaron Y. Zelin, Sarah Cahn
Sep 26, 2023
In April, Islamic State fighters in Mali
seized villages surrounding the city of Menaka, marking the group’s first
territorial conquest since losing its final Syrian foothold in 2019. The human
cost of these advances has been steep. By May, at least 150,000 individuals had
reportedly been displaced, and civilians have been subjected to targeted
killings, kidnappings, and looting. The offensive occurred amid a string of
regional of security setbacks: namely, France’s August 2022 military withdrawal
(which followed the Malian junta’s expressed preference for Russia’s Wagner
Group), the April 2023 dissolution of the UN mission in Mali, and the junta’s
decision earlier this month to form a tripartite alliance with Burkina Faso and
Niger, thereby undermining the French-led G5 Sahel framework designed to thwart
jihadist actors in the region.
In this amply illustrated Policy Note,
Aaron Zelin and Sarah Cahn explain that while the United States may have
limited room for maneuver in Mali today, it can promote regional stability and
U.S. national interests by pursuing further sanctions against local Islamic
State officials and exploring constructive arrangements with nearby African
states.
Source: washingtoninstitute.org
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https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/exploiting-vast-jihad-arena-islamic-state-takes-territory-mali
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US calls on Azerbaijan to safeguard
Armenians as thousands flee Karabakh
September 26, 2023
BAKU:Hungry and exhausted Armenian
families jammed roads to flee homes in the defeated breakaway enclave of
Nagorno-Karabakh, while the United States called on Azerbaijan to protect
civilians and let in aid.
The Armenians of Karabakh - part of
Azerbaijan beyond Baku's control since the dissolution of the Soviet Union -
began fleeing this week after their forces were routed in a lightning military
operation by Azerbaijan's military.
At least 13,550 of the 120,000 ethnic
Armenians who call Nagorno-Karabakh home arrived in Armenia on the first day of
the exodus, with hundreds of cars and buses crammed with belongings snaking
down the mountain road out of Azerbaijan.
Some fled packed into the back of
open-topped trucks, others on tractors. Grandmother of four NarineShakaryan
arrived in her son-in-law’s old car with 6 people packed inside. The 77km drive
had taken 24 hours, she said. They had no food.
"The whole way the children were
crying, they were hungry,” Shakaryan told Reuters at the border, carrying her
3-year old granddaughter, who she said had become ill during the journey.
"We left so we would stay alive,
not to live."
As Armenians rushed to leave the
Karabakh capital, known as Stepanakert by Armenia and Khankendi by Azerbaijan,
fuel stations were overwhelmed by panic buying. The authorities there said at
least 20 people were killed and 290 injured in a massive blaze when a fuel
storage facility blew up on Monday.
US Agency for International Development
(USAID) chief Samantha Power, in the Armenian capital Yerevan, called on
Azerbaijan "to maintain the ceasefire and take concrete steps to protect
the rights of civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh."
Power, who earlier handed Armenian Prime
Minister NikolPashinyan a letter of support from U.S. President Joe Biden, said
Azerbaijan's use of force was unacceptable and that Washington was looking at
an appropriate response.
She called on Azerbaijan's President
IlhamAliyev to live up to his promise to protect ethnic Armenian rights, fully
reopen the Lachin corridor that connects the region to Armenia and let in aid
deliveries and an international monitoring mission.
Aliyev has pledged to guarantee the
safety of Karabakh's Armenians but said his iron fist had consigned the idea of
the region's independence to history.
'Nowhere to go'
Ethnic Armenians who managed to get to
Armenia gave harrowing accounts of fleeing death, war and hunger.
Some said they saw many dead civilians -
one said truckloads. Others, some with young children, broke down in tears as
they described a tragic odyssey of running from war, sleeping on the ground and
with hunger churning in their bellies.
"We took what we could and left. We
don’t know where we’re going. We have nowhere to go," PetyaGrigoryan, a
69-year-old driver, told Reuters in the border town of Goris on Sunday.
Reuters was unable to independently
verify accounts of the military operation inside Karabakh. Azerbaijan has said
it targeted only Karabakh fighters.
USAID's Power said the world would learn
more soon about the severity of conditions in Karabakh and what people had gone
through there that had prompted them to leave.
Balance of Power
The Azerbaijani victory changes the
balance of power in the South Caucasus region, a patchwork of ethnicities
crisscrossed with oil and gas pipelines where Russia, the United States, Turkey
and Iran are jostling for influence.
Since the breakup of the Soviet Union,
Armenia had relied on a security partnership with Russia, while Azerbaijan grew
close to Turkey, with which it shares linguistic and cultural ties.
Armenia has lately sought closer ties
with the West and blames Russia, which had peacekeepers in Karabakh but is now
preoccupied with the war in Ukraine, for failing to protect Karabakh. Moscow
denies blame and has told Pashinyan that he is making a big mistake by flirting
with the United States.
Aliyev hinted on Monday at the prospect
of creating a land corridor to Turkey across Armenia.
Anatoly Antonov, the Russian ambassador
to the United States, told Washington to stop stoking anti-Russian sentiment in
Armenia.
Source: tribune.com.pk
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https://tribune.com.pk/story/2437912/us-calls-on-azerbaijan-to-safeguard-armenians-as-thousands-flee-karabakh
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Arab World
Houthi: Yemen will use all legal means
to end Saudi-led war if peace talks fail
27 September 2023
The leader of Yemen’s Ansarullah
resistance movement says the Sana’a-based National Salvation Government will
employ all available legal means to end the Saudi-led aggression and occupation
of the Arab country in case the ongoing talks in Riyadh fail to bear any fruit.
“We will continue our efforts to put an
end to the aggression, siege and occupation [of Yemen] through all legitimate
means. If the negotiations do not succeed, our people reserve the right to
employ all available resources to end the various forms of onslaught against
Yemen,” Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said in a televised speech broadcast live late on
Tuesday.
He stated that Muslims are facing the
grave danger of getting under the complete sway of the enemies of Islam. It is,
therefore, necessary for Muslims to attach firmly to the Holy Qur’an and
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
Houthi added, “The Zionist lobby,
spearheaded by the United States and the Israeli regime, together with certain
European countries and their vassal states, are trying to influence Muslims.”
Yemen’s Ansarullah resistance movement
says Saudi Arabia and its allies continue to violate the terms of a UN-brokered
truce.
He noted that the enemies are
manipulating the teachings and educational materials of Arab and Muslim
countries, pointing to Saudi Arabia as one of the states that have removed
verses of the Holy Qur’an from school textbooks in order to delight Zionists.
The Ansarullah chief further argued that
the main goal of the ongoing soft war is to dominate all aspects of the Muslim
world, making it absolutely necessary for the Islamic Ummah to converge in
order to restore its leading role in the world.
“The Islamic Ummah can regain its
freedom and dignity through stronger attachment to the Holy Qur’an and Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH), and liberating itself from any kind of dependency,” Houthi
said.
The Ansarullah leader went on to
highlight the financial woes of the Yemeni people, stating that Sana’a is
determined to implement radical changes and fundamental reforms in this regard.
All issues were discussed during the
latest talks between Yemen’s Ansarullah resistance movement and Saudi Arabia
but the focus was on humanitarian issues, says a Yemeni journalist.
Radical change must be accompanied by a
popular process to change the current situation, Houthi said, adding that such
a change requires all-out efforts of everyone.
He underscored that Yemeni armed forces
have gained such a high level of defense power that it surprises the enemies,
even though the latter possesses sophisticated air missile systems. Yemeni military
units can now strike strategic targets deep inside Saudi Arabia and the United
Arab Emirates.
“Enemies want to spread a sense of
alienation among the Yemeni nation, and steal their identity as they attempt to
bring the people under their control,” Houthi said.
Source: presstv.ir
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https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2023/09/27/711604/Houthi-Yemen-use-legal-means-end-Saudi-led-aggression
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25 dead in fierce new fighting in
DeirEzzor
September 27, 2023
JEDDAH: At least 25 people have died in
two days of fierce clashes between fighters loyal to the Assad regime and
Kurdish-led forces in the Dheiban area of DeirEzzor province in eastern Syria.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces
said they had “driven out the regime gunmen who had infiltrated the area” after
gun battles erupted on Monday.
At least 90 people were killed in the
same area this month in 10 days of fighting between the SDF and armed Arab
tribesmen.
Britain-based monitor the Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights said the latest clashes erupted when pro-regime
fighters crossed the Euphrates river, which separates their positions in
southwestern DeirEzzor from the SDF in the northeast. It said 21 of the dead
were regime loyalists and three were SDF fighters. A woman was also killed.
The SDF said the loyalist fighters had
crossed the Euphrates “under cover of an indiscriminate bombardment”of its
positions. The SDF responded by bombarding the right bank of the river, which
is controlled by regimetroops with support from Iran-backed militias.
The Kurds form a majority in the core
areas of SDF control in northeastern and northern Syria. But in several areas
that they captured in their campaign against Daesh, Arabs form the majority.
According to the Observatory, which has
a wide network of sources inside Syria, some of the Arab fighters who fled to
government-held territory after the previous clashes took part in this week’s
assault.
The SDF was Washington’s main Syrian
ally in its fightback against Daesh, which culminated in the militants’defeat
in their last Syrian foothold on the left bank of the Euphrates in 2019.
Source: arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2381096/middle-east
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12th Conference of Ministers of Culture
in the Islamic World wraps up in Doha
26 Sep 2023 -
Doha, Qatar: The 12th Conference of
Ministers of Culture in the Islamic World wrapped up on Tuesday in Doha,
following two days of deliberations under the theme of 'Toward renewing
cultural action in the Islamic world'.
Following the conclusion of the event
hosted by the State of Qatar's Ministry of Culture and organized by Islamic
World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO), the conferees
sent a letter of thanks and appreciation to HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad
Al Thani, extolling His Highness' unrelented support for joint Islamic action
in culture and beyond to further serve sustainable development in the Islamic
world.
The participating ministers, high-level
officials, and representatives of international organizations and institutions,
seize the opportunity to express deep appreciation to HH the Amir Sheikh Tamim
bin Hamad Al Thani for His Highness' efforts in developing national cultural
work, promoting cultural industries, disseminating the concept of public art
and making it available to the public, and highlighting the State of Qatar's
culture and heritage that achieved global influence, said the letter read out
by Director-General of ICESCO HE Dr. Salim bin Mohammed Al Malik.
The conferees highlighted the dazzling
success of the Celebration of Doha as the Arab Region's Capital of Islamic
Culture for 2021, and the multiple activities associated with FIFA World Cup
Qatar 2022 that merged sports with culture and introduced authentic cultural
values of the State of Qatar and the entire Islamic world.
Source: thepeninsulaqatar.com
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https://thepeninsulaqatar.com/article/26/09/2023/12th-conference-of-ministers-of-culture-in-the-islamic-world-wraps-up-in-doha
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Saudi crown prince offers condolences to
Bahrain king over military deaths
September 27, 2023
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed
bin Salman made a phone call to Bahrain King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the
Saudi Press Agency reported early Wednesday.
The crown prince offered condolences
over the two Bahraini military personnel killed near the southern Saudi border
with Yemen and wished the injured a speedy recovery.
King Hamad expressed his thanks and
appreciation for the crown prince and affirmed that Bahrain is proud of the two
soldiers, who were carrying out their national duties.
The bodies of the fallen servicemen
Lieutenant Mubarak Hashel Zayed Al-Kubaisi and Corporal Yaqoub Rahmat Moulai
Mohammed arrived on Monday at the Isa Air Base on board a Royal Bahraini Air
Force aircraft, the Bahrain New Agency said.
Bahrain’s military command said a drone
attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels killed the two Bahraini soldiers — one of them
an officer — at Saudi Arabia’s southern border early Monday. The soldiers had
been patrolling the area.
Earlier, Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry
voiced its “condemnation and denunciation” of the “treacherous attack on the
defense force of the Kingdom of Bahrain stationed on the southern border of the
Kingdom, which resulted in the martyrdom of a number of its brave soldiers and
the injury of others.”
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia stands by
Bahrain and renews its stance of rejection to the continued flow of weapons to
the terrorist Houthi militia as well as calls to ban arms export to Yemeni
territories,” it said.
Source: arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2381101/saudi-arabia
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The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques
Congratulates Chairman of Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council on September
26 Anniversary
26 Sep, 2023
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King
Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has sent a cable of congratulations to Chairman of
the Presidential Leadership Council of the Republic of Yemen Dr. Rashad Mohamed
Al-Alimi on his country’s September 26 anniversary.
The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques wished
Al-Alimi continued good health and happiness, and the government and people of
Yemen further security and stability.
Source: alriyadhdaily.com
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http://alriyadhdaily.com/article/c12ea922c55243b38007d3fbac59c6e6
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/hate-speech-hindutva-watch-india/d/130769