India’s Faith-Based Test for Citizenship‘Clearly Discriminates Against Muslims’: - Meenakshi Ganguly, Deputy Director at HRW’s Asia Division

New Age Islam News Bureau

09 July 2024

All Assam Students Union (AASU) members take out a torch procession to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Guwahati, India, March 12, 2024.

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·         India’s Faith-Based Test for Citizenship‘Clearly Discriminates Against Muslims’: - Meenakshi Ganguly, Deputy Director at HRW’s Asia Division

·         Hate Incidents Against Jews, Muslims Jump In 2024, But Overall Numbers Down: Ottawa Police

·         Qatar Slams Racism Against Migrants, Muslim Minorities In Some Countries

·         Opposition Parties in Maharashtra Want Minority Votes, But Doesn’t Want To Give Community Representation: Muslim Activists

·         Jokowi and Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar Address Extremism and Islamophobia

 

South Asia

·         Standard building to be provided for Kandahar’s Museum

·         Changes in Emirati administrations indicate firm counter-corruption effort

·         China-Tajikistan-Afghanistan corridor; a new transit route towards regional trade

·         Deputy PM Kabir Affirms Support for Education in Meeting with Professors and Writers

·         UNICEF concerned over increase in mental health disorders among children in Afghanistan

·         UN refugee chief discusses Afghan refugee situation with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz

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North America

·         Pakistani People Suffered Greatly at Hands of Terrorists: US State Dept

·         Muslim Prayers at Uvic Multifaith Centre Cancelled After Threatening Notes

·         Lino Lakes City Council Pauses Muslim-Focused Housing Development Amid Public Pushback

·         3 juveniles shot outside Louisville mosque was ‘not a hate crime’

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Mideast

·         Islamic Resistance announces targeting Zionist military sites on Lebanese border

·         Israeli forces push deeper into Gaza City as Hamas warns that escalation threatens ceasefire talks

·         Domestic and foreign funds lift QSE 34 points; Islamic equities continue to outperform

·         Three Gazans found dead after release from Israeli custody, relative and witness say

·         Israel’s Holocaust memorial opens a conservation facility to store artifacts, photos and more

·         US not expecting policy change from Iran under new president

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India

·         TrinamulMP Mahua Moitra Shows Union Minister 'Letter On Beef', Accusing Him Of Issuing "Passes" To Smugglers

·         Alipore Museum’s tribute to the ‘rebel poet’ Kabi Nazrul Islam on his 125th birth anniversary

·         Shia-Sunni sect leaders ask Muslims in J&K to maintain harmony during Muharram

·         Army troops fire at Pakistani drone along LoC in J-K’s Poonch

·         4 soldiers dead in militant ambush on Army convoy in Jammu’s Kathua

·         Kathua Terror Attack: Farooq Abdullah Urges Pakistan To 'Stop Terrorism'

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Southeast Asia

·         Melaka Government To Look Into Volume Of Mosque Loudspeakers

·         Malaysia’s desire to join BRICS is not to interfere in domestic, political affairs of countries involved - PM

·         Malaysia can become partner country of BRICS first - PM Anwar

·         Buddha statue find offers insights into ancient Kedah

·         Indian community not neglected, says PM Anwar

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Africa

·         SAMOA Agreement: Nigeria Does Not Recognize LGBTQ Rights – NBA Clarifies

·         Ugandan Court Remands Man Accused of Supporting Rebels Linked To Islamic State

·         Army Denies Running Only Islamic Schools, Says Story Meant to Push Religious Bigotry

·         Bandits In Hijab Kidnap 25 In Katsina State

·         The 39 Anti-LGBTQ+ Countries Including An Islamic Republic That Signed Samoa Agreement

·         Two homemade bombs thrown at Durban North Mosque

·         Ekiti Muslims Urged To Participate In Grassroots Politics

·         “My biggest prayer is to understand the Muslim faith” – Tonto Dikeh

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Pakistan

·         ‘National Security Under Threat’ From X: Ministry Of Interior

·         PM urges UN for playing role to address Afghan refugees’ issues

·         Pakistan, Iran vow to strengthen bilateral ties in diverse fields

·         Probe underway as TTP claims responsibility for DSP’s murder

·         Bohra Muharram congregations begin with Syedna’s address

·         KP residents in cross hairs of terrorists: ANP

·         President approves Election Amendment Bill 2024

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Europe

·         Islamic Finance Start-Up Ethos Taps Thought Machine For Core Banking Tech

·         Who are the grassroots Muslim groups with an eye on Labour seats?

·         Orban not enough to ‘end this war’ – Zelensky

·         Russia takes out three US-made Ukrainian missile systems – MOD

·         NATO threatening global peace and stability – China

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Arab World

·         Riyadh Forum Discusses Importance Of Media

·         Private museums unlock the past in Saudi Arabia’s north

·         KSrelief supports vulnerable people in Sudan, Yemen and Jordan

·         Saudi authorities arrest 4 in drug busts

·         KSrelief, EU officials discuss aid cooperation

·         Saudi consulate in Houston issues Storm Beryl advisory

Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau

URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-world-news/india-citizenship-muslims-meenakshi-ganguly/d/132667

 

India’sFaith-Based Test for Citizenship‘Clearly Discriminates Against Muslims’: - Meenakshi Ganguly, Deputy Director at HRW’s Asia Division

July 8, 2024

All Assam Students Union (AASU) members take out a torch procession to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Guwahati, India, March 12, 2024.

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When Firdaus Razai arrived in New Delhi, India, from Kabul, Afghanistan, at the age of 12, he said, everything felt strange and unnerving.

“I was very scared at first,” said Razai, who is now 18.

Delhi was unbearably hot — a stark contrast from his home in Afghanistan, which was surrounded by mountains, he said. But unlike Kabul, which saw volatility with the rise of the Taliban, Delhi seemed safe.

It’s that feeling of relative security that makes India a draw for some 200,000 refugees, according to the UNHCR.

Now, at least some of those migrants could potentially see their lives transform. The Citizenship Amendment Act, which went into effect in March, expedites Indian citizenship for refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who entered India before 2015. Refugees are eligible for citizenship if they’ve stayed in the country for five years, rather than 11 as was mandated before.

But there’s another condition: faith. The fast-track citizenship can be availed if the refugee is Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Christian, Buddhist or Parsi, but not if they’re Muslim. The law leaves out Razai and most other Afghan refugees in India, in addition to tens of thousands of Muslim asylum-seekers from other countries.

It marks the first time that India — an officially secular state with a religiously diverse population — has set religious criteria for citizenship.

“It so clearly discriminates against Muslims,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy director at Human Rights Watch’s Asia division.

The Indian government denies any discrimination. Its argument is that Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh are Muslim nations where people of other faiths are targeted and, therefore, need protection.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government proposed the controversial law back in 2019, which sparked widespread protests. The government says that the move will end the suffering of persecuted religious minorities in South Asia. 

But Ganguly disagrees with that logic. She said that many Muslims in those countries are also persecuted.

“If the Indian government decides that it is going to protect religious minorities from neighboring countries, that’s a good thing,” Ganguly said. “We would just not want it to be limited to a certain demographic but expand to a whole group of people that might need protection.”

The law handpicks refugees from India’s Muslim-majority neighbors but doesn’t cover countries like Sri Lanka where most people are Buddhist. Tamils from Sri Lanka are one of the largest groups of refugees in India. The Citizenship Amendment Act also overlooks South Asia’s biggest migrant crisis, the displacement of the Rohingyas of Myanmar. Indian authorities have threatened to deport Rohingyas, who are also Muslim.

This isn’t how India used to treat refugees, Ganguly said, adding that India’s track record has been “fairly good.” India gave refuge to tens of thousands of Tibetan refugees following the Tibetan uprising in 1959 and continues to host the Dalai Lama.

“India was considered a generous host but, unfortunately, that has changed now,” Ganguly said. “Some of it could reflect what is a global pushback [against migration] but the particular concern with India is also that it identifies Muslims as the ones that are not welcome.”

A ‘moral obligation’

Meanwhile, some of those eligible for naturalization under the new rules have already received their citizenship certificates. Pakistani refugee camps in India, home to mostly Hindus, erupted in celebration when the law went into effect.

Hindu Singh Sodha, who came to India from Pakistan in the 1970s and became an Indian long ago, now advocates for other Pakistani refugees. He said that he welcomes the Citizenship Amendment Act.

“This is the moral obligation of India to accommodate these people,” he said, adding that the law should be expanded to include those refugees who came to India more recently, too.

He said that it is India’s responsibility to take in Hindus and other minorities who suffered in Pakistan after the 1947 Partition, when the Indian subcontinent was split into the Muslim state of Pakistan, and the secular nation of India with a Hindu majority.

Sodha said that the Partition left many non-Muslim families to face discrimination in Pakistan, and the new law corrects that.

Amit Shah, Modi’s right-hand man, echoed this rationale in parliament in 2019 when he introduced the law.

“If the country had not been divided along religious lines when it became independent, we wouldn’t have needed this law,” Shah said.

Political observers say the Citizenship Amendment Act fulfills Modi’s idea of India as a homeland for Hindus and a Hindu-first nation. But many Indians reject this vision.

“India has always opened its doors to outsiders, but to do it on this specific basis of religion in a secular state is unacceptable,” said Deb Mukharji, a retired diplomat and one of nearly 200 petitioners who have challenged the citizenship law in India’s top court. (The case is ongoing and the last hearing was held in March.)

Petitioners argue that by leaving out Muslims and making faith a basis for citizenship, the government is acting against India’s constitution.

“If you wish to open your doors, do so with a generosity of spirit,” Mukharji said.

Some also fear that this new law combined with the possible exclusion of Muslims from a proposed citizen registry could end up making some Indian Muslims stateless. The Indian government has insisted that would not happen.

A tough road for refugees in India

In a south Delhi neighborhood where many Afghan refugees live, Mohammed Qais Malikzada works out of a tiny basement office as head of the Afghan Solidarity Committee.

He sits under his country’s flag listening to the concerns of his fellow Afghan refugees who come to him for guidance.

“We have engineers, doctors. They cannot find any job because they don’t have Indian documents,” Malikzada said.

India lacks a comprehensive refugee policy and grants asylum on a case-by-case basis. The only identification many Afghan refugees in India have is a card from the UN refugee agency.

“If [the Indian] government [provides] documents like nationality, like passports, I think there’s not any other country better for Afghan refugees than India,” Malikzada said.

If Muslim Afghan refugees could get citizenship under the new law, he said, they wouldn’t go anywhere else. But without that, many don’t see a future in India.

Razai, the refugee from Kabul, said that he hopes to move to Canada.

Source: theworld.org

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https://theworld.org/stories/2024/07/08/it-so-clearly-discriminates-against-muslims-india-rolls-out-faith-based-test-for-citizenship

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Hate incidents against Jews, Muslims jump in 2024, but overall numbers down: Ottawa police

Jul 08, 2024

Ottawa Police Service headquarters on Elgin Street in Ottawa. PHOTO BY TONY CALDWELL /POSTMEDIA

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With the Israel-Hamas War now into its 10th month, the Ottawa Police Service reported Monday that it had seen a more than 100 per cent increase in hate-motivated incidents against both the Jewish and Muslim communities so far in 2024.

A total of 74 incidents had been reported against the Jewish, compared to 36 at this time in 2023, while there had been 15 incidents reported against Muslims, up from seven at this point last year.

Despite those significant increases, police reported in a news release that there had been a slight decline of about two per cent in overall hate- and bias-motivated incidents so far in 2024.

The 225 reported hate-motivated incidents to date in 2024 included 174 deemed criminal and 51 determined to be hate-motivated but non-criminal, with 26 people charged with 65 counts of hate-motivated offences and four formal Youth Criminal Justice Act warnings.

Of the 230 reported hate-motivated incidents reported at this time in 2023, 178 were deemed criminal and 52 were considered to be hate-motivated but non-criminal.

In addition to the Jewish and Muslim communities, police said groups most affected by the hate-motivated data for this year included Black (36 incidents), 2SLGBTQQIA+ (24 incidents) and Arab (14 incidents).

“Each and every hate-motivated incident has a lasting impact not only on those who have been targeted, but throughout the neighbourhoods and communities where they occur,” the release stated. “If you have been a victim of a hate-motivated incident you can file a report online or call us at 613-236-1222, extension 7300. If you are in immediate danger, please dial 911 right away.”

The Ottawa police hate and bias crime unit is currently working, in conjunction with the Crown’s attorney’s office, to investigate all reported incidents, police said.

Source: ottawacitizen.com

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https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/hate-incidents-against-jews-muslims-jump-in-2024-but-overall-numbers-down-ottawa-police

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Qatar Slams Racism Against Migrants, Muslim Minorities In Some Countries

JULY 08, 2024

Qatar affirmed its stance rejecting and opposing all forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance.

This came in a statement delivered by Second Secretary at the Permanent Delegation of Qatar to the UN Office in Geneva Sheikh Sultan bin Khalid al-Thani during the Interactive Dialogue with Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance, part of the 56th session of the Human Rights Council.

Sheikh Sultan said that racism and racial discrimination remain among the worst human rights violations known to humanity, due to their direct impact on human dignity, life, and security, adding that hate speech and discrimination, which incite hostility and violence against those belonging to ethnic or religious minorities, remain the most dangerous in terms of impact on society and individuals’ enjoyment of all human rights.

He expressed Qatar's condemnation in the strongest terms of the continued racist practices toward the refugees, migrants, and Muslim minorities in some countries, and the harassment against them by various means, including legislative measures and government policies, done solely on the basis of their ethnic origin and religious affiliation.

Fuelled by hate speech from some politicians and far-right party leaders, social media and various digital platforms, these practices, he explained, would fuel feelings of hostility and violence against these groups and lead to their social alienation, which in turn result in further violation of their rights and freedoms.

Qatar's statement called on the Human Rights Council and all governments and relevant stakeholders to counter these discriminatory and racist practices by all means and take the necessary effective measures to eliminate them, along with holding those responsible accountable, and ensuring that such practices are never repeated.

Source: gulf-times.com

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https://www.gulf-times.com/article/686292/qatar/qatar-slams-racism-against-migrants-muslim-minorities-in-some-countries

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Opposition Parties in MaharashtraWant Minority Votes, But Doesn’t Want To Give Community Representation: Muslim Activists

July 8, 2024

Several Muslim clerics and organisations on Monday alleged that the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) treated the minority community just as a vote bank. The decision of the MVA to not field any Muslim candidate in the forthcoming Legislative Council elections in the state has caused them much distress, they complained.

Addressing a press conference, Anjum Inamdar, president, Mulnivasi Muslim Manch, said, “In the recently held Lok Sabha elections, the Muslim community purposely voted against the Modi government… It was observed that the BJP was creating a rift between the Muslim community and other communities. This was the reason the Muslims preferred the INDIA bloc, which is the MVA in the state, in the Lok Sabha polls.”

Muslim clerics, organisations, and social workers firmly backed MVA candidates in the polls, he added.

Both the MVA and the BJP leaders are aware that Muslim clerics and organisations helped MVA candidates in the polls, resulting in the victory of 30 MVA candidates in Maharashtra, said clerics Kari Idris Ansari and Maulana Nijamudi.

“The Congress and the NCP did not nominate any Muslim candidate to the two Legislative Council seats for which elections will be held shortly, although those seats are currently held by Abba Durani of the NCP and Wajahat Mirza of the Congress. Muslim workers in both parties protested against the decision but they were ignored. This means they just want Muslim votes but don’t want to share power with them,” said former Congress corporator Mukhtar Sheikh.

Cautioning the MVA parties, Inamdar said they would highlight this issue in all 22 Assembly seats in the Pune district ahead of the state elections to be held later this year.

“We have always treated everyone equally and given due respect to Muslim community leaders. The Congress has invited applications from aspirants for party ticket for Assembly elections and all those interested can seek candidature. There will be representation for Muslim community leaders in the Assembly election, provided the winning ability is there,” said city Congress chief Arvind Shinde.

Source: indianexpress.com

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https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/mva-minority-votes-community-representation-muslim-activists-9440814/

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Jokowi and Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar Address Extremism and Islamophobia

July 9, 2024

President Joko Widodo welcomes Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar, Prof. Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Al-Thayeb, at Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, on Tuesday, July 9, 2024. (Presidential Secretariat Office)

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Jakarta. President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo welcomed the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar, Imam Akbar Ahmed Al Tayeb, for a state visit at Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, on Tuesday. This visit is part of the Grand Sheikh's Southeast Asia tour, which also includes stops in Malaysia and Thailand.

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi explained that this is the Grand Sheikh's third visit to Indonesia, following his previous visits in 2016 and 2018. The main purpose of his visit is to promote moderate Islam and interfaith dialogue.

“During the meeting, the President mentioned that the Grand Sheikh’s visit, and later—God willing, in September—the visit of the Pope, will convey a very strong message about the importance of peace and tolerance,” said Foreign Minister Retno on Tuesday.

Pope Francis is scheduled for a Sept. 2-13 trip to Indonesia, East Timor, Papua New Guinea and Singapore. In Jakarta, he’ll preside over an interfaith meeting at the capital’s Istiqlal Mosque, expected to be attended by leaders of the six religions in Indonesia that are officially recognized and protected: Islam, Protestant, Catholic, Buddhism, Hinduism and Confucianism..

Minister Retno also said that several key issues were discussed, including the condition of Indonesian students at Al-Azhar University in Egypt and efforts to combat extremist movements and Islamophobia.

According to the Grand Sheikh, the condition and learning process of Indonesian students at Al-Azhar University are currently running smoothly. He mentioned that he had never received significant complaints from Indonesian citizens studying at the university.

"The Grand Sheikh said that more than 13,000 Indonesian nationals are currently studying at Al-Azhar University. He mentioned that he has never received any complaints from Indonesian students. This shows the good character of Indonesian students," said the Foreign Minister.

Furthermore, during the meeting, President Jokowi expressed his appreciation for the Egyptian government's efforts, particularly Al-Azhar's consistent advocacy for peace in Gaza and Palestine.

President Jokowi remarked that these efforts are highly inspiring, especially for domestic educational institutions.

"The President also acknowledged that the Egyptian government and Al-Azhar have provided substantial humanitarian aid and consistently advocated for peace. The President stated that this call for peace is invaluable for the Palestinian people," added the Foreign Minister.

President Jokowi also emphasized the importance of collaboration between educational institutions to reduce extremist movements and Islamophobia.

"The President stressed the significance of joint efforts to enhance tolerance and peace through interfaith dialogue to prevent the growth of extremism and Islamophobia," concluded the Foreign Minister.

Source: jakartaglobe.id

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South Asia

 

Standard building to be provided for Kandahar’s Museum

July 9, 2024

KANDAHAR: Museum of Kandahar will be provided with a new standard building, the provincial Information and Culture Department said in a statement the other day. Director of the Provincial Information and Culture Mawlavi Inammullah Samangani said that the restoration work was underway by CHACRI on the old building of the directorate and after res toration, the Museum will be transferred to the newly restored building. “With the cooperation of the Ministry of Information and Culture and the Cultural Heritage of Afghanistan Conservation and Research Institute (CHACRI) under the supervision of the Information and Culture Department, the Museum will be transferred to the old building of the directorate,” the statement quoted Samangani as saying. He added that after the Museum’s transfer to the new building, the necessary facilities and services will be provided for the visitors. It is pertinent to mention that Kandahar’s Museum with 845 historical works and relics, is one of the richest museums in the country and dates back to 4000-8000 BC. The Kabul Times

Source: thekabultimes.com

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Changes in Emirati administrations indicate firm counter-corruption effort

July 9, 2024

The leader of the Islamic Emirate has recently issued a decree, under which, some change has been brought in the government departments. According to the Leader’s office statement, Shahbuddin Delawar, the former Mines and Petroleum Minister has now become the head of the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) and Hedayatullah Badri former Governor of Central Bank has been appointed as Minister of Mines and Petroleum. Mati-ul-Haq Khalis, the president of the Afghan Red Crescent Society, has been appointed as acting head of the National Environmental Protection Agency, Nooruddin Turabi, the deputy Afghan Red Crescent Society, has been appointed acting head of the National Disaster Management Authority. This is a routine process happening in governance and aimed at improving the work process and an important principle to help improve the affairs of the administration. Sometimes, this happens that the effectiveness of a government official can naturally be felt in one office while another can be effective in another. On the other hand, as experts said considering expertise, competency and meritocracy, any related fields should be given to those who can professionally handle them. No nepotism, relation, or any other biased and unfair issues should be taken in mind while bringing changes and transfer in any of the government offices, as the leader has trusted in those who have been appointed in certain Emirati organizations to impartially work for the nation. Over the last twenty years of occupation, many of the government-run agencies have been filled with the employers’ own relatives or friends and this was why corruption has spread throughout the government agencies that finally resulted in the collapse of the system. As the Islamic system is now established, all members of the Emirate, either acting ministers or out of the cabinet membership, should be vigilant about all conspiracies and plots from malicious groups aiming at disturbing the offices’ affairs by their negative consultations about the current or future appointments. The cabinet of the Islamic Emirate should do their best to protect the dignity of the system by honestly and justice-based working in the government institutions and believe that their duties are not only a routine business of them but moreover, a sacred mission, making them accountable before the nation and Allah the Almighty.

Source: thekabultimes.com

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https://thekabultimes.com/changes-in-emirati-administrations-indicate-firm-counter-corruption-effort/

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China-Tajikistan-Afghanistan corridor; a new transit route towards regional trade

July 9, 2024

With the Islamic Emirate takeover and improvement of the overall security situation, new opportunities have been created for the expansion of regional trade and connections between countries in the region. As Afghanistan is in a good geopolitical position in Asia and the key policy of the Islamic Emirate is to have good economic and political relations with world and regional countries, efforts have been doubled towards the construction of roads and transit corridors in the region by Afghanistan and other regional countries. In its most recent move, Tajikistan has proposed taking practical measures for the construction of road and rail routes along the ‘China-Tajikistan-Afghanistan’ corridor. Tajik President Emomali Rahmon has recently met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tajikistan and proposed taking some practical steps in this regard. “The construction and reconstruction of the “Kalai-Khumb– Vanch – Rushon district border” road will contribute to the improvement of the “China-Tajikistan-Uzbekistan-TurkmenistanIran-Türkiye” transit corridor. In this regard, we suggested considering the possibility of constructing and modernizing the “Dushanbe-Kulma” highway section from the Rushon district to the “Kulma-Karasu” border crossing. We also propose taking practical measures for the construc ion of road and rail routes along the “China-Tajikistan-Afghanistan” corridor to expand connections and regional trade,” Rahmon said. In the meantime, the TransAfghan Railway project, presenting vast economic opportunities for regional trade and collaboration, is under construction. It stretches over 600 kilometers primarily through Afghanistan and Pakistan. According to preliminary estimates, the Trans-Afghan Railway is valued at $5 billion and has a transit capacity of up to 20 million tons of cargo. Its implementation is crucial for advancing transportation and trade relations in both Central Asia and South Asia. The project will help to connect three countries: Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The project will play an important role in the creation of the Eurasian Transport Corridor. With the completion of the project, Central Asian countries will have access to an Indian Ocean port. The railroad will reduce the delivery time of goods from 35 to 5 days, and the cost of goods delivery will be reduced by at least 40 percent. The TransAfghan railway project, first suggested by Uzbekistan in December 2018, proposes to extend the Afghan rail network from Mazare-Sharif to Kabul and then to Paktia province. In Afghanistan’s Badakhshan, construction work on Wakhan Corridor, extending from the Wakhan district of Badakhshan to the Chinese border, is underway. With the opening and completion of this route, Afghanistan and China will get direct access to each other’s markets. This can reduce the distance and further lower the cost of the imports and exports of commercial goods between the two countries. With the opening and completion of the Wakhan Corridor, trade and bilateral relations between Afghanistan and China, considered as important and beneficial for both countries, will further increase. The Afghan and Chinese governments have already started talks over the commencement of traffic through the Wakhan Corridor, a narrow strip of territory in northeastern Badakhshan stretching 350 km to China. The construction of the road that directly links the two countries is considered as significant as it can somehow reduce Afghanistan’s reliance on some regional countries for transit trade. The construction of the Wakhan Corridor will also benefit other countries such as Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran and Pakistan as it creates a significant opportunity for increasing trade and economic activity in the region. This route can further facilitate the trade of various commercial goods between the respective countries. Hasammudin

Source: thekabultimes.com

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https://thekabultimes.com/china-tajikistan-afghanistan-corridor-a-new-transit-route-towards-regional-trade/

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Deputy PM Kabir Affirms Support for Education in Meeting with Professors and Writers

2024-07-09

KABUL(BNA): Mawlawi Abdul Kabir, the Deputy Prime Minister for Political Affairs of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, has met with several prominent writers and university professors.

ARG reported in a statement that, Mawlawi Abdul Kabir held discussions with Fazal Wali Nagar, a distinguished writer and professor at Nangarhar University, along with other academics and writers.

During the meeting, Professor Nagar and his colleagues expressed their satisfaction with the nationwide security and ongoing development projects. They emphasized the importance of enhancing the country’s education system and improving its quality. The professors also shared their recommendations with the Deputy Prime Minister.

For his part, Mawlawi Abdul Kabir acknowledged the significance of strengthening the educational system and assured that the Islamic Emirate is dedicated to this cause. He emphasized that the Islamic Emirate values knowledge and is committed to the revival and development of educational institutions.

Source: bakhtarnews.af

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https://www.bakhtarnews.af/en/deputy-pm-kabir-affirms-support-for-education-in-meeting-with-professors-and-writers/

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UNICEF concerned over increase in mental health disorders among children in Afghanistan

July 9, 2024

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has expressed concerns over increasing mental health issues among children in  Afghanistan, stating that nearly 40% of these children currently face psychological disorders.

The agency revealed in a report on Monday, July 8th, 8th, that 24% of children aged five to seventeen have experienced severe anxiety, marking a 10% increase compared to the global average.

UNICEF further stated that an additional 15% of these children are experiencing severe depression.

However, UNICEF attributes the primary causes of mental health issues in Afghan children to ongoing conflict, continued migration, family displacement, increased poverty levels, and the dangers posed by leftover explosives from the war in  Afghanistan.

The organization has established 750 psychosocial support centers across  Afghanistan to assist boys and girls facing these challenges.

This dire situation in Afghanistan unfolds against the backdrop of a severe humanitarian crisis following the Taliban’s assumption of power.

The Taliban’s imposition of restrictions on education beyond sixth grade, particularly for girls, has had profound consequences. It has led to a significant increase in underage and forced marriages as families, facing economic hardship and fearing for their daughter’s safety and future, resort to marrying them off early.

This practice not only robs these girls of their right to education and childhood but also perpetuates cycles of poverty and gender inequality.

The combination of economic hardship and educational restrictions has created a bleak outlook for Afghan youth, especially girls, who are denied the chance to build a better future through education and empowerment.

Source: khaama.com

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https://www.khaama.com/unicef-concerned-over-increase-in-mental-health-disorders-among-children-in-afghanistan/

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UN refugee chief discusses Afghan refugee situation with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz

July 9, 2024

Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, who arrived in Pakistan two days ago, met with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan to discuss the situation of Afghan refugees hosted by the country.

Mr.Grandi wrote on his social media platform X, “@CMShehbaz, thank you for inviting me to discuss the situation of Afghan refugees hosted by Pakistan — and the need to find just, durable solutions to this issue with the support of the international community.”

According to Pakistani media reports, the High Commissioner met with Ishaq Dar after meeting with Afghan migrants.

Mr. Grandi has described the purpose of his short visit to Pakistan as “supporting migrants.”

Further details of their meeting have not been disclosed, but Geo News reported that Mr. Grandi expressed his concerns about the migrants’ situation to IshaqDar.

Last year, the Pakistani government initiated a controversial plan to expel Afghan migrants in three phases, potentially affecting nearly 2 million refugees.

According to Anadolu Agency, citing Pakistani officials, since the Taliban took control in August 2021, approximately 700,000 Afghan refugees seeking asylum have entered Pakistan. However, only 75,000 have relocated to other countries so far.

The media also reported that Qaiser Afridi, spokesperson for the UNHCR, stated that during his meeting with Grandi, the Pakistani Foreign Minister emphasized the need for increased support to address Afghan migrants in Pakistan.

Filippo Grandi has opposed Pakistan’s government decision for forced mass expulsion of illegal migrants, stating that “return must be voluntary and free from any pressure.”

It’s worth noting that this is Filippo Grandi’s first visit to Pakistan as the head of UNHCR following the Pakistani government’s decision to prioritize the forced expulsion plan for migrants.

Grandi’s visit underscores the critical humanitarian concerns regarding Afghan migrants in Pakistan and highlights the importance of international cooperation and voluntary solutions in addressing refugee challenges. His discussions with Pakistani officials indicate ongoing dialogue to find humane solutions amidst complex regional dynamics.

Source: khaama.com

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https://www.khaama.com/un-refugee-chief-discusses-afghan-refugee-situation-with-pakistani-prime-minister-shehbaz/

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North America

 

Pakistani people suffered greatly at hands of terrorists: US State Dept

July 09, 2024

WASHINGTON: In a major development, the US Department of State acknowledged Pakistan’s unmatched sacrifices and contributions in the war against terrorism and said that the Pakistani nation suffered greatly at the hands of terrorists.

US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller made these comments while addressing a news briefing in Washington on Monday.

“The Pakistani people have suffered greatly at the hands of terrorists.”

The Pakistani nation and the armed forces rendered matchless sacrifices in the fight against terrorism. The country lost more than 80,000 lives at the hands of the terrorists, apart from massive economic losses. The people and the forces successfully fought a long battle spanning over a decade to get rid of the menace of terrorism.

Only in 2023, more than 260 officers and soldiers of the Pakistan Army laid down their lives in the line of duty. In addition to this, at least 750 civilions lost their lives in the terror attacks last year, according to the data shared by APP.

Miller further said that they have a shared interest in threats to regional security.

“We partner with a range of Pakistani civilian institutions and regularly engage with the Pakistani government to identify opportunities to build capacity and strengthen regional security, including in our annual high-level counter-terrorism dialogue.

Responding to another question regarding May 9 Mayhem, the spokesperson said that his country supports freedom of expression in a legitimate way and opposes violent actions.

“We support legitimate, free expression including the right to protest and the right to peaceful assembly and we oppose violent actions.”

He said that all the protests should be conducted peacefully and “the governments should deal consistently with the rule of law and free speech”.

The May 9 riots were triggered almost across the country after deposed prime minister Imran Khan’s arrest in the £190 million settlement case last year. Hundreds of PTI workers and senior leaders were put behind bars for their involvement in violence and attacks on military installations.

During the protests, the miscreants targeted the civil and military installations including — Jinnah House and the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi. The military termed May 9 "Black Day" and decided to try the protesters under the Army Act.

Source: thenews.com.pk

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https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1207878-pakistani-people-suffered-greatly-at-hands-of-terrorists-us-state-dept

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Muslim Prayers at Uvic Multifaith Centre Cancelled After Threatening Notes

09-07-24

Friday Muslim prayers at the University of Victoria’s Multi­faith Centre and two Islamic lectures on Saturday were cancelled by campus security after “threatening notes” were discovered on the doors of the building, a UVic security official said.

In a statement, campus security services director Jess Maclean said custodial staff found the two notes on the doors in the early hours of Friday. The notes were immediately removed and campus security was notified shortly before 8:30 a.m., the statement said.

“Campus Security worked with Student Wellness and police to assess the risk and, out of an abundance of caution, we decided to close the Multifaith Centre for the remainder of the day.”

Two Islamic lectures, or Halaqas, advertised as open to those curious about Islam, were cancelled on Saturday. The centre reopened its doors Monday.

Maclean, who was unavailable for an interview on Monday, did not specify the contents of the notes. “We have not and do not plan on amplifying the message as we feel doing so has the potential to escalate the risk and/or cause further harm to our community,” she said in the statement.

The Times Colonist has seen an image of one of the notes, which contains text in English, Hebrew and Arabic and targets the Islamic faith.

The incident was referred by the university to Oak Bay police.

Deputy Chief Kris Rice said the posted content appeared to be hate-motivated, was reviewed by a hate-crimes investigator and was forwarded to the RCMP hate-crime unit for further analysis. There are no suspects and anyone with information is asked to contact Oak Bay police, he said in a statement.

A Muslim employee at UVic with knowledge of the situation, who asked not to be named out of safety concerns, said the ­Multifaith Centre’s Muslim “spiritual care provider” was not given any reason for the cancellations on Friday. “They didn’t share information about the threat to her.” Following a meeting with campus security on Monday, the spiritual care provider was left to inform affected community members of the incident, they said. “Putting that work on a Muslim spiritual care provider who’s a volunteer just makes no sense.”

“There was sufficient risk to warrant cancelling a program. Why was there no official communication from UVic?”

It was left to the community to warn people on the way to Friday prayers that there was an unknown security threat, which spread fear and uncertainty through the Muslim community at UVic, they said.

Upwards of 100 people regularly attend Friday prayers at the centre, including university students, staff, faculty and nearby high school students, they said.

Shawn Ullah, B.C. representative for the National Council of Canadian Muslims, said he is aware of the incident at UVic but had no further information on Monday.

Maclean said UVic will continue to work with event organizers at the centre to assess risk levels and develop safety planning for the rest of the summer.

mjlo@timescolonist.com

Source: timescolonist.com

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https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/muslim-prayers-at-uvic-multifaith-centre-cancelled-after-threatening-notes-9193224

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Lino Lakes City Council pauses Muslim-focused housing development amid public pushback

09-07-24

The Lino Lakes City Council voted Monday evening to halt development of a Muslim-focused community that has drawn resistance from several residents, and allegations from supporters that Islamophobia is delaying progress.

The council voted 4-1 to enforce a moratorium after listening to impassioned comments from project detractors and supporters, and after one council member’s comments sparked profanity from the audience. Mayor Rob Rafferty and Council Members Chris Lyden, Michael Ruhland and Dale Stoesz voted in favor of the moratorium. Council Member Tony Cavegn voted against the measure.

The moratorium will take effect August 15 and last a year. Council members said the time will allow city staff to create a master plan for 900 acres of land in the city, which includes the project site. Faraaz Yussuf, president of Zikar Holdings, which proposed the development, vowed not to abandon the project.

“We’re not going anywhere,” Yussuf said after the vote. “In the coming days, you’ll hear a lot more of what we’re wanting to do and the next steps.”

The 156-acre development, Madinah Lakes, is located in northwest Lino Lakes, and would include more than 400 homes, businesses and a mosque.

About a hundred supporters and opponents packed the council chambers. Twenty people testified. Some said the moratorium was “divisive” to the community, and others said the project would help generate revenue for the city.

Melissa Schultz, who has lived in Lino Lakes for more than a decade, testified that she is concerned about increased density and the impact on wildlife. She said she is an architect with experience working on major infrastructure projects across the state.

“This isn’t beneficial for wildlife or natural resources. It can increase heat island effect and doesn’t benefit the existing residents,” she said, adding that she has studied the lot sizes of single-family homes near the project site.  

Project supporters said the pushback is Islamophobic.

Council members discussed the matter for about 25 minutes before voting on the moratorium.

“We’re not trying to establish communities, we are establishing neighborhoods within the city – period,” Rafferty said in a brief statement.

Lyden said he received a “cute little form letter” from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-MN) and their attorneys “threatening us,” but didn’t reveal details. Lyden said that “no amount of tactics, intimidation, bullying, will taunt or taint the legitimacy of our work.” CAIR-MN has expressed support for the project and has described the City Council’s actions and project critics as discriminatory.

After receiving the letter, Lyden said, he searched CAIR-MN’s website to learn about the organization.

“They talk about hate crimes, they talk about religious freedom, but they make no mention of the October 7th attack on Israel,” Lyden said of Hamas’ attack on Israel that preceded the Israel-Hamas war. His remarks elicited murmurs from some attendees. 

“If you’re worried about your image, CAIR maybe needs to take a hard look in the mirror. Let me be very clear, I don’t have an Islamophoic problem,” he said before he was interrupted by a project supporter who shouted profanity, stirring others to yell.

Raffety rapped his gavel loudly to restore order. 

Ruhland said the council “deserves” an apology for accusations that it is Islamophobic and treating the developer unfairly. He also said that the moratorium only applies to the construction of residential homes, so the mosque could still move forward.

Cavegn, who voted against the moratorium, said that Zikar Holdings and city officials agreed on conducting more studies, so there’s no need for a moratorium.

The city’s master plan for the site and other land nearby would address environmental resources, parks and open space, transportation needs and other issues. A different developer wants to build a senior living community on part of the 900 acres.

The master plan will help “better guide” development of the Madinah Lakes project site, according to city officials.

The council also voted unanimously Monday to move forward with a proposed ordinance requiring developers to provide documentation “of proven experience, financial Health, licensing, criminal background, and reputation subject to approval.”

About a thousand people signed a petition supporting the ordinance, said Luke Walter, a Lino Lakes resident and supporter of the moratorium. The city attorney is currently reviewing the ordinance’s legality and plans to share an update on July 22. The ordinance would need to be approved a final time in order to become law.

“When you can’t beat the project, you try to beat the people,” Yussuf said of the proposed ordinance.

Yussuf said his company has invested “a few hundred of thousands” of dollars to develop the project, and that interested buyers have already paid to reserve homes in the development. Zikar put the money into an escrow account, said Yussuf, who declined to say how much money is in the account or how many interested buyers have invested their money.

Yussuf said that Zikar Holdings has a final purchase agreement with the site’s owner, and is the only developer that has a current application in process for the land. The site’s owners have made several attempts to sell the land, which formerly operated as Robinson Sod Farm.

None of the previous developers who tried to buy the land have faced a moratorium or a requirement that the city first create a master plan, the landowners’ spokesman, Brian Robinson, said last week.

According to a city planning document, Lino Lakes residents had dozens of questions about density, traffic and environmental impacts for a previous developer, Integrate Properties, who went through the city’s planning process for the same land before withdrawing its proposal in 2023. Integrate Properties’ project was not focused on the Muslim community.

Several supporters and opponents of the Madinah Lakes project have voiced their concerns at city meetings over the last few months.

Lino Lake residents have testified that they’re worried the project would overwhelm the water supply, increase traffic, harm the environment and crowd schools. Some argue that the developer is “inexperienced,” and that the project needs to be studied more.

Project supporters have testified at previous meetings that the development would bring Muslims together and create a sense of community for those who live in predominantly white suburban neighborhoods.

Yussuf said that the challenges imposed on the development Monday are just the “beginning” of its next chapter.

“The pushback we face in Lino Lakes,” he said, “we face in every city we go to.”

Source: sahanjournal.com

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https://sahanjournal.com/housing/lino-lakes-muslim-housing-development-madinah-lakes-moratorium/

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3 juveniles shot outside Louisville mosque was ‘not a hate crime’

Jul. 9, 2024

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Shortly before midnight, flashing blue lights flooded the parking lot of the Guiding Light Islamic Center on Six Mile Lane. Known as a place of worship, peace, and fellowship, neighbors were startled to hear gunfire.

”Me and my son was upstairs watching a movie,” Sammy Sanders, who lives next door the mosque, said. “I heard gunshots and [my son] was like, ‘fireworks?’ I said, no, son, it was gunshots. And, then, not even five minutes later, we saw police and ambulance out there.”

Police found two juveniles, believed to be teens, wounded in the Center’s parking lot. One of them died. A third injured teen left the scene and was found in St. Matthews.

“We located an individual that had been shot,” Police Chief Barry Wilkerson said. “We contacted EMS for that individual and actually one of our officers went to the hospital with him.”

A statement from the Guiding Light Islamic Center Board described being “saddened and shaken.”

”We want to assure everyone that this was an isolated event and not a hate crime towards Muslims or the Muslim community,” the statement said.

Long time residents said it is not unusual to hear the sirens of an ambulance on Six Mile Lane, and so close to the 4th of July, the sounds of fireworks are also common. No one was prepared for an encounter with the city’s deadly violence.

”You don’t expect that over here. You don’t,” neighbor James Cherry said. “You see all these kids playing. Those kids play soccer over there all day long. That’s what they love to do. So, you don’t really expect anything is going to happen. You see people jogging through here. It’s a nice neighborhood. Everybody gets along. You just don’t expect it.”

Guiding Light’s official statement about this incident says they are working closely with the Louisville Metro Police Department and are conducting an investigation.

The statement talks about the shooting’s impact on the community.

“We are deeply saddened and shaken by the events of last night that occurred on our Masjid property,” the statement said, “Our hearts go out to those affected by this tragedy. We understand the fear and concern this incident has caused within our community and want to address your concerns as best as we can.”

Guiding Light highlighted their focus on safety.

“The safety and well-being of our community is our highest priority,” the statement said, “The masjid is already working on the fencing project to enclose the property and in light of this event will expedite the project. Additionally, we will be conducting a thorough survey of the property to assess where additional camera are needed to ensure there are no blind spots.”

The mosque is encouraging people to contact LMPD with any information to help solve the investigation.

Source: wave3.com

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https://www.wave3.com/2024/07/08/3-juveniles-shot-outside-louisville-mosque-was-not-hate-crime/

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Mideast

 

Islamic Resistance announces targeting Zionist military sites on Lebanese border

08 Jul 2024

BEIRUT July 08. 2024 (Saba) - The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon, led by Hezbollah, announced today, Monday, targeting Zionist settlements and military sites opposite the southern Lebanese border with occupied Palestine, in response to the Zionist enemy's attacks on Lebanese villages.

The Islamic Resistance said in a statement that its fighters targeted the Zabadin barracks in the occupied Lebanese Shebaa Farms with rocket weapons and hit it directly.

It added that its fighters also targeted the Raheb site with artillery shells, and the Hagoshrim settlement was targeted with a salvo of Katyusha rockets, in response to the Zionist enemy's attacks on the town of Kfarhouna.

The Islamic Resistance also pointed out that it targeted two buildings used by the Zionist enemy soldiers in the settlement of Matla and the settlement of Manara with appropriate weapons, in response to the Zionist enemy's attacks on the town of Houla

Source: saba.ye

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https://www.saba.ye/en/news3347081.htm

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Israeli forces push deeper into Gaza City as Hamas warns that escalation threatens ceasefire talks

July 09, 2024

DEIR AL-BALAH: Israeli forces advanced deeper into the Gaza Strip’s largest city in pursuit of militants who had regrouped there, sending thousands of Palestinians fleeing on Monday from an area ravaged in the early weeks of the nine-month-long war.

Hamas warned that the latest raids and displacement in Gaza City could lead to the collapse of long-running negotiations over a ceasefire and hostage release, after the two sides had appeared to have narrowed the gaps in recent days.

Israeli troops were again battling militants in areas that the army said had been largely cleared months ago in northern Gaza. The military ordered evacuations ahead of the raids, but Palestinians said nowhere feels safe. Most of the population of 2.3 million has been displaced, often multiple times. Hundreds of thousands are packed into sweltering tent camps.

Israel ordered the evacuation of northern Gaza in the first weeks of the war and has prevented most people from returning. But hundreds of thousands of Palestinians remain, living in shelters or the shells of homes.

“We fled in the darkness amid heavy strikes,” said Sayeda Abdel-Baki, a mother of three who had sheltered with relatives in the Daraj neighborhood. “This is my fifth displacement.”

Residents reported artillery and tank fire, as well as airstrikes. Gaza’s Health Ministry, with limited access to the north, did not immediately report casualties.

Israel issued additional evacuation orders for areas in other neighborhoods of central Gaza City. The military said it had intelligence showing that militants from Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad group were in the area, and called on residents to head south to the city of Deir Al-Balah.

Israel accuses Hamas and other militants of hiding among civilians. In Shijaiyah, a Gaza City neighborhood that has seen weeks of fighting, the military said troops raided and destroyed schools and a clinic that had been converted into militant compounds.

The war has decimated large swaths of urban landscape and sparked a humanitarian catastrophe.

Obstacles to a deal

Israel and Hamas seem to be the closest they have been in months to agreeing to a ceasefire deal that would pause the fighting in exchange for the release of dozens of hostages captured by Hamas in the Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war.

CIA Director William Burns returned to the region Monday for talks in Cairo, according to Egypt’s state-run Qahera TV, which is close to the security services. An Israeli delegation was also heading to the Egyptian capital, Israeli media reported.

But obstacles remain, even after Hamas agreed to relent on its key demand that Israel commit to ending the war as part of any agreement. A key part of that shift, officials told The Associated Press, is the level of destruction caused by Israel’s rolling offensive.

Hamas still wants mediators to guarantee that negotiations conclude with a permanent ceasefire, according to two officials with knowledge of the talks. The current draft says the mediators — the United States, Qatar and Egypt — “will do their best” to ensure that negotiations lead to an agreement to wind down the war.

Israel has rejected any deal that would force it to end the war with Hamas intact — a condition Netanyahu reiterated Sunday.

Hamas on Monday said it is “offering flexibility and positivity” to facilitate a deal, while accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “putting more obstacles in the way of negotiations.”

Meanwhile, Hamas’ top political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, warned mediators of “catastrophic consequences” if Israel continued its operations in Gaza City, saying Netanyahu and the army would bear “full responsibility” for the collapse of the talks, the group said in a subsequent statement.

The two officials said there’s also an impasse around whether Hamas can choose the high-profile prisoners held by Israel that it wants released in exchange for hostages. Some prisoners were convicted of killing Israelis, and Israel does not want Hamas to determine who is released. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the sensitive talks with the media.

Bombing keeps responders from bodies

Inside Gaza, residents saw no end to their suffering.

Maha Mahfouz fled her home with her two children and many neighbors in Gaza City’s Zaytoun neighborhood. She said their area was not included in the latest evacuation orders but “we are panicked because the bombing and gunfire are very close to us.”

Fadel Naeem, the director of the Al-Ahli hospital, said patients fled the facility even though there was no evacuation order for the surrounding area. He said those in critical condition had been evacuated to other hospitals in northern Gaza.

Marwan Al-Sultan, director of the Indonesian Hospital, said it received 80 patients and wounded people from Al-Ahli who were packed into “every corner.”

“Many cases require urgent surgeries. Many cases suffer from direct shots in the head and require intensive care. Fuel and medical supplies are dwindling,” he said in a text message. He said the hospital also received 16 bodies of people killed in the Israeli incursion, half of them women and children.

Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesman for the Civil Defense first responders who operate under the Hamas-run government, said the neighborhoods of Tufah, Daraj and Shijaiyah had become inaccessible because of Israeli bombing. In a voice message, he said the military shelled houses in Gaza City’s Jaffa area and first responders “saw people lying on the ground and were not able to retrieve them.”

The war has killed more than 38,000 people in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count.

Hamas’ cross-border raid on Oct. 7 killed 1,200 people in southern Israel, most of them civilians, according to Israeli authorities. The militants took roughly 250 people hostage. About 120 are still in captivity, with about a third said to be dead.

Source: arabnews.com

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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2546076/middle-east

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Domestic and foreign funds lift QSE 34 points; Islamic equities continue to outperform

JULY 08, 2024

The Qatar Stock Exchange on Monday gained about 34 points on buying interests, especially at the telecom, realty and banking counters.

The domestic funds were increasingly net buyers as the 20-stock Qatar Index rose 0.33% to 10,156.86 points, recovering from an intraday low of 10,100 points.

The foreign institutions turned bullish in the main market, whose year-to-date losses truncated further to 6.22%.

As much as 54% of the traded constituents extended gains to investors in the main bourse, whose capitalisation added QR1.67bn or 0.29% to QR585.82bn on the back of small cap segments.

The Arab retail investors’ weakened net profit booking had its influence on the main market, which saw 9,102 exchange traded funds (sponsored by Masraf Al Rayan and Doha Bank) valued at QR0.04mn trade across seven deals.

The Gulf individuals’ lower net selling had its say in the main bourse, which saw no trading of treasury bills and sovereign bonds.

The Islamic index was seen outperforming the other indices in the main bourse, whose trade turnover and volumes were on the rise.

The Total Return Index gained 0.33%, the All Share Index by 0.3% and the All Islamic Index by 0.36% in the main market.

The telecom sector index shot up 0.98%, realty (0.76%), banks and financial services (0.43%), consumer goods and services (0.14%) and industrials (0.05%); while insurance declined 0.26% and transport was flat.

Major gainers in the main bourse included Vodafone Qatar, QIIB, Mannai Corporation, Nakilat, Qatar Industrial Manufacturing and Industries Qatar. In the venture market, Al Mahhar Holding saw its shares appreciate in value.

Nevertheless, Inma Holding, Milaha, Gulf International Services, Dlala and Ahlibank Qatar were among the losers in the main market.

In the junior bourse, Techno Q saw its shares depreciate in value.

The domestic institutions’ net buying increased drastically to QR41.72mn compared to QR13.72mn on July 7.

The foreign institutions turned net buyers to the tune of QR5.53mn against net profit takers of QR9.03mn the previous day.

The Arab individual investors’ net selling declined perceptibly to QR2mn compared to QR3.77mn on Sunday.

The Gulf retail investors’ net profit booking weakened markedly to QR0.24mn against QR1.58mn on July 7.

The Arab institutions’ net selling eased marginally to QR0.09mn compared to QR0.13mn the previous day.

However, the Qatari individual investors’ net selling grew substantially to QR27.69mn against QR10.04mn on Sunday.

The Gulf institutions were net sellers to the tune of QR14.33mn compared with net buyers of QR8.41mn on July 7.

The foreign retail investors turned net sellers to the extent of QR2.98mn against net buyers of QR2.41mn the previous day.

Trade volumes in the main market expanded 7% to 153.03mn shares, value by 50% to QR460.15mn and transactions by 42% to 14,420.

The venture market saw 73% plunge in trade volumes to 0.67mn equities, 66% in value to QR1.58mn and 35% in deals to 149.

Source: gulf-times.com

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https://www.gulf-times.com/article/686273/business/domestic-and-foreign-funds-lift-qse-34-points-islamic-equities-continue-to-outperform

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Three Gazans found dead after release from Israeli custody, relative and witness say

July 09, 2024

GAZA: The handcuffed bodies of three Palestinian men freed from Israeli custody have been found near Gaza’s border with Israel, and an uncle of one of them and a witness said they had been attacked by Israeli forces shortly after their release.

Abdel Hadi Ghabayen, an uncle of one of the detainees, Kamel Ghabayen, said he set out at 5 a.m. on Sunday looking for his nephew following his arrest by Israeli forces on Saturday.

“I found him left on the ground along with the other two martyrs. They were without clothes, and their hands had plastic cuffs put on them by the Israeli army,” Ghabayen said.

The bodies were found near the Israeli border fence on Sunday in the vicinity of the Karam Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing in southern Gaza, he said.

Reuters could not independently confirm what happened to the three men or the reason for their arrest. In response to Reuters requests for comment, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said: “From a review conducted the IDF is unfamiliar with an incident in which the suspects were killed by IDF fire.”

Abdel Hadi Ghabayen said one of the men had lost a leg and his body was “in pieces” after what he said was an attack by Israeli forces carried out shortly after their release.

Abdel Hadi Ghabayen said that when he tried to recover the man’s dismembered leg the Israelis “started shooting at me, so I stopped.” He later carried the bodies of the three on his truck to Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.

The three — Kamel Ghabayen, Mohammed Awad Ramadan Abu Hejazi and Ramadan Awad Ramadan Aby Hejaz — were among several Palestinians detained on Saturday and held for questioning, according to one of the men, Mahmoud Abu Taha.

Abu Taha said they came under fire shortly after their release.

“We reached Karkar Street (in Gaza). After 10 minutes of being there, we found a bomb thrown at the people with me. Thank God I was at the front. The bomb hit 6 or 7 people who were detained with us. Thank God I am alive,” he said.

The war began on Oct. 7 when fighters led by Hamas, which controlled Gaza, attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures. More than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli military offensive since then, according to Gaza health officials.

Source: arabnews.com

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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2546136/middle-east

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Israel’s Holocaust memorial opens a conservation facility to store artifacts, photos and more

July 09, 2024

JERUSALEM: Israel’s national Holocaust museum opened a new conservation facility in Jerusalem on Monday that will preserve, restore and store its more than 45,000 artifacts and works of art in a vast new building, including five floors of underground storage.

Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, serves as both a museum and a research institution. It welcomes nearly a million visitors each year, leads the country’s annual Holocaust memorial day and hosts nearly all foreign dignitaries visiting Israel.

“Before we opened this building, it was very difficult to exhibit our treasures that were kept in our vaults. They were kind of secret,” said Yad Vashem chairman Dani Dayan. “Now there’s a state-of-the-art installation (that) will help us to exhibit them.”

The David and Fela Shapell Family Collections Center, located at the Yad Vashem museum in Jerusalem, will also provide organization and storage for the museum’s 225 million pages of documents and half a million photographs.

Dayan said the materials will now be kept in a facility that preserves them in optimal temperatures and conditions.

“Yad Vashem has the largest collections in the world of materials related to the Holocaust,” Dayan said. “We will make sure that these treasures are kept for eternity.”

The new facility includes advanced, high-tech labs for conservation, enabling experts to revisit some of the museum’s trickier items, such as a film canister that a family who fled Austria in 1939 brought with them. It was donated to the museum but arrived in an advanced state of decay.

“The film arrived in the worst state it could. It smelled really bad,” said Reut Ilan-Shafik, a photography conservator at Yad Vashem. Over the years, the film had congealed into a solid piece of plastic, making it impossible to be scanned.

Using organic solvents, conservators were able to restore some of the film’s flexibility, allowing them to carefully unravel pieces of it. Using a microscope, Ilan-Shafik was able to see a few frames in their entirety, including one showing a couple kissing on a bench in a park and other snapshots of Europe before World War II.

“It is unbelievable to know that the images of the film that we otherwise thought lost to time” have been recovered, said Orit Feldberg, granddaughter of Hans and Klara Lebel, the couple featured in the film reel.

Feldberg’s mother donated the film canister, one of the few things the Lebels were able to take with them when they fled Austria.

“These photographs not only tell their unique story but also keep their memory vibrantly alive,” Feldberg said.

Conservation of items from the Holocaust is an expensive, painstaking process that has taken on greater importance as the number of survivors dwindles.

Last month, the Auschwitz Memorial announced it had finished a half-million-dollar project to conserve 3,000 of the 8,000 pairs of children’s shoes that are on display at the Nazi concentration camp in Poland.

Source: arabnews.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2546026/middle-east

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US not expecting policy change from Iran under new president

July 09, 2024

WASHINGTON: The United States said Monday it did not expect policy changes from Iran after voters elected reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian, and downplayed chances to resume dialogue.

“We have no expectation that this election will lead to a fundamental change in Iran’s direction or its policies,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

Miller said supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was expected to call the shots in Iran, an adversary of the United States since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

“Obviously, if the new president had the authority to make steps to curtail Iran’s nuclear program, to stop funding terrorism, to stop destabilizing activities in the region, those would be steps that we would welcome,” Miller said.

“But needless to say, we don’t have any expectation that that’s what’s likely to ensue.”

Asked if the United States was at least willing to reopen diplomacy with Iran after Pezeshkian’s election, Miller said: “We have always said that diplomacy is the most effective way to achieve an effective, sustainable solution with regard to Iran’s nuclear program.”

But at the White House, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, asked if the United States was ready to resume nuclear talks with Iran, said emphatically, “No.”

“We’ll see what this guy wants to get done, but we are not expecting any changes in Iranian behavior,” Kirby said.

President Joe Biden took office in 2021 with hopes of returning to a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran that was negotiated under former president Barack Obama and trashed by his successor Donald Trump, who imposed sweeping sanctions on Iran.

But talks, negotiated through the European Union, broke down in part in a dispute over to what extent the United States would remove sanctions on Iran.

Relations have deteriorated further since the October 7 attack on US ally Israel by Hamas, which receives support from Iran.

Source: arabnews.com

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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2546021/middle-east

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India

 

TrinamulMP Mahua Moitra Shows Union Minister 'Letter On Beef', Accusing Him Of Issuing "Passes" To Smugglers

09.07.24

Subhashis Chaudhuri

Trinamool's Krishnanagar MP Mahua Moitra on Monday tried to corner ministry of home affairs drawing its attention by sharing an official letter purportedly signed by BJP MP and Union minister Shantanu Thakur accusing him of issuing "passes" to smugglers.

In the letter addressed to the Commandant of BSF's 85-Battalion, the Bongaon MP has urged to allow a person to carry "beef".

The letter shared by Moitra on her X handle created a controversy and caused embarrassment to the BJP leadership.

Moitra, who is set to face a probe by Delhi police for her alleged derogatory remarks about NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma, in her post said, "Union Minister (Shantanu Thakur) has printed forms on official letterhead to @BSF_India 85BN issuing “passes” for smugglers on Indo-Bangla border. In this case for allowing 3 kgs of Beef...".

In her post, she also tagged the official handles of Home Ministry and mentioned Gau Rakshak Senas and Godi Media.

Shantanu Thakur reacted to the post in strong words terming it as shocking and an example of lack of knowledge on the part of Trinamool MP. In a hurriedly called press conference at his residence, he acknowledged issuing the “recommendation”.

"It is unfortunate that Mahua Moitra doesn't know the ground realities at the border. The letter was issued for a person from the Hakimpur area of Swarupnagar where BSF regulate the movements of people and carrying commodities of daily use. They frisk people and allow them to carry items only that have recommendations of local gram panchayat members. But since most of the gram panchayat bodies are controlled by Trinamool, its members don't issue such recommendations to the political rivals. So I issued a recommendation letter, which is not pass to smugglers".

"Mahua Moitra deliberately buried to malign me...I tried to help people to survive. But she misled people", Thakur added.

Multiple sources in border areas of Nadia and North 24 Parganas and BSF said that such a recommendation is "quite normal" for carrying certain commodities close to the international border.

Senior BSF officials of the South Bengal Frontier in Calcutta, who are aware of Mahua Moitra’s tweet said that in many places along the Indo-Bangladesh border, mainly where fencing could not be erected due to typical geographical conditions or for legal issues, a “regulation” has been imposed to ensure “quantity control” for people to prevent "vulnerability of smuggling".

“Such regulation is done so that people can take commodities or items of their use in limited quantity only and not dare to use for smuggling purposes,” a senior BSF officer of South Bengal Frontier told The Telegraph.

“We don’t allow people to move with cattle close to the border for the possibility of cattle smuggling. But we cannot prevent people from having beef. But to regulate the use of many such items we have in consultation with the local administration devised a policy to allow people to carry those items like beef on the recommendations of local administration whenever they have such requirement”, an officer of DIG rank said.

At Hakimpur, no fencing could be erected along the domination line of due to a riverine border. Around ten thousand people live in the area, who have to access crossing a Naka checking point put by BSF that aims to "regulate" the movement of the villagers there.

Carrying essential commodities is controlled and regulated by BSF on the recommendation issued by local panchayat members, mostly representatives of Trinamool.

The problem cropped up after these members stopped issuing recommendations to their political rivals.

Source: telegraphindia.com

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https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/trinamool-congress-krishnanagar-mp-mahua-moitra-shows-shantanu-thakur-letter-on-beef/cid/2032468

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Alipore Museum’s tribute to the ‘rebel poet’ Kabi Nazrul Islam on his 125th birth anniversary

09.07.24

Anasuya Basu

The Alipore Museum on Saturday paid tribute to “rebel poet” Kabi Nazrul Islam on his 125th birth anniversary.

Born on May 24, 1899, the poet was incarcerated at the Alipore Jail in 1922 following a sentence of one year’s imprisonment for his anti-British writings.

The cell where he was incarcerated is preserved and named Nazrul Cell at the museum.

Author Binod Ghoshal, whose novel Ke Bajaye Banshi based on the poet’s life, which won the Paschimbanga Bangla Akademi Yuva Sahitya Puraskar, spoke on Nazrul’s days of incarceration first in Alipore Jail, then in Hooghly Jail and finally in Berhampore Jail through 1923.

“Nazrul was imprisoned by the British for his work Anandamoyeer Agamone, published in Dhumketu Patrika, for inciting anti-British sentiments. His revolutionary writings were being scrutinized by the British for some time then and Nazrul knew that he would be arrested before long, so he fled Calcutta to go to Cumilla (Comilla) now in Bangladesh, from where he was eventually arrested on November 23, 1922,” said Ghoshal in his talk.

Nazrul’s case was heard in the court of Magistrate Swinhoe, who was a poet himself.

“Nazrul felt that Swinhoe being a poet would be sympathetic. He refused a lawyer and chose to defend himself. And so he wrote Rajbandir Jobanbandi. Swinhoe heard him and sentenced him to one year’s imprisonment,” said Ghoshal.

Nazrul was brought to the Alipore Jail, which held several political prisoners and

soon Nazrul made himself at home here.

“The poet would create a lively atmosphere wherever he went. Even during his ‘sainik days’ (Nazrul had joined the British Indian Army early in his life) he was known for bringing joy and so was named Hoihoi Kazi. Even at the Alipore Jail he was writing, reciting, singing among like-minded people,” he said.

Rabindranath Tagore dedicated his book Basanta Natika to Nazrul, praising the young poet then aged 23 years for his writings that were inspiring hundreds.

“Nazrul was hugely inspired by this and began writing in earnest. He also performed Saraswati Puja in the jail,” said Ghoshal.

He spent two months in the Alipore Jail where he reportedly wrote a play but that was lost.

“Nazrul was then sent to the Hooghly Jail where he was treated inhumanly by jailer Thurston. Nazrul had revolted against the treatment meted out to political prisoners there who were served horrendous food. As punishment, Thurston (who Nazrul called Harsh Tones) put him on a penal diet which was rice water. Nazrul then went on a hunger strike that lasted for 39 days. The entire nation protested against this. All the leading papers started reporting on Nazrul’s health. He lost 25 pounds. Tagore wrote to Nazrul asking him to break his fast. Finally, when Nazrul was extremely ill, Thurston relented because of the immense pressure created throughout the country. He retracted his punishment and Nazrul broke his fast,” said Ghoshal.

He was then sent to the Berhampore Jail which had a much better atmosphere.

Jailer Basanta Bhowmick was fond of Nazrul and made all arrangements for him to pursue his work and passion.

Nazrul was a good cook having worked as a bawarchi. “He used to cook in jail. And also performed Durga Puja at the jail,” said Ghoshal.

He was finally released in December 1923.

Source: telegraphindia.com

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Shia-Sunni sect leaders ask Muslims in J&K to maintain harmony during Muharram

July 8, 2024

AShia-Sunni coordination committee meeting on Monday in Srinagar urged the Imams, preachers and scholars of both sects to play a constructive role in maintaining unity and harmony among all the Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir especially during the ongoing Muharram.

The meeting to foster unity among the two sects was held at Mirwaiz Manzil at Rajouri Kadal, Srinagar, under the patronage of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Ulama Jammu and Kashmir, on the commencement of Muharram.

Prominent scholars of leading religious organisations and sects of the valley, as well as civil society members, participated in the meeting.

The participants appreciated Mirwaiz-e-Kashmir Dr Moulvi Muhammad Umar Farooq’s efforts in fostering unity among the “Ummah”.

The meeting stressed the importance of unity and brotherhood and respect for each other, and constant dialogue among the various sects.

It was agreed that altercations and one-upmanship among the various schools of thought are detrimental to the growth of Islam. As such, the meeting urged all Shia and Sunni organisations, scholars, preachers, speakers, and imams to play a constructive role in maintaining unity and harmony among all the Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir, especially as the sacred days of Muharram commence.

The members asked them to consciously refrain from making statements or comments from the pulpit, on social media, and other media, and from public platforms that lead to divisiveness and encourage miscreants and elements opposed to unity to succeed.

This meeting appreciated the efforts of the Majlis-e-Ulema patron, Mirwaiz Dr Moulvi Muhammad Umar Farooq, for playing a leading role in fostering unity and taking everyone along. Despite being kept under continued house arrest for more than four years and repeatedly detained at home since then, he is always trying his best, in spite of restrictions and hurdles, to forge unity among the Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir, it said.

Source: thestatesman.com

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Army troops fire at Pakistani drone along LoC in J-K’s Poonch

July 9, 2024

Army troops fired a few rounds to shoot down a Pakistani drone along the Line of Control in the Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch district in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Tuesday.

The drone, however, returned to Pakistan after briefly hovering over the Indian territory late Monday night, they said.

Indian troops, guarding the LoC, picked up the movement of a Pakistani drone at a height of over 1,000 metres at around 9.15 pm and fired five rounds within the next 10 minutes to bring it down but it managed to return, they said.

After over half an hour, a Pakistani drone was again spotted entering Indian territory and two more rounds were fired at it following which it returned to the other side, they said.

Army troops launched a search operation in the forward villages with the first light of the day to ensure that there was no dropping of weapons or narcotics by the drones, they said.

The Jammu and Kashmir Police has announced a cash reward of Rs 3 lakh to anyone giving information about drones flown from across the border to drop weapons and narcotics, leading to the recovery of the material.

Source: indianexpress.com

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4 soldiers dead in militant ambush on Army convoy in Jammu’s Kathua

Soldiers immediately retaliated and reinforcements have been rushed to the area, sources say

Written by Arun Sharma

July 8, 2024

kathua indian army attackThis has been the second terror attack in Jammu division since Sunday morning, when a soldier was injured in an attack on an Army camp in Rajouri district’s Manjakote area. (Representative/ Express file photo by Shuaib Masoodi)

Four Army personnel died when militants ambushed their convoy in Jammu’s Kathua district on Monday afternoon, the latest in a series of attacks in the Union Territory.

Militants also hurled a grenade on the convoy, and several soldiers sustained injuries in the encounter too, sources said.

The incident took place at Badnota village in Lohai Malhar area, and sources said the encounter is still underway.

Sources said the soldiers immediately retaliated, and reinforcements have been rushed to the area.

This has been the second terror attack in Jammu division since Sunday morning, when a soldier was injured in an attack on an Army camp in Rajouri district’s Manjakote area.

In that attack, Arymmen guarding the camp had retaliated immediately, forcing militants to flee. The Army and police had then launched a massive search operation to trace gunmen in the area.

Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah will miss the Sri Lanka tour as the BCCI wants them to rest before the upcoming full season in September. The selection committee will meet next week to choose the team, which will also play against New Zealand, South Africa, and Australia. Gautam Gambhir is expected to apply for the team's support staff.

Source: indianexpress.com

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Kathua Terror Attack: Farooq Abdullah Urges Pakistan To 'Stop Terrorism'

Jul 9, 2024

POONCH: Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah urged Pakistan to stop terrorism, asserting it will not bring about any change on the ground.

"Terrorism will not help anyone. If our neighbour (Pakistan) thinks they will bring a change by sending these terrorists across the (border), then it will never happen," Farooq told ANI.

The National Conference Chief added: "Today five army jawans laid down their lives and five others are seriously injured at the hospital (undergoing treatment). How will the (situation) border change?"His response came in the wake of the Kathua terror attack. Five Army soldiers were killed and as many as were injured in an ambush by terrorists in Katha district of Jammu and Kashmir on July 9.

Coming down heavily on Pakistan, Farooq said, "...The country is already in a mess. The fighting will only bring about devastation for both countries. Please, stop this terrorism. It is condemned everywhere in the world".

He also highlighted that today, terrorism is not condoned by any country in the world.

"Today, no country in the world is not ready to accept terrorism. Everyone is (speaking) against terrorism. What are they (Pakistan) going to get by indulging in terrorism? The families of those who lost their lives will be mourning today," the NC chief said.

Replying to a query on the possibility of resumption of dialogue between the two countries, he said, "There will be dialogue only when the terrorism stops. We are also in favour of talks. Both things (Talks and Terrorism) can not go side by side... Pakistan should take steps (to stop terrorism)".

Meanwhile, President Droupadi Murmu also condemned the terror strike in Kathua in which 5 Army Personnel have lost their lives.

"The attack on a convoy of Army personnel in the Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir by terrorists is a cowardly act that deserves condemnation and firm counter-measures. My sympathies are with the families of the bravehearts who laid down their lives in this ongoing war against terror in its all forms. I pray for the speedy recovery of those injured," the President wrote in a post on X.

Since June 9, there have been terror strikes at four places in Reasi, Kathua and Doda in which nine pilgrims and a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan were killed. A civilian and at least seven security personnel were also injured. Earlier, Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired a review meeting on the security scenario in Jammu and Kashmir and directed all security agencies to "work in a mission mode and ensure quick response in a coordinated manner."

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

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Southeast Asia

 

Melaka Government To Look Into Volume Of Mosque Loudspeakers

09-07- 2024

MELAKA: The Melaka government will carefully consider and evaluate from various perspectives, the directive of His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, the King of Malaysia regarding the volume of mosque loudspeakers.

Chief Minister Ab Rauf Yusoh said as Sultan Ibrahim is the Head of Islam for the states of Penang, Melaka, Sabah, Sarawak and the Federal Territories, the state government is committed to adhering to the royal decree.

“We are currently refining our approach and considering His Majesty’s directive in the context of Melaka.

“We will adhere to local circumstances and welcome input from stakeholders,“ he told reporters at the sidelines of the state assembly sitting at Seri Negeri here today.

Sultan Ibrahim had directed that the adhan (call to prayer) be loud at prayer times while recitations of the Quran, prayers and religious lectures should be limited to within the mosque premises.

Source: thesun.my

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https://thesun.my/local-news/melaka-to-look-into-volume-of-mosque-loudspeakers-IM12695951

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Malaysia’s desire to join BRICS is not to interfere in domestic, political affairs of countries involved - PM

09-07- 2024

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said Malaysia’s intention to join the intergovernmental organisation, BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) is not to interfere in the domestic and political affairs of the countries involved.

On the other hand, he said that Malaysia emphasises the importance of trade, economy and the expansion of networks that can provide benefits to the country and the people, especially traders and investors.

Anwar said that despite Malaysia’s relationship with foreign countries including western countries and those involved in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Malaysia does not fully agree on all matters.

“In fact, we have major disagreements and differences on the Gaza issue, for example, the issues of developing countries, the issues of trade competition in the World Trade Organisation (WTO), but that does not cause us to cut ties, especially when the priority is trade,“ he said during Minister’s Question Time in Dewan Rakyat, today.

Anwar was replying to a supplementary question by Datuk Seri Doris Sophia Brodi (GPS-Sri Aman) who wanted to know if the government had examined the implications of Malaysia joining BRICS considering that its member countries have economic, political and social backgrounds that are quite different from Malaysia.

The Prime Minister said this is over some BRICS countries such as China and Russia establishing close relations and cooperation with Malaysia even though both have different systems.

“...but there are also countries in BRICS including South Africa or India that practise democratic systems which are closer to us and this also does not hinder their relations in BRICS with us.

“Besides that, countries like the UAE, India and South Africa also have good trade relations, economic cooperation for example with Europe, the United States and countries that are not in the BRICS,“ said Anwar.

Therefore, he said there is no reason why Malaysia and several ASEAN countries that have applied to join BRICS are worried because the main provisions are for trade purposes.

Apart from that, Anwar said the government had also studied and examined the possible implications of Malaysia joining BRICS.

BRICS was established in 2009 as a cooperation platform for emerging economies comprising Brazil, Russia, India and China with South Africa joining the group in 2010.

In January 2024, the countries such as Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) joined the organisation as new members.

Source: thesun.my

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https://thesun.my/local-news/malaysia-s-desire-to-join-brics-is-not-to-interfere-in-domestic-political-affairs-of-countries-involved-pm-CM12695546

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Malaysia can become partner country of BRICS first - PM Anwar

09-07- 2024

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s good relations with the member countries of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) will enable Malaysia to become a “partner country” soon with the trade grouping, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

He said in that context, Malaysia will be known as a BRICS “new partner country” before Malaysia finalises its participation.

“There is a possibility that Malaysia’s application to join BRICS will take some time, but with good relations with member countries, there is a possibility that we can become a ‘country partner’ as (part of) a BRICS partner country model or as a new partner country.

“In discussions with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, MITI (Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry), and the council of ministers, we feel that there is wisdom and a need for us to be together in this new BRICS framework,“ he said during the minister’s question time at the Dewan Rakyat today in response to an additional question from Lee Chuan How (PH-Ipoh Timor) regarding the mechanism that will be taken by the government toward BRICS membership.

He also said that the participation does not conflict with Malaysia’s foreign policy and that the government takes the approach of an independent country and that it is important to establish relations with all parties. “We also take note of the current economic situation where economic strength is no longer unipolar depending on just one big country, the United States,“ he added.

Anwar said preliminary assessments showed that Malaysia’s participation in BRICS has the potential to gain various benefits, particularly in improving trade and export performance, as well as strengthening the country’s economic resilience.

“Cumulatively, the gross domestic product (GDP) of BRICS member countries amounted to US$26.6 trillion, which is 26.2 per cent of the world’s GDP, which is almost the same as the economic strength of the G7 countries. The economic strength of the BRICS member countries as a bloc will help increase international trade among the member countries,“ he continued.

The Prime Minister said BRICS member countries have a large population of 3.21 billion and that continues to increase with the inclusion of Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which have a total of 333 million people, forming a mega-market that includes as many 3.54 billion people, or almost 45 per cent of the world’s population.

“BRICS indeed has great potential to become a world economic power and this will certainly bring good things and contribute to Malaysia’s economic growth in the long term,“ he added.

On June 18, Anwar confirmed that he had expressed the intention to join BRICS to the President of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

BRICS was established in 2009 as a cooperation platform for emerging economies comprising Brazil, Russia, India and China with South Africa joining the group in 2010. In January 2024, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) joined the organisation as new members.

Source: thesun.my

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https://thesun.my/local-news/malaysia-can-become-partner-country-of-brics-first-pm-anwar-NM12695484

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Buddha statue find offers insights into ancient Kedah

09-07- 2024

PETALING JAYA: A Buddha statue discovered at the Bukit Choras Archaeological Heritage Site in Yan, Kedah and dating to the seventh or eighth century provides valuable insights into the architecture and artistic features of ancient Kedah.

Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Centre for Global Archaeological Research (CGAR) project head Dr Nasha Rodziadi Khaw found the life-size sculpture that is crafted from stucco, which is a mixture of lime, water and sand.

Discovered at the north wall of a temple, the statue is undergoing conservation work at the CGAR laboratory.

“The discovery enhances our understanding of ancient Kedah civilisation and its historical context within Southeast Asia,” he said, adding that it reveals the area’s historical importance as a religious site during that period.

He said the excavation was conducted between Aug 28 and Sept 12 in 2023 and unveiled an intact structure, a well-preserved and complete Buddha statue, inscriptions, a votive tablet offered in fulfilment of a vow and other smaller objects.

He also said the discovery of the largest Buddhist temple structure in Bukit Choras dates back to the 12th century and unlike the 184 archaeological sites identified in the Bujang Valley to the south, the stupa at Bukit Choras is isolated on the northern side of Mount Jerai.

“Bukit Choras was first reported in 1850 by a British officer searching for treasures and briefly studied in 1937 by British scholar H.G. Quaritch Wales, who reported finding a square-ish Buddhist stupa but provided no illustrations.”

Nasha said the Bujang Valley Archaeological Museum director went there for site cleaning and documentation nearly 50 years later, but otherwise it remained largely undisturbed.

“I realised nobody had done a proper investigation since then and managed to get funding to survey the site in 2017.

“At first, we only excavated 40% of the site and found a stupa about nine meters long. However, the most important discovery was two stucco Buddha statues in good condition that had never been found in the area before.”

He said the statues have clear features, such as drapery, facial details, sitting position and pedestals.

“This enables us to compare the features with other complete statues found in the surrounding region and interpret the origin of the art form and possibly the religious sect that was practised at the time.”

He said managing accessibility, safety concerns due to slippery conditions and resource logistics, such as water, food, and equipment supplies, in the remote terrain required careful planning and coordination.

“Our team managed to overcome the challenges through the support of local communities, who helped prepare tracks for transporting equipment to the site.

“Our extensive experience in managing such logistical obstacles proved instrumental in overcoming the challenges.”

Nasha said findings in the area suggest that for centuries, traders from China, India and the Middle East came to Kedah for business and often stayed for extended periods due to the harsh monsoon seasons that made sailing home impossible.

“Temples and artefacts in the area were built by local labourers, who blended foreign architectural motifs and knowledge with the two main influences of Buddhism and Hinduism.

“The discovery at Bukit Choras reveals exquisite remains of intact structures and statues. This may attract visitors and provide new narratives on the interconnectivity between ancient Kedah and other regional sites, allowing us to draw connections with major sites in India and Southeast Asia.”

Source: thesun.my

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https://thesun.my/local-news/buddha-statue-find-offers-insights-into-ancient-kedah-EM12694462

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Indian community not neglected, says PM Anwar

08-07- 2024

IPOH: Several additional allocations provided by the Unity Government specifically to improve the socio-economic status of the Indian community in the country are proof that the government does not neglect this group, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Anwar said that the government had previously allocated RM100 million to the Malaysian Indian Transformation Unit (MITRA) in addition to increasing several funds, such as RM50 million each to the National Entrepreneurial Group Economic Fund (TEKUN Nasional) and Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia for the Indian community.

“If the representatives of the Indian community speak to me (about welfare of the community), I will try to solve it. Look, some people say MITRA (has issues), but that’s not true. MITRA alone (received) RM100 million.

“TEKUN (for) small Indian traders, we added RM50 million, and previously Amanah Ikhtiar was for poor villagers, we helped everyone. Now, we also added RM50 million to Amanah Ikhtiar for the Indian community, so it’s not true to say we don’t care,“ he said at the “Santai Bersama Komuniti India Parlimen Tambun” programme here today.

Anwar, who is also the Member of Parliament for Tambun, said that the steps taken by the government to assist the Indian community resulted from feedback and discussions with friends, state executive councillors, assemblymen, and representatives of the Indian community regarding the issues faced by the community.

Anwar added that he has also asked the Minister of Rural and Regional Development Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to provide opportunities for Indian children to participate in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), which began this year.

“I also told Petronas to give scholarships to the Indian community. Previously, it focused on the Malay community, which is okay... but now for the Indian community, training and staffing opportunities are available as well more than 1,000 scholarships have been provided.

“So if the (Indian) community leaders do not talk about this and only express anger, people will not sympathise. That’s why I say complaints are okay, but don’t say things like Anwar does not care at all. This is not true, see all that we have provided, and these are all new,“ he said.

The Prime Minister also said that he has asked Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek to train more Tamil language teachers so that students who wish to learn the language do not face any problems.

“Bahasa Kebangsaan (the national language) is Malay, but if Chinese children want to learn Chinese, we provide the opportunity. We don’t lose anything; our country benefits if Malaysian children know Tamil, Chinese, and Arabic, which can be advantageous for the country,“ he said.

Additionally, Anwar said that he and the leadership, along with the community as a whole, need to work together to save the country from corruption and to end racism.

He said that Malaysia is now entering a new era, the digital era with artificial intelligence, and children have been given the best, including the best teachers.

“That is my appeal, I’ll continue to repeat this without hesitation, I would say that we will work hard, I don’t care what people want to say or suggest, one thing is important, we have to save this country from the greedy leaders who have been stealing money from this country.

“We have to save this country from racists and religious fanatics from all races and all religions... And as long as I’m the prime minister, I will do what is possible to save this country,” he said.

Source: thesun.my

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https://thesun.my/local-news/indian-community-not-neglected-says-pm-anwar-KM12693933

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Africa

 

SAMOA Agreement: Nigeria Does Not Recognize LGBTQ Rights – NBA Clarifies

9 July 2024

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has clarified that Nigeria does not recognize same-sex marriage, following recent controversies surrounding the Samoa agreement.

In a statement signed by NBA President, Yakubu Maikyau, the association emphasized that the agreement does not require Nigeria to accept LGBTQ or gay rights as a condition to benefit from the agreement, contrary to widespread belief.

The statement read, “The agreement respects the local laws and sovereignty of the contracting nations. This includes Nigeria’s Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act, 2023, and the supremacy of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).”

The NBA asserted that if the agreement had mandated Nigeria to recognize LGBTQ rights, it would have advised the Federal Government against entering any partnership that could compromise the country’s sovereignty.

“To be clear, the SAMOA agreement does not seek to undermine our existing legislation or the sovereignty of Nigeria,” the NBA stated.

Before signing the SAMOA agreement, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning requested the NBA to review it.

Consequently, NBA President Maikyau formed a committee chaired by Olawale Fapohunda, SAN, former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of Ekiti State, to evaluate and advise on the agreement.

The SAMOA Agreement, named after the country of Samoa where it was signed, is a broad legal framework between European Union (EU) member states and more than half of the 79 members of the Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (OACPS).

It covers six main areas: democracy and human rights, sustainable economic growth and development, climate change, human and social development, peace and security, and migration and mobility. It serves as a basis for specific agreements between the EU and the Federal Government, its sub-nationals, or the private sector.

The NBA urged the government to continue public enlightenment efforts and called on other stakeholders to join in countering negative perceptions about the agreement.

Source: naijanews.com

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https://www.naijanews.com/2024/07/09/samoa-agreement-nigeria-does-not-recognize-lgbtq-rights-nba-clarifies/

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Ugandan court remands man accused of supporting rebels linked to Islamic State

JULY 9, 2024

A Ugandan man charged with terrorism-related offenses has been accused of supporting a rebel group allied to Islamic State (IS,) including activities such as recruiting fighters for the group, according to court papers seen by Reuters.

The group, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF,) began as an uprising in Uganda but has been based in Congo since the late 1990s, pledging allegiance to the Islamic State terrorist group in mid-2019.

It has been accused of killing hundreds of villagers in frequent raids in eastern Congo over the years.

Swalleh Abubakar, 31, deported last month from Zambia, was charged with offenses such as "terrorism financing" and "rendering support to a terrorist organization" in a magistrate's court in the Ugandan capital late on Monday.

It was not immediately clear who Abubakar's lawyers were.

He was not allowed to enter a plea, as the case could only be tried in a higher court, where he would be allowed to answer the charges. After the charges were read to him, he was remanded to prison.

Supporting and recruiting for ADF

Prosecutors accuse Abubakar of providing material support to and conducting recruitment for ADF.

The charge sheet accused him of having "directly or indirectly mobilised funds and procured digital watches and power banks" between 2018 and April 2024.

It listed Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC,) Tanzania, Zambia, and South Africa as sites of the impugned activity.

He also "recruited and transferred recruits to Allied Democratic Forces in Eastern DRC," it added.

In addition, he was accused of transferring to ADF the material he had procured, knowing it would be "used for purposes of, or instigation of, acts of terrorism."

Uganda has blamed the ADF attacks, such as a triple suicide bombing that killed seven people in the capital in 2021, including the bombers.

Last June, the group's fighters killed 37 people in an attack on a school in western Uganda near the border with the DRC.

Source: jpost.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.jpost.com/international/article-809546

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Army Denies Running Only Islamic Schools, Says Story Meant to Push Religious Bigotry

Ikechukwu Aleke in Abuja

The Nigerian Army (NA), has denied alleged promotion of religious bigotry and prioritisation of Islamic religion in the service, dismissing the story as false.

Last week, a viral report alleged that the Nigerian Army only ran a School of Islamic Affairs, ignoring other faiths.

But denying the report, Director of Army Public Relations, Maj Gen Onyema Nwachukwu, in a statement, yesterday, described the report as not only fake but also making a futile effort to portray the Nigerian Army as exclusively encouraging religious bigotry among its personnel.

“The Nigerian Army has been notified of a misleading viral report suggesting that the NA only runs a School of Islamic Affairs, ignoring other faith.

“The viral report also made futile effort to portray the NA as exclusively encouraging religious bigotry among its personnel,” he said.

Nwachukwu noted that considering the gravity of this falsehood, the NA categorically stated that the propaganda in its entirety was dead on arrival as it clearly did not reflect the values of its esteemed institution.

According to him, the Nigerian Army as a secular organisation, upheld the principle of religious freedom for all its personnel and ensured that its personnel, irrespective of ranks, was free to practice their religions without any form of bias or endorsement of a specific religion.

“Our unwavering commitment to secularism guarantees that religious diversity is respected and accommodated, allowing soldiers to observe their faith without hindrance to their duties.

“For clarity, the NA operates multiple religious training institutions to cater to the diverse faiths of our personnel. In addition to the Nigerian Army School of Islamic Affairs located in NA Cantonment Ikeja, Lagos, the NA also has the Nigerian Army Protestant Training School in Yaba and the Nigerian Army Chaplain Catholic Training School in Ojo Cantonment.”

These schools, he said, frequently engage in interfaith collaborations, promoting unity and cohesion among diverse members.

He said the Nigerian Army’s dedication to secularism was aimed at fostering a professional and inclusive environment, where individuals could serve their country without fear of religious discrimination or bias.

This approach, he added, ensured that all  officers and soldiers could practice their beliefs in a supportive and respectful setting.

He said the NA remained steadfast in its commitment to upholding the values of secularism and religious freedom, ensuring that all personnel could serve with dignity and respect for their individual beliefs.

Source: thisdaylive.com

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https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2024/07/09/army-denies-running-only-islamic-schools-says-story-meant-to-push-religious-bigotry/

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Bandits In Hijab Kidnap 25 In Katsina State

9 July 2024

Bandits dressed in hijab have abducted 25 persons in Runka community, in Safana local government of Katsina State.

Runka community residents said the incident, which happened on Saturday, led to missing men, women and children who are yet to return after escaping into the bushes to escape being kidnapped

According to Leadership, the bandits struck Saturday night, abducted including women and children before making their way into the bush.

Some Runka residents said the bandits moved from house to house, breaking in and taking occupants without any confrontation.

“One person who was injured when he attempted to escape has been hospitalised.

“The attack is believed to have been facilitated by informants within the community,” Leadership said.

According to the local government chairman of Safana, Abdullahi Sani Safana, who confirmed the incident rescue operation are under as security agencies have been alerted on the attacks.

The Katsina State Police Command has not issued an official statement on the incident.

The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Safana, told Leadership rescue team had been sent after the bandits. He added that efforts are on to combat the activities of bandits in the state.

The attack followed a suicide bombing attack in Gwoza, Borno State. Many other parts of Nigeria, particularly the Northern region have been affected by bandits.

According to Amnesty International, over 2,600 citizens of Benue and 50 rural communities were killed by bandits.

Amnesty added that over 80 percent of farming populations in Agatu, Guma and Gwer local government areas were displaced and have access to their farmlands due to the activities of bandits.

“Over 80 percent of farming populations in Agatu, Guma and Gwer West LGA have been displaced, with no access to their farmland or any means of livelihood.” Amnesty International said in its 2024 report on June 27.

Source: naijanews.com

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https://www.naijanews.com/2024/07/09/bandits-in-hijab-kidnap-25-in-katsina-state/

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The 39 Anti-LGBTQ+ Countries Including An Islamic Republic That Signed Samoa Agreement

8 July 2024

Confusion has surrounded Nigeria’s stance on same-sex marriage following its recent involvement in the Samoa Agreement, signed on June 28 in Brussels, Belgium.

This agreement serves as a new framework for relations between the European Union (EU) and countries within the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) group.

The Samoa Agreement, initially signed by the EU and other member states of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) on November 15, 2023, officially took effect on January 1, 2024. This agreement aims to foster enhanced cooperation among 79 nations over a 20-year period, covering areas such as democracy, human rights, economic growth, climate change, and more.

A point of contention has been the agreement’s reference to sexual orientation and gender identity, sparking debates and concerns over its implications on Nigeria’s laws against same-sex marriages.

Detailed checks by TheCable have unveiled that several ACP countries, including Nigeria, initially hesitated to sign the agreement due to these concerns.

To address the apprehensions, a compromise was reached where all participating countries agreed to “promote, protect, and fulfil all human rights, whether they are civil, political, economic, social, or cultural.”

This compromise specifies a commitment to implementing existing international agreements focused on a broad spectrum of human rights, which does not explicitly equate to approval of same-sex marriage by the Nigerian government.

The Federal Government of Nigeria has reaffirmed its stance, consistent with the nation’s laws, that the endorsement of the Samoa Agreement does not signify a shift in its position regarding same-sex marriage.

The agreement’s broad framework allows for the protection of human rights without contravening Nigeria’s established legal and cultural norms.

The misinterpretation of the Samoa Agreement’s implications has led to widespread speculation and concern among the Nigerian populace.

Signatories to the Samoa Agreement are 48 African countries, 16 countries from the Caribbean and 15 Pacific countries — accounting for about two billion people.

Africa

South Africa, Angola, Cape Verde, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Kinshasa), Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia , Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Islamic Republic of Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Uganda, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Eswatini, Tanzania, Chad, Togo, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

The Caribbean

Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Saint Christophe and Nevis, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago

The Pacific

Cook Islands, Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Timor Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu.

Source: naijanews.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.naijanews.com/2024/07/08/the-39-anti-lgbtq-countries-including-an-islamic-republic-that-signed-samoa-agreement/

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Two homemade bombs thrown at Durban North Mosque

09-07-24

Greenwood Park police are investigating a case of illegal possession of explosives after two homemade explosive devices were thrown into the Durban North Mosque (Musjidur Rahman) in the early hours of Monday morning.

KZN provincial spokesperson, Brigadier Jay Naicker said. “preliminary investigations indicate that on 8 July at 1:30am, unknown suspects were on Kenneth Kaunda Road when they were interrupted by a security vehicle that was patrolling the area.

“The suspects fled and threw the devices into the mosque premises,” he said, adding that the security officer saw what happened and found the devices inside the mosque premises.

Naicker said the mosque security guard immediately suspected that they were explosive devices and contacted the necessary authorities who contacted police.

“Police Bomb Technicians confirmed that it was homemade explosive devices that consisted of commercial explosives,” he said.

However, the devices were not set up to explode.

“It is suspected that the men were on route to an unknown location with the devices when they were disturbed by the security officer,” Naicker said

Investigations to locate the suspects are ongoing.

The trustees of the Durban North Mosque said in a statement: “A security guard noticed a vehicle entering the mosque's driveway around 00:45am and observed one of the occupants, an unidentified male, exiting the passenger side and placing an object into the shrubs near the mosque entrance.

“Upon noticing the guard approaching, the individuals fled the scene. The guard promptly alerted mosque management, who contacted SAPS for further investigation.”

According to the statement the package was found to contain a bomb and approximately 40 metres of detonation cable.

“This attempted act of terrorism therefore underscores a grave concern for the Durban North community. Authorities are currently reviewing footage from the mosque and security company cameras,” said the trustees.

They said the mosque had heightened security measures and urged anyone with information about the attempted bombing to contact law enforcement or the mosque directly.

“This reprehensible act will not deter the Muslim community from practising their faith or engaging in dialogue with other faiths. The mosque remains open, welcoming visitors as usual,” said the statement.

The trustees added that despite initial opposition to the mosque's establishment, it had since become a symbol of community support, providing various services such as open day programmes, social cohesion initiatives, and humanitarian aid during crises like the 2021 looting and water shortages.

“The Muslim community's contributions to Durban North's economy and social fabric have significantly mitigated earlier misunderstandings and stereotypes.”

Source: iol.co.za

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https://www.iol.co.za/mercury/news/two-homemade-bombs-thrown-at-durban-north-mosque-f5b33d8b-a2cf-4499-b2b7-4ec13fd4b804

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Ekiti Muslims Urged To Participate In Grassroots Politics

Jul 9, 2024

YAQOUB  POPOOLA

Muslims in Ekiti State  have been charged to take  active parts in the grassroots politics in order to have more advantage  in key elective and appointive positions.

The  President, Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (SCIA) Ekiti State Chapter ,Alhaji ( Dr) Hameed Bakare gave this admonition in his new Islamic year  message to the Muslim ummah in Ekiti.

He also  tasked muslims to be shining lights and good Ambassadors of the Islam in whatever place or position they  may find themselves.

Addressing the Imams, leaders and representatives of Muslims across all the local government areas in the state  at Iropora Ekiti.

The council commended the Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji – led State Government for improved performance in the extension of the dividends of democracy to Muslim faithfuls in the state at the recently celebrated Eidel Adha.

Bakare,who used the occasion to express  delight on the Sallah gifts from the State Government to Imams and other Muslim leaders at the last Eidel Adha festival was better than before, also urged the government to do more as there are more rooms for improvement.

The leader of the highest Islamic Body in the State also applauded the State Government for various life – impacting programmes and populist policies being implemented for the benefit of the Ekiti citizenry and assured the Government of its continuous unalloyed support and prayers towards the success of the BAO Administration.

The Council congratulated six brothers and sisters from the community who were recently elevated to the rank of Professor in the Ekiti State University , Ado Ekiti (EKSU) , and two others in the rank of the Associate Professor at the Bamidele Olumilua University of Education Science and Technology, Ikere  Ekiti ( BOUESTI ) and EKSU. It expressed delight at the positive development and wished them more success in their academic careers and future endeavours.

The president of the Council urged them to continue to be a shining light and good Ambassador of the Islamic religion. He equally charged the younger ones to emulate the good example of these trail blazers by being hardworking and committed in their studies and other chosen endeavours .

The council reiterated the dearth of Islamic/ Arabic teachers at both primary and secondary schools across the state and pleaded with the government to recruit these categories of Teachers in order to fill the identified gaps.

The Apex Islamic Organ in the state congratulated the newly Turbanned Chief Imam of Awo Ekiti – Alhaji Abdul Fatah Aleem, the newly appointed Iya Sunnah of Are – Ekiti and other members of the Ekiti Muslim Community who have added new feathers to their caps in recent times. The Council wished them a good and peaceful tenure of office.

A delegation of the council after the meeting, visited and offered prayers for the families of the late Chief Imams of Iropora and Igede Ekiti – both in the Irepodun/Ifelodun Local government area of the state.

The council congratulated Muslims on the occasion of the new Hijrah year that commenced today as they were urged to attend the Hijrah celebration programme as organized by the National Council of Muslim Youths Organization ( NACOMYO), Ekiti State Chapter.

The event which has been scheduled for 10am on Sunday, 14th July, 2024 at the Fajuyi Pavilion, Okesa, Ado Ekiti will have the Governor of Ekiti State – His Excellency, Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji, former Governor of Osun State – Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, and Senator Abdul Ganiy Babafemi Ojudu amongst several others in attendance.

The Council thanked the League of Imams and Alfas in Ekiti State for its cooperation and support, and acknowledged the peace reigning amongst Muslims in the State and urged its sustenance, to engender greater progress, development and prosperity.

Prayers were offered for the peace and progress of members, People and government of Ekiti State, Nigeria and the world at large.

Source: independent.ng

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://independent.ng/ekiti-muslims-urged-to-participate-in-grassroots-politics/

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“My biggest prayer is to understand the Muslim faith” – Tonto Dikeh

July 9, 2024

Tonto Dikeh, a Nigerian actress and politician, has expressed her deep admiration for Muslims and their commitment to their faith.

Tonto has grown to appreciate the Islamic religion as a result of living near a mosque. In a recent social media post, she described waking up every day for four years to the soothing sound of Islam’s first call to prayer, the Athan, chanted by a muezzin.

Tonto described how this melodious tune has reinforced her love for God and deepened her devotion.

The actress emphasized the wonderful influence Athan has had on her life and requested suggestions on unique ways to support a mosque beyond financial donations.

Tonto also prayed for all Muslims and expressed her wish to better understand their faith.

Reacting to the post..

@christabel.obianuju: “Good morning King T your heart is pure may heaven shower you with long life in good health and prosperity Amen.”

@officialnilequeen_hiba: “King Tonto.. I am happy u r touched …the sound is actually amazing .if you don’t mind I can tell you more about it and answer some of ur questions. Love u loads.you can help them build a bore hole or dig a well too.”

@oyinespecial: “Awesome even we the Muslim that sound is always a great reminder for us each time we hear it…. What u can donates Quran, kettles, prayer mats, speakers or dig borehole in location where there is no water. God bless you.”

@ahlam_bakhoor_fragrances: “You have a Pure Beautiful Heart, I pray you’re More Blessed. You can buy them Generator, or Fuel for a certain time, Fan, AC, Carpets. Or send them Food.”

@nkoyo_01: “One thing thrills me about this faith..that commitment to prayers.”

@iam_____golden: “Same here, every morning the sound wakes me up. And it’s gives me more reasons to open my Bible and pray as they are praying.”

In other news, Bisola Aiyeola, a Nollywood actress and media personality, has continued to discuss parenting and her experience as a single mother.

On her most recent appearance on Mums Next Door, the mother of one spoke up about certain aspects of motherhood she hasn’t enjoyed and why.

Bisola Aiyeola, who said on the same show that her daughter will not have a phone until she becomes 16, said she enjoys motherhood, but three elements make it difficult for her.

She discussed the overwhelming nature, physical changes, and the sacrifices that come with having children. In her words:

“Have I always enjoyed motherhood? No. I have not always enjoyed motherhood. There are moments I enjoy so it’s a yes and no answer. But it is overwhelming. Managing her, work, her own emotions, and there are certain conversations that we have when I look at her and I’m like honey, why do you have to please everybody? You can’t. You should stand your ground. Say no. It’s okay to say no.

There was a time when there was a competition in her school and her team didn’t get picked, and she was really upset.

She is so passionate about school work that if any of her teammates or classmates are not on the same page with her, she starts crying and some people are like “I don’t want to work with Laila, Laila’s own is too much.” I had to tell her that honey look, you need to be able to strike a balance. So managing those emotions can be overwhelming.”

On physical changes and how it has affected her, Bisola continued:

“I was a lot younger when I had Laila, I’m much older now. Life has changed. My body is not the same. I have issues with my back, and those issues started after I had Laila. It was from my pregnancy and childbirth that I started having those issues.”

Speaking about how she’s had to make sacrifices and put some of her own desires on hold because of her 15 year old daughter, Bisola said:

“I have put several desires on hold because of motherhood, some I will not go into. But mostly, sometimes work. There are certain roles that have come my way that I’m like if I do this, my daughter’s friends follow me. She literally sends me emails that her friends have sent to her of screenshots of some things that I’ve posted on social media. She’s pretty tough but I still don’t want to put her in any situation that would make her feel like why did my mum do this? So I have to consider her emotions.”

Source: gistlover.com

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https://www.gistlover.com/my-biggest-prayer-is-to-understand-the-muslim-faith-tonto-dikeh/

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Pakistan

 

‘National security under threat’ from X: ministry of interior

July 9, 2024

KARACHI: The ministry of interior has defended the months-long ban on social media platform X on the ground that it is a “threat to peace and national security” as it spreads “misinformation and incites violence”, it emerged on Monday.

The ban was imposed on Feb 17 on the basis of reports from intelligence agencies.

In its reply placed before the Sindh High Court (SHC), the ministry said: “[The] hostile elements operating on X have nefarious intentions to create an environment of chaos and instability, with the ultimate goal of destabilising the country and plunging it into some form of anarchy.”

It added that elements of society involved in a “defamatory campaign against state institutions” are exploiting platform X to “spread misinformation and incite violence”, posing a grave “threat to the peace and security of the nation”.

In statement before SHC, interior ministry defends ban on X; claims ‘hostile elements’ using social media platform to ‘incite violence, create chaos’

Therefore, the ban on X serves as a necessary step to disrupt the activities of these elements and prevent them from achieving their destructive objectives, the ministry stated.

Referring to Article 19 of the Constitution, the interior ministry said the restriction on X was not intended to curtail freedom of expression or restrict access to information.

It was a measure aimed at ensuring responsible use of social media platforms in accordance with the laws of the land, the ministry said.

“Citizens of Pakistan are encouraged to express their views within the bounds of law and respect for societal norms, without resorting to hate speech, incitement to violence, or dissemination of false information,” the ministry said.

It observed that the platform had failed to adhere to “lawful directives” and concerns raised by the federal government. It said that platform X was neither registered in the country nor did it sign any memorandum of understanding (MoU) or agreement to abide by the law of the land.

As a foreign entity, it is subject to the country’s regulatory framework, including compliance with directives issued by the government. But the platform had failed to establish any legal presence or engage in meaningful cooperation with the authorities, the ministry added. “The ministry of interior reiterates its commitment to safeguarding the interests of Pakistani people and ensuring the security and stability of the nation. The ban on X is a necessary step in this direction and is undertaken with due regard for the rule of law and principles of democratic governances,” the ministry stated.

Referring to the earlier restriction on TikTok, the interior ministry said it had banned TikTok over “objectionable content”. The ban was lifted after the platform signed an MoU and agreed to comply with national laws.

In the submission, the ministry also questioned the maintainability of the petition, arguing that the petitioners have no locus standi to file the petitions as no fundamental rights have been infringed.

Furthermore, the ministry contended, the petitioners had not exhausted all available remedies before approaching the SHC. It prayed to the court to dismiss the petition for the “sake of national interest” and to avoid “irreparable loss to national interest”.

Source: dawn.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.dawn.com/news/1844724/national-security-under-threat-from-x-ministry-of-interior

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PM urges UN for playing role to address Afghan refugees’ issues

July 09, 2024

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has urged the UN Refugee Agency to play its role in promoting durable solution to address the situation of Afghan refugees including through safe and dignified return and reintegration in their homeland and third country relocation.

Talking to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Filippo Grandi in Islamabad, he stressed that the international community must recognize the burden being shouldered by Pakistan while hosting such a large refugee population and demonstrate collective responsibility. He sought UNHCR’s support in mobilizing adequate resources to supplement Pakistan’s efforts in this regard.

Reaffirming Pakistan’s commitment to address protection and safety needs of people in vulnerable situations, the Prime Minister underscored that the international community needed to be mindful of the socio-economic challenges and security threats being faced by Pakistan in this regard.

The UN High Commissioner expressed gratitude for Pakistan's generosity and hospitality in hosting millions of Afghan refugees for the past many decades. He assured the UNHCR would continue to work closely with Pakistan to fulfill the basic needs of the Afghan refugees.

Source: radio.gov.pk

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https://www.radio.gov.pk/09-07-2024/pm-urges-un-for-playing-role-to-address-afghan-refugees-issues

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Pakistan, Iran vow to strengthen bilateral ties in diverse fields

July 09, 2024

Pakistan and Iran have vowed to further strengthen bilateral relations in diverse fields.

The commitment was made during a telephonic conversation between Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and Iranian President-elect Dr. Massoud Pezeshkian.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif congratulated Iranian President-elect Dr. Massoud Pezeshkian on his victory in recently held Presidential elections.

Wishing the Iranian President-elect a successful tenure in office, the Prime Minister said he looks forward to working closely with him to further strengthen Pakistan-Iran relations and enhance bilateral cooperation in various fields, including trade, energy, and regional security.

Iranian President-elect Dr. Massoud Pezeshkian thanked the Prime Minister for his felicitations, while expressing his desire to further deepen fraternal ties between two brotherly nations.

The two leaders also discussed regional issues and agreed to continue close coordination and consultation.

Source: radio.gov.pk

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.radio.gov.pk/09-07-2024/pakistan-iran-vow-to-strengthen-bilateral-ties-in-diverse-fields

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Probe underway as TTP claims responsibility for DSP’s murder

July 9, 2024

KARACHI: While the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Monday evening claimed responsibility for the assassination of Counter-Terrorism Department DSP Ali Raza, investigators probing the killing have come across a challenging situation after the forensic analysis of the spent bullet casings recovered from the crime scene revealed that the murder weapon was not previously used in any crime.

CTD’s DSP Ali Raza was shot dead by armed pillion riders in his old neighbourhood in Shakeel Corporation, Karimabad on Sunday.

A social media statement, said to be released by the outlawed TTP, stated that DSP Raza was targeted by its militants. However, DIG-CTD Asif Ejaz Shaikh did not agree with the claim and told Dawn that he could not verify it right now.

About media reports that said a hitherto group Al-Fajr had claimed responsibility for the killing, the DIG said there was no such organisation and it was just a group on social media. He did not elaborate.

Earlier in the day, the investigators probing the killing of DSP Raza said that they had come to know that the murder weapon, a pistol, had not been used in any previous murder case.

Sources said that they were now focusing on acquiring CCTV footage to ascertain the identity of the killers.

CTD’s senior official Raja Umar Khattab told Dawn that the investigators did not find a match of spent bullet casings that killed the DSP.

He said there were two assailants riding a motorcycle who resorted to indiscriminate firing on DSP Raza.

No FIR has been lodged till late in the night as the police are waiting for slain officer’s heir to register a case.

Funeral prayers for slain DSP Raza were held at the Central Police Office (CPO) and attended by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Home Minister Zia Lanjar, Inspector General of Police Ghulam Nabi Memon, senior officials and his family members.

The CM also met with the family members of the slain officer and vowed to bring the culprits to justice very soon.

He said that the police had given tremendous sacrifices in fight against terrorism.

Later, the slain officer was laid to rest in the Wadi-i-Hussain graveyard on Superhighway amid moving scenes.

‘Different angles being explored’

The home minister told the media that police were investigating the case from different angles.

He said DSP Raza was posted in the CTD for a long time. He was assassinated on the eve of first of Muharram and, therefore, the investigators were probing possible sectarian motives behind the murder, he added.

He had also taken action against Lyari gangsters and outlawed TTP and there was an old enmity between these groups and the slain officer, he added.

In the evening, the home minister chaired a meeting to review the law and order situation as well as security arrangements for Muharram at the CPO.

The minister said all procession routes should be considered ‘sensitive’ and extraordinary security should be provided.

The IGP assured that the Sindh police were ready and alert to handle Muharram security and had already deployed additional force in all districts.

Source: dawn.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.dawn.com/news/1844721/probe-underway-as-ttp-claims-responsibility-for-dsps-murder

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Bohra Muharram congregations begin with Syedna’s address

July 9, 2024

KARACHI: Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin, the leader of the Dawoodi Bohra community, has delivered the first sermon of “Ashara Mubaraka” in Taheri Masjid, Saddar.

According to a press release, Syedna addressed a gathering of “over 80,000 attendees” and mentioned how Bohra community members from diverse geographies and professions gathered in Karachi for a single purpose — the remembrance and commemoration of the martyrdom of Imam Husain.

In the sermon, Syedna expounded upon a number of hadith by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) which highlight the role of conviction and self-growth and success.

For instance, he quoted the Prophet’s statement regarding the honeybee which “consumes only that which is pure, and gives back only that which is pure”.

Based on this statement by the Prophet (PBUH), Syedna advocated for a self-awareness of consumption both in body and spirit, and a philosophy of internalisation that prioritised giving back to society as the ultimate objective of any endeavour. “Consume only that which is worthy of your time and benefits you as a whole and only give back to your families and society that which will help others. Both your input and your output should be pure,” he said, according to the statement.

The daily sermons touch upon various themes and disciplines and encourage community members to seek knowledge from the Holy Quran and emulate the noble qualities of the Prophet (PBUH) and the Ahl al-Bayt to reinvigorate their faith and navigate the complexities of modern life.

Source: dawn.com

Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story

https://www.dawn.com/news/1844711/bohra-muharram-congregations-begin-with-syednas-address

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KP residents in cross hairs of terrorists: ANP

July 9, 2024

PESHAWAR: Awami National Party president in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mian Iftikhar Hussain on Monday said the rising militancy and deteriorating law and order situation in the province had become a major worry for the residents by posing a serious threat to their lives.

“There is an anarchy-like situation in our province as the members of all political parties as well as other people are caught in the cross hairs of terrorists,” Mr Hussain told a multi-party meeting at the party’s headquarters, Bacha Khan Markaz, here.

The ANP organised the moot to discuss security issues and a collective struggle for peace.

The participants included provincial emir of the Jamaat-i-Islami Inayatullah Khan, provincial general secretary of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl Maulana Attaul Haq Darwesh, Mazdoor Kisan Party chairman Afzal Khamosh, Pakhtunkhwa National Awami Party provincial president Ashraf Hoti, Qaumi Watan Party leader Tariq Ahmad Khan, National Democratic Movement provincial general secretary Nadeem Askar and Awami Works Party leader Kifayat Khan Advocate, and ANP senior vice-president in the province Syed Aqil Shah.

They held a detailed discussion on the rising militant activities and deteriorating law and order situation, economic crisis, rigging in the last general elections, autonomy, and other issues of the province.

Mr Hussain said that there was no writ of the government in the province with southern parts being “virtually ruled by terrorists at the nighttime.”

He insisted that the proposed military operation against militancy in the province, Azm-i-Isthekam, was meant to please the US and block the multi-billion dollars China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project.

The ANP leader said that the people no longer trusted military offensives or the government’s talks with militants.

He said that the government should take political parties, parliament and other stakeholders into confidence before taking any decision about a new military operation against militancy.

Mr Hussain said that the province’s serious economic issues had increased the misery of the residents.

He also said that the province’s autonomy was under serious threat, while hurdles were created to the provision of the due share in national resources to the province under the NAF Award.

“In order to resolve these problems, fresh elections are necessary under the supervision of an independent judiciary and without the interference of the establishment. This exercise will help restore people’s confidence in parliament,” he said.

Chairman of the Mazdoor Kisan Party Afzal Khamosh told the meeting that a continuous struggle was necessary to resolve the province’s issues.

He, however, said that under the current circumstances, all stakeholders should take the one-point agenda of peace forward.

Provincial general secretary of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl Attaul Haq Darwesh said that it was the prime responsibility of the state to ensure peace and protect public life and property in the country, but the state had miserably failed to fulfil it.

He said that his party was opposed to the launch of another military offensive against militancy in the province without taking stakeholders into confidence.

Provincial deputy emir of the Jamaat-i-Islam Inayatullah Khan said that his party had already rejected the government’s decision about the Operation Azm-i-Istehkam.

He said that the province’s all security issues should be handled by the police, while the military personnel should be immediately removed from security checkposts.

Source: dawn.com

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https://www.dawn.com/news/1844674/kp-residents-in-cross-hairs-of-terrorists-anp

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President approves Election Amendment Bill 2024

July 09, 2024

President Asif Ali Zardari has approved the Election Amendment Bill 2024.

According to press release issued by the President House, through the Election Amendment Bill, the amendments were made in section 140 of the Election Act 2017.

After the amendments, the Chief Justice of the concerned High Court will be consulted in case of appointment of a serving judge in the Election Tribunal.

Source: radio.gov.pk

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https://www.radio.gov.pk/09-07-2024/president-approves-election-amendment-bill-2024

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Europe

 

Islamic finance start-up Ethos taps Thought Machine for core banking tech

9th July 2024

The company is to leverage the vendor’s cloud-based Vault Core platform to launch a deposit account service and home purchase plan mortgage service supporting Shariah-compliant Mudaraba, and Musharakah and Ijarah structures respectively.

Both product launches will seek to service Muslim communities in the UK at first, before being extended to “other ethically-minded consumer groups” in due course, the company’s statement says, coinciding with its ongoing efforts to obtain a UK banking licence, for which the company’s website says it is “currently applying” for.

Beyond its domestic operations, the company also intends to target consumers in “new markets such as Saudi Arabia and beyond”, the statement continues, supported by the Vault Core platform’s reputed flexibility to meet diverse regional banking regulations and customer requirements.

In addition to the core offering, the London-headquartered start-up will also tap the pre-built financial products outlined in Thought Machine’s global Product Library, which consists of “pre-written smart contracts, ranging from current, deposit and credit accounts to multi-currency wallets and Shariah-compliant products”, according to the vendor’s website, enabling Ethos to further customise its offering in line with its “international expansion goals”.

Hasan Raza, CEO of Ethos, says the selection of Thought Machine was driven by the vendor’s “superior product design” and “high availability, performance, flexibility and personalisation”, qualities he claims will enable the delivery of “modern banking benefits” that also adhere to “community traditions”.

Source: fintechfutures.com

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https://www.fintechfutures.com/2024/07/islamic-finance-start-up-ethos-taps-thought-machine-for-core-banking-tech/

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Who are the grassroots Muslim groups with an eye on Labor seats?

8 July 2024

The Albanese government’s response to the conflict in Gaza will come under fire when self-described “grassroots” campaigns target dissatisfied voters in numerous key electorates at the next federal election.

Senator Fatima Payman’s dramatic exit from Labor to the cross-bench last week over disagreement on when and how to recognise Palestinian statehood has sparked fresh debate about the electoral impact of the issue.

Could Labor’s heartland seats in western and south-western Sydney and parts of Melbourne be vulnerable to campaigns run by pro-Palestine Muslim groups?

The prospect of such campaigns has prompted a round of hand-wringing from the major political parties and from prominent media outlets. So let’s take a look at the planned community campaigns and then put them in context.

Who are the Muslim groups expected to target seats at the next federal election?

Amid Payman’s split with Labor, a new political movement called the Muslim Vote was announced. The group says it plans to back candidates in at least three safe Labor seats in Sydney but is also looking to options in Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and the ACT.

The Muslim Vote denies being a political party and says it does not intend to become one. Instead, it is focused on educating and mobilising voters about their local politicians’ stances on Palestine. It says it wants to mobilise volunteers who would support independent candidates. Its website says the group is guided by the ethical and moral framework of Islam, which requires followers to “act with integrity, justice, and compassion and drives our efforts to create a more equitable society”.

Another group, Muslim Votes Matter, has also been established. Like the Muslim Vote, it says it is primarily an educative and resources body striving for the “political engagement and voice of Australian Muslims” to strengthen national unity and promote values-driven policymaking.

The group says there are more than 20 seats where the Muslim community “collectively has the potential deciding vote” based on an analysis of the electoral margins and the share of Islamic voters in those seats.

Which MPs are they targeting and why?

Primarily, the groups are looking to influence electorates with a higher proportion of Muslim voters – and those seats have typically been traditional Labor strongholds.

One of those on the wishlist is Watson, which the workplace relations minister, Tony Burke, has held since 2004. Watson is held by Burke with a margin of 15.1% but Muslims make up 25.1% of the population in the seat, suggesting they could make a difference to the result.

Burke has been supportive of the pro-Palestinian movement but has not strayed from the party line on supporting a two-state solution during a peace process. On the Muslim Votes Matter’s scorecard, Burke is alleged to have not mentioned Gaza in parliament since October 2023, when he gave a speech saying it was legitimate for Palestinians to want to live “free of occupation [and] free of endless checkpoints” and called for international law to be upheld. However, Burke did tell parliament on 5 June 2024 that the government was calling for a ceasefire.

Other target seats include Jason Clare’s Blaxland and Anne Stanley’s Werriwa – both also in Sydney.

Beyond NSW, the Victorian Labor-held seats of Calwell, Scullin, Bruce, Holt and Wills are being considered.

What are federal politicians saying about these moves?

Quite a bit, it turns out. The announcement of Muslim-focused political groups has drawn criticism from major party politicians, who say Australia’s political system should avoid sectarianism.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, who has previously described the Catholic church as one of “three great faiths that [he] was raised with” alongside the Labor party and the Rabbitohs NRL team, said faith-based political parties would “undermine social cohesion”.

Albanese also said it was “beyond obvious that it is not in the interest of smaller minority groups to isolate themselves, which is what a faith-based party system would do”.

The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, said: “I don’t have any problem with a party that has a religious view … but when you say that your task is to, as a first order of priority, to support a Palestinian cause or a cause outside of Australia, that is a very different scenario.”

But the deputy leader of the Greens, Mehreen Faruqi, said “people of colour and Muslims have for too long been ignored in this country” and the major political parties had “for decades used us as tokens, as photo opportunities at our religious events”.

“So I don’t find it surprising at all that communities are organising and communities are saying, well, we want our voices heard,” she said.

Is mixing religion and politics in Australia a new phenomenon?

No. At the beginning of the House of Representatives each day, the speaker acknowledges country and then reads a parliamentary prayer that asks “Almighty God” to “Direct and prosper our deliberations to the advancement of Thy glory, and the true welfare of the people of Australia”. The Speaker then reads the Lord’s Prayer including the invocation: “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven.”

Numerous Australian political leaders have spoken about their faith, with the former prime minister Scott Morrison using his first speech to parliament as an MP in 2008 to ask God to “bless and guide us all in this place”.

For many years, Fred Nile’s Christian Democratic party held the balance of power in the NSW upper house and was influential in the passage of legislation, although it is no longer registered. Australian Christians, a Western Australia-based political party, remains registered and declares on its website: “We need a Christian voice in Parliament to cut through the political noise and promote accountability and integrity in government.”

It is also not unusual for faith groups to speak up on political issues of importance to them, including at election time. The Australian Christian Lobby, established in 1996, says that it “mobilises Christians across the country to take action on behalf of their faith, making a significant impact on the political landscape in Australia”. The ACL maintains that it does not “tell people who to vote for” but often publishes checklists ranking candidates and parties against its policy priorities. For example, in this year’s Tasmanian state election the ACL’s “Tas Votes” website urged Christians to “please consider voting on moral and ethical grounds” and to “choose those who are most likely to support God’s truth in Parliament”.

The Australian Christian Values Institute publishes checklists that give an opinion on the political parties’ stances on issues such as abortion, euthanasia and funding for Christian schools. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry surveyed political parties before the 2022 federal election and posted a compilation of answers under the heading: “Where do the Liberals, ALP and Greens stand as parties on issues affecting the Jewish community?” The questions included what conditions the parties would apply before recognising a Palestinian state and how they would approach UN votes relating to Israel.

What are the new groups’ chances of getting candidates elected?

Right now, political analysts and pollsters are watching this space. In the UK election last Thursday, despite Keir Starmer’s Labour party winning a thumping majority, it also lost four seats to independent candidates standing on an explicitly pro-Palestinian platform.

Related: The unwritten rules of multiculturalism as explained by an older white man | First Dog on the Moon

Kos Samaras, a former Victorian Labor party campaign director who now runs his own polling company, said the groups had “the potential for mass disruption”.

Samaras said the issue had already been brewing in Labor’s western Sydney seats for some time but Payman’s exit had taken the situation from “manageable” to “quite difficult”. Younger second- and third-generation Muslim voters could punish Labor at the polls, he said.

“Their parents have voted for Labor, but they’ve grown up in Australia, where they’ve watched the party really not make much of an effort to represent them. And all the [conflict in Gaza] has done has poured petrol on the fire,” Samaras said.

The electoral analyst Ben Raue said even if the independent candidates didn’t win seats from Labor, the impact would still be apparent.

“It means Labor is going to have to pay attention to electorates that they’ve largely been able to take for granted before,” he said.

Source: uk.news.yahoo.com

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https://uk.news.yahoo.com/grassroots-muslim-groups-eye-labor-150024161.html

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Orban not enough to ‘end this war’ – Zelensky

8 Jul, 2024

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban doesn’t have the clout required to negotiate an end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, according to Vladimir Zelensky. The Ukrainian leader said he would rather see the US, EU or China in that role.

Orban visited Kiev last week and proposed a ceasefire that Zelensky rejected. He has since gone to Moscow and Beijing, ahead of a NATO summit in Washington.

“As for whether he can be a mediator, there is no mediating between Russia and Ukraine,” Zelensky said on Monday, during a joint press conference with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw.

“Only serious, strong alliances can act as go-betweens,” Zelensky added. According to him, the conflict won’t end through mediation, but when a power with a strong economy and a strong military can pressure Russia into giving up.

“Are there many such countries in the world? A few. I think the US is one. I think China, and the EU,” Zelensky said. “Not just one country, but the entire European Union.”

Hungary took over the rotating presidency of the EU in July. The bloc’s top officials disavowed and denounced Orban’s diplomatic mission as a rogue operation, insisting that the EU “stands with Ukraine” and does not intend to negotiate with Russia. Kiev has likewise protested that Orban’s trip to Moscow was undertaken “without approval or coordination with Ukraine.”

Tusk, who hosted Zelensky on Monday to sign a security pact, joined the criticism of Orban’s shuttle diplomacy.

“No one has the right to decide on the shape of a future peace on behalf of Ukraine, without Ukraine,” Tusk told reporters. “No one has the right to act on behalf of Poland, or the entire EU, without full agreement with Ukraine and all of us, when it comes to potential talks with Moscow.”

Orban has shrugged off criticism by pointing out that he doesn’t need anyone’s mandate to speak directly to the parties in the conflict.

On Monday, the Hungarian PM sat down with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who praised his efforts to resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The positions of Beijing and Budapest overlap to a great degree when it comes to the issue of Ukraine, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said after the meeting.

Source: rt.com

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https://www.rt.com/russia/600670-zelensky-orban-negotiate-peace/

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Russia takes out three US-made Ukrainian missile systems – MOD

8 Jul, 2024

The Russian military has destroyed three US-supplied Ukrainian High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) along with some of the foreign military personnel helping Kiev operate the missile arrays, Moscow has said.

On Monday, the Defense Ministry stated that the systems were eliminated through the combined actions of Russian warplanes, drones, artillery and missile forces. It added that the strike also killed “up to 10 foreign specialists servicing those systems.”

Officials, however, would not say where the HIMARS – which have a range of fire of about 80km – were destroyed, nor would they provide details regarding the nationality of the foreign personnel.

However, several Russian Telegram channels released a video of the purported strike, claiming it had taken in Russia’s Kherson Region at night. The black-and-white clip shows what looks like aerial footage of three HIMARS arrays maneuvering on the road before being hit by a single powerful missile strike, causing fire and smoke to rise into the air.

Last month, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed to have destroyed another HIMARS in Ukraine’s Kharkov Region. The attacks came after the US stated in May that it was allowing Kiev to use American-made weapons to strike targets deep inside Russia, with Ukrainian officials confirming that the missiles were used to bombard Russian logistics hubs and artillery positions across the border.

Russian officials have repeatedly accused Ukraine of using Western-made weapons, particularly US-supplied HIMARS and long-range ATAMCS missiles to attack civilians. In this vein, Moscow slammed Washington over weapons deliveries, arguing that in doing so, the US “is encouraging Kiev terrorists to commit new crimes.”

Russia has also said it is well aware of the presence of foreign military personnel in Ukraine, noting that they are regarded as “legitimate targets” for Moscow’s forces. Russian President Vladimir Putin said in late May that those foreign servicemen were suffering casualties.

Source: rt.com

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https://www.rt.com/russia/600642-russia-himars-strike-kherson/

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NATO threatening global peace and stability – China

8 Jul, 2024

NATO is a threat to global peace and stability because of its “deep-rooted Cold War mentality and ideological bias,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Monday.

Lin was asked by Bloomberg at a daily briefing to comment on recent reports that the US-led military bloc is planning to sign a cooperation agreement with Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand at the upcoming NATO summit in Washington.

The spokesperson responded by stating that NATO is a “product of the Cold War and the world’s largest military alliance.” Despite claiming to be a regional and defensive organization, the bloc has continued to “expand its power across borders, break through defense zones, and provoke confrontation,” Lin added.  

These actions, according to the spokesperson, expose NATO’s “deep-rooted Cold War mentality and ideological bias, which is the real source of risk threatening global peace and stability.” 

“NATO should abide by its regional and defensive organization positioning, stop creating tensions in the Asia-Pacific, peddle Cold War thinking and camp confrontation, and stop messing up Europe and trying to mess up the Asia-Pacific,” the spokesman said. 

Lin’s comments come as NATO bolsters its efforts to establish relations with countries across the Asia-Pacific, at the same time claiming it does not seek to formally expand into the region.  

Earlier this year, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg explained that the bloc feels that it must respond to the ever-changing security landscape in Asia, particularly because of alleged Chinese aggression. “This is not about NATO moving into Asia, but instead about the fact that China is coming close to us,” Stoltenberg told attendees at the exclusive Davos gathering in January. 

Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Quian responded by calling Stoltenberg’s statements “inappropriate” and described NATO as a “walking war machine” that “brings disorder everywhere.” 

In 2021, the US, UK, and Australia also established the so-called AUKUS security partnership, which aims to help Canberra acquire nuclear-powered submarines. Washington has extended invitations to other countries in the Asia-Pacific, such as Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand, to participate in the project. 

The AUKUS pact has been condemned by Beijing as an attempt to build an “Asia-Pacific version of NATO.” The Chinese Foreign Ministry has warned that such moves only further the “Cold War mentality,” stimulate an arms race, and undermine regional stability and peace.

Speaking in Hanoi, Vietnam last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin also insisted that NATO’s aspirations in the Asia-Pacific represent a “threat to all countries in the region, including the Russian Federation.” Putin vowed that Moscow will not allow these actions to go unanswered.

Source: rt.com

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https://www.rt.com/russia/600636-china-nato-threatening-peace/

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Arab World

 

Riyadh forum discusses importance of media

July 08, 2024

RIYADH: The Saudi Real Estate General Authority on Sunday concluded the first edition of the Real Estate Media Forum at Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center.

The forum, attended by the authority’s CEO, Abdullah bin Saud Al-Hammad and prominent media figures and real estate experts, discussed the importance of the media in increasing real estate awareness in all segments of society, enhancing the role of the real estate sector and achieving its aspirations.

Tayseer bin Mohammed Al-Mufarrej, spokesperson for the authority, said the media plays an influential role in developing and shaping the real estate sector, and contributes significantly to enhancing transparency and reliability to achieve the sector’s development and sustainability.

He said the authority is working with its partners in the media to achieve integration between the real estate and media sectors, thus spreading knowledge and awareness of real estate regulations and legislation for all segments of society.

The forum coincided with the authority’s launch of its new visual identity to affirm that it is moving toward a comprehensive strategy and achieving sustainability for the real estate sector, based on governance, empowerment, sustainability, market efficiency and partners’ service.

Source: arabnews.com

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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2545966/saudi-arabia

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Private museums unlock the past in Saudi Arabia’s north

July 08, 2024

RIYADH: In Saudi Arabia’s Northern Border Region, a quiet revolution is underway to preserve the area’s rich cultural heritage through an unlikely medium: private museums.

These personal collections, often tucked away in homes and personal spaces, are becoming important ties across generations, Saudi Press Agency reported recently.

Stepping into the museums transports visitors to a bygone era, allowing them to see firsthand the rich tapestry of the region’s history and the daily lives of the people who once lived there.

Ahmed Al-Sultani, a collector turned curator, has transformed part of his Arar home into a time capsule. “For over 25 years, I’ve been gathering pieces of our past,” he said in an interview with SPA.

Ancient household utensils, including copperware, coffee pots, jugs, and food containers, make up part of his collection, which also holds items once owned by nomadic Bedouin and local residents.

The museum showcases lightweight weapons, swords, and daggers, alongside tools from the region’s development during the Trans-Arabian Pipeline era from 1950 to the early 1980s.

Drawing visitors from both the local community and beyond, Al-Sultani’s museum has become a magnet for history buffs, archaeology enthusiasts, and school and university students. Heritage pieces are displayed to recreate authentic glimpses of the past and as important introductions to the history of the region.

Meanwhile, Zahia Al-Anazi is breaking new ground as one of the first women in the region to open a private museum. Her collection includes objects related to women’s lives along the Northern Border.

Visitors to Al-Anazi’s museum step into meticulously recreated scenes from the past. A bride’s room, replete with traditional outfits and wool furnishings, provides insights into local wedding customs, while a beauty room displaying items such as kohl and hair oils offers insights into past cosmetic practices.

Another room is dedicated to traditional Northern attire, as well as vintage household utensils, including copperware and kitchen tools.

Al-Anazi said that she learnt about handicrafts, such as embroidery, spinning, and sewing, from her grandmothers and mother, prompting her to open the museum.

“My goal is to preserve our heritage and instill its value in everyone, especially the new generation,” she said.

Al-Anazi’s approach reinforces aspects of national identity among children and introduces younger generations to the beauty of their past.

Source: arabnews.com

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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2545886/saudi-arabia

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KSrelief supports vulnerable people in Sudan, Yemen and Jordan

July 09, 2024

RIYADH: The Kingdom’s aid agency KSrelief continues to support vulnerable people in Sudan, Yemen and Jordan, the Saudi Press Agency reported late Monday.

In Sudan’s Gezira state, KSrelief distributed 1,500 food parcels for 10,384 individuals, in the second phase of the agency’s food security project in the country.

KSrelief also distributed 900 personal care kits to Sudanese families in the capital Khartoum.

The initiative benefited 5,175 people as a part of a project to provide urgent shelter aid to Sudan this year.

And in Sinnar, the aid group distributed 1,010 shelter bags, benefiting 5,807 individuals in the rural area.

In Yemen, assistance was provided to families affected by a fire that recently ripped through the Maduda camp in the Hadhramaut region.

The support included tents and shelter kits, benefiting 11 families comprising 54 individuals.

Meanwhile, at the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, KSrelief provided a variety of health and training services for 1,400 Syrian refugees.

The health services included specialized clinics, while training courses ranged from electrical work and carpentry to sewing and even football refereeing.

Source: arabnews.com

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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2546131/saudi-arabia

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Saudi authorities arrest 4 in drug busts

July 09, 2024

RIYADH: The Kingdom’s General Directorate of Narcotics Control has arrested four people in separate cases for suspected illegal drug-related activities, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Monday.

In the Qassim region, three people — two foreigners and one citizen — were apprehended for allegedly smuggling 5,429 narcotic pills.

In Dammam, a foreign national was arrested for allegedly attempting to sell 7 kg of methamphetamine, commonly known as shabu.

Saudi Arabia has heavy penalties for drug-related crimes, which include fines, deportation, imprisonment and the death penalty.

Members of the public are urged to report any information related to drug smuggling or related activities by contacting 911 in Makkah, Riyadh and the Eastern Province, or 999 in other regions of the Kingdom.

Additionally, reports can be submitted to the General Directorate of Narcotics Control hotline 995 or via email at 995@gdnc.gov.sa.

All reports and information are handled confidentially.

Source: arabnews.com

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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2546121/saudi-arabia

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KSrelief, EU officials discuss aid cooperation

July 09, 2024

RIYADH: Officials from Saudi Arabia’s aid agency KSrelief and the EU held talks here on Monday to discuss cooperation on relief efforts in the region.

Hana Omar, KSrelief’s director of partnerships and international relations, met with a delegation from the EU’s Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, or DG ECHO, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Created in 1992, DG ECHO focuses on people affected by conflict, civil unrest, food insecurity and economic decline.

The organization’s work includes Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Palestine, Syria and Yemen.

The European officials praised the Kingdom’s work to aid vulnerable people globally.

The meeting took place at KSrelief’s Riyadh headquarters.

Source: arabnews.com

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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2546106/saudi-arabia

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Saudi consulate in Houston issues Storm Beryl advisory

July 09, 2024

RIYADH: The Kingdom’s consulate in Houston has urged Saudis to follow all instructions issued by local authorities regarding Storm Beryl, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Tuesday.

The consulate asked Saudis to exercise caution and use its emergency contact number if required.

Beryl hit Texas on Monday, killing several people and zapping power to nearly 3 million homes and businesses as it headed east.

It has now weakened to a tropical depression, the National Hurricane Center said Monday evening.

Source: arabnews.com

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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2546006/saudi-arabia

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