CAIR-LA Reaffirms Commitment to Combating Islamophobia, Xenophobia, and Racism amid Trump Reelection, Commends California Muslim Voter Turnout
New Age Islam News Bureau
07 Nov2024
Photo Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
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· CAIR-LA Reaffirms Commitment to Combating Islamophobia, Xenophobia, and Racism amid Trump Reelection, Commends California Muslim Voter Turnout
· Restoration of Article 370: PDP, People's Conference submit fresh resolution in J-K Assembly
· Imran foresees 'positivity' in Trump's return to White House
· Gazans want Donald Trump to end war
· Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Seeks Positive U.S. Relations Following Presidential Election
· Saudi Arabia leads Arab world in congratulating Trump
· Starmer invites Jewish and Muslim leaders to Downing St interfaith event
· Democrats in Kenya fear what the next four years will hold, after Trump's U.S. election win
· How Trump’s Middle East peace message won over Muslim voters amid Biden backlash over Gaza
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North America
· The view from countries where Trump's win really matters
· FBI foils New York man's 'evil plan' to wage jihad on ISIS' behalf in Syria: DOJ
· Donald Trump’s Middle East promises win over some Muslim voters
· Why Kamala Harris lost: A flawed candidate or doomed campaign?
· How small gains delivered Trump a big win
· 'It's simple, really' - why Latinos flocked to Trump's working-class coalition
· All three Muslim members re-elected to Congress
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India
· Jammu and Kashmir: Terrorist killed in gunfight with security forces in Kupwara district
· Maharashtra polls: Over 180 NGOs work to enrol Muslim voters, increase awareness
· BJP’s Mithun Chakraborty booked for alleged anti-Muslim hate speech in West Bengal
· JPC's attitude is beyond reasonable rules: All India Muslim Personal Law Board
· 'Land Jihad': Karnataka Erupts In Protests Over Waqf Property Claims And Disputes
· Mumbai cops arrest man from Karnataka for threat message to Salman Khan
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Pakistan
· FIR registered against security guard for attack on Chinese nationals in Karachi
· FIA confiscates Rs25mn cash during operation against hawala, hundi
· 4 FC men martyred in South Waziristan attack
· PM Shehbaz looks forward to working with new US admin
· PTI looking for options to move Imran abroad with help of foreign country: defence minister
· PM announces 100MW power supply, Rs1bn endowment fund for Gilgit Baltistan
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Mideast
· Israel strikes Lebanon after discussing ‘Iranian threat’ with Trump
· Israel, WHO say evacuated dozens of Gazans for medical care
· UN says Gaza polio vaccination campaign complete
· Islamic Jihad condemns replacement of clothing of Palestinian female prisoners in "Damon" prison
· Hezbollah says attacked Israel naval base with drones, missiles
· Lebanon files complaint against Israel at UN labor body over deadly pager explosions, minister says
· Hezbollah says tens of thousands of fighters ready to battle Israel
· Iranian Revolutionary Court sentences four individuals to death over charges of spying for Israel
· Iraqi Islamic Resistance claims drone strike on Israeli site
· Discussing interventions of Islamic Relief Organization in Raymah
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South Asia
· Higher Education Minister Emphasizes Role of Educated Citizens in Building Afghanistan’s Future
· Ministry of Interior Disputes UNODC Report on Opium Cultivation Increase
· Enhancement of healthcare services in provinces discussed, ministry
· Turkish Police detain 10 Afghan migrants over lack of work permits
· DAB Governor Advocates for Islamic Financial Reforms at AAOIFI Annual Meeting
· Islamic Emirate’s Acting Ambassador Attends Indonesia’s National Day Celebrations in Doha
· Mawlawi Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid Holds Talks with Indian Officials on Strengthening Cooperation Between Kabul and New Delhi
· BB relaxes LC rules for Ramadan commodities
· DAB governor calls on Islamic countries to help streamline Afghan banking system
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Arab World
· Saudi crown prince meets with Pakistani army chief in Riyadh
· Saudi man arrested for $131m bank fraud
· Saudi crown prince receives medical team that performed world’s first fully robotic heart transplant
· Saudi Arabia highlights urban sustainability vision at Cairo forum
· British envoy lauds ‘growth’ in bilateral ties since Vision 2030
· Sports marketeers take deep dive into Saudi culture
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Europe
· Ukraine says it fought N Korean troops for first time
· Mishcon de Reya acts for the successful Respondents in the Court of Appeal in a dispute over the ownership of Abbey Mills Mosque
· Chip shop boss says 'don't do it' as his Birmingham takeaway is flooded with customers
· German coalition collapses after Scholz fires key minister
· IOC says Khelif preparing legal action after new eligibility claims
· German government collapses
· Azerbaijani Prime Minister meets with Secretary-General of Muslim Council of Elders
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Africa
· Chief Imam, About 100 Others Kidnapped As Gunmen Attack Zamfara Communities
· Tax Reforms: It Is Like The President Wants To Suffocate Us, We Won’t Accept – Gov Bala Mohammed
· Israeli Envoy Reveals Foreign Country Behind Terrorism In Nigeria
· NNPC Mourns Late Army Chief, Taoreed Lagbaja
· Police Confirm Presence Of New Terrorist Group, Lakurawas In Five LGs In Sokoto State
· Despite Tinubu’s Directive, #EndBadGovernance Minors Still In Custody – Lawyer
· 30 National Assembly Officials, Clerk To Retire As Tinubu Kicks Against Service Extension
· South Africa closes main border with Mozambique, citing safety concerns amid post-election protests
· Mixed reactions to Trump victory among residents in the Democratic Republic of Congo
· Libya set to host major Islamic educational summit in 2025
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Southeast Asia
· SMEs’ engagement in sustainability needs concerted effort - Johari
· PM Anwar continues intensive schedule in Beijing, to begin with business meeting with CICC
· French Supreme Court delivers historic win for Malaysia against Sulu claimants - Azalina
· Meetings with companies in Shanghai an opportunity to attract quality investments - Anwar
· Pahang royal, four others charged with injuring man using knife (VIDEO)
· PAC to probe RM43.9m Khazanah, PNB losses in FashionValet investments
· Govt struggles to probe GISBH’s teachings as they appear ‘lawful on paper’, says religious affairs minister
· Perikatan MPs barred from direct negotiations on funding allocations, says PAS leader Tuan Ibrahim
· DPM Fadillah says govt open to fund negotiations with any MP, but only Syed Saddiq replied so far
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
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CAIR-LA Reaffirms Commitment to Combating Islamophobia, Xenophobia, and Racism Amid Trump Reelection, Commends California Muslim Voter Turnout
November 6, 2024
Photo Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
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The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) today reaffirmed its commitment to combating Islamophobia, xenophobia, and racism following the reelection of Donald Trump. CAIR-LA also commended California Muslims for turning out to vote in yesterday’s election despite deep frustration and disillusionment with both major parties due to their support of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.
In a statement, CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush said:
“No matter who won, we knew there would be work to do. The reelection of Trump has brought concerns to many of us who remember the heightened climate of fear and hostility that followed the 2016 election. Our community has not forgotten the rampant Islamophobia, xenophobia, and racism during Trump’s presidency that sparked one of the largest waves of hate targeting American Muslims that CAIR has seen in its history. Amid his reelection, we reaffirm our commitment to defending the civil rights, safety, and dignity of American Muslims and every community facing injustice.
“We commend American Muslim voters for making their voices heard in races across the country, and up and down the ballot, in the 2024 election. Our community made it clear: the genocide in Gaza is our red line.
“No politician or party has ownership of the Muslim vote. Going forward, we expect all elected officials to genuinely address the urgent concerns of Muslim voters, including President-Elect Trump. It is important for Trump to now recognize that most Americans do not want to see more bigotry here at home or more war overseas. We urge the president-elect to pursue peace abroad, beginning with ending U.S. complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza. However, this must be a real peace based on justice, freedom and a state for the Palestinian people.”
During Trump’s previous presidency, CAIR-LA actively opposed numerous policies and actions that targeted American Muslims and other marginalized communities by:
Protesting against unjust immigration policies, such as the Muslim Ban, attempts to dismantle Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and family separations at the border, as well as providing legal assistance to those affected by the administration’s immigration restrictions.
Supporting legislation at the state and federal level aimed at protecting immigrant and civil rights, and religious freedoms.
Condemning the rise in Islamophobia, xenophobia, and other forms of bigotry while equipping community members with tools to respond to hate crimes and understand their rights.
Pushing for higher voter turnout among American Muslims and encouraging civic participation to ensure that their voices are heard in local and national elections.
CAIR-LA is Southern California’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice and empower American Muslims. 
Source:cair.com
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https://www.cair.com/press_releases/cair-la-reaffirms-commitment-to-combating-islamophobia-xenophobia-and-racism-amid-trump-reelection-commends-california-muslim-voter-turnout/
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Restoration of Article 370: PDP, People's Conference submit fresh resolution in J-K Assembly
07.11.24
Opposition legislators stage a protest over the Article 370 restoration resolution in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, in Srinagar, Thursday, November 7, 2024.
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A group of MLAs, including from the PDP and the Peoples' Conference, on Thursday submitted a fresh resolution in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly demanding immediate restoration of Articles 370 and 35A in their original form.
They also called for the reversal of all changes introduced in the Union territory after the erstwhile state was stripped of its special status in 2019.
The Modi government abrogated Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir in 2019, and bifurcated the erstwhile state into two Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
Article 35A gave special rights to the permanent residents of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
The resolution comes a day after the assembly passed a resolution, brought by the ruling National Conference (NC), asking the Centre to work out a constitutional mechanism for restoring special status of the erstwhile state and hold dialogue with the elected representatives over the issue.
The fresh resolution on Thursday was submitted to Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather amidst din in the House.
The resolution was submitted by PDP members Waheed Para (MLA Pulwama) and Fayaz Mir (MLA Kupwara), Peoples' Conference MLA from Handwara Sajad Lone, Awami Ittehad Party MLA from Langate Sheikh Khursheed (brother of MP Sheikh Abdul Rashid alias Engineer Rashid), and independent MLA from Shopian Shabir Kullay.
"This House strongly condemns the unconstitutional and unilateral abrogation of Article 370 and Article 35A, along with the enactment of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, by the Government of India," the resolution read.
"These actions stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and statehood, undermining the foundational guarantees and protections originally accorded to the region and its people by the Constitution of India," the resolution read.
It also said "this House unequivocally demands the immediate restoration of Article 370 and Article 35A in their original, unaltered form, and calls for the reversal of all changes introduced by the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019".
"We further urge the Government of India to respect the constitutional and democratic sanctity of Jammu and Kashmir by reinstating all special provisions and guarantees intended to preserve its distinct identity, culture, and political autonomy," the resolution added.
While the PDP and PC on Wednesday welcomed and supported the NC's resolution, they said the wordings in that should have been stronger.
Speaking to reporters after the House was adjourned for the day on Thursday, Para said the NC and the BJP were "playing a fixed match".
"They (NC) bring a vague resolution and BJP chief spokesperson praises it. We want that abrogation of Article 370 be condemned and restoration of (Articles) 370 and 35A be mentioned (in the resolution). This is what we have put in the resolution and this is what people of Jammu and Kashmir want," he said.
Para said the fresh resolution has been submitted to the Speaker of the assembly.
Source:telegraphindia.com
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https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/pdp-peoples-conference-submit-fresh-resolution-in-jammu-and-kashmir-assembly/cid/2061292
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Imran foresees 'positivity' in Trump's return to White House
By Web Desk
November 07, 2024
PTI founder Imran Khan (left) and US President-elect Donald Trump. — Reuters/File
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Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Ali Muhammad stated that incarcerated party founder Imran Khan is optimistic, foreseeing a positive shift as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to reclaim the White House.
The former prime minister believes that Trump's return to Washington could alleviate the "negativity" towards Pakistan, which as per the lawmaker, was exacerbated under President Joe Biden's administration.
Speaking on Geo News' programme "Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath" on Wednesday, Ali revealed that when informed of Trump's win, the party's incarcerated founder noted the positive relations they shared during his own tenure as PM, contrasting it with what he described as interference and hostility from the government led by President Biden.
The PTI has long alleged US interference in Imran's ouster as the prime minister in April 2022. "He [Imran] emphasised that under the Biden administration, there was interference in Pakistan's [domestic] affairs; there was negativity."
Trump recaptured the White House with a sweeping victory on Wednesday as tens of millions of Americans looked past his criminal charges and divisive rhetoric to embrace the Republican leader.
Trump, 78, clinched Tuesday's election after a polarising and dizzying campaign marked by two attempts on his life and Kamala Harris' late entry into the race following President Joe Biden's surprise withdrawal.
Moving on, Ali added that the PTI's overseas supporters see Trump's return as potentially advantageous for Imran's political position, hoping it could lessen political and diplomatic challenges.
There will definitely be an impact [once the Trump administration] takes charge. This is a good development if some positive people come into power with whom we've had good ties," he elaborated.
"The overseas chapter, which had campaigned for Khan sahib's release, believes that once Trump is in power, it will make things easier for Imran or at least, there will be reduction in the negativity that was under the Biden administration."
Emphasising Imran's commitment to remaining in Pakistan despite ongoing challenges, Ali noted the PTI founder's willingness to face any legal restrictions from the current government, maintaining that with neutrality from state institutions, political conditions could improve.
Meanwhile, speaking during Geo News' special transmission on US election, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that the government believes Trump would not call for the PTI founder's release from prison after he takes office.
"We don't think Trump will call for PTI founder's release. Let's wait for 15 to 20 days and see what stand he takes," said the defence minister.
During the same transmission, PTI leader Raoof Hasan said the party had never hoped that Imran would be released after Trump's victory.
"We had never pinned hopes and neither we are relying on Trump's win. We have taken support from the judiciary, parliament and protest for PTI founder's release," he asserted.
Raoof said no such discussion has taken place within the parliamentary party.
Source:thenews.com.pk
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https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1248306-imran-khan-foresees-positivity-in-donald-trumps-return-to-white-house
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Gazans want Donald Trump to end war
November 07, 2024
The UN said Wednesday its Gaza child polio vaccination drive was complete, with more than half a million children vaccinated despite the Israel-Hamas war raging in the Palestinian territory. (Reuters/File)
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GAZA, JERUSALEM: Palestinians in Gaza want Donald Trump, who won the US election, to end the war between Israel and Hamas that has devastated their territory.
“We were displaced, killed ... there’s nothing left for us, we want peace,” Mamdouh Al-Jadba, who was displaced to Gaza City from Jabalia, said.
“I hope Trump finds a solution, we need someone strong like Trump to end the war and save us, enough, God, this is enough,” said the 60-year-old. “I was displaced three times, my house was destroyed, my children are homeless in the south ... There’s nothing left, Gaza is finished.”
Umm Ahmed Harb, from the Al-Shaaf area east of Gaza City, was also counting on Trump to “stand by our side” and end the territory’s suffering.
“God willing the war will end, not for our sake but for the sake of our young children who are innocent, they were martyred and are dying of hunger,” she said.
“We cannot buy anything with the high prices (of food). We are here in fear, terror and death.”
For Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, where violence has also surged since October last year, Trump’s victory was reason to fear for the future.
“Trump is firm in some decisions, but these decisions could serve Israel’s interests politically more than they serve the Palestinian cause,” said Samir Abu Jundi, a 60-year-old in the city of Ramallah.
Another man who identified himself only by his nickname, Abu Mohammed, said he also saw no reason to believe Trump’s victory would be in favor of the Palestinians, saying “nothing will change except more decline.”
Imad Fakhida, a school principal in the main West Bank city of Ramallah, said “Trump’s return to power ... will lead us to hell and there will be a greater and more difficult escalation.”
He added: “He is known for his complete and greatest support for Israel.”
During his campaign for a return to the White House, Trump said Gaza, which is located on the eastern Mediterranean, could be “better than Monaco.”
He also said he would have responded the same way as Israel did following the Oct. 7 attack, while urging the US ally to “get the job done” because it was “losing a lot of support.”
More broadly he has promised to bring an end to raging international crises, even saying he could “stop wars with a telephone call.”
In Gaza, such statements gave reason for hope. “We expect peace to come and the war to end with Trump because in his election campaign he said that he wants peace and calls for stopping the wars on Gaza and the Middle East,” said Ibrahim Alian, 33, from Gaza City.
Like many of the territory’s residents, Alian has been displaced several times by the fighting. He said he also lost his father to the war.
“God willing the war on the Gaza Strip will end and the situation will change,” he said.
Meanwhile, municipal workers demolished seven homes in occupied East Jerusalem’s Silwan neighborhood on Tuesday, Palestinian residents and the municipality said, after an Israeli court called their construction illegal.
“This morning the Jerusalem municipality, with a security escort from the Israel police, began its enforcement against illegal buildings in the Al-Bustan neighborhood in Silwan,” Jerusalem’s Israeli-controlled city hall said in a statement.
Source:arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2578291/middle-east
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Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Seeks Positive U.S. Relations Following Presidential Election
2024-11-06
KABUL(BNA): The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a recently issued statement, expressed that Afghanistan, committed to a balanced foreign policy, anticipates that the results of the U.S. elections will lead the forthcoming U.S. administration to adopt pragmatic measures.
Such steps, the statement noted, would facilitate meaningful advancement in bilateral relations, enabling both Afghanistan and the United States to inaugurate a new chapter grounded in mutual engagement and cooperation.
The statement further conveyed expectations that Trump would assume a constructive role in efforts to resolve ongoing conflicts regionally and globally, particularly focusing on the cessation of violence and aggression in Gaza and Lebanon.
It is worth noting that the Doha Agreement, signed between the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and the United States under President Donald Trump’s administration, marked the conclusion of a two-decade-long foreign military presence in Afghanistan.
Source:bakhtarnews.af
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https://www.bakhtarnews.af/en/islamic-emirate-of-afghanistan-seeks-positive-u-s-relations-following-presidential-election/
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Saudi Arabia leads Arab world in congratulating Trump
November 06, 2024
RIYADH: Arab leaders congratulated Donald Trump on Wednesday after his comprehensive victory in the US presidential election.
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman sent a cable of congratulations to Trump, wishing him success and the “American people further progress and prosperity.”
The king praised the strong historical ties between the two nations, “emphasizing the shared desire to further strengthen these bonds in all areas.”
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman also sent a cable to congratulate Trump. In a phone call later on Wednesday, the crown prince expressed the Kingdom’s aspiration to strengthen Saudi-US relations. He wished the American people progress and prosperity under Trump’s leadership.
The Republican made Saudi Arabia his first foreign visit after he took office for his first term as president in 2017. The visit underlined the importance of the historic US-Saudi partnership and cemented relations with Gulf allies.
Those countries congratulated Trump after he declared victory in a sweeping election win over Democrat Kamala Harris.
UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan offered “sincere congratulations to Trump and his running mate JD Vance.”
Skeikh Mohamed added: “The UAE and US are united by our enduring partnership based on shared ambitions for progress.
“The UAE looks forward to continuing to work with our partners in the US towards a future of opportunity, prosperity and stability for all.”
During Trump’s first term, his administration brokered the 2020 Abraham Accords deal under which Israel opened full relations with the UAE and a number of other Arab countries.
However, the devastating war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and its expansion into Lebanon has drawn widespread condemnation of Israel from regional leaders and dominated foreign policy discussion throughout the election campaign, with Trump promising to bring fighting to an end.
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said he hoped Trump’s return to the White House would help bring peace to the Middle East.
“I wish him all the success and I look forward to reaching peace together, upholding regional stability and strengthening the strategic partnership between Egypt and the United States,” El-Sisi said.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II also invoked the need for the next US president to work toward peace.
“Warmest congratulations to President Donald Trump on winning the US presidential election,” he said. “Looking forward to working with you again to bolster Jordan’s longstanding partnership with the United States, in service of regional and global peace and stability for all.”
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, the emir of Qatar, which is a key mediator in the Gaza conflict and hosts the largest US military base in the Middle East, said he looked forward to “working together again in promoting security and stability both in the region and globally.”
Source:arabnews.com
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https://www.arabnews.com/node/2578277/saudi-arabia
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Starmer invites Jewish and Muslim leaders to Downing St interfaith event
By LEE HARPIN
November 6, 2024,
Keir Starmer has invited Jewish and Muslim leaders to Downing Street as part of his commitment to overcoming divisions and bolstering cohesion in UK society.
While next week’s interfaith breakfast event will be an opportunity for leaders of all faiths to meet, it will also provide a high-profile opportunity for senior Jewish and Muslim representatives to engage with one another as concerns grow about the gulf between the two communities in the aftermath of the October 7.
The Prime Minister has previously spoken of his concern that mutual understanding between some communities in the UK is not as deep as he had thought and that existing structures are not strong enough to withstand current pressures placed on them.
The interfaith event takes place days after one senior government adviser warned Jewish News of their concern over the growing gulf between Jewish and Muslim organisations in this country as a result of differing responses to the Gaza conflict.
The adviser said they feared some leaders had “forgotten the many things that previously brought the two communities together through similar experience in this country” and instead were focussing instead on sustaining increasingly hardline positions on conflict in the Middle East.
Meanwhile,in a letter sent to Board of Deputies president Phil Rosenberg this week, Starmer references what he says has been an “incredibly challenging” time for the country, including for Jewish and Muslim communities and stresses his commitment to “building a Britain where all communities feel safe.”
He adds:”This must be part of the national conversation as we build a stronger, more resilient society and tackle the challenges we face together.”
In the midst of rising antisemitism, the PM praises the work of the Community Security Trust, along with the Board, and of the “valuable work” carried out by Lord Mann in tackling antisemitism.
“I am pleased he will continue in this role,” adds Starmer.
Praising the Board, the PM says he values its “efforts to promote meaningful dialogue on shared concerns and your focus on delivering social action benefit for all.”
In response to the October 7th attacks, Starmer writes to Rosenberg:”I would like to reassure you again that we will not give up until the hostages return home.”
In a speech delivered at JW3 in January, the PM said:”There are things that can be done in terms of security, policing, and hate crime, because the figures, particularly with hate crime, are going through the roof.”
“But the real hard job, I think, is in segmenting, rebuilding and making much deeper interfaith work. We’ve got much more to do than I think any of us appreciated.
“But it will only happen when we have the politics of common cause.”
Source:jewishnews.co.uk
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https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/starmer-invites-jewish-and-muslim-leaders-to-downing-st-interfaith-event/
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Democrats in Kenya fear what the next four years will hold, after Trump's U.S. election win
7 November 2024
Members of Democrats Abroad - Kenya had been waiting for U.S. election results in the capital’s Westlands area, setting their sights on a blue victory.
But disappointment began to set in, as it started to become clear that Trump had come out on top.
Some Democrats living in the African country say they are fearful for what the next 4 years have in store.
Project Manager, Alexia Yun, said, "I am a little disappointed, not as surprised as I was in 2016. A bit scared now about what is going to happen in the next four years and beyond, but not surprising though. Unfortunately."
Abortion rights were a major issue in this years US election. In 2022, the Supreme Court overturned the Roe v Wade decision it had made some five decades prior.
This reversal cut off abortion access for millions of women in the U.S.
Some Democrats in Kenya fear that women’s rights could be further curtailed with Trump in office.
Robin Emerson, Chairperson for Democrats Abroad in Kenya, said, "I am very concerned about what this possible new administration would do or what they would say about a woman's body and a woman's right on our reproductive (system)."
Democrats in Kenya is part of the Democrats Abroad organisation which has 52 country committees.
Among its goals, the organisation aims to help Americans abroad to cast their ballots in U.S. elections.
Source:africanews.com
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https://www.africanews.com/2024/11/06/democrats-in-kenya-fear-what-the-next-four-years-will-hold-after-trumps-us-election-win/
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How Trump’s Middle East peace message won over Muslim voters amid Biden backlash over Gaza
07 Nov 2024
DEARBORN, Nov 7 — Incoming US president Donald Trump pulled off a surprising feat late in the campaign, making gains with Muslim voters with a characteristically bold promise to end bloodshed in the Middle East.
Now, his new supporters are celebrating his victory and confident he will deliver despite Israel, led by his close ally Benjamin Netanyahu, continuing its 13-month siege of Gaza and bombardment of neighboring Lebanon.
In Dearborn, America’s largest Arab-American enclave, preliminary results showed Trump taking first place — a dramatic swing from 2020, when outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden won handily.
This time around, the left-leaning vote fractured between Vice President Kamala Harris and the Green Party’s Jill Stein.
“People got the message that Trump is trying to bring peace to the Middle East and to the whole world,” said Bill Bazzi, the Lebanese-American mayor of neighbouring Dearborn Heights, speaking to AFP from a late-night hookah bar that transformed into an early-morning party.
But for many, Trump’s first term paints a different picture.
The Republican imposed a travel ban on several Muslim-majority nations, endorsed Israeli settlements in the West Bank — deemed illegal under international law — and moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a major blow for Palestinian statehood.
And during this campaign, he touted his status as Israel’s strongest friend, saying Biden should let Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu “finish the job” against Hamas in Gaza.
Bazzi dismissed what he called media distortions — insisting the ban was only a matter of closer vetting of select unstable countries to prevent Islamic State militants from getting into the United States.
A Marine veteran who campaigned for Trump in his closing rallies, he added he had been in contact with high-level members of the incoming administration who assured him that “one of the things (Trump) is pushing is to stop the war — he wants more diplomacy.”
Unpopular Biden
Others, like Yemeni-American activist and real estate agent Samra’a Luqman, were defiant after the result.
Like many other Arab Americans, she was outraged by the Biden-Harris administration’s unwavering military and diplomatic support for Israel in the Gaza and Lebanon conflicts, where the civilian death tolls continue to soar.
“They can blame us for Harris’ loss. I want them to,” she said. “It was my community that said, ‘If you commit genocide, we will hold you accountable for it.’”
Outside the Shatila Bakery yesterday morning, Trump voters were jubilant.
“He’s more intelligent, more educated for this position,” said Diyaa Abd, a 48-year-old trucker who immigrated from Iraq, adding that when Trump was in power, there was peace in Ukraine and the Middle East.
“The one that had to win, won,” chimed in Mike Sima, 75.
The Trump team also did what Harris notably did not: show up in Dearborn.
Her campaign’s decision to tour Michigan with former Republican lawmaker Liz Cheney — a vocal Iraq War advocate — also alienated many Arabs.
Trump’s outreach, on the other hand, benefited from a new link to the community: Lebanese-American Michael Boulos, who is married to his daughter Tiffany Trump.
Boulos’ father Massad Boulos was a key emissary for the campaign.
Despite lingering scepticism over Trump’s seemingly contradictory stances, Bishara Bahbah, chairman of Arab Americans for Trump, had faith in his next president.
“Yes, he said ‘finish the job,’ but when I inquired exactly what that means, I was told ‘stop the war,’” he insisted.
“He’s said it, and he’ll do it. Trump has proven he does what he says.” — AFP
Source:malaymail.com
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https://www.malaymail.com/news/world/2024/11/07/how-trumps-middle-east-peace-message-won-over-muslim-voters-amid-biden-backlash-over-gaza/156073
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North America
The view from countries where Trump's win really matters
7 Nov, 2024
News of Donald Trump's return to power in the White House has made global headlines.
His so-called 'America First' foreign policy could see a withdrawal of US involvement in areas of conflict around the world.
Five BBC correspondents assess the effect it could have where they are.
Trump seen as respite on Ukraine frontlines
By James Waterhouse, Ukraine correspondent, Kyiv
"Do not try to predict Trump's actions. No one knows how he is going to act."
The words of one Ukrainian MP reflect the political challenge facing Kyiv. A Trump victory was widely feared here, over what it could mean for future US support.
The Republican once vowed to end the war in a single day, and has repeatedly criticised US military aid for Ukraine. Now, it's anyone's guess what he could do.
"He could ask Putin to freeze this war, and he says 'OK'," says a front-line soldier. "It's the worst scenario because in a couple of years the Russians will advance again and might destroy us."
"The second scenario is if Putin refuses," he says. "There is a chance Trump will react radically. That is a more promising scenario."
Ukraine hopes that means the US further upping its military support in the face of a likely Ukrainian defeat.
For those close to the front lines who have had enough of Russian aggression, Trump is seen as a route to respite.
Follow live updates
Election weighs on frontline soldiers in Ukraine
Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's president once labelled by Trump as "the greatest salesman in history" sent an early message of congratulations.
He talked up the political and economic opportunities a partnership could provide, and wants to be able to keep fighting in return.
There's also another ingredient.
Trump won't just have to consider further military support for Ukraine, but also how or whether to respond to North Korea's growing involvement in Russia's invasion.
No plans for Putin congratulations
By Steve Rosenberg, Russia editor, Moscow
You might expect the Kremlin to be cock-a-hoop at Trump winning back the White House.
After all, out on the campaign trail, he had avoided criticising Vladimir Putin. Kamala Harris meanwhile called the Russian president "a murderous dictator".
Trump had also questioned the scale of US military assistance to Kyiv.
Publicly, though, the Kremlin is going out of its way to give the impression that it's not excited by a Trump victory.
"I'm not aware of any plans [for President Putin] to congratulate Trump," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. "Don't forget that [America] is an 'unfriendly country' which is directly and indirectly involved in a war against our state."
The dampening down of expectations are the result of how Trump's first term turned out: the Kremlin had high hopes that a Trump presidency would transform US-Russian relations. It didn't.
Moscow more cautious about Trump this time
Nevertheless, at the political discussion club I'm attending in the mountains above Sochi, leading Russian political scientists seem to be looking forward to Trump the sequel.
One pundit told me he thinks that under Trump the US will "retreat" from its global super power status.
Another suggested the US election fitted the Kremlin's "overall vision of the world", in which "liberal globalism has depleted its efficiency".
Europe's leaders see security trouble ahead
By Paul Kirby, Europe digital editor
When dozens of European leaders from the EU and beyond gather in Budapest on Thursday, those on the right will be celebrating Donald Trump's election victory, but the rest will be asking themselves what happens next.
Hungarian host and Trump ally Viktor Orban was first on to Facebook with his delighted message: "It's in the bag!"
But for many other EU leaders Trump 2.0 could signal trouble ahead on security, trade and climate change.
Within minutes of congratulating the Republican candidate, France's Emmanuel Macron said he had agreed with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to work towards a "more united, stronger, more sovereign Europe in this new context".
What Trump's win means for Ukraine, Middle East and China
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock gave an idea of that context. Just back from Ukraine, she said Europeans now had to "think big and make investments in our European security big", with the US as a partner.
Her Polish and Nato counterpart Radoslaw Sikorski said he had been in touch with Trump's top team and agreed "Europe must urgently take greater responsibility for its security".
The prospect of steep US tariffs on EU imports weigh heavily too. EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen congratulated Trump but gave a timely reminder that "millions of jobs and billions in trade" relied on their transatlantic relationship.
Israel 'clear-sighted' about who Trump is
By Lucy Williamson, Middle East correspondent, Jerusalem
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, was one of the first to congratulate Trump and has previously called him Israel's best ever friend in the White House.
Trump previously won favour here by scrapping a US nuclear deal with Iran that Israel opposed. He also upended decades of US policy by recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
Trump's first term in office was "exemplary" as far as Israel is concerned, says Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to the US. But he adds: "We have to be very clear-sighted about who Donald Trump is and what he stands for."
The former president sees wars as expensive, Mr Oren notes, and Trump has urged Israel to finish the war in Gaza quickly.
"If Donald Trump comes into office in January and says, 'okay, you have a week to finish this war', Netanyahu is going to have to respect that."
How Israelis and Palestinians see the election
In Gaza, where the Israeli military has been battling Palestinian group Hamas, desperation has narrowed the focus of some residents.
Trump "has some strong promises", says Ahmed, whose wife and son were both killed when their house was destroyed. "We hope he can help, and bring peace."
Another displaced resident, Mamdouh, said he didn’t care who won the US election - he just wanted someone to help.
Xi might see opportunity on world stage
By Laura Bicker, China correspondent, Beijing
China is bracing itself for the return of Donald Trump where there are fears that his presidency will trigger a new trade war.
As president, Trump imposed tariffs on over $300 billion of Chinese imports. This time around he has said the tariffs could be in excess of 60%.
Beijing will not stand by - it will retaliate. But China's economy is already ailing and it will be in no mood for a second protracted trade war.
Trump's unpredictable policies and fiery rhetoric are also a headache for Chinese leaders who prefer stability.
But in the battle for power and influence, some analysts see an opportunity for Beijing.
Why many Chinese people wanted Trump win
The Biden administration has spent the last four years building friendships across Asia with the likes of South Korea, Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam - all in an effort to contain China.
Trump's "America first" doctrine has, in the past, isolated and weakened these US alliances. He prefers trying to make deals over delicate diplomacy and often puts a price tag on America’s friendships.
In 2018, he demanded more money from South Korea to continue to host US troops in the country
Make no mistake, China wants to challenge the US-led world order. Beijing has already built alliances with emerging economies across the so-called Global South.
If Washington's influence does wane in Asia and around the world, it could be a win for President Xi.
Source:.bbc.com
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FBI foils New York man's 'evil plan' to wage jihad on ISIS' behalf in Syria: DOJ
November 6, 2024
FBI agents stopped a New York man from boarding a flight from New York to the Middle East, where he was allegedly going to join the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) to wage jihad, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The DOJ said in a press release that Syed Aman, a U.S. citizen and resident of Nassau County, New York, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with attempting to provide material support to ISIS.
Aman was arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York, as he attempted to board a flight to Doha, Qatar. The DOJ said Aman planned to leave for Syria from Qatar to join ISIS.
"As alleged, Aman was steadfast in his attempts to travel to the Middle East to join ISIS and fortunately his evil plan to wage jihad was thwarted," U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said. "My Office will continue to identify and prosecute would-be terrorists like the defendant before they are able to harm individuals at home or abroad on behalf of ISIS."
In a complaint filed on Wednesday in federal court in Brooklyn, Aman is accused of expressing his support for ISIS in an online forum for the group between 2023 and 2024. During the same period, Aman allegedly sent money to an individual he believed was an ISIS operative, to support ISIS’s efforts in Syria. He also allegedly planned to go to Syria to engage in jihad, or a holy war, alongside ISIS.
Most recently, Aman was in contact with a confidential human source (CHS) starting at the beginning of October 2024, in connection to his plans to join ISIS.
While communicating with the CHS, Aman allegedly said waging war on ISIS’ behalf and traveling to an ISIS-controlled territory are "the most important things, more than anything else at the moment."
The DOJ also said Aman expressed hatred toward "kuffar [non-believers] who deny the path of Allah," adding, "[If] you don’t kill them, they will kill us and ruin the earth with decay."
On social media, Aman allegedly posted his desire "to kill Americans," and wrote in a notebook about becoming a martyr for ISIS.
In late October, Aman attempted to book flights to the Middle East, but the credit card company blocked his purchases.
In a third attempt, though, Aman successfully booked a flight from JFK to Bangladesh through Doha, Qatar.
Source:foxnews.com
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Donald Trump’s Middle East promises win over some Muslim voters
7 Nov, 2024
Incoming US President Donald Trump pulled off a surprising feat late in the campaign, making gains with Muslim voters with a characteristically bold promise to end bloodshed in the Middle East.
Now, his new supporters are celebrating his victory and confident he will deliver despite Israel, lead by his close ally Benjamin Netanyahu, continuing its 13-month siege of Gaza and bombardment of neighbouring Lebanon.
In Dearborn, America’s largest Arab-American enclave, preliminary results showed Trump taking first place – a dramatic swing from 2020, when outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden won handily.
This time around, the left-leaning vote fractured between Vice-President Kamala Harris and the Green Party’s Jill Stein.
“People got the message that Trump is trying to bring peace to the Middle East and to the whole world,” said Bill Bazzi, the Lebanese-American mayor of neighbouring Dearborn Heights, speaking from a late-night hookah bar that transformed into an early-morning party.
But for many, Trump’s first term paints a different picture.
The Republican imposed a travel ban on several Muslim-majority nations, endorsed Israeli settlements in the West Bank – deemed illegal under international law – and moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a major blow for Palestinian statehood.
And during this campaign, he touted his status as Israel’s strongest friend, saying Biden should let Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu “finish the job” against Hamas in Gaza.
Bazzi dismissed what he called media distortions – insisting the ban was only a matter of closer vetting of select unstable countries to prevent Islamic State militants from getting into the US.
A Marine veteran who campaigned for Trump in his closing rallies, he added he had been in contact with high-level members of the incoming administration who assured him that “one of the things [Trump] is pushing is to stop the war – he wants more diplomacy”.
Unpopular Biden
Others, like Yemeni-American activist and real estate agent Samra’a Luqman, were defiant after the result.
Like many other Arab Americans, she was outraged by the Biden-Harris administration’s unwavering military and diplomatic support for Israel in the Gaza and Lebanon conflicts, where the civilian death tolls continue to soar.
“They can blame us for Harris’ loss. I want them to,” she said. “It was my community that said, ‘If you commit genocide, we will hold you accountable for it.’”
Outside the Shatila Bakery on Wednesday morning, Trump voters were jubilant.
“He’s more intelligent, more educated for this position,” said Diyaa Abd, a 48-year-old trucker who immigrated from Iraq, adding that when Trump was in power, there was peace in Ukraine and the Middle East.
“The one that had to win, won,” chimed in Mike Sima, 75.
The Trump team also did what Harris notably did not: show up in Dearborn.
Her campaign’s decision to tour Michigan with former Republican lawmaker Liz Cheney – a vocal Iraq War advocate – also alienated many Arabs.
Trump’s outreach, on the other hand, benefited from a new link to the community: Lebanese-American Michael Boulos, who is married to his daughter Tiffany Trump.
Boulos’ father Massad Boulos was a key emissary for the campaign.
Despite lingering scepticism over Trump’s seemingly contradictory stances, Bishara Bahbah, chairman of Arab Americans for Trump, had faith in his next President.
“Yes, he said ‘finish the job,’ but when I inquired exactly what that means, I was told ‘stop the war’,” he insisted.
“He’s said it, and he’ll do it. Trump has proven he does what he says.”
Source:nzherald.co.nz
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--------- Why Kamala Harris lost: A flawed candidate or doomed campaign?
Courtney Subramanian
7 Nov, 2024
Nearly a month ago, Kamala Harris appeared on ABC's The View in what was expected to be a friendly interview aimed at pitching herself to Americans who wanted to know more about her.
But the sit-down was quickly overshadowed by her response to a question on what she would have done differently from incumbent president, Joe Biden: "Not a thing comes to mind."
Harris's answer - which became a Republican attack ad on loop - underscored the political headwinds that her jumpstart campaign failed to overcome in her decisive loss to Donald Trump on Tuesday.
Publicly, she conceded the race late on Wednesday afternoon, telling supporters "do not despair".
But soul-searching over where she went wrong and what else she could have done will likely take longer as Democrats begin finger-pointing and raising questions about the future of the party.
Harris campaign officials were silent in the early Wednesday hours while some aides expressed tearful shock over what they had expected to be a much closer race.
"Losing is unfathomably painful. It is hard," Harris campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon said in an email to staff on Wednesday. "This will take a long time to process."
As the sitting vice-president, Harris was unable to untether herself from an unpopular president and convince voters that she could offer the change they were seeking amid widespread economic anxiety.
Biden's baggage
After Biden dropped out of the race following a disastrous debate performance, Harris was anointed to the top of the ticket, bypassing the scrutiny of a primary without a single vote being cast.
She began her 100-day campaign promising a "new generation of leadership", rallying women around abortion rights and vowing to win back working-class voters by focusing on economic issues including rising costs and housing affordability.
With just three months until election day, she generated a wave of initial momentum, which included a flurry of memes on social media, a star-studded endorsement list that included Taylor Swift and a record-setting donation windfall. But Harris couldn't shake the anti-Biden sentiment that permeated much of the electorate.
The president's approval rating has consistently hovered in the low 40s throughout his four years in office, while some two-thirds of voters say they believe the US is on the wrong track.
Some allies have privately questioned whether Harris remained too loyal to Biden in her bid to replace him. But Jamal Simmons, the vice-president's former communication director, called it a "trap", arguing any distance would have only handed Republicans another attack line for being disloyal.
"You can't really run away from the president who chooses you," he said.
Harris tried to walk the fine line of addressing the administration's record without casting shade on her boss, showing a reluctance to break with any of Biden's policies while also not outwardly promoting them on the campaign trail.
But she then failed to deliver a convincing argument about why she should lead the country, and how she would handle economic frustrations as well as widespread concerns over immigration.
About 3 in 10 voters said their family's financial situation was falling behind, an increase from about 2 in 10 four years ago, according to data from AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 120,000 US voters conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago.
Nine in 10 voters were very or somewhat concerned about the price of groceries.
The same survey found that 4 in 10 voters said immigrants living in the US illegally should be deported to their country of origin, up from around 3 in 10 who said the same in 2020.
And though Harris tried to spend the home stretch of her campaign underlining that her administration would not be a continuation of Biden's, she failed to clearly outline her own policies, often skirting around issues instead of addressing perceived failures head on.
Struggle to build on Biden's network of support
The Harris campaign had hoped to reassemble the voting base that powered Biden's 2020 victory, winning over the core Democratic constituencies of black, Latino and young voters as well as making further gains with college-educated suburban voters.
But she underperformed with these key voting blocs. She lost 13 points with Latino voters, two points with black voters, and six points with voters under 30, according to exit polls, which may change as votes are counted, but are considered representative of trends.
Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who lost the 2016 Democratic presidential primary to Hillary Clinton and the 2020 primary to Biden, said in a statement it was "no great surprise" that working class voters abandoned the party.
"First, it was the white working class, and now it is Latino and black workers as well. While the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and want change," he said. "And they're right."
While women largely threw their support behind Harris over Trump, the vice-president's lead did not exceed the margins that her campaign had hoped her historic candidacy would turn out. And she was unable to deliver on her ambitions of winning over suburban Republican women, losing 53% of white women.
In the first presidential election since the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion, Democrats had hoped her focus on the fight for reproductive rights would deliver a decisive victory.
While some 54% of female voters cast their ballots for Harris, it fell short of the 57% who backed Biden in 2020, according to exit poll data.
Making it about Trump backfired
Even before she was catapulted to the top of the ticket, Harris had sought to frame the race as a referendum on Trump, not Biden.
The former California prosecutor leaned into her law enforcement record to prosecute the case against the former president.
But her nascent campaign opted to ditch Biden's core argument that Trump posed an existential threat to democracy, prioritising a forward-looking "joyful" message about protecting personal freedoms and preserving the middle class.
In the final stretch, however, Harris made a tactical decision to again highlight the dangers of a second Trump presidency, calling the president a "fascist" and campaigning with disaffected Republicans fed up with his rhetoric.
After Trump's former White House Chief of Staff, John Kelly, told the New York Times that Trump spoke approvingly about Adolf Hitler, Harris delivered remarks outside her official residence describing the president as "unhinged and unstable".
"Kamala Harris lost this election when she pivoted to focus almost exclusively on attacking Donald Trump," veteran Republican pollster Frank Luntz said on Tuesday night.
"Voters already know everything there is about Trump – but they still wanted to know more about Harris’ plans for the first hour, first day, first month and first year of her administration."
“It was a colossal failure for her campaign to shine the spotlight on Trump more than on Harris’s own ideas,” he added.
Ultimately, the winning coalition Harris needed to beat Trump never materialised, and voters' resounding rejection of Democrats showed that the party has a deeper problem than just an unpopular president.
Source:.bbc.com
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How small gains delivered Trump a big win
7 Nov, 2024
Data journalism team
Donald Trump has won the presidency of the United States, gaining a historic second term.
Votes are still being counted, but a picture is emerging of what tipped the balance in Trump’s favour: relatively small shifts in support in many different places.
The map below shows in red the states where Trump won. Kamala Harris’s victories are shown in blue.
Trump gathered the 270 electoral college votes needed to win after capturing three battleground states from the Democrats: Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, shown in red stripes.
His margin of victory was slim in all three, but in Wisconsin he won by less than one percentage point - just over 28,000 votes at latest count.
It is difficult to identify a single group or area in the state that moved the needle towards Trump.
Neither party increased its share of the vote by more than 5% in any county across the state, compared with 2020. If you look at the map below the change is almost imperceptible.
Harris did well in her traditional urban strongholds of Milwaukee and Madison. Voters did come out for her in large numbers, yet it was Trump’s small but widespread gains in counties across the state that did the trick.
In 2020, Biden’s wins in Georgia and Pennsylvania were key to clinching the presidency.
This election, Trump took both states. The precise reason is unclear as votes are still being counted, but what is emerging is a similar pattern of slight but widespread shifts towards Trump.
Trump gains with Hispanic Nevadans
In the western battleground of Nevada, Trump is leading. In the vote tally so far, there has been little change among the largest groups of voters.
Black voters chose Harris in similar numbers as they did Biden, while white voters maintained their support for Trump.
Yet the exit poll suggested Trump saw a substantial increase in support among Hispanic and Asian voters, with Harris losing ground compared with Biden four years ago.
Trump raised his share among Hispanic voters by 13 points compared with 2020, which meant he and Harris ended up in a tie, both securing 48% of that vote.
He also enjoyed a very substantial swing among Nevada’s Asian voters, from 35% in 2020 to 57% in 2024.
While the Asian community accounts for just 4% of voters surveyed, we’ve seen how similarly small shifts made the difference elsewhere.
Margins of victory
A picture seems to be forming once again of a divide between rural and urban voters, as shown in the county level map below, although counting continues in many states particularly in the west.
Harris led by tens of thousands of votes in major cities across the country.
But Trump dominated the rural counties that lie between them. His wins may not appear to be as sizeable, but they are pervasive. And those margins add up.
People voted for change
While the picture in the states that flipped will become clearer in the coming days, we can see some emerging trends on how different groups of people voted across the nation from US exit polls.
These cut across demographic groups and regions.
On immigration and the economy, Trump was seen as the overwhelming favourite among voters for whom either was the most important issue.
For voters who felt strongly about abortion or the state of democracy, more than three in four voted for Harris.
This suggests a stark difference in priorities across the two groups of voters.
Both campaigns emphasised these diverging issues in recent weeks, and it’s clear the messaging cut through.
The personalities of the candidates themselves may also have played a role in how ballots were cast.
For those looking for a presidential candidate who would “bring needed change” to the country, a large majority voted for Trump. And two-thirds of those who most valued leadership skills did the same.
A large majority of Harris voters chose her because they felt she had good judgement and “cared about people like me”.
But the desire for change can be a powerful force when it comes to the way voters choose to cast their ballot.
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'It's simple, really' - why Latinos flocked to Trump's working-class coalition
7 Nov, 2024
Bernd Debusmann Jr, Madeline Halpert & Mike Wendling
Donald Trump has soared to a decisive election victory over Kamala Harris, lifted up by some of the very voters that Democrats once relied on.
The Republican president-elect showed strength with the white working-class voters who first propelled him to the White House in 2016, while racking up huge support from Latino voters and putting in a better-than-expected performance among younger Americans, especially men.
Among Latinos, a key part of the Democratic voter base for decades, Trump benefited from a mammoth 14 percentage-point bump compared to the 2020 election, according to exit polls.
Nowhere is Trump's reshaping of the electorate more apparent than in the states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, the highly coveted "blue wall" that helped propel Joe Biden to victory in 2020.
This time, Trump won all three states, crushing Democrats' hopes that Harris could find a path to victory despite early election night losses in the southern states of North Carolina and Georgia.
In his victory speech in Florida, Trump - who is set to win the popular vote too - credited the result to "the biggest, the broadest, the most unified coalition" in American history.
"They came from all quarters. Union, non-union, African American, Hispanic American," he told a roaring crowd. "We had everybody, and it was beautiful."
In Pennsylvania, the prized battleground state, Trump benefited from a huge swell of support from the state's growing Latino population.
Exit polls suggested Latinos in Pennsylvania amounted to about 5% of the total vote. Trump garnered 42% of that vote, compared to 27% when he ran against Joe Biden in 2020.
The polls will continue to change as votes are counted, but are broadly representative of electoral trends.
In the state's "Latino belt" - an eastern industrial corridor that has shifted to the right in the last two elections - some voters said they were not surprised by the result.
"It's simple, really. We liked the way things were four years ago," said Samuel Negron, a Pennsylvania state constable and member of the large Puerto Rican community in the city of Allentown.
Mr Negron, and other Trump supporters in the now majority-Latino city, listed other reasons that their community was drifting towards Trump, including social issues and a perception that their family values now align more with the Republican Party.
The most common factor, however, was the economy - specifically, inflation.
"Out here, you pay $5 for a dozen eggs. It used to be $1, or even 99 cents," Mr Negron added. "A lot of us have woken up, in my opinion, from Democratic lies that things have been better. We realised things were better then."
Ahead of the election, polls also suggested that many Latinos - across the US and in Pennsylvania specifically - were drawn to Trump's proposals to block migrants at the US-Mexico border and enact much stricter immigration laws.
Daniel Campo, a Venezuelan-American, said that Trump's claims of creeping "socialism" reminded him of the situation he left in his home country.
"I understand what [migrants] are leaving. But you have to do it the right way. I came the right way," he said. "Things have to be done legally. Many of us were worried that the borders were just open" under the Biden-Harris administration, he said.
Collectively, the Latino shift towards Trump, his hold on white working-class voters and his increased support among non-college educated voters in general created an insurmountable obstacle for the Harris campaign.
But Trump also improved his position in some surprising corners.
In 2020 Joe Biden had a 24-point advantage with voters under 30. This time, that lead shrank to just 11 points. While nationally black voters still overwhelmingly supported Harris (85%), in Wisconsin Trump's support among that demographic more than doubled, from 8% in 2020 to 22% this election.
Some of the most significant battlegrounds in Wisconsin were the three counties surrounding Milwaukee known as the Wow counties - Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington. Harris failed to significantly improve upon Biden’s 2020 vote share in these suburban areas, while also slipping in rural, whiter parts of the state dominated by Trump.
Preliminary results also indicate that Harris failed to get as many votes as Biden in Wisconsin’s biggest, most diverse city - Milwaukee.
Michael Wagner, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said her direct appeals to working-class voters may not have made much of a difference given the national political climate.
Ted Dietzler cast his vote in a fire station on the outskirts of the small city of Waukesha.
“I’m voting Trump because of the border, the economy, and no more wars,” he said, wearing a Green Bay Packers hat.
“We saw a huge difference when Trump was president,” Dietzler said, adding that he was drawn to Trump’s embrace of former Democrats like Robert F Kennedy Jr and Tulsi Gabbard, both of whom appear set to have roles in the Trump administration.
“Inflation is a big deal, and I don’t think Harris quite gets it,” he said. “I think we’ll all just be better off with Trump back.”
Trump’s national economic messaging hit home with working-class voters in the Midwestern state of Michigan, too.
With nearly all votes counted, Trump is leading the state that he lost in 2020 by about 85,000 votes. He increased his vote share in rural areas as well as in Macomb County, home to many working-class voters in the Detroit suburbs.
One of them, Nahim Uddin, a delivery driver and former Ford car-worker, cast his ballot for Trump because he said the former president would drive down prices.
“I went to go purchase a car - the interest rates had skyrocketed,” the 34-year-old said. “That’s the whole reason I voted for him.”
The same was true for Yian Yian Shein, a small business owner in the city Warren, who said Trump would lower income taxes and help people like her.
Democrats tried to tailor their economic messages in Michigan, touting their investments in electric car manufacturing while securing an endorsement from United Automobile Workers president Shawn Fain, a frequent Trump critic.
But Republicans were able to “neutralise” those messages by arguing that the transition to electric vehicles would come at the cost of jobs, said Michigan State University professor Matt Grossmann.
Ultimately what cost Democrats among blue-collar voters across demographic groups was the perception that they were to blame for high prices and pinched budgets.
“Largely, voters have felt economic pain due to the post-Covid inflationary period, and they’re taking it out on Biden” and Harris, said University of Michigan professor Jonathan Hanson.
Source:.bbc.com
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All three Muslim members re-elected to Congress
Anwar Iqbal
November 7, 2024
WASHINGTON: All three Muslim members of the US House of Representatives were reelected on Tuesday with commanding majorities, reinforcing their positions as influential voices in the ongoing debate on US foreign policy, particularly regarding Israel.
Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat and the first Palestinian-American woman in Congress, secured a fourth term representing Michigan’s 13th District.
Tlaib, who enjoys strong support from the Arab-American community in Dearborn, garnered 70pc of the vote, defeating her Republican challenger, James Hooper, who received 26pc.
Tlaib was unopposed in Michigan’s August primary and has been a vocal critic of US policy toward Israel. She remains the only Palestinian-American currently serving in Congress.
Ilhan Omar, the first Somali-American woman in Congress, was reelected for a third term representing Minnesota’s 5th District, which includes Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs.
Omar, a former refugee, received 75.2pc of the vote. Like Tlaib, she has been a staunch critic of US military support for Israel, particularly during its conflict with Gaza.
Democratic Rep. Andre Carson of Indiana, another prominent Muslim figure, was also reelected, securing his seat in the 7th District with 68.2pc of the vote. He defeated Republican John Schmitz. Carson has represented the district since 2008, following the death of his grandmother, Julia Carson, who had held the seat.
Meanwhile, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, another member of the “Squad,” easily won re-election in New York’s 14th District. She defeated Republican Tina Forte to earn a fourth term, continuing her advocacy for Palestine in Congress.
Ocasio-Cortez’s victory was part of the broader trend of strong Democratic wins, though other members of the progressive “Squad,” such as Jamaal Bowman of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri, faced setbacks.
Pakistani-American candidates
Meanwhile, Salman Bhojani and Suleman Lalani have secured their second consecutive terms in the Texas State House.
Bhojani, who joined the Texas assembly in 2022, has made healthcare, education, and business development his primary focus while also championing immigrant rights.
Lalani successfully defended his seat with 56.1pc of the vote, totaling 32,141 votes against Republican challenger Lee Simmons, who received 25,197 votes, or 43.9pc.
In contrast, Republican Aaron Bashir, the only Pakistani-American congressional candidate, faced a narrow defeat in Pennsylvania, signaling both the challenges and strides of minority candidates in varied political landscapes.
Source:dawn.com
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India
Jammu and Kashmir: Terrorist killed in gunfight with security forces in Kupwara district
07.11.24
A terrorist was killed in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district, officials said on Thursday.
The encounter began on Wednesday after security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Margi area of Lolab in the north Kashmir district based on specific intelligence inputs about the presence of terrorists, they said.
They said the operation was successfully concluded, resulting in the killing of a terrorist.
An AK rifle, two hand grenades, and four AK rifle magazines, were recovered from the site of the encounter, the officials added.
Source:telegraphindia.com
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Maharashtra polls: Over 180 NGOs work to enrol Muslim voters, increase awareness
Nov 07, 2024
MUMBAI: At least 180 NGOs and organisations have been working for months among Muslim voters to increase the community’s voter turnout, an endeavour that had positive results in the Lok Sabha polls. The organisations say that the turnout will be just as high in the assembly elections.
Muslim-dominated areas such as Shivaji Nagar, Mumbadevi, Byculla and Malegaon Central reported a higher turnout than their adjoining assembly segments in the Lok Sabha election. The organisations attribute this to unrest among Muslim voters as also the awareness generated by them among the voters over the past year.
The Marathi Muslim Seva Sangh has joined hands with over 180 NGOs and organisations working among Muslims for enrolment and to build awareness. The organisation has held meetings and awareness sessions among the community’s voters across the state. “This resulted in raising the voter turnout to over 60% in the Lok Sabha election, around 15% higher than the average in previous elections,” said Fakir Mehmood Thakur, head of the organisation. “We appeal to Muslims to support secular candidates and vote in the interest of the Constitution. We have joined hands with other organisations and religious heads for a better response. We have held more than 200 meetings across the state, and this has helped in increasing the voter turnout.”
Thakur said the fear among Muslim voters over the central government’s moves such as the Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens also contributed to the high voting percentage among Muslims, and added that these issues remained in the state polls as well.
Shakir Shaikh, coordinator of the Maharashtra Democratic Forum, said the forum held at least 70 meetings in the state, including 18 in Muslim-dominated areas in Mumbai in the last two months. “Awareness and voter turnout used to be very poor among Muslims until recently,” he said. “Several issues such as the CAA, uniform civil code and the Waqf bill have spurred people to come out and vote. The building of awareness and the registration drive helped notch up the high turnout in the Lok Sabha polls. We have registered at least nine lakh new voters in Mumbai and the response has been very positive.”
The en masse voting by Muslims in favour of the opposition has been termed ‘vote jihad’ by BJP politicians like Kirit Somaiya and Nitesh Rane. Dismissing this, Shaikh pointed out that ‘jihad’ in Arabic meant ‘holy struggle’. “If the community is voting for change, what is so objectionable about it?” he retorted. “If Muslims are voting for non-Muslim candidates, how can it be linked with religion?”
Sarfaraz Arzoo, editor of the Urdu daily, Hindustan, said that such charges did not deter Muslims from voting. “Muslims have realised the power of their vote, of which the results were visible in the Lok Sabha polls,” he said. “In Muslim-dominated constituencies, the community’s votes, added to those by Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress voters, resulted in the defeat of parties constantly badmouthing the Muslim community. And anger against BJP politicians like Nitesh Rane for his derogatory words against Muslims persists. This will result in a high turnout again in the assembly polls.”
Hasina Khan of Bharat Jodo Abhiyan has also been working among Muslim voters. “We have enrolled hundreds of them until the last day of enrolment,” she said. “People stood in long queues under the scorching sun during the Lok Sabha polls, and I am sure the percentage will be as high in the assembly elections too.”
Source:hindustantimes.com
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BJP’s Mithun Chakraborty booked for alleged anti-Muslim hate speech in West Bengal
Scroll Staff
Nov 07, 2024
The West Bengal Police have filed a case against actor and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Mithun Chakraborty for alleged hate speech targeting Muslims during a party event on October 27, PTI reported.
The case, filed at the Bidhannagar South police station, pertains to remarks that Chakraborty made at an event to launch a BJP membership drive in the North 24 Parganas district.
At the event, Chakraborty referred to remarks made by Trinamool Congress leader Humayun Kabir before the Lok Sabha elections.
“If I do not throw you in the Bhagirathi [river] within two hours, I will leave politics,” Kabir had said, according to The Indian Express. “You are 30% [Hindus, but we are 70% [Muslims]… If you think you can demolish mosques and Muslims will sit back and relax, you are mistaken.”
Kabir was subsequently censured by the Election Commission for his remarks.
“A leader says there are 70% Muslims and 30% Hindus [and] that he will ‘cut’ and throw them in the Bhagirathi,” NDTV quoted Chakraborty as saying on October 27. “We will chop them [up] and bury them in the ground,” he added in an apparent reference to Muslims.
Commenting on the case against Chakraborty, West Bengal BJP chief Sukanta Majumdar on Wednesday claimed that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was using the police to “unfairly” target the actor.
“Mithun Chakraborty is a pride of Bengal and a celebrated name in Indian cinema, with contributions that will always be respected,” he said on social media. “However, due to political rivalry, the chief minister has chosen to falsely accuse him.”
Majumdar added: “We strongly condemn her actions and will continue to protest against her authoritarian approach.”
Source:scroll.in
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JPC's attitude is beyond reasonable rules: All India Muslim Personal Law Board Nov 06, 2024
New Delhi [India], November 6 (ANI): All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB (/topic/aimplb)) spokesperson SQR Ilyas has raised serious concerns over alleged constitutional and procedural violations by the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC (/topic/jpc)) handling the Waqf Amendment Bill 2024 (/topic/waqf-amendment-bill-2024), including alterations to previously agreed dates, according to a statement. On Wednesday, he stated that the JPC (/topic/jpc) should seek suggestions and opinions solely from relevant persons or organisations directly involved with Waqf matters (the stakeholders). However, the committee is reportedly consulting Central Ministries, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), RSS-affiliated organisations, and other groups ithout standing in society, the statement noted. Ilyas further highlighted that opposition members in the JPC (/topic/jpc) had previously written to the Lok Sabha Speaker, raising complaints about the conduct of the committee's chairman, Jagdambika Pal. "Yesterday, six opposition members again wrote to the Speaker, expressing their disappointment over the chairman's behaviour, which they claimed is obstructing fair discussion," read the statement from Mohd Vaquar Uddin Latifi, Office Secretary. The statement added that when the Waqf Amendment Bill 2024 (/topic/waqf-amendment-bill-2024) was first introduced in Parliament, itfaced significant opposition, leading to its referral to the JPC (/topic/jpc). "We demand that the objections of AIMPLB (/topic/aimplb) and reputable Muslim organisations be seriously considered. Unrelated parties who have no connection to Waqf matters should be excluded. The JPC (/topic/jpc) must not hastily submit its report but instead follow prescribed guidelines and procedures, ensuring a comprehensive discussion among all members before presenting the report," the statement added. Notably, the Waqf Act of 1995, which was established to regulate Waqf properties, has faced longstanding allegations of mismanagement, corruption, and encroachment. The Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 aims to introduce significant reforms, including digitisation, stricter audits, transparency, and legal measures to reclaim illegally occupied propertiesThe JPC (/topic/jpc) is conducting a series of meetings to gather input from government officials, legal experts, Waqf Board members, and community representatives from various states and Union Territories to ensure comprehensive reforms. (AN
Source:aninews.in
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'Land Jihad': Karnataka Erupts In Protests Over Waqf Property Claims And Disputes
November 06, 2024,
By : Raghavendra Gud
The state of Karnataka is currently facing significant unrest due to widespread agitation against recent developments related to Waqf land claims. These issues have sparked deep concern among residents, particularly farmers, who feel that the handling of land reassignments has caused unnecessary tension across the state. The main opposition, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has called these actions “land jihad," accusing the ruling Congress government of appeasement politics, while the Congress government seems to be struggling with public backlash and internal disagreements.
The issue gained momentum after Housing and Waqf Minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan, a close aide to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, initiated a series of “Waqf Adalats" (courts) in various district headquarters, aiming to reclaim properties that Waqf authorities claimed were encroached upon. Khan’s team issued notices to farmers, religious institutions, and even respected local monasteries (mutts), sparking outrage among both local residents and political colleagues.
In recent statements, Khan has said that these adalats were conducted under direct orders from CM Siddaramaiah and were aimed at reclaiming all alleged Waqf properties. He underscored that these efforts are not a formality but a dedicated attempt to secure lands he claimed belong to Waqf. Such declarations have left the public and some government officials confused, with anger building as affected farmers and residents grapple with the consequences of these sudden land claims.
How It Started
The controversy began in Vijayapura district, where Khan announced that approximately 14,000 acres of land reportedly belonging to Waqf had been encroached upon, with only 780 acres remaining under Waqf’s control. Following this, district officials issued over 120 notices to around 400 farmers, with 44 property mutations updated in favour of the Waqf board. This drew swift criticism from the BJP, which accused the Congress government of furthering a policy of appeasement that targets Hindu farmers.
In response to growing unrest, Congress leaders, such as Cabinet Minister MB Patil, tried to clarify the situation, claiming that discrepancies in earlier gazette notifications were behind some of the land mislabelling. For instance, in the village of Honavada in Tikota Taluk, Waqf had claimed the entire 1,200 acres of the village. However, Patil clarified that only 11 acres actually belonged to Waqf, attributing the error to a mix-up in official documents. But this clarification did little to pacify residents, with similar situations reported in villages like Talikote, Babaleshwara, and Devarahipparagi.
Land Protests Escalate
The tipping point came in Indi Taluk, where a Tahsildar updated the records of 41 properties without notifying the respective landowners, listing Waqf as the owner in official documentation. Instead of rectifying the records, the government instructed farmers to provide land records predating 1974 to verify ownership. This procedural oversight has fuelled widespread anger, with farmers questioning why they must provide proof of ownership without prior notice and whether Waqf provided any documentation for these updates. Government representatives have reportedly dismissed these concerns as “communal," further aggravating the tension.
Waqf Claims Across Karnataka
The wave of Waqf property claims has not been limited to Vijayapura. In Yadgir district, farmers in villages like Kongandi and Sagara were also served Waqf notices, despite the lack of Waqf-related structures, such as mosques or dargahs, in the area. In Mandya district, villagers from Maddur Taluk were shocked to discover that 1.37 acres of their Hindu cremation ground had been designated as Waqf property, causing significant distress among the local Hindu community.
The situation has become especially contentious in Shrirangapattana Taluk, where villagers reported that the land associated with the Chikkamma Devi temple had been reclassified as Waqf property without any notification. In response, members of the Hindu community have protested against what they perceive as forced and secretive changes.
Communal Tensions
Historically, Karnataka has been a peaceful state with few incidents of communal violence. However, the mishandling of Waqf land claims has led to instances of unrest. For example, in Kadakol village, Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan instructed the Gram Panchayat to register Waqf property and even ordered officials to lock properties under Waqf’s control. Following these actions, panic ensued, and a clash erupted, with police detaining 15 residents. The incident has left the area in a state of anxiety, with lingering fear of further conflict.
The Case of the 13th Century Mutt
In another surprising development, the 13th-century Viraktha Mutt in Sindagi, a revered site for Lingayat devotees, was recently flagged as Waqf property. The mutt authorities only learned about this change after applying for a bank loan and discovering Waqf’s name on their official land documents. BJP leaders have since visited the site to support the mutt’s administrators, further heightening political tensions.
Protests Widen Amid Growing Frustration
Despite CM Siddaramaiah’s recent assurance to withdraw notices and remove erroneous Waqf claims, many farmers feel betrayed. The BJP has launched state-wide protests, demanding clarity and accountability from the government. BJP leaders including Karnataka BJP president BY Vijayendra, MLA Basanagowda Patil Yatnal, Union minister Shobha Karandlaje, Opposition leader R Ashok have been on a protest spree in the state. In fact, R Ashok has termed this Waqf fiasco ‘Land Jihad’ and vowed to protest against the state government.
The ruling Congress is now on the defensive, with prominent figures like Deputy CM DK Shivakumar and Revenue Minister Krishna Byregowda remaining silent on the issue, reportedly due to internal disagreements. Sources indicate that many ministers are frustrated with Minister Khan’s handling of the situation, with some pushing for his removal from office.
Uncertain Path Forward
The Waqf land dispute in Karnataka has become a flashpoint of tension between the Congress-led government and the state’s residents. Although Siddaramaiah has pledged to address the situation and remove erroneous claims, the public’s trust in the government remains shaken. Daily reports of Waqf-related land disputes across the state continue to fuel the crisis, with protests by farmers, religious leaders, and communities only intensifying.
With Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan seemingly unwavering in his stance to reclaim 116,000 acres of alleged Waqf property, Karnataka faces a period of political and social turbulence that the government must carefully navigate if it hopes to restore peace and trust among its residents.
Source:news18.com
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Mumbai cops arrest man from Karnataka for threat message to Salman Khan
06.11.24
The Mumbai police on Wednesday arrested a man from Karnataka for allegedly sending a threat message to Bollywood actor Salman Khan along with a demand for Rs 5 crore on traffic police's helpline, an official said.
The 35-year-old accused, Bhikaram Jalaram Bishnoi, a resident of Haveli in Karnataka, was held by a team of the Worli police station here on Wednesday following his interrogation, he said.
Bishnoi, who is originally from Jalore in Rajasthan, had sent a threat message on the WhatsApp helpline of the Mumbai traffic police control room on Monday night, he said.
The threat message read: "If Salman Khan wants to stay alive, he should go to our temple and apologise or pay Rs 5 crore. If he does not do so, we will kill him; our gang is still active." The message sender claimed he is the brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, he said.
A case was registered at the Worli police station against the accused person, he said.
"During the investigation, it came to light that the accused hailed from Karnataka, following which a team of Worli police was sent to apprehend him. Bishnoi was nabbed late on Tuesday and after his interrogation, he was placed under arrest by the Worli police," he said.
He was produced before the local court for transit remand, the official said, adding that he is being brought to Mumbai.
Source:telegraphindia.com
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Pakistan
FIR registered against security guard for attack on Chinese nationals in Karachi
Imtiaz Ali
November 7, 2024
Police on Wednesday registered a case against a security guard who shot at and injured two Chinese nationals a day earlier.
According to a statement by the Sindh Home Department, a clash broke out between Chinese nationals and security guards at a police station in Karachi’s Sindh Industrial Trading Estate (SITE) Area. During the clash, a security guard fired at two Chinese nationals, injuring them.
Sindh Home Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar instructed authorities to arrest the security guard involved in the incident. He had also sought details from the South deputy inspector general, stating that facts of the incident must be confirmed with a comprehensive inquiry.
According to a first information report (FIR) filed late on Tuesday night, the complainant Najeebul Rab said he worked as a security in charge at at textile mill.
He said that he, along with four Chinese nationals accompanied by police and private guards, arrived at the mill in Site Area at around 8:02am, the FIR, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, said.
“The foreigners went to the first floor of the factory to the Knits department for the installation of new machinery,” it said.
“The foreigners were busy with their work when at 8:15am, the guard, namely Sharifullah, son of Habibullah, belonging to the Executive security company who had been working in the factory for the last four to five months, went to the first floor.
“The suspect, using his 9mm pistol, resorted to firing at the Chinese nationals for some unknown reasons to kill them.”
According to the FIR, the guard resorted to indiscriminate firing, resulting in critical injuries to Zheng Luwen and Wang Xingzhong, who were shifted to Liaquat National Hospital in the factory’s ambulance while the suspect managed to escape along with the pistol.
The police arrived at the spot and collected 16 spent bullet casings fired from a 9mm pistol, it said.
The complainant added in the FIR that the suspect’s firing inside the factory also triggered fear and terror among other employees, therefore, he wanted a case against the fleeing suspect over charges of making an attempt on the life of the Chinese and creating an atmosphere of fear and terror in the factory.
The police have registered the section under sections 324 (attempted murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code and 7 (punishment for acts of terrorism) of the anti-terrorism act.
PM condemns attack on visits to Chinese embassy in Karachi
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif visited the Chinese Embassy to condemn the firing incident.
Talking to Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong today, the prime minister said that he was visiting the embassy to condemn yesterday’s attack on Chinese nationals and to inquire about the health of those injured in the incident.
The premier assured the Chinese ambassador that those responsible for the incident would be apprehended soon and an exemplary punishment would be awarded to them, Prime Minister’s Office said in a press release.
He further informed the Chinese ambassador that he was personally supervising the arrest of those involved in the incident and bringing them to justice.
Moreover, he had directed to provide the best medical facilities to the Chinese citizens injured in the incident and that it was a matter of satisfaction that the health of the injured Chinese nationals was improving.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Minister for Interior Mohsin Raza Naqvi and Special Assistant to PM Tariq Fatemi accompanied the premier.
Prime Minister Sharif said that China was a long-standing friend of Pakistan and that the attack on the Chinese nationals was a desperate attempt to damage Pakistan-China fraternal relations, reiterating that the security of Chinese nationals working in Pakistan was the top priority of the government.
The Chinese ambassador thanked the prime minister for his visit and hoped that he would play his role in bringing those responsible for the incident to justice soon.
Attacks on Chinese nationals
Chinese nationals have been targeted inside Pakistan over the last couple of years.
The recent escalation in violence against Chinese nationals has amplified Beijing’s security concerns, especially over progress on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects.
Speaking at the event ‘China at 75: A Journey of Progress, Transformation and Global Leadership’ last week, the Chinese envoy had expressed frustration over the attacks, stating it was “unacceptable” and urging Islamabad to strengthen security measures for Chinese nationals and crack down on anti-China elements.
Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch last week called the statement “perplexing” and a stark departure from the longstanding diplomatic norms between the two nations.
Earlier this month, a suicide attack near Karachi’s airport, claimed by the outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), left two Chinese citizens dead and injured ten others.
In March, Chinese workers were targeted in Besham, reportedly carried out by affiliates of either Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K), resulting in five Chinese fatalities.
At least four people, including three Chinese nationals, were killed while four others were injured in a suicide attack outside the University of Karachi’s (KU) Confucius Institute in 2022.
Security risk
The involvement of private security in the incident has once again drawn attention towards a host of issues including lack of training of the guards.
A recent letter written by Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Syed Asad Raza to the chairman of the All Pakistan Security Agencies Association (APSA) has highlighted certain aspects of private security guards particularly their lack of training, changing of guards without any intimidation and briefing about foreigners, which were being viewed with concerns.
The letter said that “there are threats to Chinese engineers and nationals working on CPEC [China-Pakistan Economic Corridor], non-CPEC private projects, business partners, employees, visitors and individuals located in Sindh province.”
It has been pointed out that all Chinese working on such government and private projects, visitors and individuals have hired private security guards for their security.
Police, Rangers and Frontier Corps are also providing security to them but ‘few locations are guarded with only private security guards,’ as per the letter.
“It has been observed that private security companies that provide guards for the security of foreigners are not trained which a security risk is,” apprehended the official letter.
Moreover, apart from this, the companies changed the ‘guards without intimidation and guards are not briefed’ regarding the security of foreigners.
The DIG urged the APSA head ‘to engage the companies for verification of security guards from IB and Special Branch.’
“Their training should be done under the supervision of police and security guards should not be changed without intimidation to avoid any untoward incident,” it said.
Source:dawn.com
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FIA confiscates Rs25mn cash during operation against hawala, hundi
By Afzal Nadeem Dogar
November 07, 2024
KARACHI: Targeting hawala-hundi operators, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) carried out three raids during wee hours in Karachi in a significant move against illicit money transactions.
In addition to prize bonds, cheques, computers and cell phones, the FIA said that Rs25 million in cash were also seized during the raids.
Five people were apprehended for involvement in the illicit financial transfers, the agency further stated.
According to FIA Karachi Director Nauman Siddiqui, the FIA’s Corporate Crime Circle led the operations. The first raid took place at a building on Shahrah-e-Millat, where officials apprehended Asif Ashraf, a travel agency owner, and hawala dealer Shayan Wahid.
Authorities recovered Rs22.5 million in cash, mobile phones, laptops, and documents detailing hawala-hundi transactions from the suspects.
Two additional raids, executed under court orders, took place in Garden West and Sharfabad areas.
Here, the FIA seized 117 signed cheques, prize bonds worth Rs61,000, and Rs4.7 million in cash. Two laptops, two computers, seven mobile phones, and other records related to hawala-hundi were also confiscated.
Further investigations revealed that suspects Muhammad Owais, Aqeel Sameer, and Javed were managing a hawala setup, transferring funds and making payments through a benami (undisclosed) company using third-party accounts.
Source:thenews.com.pk
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4 FC men martyred in South Waziristan attack
Adam Khan Wazir | Ibrahim Shinwari
November 7, 2024
SOUTH WAZIRISTAN/KHYBER: At least Seven people, including four Frontier Corps personnel, lost their lives in three attacks across South Waziristan Upper and Tirah in Khyber.
In South Waziristan Upper, a bomb disposal vehicle of the security forces was attacked with an improvised explosive device (IED) in the Karam area of tehsil Ladha. The IED was followed by shooting. As a result, four FC men were martyred and five others wounded, sources told Dawn.
Two of the injured personnel were in critical condition and shifted to Scouts Hospital in Wana. “Security forces cordoned off the area immediately and launched a search operation,” sources said. There was no official statement by the military’s media wing till this report went to press.
In a separate incident, militants targeted a vehicle in the Daza Ghundai area. As a result, a Counter-Terrorism Department official was martyred and two civilians were wounded.
In Khyber’s Tirah Valley, two children were killed and five were injured when a mortar shell, fired from an unknown location, landed in the area.
Sources said that a group of students of a government primary school, Hashim Khan Kalay in the Bhutan Shareef area of Bar Qambar Khel were on their way home when a mortar fired from an undisclosed direction hit the nearby houses and a mosque.
They said that while the mortar shell caused a fire in some houses and the mosque in the Sra Cheena locality, the shrapnel hit six school children, injuring them critically while a girl was also injured in the fire.
Residents of Bhutan Shareef, near the border with Orakzai district, said that 10-year-old Abidullah and his sister Kulsoom succumbed to injuries while on their way to hospital in Peshawar. Other injured students were shifted to hospital, with most of them having injuries on their faces.
Although there was no immediate confirmation about who fired the mortar shell, there were speculations from some official quarters that two rival groups of the banned TTP were at war in the area and they had been targeting each other’s positions with heavy weapons.
Local sources could not be approached to confirm the veracity of these reports.
It may be noted that a quadcopter attack on October 21 in the Peer Mela area of Tirah injured at least 15 persons, mostly children who were later shifted to Peshawar for treatment.
Source:dawn.com
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1870623/4-fc-men-martyred-in-south-waziristan-attack
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PM Shehbaz looks forward to working with new US admin
November 7, 2024
ISLAMABAD: Soon after it became clear that Republican candidate Donald Trump is going to be the 47th president of the United States, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other Pakistani leaders on Wednesday congratulated him on his election victory.
“Congratulations to President-elect Donald Trump on his historic victory for a second term,” the prime minister wrote on his X timeline.
PM Shehbaz said that he looked forward to working closely with the incoming administration to further strengthen and broaden the Pakistan-US partnership.
Minister for Defence Khawaja Muhammad Asif said Pakistan would definitely welcome Donald Trump because the US people had elected him.
During a news TV programme, he said the US had always worked for safeguarding its interest. “We will also take care of our country’s interest,” he added.
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif also felicitated Mr Trump over winning the US presidential election.
In her message, she congratulated the American nation on Mr Trump’s election as president of the USA and expressed the hope for improvement in Pakistan-US relations.
PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, in his message for Mr Trump, congratulated him and his team on the “election and historic comeback” and “resounding victory”.
Terming the Republican’s win and mandate “anti-war”, Mr Bhutto-Zardari wrote in a social media post: “We hope the new administration will prioritise peace and help end the cycle of perpetual global conflict.”
Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan also extended congratulations to Mr Trump and vice president-elect J.D. Vance on winning the polls.
“It is hoped that this team will foster better relations between the people of Pakistan and the people of the United States of America,” he wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Source:dawn.com
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1870625/pm-shehbaz-looks-forward-to-working-with-new-us-admin8
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PTI looking for options to move Imran abroad with help of foreign country: defence minister
Ikram Junaidi
November 6, 2024
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Tuesday speculated that the PTI was “looking for options to move Imran into exile with the help of a foreign country” without naming which country he was referring to.
Multiple people outside the country have commented on Imran’s incarceration in Adiala for more than a year.
Kim Johnson, the MP for UK’s Liverpool Riverside, along with several other MPs, wrote a letter to cabinet minister David Lammy, arguing that Imran’s detention had “no legal basis” and was intended to prevent his participation in political office.
Similarly, more than 60 members of the US House of Representatives wrote to President Joe Biden on October 24, calling for the release of political prisoners in Pakistan, including Imran.
Amnesty International — on the former premier’s incarceration — said it has found several fair trial violations under international human rights standards which have resulted in his arbitrary detention.
In October, two billionaire businessmen posted in support of Khan. Their concerns came days after his former wife Jemima Goldsmith made an impassioned plea for the PTI founder’s release, and urged authorities to let him contact his sons.
In an interview with Hum News show “Faisla Aap Ka” with Asma Sherazi on Tuesday, the defense minister said, “[The PTI] was trying options to get foreign countries to influence Pakistan and release Imran.”
He added that those countries — without naming which ones was he referring to — “were also ready to receive him”.
Members of the ruling coalition in September also attacked the PTI founder for his alleged links with the “Zionist lobby”, after an article published by an Israeli media outlet alluded to the potential role of Imran in the normalisation of ties with Israel.
A government spokesperson in July warned overseas Pakistanis that the government would clamp down against them if they promoted an “anti-state agenda”.
Meanwhile, the federal government’s spokesperson on legal affairs Barrister Aqeel Malik claimed in June that PTI was “misusing” the Pakistani diaspora, who have a strong affiliation with the party, for its “clandestine motives”.
According to a retaliatory statement issued by the PTI today, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Adviser Barrister Saif criticised Asif for his statement.
“The Sharif family is the one which makes deals and runs abroad whenever the noose is tightened around them,” he said.
He ruled out any possibility of Khan’s release from jail and said that the latter would have moved to foreign shores if he had to, instead, he preferred to stay in Pakistan.
Source:dawn.com
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https://www.dawn.com/news/1870527/pti-looking-for-options-to-move-imran-abroad-with-help-of-foreign-country-defence-minister
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PM announces 100MW power supply, Rs1bn endowment fund for Gilgit Baltistan
November 6, 2024
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday announced an immediate power supply of 100 megawatts and an Rs1 billion merit-based endowment fund for university students of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).
While chairing a special meeting of the GB cabinet during his daylong visit, the premier expressed satisfaction and pleasure over the timely completion of Bubar Model Village, which he had inaugurated earlier to provide housing facilities to the people affected by floods in 2022.
He instructed the GB administration to establish educational institutions, playgrounds, power transmission and other facilities in the Ghizer district.
Besides announcing an immediate power supply of 100 megawatts to GB, the prime minister announced a Rs1bn merit-based endowment fund for the students of Baltistan University and Karakorum University.
The premier also told the GB cabinet members that the federal government would establish Daanish Schools in the area, similar to those in the Punjab province, adding that his government was actively working for the uplift and welfare of the GB people.
He recalled that while being the Punjab chief minister, his government had given a Rs1bn gift to uplift GB’s education sector.
He said that the provincial governments’ cooperation with the federal government for economic stability was significant.
The prime minister told the participants that the stock exchange crossed the 92,000 mark and the increase in remittances, tax return filers and reduction in inflation were pleasant developments for the national economy.
He lauded the role of all provinces, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and GB in the national development and highlighted his government’s special focus on the uplift of GB, merged districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
The prime minister said that the federal government was taking measures to promote tourism in GB as the Qatari government had also expressed interest in investing in tourism in the area.
The meeting was attended by federal ministers Ahsan Iqbal, Attaullah Tarar, Amir Muqam and Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, members of the GB cabinet and relevant senior officers.
Source:dawn.com
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Mideast
Israel strikes Lebanon after discussing ‘Iranian threat’ with Trump
November 07, 2024
JERUSALEM: Israel launched fresh strikes on south Beirut early Thursday, hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US president-elect Donald Trump spoke about the “Iranian threat.”
The Israeli premier was one of the first world leaders to congratulate Trump, calling the re-election “history’s greatest comeback.”
Over the phone on Wednesday, the pair “agreed to work together for Israel’s security” and “discussed the Iranian threat,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
Not long afterwards, the Israeli military launched its latest strikes on Iran-backed Hezbollah’s main bastion of south Beirut, with AFP footage showing orange flashes and plumes of smoke over the densely populated suburb.
The Israeli army had issued evacuation orders ahead of the strikes, calling on people to leave four neighborhoods, including one near the international airport.
In Lebanon’s east, the country’s health ministry said Israeli strikes on Wednesday killed 40 people, with rescuers combing the rubble for survivors.
“The series of Israeli enemy strikes on the Bekaa Valley and Baalbek” killed “40 people and injured 53,” the ministry said in a statement.
Hezbollah had pledged the result of the US election would have no bearing on the war, which escalated in September as the Israeli military widened its focus from Gaza to securing its northern border with Lebanon.
In a televised speech recorded before Trump’s victory but aired afterwards, new Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said: “We have tens of thousands of trained resistance combatants” ready to fight.
“What will stop this... war is the battlefield,” he said.
Qassem, who became Hezbollah secretary-general last week, warned that nowhere in Israel would be “off-limits.”
Hezbollah announced Wednesday it had Iran-made Fatah 110 missiles, a weapon with a 300-kilometer (186-mile) range that military expert Riad Kahwaji described as the group’s “most accurate.”
The group claimed a slew of attacks on Israel on Wednesday, including two that targeted naval bases near the Israeli city of Haifa and two near commercial hub Tel Aviv.
Hezbollah began its low-intensity cross-border campaign last year in support of ally Hamas after the Palestinian militants’ October 7 attack on Israel.
Israel escalated its air raids on Hezbollah strongholds in south Lebanon, Beirut and the eastern Bekaa Valley from September 23, sending in ground troops a week later.
More than a year of fighting in Lebanon has killed at least 3,050 people, the health ministry said Wednesday.
Ceasefire efforts
Efforts to end the conflicts in Gaza and neighboring Lebanon have so far repeatedly failed.
While US President Joe Biden’s administration has piled pressure on Netanyahu to agree to a truce, Washington sustained its political and military backing of Israel.
Many see Trump’s White House return as a possible boon for Israel.
All US presidents “are in favor of the State of Israel,” a man in east Jerusalem told AFP, asking to be identified only by his nickname Abu Mohammed.
Under Trump, “nothing will change except more decline.”
During his campaign, Trump touted himself as Israel’s strongest ally, going so far as to say Biden should let Israel “finish the job” against Hamas in Gaza.
“Trump’s return to power... will lead us to hell and there will be a greater and more difficult escalation,” said a school principal in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Recent surveys have shown that a majority of Israelis, 66 percent according to one conducted by Israel’s Channel 12 News, were hoping to see Trump triumph.
Analysts said Netanyahu also wanted Trump’s return, given their longstanding personal friendship and the American’s hawkishness on Iran.
During his first term in office, Trump moved the US embassy to Jerusalem, recognized Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights and helped normalize ties between Israel and several Arab states under the so-called Abraham Accords.
But some experts cautioned against prematurely assuming Trump’s position on “Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.”
“It’s not necessarily clear that he would kind of just stand aside while Israel continues to de facto annex the West Bank,” said Mairav Zonszein from the International Crisis Group.
Prospects of Peace in Trump’s US
Egypt, the first Arab state to sign a peace deal with Israel and one of the mediators in the stymied Gaza truce talks, also congratulated Trump.
President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi told Trump in a call that Cairo would work with him “to contribute to stability, peace and development in the Middle East.”
In Gaza, where the war has displaced most residents, caused widespread hunger and death, and devastated hospitals, some clung to hope with a change in the US administration.
“There’s nothing left for us, we want peace,” said 60-year-old Mamdouh Al-Jadba, who was displaced to Gaza City from Jabalia.
The UN said Wednesday its polio vaccination campaign in Gaza had ended, with more than half a million children vaccinated despite the war.
Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack that started the war resulted in 1,206 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed 43,391 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, which the United Nations considers reliable.
Source:arabnews.com
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Israel, WHO say evacuated dozens of Gazans for medical care
November 07, 2024
JERUSALEM: Israel and the World Health Organization said more than 200 Gazans, both patients and their carers, were evacuated to the United Arab Emirates or Romania Wednesday for medical treatment.
In total, the group numbered some 230 people, according to the WHO and COGAT, the Israeli defense ministry body responsible for civil affairs in the Palestinian territories.
“This is the largest number of patients and caregivers who have left through the Kerem Shalom crossing in recent months,” COGAT said in a statement.
The operation was carried out in cooperation with the UAE, the European Union and the WHO, it added.
The WHO said the “patients included those with autoimmune diseases, blood diseases, cancer, kidney conditions and trauma injuries.”
The patients were transferred from Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing into Israel, and then to Ramon Airport near Eilat in southern Israel.
The WHO’s representative in the Palestinian territories, Rik Peeperkorn, had said Tuesday that those on the evacuation list were among up to 14,000 people currently waiting in Gaza to be evacuated for medical reasons.
Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed 43,391 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to Gaza health ministry figures which the United Nations considers to be reliable.
The ministry also lists 102,347 people as having been wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began.
Peeperkorn said Tuesday that fewer than 5,000 people had been granted medical evacuations out of the territory since the war began.
Source:arabnews.com
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UN says Gaza polio vaccination campaign complete
November 06, 2024
JERUSALEM: The UN said Wednesday its Gaza child polio vaccination drive was complete, with more than half a million children vaccinated despite the Israel-Hamas war raging in the Palestinian territory.
The World Health Organization and the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF launched a second round of vaccinations in northern Gaza on Saturday after Israeli bombing halted an earlier attempt to do so.
“The second round of the polio vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip was completed yesterday (Tuesday), with an overall 556,774 children under the age of 10 being vaccinated with a second dose,” said a joint statement.
It “is a remarkable achievement given the extremely difficult circumstances the campaign was executed under.”
Israel’s military has pounded northern Gaza for weeks in a major offensive it says is aimed at stopping Hamas militants from regrouping.
An estimated 7,000 to 10,000 children are stuck in “inaccessible areas” in the north and “remain unvaccinated and vulnerable to the poliovirus,” the UN organizations said.
The vaccination campaign had been a “success,” according to a statement Wednesday from COGAT, the Israeli defense ministry body that manages civilian affairs in the Palestinian territories.
The drive began on September 1 with a successful first round, after the besieged territory confirmed its first polio case in 25 years.
Typically spread through sewage and contaminated water, poliovirus is highly infectious.
It can cause deformities and paralysis and is potentially fatal, mainly affecting children aged under five.
The vaccination campaign was managed primarily by UN agencies including the WHO, UNICEF and UNRWA — the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.
Last month Israel’s parliament adopted a law banning UNRWA’s activities on Israeli territory.
The aid agency remains “the largest primary health care provider in the Gaza Strip,” according to Louise Wateridge, UNRWA’s senior emergency officer.
The WHO said Saturday four children were among six people wounded in a strike on a polio vaccination center in northern Gaza.
It was unclear who carried out the attack.
The UN agencies on Wednesday again called for a ceasefire.
“Humanitarian pauses... must be systematically applied beyond the polio emergency response efforts to other health and humanitarian interventions to respond to dire needs,” they said.
Source:arabnews.com
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Islamic Jihad condemns replacement of clothing of Palestinian female prisoners in "Damon" prison
06 Nov 2024
Gaza - Saba: The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine condemned, Wednesday, in the strongest terms, the blatant violations practiced by the prison administration in the Zionist entity against the valiant Palestinian female prisoners in "Damon" prison.
The movement said in a press statement that the prison administration's confiscation of the jalabiyas, hijab and niqab and replacing them with gray sportswear without a hijab represents a blatant violation of their basic rights and a violation of all human values and international norms.
It stressed that imposing this forced clothing on Palestinian female prisoners comes in the context of a psychological war and a renewed assault on dignity within the framework of the open war against our people; it is a desperate attempt to humiliate the will of the free Palestinian woman who stood steadfast in the face of the most brutal methods of repression and abuse.
She considered that these aggressive measures are added to a long record of brutal practices practiced by the occupation against male and female prisoners, starting with deprivation of visits, solitary confinement, psychological and physical torture, and reaching the violation of their human rights.
Source:saba.ye
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Hezbollah says attacked Israel naval base with drones, missiles
November 06, 2024
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Hezbollah group claimed a slew of attacks on Wednesday, including two that targeted naval bases near the Israeli city of Haifa and two near Tel Aviv.
Hezbollah fighters “targeted the Stella Maris naval base northwest of Haifa with a salvo of high-quality missiles and a squadron of attack drones,” the group said in a statement.
It was the fourth attack on the base in as many weeks.
Later Wednesday, Hezbollah said it launched “attack drones on the Haifa naval base in Haifa Bay, for the first time.”
In the evening, it said it targeted a base south of Tel Aviv, also for the first time.
Earlier, Hezbollah said it attacked a base near the country’s main international airport close to Tel Aviv.
The Israel Airports Authority said operations at the airport were not affected by the attack.
Hezbollah began low-intensity cross-border attacks on Israel in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas following its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
More than a year of clashes that escalated into war in September have killed at least 3,050 people in Lebanon, according to health ministry figures.
Source:arabnews.com
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Lebanon files complaint against Israel at UN labor body over deadly pager explosions, minister says
November 06, 2024
GENEVA: A Lebanese government minister said Wednesday his country was filing a complaint against Israel at the UN’s labor organization over the string of deadly attacks involving exploding pagers, saying workers were among those killed and injured.
The explosions in mid-September were widely blamed on Israel, which has neither confirmed nor denied involvement. The blasts killed at least 37 people, including two children, wounded more than 3,000 and deeply unsettled even Lebanese who have no Hezbollah affiliation.
Lebanese Labor Minister Moustafa Bayram said he traveled to Geneva to formally file the complaint against Israel at the International Labor Organization, a sprawling UN agency that brings together governments, businesses and workers.
Bayram said the casualty count was even higher than first reported, saying “more than 4,000 civilians fell — between martyrs and injured and maimed — in a few minutes by this attack.”
“This method of warfare and conflicts may open the way for many who are evading international humanitarian law to adopt this method of warfare,” the minister told reporters at the UN compound in Geneva.
“It’s a very dangerous precedent, if not condemned,” he said. “We are in a situation where ordinary objects — objects used in daily life — become dangerous and lethal.”
Speaking in Arabic, Bayram insisted that ILO conventions guarantee the safety and security of workers, who “were in their workplace and had their pagers or walkies-talkies exploding all of a sudden,” according to an interpreter.
“I do not know where the outcome (of the complaint) will go, but at least we raised our voices to say and warn against this dangerous approach that strikes at human relations and leads to more conflicts,” he added.
An ILO spokeswoman said she was not immediately aware of the complaint or what redress might be possible through it.
Source:arabnews.com
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Hezbollah says tens of thousands of fighters ready to battle Israel
November 06, 2024
BEIRUT: Hezbollah said Wednesday that tens of thousands of its militants were ready to fight Israel, adding that the US election result would have no bearing on the war in Lebanon.
The Iran-backed group’s leader also warned that nowhere in Israel would be “off-limits” to attacks, as the Israeli military said about 120 projectiles had been fired across the border on Wednesday.
The Israeli military struck Hezbollah’s main bastion of south Beirut after issuing an evacuation warning.
Israel and Hezbollah have been at war since late September, when the Israeli military widened the focus of its war in Gaza to securing its northern border with Lebanon.
Hezbollah began launching low-intensity cross-border attacks on Israel last year, in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas following its October 7, 2023 attack.
Efforts to end the war in Gaza that was sparked by the Hamas attack have yet to bear fruit, and the war in Lebanon has killed nearly 2,000 people, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures.
“We have tens of thousands of trained resistance combatants” ready to fight, Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said in a televised speech marking 40 days since his predecessor Hassan Nasrallah was killed in a strike.
The address was aired after Donald Trump’s victory in the US election was announced, but had been recorded earlier.
He said the result in the race between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris would have no impact on any possible ceasefire deal for Lebanon.
“We don’t base our expectations for a halt of the aggression on political developments,” he said.
“Whether Harris wins or Trump wins, it means nothing to us.
“What will stop this... war is the battlefield” he said, citing fighting in south Lebanon and Hezbollah attacks on Israel.
Earlier on Wednesday, Hezbollah said it targeted a military base near Israel’s main airport close to commercial hub Tel Aviv, an attack that Israel’s Airports Authority said did not disrupt operations.
Earlier Wednesday, Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported Israeli air strikes on the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon and the southern city of Nabatiyeh.
An AFP correspondent in the eastern city of Baalbek reported intense strikes in and around the city.
The speech was Qassem’s second since he was named Hezbollah secretary-general last week.
Israel is “betting on prolonging the war so it becomes a war of attrition... We are ready,” he said.
He also called for Lebanese sovereignty to be safeguarded in any truce talks.
Qassem demanded explanations from the Lebanese army after Israeli naval commandos seized a man from north Lebanon on Saturday who they said was a senior Hezbollah operative.
He said the operation was “a great offense to Lebanon” and a “violation” of its sovereignty.
On Tuesday, a Lebanese judicial official told AFP that Israeli commandos used a speedboat equipped with advanced devices capable of jamming UN peacekeepers’ radars for the operation, according to a preliminary probe.
The UN Maritime Task Force has helped the Lebanese military to monitor territorial waters and prevent the entry of arms or related material by sea since 2006, according to the mission’s website.
In Gaza, where the 13-month war has had a devastating impact, people were desperate for a solution and voiced hope Trump might be able to offer one.
Hamas’s October 7 attack resulted in 1,206 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed 43,391 people in Gaza, a majority of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry the United Nations considers reliable.
“We were displaced, killed... there’s nothing left for us, we want peace,” said Mamdouh Al-Jadba, who was displaced to Gaza City from Jabalia.
“I hope Trump finds a solution, we need someone strong like Trump to end the war and save us, enough, God, this is enough,” the 60-year-old told AFP.
Umm Ahmed Harb, from the Al-Shaaf area east of Gaza City, was also counting on Trump to “stand by our side” and end the territory’s suffering.
“God willing the war will end, not for our sake but for the sake of our young children who are innocent,” she told AFP.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his part feted Trump’s return as “history’s greatest comeback.”
“Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America. This is a huge victory!” Netanyahu said in a statement issued by his office.
The United States is Israel’s top ally and military backer, and the election came at a critical time for the Middle East.
While maintaining the steady flow of aid to Israel, US President Joe Biden’s administration had for months piled pressure on Netanyahu to agree to a truce.
Analysts say Netanyahu had been hoping for a Trump return, given their longstanding personal friendship as well as the former president’s hawkishness on Israel’s arch-foe Iran.
Source:arabnews.com
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Iranian Revolutionary Court sentences four individuals to death over charges of spying for Israel
November 06, 2024
DUBAI: Four people were sentenced to death by a revolutionary court in northwestern Iran over charges of spying for Israel, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Wednesday.
Fars said three of the defendants — whose nationalities it did not give — were accused of helping Israel’s spy agency Mossad move equipment used in the 2020 assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.
Fakhrizadeh was viewed by Western intelligence services as the mastermind of a covert Iranian program to develop nuclear weapons capability. The Islamic Republic has long denied any such ambition.
The Jewish Chronicle newspaper reported in February 2021, citing intelligence sources, that Fakhrizadeh was killed by a one-ton gun smuggled into Iran in pieces by Mossad agents, both Israeli and Iranian nationals.
Israel declined to comment at the time of his killing and on Wednesday an Israeli government spokesman said in response to the Fars report: “We never comment on such matters. There has been no change in our position.”
Fars said the fourth defendant sentenced to death was linked to another unspecified espionage case.
Source:arabnews.com
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Iraqi Islamic Resistance claims drone strike on Israeli site
2024-11-07
Shafaq News/ The Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI) announced on Thursday it had carried out a drone strike targeting an Israeli military site.
In a statement, the group declared, “in support of our people in Palestine and Lebanon, and in response to the massacres committed by the usurping entity against innocent civilians, including children, women, and the elderly."
IRI affirmed its commitment to intensifying its operations against “enemy” strongholds, pledging that further strikes would occur "at an increasing pace."
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq has mounted near-daily rocket and drone attacks on Israeli targets amid the ongoing war involving Gaza and Lebanon.
Since April, Israel has reported multiple aerial incursions from its eastern border, although it has refrained from attributing responsibility to a specific group. Israel has also announced that it has intercepted drones outside its airspace on several occasions.
Source:shafaq.com
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Discussing interventions of Islamic Relief Organization in Raymah
07 Nov 2024
Raymah - Saba: A meeting held today in Raymah Governorate, which included the Secretary-General of the Local Council, Hassan Al-Omari, the Deputy Governor, Hafez Al-Wahidi, and representatives of the Islamic Relief Organization, discussed the organization's interventions in supporting the health sector in the governorate.
In the meeting, Al-Omari and Al-Wahidi praised the efforts made by the organization in identifying the needs of the health sector and mitigating its effects due to the aggression and siege.
They stressed the importance of coordination with the local authority to ensure the provision of facilities to the organization to enable it to carry out its humanitarian tasks and provide health services to citizens.
Source:saba.ye
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South Asia
Higher Education Minister Emphasizes Role of Educated Citizens in Building Afghanistan’s Future
2024-11-06
KABUL(BNA): Sheikh al-Hadith Neda Mohammad Nadeem, the Acting Minister of Higher Education, emphasized the importance of utilizing the knowledge and expertise of academic staff for the development of Afghanistan in his address at a gathering of university officials and students in Nangarhar.
In a statement to the press, Bakhtar News Agency reported that during the event at Nangarhar University, Minister Nadeem outlined the Islamic Emirate’s expectations from universities, including the strengthening of educational institutions, enhancing the quality of teaching, and improving the effectiveness of faculty and student activities.
He stressed that leveraging the knowledge, abilities, and skills of academic professionals is a key aspiration of the Islamic Emirate to foster the nation’s progress.
The Minister also discussed the value of education and the critical role that educated individuals play within society, urging them to be accountable to their religion, the Islamic system, and their communities.
During the gathering, Sheikh Inamullah Madani, the head of Nangarhar University, provided an overview of the university’s activities, achievements, and challenges. He expressed gratitude for the Acting Minister’s visit, which he said would help address the issues faced by educational institutions in the province.
He also emphasized that universities should be free from ideological, linguistic, and sectarian biases, and it is the responsibility of every Muslim to excel not only in their professional education but also in their religious and spiritual knowledge.
Additionally, the Acting Minister of Higher Education held separate meetings with the officials, faculty, and students of both public and private universities in Nangarhar, where he listened to their concerns and assured them of efforts to address their issues and fulfill their requests.
Source:bakhtarnews.af
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Ministry of Interior Disputes UNODC Report on Opium Cultivation Increase
2024-11-07
KABUL (BNA): According to a survey by UNODC, the office’s latest report indicates a 19 percent increase in opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan in 2024 compared to 2023.
The Ministry of Interior, however, categorically rejects the findings of this survey, asserting that it is far from accurate. They suggest that the survey may have been conducted early in the year, prior to extensive eradication operations by Afghan police forces, which subsequently destroyed all poppy cultivation areas nationwide. As such, the Ministry considers the UNODC report baseless and unfounded.
The Ministry underscored that, under the guidance of the esteemed Supreme Leader, the Islamic Emirate has prioritized combating this destructive phenomenon, strictly banning all cultivation and production of narcotics across Afghanistan. As per Islamic principles, narcotics are considered entirely prohibited, and the Islamic Emirate views this battle as a top priority.
The Ministry noted that its own internal assessments, which conflict entirely with the UNODC findings, indicate a significant decrease in opium poppy cultivation and production compared to previous years. Anti-narcotics police forces successfully reduced narcotics to minimal levels in 2022 and 2023, and have taken decisive steps in 2024 to further strengthen efforts against this issue. The Ministry of Interior confirmed that it will continue to take substantial and determined actions to combat narcotics in the future.
Source:bakhtarnews.af
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Enhancement of healthcare services in provinces discussed, ministry
November 7, 2024
\KABUL: The Deputy Minister for Healthcare Services of the Ministry of Public Health Mawlavi Abdul Wali Haqqani, in a meeting with representatives of UNICEF, BARAN and BDN institutions, discussed the enhancement of healthcare services in provinces, the ministry said in a statement the other day.
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss strategies for the enhancement of healthcare services in the country’s provinces, identify persistent challenges, and devise practical solutions, the statement said.
Mawlavi Haqqani urged relevant authorities to implement the necessary measures to address the concerns raised by the BARAN and BDN institutions.
The Kabul Times
Source:thekabultimes.com
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Turkish Police detain 10 Afghan migrants over lack of work permits
By Fidel Rahmati
November 7, 2024
Turkish media have reported the detention of 10 Afghan migrant workers for lacking work permits on an agricultural project in the city of Zonguldak. Reports indicate that these workers were hired illegally by a contracting company.
On Wednesday, November 6, Turkish media revealed that the police detained several Afghan workers at a work site in the village of Boronkaya in Zonguldak.
According to the reports, the deportation process for these workers has begun, and they are expected to be sent back to Afghanistan soon.
The Turkish police identified these migrants “following public complaints.”
Turkey does not allow undocumented refugees to work, and even for those with residence permits, obtaining a work permit is challenging.
This incident highlights the struggles faced by undocumented Afghan migrants in Turkey, many of whom take on informal labor due to limited legal employment opportunities.
Afghan migrant workers in Turkey often work under difficult conditions, as their undocumented status leaves them vulnerable to exploitation and deportation.
The Turkish government has increased efforts to identify and deport undocumented migrants as part of its immigration policies.
As Afghanistan faces ongoing instability, many Afghan migrants seek work abroad to support their families, despite the risks of deportation.
The detention of Afghan workers in Turkey underscores the complexities of migrant labor and the challenges faced by undocumented workers seeking better opportunities abroad. For Afghan migrants, the lack of legal protections and harsh immigration policies create a precarious situation.
The international community’s support for creating safer pathways for migration and addressing root causes in home countries like Afghanistan is essential. Such measures could reduce the need for dangerous and illegal labor migration and support more stable lives for migrants.
Source:khaama.com
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DAB Governor Advocates for Islamic Financial Reforms at AAOIFI Annual Meeting
2024-11-07
KABUL (BNA): The Governor of Da Afghanistan Bank, Noor Ahmad Agha, attended the 19th annual meeting of the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) and the Islamic Development Bank held in Bahrain.
According to the office of Da Afghanistan Bank, Governor Agha emphasized the importance of establishing institutions to enhance the management of zakat, waqf, charity, and donations, noting the essential role these organizations play in reducing poverty and ensuring equitable wealth distribution within society.
In his address, he provided insights on Afghanistan’s prohibition of interest-based banking, the development of Islamic banking, and the stability of the country’s banking system. He appealed to AAOIFI, the Islamic Development Bank, and other relevant organizations for support in capacity building, training programs, effective management of zakat and waqf, conversion of banks to Islamic banking, and cooperation towards establishing a robust, transparent, and stable halal financial and economic system in Afghanistan.
The two-day conference, held on November 3-4, 2024, gathered around 300 representatives from central banks and Islamic commercial banks of various Islamic countries.
Source:bakhtarnews.af
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Islamic Emirate’s Acting Ambassador Attends Indonesia’s National Day Celebrations in Doha
2024-11-06
KABUL(BNA): The Acting Ambassador of Afghanistan to Qatar, Dr. Mohammad Naeem, participated in the official commemoration of Indonesia’s National Day in Doha.
The event, hosted by the Indonesian Embassy, took place on the evening of November 6 and was attended by a diverse group of dignitaries.
According to a press release from the Afghan Embassy, Dr. Naeem was officially invited to the celebration in recognition of the strong diplomatic ties between Afghanistan and Indonesia.
In addition to Dr. Naeem, the ceremony was graced by high-ranking Qatari officials, including Ghannem bin Shaheen Al-Ghanem, Qatar’s Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, along with representatives from Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ambassadors, senior diplomats, and officials from various international organizations based in Qatar also attended the gathering, highlighting the event’s significance in promoting international cooperation.
Source:bakhtarnews.af
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Mawlawi Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid Holds Talks with Indian Officials on Strengthening Cooperation Between Kabul and New Delhi
2024-11-06
KABUL(BNA): The Ministry of National Defense has announced that the Acting Minister, Mawlawi Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid, met today with an official delegation from India to discuss avenues for strengthening relations between Kabul and New Delhi.
In an official statement, the Ministry confirmed that the delegation was headed by J.P. Singh, Deputy Secretary for PAI Affairs at the Ministry of External Affairs of India.
The statement detailed that both sides underscored the importance of bolstering bilateral relations, with a particular focus on humanitarian assistance and other critical areas of shared interest. Additionally, both parties conveyed a mutual commitment to expanding engagement and fostering deeper cooperation between Afghanistan and India.
Source:bakhtarnews.af
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BB relaxes LC rules for Ramadan commodities
06 Nov 2024
DHAKA, Nov 6, 2024 (BSS)- Bangladesh Bank (BB) has relaxed rules for import of essential food commodities to ensure adequate supplies during the holy month of Ramadan.
Banks will open letters of credit (LCs) for import of items such as rice, wheat, onion, pulse, edible oil, sugar, egg, chickpea, spices and dates based on their relationship with clients, said a BB circular issued today.
The central bank suggested banks keep minimum margins or advance on the import value from importers of Ramadan items.
The BB also directed banks to prioritise the settlement of LCs of food commodities.
Source:bssnews.net
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DAB governor calls on Islamic countries to help streamline Afghan banking system
November 7, 2024
The governor of Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB), Noor Ahmad Agha, has called on global Islamic financial institutions for assistance across a number of areas in the country’s banking sector.
Addressing a conference in Bahrain, Agha appealed for help in capacity building, training programs, better management of Zakat and Waqf, and the conversion of conventional banks to Islamic banking systems.
Speaking at the 19th annual Islamic banking and finance conference of the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI), which was held in Bahrain on November 3 and 4, Agha also appealed for assistance in attaining a sustainable, efficient, and resilient Halal banking system and the establishment of a robust financial and economic sector in Afghanistan.
The conference was attended by the central banks of Islamic countries and nearly 300 representatives from Islamic commercial banks.
DAB governor emphasized the significance of establishing institutions dedicated to better regulating and managing affairs related to Zakat, Waqf, Infaq, and Sadaqah, highlighting the vital role of such institutions in the fair distribution of wealth in society, according to a statement released by DAB on Thursday.
He also raised the issue of Riba-based banking, the development of Islamic banking, and the stability of the banking system in Afghanistan.
Riba is commonly used to refer to excessive charges for borrowing money. Charging interest for loans is deemed riba, or an unjust, exploitative gain, and is forbidden under Islamic law.
Source:ariananews.af
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Arab World
Saudi crown prince meets with Pakistani army chief in Riyadh
November 06, 2024
RIYADH: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received Pakistani Army Chief General Asim Munir in Riyadh on Wednesday, Saudi Press Agency reported.
During the reception, Saudi-Pakistani relations and opportunities to develop them were reviewed. A number of issues of common interest were also discussed.
Saudi Minister of Defense Prince Khalid bin Salman also held a meeting with General Munir. During the meeting, the officials reviewed relations between the Kingdom and Pakistan. They also explored ways to further strengthen defense cooperation between their countries.
Source:arabnews.com
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Saudi man arrested for $131m bank fraud
November 07, 2024
RIYADH: A Saudi man has been arrested for illegally obtaining SR493 million ($131 million) of bank financing.
The Oversight and Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) worked with the Presidency of State Security and the Saudi Central Bank to arrest Khalid Ibrahim Al-Jraiwi.
He was arrested for “working with a bank employee in deceiving the banking regulations and obtaining an illegal bank financing of SR493 million,” Nazaha said on X.
It was one of a number of criminal cases announced on Wednesday by the authority, with legal proceedings underway.
Al-Jraiwi submitting a financing request containing false property deeds and fake contracts indicating investments in those properties by government entities.
The bank employee connected to Al-Jraiwi accepted the request and sent an email to the relevant departments at the bank confirming that the documents were valid. After receiving the financing, Al-Jraiwi transferred SR100 million abroad to purchase properties, registered under the names of his relatives.
Three men from the General Directorate of Passports were also arrested for facilitating the illegal entry and exit of Al-Jraiwi in exchange for money. The accused individuals admitted the charges and have been referred to court for prosecution.
In another case, Nazaha officials cooperated with the Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority to arrest Saudi man Mohammed Ghazi Mohammed Al-Sayed and two Yemeni residents, Abdulmalik Ahmed Qaid and Abdullah Abdu Qasim, for smuggling a container of cigarettes from Jeddah Islamic Port.
The men were “caught in the act” of paying SR1.5 million to smuggle the container without paying a SR7.2 million tariff, by claiming that the cigarettes were paper tissues.
Investigations into the case are continuing ahead of the appearance of the accused in court.
The Zakat, Tax and Customs Authority also helped Nazaha arrest Sudanese man Osman Mohammed Naeem Abdulrahman for using a car and SR20,000 to pay for smuggling four tons of tobacco from Jeddah Islamic Port.
In another case, Al-Jouf Municipality official Khalaf Saleh Marzouq Al-Khaldi was arrested for receiving SR8 million from Yemeni resident Mohammed Ali Omar Al-Saqaf to issue invoices worth more than SR17.6 million for roadworks projects in the region that were not executed.
Source:arabnews.com
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Saudi crown prince receives medical team that performed world’s first fully robotic heart transplant
November 06, 2024
RIYADH: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday received the Saudi medical team that successfully performed the world’s first fully robotic heart transplant.
The transplant was performed at Riyadh’s King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in September on a 16-year-old patient suffering from end-stage heart failure.
The crown prince congratulated the medical team and the leadership of the hospital on the historic achievement, praising the efforts of Saudi personnel and their ability to innovate and achieve a global precedent in the medical field.
Members of the medical team thanked Prince Mohammed for his support, while the head of the medical team, Saudi cardiac surgeon Dr. Feras Khaliel, said the reception is an incentive for the team to do more to serve humanity and the Kingdom.
Source:arabnews.com
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Saudi Arabia highlights urban sustainability vision at Cairo forum
November 06, 2024
Riyadh: Saudi authorities are showcasing the Kingdom’s role in sustainable urban development at the 12th World Urban Forum in Cairo, organized by the UN Human Settlements Programme, from Nov. 4-8.
The municipality of Baha region highlighted Vision 2030 objectives and the Kingdom’s urban development initiatives, along with the standards followed by the municipality.
Ali Al-Sawat, mayor of Baha, emphasized the Kingdom’s pioneering efforts to achieve sustainable development goals across various urban sectors.
The municipality’s participation also focused on urban planning, sustainable transportation, community engagement, waste management, recycling, green spaces and strategies to address environmental challenges.
It highlighted Saudi Arabia’s efforts to transform cities into adaptable, sustainable environments and showcased innovations improving residents’ quality of life and preserving the environment.
The municipality is committed to innovative solutions in infrastructure, project management and data analysis to build a sustainable urban model that meets community needs.
Prince Faisal bin Abdulaziz bin Ayyaf, head of the Saudi delegation at the forum, highlighted Saudi Arabia’s extensive experience in urban development and improving residents’ quality of life.
Since 2016, Saudi Arabia had pursued an ambitious national vision for 2030, Prince Faisal said at the forum’s ministerial roundtable. This comprehensive vision includes 27 sub-objectives, addressing various aspects of human life.
He emphasized that the vision also focused on enhancing livability in Saudi cities, alongside economic, environmental and social improvements.
Prince Faisal praised Saudi Arabia’s experience in urban development, with 17 municipalities working to turn the Vision into practical initiatives benefiting both residents and visitors.
“The Kingdom is home to excellent and historically impactful projects,” he said, highlighting the King Salman Park, Sports Boulevard, Diriyah project and environmental programs such as the Saudi Green Initiative.
The Quality of Life Program, part of Saudi Vision 2030, hosted a panel titled “Towards Future Cities: Putting Quality of Life and People’s Well-Being at the Core of Urban Planning.”
The session explored strategies to improve living conditions in urban areas, focusing on cross-sector collaboration.
CEO of the program, Khalid Albaker, emphasized the forum’s role in raising awareness of quality of life in urban planning, showcasing Saudi efforts to enhance living standards.
Albaker stressed the need for collaboration across government, industry and entrepreneurship to find innovative solutions that met community needs and promoted sustainable development.
The program contributes to sustainable development through 170 initiatives in sports, culture, tourism, entertainment, urban design and safety, supporting job creation, economic growth, innovation and city humanization to improve quality of life across Saudi Arabia.
The Royal Commission for Makkah City and Holy Sites is also participating in the forum, showcasing its efforts to develop Makkah into a sustainable city. The commission is highlighting its work in enhancing transportation networks, infrastructure and services.
The municipality of Riyadh is showcasing exemplary urban and environmental initiatives, using modern technologies for planning, development and construction of future cities. The pavilion highlights the Kingdom’s achievements in sustainable urban development and innovation.
The Diriyah Gate Development Authority is also showcasing its role in preserving historical, cultural and urban heritage, while overseeing vital initiatives and projects. Through these efforts, the authority aims to achieve a vision that goes beyond traditional urban development.
Real Estate General Authority CEO Abdullah Al-Hammad emphasized Saudi Arabia’s steady progress toward its ambitious vision under the Kingdom’s leadership. He highlighted the commitment to a forward-looking urban future aligned with sustainability and global environmental challenges.
Al-Hammad said that the authority’s participation in the forum reflected its belief in the importance of local and international partnerships to address urban challenges and build modern, sustainable communities that were resilient and adaptable.
The authority aims to adopt global best practices to build cities of the future that meet the needs of residents, visitors and investors, while enhancing quality of life and creating vibrant, innovative communities.
The authority’s pokesperson ,Tayseer Al-Mufarrej, highlighted Saudi Arabia’s approach to urban development, including transforming informal settlements into sustainable communities, improving residents’ quality of life and providing adequate housing.
Al-Mufarrej said that addressing global urban challenges required international collaboration to develop innovative solutions based on a comprehensive, forward-thinking urban planning vision, incorporating environmental, economic and social dimensions for the future of cities.
He also emphasized the importance of balancing urban development with environmental diversity to improve residents’ well-being.
Source:arabnews.com
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British envoy lauds ‘growth’ in bilateral ties since Vision 2030
LAMA ALHAMAWI
November 06, 2024
RIYADH: British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Neil Crompton highlighted the growth he has witnessed in Saudi-UK ties, which has expanded from traditional defense partnerships to encompass numerous sectors such as tourism, people-to-people relations, and sport, in a speech he gave during a cultural soiree marking the launch of “Anecdotes of an Arab Anglophile” in Riyadh on Monday.
“In the modern era, since Vision 2030, our relationship has gone from a quite traditional defense, security, contracting relationship, to take-off,” Crompton said.
The ambassador cited the growth of people-to-people relations between the two countries, mentioning British rowers and cricket players, such as Kevin Pietersen, visiting the Kingdom, and many Saudis traveling to London for holidays.
“I think the affection between the two countries is amazing,” Crompton said. “With the visa system ... since we introduced the visa waiver system in June 2022, over 500,000 Saudis have used it to go to London, in addition to the 100,000 who already had a 10-year visa or another passport.”
The cultural soiree hosted by the UK Embassy celebrated the launch of “Anecdotes of an Arab Anglophile” in Saudi Arabia by Saudi author and Editor-in-Chief of Arab News Faisal J. Abbas.
In a panel discussion between the ambassador and the author, the two highlighted the similarities that bridge the two kingdoms in an event titled “The Tale of Two Kingdoms.”
During his remarks, Abbas said: “There is much more that unites us than what divides us.”
Abbas said that the event might appear to be merely a discussion about a book, but that it is much more than that. “It’s a tale of two kingdoms,” two kingdoms that, he said, have much in common.
“Yes, we are two kingdoms separated by thousands and thousands of miles, we have a different history, but at the same time we are united by trivial things, from a sense of humor to very deeply rooted multifaceted bilateral relations that range from culture to business to defense and many more,” Abbas said.
The cultural soiree was attended by influential figures from the UK and Saudi Arabia, including the chairman of the Saudi Arabian Cricket Federation, Prince Saud bin Mishal, as well as prominent diplomats, journalists, academics and British citizens living in the Kingdom.
Speaking to Arab News, the publisher of the book and managing director of Nomad Publishing, Max Scott, noted the growing interest in Arab perspectives in the West, which are presented in “Anecdotes of an Arab Anglophile.”
Scott said that the panel discussion between Crompton and Abbas was engaging because of the pivotal questions Abbas presented.
“It was very interesting because Faisal asks some difficult questions about where Britain is at the moment. And he’s not shy of saying, you know, it’s a difficult time, and that’s good to see,” Scott said.
“At the end of the day, I think everyone came away with something positive,” he added.
Abbas’s book was originally released in London last June,, The cultural soiree hosted by the UK ambassador celebrated its recent release in Saudi Arabia, with its debut at the Riyadh International Book Fair.
The book is available throughout the Kingdom, exclusively at Jarir Bookstore outlets.
Source:arabnews.com
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Sports marketeers take deep dive into Saudi culture
SULAFA ALKHUNAIZI TAMARA ABOALSAUD
November 06, 2024
RIYADH: Top regional executives spoke about how having a deep understanding of the Kingdom’s culture was crucial in the creative industries, during the Athar — Saudi Festival of Creativity in Riyadh on Wednesday.
Leo Borges, executive creative director of Havas Middle East, spoke to Arab News about how Saudis had the opportunity to mold the creative industry.
“What I would say and sort of like what I want to see coming out of Saudi, is a creative culture that’s specific (to) here, it’s about Saudi people.”
He said that the baseline for the creative industry was understanding the audience.
“If you’re working in Saudi, they need to understand Saudi. They need to understand the culture. They need to understand the times. They need to understand the context in which their message is going to be, it’s going to be displayed.”
Borges went on to highlight the stark difference between sports marketing and other industries.
“I think sports marketing is different from other kinds of marketing because of the passion that the audience has for this sport, or for the teams, or for the players,” he said.
“So in this space, rarely the brand is the number one thing, right? Like people don’t necessarily love Adidas. They love Adidas because Adidas is sponsoring the team.”
Speaking at the “Leaders and Visionaries: CMOs Unplugged” session, panelist Ammar Alamo, director of marketing and communications at the Saudi Sports for All Federation, or SFA, in Riyadh, described his focus on “human insight” as opposed to “local insight.”
With more than 40 percent of non-Saudis living in the Kingdom, Alamo told Arab News that the Saudi Sports for All Federation targeted everyone when crafting their campaigns to encourage physical activity.
“With that, we need to understand who is in the Kingdom, and from a recent study, it showed that 42 percent of the Kingdom are not Saudis,” he said. “When we craft our campaigns or our communication we want to make an impact in the Saudi population, and people living in Saudi.”
Before creating a marketing strategy, SFA will research and developed a program that takes into account the different levels of physical activity within the Kingdom — active, semi-active, and inactive.
“We try, in SFA, with all our programs to cater to everyone in the Kingdom, because our target audience is everyone in the Kingdom.”
Since SFA’s restructuring in 2018 to increase the ratio of individuals exercising at least once a week to 40 per cent by 2030, the federation had seen a positive reaction from the community with exponential growth in physical activity.
The “physical activity level in the Kingdom in 2018 was 13 percent ... In 2021, the physical activity level in the Kingdom reached 48 percent, which is great, and now we’re changing the targets and increasing the targets, actually, beyond 40 percent to achieve more targets in 2030.”
Since joining the SFA in 2023, Alamo has played a pivotal role in promoting and growing events, including the Riyadh Marathon, Tough Mudder, the SandClash CrossFit competition.
The session also brought together industry leaders, Najeeb Jarrar, CMO at Google MENA, Aamir Allibhoy, regional chief marketing officer @ Tim Hortons, MENA, and was moderated by Ashish Verma, global head of Bloomberg Media Studios, who all shared insights on navigating the rapidly evolving creative landscape in Saudi Arabia.
The festival will conclude with the Athar Awards ceremony on the evening of Nov. 6.
Source:arabnews.com
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Europe
Ukraine says it fought N Korean troops for first time
November7, 2024,
North Korean soldiers have clashed with Ukrainian troops for the first time, Ukraine's top officials have revealed.
In an interview with South Korean broadcaster KBS, Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said a "small group" of North Korean soldiers were attacked.
US officials told the Reuters news agency that North Korean troops were engaged in combat in the Kursk region of Russia on 4 November.
Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky, who had earlier condemned the West's lack of response to the North Korean troops, said these "first battles with North Korea open a new chapter of instability in the world".
Seoul, however, said it "does not believe [troops on both sides] engaged in direct combat", but that there was an "incident" involving a small number of North Korean soldiers "near the frontline".
Ukraine says an estimated 11,000 North Korean soldiers were in the Kursk border region, where Ukrainian troops have a foothold.
In recent weeks, South Korean and US intelligence as well as Nato have said that they have seen evidence of North Korean troops being involved in Russia's war.
But Moscow and Pyongyang have so far not responded directly to any of the allegations.
Ukraine's top counter-disinformation official Andriy Kovalenko first said in a Telegram post on Monday that North Korea's "first military units... [had] already come under fire in Kursk".
In an interview with South Korean broadcaster KBS, Rustem Umerov confirmed this, saying he expects a "significant number" of the North Korean troops to be engaged in combat, though he added it was "so far just small contacts, not full-scale engagement".
Most of them are still undergoing training, he added.
"They're wearing Russian uniforms, they're undergoing tactical training, and they're being deployed under various commands of the Russian army on the front lines," Umerov said.
He said it was likely that five units, each consisting of around 3,000 soldiers, would be deployed across the battlefield.
He did not mention if there were any casualties.
In a daily video address on Wednesday, Zelensky called on Ukraine "together with the world... [to do] everything to make this Russian step toward expanding the war... a failure. Both for them, and for North Korea."
Reports of such a move by North Korea have also alarmed the South, raising tensions between the two sides.
Late last month, Seoul had summoned Russia's ambassador, seeking the "immediate withdrawal" of North Korean troops from Ukraine. It also warned that it was considering directly supplying arms to Ukraine.
Analysts have said that Pyongyang could be paid, or may be given access to Russian military technology in exchange for the troops.
On Wednesday, Russian lawmakers will vote to ratify a mutual defence treaty with North Korea, first proposed during Russian President Vladimir Putin's lavish visit to Pyongyang in June.
It pledges that Russia and North Korea will help each other in the event of "aggression" against either country.
Source:bbc.com
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Mishcon de Reya acts for the successful Respondents in the Court of Appeal in a dispute over the ownership of Abbey Mills Mosque.
6 November 2024
Mishcon de Reya's Property Litigation team has advised the successful Respondents in the Court of Appeal in a dispute over the ownership of Abbey Mills Mosque. The Mosque is also known as the London Markaz or Masjid-e-Ilyas, and is situated in 16 acres of mixed-use freehold development land in East London.
The land had been bought in 1996 by adherents of the Tablighi Jamaat movement of Sunni Islam. The movement had come to England in the 1940s, and by the 1990s it was centred on a mosque and madrasa in Dewsbury, South Yorkshire. In 2017, however, there was a leadership dispute resulting in a schism in the worldwide Tablighi Jamaat movement. It divided into two opposing factions: one following the leadership of Saad Kandhlawi at the Nizamuddin mosque in New Delhi and the other following the leadership of a council of elders at the Raiwind mosque in Lahore, known as the ‘World Shura’. The schism led to a dispute about the ownership of the East London site. Did the legal proprietors hold it on trust for the society of elders in Dewsbury, who had been the leaders of the movement in the UK at the time when the land was originally purchased? Or did they hold it on trust for the local London community of Tablighi Jamaat followers?
At first instance, HHJ Cadwallader (sitting as a Chancery Judge in the High Court) found the latter to be the case, finding in favour of the trustees of the London Community for whom Mishcon acted.
A subsequent appeal was heard over 1.5 days, resulting in the appeal being dismissed. The Appeal judges unanimously supported the trial judge's approach and findings.
Mark Sefton KC acted for the London community, leading Jonathan Fowles of Serle Court and instructed by Daniel Levy, Chhavie Kapoor, Sabrina Furneaux-Gotch and Michael Clarke.
The decision is of significance for trusts and charities lawyers, setting out and applying the law relating to trusts established by charitable appeals for donations against a complex factual background.
Source:mishcon.com
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Chip shop boss says 'don't do it' as his Birmingham takeaway is flooded with customers
7 NOV 2024
ByKirsty Bosley
A chip shop boss who lowered the price of 200 meals at his Shard End chippy to just a penny has spoken about the one thing it takes to make a costly gamble like handing out 1p dinners pay off. Theo Gavriel worked with business partners Theo Kyriacou and Zack Michael to fill the new Ownall Road restaurant with fresh potatoes, batter, fish, sausage, chicken and meats from family-run suppliers, which they're then handing out to customers in store in exchange for a single copper.
The businessman said that The Island House was 'doing its best' to 'serve food that we'd want to eat ourselves', drawing on combined years of fish frying experience to create delicious dishes for customers. They brought it 'more than twice the normal amount of staff' to serve the dozens of customers who queued up from 11:30am to get their bargain.
Theo said that the penny deal was an opportunity not just to get people talking about the new restaurant - which used to be Shards Fryer before The Island House took over this week - but to introduce them to the fish and chips that have been so popular with customers, it's allowed The Island House to expand to nine restaurants across the region.
"It gets people talking and coming in to try the food," Theo said. "If we do a big leaflet drop or a big marketing campaign you're spending a bit of money and people might come.
"But if you spend a bit of money and do a deal like this, they will come. Once they try the food, it speaks for itself. There'd be no point in doing it if the food was no good!"
Theo said that there are plans to open more branches of The Island House in Birmingham in the coming year. He added that there's one important thing when it comes to making a cut-price deal work.
"You have to have confidence in what you're doing," Theo said. "Otherwise, don't do it!"
Source:birminghammail.co.uk
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https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/food-drink-news/chip-shop-boss-says-dont-30312599?int_source=nba
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German coalition collapses after Scholz fires key minister
November7, 2024,
Germany's governing coalition has collapsed after Chancellor Olaf Scholz fired a key minister and said he would call a vote of confidence in his government early next year.
Scholz said he had no trust in Finance Minister Christian Lindner, who leads a rival party that has been part of the coalition along with Scholz's Social Democrats and the Greens.
The move means Scholz's government no longer has a majority in parliament. The confidence vote could lead to early elections by March.
The so-called "traffic light" coalition led by the chancellor has governed Germany since 2021.
But internal tensions had been bubbling for weeks before exploding into the open on Wednesday night.
Scholz said his former finance minister had "betrayed my confidence" and had put the interests of his party base over those of the country.
He added that Germany needed to show it could be relied upon by other countries, particularly following the election of Donald Trump in the US.
Lindner accused Scholz of "leading Germany into a phase of uncertainty".
The crisis inside the coalition plunged Europe's largest economy into political chaos, hours after Trump's election triggered deep uncertainty about the future of the continent's economy and security.
When the coalition between the chancellor's centre-left Social Democrats, the environmentalist Greens and economically liberal FDP was formed in 2021, each party planned to spend big on its own individual core interest groups.
However, Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 sent energy prices surging, and left Germany facing a increase in defence spending - and the cost of taking in 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees.
Germany is now facing its second year without economic growth.
Scholz and his Green partners want tackle this by loosening constitutional rules on public debt to allow more spending. Lindner wants to pay for tax cuts by slashing welfare and social budgets and pushing back environmental targets.
Economy Minister Robert Habeck of the Greens said the party would not quit the government and that its ministers would remain in office.
Scholz announced that a vote of confidence would be held in Germany's parliament, the Bundestag, on 15 January.
If MPs vote down the government, the country would hold fresh elections within weeks, instead of the scheduled date in September.
Source:bbc.com
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https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7v3r046pzzo
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IOC says Khelif preparing legal action after new eligibility claims
6 November 2024
Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif is back in the spotlight this week following fresh questioning of her eligibility to have competed in the women's competition at Paris 2024.
A report last week in French magazine Le Correspondant claimed to have seen a leaked medical report about the Algerian.
The BBC has been unable to verify the claims.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC), which has repeatedly defended the boxer’s right to participate in the women’s category, says the report cites "unverified documents whose origin cannot be confirmed".
The IOC says Khelif, who is already taking legal action against individuals who commented on her situation during the Games, is now "preparing a lawsuit" in response to the latest report.
"The IOC is saddened by the abuse that Imane Khelif is currently receiving," a spokesperson added.
Khelif, who competed at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and who is also a World Championship silver medallist, has always insisted she is eligible for the women’s competition.
The Algerian, 25, won women's welterweight gold in Paris this summer a year after being disqualified from the World Championships for reportedly failing gender eligibility tests.
The tests were conducted by the Russian-led International Boxing Association (IBA), who were later stripped of their world governing body status by the IOC over integrity and governance issues.
The IBA said Khelif "failed to meet the eligibility criteria for participating in women's competition".
The IBA defines a woman, female or girl as "an individual with chromosome XX" and men, males or boys as "an individual with chromosome XY".
The IOC questioned the legitimacy and credibility of the IBA's tests, saying they could not be relied upon.
The dispute meant the IOC was responsible for running the boxing competition at the Paris Olympics and applied less stringent eligibility criteria.
Khelif and Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting, who was also banned by the IBA, were both cleared to compete at the Olympics by the IOC.
A chaotic news conference held subsequently by the IBA did little to clear the confusion around Khelif and Lin's bans.
Chief executive Chris Roberts said the pair had "chromosome tests", while president Umar Kremlev appeared to suggest the tests determined the fighters' testosterone levels.
The BBC has been unable to determine what the eligibility tests consisted of.
Khelif's opening bout at the Olympics against Angela Carini was abandoned after 46 seconds, with the Italian saying she stopped the fight to "preserve my life".
Carini later apologised to Khelif, saying she was 'sorry' for the backlash the Algerian received after the fight.
Speaking after her Olympic victory, Khelif said she had been a victim of "bullying" and that the IBA "hate me".
"I am fully qualified to take part in this competition. I am a woman like any other woman," said Khelif.
"I was born a woman. I have lived as a woman. I competed as a woman - there is no doubt about that."
"All the athletes who participated in the boxing tournament at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 complied with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations, together with all the applicable medical regulations enacted by the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit (PBU). As with previous Olympic boxing competitions, the gender and age of the athletes were based on their passport details," the IOC added.
Source:bbc.com
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https://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/articles/c4gp8evl009o
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German government collapses
7 Nov, 2024
Germany’s ‘traffic-light’ coalition has fallen apart, leaving Olaf Scholz at the helm of a minority government consisting solely of his Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Greens. This follows the chancellor’s dismissal of Free Democratic Party (FDP) leader Christian Lindner as finance minister.
In response to Lindner’s dismissal, which came after failed crisis talks on Wednesday night, the FDP’s parliamentary group leader, Christian Durr, announced that the party is withdrawing its ministers from Scholz’s government, formally ending the three-way coalition.
The Greens expressed regret over the development, but stated that they wish to remain part of a minority government, emphasizing the need for the EU – and Germany in particular – to demonstrate its capacity for action following Donald Trump’s election as US president.
“I want to say for us that this feels wrong and not right tonight – almost tragic on a day like this, when Germany must show unity and the ability to act in Europe,” Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck said in a joint press statement with Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Wednesday night.
“This is not a good day for Germany and also not a good day for Europe,” Baerbock added.
Lindner was fired after he reportedly proposed early elections when the leaders of the three coalition parties once again failed to find common ground on how to address the multibillion-euro deficit in next year’s budget.
“All too often, Minister Lindner has blocked laws in an inappropriate manner,” Scholz stated, accusing Lindner of refusing to ease spending rules which, among other things, would allow for more aid to Ukraine.
Lindner in turn accused the chancellor of ignoring the real “economic concerns” of the German people. “Olaf Scholz has long failed to recognize the need for a new economic awakening in our country,” he said.
Scholz said he now wants to reach out to opposition leader Friedrich Merz of the Christian Democrats to offer him the “opportunity” to work with his government, adding that in light of the US election, this is “perhaps more urgent than ever.”
Meanwhile, the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) opposition party welcomed the coalition’s collapse as long-overdue “liberation” for Germany.
“After months of gridlock and countless self-centered therapy sessions, we now urgently need a fundamental political fresh start to lead the economy and the country as a whole out of the severe crisis into which it has been plunged by the ideology-driven policies of the SPD, Greens, and FDP,” AfD parliamentary leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla said in a statement on X.
Scholz announced that the Bundestag will hold a vote of confidence on January 15. According to the constitution, if the chancellor fails to secure sufficient support, he may formally request that the president dissolve the 733-seat lower house and call a new election within 60 days. This could push Germany’s parliamentary elections from next autumn to March 2025.
Source:rt.com
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https://www.rt.com/news/607258-scholz-government-vote-of-confidence/
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Azerbaijani Prime Minister meets with Secretary-General of Muslim Council of Elders
06.11.2024
Ali Asadov, Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan, met with Mohamed Abdelsalam, Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Elders.
During the meeting, both parties stressed the importance of the Global Summit of Religious Leaders held in Baku as part of COP29, under the slogan “World Religions for a Green Planet.”
They highlighted the significant events Azerbaijan has hosted to promote dialogue among religions, cultures, and civilizations.
PM Ali Asadov described multiculturalism and tolerance as a fundamental aspect of Azerbaijani society, stating that representatives of various ethnic groups, cultures, and religions have coexisted harmoniously in Azerbaijan for centuries. He emphasized that, in the contemporary period, multiculturalism and tolerance remain essential pillars of Azerbaijan's state policy.
The sides commended the designation of Shusha, liberated from occupation in 2020, as the Cultural Capital of the Islamic World, symbolizing continued support from the Islamic world for Azerbaijan.
Mohamed Abdelsalam expressed that the Muslim Council of Elders appreciates Azerbaijan`s substantial contribution to Islamic solidarity and its efforts to address the climate crisis.
Source:azertag.az
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https://azertag.az/en/xeber/azerbaijani_prime_minister_meets_with_secretary_general_of_muslim_council_of_elders-3263944
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Africa
Chief Imam, About 100 Others Kidnapped As Gunmen Attack Zamfara Communities
7 November 2024
By Richard Ogunsile
No fewer than one hundred (100) individuals were reported kidnapped in a recent attack by bandits in Zamfara State.
Reports obtained by Naija News revealed that the assailants had targeted several communities in Wanke, a locality adjacent to Gusau, the capital city of the state, where they led their victims into the wilderness.
Among the victims were women, children, and the elderly, including the Chief Imam, who was attending to a leg injury at the time of the abduction.
This incident marks the second time these bandits have targeted the Imam.
As of the time of writing this report, there has been no official response from either the state government or the police to these recent events.
Nonetheless, a survivor has shared their account with the BBC Hausa Service in an interview yesterday.
According to the survivor, the affected communities are currently under siege, leading to a mass migration among the residents in fear of further attacks.
“Near Sabon Layi, over 50 persons were taken away, and near Dagon Hayi about 50 persons were also abducted,” he alleged.
He said they were still counting since some locals were frightened and ran for safety.
“The terrorists were chasing people as if they were chasing animals. It was quite a disturbing scenario, watching how people were being chased.
“They were chasing them on motorbikes, they traced women to their houses and abducted them. Some were even intercepted while running away and were herded like animals to the bush.
“These terrorists attacked Gira, Ruwa Kusa, Dogon Hayi and Gidan Kado communities, where they stole motorcycles, farm produce and phones. They burgled shops and stole provisions.
“Officials at Wanke were informed but no action was taken as at now, that we can confirm,” the individual stated, adding that they have been having these attacks on their communities for the past nine years.
“We are being faced with this calamity and had even migrated to Gusau and other places. There are no animals here, anymore.
“Once night falls, everyone would be deeply worried as sleeping in the communities would be extremely dangerous,” the survivor noted.
Source:naijanews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.naijanews.com/2024/11/07/chief-imam-about-100-others-kidnapped-as-gunmen-attack-zamfara-communities/
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Tax Reforms: It Is Like The President Wants To Suffocate Us, We Won’t Accept – Gov Bala Mohammed
7 November 2024
The Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, has voiced serious concerns regarding President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s proposed tax reform bills, urging a thorough review to foster national unity rather than deepen divisions.
In a heartfelt appeal, Governor Mohammed called on President Tinubu to pause the progress of the contentious bills and initiate broad consultations to ensure equitable and balanced legislation before moving forward.
The reforms in question, particularly the shift towards a derivative-based model for distributing value-added tax (VAT), have triggered strong objections from northern governors and traditional leaders.
These stakeholders argue that such a model would disproportionately impact less industrialized regions, particularly in the northern part of the country, where economic structures are less diversified.
He emphasized that policies with far-reaching implications should be crafted with fairness, considering the socioeconomic realities of all regions.
Despite mounting pressure and objections from various quarters, President Tinubu has insisted on furthering the bills. The administration’s stance has sparked debates on fiscal policies and regional equity, with critics warning of potential socio-economic repercussions.
Governor Bala Mohammed stated during an interview with BBC Hausa Service, “Any reform to the tax bill, as it stands, is a recipe for further impoverishment of the north. What we need is a debate on a tax system that will not harm any region.”
He explained that the proposed tax model would further strain northern states, many of which already face significant financial challenges. For instance, he pointed out that Bauchi State struggles to meet its salary obligations due to insufficient funds.
“We receive about N2 billion in monthly federal allocation, but our salary bill stands at N4 billion, with local government salaries alone amounting to N3 billion. We also do not receive any derivatives from oil sales due to the current revenue-sharing formula,” he added.
He explained that while northern states are major consumers of goods and services- especially in industries like telecommunications-the tax revenue generated by these sectors often benefits southern states, where the companies’ headquarters are located.
According to Governor Bala, this uneven distribution exacerbated northern states’ financial difficulties, urging the president to address this disparity and ensure that all regions are fairly represented in the revenue-sharing process.
“We are operating a federal system, and we are one country. No state or region should be disadvantaged in the distribution of revenue,” He said.
He also expressed frustration at what he perceived as the president’s lack of willingness to address the concerns raised by northern leaders.
“If the federal government persists with this reform, we will be forced to mobilise our federal lawmakers, who are numerous, to block the bill,” he warned.
“It is as though the President wants to suffocate us, and we are not going to fold our arms or accept this,” he added.
The Bauchi governor also urged President Tinubu to reconsider his stance, reminding him that Nigeria operates under a democratic system where the voices of the people, through their representatives, should be respected.
He pointed out that even the president’s deputy, Kashim Shettima, and other representatives had already objected to the bill and called for its amendment.
Governor Mohammed called for a national dialogue on tax reform that aims to unite the country rather than divide it, ensuring that all regions are included in the pursuit of economic fairness and growth.
Source:naijanews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.naijanews.com/2024/11/07/tax-reforms-it-is-like-the-president-wants-to-suffocate-us-we-wont-accept-gov-bala-mohammed/
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Israeli Envoy Reveals Foreign Country Behind Terrorism In Nigeria
7 November 2024
By George Oshogwe Ogbolu
Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, Michael Freeman, has claimed that Iran is central to global terrorism and regional political instability, asserting that peace in the Middle East and parts of Africa may remain elusive without a shift in Iran’s current political leadership.
During the screening of the documentary “We Will Dance Again,” directed by Yariv Mozer, held in Abuja to mark the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack, Freeman stated: “The root of this war and the ongoing instability is Iran.”
“Iran supports and funds groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, fueling unrest across the Middle East. Their strategy involves significant financial investment, technical expertise, and weaponry to destabilize the region,” he continued. “Iran’s influence is also extending into Africa, with attempts to disrupt West African stability, including actions in Nigeria.”
Freeman further described Iran under its radical leadership as a regime that sponsors “terror, destruction, and misery” for millions, including its own citizens.
He urged the international community to act decisively: “The sooner the world addresses Iran’s leadership and initiates change, the sooner global peace can be achieved.”
Highlighting the broader threat, Freeman emphasized the need for global unity against terrorism.
“Terrorism in Israel doesn’t end there,” he remarked.
“We’ve observed radical terrorism here in Nigeria as well, similar to what we face in Israel. Terrorism knows no borders, and nations must collaborate, sharing expertise and resources to combat this common threat.
“Israel stands ready to assist any country committed to defeating terrorism,” Freeman assured.
He stressed Israel’s clear stance on the importance of recognizing terrorism’s nature: “Nigeria has been a target of extremist terrorism, and we must stand together with all nations fighting this battle to create a safer world.”
Freeman underscored the urgency of preventing future attacks like those seen on Oct. 7. “It’s essential to remember that what happened involved just one site,” he said. “We have yet to recount the stories of entire villages and communities where 900 people were killed—children murdered in their homes, some burned alive and others subjected to horrific violence.”
He also stated that Hamas’s ideology poses a fundamental barrier to peace: “Hamas is committed to Israel’s destruction and calls for the death of all Jews. Peace in the Middle East is unattainable as long as Hamas remains.”
Recalling Israel’s 2005 withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, Freeman noted that the move was intended to foster peace: “We removed all Israeli military personnel, civilians, and settlements, leaving behind infrastructure and opportunities for Palestinians to thrive. However, since Hamas seized power in 2007, they have imposed a brutal regime, diverting international aid towards terrorism, constructing tunnels, and amassing weapons, while impoverishing their population.”
“The loss of innocent lives, whether Israeli or Palestinian, is equally tragic,” Freeman said. “But we must address the root causes behind these tragedies to prevent future loss and build a path to lasting peace.”
Source:naijanews.com
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https://www.naijanews.com/2024/11/07/israeli-envoy-reveals-foreign-country-behind-terrorism-in-nigeria/
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NNPC Mourns Late Army Chief, Taoreed Lagbaja
7 November 2024
The Board, Management and Staff of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) are saddened by the news of the death of the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant-General Taoreed Lagbaja.
This was contained in a statement by NNPCL’s Chief Corporate Communications Office. Olufemi Soneye, on Wednesday.
Soneye said General Lagbaja was a brilliant officer and a gentleman who served the nation with commitment and distinction.
He added that the late Chief of Army Staff was a great support to NNPCL in the fight against pipeline vandalism and oil theft.
It read, “We, at the NNPC Ltd., condole with the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, and the Nigerian Army on this monumental loss of a brilliant officer and a gentleman who served the nation with commitment and distinction.
“We note in particular that the late Chief of Army Staff was a great support to us at NNPC in the fight against pipeline vandalism and oil theft, not leaving us in doubt about his commitment to the nation’s economic prosperity and development.
“Our prayers go to his immediate and extended families in their moments of grief, that God will grant them the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss and that He will grant his soul eternal repose in His Bosom.
Source:naijanews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.naijanews.com/2024/11/07/nnpc-mourns-late-army-chief-taoreed-lagbaja/
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Police Confirm Presence Of New Terrorist Group, Lakurawas In Five LGs In Sokoto State
7 November 2024
By Enioluwa Adeniyi
The Sokoto State Command of the Nigeria Police Force has confirmed the presence of an armed Islamic group known as “Lakurawas,” which has been operating across several local government areas in the state.
Speaking to Punch on Wednesday, the spokesman for the command, Ahmed Rufai, revealed that the group, armed with sophisticated weaponry, has been active in Gudu, Tangaza, Binji, Illela, and another yet-to-be-identified local government area.
The group’s activities reportedly involve imposing its beliefs and practices on the local population.
He said, “They have been in those areas for some years now. They are armed with weapons and part of their agenda is to impose their own kind of religious practice on the people.
“They even attack suspected bandits in the area as, according to information available to us, they claim to be working against illegalities.”
The Sokoto State government had earlier expressed concern over the emergence of another criminal group in the state.
The Deputy Governor, Idris Mohammed Gobir, disclosed this while receiving participants of Course 33 of the National Defence College, Abuja, who were on a study tour in the state.
Gobir said the group was known to be a faith-based idealist.
He said, “An assessment carried out indicated that the group possessed sophisticated weapons and their criminal activities were observed in about five local government areas in the state.
“The sad development was happening at the time when the state was being faced by banditry.”
The deputy governor further said, “As the threat was expanding, security authorities were working assiduously to address the emerging threat.
“The state government has been working closely with the federal security agencies to address numerous security threats to lives and properties of the people of the state.”
Source:naijanews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.naijanews.com/2024/11/07/police-confirm-presence-of-new-terrorist-group-lakurawas-in-five-lgs-in-sokoto-state/
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Despite Tinubu’s Directive, #EndBadGovernance Minors Still In Custody – Lawyer
7 November 2024
By George Oshogwe Ogbolu
Three minors detained in Borno State for allegedly participating in the #EndBadGovernance protest remain in custody despite a recent directive from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu calling for their immediate release.
Naija News reports that President Tinubu issued the directive three days ago, which resulted in the release of minors detained in Abuja.
However, the minors in Borno State are still held at a juvenile facility in Maiduguri, as confirmed by their defense counsel, Barrister Yakubu Alhaji Adamu, who cited an existing court order as the reason for their continued detention.
The minors had been brought before Justice Aisha Mohammed Ali at the State High Court 10 in Maiduguri, where they pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.
Following their plea, the judge ordered their remand at the juvenile facility and scheduled the next hearing for November 18, 2024.
Salamtu Idrisa from the Public Prosecutions Office at the Borno State Ministry of Justice indicated that no formal communication regarding the release of the minors had been received.
“If there is any update on their release, we will be informed,” she stated.
#EndBadGovernance Protests: Emir Sanusi Commends Tinubu For Swift Release Of Detained Minors
The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, expressed gratitude towards President Bola Tinubu for his swift intervention, which led to the release of 76 minors detained in connection with the recent #EndBadGovernance protests.
According to the Emir, these children, many of whom were students, were held under harsh conditions that endangered their lives until Tinubu ordered their immediate release.
The Emir voiced his concern that many of these children were not even involved in the protests, noting that they were simply on their way to school or in public areas when arrested.
Source:naijanews.com
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https://www.naijanews.com/2024/11/07/despite-tinubus-directive-endbadgovernance-minors-still-in-custody-lawyer/
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30 National Assembly Officials, Clerk To Retire As Tinubu Kicks Against Service Extension
7 November 2024
By Richard Ogunsile
At least thirty senior officials are set to retire alongside the Clerk to the National Assembly, Magaji Tambawal, following President Bola Tinubu‘s rejection of a bill that seeks their service extension.
By parliamentary procedures, Tambawal commenced his pre-retirement leave on November 1, 2024, after delegating his responsibilities to his deputy, Kamouroudeen Ogundele.
Tambawal, who initially assumed the role of acting Clerk to the National Assembly in November 2022 and was subsequently confirmed in March 2023, is scheduled to celebrate his 60th birthday in February 2025.
Naija News reports that while Tambuwal’s official retirement is slated for February, he will refrain from participating in any duties or responsibilities from the start of his pre-retirement leave until he formally vacates his position.
An official document seen by journalists indicates that other notable personnel departing include the Clerk to the Senate, Chinedu Akabueze, the Deputy Clerk to the Senate, and the Deputy Clerk of the House of Representatives.
Additionally, the departures will encompass 11 directors, six deputy directors, one assistant director, and two other directors from the National Assembly Service Commission.
Tinubu Rejects Bill Seeking Parliamentary Staff Tenure Extension
Naija News reports that this significant turnover follows President Tinubu’s refusal to approve a bill to extend parliamentary staff’s tenure.
It is worth noting that the proposed legislation sought to raise the retirement age to 65 years or allow for 40 years of service, whereas the current law mandates retirement at 60 years of age or after 35 years of service.
This bill was initially presented during the 7th Assembly but did not pass; it was subsequently reintroduced in the 8th and 9th Assemblies, yet also failed to gain approval.
The bill, which was reintroduced to the 10th Assembly and sponsored by the Deputy Minority Leader of the House, Aliyu Madaki (NNPP, Kano), successfully passed its second reading in the House in October 2023 and was ultimately approved on December 20, 2023.
Initially, the Senate rejected the bill; however, it later reversed its decision and approved it on March 31, 2024, after which it was sent to the President for approval.
In light of the President’s refusal to sign the bill, several directors are scheduled to retire between October and December. Reports indicate that a few of them are also expected to retire next year.
“Most of the staff, both at top level and medium level, got employed by the commission in 1991/1992 when the National Assembly started, hence the reason for the exodus of retirees amongst staffers,” a source told The PUNCH.
It added: “Many of them would either clock 60 years between this year and next year or would have spent 35 years working in the Civil Service.
“But many of those who are affected are as a result of age. It’s the season where a couple of the older staff would clock 60 years.”
Meanwhile, another source told reporters that the retirement would be in batches. He noted that about 20 to 30 would also retire in January 2025.
“The number of people retiring between this year and even till next year is quite huge. This is because many of the civil servants will be clocking 60 years.
“Even those who will be stepping into the new shoes have a few months to spend in the offices before they get to retirement age,” the source stated.
It was reported that, in addition to the senior officials, a considerable portion of the National Assembly’s staff is also set to resign, with many others anticipated to retire in the near future.
Furthermore, a senior official who has chosen to remain anonymous expressed concern regarding the departure of staff members from the National Assembly, highlighting the potential impact on legislative memory.
“There is no lie that a large number of people are retiring this year and next year.
“My worry is, do they have manpower on the ground that will fill that void? And if they do, what of the legislative memory? The parliament thrives on the longitude of service years; the experience will always be needed,” the source noted.
In the meantime, two senior officers observed that the retirement tally stood at scarcely 50 individuals.
A confidential informant possessing exclusive details reported that every member of the National Assembly retiring or anticipated to retire between January and December 2024 was aged 46, significantly lower than the anticipated figure of 80.
The source said, “80 is far-fetched. Yes, people are retiring and people will still retire. But the total number of people retiring between January and December is 46.”
Source:naijanews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.naijanews.com/2024/11/07/30-national-assembly-officials-clerk-to-retire-as-tinubu-kicks-against-service-extension/
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South Africa closes main border with Mozambique, citing safety concerns amid post-election protests
7 November 2024
South Africa has temporarily shut its main border crossing with Mozambique, after reports of vehicles being set alight on the Mozambican side.
It comes as deadly protests have rocked Mozambique, as opposition supporters take to the streets denouncing what they call a fraudlent result.
According to authorities in South Africa, several Mozambican officials have asked to take refuge in the neighbouring country, citing safety concerns.
According to human rights organisations, more than a dozen people have been killed in post-election protests.
Security forces have used tear gas and live ammunition on demonstrators, while the government has warned it may potentially deploy the military.
The internet and social media have also been limited by authorities.
It comes after the Frelimo party, in power since 1975, secured an election victory on October 24th.
The opposition alleges the win was fraudulent and has lodged an appeal to the constitutional council against the results.
Source:africanews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.africanews.com/2024/11/06/south-africa-closes-main-border-with-mozambique-citing-safety-concerns-amid-post-election-/
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Mixed reactions to Trump victory among residents in the Democratic Republic of Congo
7 November 2024
The return of Donald Trump to the White House has sparked a wave of congratulations and optimism across Africa. Several African leaders and figures have expressed hope for strengthening bilateral relations with Washington. In the DRC, President Félix Tshisekedi voiced his desire to collaborate with the new U.S. president and deepen the strategic partnership between the two countries.
“This is a great opportunity for Africa to reconnect even more with bilateral or multilateral relations with the United States, especially with regions in conflict like the Sahel and the Great Lakes region. We are really expecting the involvement of the United States to try to end the violence, especially in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where we are facing a major aggression from Rwanda,” said Christophe Mwisa, a member of the Congolese civil society.
The DRC is facing a major security crisis in the east of the country, with armed groups terrorizing the population. There is great hope that the new U.S. administration will provide greater support for stabilization efforts.
"A feeling of satisfaction, and especially of relief. We, in North Kivu, need peace, and we need a man like Trump. He is a man of peace, a man who has always been serious and, above all, sincere with his promises," said Georges Yalala, a resident of Goma.
Other Congolese remain skeptical about the real impact of Trump's return on their daily lives. They fear that the West may not offer a solution in the DRC.
“Peace cannot be bought like an item in the market. The Congolese government will have to work harder, intensify its diplomatic actions. Why rely on Donald Trump when we know very well that the insecurity in eastern Congo, the United States is behind all of that? The weapons come from the United States,” said Tigana Nseka, a resident of Goma.
Trump's return to power marks a pivotal moment for the DRC. The future of cooperation between the two countries remains uncertain. The question is whether this return will mark a decisive turning point for the DRC or if the country will continue to face the same challenges.
Source:africanews.com
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://www.africanews.com/2024/11/06/mixed-reactions-to-trump-victory-among-residents-in-the-democratic-republic-of-congo/
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Libya set to host major Islamic educational summit in 2025
NOV 07, 2024
Libya has secured its position as host for a significant gathering of Islamic nations focused on educational and cultural development.
The country will welcome delegates from across the Islamic world for the 45th session of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ICESCO) Executive Council in Tripoli come January 2025.
The agreement was formalised in Rabat, Morocco, through a signing ceremony between Mohamed Amari Zayed, Libya’s Permanent Representative to ICESCO, and Salem Al-Habsi, Director of ICESCO’s General Secretariat. During the ceremony, Al-Habsi expressed strong confidence in Libya’s capacity to successfully host the high-level meetings, which will feature a special consultative session addressing both opportunities and challenges facing the Islamic world.
“We are fully committed to providing all necessary resources and support to ensure these meetings are a success,” declared Amari Zayed, emphasising Libya’s dedication to its hosting responsibilities.
The Executive Council serves as ICESCO’s primary oversight body, bringing together representatives from all 53 member states annually. These gatherings play a crucial role in steering the organization’s direction, as council members evaluate and approve various performance reports and action plans put forward by ICESCO’s General Directorate.
The selection of Tripoli as the host city marks a significant moment for Libya, positioning it as a key contributor to educational and cultural development in the Islamic world.
The upcoming session is expected to foster stronger collaboration among member states while addressing pressing challenges in education, science, and culture across the Islamic world.
Source:libyanexpress.com
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https://www.libyanexpress.com/libya-set-to-host-major-islamic-educational-summit-in-2025/
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Southeast Asia
SMEs’ engagement in sustainability needs concerted effort - Johari
BERNAMA
07-11- 2024
KUALA LUMPUR: The engagement of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in sustainability requires a concerted effort to galvanise the corporate sector as a whole, through policies and regulations that prioritise transparency, accountability, and action, said Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul.
He said that SMEs are the backbone of Malaysia’s economy, and the collective impact of thousands of these enterprises adopting environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles could be transformative, driving positive change across the nation.
“This could create ripples of change across every corner of our society. And so, the engagement of SMEs in sustainability is not just beneficial; it is vital. It is how we, as a nation, will move forward, and how we will ensure that our progress is equitable, inclusive, and lasting,” he said in his keynote address at the GO ESG 2024 Symposium here today.
He added that legislation alone is not enough and real transformation requires a cultural shift, one that goes beyond regulatory frameworks and embraces the power of people.
“It is a shift that requires us to foster an environment of engaged stakeholders, employees, suppliers, investors, customers, each playing their part in driving positive impact,“ he said.
Johari also reiterated the critical need to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), noting that globally, only 16% of SDG targets are on track to be achieved by 2030, while a staggering 84% show little or no progress.
“These numbers go beyond mere statistics; they underscore the immense challenges we still face—the ongoing crises of poverty, inequality, climate change, and peace that continue to demand our full attention, relentless energy, and unwavering commitment,” he said.
Organised by the UN Global Compact Network Malaysia & Brunei (UNGCMYB), the fifth edition of GO ESG Symposium, underscored the pivotal role that learning and development play in equipping the workforce to meet today’s sustainability demands and to drive meaningful change.
Themed ‘Empowering Talent in Achieving the SDGs’, the event drew over 300 high-level executives, sustainability practitioners, and business leaders.
Addressing the sustainability talent gap is a collective responsibility, the symposium fostered discussions and collaboration, offering strategies that can be adopted to build competencies in the workforce.
Source:thesun.my
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://thesun.my/malaysia-news/smes-engagement-in-sustainability-needs-concerted-effort-johari-FF13254199
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PM Anwar continues intensive schedule in Beijing, to begin with business meeting with CICC
BERNAMA
07-11- 2024
BEIJING: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim continued his intensive schedule in Beijing, the final stop of his working visit, with a business meeting with China International Capital Corp (CICC).
Founded in China in 1995, CICC is a Chinese partially state-owned multinational investment management and financial services company.
CICC provides investment banking, securities and investment management services to corporations, institutions and individuals worldwide.
Following this meeting, the Prime Minister will tour the Huawei Executive Briefing Centre in the Haidian District and subsequently hold a high-level meeting with Huawei’s senior executives.
Undeterred by his busy itinerary, the 77-year-old Prime Minister will deliver a public lecture at Peking University.
The lecture, titled Bridging Futures: Strengthening Malaysia-China Relations and ASEAN Centrality in a Shifting Global Order, is expected to address regional cooperation amid global changes.
Later in the afternoon, Anwar will pay a courtesy call on President Xi Jinping in the Chinese capital.
The Prime Minister will receive a great honour since President Xi has agreed to host a dinner for him at the prestigious Great Hall of the People.
Anwar is on a four-day working visit to China, beginning Nov 4.
He is accompanied by Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan; Investment, Trade, and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz; and Human Resource Minister Steven Sim Chee Keong.
The visit, extended by Premier Li Qiang, underscores the importance of bilateral relations between Malaysia and China.
China has held the position of Malaysia’s largest trading partner for 15 consecutive years, since 2009.
This marks Anwar’s third official visit to China, following his inaugural visit as Prime Minister in March 2023, and a subsequent visit in September.
Starting in Shanghai, the working visit concludes in Beijing today.
Source:thesun.my
Please click the following URL to read the text of the original Story
https://thesun.my/malaysia-news/pm-anwar-continues-intensive-schedule-in-beijing-to-begin-with-business-meeting-with-cicc-OF13251780
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French Supreme Court delivers historic win for Malaysia against Sulu claimants - Azalina
BERNAMA
07-11- 2024
KUALA LUMPUR: The French Supreme Court yesterday fully dismissed the challenge filed by the alleged heirs of the defunct Sulu sultanate, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.
In a Facebook post, she described this as a historic victory for Malaysia, noting that the important decision means the initial basis for the sham Final Award that ordered Malaysia to pay US$15 billion is not recognised under French law.
“The Paris Court of Appeal will now proceed, in due course, to annul the so-called Final Award rendered by Dr (Gonzalo) Stampa, and will definitively settle the matter in favour of the Malaysian people,“ she said.
Azalina welcomed this landmark decision by the French Supreme Court as a momentous victory for the rule of law, which will help preserve the sanctity of international arbitration as an alternative form of dispute resolution.
She also thanked Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for his continued support and unwavering trust in the ongoing effort to uphold Malaysia’s position.
Previously, eight citizens of the Philippines, allegedly heirs of the defunct Sulu sultanate, filed for arbitration proceedings in Spain to seek billions of US dollars from Malaysia over Sabah, and a court in Madrid had in March 2019 appointed Stampa to be the arbitrator for the Sulu claimants’ case.
Stampa had, on Feb 28, 2022, decided in their favour and the Final Award of US$14.9 billion resulting from the sham arbitration was issued illegally by Stampa to the eight claimants despite the prior annulment of his appointment as an arbitrator by the Spanish court.
In their bid to enforce the US$14.9 billion Final Award, the Sulu claimants were reported to have attempted to seize Malaysia’s oil firm Petronas’ assets in Luxembourg, assets in the Netherlands and also targeted Malaysia’s diplomatic assets in France (including part of its embassy).
On May 17 this year, Malaysia was notified of the Madrid Court of Appeal’s decision to dismiss Stampa’s appeal and uphold his six-month prison sentence and one-year ban from practising as an arbitrator.
The MADANI Unity Government had aggressively countered the claim by the eight individuals.
Source:thesun.my
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Meetings with companies in Shanghai an opportunity to attract quality investments - Anwar
BERNAMA
07-11- 2024
KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim led a Malaysian delegation in one-on-one meetings with four leading companies in Shanghai before continuing his visit to Beijing yesterday
The Prime Minister, currently in China, via a post on X, said the sessions started with a meeting with a Bank of China delegation led by its chairman, Ge Haijiao.
“Our discussion involves opportunities to strengthen Malaysia-China financial cooperation, including local currency trade settlements.
“This was followed by the petrochemical company Sinochem delegation, led by general manager Liu Chun, who expressed their intention to import chemicals for the manufacture of personal care products, cosmetics and the like, in line with Malaysia’s capabilities and strong network of manufacturers and suppliers, especially in the petrochemicals field,“ he said.
Anwar wrote that the next meeting was with SICC Co. Ltd, a leading semiconductor company that also expressed its intention to expand into Southeast Asia.
Anwar and the delegation also met with SEMCORP, the world’s largest manufacturer of lithium-ion separator films. The company wants to explore establishing a hub to meet the growing demand for electric vehicle components in the region.
“This series of discussions illustrates Malaysia’s growing attractiveness as a competitive investment destination, and the MADANI Government wants to continue to attract quality investments, thereby creating more highly skilled jobs,“ he said.
This is Anwar’s maiden visit to Shanghai and his third to China.
The Prime Minister made his maiden visit to the country in March 2023, followed by September the same year.
The four-day working visit will end in Beijing on Nov 7 and is at the invitation of his counterpart Li Qiang to attend the 7th China International Import Expo (7th CIIE).
He was accompanied by Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan; Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz and Human Resources Minister Steven Sim Chee Keong.
Source:thesun.my
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Pahang royal, four others charged with injuring man using knife (VIDEO)
07 Nov 2024
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 7 — Pahang royalty member Tengku Eddie Akasya Tengku Abd Rahman, 20, pleaded not guilty to charges of injuring an individual last June in the Kuantan Magistrate's Court today.
According to national news agency Bernama, he claimed trial along with four others: Nik Norhisham Affendi Nik Mohd Zani, 39, Mohd Fouzi Md Nur, 44, Mohd Taufik Daud, 32, and Khairul Azhar Rosli, 38.
All five were jointly charged with intentionally causing injury to the victim’s right thigh using a knife.
They allegedly committed the offence at a horse stable lot on Jalan Teluk Sisek, Kuantan, on June 6 at approximately 12:20am.
The charge was made under Section 324 of the Penal Code, read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code, which provides for up to 10 years in prison, a fine, caning, or any combination of two of these punishments upon conviction.
Magistrate Raja Norshuzianna Shakila Raja Mamat set bail at RM7,000 for each accused with one surety and allowed all additional conditions proposed by the prosecution.
The case is scheduled for mention on December 11.
Source:malaymail.com
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PAC to probe RM43.9m Khazanah, PNB losses in FashionValet investments
07 Nov 2024
By Yiswaree Palansamy
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 7 — The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will launch an investigation into a RM43.9 million loss incurred from investments by Khazanah Nasional Bhd (Khazanah) and Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) in FashionValet, its chairman Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin said today.
In a statement, Mas Ermieyati confirmed that both government-linked companies will be called for questioning.
“The PAC will begin proceedings concerning the investment losses by Khazanah and PNB in a local online fashion business, FashionValet, which involved the loss of public funds amounting to RM43.9 million,” she said, adding that the proceedings are expected to held in the second week of December.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is conducting its own investigations and have called up FashionValet founders Vivy Yusof and her husband, Datuk Fadzarudin Shah Anuar for questioning.
The couple first had their statements recorded last Tuesday, spending nearly eight hours with the MACC, and have been called back for questioning today.
Anti-graft officials searched their house yesterday and confiscated several items, including 11 handbags and one luxury watch.
The couple’s personal and company bank accounts said to be worth RM1.1 million, have been frozen pending investigation.
MACC chief Tan Sri Azam Baki told Bernama the commission has also interviewed four officials from PNB, Khazanah, and the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday.
FashionValet’s financial losses came under scrutiny last month when Khazanah and PNB announced their sale of the e-commerce business for RM3.1 million, following a combined investment of RM47 million made in 2018.
The Finance Ministry confirmed the sale in a written parliamentary reply on October 29 to Puchong MP Yeo Bee Yin who asked about the total investments, losses and share divestment by Khazanah and PNB in FashionValet.
The resulting loss of over RM43 million has since sparked public criticism and prompted calls for a deeper investigation, with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim directing Khazanah to conduct an internal audit.
Source:malaymail.com
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Govt struggles to probe GISBH’s teachings as they appear ‘lawful on paper’, says religious affairs minister
07 Nov 2024
By Muhammad Yusry
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 7 — The government is finding it challenging to investigate Global Ikhwan Sdn Bhd (GISBH) practices and teachings due to its appearance of legitimacy, says Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Mohd Na’im Mokhtar.
He noted that the investigation would be less complex if the teachings or practices were openly and clearly in conflict with Islamic law.
“Conducting a comprehensive and thorough investigation is not an easy task. Gathering credible evidence and sources that can be legally verified requires high scrutiny, especially when dealing with practices or teachings disguised under activities that appear lawful and legitimate.
“This process would undoubtedly be less challenging if the teachings or practices were clearly and blatantly in conflict with Islamic law and could be proven unequivocally,” he said in a written reply in Parliament.
Mohd Na’im was responding to Pulai MP Suhaizan Kaiat, who had asked about the number of individuals involved in the GISBH network, the government’s plans to manage them, and why action against GISBH had been delayed since its establishment following the ban of Al-Arqam in 1994.
Mohd Na’im said it is estimated that there are currently 10,500 members of GISBH, with approximately 9,000 believed to be within Malaysia.
“In managing this group, the government has prepared a recovery plan for GISBH members, which includes rehabilitation actions for GISBH children placed in care centres under the Department of Social Welfare (JKM) in collaboration with the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Department, JKM, and other relevant agencies.
“Additionally, voluntary rehabilitation actions are available for GISBH members who attend voluntary sessions, conducted in cooperation with the National Security Council, State Islamic Religious Councils/Departments, and other agencies,” he said.
Mohd Na’im added that the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) has acted within its scope and responsibilities without overstepping the jurisdiction of other authorities.
“However, cooperation, advisory services, and consultation with federal and state authorities are continuously maintained to ensure the process runs smoothly and effectively,” he said.
Source:malaymail.com
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Perikatan MPs barred from direct negotiations on funding allocations, says PAS leader Tuan Ibrahim
07 Nov 2024
By Malay Mail
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 7 — Perikatan Nasional (PN) MPs are prohibited from engaging in direct negotiations with the government regarding the draft memorandum of understanding (MoU) on funding allocations for the opposition, said PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.
Free Malaysia Today (FMT) reported that the Kubang Kerian MP emphasised that all discussions must be conducted through PN as a bloc, which rejected the proposed MoU on September 15.
He pointed out that PN had raised concerns over certain terms it deemed incompatible with the Federal Constitution and detrimental to the special position of the Malays and Bumiputeras.
“Any negotiations must go through the party, and the conditions must be disclosed because all MPs are bound by their party affiliation,” he told FMT.
“MPs who intend to negotiate should notify the party to avoid misunderstandings or unwarranted assumptions.”
This came after Deputy Prime Minister Fadillah Yusof said the government had opened the door for individual opposition MPs to negotiate for equal allocations, following the collapse of talks with PN as a bloc.
Fadillah stated that his role was to negotiate the MoU but added that he could not compel any party to participate.
He also noted that Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman was the only opposition MP who had provided feedback on the draft MoU.
PN Youth chief Afnan Hamimi Taib Azamudden echoed Tuan Ibrahim’s stance, stating that all negotiations must go through the coalition, as their MPs were elected under the PN banner.
The Alor Setar MP also accused the government of attempting to divide the opposition through private negotiations, a strategy he likened to its previous approach with the six Bersatu MPs who shifted support to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
The six MPs involved were Suhaili Abdul Rahman (Labuan), Dr Zulkafperi Hanapi (Tanjong Karang), Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal (Bukit Gantang), Zahari Kechik (Jeli), Mohd Azizi Abu Naim (Gua Musang), and Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid (Kuala Kangsar).
“Allocations are the rights of MPs. Kedah, Kelantan, and Perlis allocate funds to the opposition without requiring negotiations,” Afnan said.
Source:malaymail.com
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DPM Fadillah says govt open to fund negotiations with any MP, but only Syed Saddiq replied so far
07 Nov 2024
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 7 — The government remains open to negotiations with any Member of Parliament regarding allocations for elected representatives from the opposition, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Fadillah Yusof.
He said that so far, only Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (MUDA-Muar) had responded to the negotiations.
“...only YB Muar has responded so far...he sent me an email, and I’m currently reviewing all of his counter proposals. This will be discussed with the government chief whips, and, Insya-Allah, I will call YB Muar later to respond to what was proposed.
“If there are any MPs from the other side (the opposition) who want to discuss (the matter) with me, I am open to it. However, as a bloc, they (the opposition) have rejected (the offer to negotiate).
“I can’t do anything about it if they refuse to negotiate. I will negotiate with those who are willing to do so,” he said when winding up the debate on the Supply Bill 2025 at the policy stage for the Energy Transition and Water Transformation Ministry (PETRA) in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
Previously, the opposition unanimously rejected the draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding allocations for opposition MPs, citing four key reasons. They claimed it contradicted the Federal Constitution and that some of its conditions could potentially affect the special rights of Malays and Bumiputeras.
Meanwhile, Fadillah, who is also the Energy Transition and Water Transformation Minister, said PETRA, through MyPower, was conducting a Nuclear Energy Pre-Feasibility Study, which was expected to be completed by the end of December 2024.
The study also examined the development of small modular reactor (SMR) technology, which developed countries were actively working on, to be considered for use in the country if the government decided to adopt nuclear energy for electricity generation in the future.
“The study by MyPower also covers the legal and regulatory aspects, where it will assess the need to amend the Atomic Energy Licensing Act 1984 (Act 304) or introduce a more comprehensive new law, taking into account international legal instruments that Malaysia must enforce, based on global nuclear governance practices.
“If the government decides to use nuclear energy for electricity generation, it will implement a comprehensive human resource development plan to ensure a sufficient, highly skilled, and competent workforce in the nuclear sector,” he said.
According to Fadillah, nuclear technology was seen as a viable option for base load generation, given its high availability rate of over 85 per cent, as well as its potential to reduce reliance on gas fuel and replace coal. — Bernama
Source:malaymail.com
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